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#my goal here is to get the bop in everyones heads not for it to look perfect so take the crusty papa
spllwys · 20 days
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endless ghifs 6/? ⛧ source — "So if you meet me, have some courtesy; have some sympathy, and some taste!"
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robinpixels · 1 day
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Have you ever thought about how much worse the dynamic between Beta and the Zeniths are, when you do up the timeline and realize she could be as young as fourteen/fifteen? In no way a developed socially adept child because she grew up with freaking holograms and had no positive physical contact?
If you ignore the age bit. Beta probably only knows physical touch through the Specters and maybe some robotics around the ship. The first time she has physical contact that’s nice isn’t even from Aloy. It’s from Varl. And then he gets brutalized and she has no one to hug her or pull her close because Aloy is also socially inept (and possibly 19/20). Zo is trying to deal with the loss of not only the guy she liked but her baby’s dad. The others aren’t even sure how to connect. Though Erend might cause he’s a sibling.
But just. Does anyone else realize how traumatized Beta actually is and how much worse it is for her?
Opinion or your own thoughts? Cause this has me very concerned for how Beta could be mentally for the next game.
oh hello!! haha, god its been so long since i've put my hzd/hfw thinking cap on but i love chattin' shop and opinions and i've a few to toss around
to start around my thoughts personally i've always interpreted beta from the time we know her to be about 18! not from any hard concrete evidence, so this is definitely not a correction, i just gleaned so from initial impressions and from a personal bias in my head how its quite poetic to me if Aloy were staring back at someone that could resemble a version of herself back when she first started her journey. Then lending to her personal frustration when said mirror doesn't in actuality resemble her (or Lis, in her view) at all. its even more devastating to me in this sense too 'cuz what she could have had as a 'childhood' is essentially already all gone. but yeah, long story short - while if i'm honest i don't think she's a child anymore, she is definitely very much so floundering and struggling in her young adulthood (i still stand by how she's depicted in False Negative, like that's just Her to me, Tessa u absolute wonder u).
god, ur probably right about her not having positive physical contact all this time - either violence or nothing up until the point she meets the GAIA squad. the concept of the bond beta and varl could have had always makes me SO sad to think about, it could have been so good, and personally it does frustrate me how they never leaned more into it to the detriment of both varl and beta. they could've had such a beautiful meaningful friendship (please pardon 'Ro is Annoyed at How Varl was Treated as a Character In-Story, Part Infinity, but this does touch upon it). It's undeniable she's been through a whole hell of a lot in that brief span of time she was on Earth and away from the Zeniths - the whole crew has, and as trauma does it's definitely gonna leave them all scrambling.
but in my wholesale opinion i gently pat ur head and assure you she will probably be alright at the end of the day! while FW was imo incredibly garbled in its delivery in places it does make clear that coming together to form a community to withhold against adversity is the goal here, and one everybody at Base recognizes and I feel are making great strides to get there! i have faith in this motley crew - Alva is Alva, bubbly and cooperative as ever; Kotallo's stoic but incredibly warm and well-meaning; Erend is Erend, he's always been good to his friends; Zo as an Utaru probably knows better than anyone the importance of community support and cooperation. as for Aloy i think she's taken that good bopping to the head in regards to learning to depend on people and letting people depend on her - she's got a lot of solitude issues herself as is to be expected but it really did warm me seeing how she's trying to get over them for the sake of everyone around her, and is enjoying finally leaning on that community too. my most precious babygirl. i'm very proud of her
i'm absolutely positive beta is in astoundingly good hands - they're all in astoundingly good hands w one another! it's been so cute to me how post game you can tell she's starting to heal and engage with others, just how the team had done before and after her. While absolutely I think they're all going to have their missteps and stresses and maybe a falling out here or there as they try and adjust, I honestly think the horizon series is at its core all about having compassion and care for your fellow man (albeit taking no shit from them at the same time) and the world you live in, so I doubt any of them will even accidentally leave Beta behind. she's got a sister, a mom, and a wholeass family now!! i adore how all the post-game content has been beta shyly but slowly but surely getting better, determined as she is to contribute the ways she can now.
hahaskdaflj; you were probably expecting an angstier response out of me and oh believe me i love the angst!! but i also have such a soft spot for when horizon goes all Indomitable Human Spirit on us it makes me go all gooey. i think the kids will be alright <3
on a funnier note to an extent i believe in beta precisely BECAUSE she's already a little unhinged. girl came in with the box already banged up and inherently fucked up. yeah miss beta 'let me just knock myself out cold and tear this implant directly out of my head that'll thwart em' sobeck will fit right alongside that hall of madness now known as Base GAIA she'll do just fine and dandy. i've gotten such a taste for unhinged sapphics lately and when horizon delivers it DELIVERS
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hannah-shipper-banana · 7 months
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I’m bored so here’s a ranking of the Austin and Ally seasons IMO
4) Season 1
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It was cute. They were all such babies.
It was goofy and the songs were bops. No drama, just fun.
What was the wardrobe department smoking tho , because why did they have Ally (a 14/15 year old girl) looking like a grandma? Austin, you’re not getting away with your wardrobe choices either buddy.
3) Season 4 (there i said it)
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In terms of comfort episodes, this season has it all for me. No drama (until towards the end of the season) just vibes.
The comedy for sure matured and the characters were developed and grown up.
Also AUSLLYYYYY. They were 100% married for the entirety of the last season, no one could tell me otherwise. They were just living their best life being happy. They all acted like normal high school teens in this season which I liked. (I liked when they got to be normal teens instead of pop stars all the time)
Austin and Ally were in FULL mom and dad mode with season with Trish and Dez being the fun aunt and uncle.
Also younger me (and low key present me) wanted Ally’s wardrobe. SUCH an improvement from season 1.
Genuinely such a funny season with a lot of funny episodes.
BUT I low key missed Sonic Boom and there were a lot of filler episodes (IMO). Also idk if its just me but I felt like they were acting more grown up than they actually were.
Also where were all the performances? Where were the Auslly at the piano scenes? WHAT WAS UP WITH AUSTIN’S HAIR?
With all that being said I still really loved this season.
2) Season 2
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The writers really did that!
The comedy, the goofiness, the angst, the drama, the romance! THE WARDROBE CHANGE!
THE FUCKING PERFORMANCES! (That ‘Better Than This performance’ + that ‘Tunes and Trials’ episode lives in my head rent free)
BABY AUSLLY! THE BEGINNING OF THEIR LOVE STORY! ALLY LOSING HER STAGE FRIGHT! WHAT WAS IN THAT MF NOTE?!
That finale still has me in pieces
The comedy was still kinda childish but it was a Disney show! Come on now.
THIS was the season that hooked me onto the show. MWAH chef’s kiss.
AND COMING IN AT #1, WE HAVE SEASON 3!
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I don’t know what the writers were on this season but MY GOD!
This was peak Disney Channel greatness for me. Younger me was SHOOK!
The comedy was matured and the episodes were entertaining af.
The angst and THE DRAMA!! THE JEALOUSY!!!
Cannot think of a bad episode this season. (Well…)
THAT FINALEEEEEE! THE BIG I LOVE YOU SCENE!
Started off with Austin and Ally missing each other while he was on tour, a few shenanigans in between, a few relationships filled with jealousy AND THEN ended with an Auslly love confession and Austin giving up his career for her! Who’s doing it like that?!
Also what was in the water that year, cause how did everyone look so damn good?! Ally’s hair will forever be goals, it was GIVING.
There was a balance of comedy, romance and drama AND performances and that’s what made this show what it was essentially.
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unluckyhoneybee · 1 year
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could u do white (best friend trope) and 21+23 for nico hischier?? first d for visual inspo if possible. thank you!
Random prompt list.
White: best friend.
21. "You came" "I couldn't miss this *event*, it's important for you"
23. "He loves you, you know?"
D. Everyone knows you are in love.
You were buzzing with happiness. Even though you arrived late at the game, you were on time to see Nico's second goal. And as his best friend, you couldn't be happier.
When it ended, you waited for him. Soon, the loud and happy players appeared, wanting to see their families and significant others and to celebrate the win. But Nico wasn't expecting anyone. He was walking next to Jack and checking something on his phone. Hughes had to elbow him and laugh.
Nico gasped when he saw you standing there on his jersey, the C visible on your chest. Wow.
You hugged as soon as you could reach each other. You laughed and kissed his cheek when he shook you a bit in excitement.
"I'm so so proud, Nico"
"You came" He said with a smile and tucking himself on your shoulder. At the beginning of the game, during the warm-ups, he had looked at your seat and he had found it empty. He knew you were busy, you had talked about it and you had insisted you would try. He had gotten the ticket for you with the other familiars and invited people, but he didn't have many hopes.
"I couldn't miss this game, it's important for you" You said caressing his cheek. "Plus, you scored twice!"
"You saw it?"
"Only the second one, but what a goal!" You kissed his cheek and fixed his beanie. "I'm really proud, Nico. For real."
He had to fist your his jersey to keep himself from kissing you right there.
"Nico! Bring YN!" It was John, standing next to a very smiley Jack. They made Nico roll his eyes, but with his hand on your waist, he looked back at you.
"What do you say?"
"A couple of beers with the Devils? I'm in"
You found yourself next to Nico, talking and laughing with everyone else. But at some moments it was as if you two were alone. Sometimes the conversation reminded you of some inner joke or something that happened to you. You would forget about anything else. And everyone was aware of it. Some of them would look with smiles on their faces, then... then there was Jack, who was having the time of his life.
"I'm going to get another one, do you want some?"
"Please" You said giving him your best puppy eyes. He chuckled and bopped your nose before getting up and leaving for the bar.
Jack jumped to his seat.
"You don't need to give him those puppy eyes, he would do anything for you"
It made you blush deeply. "Jack..." you begged him.
"He loves you, you know?"
You looked at him and for the first time in the night you saw he wasn't playing with you. But you had no answer to that.
"You make him really happy and he is a bit stupid so..."
"Jack, stop bothering my girl"
And everyone went silence for a second before the teasing started. My girl, my girl, my girl. Nico wanted the floor to open as swallow him.
"I mean... Uh... She is my best friend... You know guys..."
Your face was burning and your eyes were in your hands.
"Sure, Nico... Here... Your seat next to your girl" Jack obviously had to add something to the teasing.
"Fuck off"
It was uncomfortable after that, but it didn't stop you to drift closer to Nico as the night went on. People got drunk, other got tired, some left to go to some club and other went home. The big table and other splayed around the bar got reduced to a smaller ground of people and many conversations.
You were hugging Nico's arm and your cheek was on his shoulder. You couldn't stop thinking about what happened. Nico's words, Jack's...
"Hey, are you tired?"
"A bit"
He smiled softly.
"Me too. Want me to drop you at home?"
"It would be nice"
So you headed out. A more than tipsy Jack took the opportunity to tease the captain a bit more, whistling and telling him to wrap it.
"Don't listen to him, he talks nonsense"
"Does he?" You asked and hugged yourself on the way to his car.
"Why do you ask that?"
You took a deep breath and bit your lip.
"Um... He said you love me"
Nico blushed deeply. Again.
"Did he say that?"
You nodded. Nico took a deep breath and stopped walking. You did too.
"He did." You faced your best friend. "Then... A second later you called me your girl so... Does he always talk nonsense?"
Nico stepped in your space, his hands on his pockets.
"Not always"
You shivered.
"I love you" You whispered and he smiled.
Nico cupped your cheeks so gently.
"I love you too"
You leaned a bit and kissed him softly. "Do you want to stay with me tonight?"
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chronicbeans · 1 year
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If you are in the mood to write. I’d like an update on the illustrator one or anything your heart wants to write . I just love your writing and you inspired me to write.
Okay! I'll write something original down, simply because all of the fanfiction that I write is meant to work as a practice for a possible career in making original stories! OwO my main goal is to try to bring awareness to chronic illness, so I'll make this one based on one of those ideas.
Meeting Aluminum
TW: Chronic Illness, Hospital Settings, Mentions of Medical Procedures
It was so odd when I first woke up here. This large, looming hospital covered in off pinks, purples, and whites. The grass beneath me was red, instead of green, and the leaves on the trees were green. The hospital itself looked much more like a mansion. In fact, I wouldn't have known it was a hospital if it weren't for the sign on the front.
"The Iolite Hospital for the Mentally and Physically Unwell - We will keep you Here for as Long as You" the rest was scribbled out, before someone wrote "ARE SICK" to replace whatever was originally said.
I was then found by two odd men in white coats. One had no eyes, but seemed to see through an eye on his necktie. The other had four eyes on his face. The two of them tried speaking to me, which didn't work. I can't talk, unfortunately. I can only write down my words. The one with no eyes turned to the other, whispering to him. I could make out only a little. "Mute... Probable long-term... Yes, long stay."
I was then brought into the cafeteria, which is where I am now. They had given me a notebook before I got here. I look around, too nervous to sit with others, but there are no empty seats. I hear some talk about one of the many patients, as well as people turning to look at him for a few seconds, before quickly turning back to their groups.
"Did you hear about Aluminum? They say he's going to be a long-term patient. Possibly lifetime patient!" "I heard the doctor backed out of his endoscopy when they saw how narrow it was. Can't believe it got back to being that bad within just a year." "I heard his family is glad they won't have to deal with him anymore." "Well, I heard they never took care of him in the first place."
I look to the man everyone is looking at. He is sitting all alone, picking at his food. He seems to be like one of the men outside, as in, he has no eyes. Unlike that man, he seems to see through the various eyes he's scribbled onto his hospital gown with black marker. He can probably see everyone who is talking about him from the literal eyes on his back. That doesn't even account for how loud they are. His skin is a pale peach, with his cheeks dotted with blue freckles. The most notable part is his full head of orange, curly hair, and the two white wings floating above it. They seem to bop and bob as he moves his head from side to side, fluttering whenever he swallows the food he is eating.
I decide to walk over and sit with him. In part due to his table having the least people, as well as to just keep him company. I sit next to him, taking a few bites of my food, before picking up my notebook. He turns his face up to me, as if he only just noticed that I sat next to him. I turn the page to face him. He softly mutters to himself, reading aloud. "'Hello, my name is Derek. I'm sorry, I can't talk. I hope the others aren't getting to you'... Hey, Derek. It's alright. No need to apologize. The others are rather loud, but I'm used to it. They marvel at the other... Ahem... "Long-term patients", too. They can't seem to understand the meaning of a lifelong illness."
I write again, before turning it to him. "'Sorry to hear that. I heard I might be a long-term patient, too. Can we be friends?' Umm... sure? Just know that I tend to vent, alot. Most of the others do, too. I guess it is a mutual understanding that venting about our frustration at the doctors here is a good thing for our mental health. They don't have psychologists or psychiatrists here. Not even a therapist. Well, they have physical therapists, respiratory therapists... just not MENTAL HEALTH therapists. So, there isn't anyone else to talk to, besides each other. You get me?" I nod. "Good. I guess, since we are friends, I might as well show you the ropes of this place..."
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auxiliarydetective · 10 months
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OC Pride Challenge: Day 23
You can find the challenge here
Today's prompt is Free/Freedom so I decided to make something for my baby Inari (who I have to redesign, oops). She spent a huge part of her life without freedom and once she's actually set free, she struggles a bit at first. This is about that.
Inari still couldn’t believe it. She sat in the ruins of Shandora, staring up at the sky. Around her, Skypians and Shandia talked and laughed and even Nola the deity seemed happy. Mixed between them were the Straw Hats, the ones who had turned the entire island upside-down in such a small amount of time. One of them was her new master, Monkey D. Luffy. He was the one who had beaten Enel, who had beaten God, and had rung the Golden Belfry for everyone to hear. But when she had told him he was her new master now, all he had done was laugh.
“I’m not your master. You don’t have a master. You’re free!”
Free? There were people who said all pirates were free but she hadn’t been free for so many years. Passed around like a toy, a mere servant, she had been a possession. By now, she didn’t even know what it meant to be free. She had no idea what to do with her life now.
A huge bonfire erupting in the middle of the plaza caught her attention, distracting her for a moment. At the same time, drums started to sound and music started to play. Then, she remembered the chaos during the sea battle during which she had been taken away. She wondered if Nusstorte ever regretted taking her with him on that voyage. After all, she had been nothing but a little child.
“Inari-chan, how are you feeling?”
With those words, the flashback ended. Inari blinked rapidly to get back to reality. It was Sanji who had said those words, a calming smile on his lips. They barely even knew each other but it seemed like he had already made it one of his life goals to look after her. He acted a lot like how she remembered her siblings.
“I, uh,” Inari stammered, “I… don’t really know yet.”
“Aren’t you happy to be free?” Sanji asked, sitting down next to her.
“I am, I guess, I just… I haven’t been free in so long that I don’t really know what it means anymore.”
Sanji blew out a cloud of smoke against the night sky. “It means you get to do whatever you want. What’s a thing you like to do?”
“I like cooking.”
“We’ve got that much in common.”
“Baking, specifically. And I was always pretty good at making sushi. My past masters actually always let me cook, they were just glad they didn’t have to do it. I sometimes had to get pretty creative with the ingredients, but when it comes to food, there’s nothing a Charlotte can’t do!”
“Charlotte?”
“My family name. Charlotte Inari.”
“That’s a pretty name.”
“Thanks. It’s been a while since I got to use it. On all those other ships and with Enel, I’ve always just been Inari. Guess they wanted to forget about my family.”
“Or they wanted you to forget.”
“Or that.”
“... Sanji?”
“Hm?”
“I think I want to go home.”
That was when Luffy called out from beside the bonfire.
“HEY! INARI! Come and dance!”
A smile spread across Inari’s cheeks. She hopped off her set of stairs and hurried towards the campfire where Luffy waited for her, bopping to the music. Once she reached him, he took her by the hands and they spun around together. Inari started giggling, then laughing, laughing along with Luffy. When one song was finished, they paused for a while, cheering for the musicians.
“So, Inari,” Luffy said with a large grin on his face, “how do you like being free?”
“It’s nice,” Inari replied and she couldn’t help but chuckle. Then, she got an idea. “Hey, uh, if you wanna become King of the Pirates, you’ve gotta be heading for the New World, right?”
“Yeah!”
“Would you mind taking me with you? I know I’m pretty young but I’ve been sailing with pirates for most of my life and-”
“Sure!” Luffy interrupted with a grin. “You’re nice and you have cool powers.”. Then, he started yelling out to the entire crowd, raising his hands into the air. “GUYS! WE HAVE A NEW CREWMATE!”
“W-wait,” Inari stammered, but it was already too late.
That hadn’t been what she had had in mind. She had wanted to join her mother’s crew, so she hadn’t planned on joining the Straw Hats. But thinking about it realistically, she couldn’t really expect being shipped around on a pirate ship without joining its crew, right? They weren’t a travel cruiser. But… maybe this wasn’t so bad. She could always leave the crew once they got to Totto Land. Or she could stay with the crew and the Straw Hats could become part of her mother’s fleet! After all, staying with them didn’t sound half bad. They all seemed nice and like they’d pretty much let her do whatever. After all…
She was free now, wasn’t she?
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No Idea
Pairings: Athlete!Kirishima x PlusSize!Reader
Summary: College AU The reader is Kirishima's History tutor and they kinda have a crush on each other. It takes an afterparty filled with horny guys and a skin-tight dress for Kiri to realize he wants them all to himself.
Warning: Do I even need to say it at this point? It's smut, obvi. Kinda unedited. The reader and her best friend are black. Kirishima is a football player; he's VERY possessive over the reader. Her best friend is a little gay for her as well.
Author's Note: This was a commission!!!!! The client gave me this insane prompt and I had no choice but to go over the word limit. If you want to commission me, click here! Your support really means the world to me. Enjoy!
Word Count: 5,300
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“You’re back early!” My roommate, Liza, yelled from the other side of the apartment-style dorm room. The sound of her chair scraping the floor followed shortly after, along with the light footsteps of her sock-clad feet. “I left you a plate in the microwave, in case you were hungry. I could heat it up, if you’re too tired— why the long face? What happened?”
“He didn’t show up,” I sighed as I dropped my books on the table and sank into a chair.
“How can he not show up?” Liza fumed crossing her arms. “His GPA is already in the gutter from all the other quizzes he seemed to fail before the semester even started.”
“I know,” I replied in a bored tone.
“He’s on academic probation—”
“I know.”
“One more hiccup and he’ll be off the football team—”
“I know.”
“Not to mention how you practically have to bend backward to make time for him—”
“Mhm.”
“Just for him to flake on you for the third time! I just—”
“Liza, please,” I rose from my seat and stood in front of her. “You don’t have to be angry with me. It’s truly okay.”
“No! It’s not okay!” She stormed to the microwave and pulled the cover plate from the inside. She removed the foil and pushed it back into the device, before pressing the start button four times. She turns to face me and forces an angered sigh from her lips. “He likes you, you know that right?”
I lifted my books from the table and walked to our shared room. I took in the words that she threw at me with each step and digested them. Kirishima liked me. It wasn’t as though I didn’t have an inkling that he may be, sorta found me attractive. Although I wore glasses, I wasn’t blind. At least with them on. I saw the way he looked at me when we were less than a foot apart. Shoulders practically touching as we slouched over the Advanced American History textbook. Our hands brushing against each other’s ever so often. The sparkle in his eye when he looked at me longer than a few seconds; the blush on his cheeks when I smiled at his corny jokes. His persistent tendency to walk me home, although most times, we finished our study sessions just before dusk. The way he stayed glued to my side during the journey to my dorm. How he’d carry my books on the way. I noticed it all and practically welcomed it, since I too found him attractive. The spiky redhead just had a way of making everyone swoon over him. Kirishima was genuinely a nice person, not because there was something in it for him, but just because.
The beeping from the microwave brought me back to reality. I placed the textbooks on the designated space on the shelf and fixed my scattered stationery from that morning. Liza shuffled in with a bowl of baked fetta pasta, and a piece of toasted garlic bread a few minutes later. She placed the bowl on the desk, with a fork, a can of sparkling soda, and my favorite metal straw.
“What did I do to deserve you?” I said with a tired smile.
“Helped me pass ‘Text and Ideas’ with an A-,” Liza smiled back and placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Oh right,” I took a seat at the desk and forked the starchy dish in my mouth. “This is heaven-sent.”
“I knew you’d like it!” She deemed walking to her own desk. “I got the recipe from tiktok.”
I hum in response and continued to stuff my face. After a few minutes of silence, I grab the phone from my back pocket and unlocked it. A new message from Kirishima was the newest notification from many and it said:
Hey, I am sorry for not showing up. My teammate got shitfaced and decided to take a dive into the fountain. It took three of us to pull him out. It sucks because I was really looking forward to seeing you.
Since my mouth had already filled to its brink with pasta, I opted for a tight-lipped smirk instead of a toothy one. Kirishima all but admitted that he missed me. My hunch was right: the feelings are mutual. I swallowed the pasta and swiveled around in my chair to look at Liza. Her eyes were glued to her phone, but she snapped her head up to laugh at the content on her screen. Once she was down laughing, I picked my phone up and pointed it in her general direction. Reaching forward, she grasped the device and quickly read the message.
“Don’t respond to him,” she said, handing the phone back to me.
“Why? I thought you were shipping us together?” I asked whilst forking more pasta in my mouth.
“That’s why I’m telling you what I am telling you!” Liza rose to her feet and in a split second, she stood in front of me with a sickening smile.
“I am afraid to ask,” I said with a sigh.
“You don’t have to; I’m gonna tell you anyway,” she squats between my legs and widens her smile. “That boy is already wrapped around your finger, all you need to do is pull away. Just a tiny bit and he’ll come running.”
“Liza. . .”
“Hear me out!” She rose to her feet again and walked to the closet. “Remember when I went thrift shopping last week and I picked up that cute bodycon dress?”
“Yeah. . . ?”
“Well, I washed it and realized that it didn’t have the BODY to fill it out properly.” She pulls the dress from the closet and turns back to me. “And since the Homecoming Afterparty is at the Quarterback's house tomorrow night, I thought it would be the perfect time for you to wear it.”
I eye the dress, taking in its extremely short length and strappy detailing on the front. One wrong move and my breasts would spill right out of it. But, one right move would have them fall onto Kiri’s lap. I tried my best to list the pros and cons of the situation. Pondering what I could get out of the ordeal going to the lion’s den dressed as a gazelle. Yet, all I could imagine was me twerking on someone’s son and taking him home afterward.
💘🖤💘🖤
The dress fit like a glove: perfectly tight, almost like a second skin, but very breathable. I paired it with some hoop earrings, a few bangles on each wrist, and 3-inch kitten heels. My goal was to dress to impress, not nurse my aching arches by the end of the night. The entire ride over to the nicer part of town was nerve-wracking, for one, the Uber driver wouldn’t stop staring at my cleavage from the driver’s mirror. And, secondly, Liza practically had phone sex with her boyfriend, who was going to meet us at the party. I stared down at my phone the whole time, rereading Kiri’s message and the ones he sent afterward. It was true, he was wrapped around my finger. He didn’t double text; Kirishima sent five messages in a row.
Hey, are you free tomorrow? I wanted to talk about yesterday.
I’ll buy you that weird thing you like from Starbucks.
The drink you said that tastes like the moon.`
And I’ll get you those cake pop things.
My heart couldn’t help but flutter; I didn’t know he was paying that much attention to me. I only mentioned that Starbucks drink once in his presence, quite a while ago. It had to be a little over a month ago, yet he still remembered.
The car stopped and Liza popped right out. Her 34 inch Brazilian, straight swaying behind her as she closes the door. Still chatting with her boyfriend, she motions me out of the car with an eager smile. Reluctantly, I detach myself from the cool leather and tug on my dress as I closed the door behind me. I looked up toward the mansion before me, white paint and overwhelming size almost frightened me. But, when I saw a familiar, spiky-haired, redhead, all my potential fear left my body and warmth replaced it.
Kirishima’s back was to me; he was having an intense conversation with his best friend, Bakugo, one of the team’s Linebackers. The blond was so close to popping a fuse but Kiri was struggling to keep from laughing directly in his face. I approach the porch, slow and sensual, my eyes glued to him the entire walk over. Kirishima briefly turns around to address a comer of the group, Sero, an offensive player, when his eyes come up the steps. The humorous expression on his face drops and is replaced with awe. The other two boys look in the direction of his eyesight and replicate his reaction.
“Hi—” I lifted my hand to wave, but it never made it past my abdomen. Liza appeared right in front of me and captured my wrist.
“Girl, it’s our song! Hurry up!” She said as she proceeded to drag me into the house.
“Bye—! Wait, damn!”
Liza pulled me to the makeshift dance floor in the middle of the living room of the home. She starts to bop side to side, swaying her hips in place. It takes me a few seconds to register that “34+35” was blasting the speakers. Liza twirls around me in a fit of giggles and continues to bop along to the music.
“I thought you liked “positions” better than this track?” I questioned as I matched her rhythm.
“I do! I just had to get you out of there,” Liza answered as she swayed her head back and forth. Which made her hair move in an angelic wave behind her bandeau top and pencil skirt. “Those three guys looked like they wanted to run a train on you.”
“ELIZABETH!!!!” I screamed with a shocked smile.
“What?! I’m not lying!” She gives me a bashful smirk. “You look so good, mamas! Shit, you're making me rethink my relationship with Shinso.”
“Oh my god!” I laughed. “I can’t take your ass anywhere, for real!”
The song began to fade out and bleed into “Pussy Talk” with the infamous City Girls. Liza’s soft bops began to move into full booty bouncing. Soon her hands are on her knees and she’s throwing her ass back on my lap. I press my hand flat on her back and lift my other hand in the air. She whines her waist and looks back at me as her inner hot girl is threatening to make an appearance. Shortly after the first verse, Liza straightens her back and dances around me as I bop to the side, bouncing my ass to the music. A smile comes to my lips as my favorite part plays on full blast.
“Pussy talented, it do cartwheels,” Liza and I screamed in unison. “And he pay ‘cause he like how that part feel.”
“Pussy give speeches, heartfelt,” I continued, popping my back against my friend.
“Yuh,” Liza ad-libbed.
“Said the pussy really talk like it Garfield,” I rapped as I felt Liza’s hands glide up my sides.
“It do!”
We danced around each other for the rest of the song and pulled away from the floor, desperately needing to hydrate. We practically stumbled toward the makeshift bar across the living room. We reached into the cooler and pulled out two bottles of water. We chugged the water and tossed the empty bottles in the trash.
“Only water, ladies?” Mineta asked as we turned back towards the dance floor. “You don’t want something a little. . . stronger?”
“Get lost, grape juice,” a familiar voice suddenly came out of nowhere.
Just a few feet behind the purple blob stood Kirishima and Shinso. If looks could kill, Mineta’s body parts would be staining the marble floors and messing up my fresh pedicure. The poor excuse for a human scurried away as both football players approached us. Shinso instantly wrapped his arms around Liza and planted a kiss on her forehead.
“Having fun, baby girl?” His low voice sounded sensual against the harsh music.
A seductive smile falls on Liza’s face. “I would’ve had even more fun if you actually danced with me for once.”
“You know I don’t like—”
“Too bad!” She pulled Shinso to the dance floor.
Leaving me alone with Kirishima. I turned to look at him and offered him an awkward smile. “How was your diving lesson?”
The redhead returned my smile and scratched the back of his neck. “So you did read me my texts? I was starting to think you were mad at me or something.”
“Not at you, per se,” I replied thinking of my words carefully.
“Then who were you mad at?” Kirishima closes the distance between us and puts a finger under my chin. He redirects my attention to his face and gives me a smirk.
He looked good and he knew it. He wore a simple white t-shirt and black ripped jeans. But, he paired it with a burgundy leather jacket and a Cuban link silver chain. He had a gold wristwatch on his left wrist and a simple chain on his right. And his cologne. . . it danced in my nostrils. It wasn’t too heavy or suffocating; you simply had to be close to him to smell it.
Kirishima was playing a dangerous game and he knew it.
“At the people that take you away from me,” I looked at him with doughy eyes and slightly parted lips. A look of innocence was written all over my face.
Kirishima clenched his jaw and briefly looked away. A blush starting to form on his cheeks. “Well, I—. Shit.” He remained silent for a few seconds, gathering his words, before saying “You don’t know what you do to me, Y/N.”
“And what’s that?” I asked while removing his hand from my chin and bringing it to my lips. I gently kiss his bruised knuckles, never breaking eye contact while doing so.
The redhead opens his mouth to speak but is rudely interrupted by a yelling Liza.
“GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE, BITCH!!!! THEY’RE PLAYING OUR SONG!!!!”
While I was talking to Kirishima, the music seemed to slip away. I had no idea what was playing until I refocused my attention on the blaring speakers. “Come on, Kiri. Duty calls.” I drag him to the dance floor.
Liza unlatches herself from Shinso and twirls around me. “I’m not shy, I’ll say it. I’ve been picturing you naked.”
“I’m a little faded, you look like a fucking painting,” I continue the verse as I glide my hands along my body. “Big doe eyes, amazin’. She’s everything I’ve been prayin’.”
Liza walked up to Kirishima and glided her hand along his chest. “Me and your girlfriend playin’ dress-up house.” She pressed two fingers against her lips and poked her tongue out. “I gave your girlfriend cunnilingus on my couch.”
Kirishima blushes a bright red, nearly matching his hair. It takes everything in me not to laugh.
I look back at Shinso and he’s just shaking his head with a smile on his face.
“Go get your girlfriend, before she devours your teammate,” I said giggly quietly.
“Go get your best friend before she kills your loverboy,” Shinso counters looking down at me with a smirk.
“He looks like he's gonna pass out,” I replied, struggling to contain my laughter.
“If you think that’s bad, you should’ve seen him when you were twerking on Liza,” Shinso jested while leaning closer to me. “Eijiro looked like he came in his pants.”
I smacked his arm and leaned against his chest. “You’re lying!” Laughter overcame my body; tears were gathering in the corners of my eyes.
“I swear to god,” Shinso struggled to say while laughing. “Then, when Bakugo called you hot. . . Eiji almost went feral.”
“Stop. . . I can’t breathe. . .”
“You better fuck him like the world is ending. . . I can’t keep stopping him from. . . fighting the entire team over you.”
“You and Liza. . . perfect for each other. . . I cannot. . .”
The song swiftly faded out into another. Yet another one of Liza’s favorites: Buss it by Erika Banks.
The young woman peeled herself from Kirishima and began walking to her boyfriend. I distanced myself from Shinso and walked over to Kirishima. I wrapped my arms around his neck and looked into his eyes. “Are you okay, Kiri?” A smile painted my lips.
His eyes darkened and he gripped my waist firmly. “I want you. . . so bad right now.”
“How about we get outta here?” I suggested with a raised eyebrow.
“Go say goodbye to your friends, I’ll bring the car around,” Kirishima asserted with a smirk. He pressed a kiss to my forehead before detaching himself from me and walking out of the living room.
I turned back to Shinso and Liza, who were seconds away from eating each other’s face off. I tapped the loving couple and cleared my throat. They both pulled away and stared at me.
"We're leaving," I said simply.
"About fucking time," Liza replied with a smirk. "You better come back to the dorm in a goddamn wheelchair, if not, I'm sending you back to his place."
"You have like zero chill," I shook my head and waved goodbye.
"Don't forget to use protection!" Liza yelled after me.
A chuckle fell from my lips as I walked out of the front door. I found Kirishima exactly where he said he'd be: parked in front of the massive house, within a bright red mustang. He exited the car and walked around to the passenger side of the vehicle. He opened my door and helped me get in. Kirishima made sure I was buckled in and comfortable before entering the car on the driver's side.
He starts the vehicle, and places his right hand on my thigh. He gives the plush fresh a securing squeeze before pulling away from the curb.
The drive was short and sweet, averaging around ten minutes. We parked across the street from the boys’ dorm hall and exited the car. Kirishima opened my door and helped me out of the vehicle.
"If you don't want this, I could always take you home," he said as he shut my door. "I don't want to pressure you into anything."
"I want this more than you know," I responded while gripping his hand. "But, if I ever feel uncomfortable, I'll let you know."
Kirishima nods and smiles. "Good girl. Now let's go."
The moment his dorm's door closed, his body was pressed against mine and his hand glued to my waist. His lips massaged against my own, slow and sensually. I moaned against the kiss, and pressed my body closer to his. He felt so good attached to me, almost like he was meant to be against me. His searing hot kisses inched down my jawline and to my neck. Kirishima's hands slid up my abdomen and to my shoulders, he slipped the straps from the curved surface and pulled away just enough just to allow me to remove them from my arms.
He kissed the other side of my neck, leaving little bites here and there. The redhead ran his tongue against my collarbones and I swear a flood rushed to my nether regions. Kirishima kissed down and left my breast, gathering the anticipation that swirled through my body before latching his lips on my nipple. A throat my moan fell from my mouth and my legs jolted slightly. My mind continued to fog as he nestled against the sensitive bud, while happily moaning against the soft flesh. I pressed one hand against the front door and another in his hair.
Pants left my lips as I began to squirm underneath his body. "Take me to the bed, please," I begged while looking down at him. " I want you so bad, Kiri."
The redhead detached himself from my breast and gripped my chin. "Say my name, baby." His red eyes stared deeply into my brown ones, taking in every little detail of my expression.
"Eijiro," I said breathlessly.
"Say it again," he broke eye contact and gripped my waist.
"Eijiro."
His hands slipped down the curve of my rear and to my legs. He lifted limbs from off the ground and wrapped them around his waist. I wrapped my arms around his leg immediately afterward and giggled.
He walked further into the dorm room and passed through another dorm. He sits me on the extra-long twin bed and falls to his knees between my legs. Kiri unlatches my strappy heel and tosses it to the other side of the room. While he does the other foot, a smirk presses against his lips.
"What?" I asked while looking down at him.
"I'm just thinking about how this started," he said while smiling. "How my shifty grades gave me the best thing that ever happened to me."
"Stop it," I counter with a blush on my face. "You're exaggerating."
"Baby, I mean it with every fiber of my being when I say this," he leaned forward. "I've wanted to be with you for a while now, I just didn't know if you'd like me back. And I was kinda ashamed of taking so long to say something because you're so sweet and you really helped me a lot with Advanced American History. I didn’t want you to think I was using you for information or anything."
I leaned forward and pressed my lips on his forehead. "I liked you even before I officially knew you. When you beat the shit out of that guy that tried to home a drunk girl."
"I don't even remember that."
"It was during a Halloween party last year, that was when I first saw you. And I thought, "wow I wish more men like him existed in this world"."
"I can't believe you remember that."
"How could I not? You basically saved that girl's life and dignity. You were the only human being in a room full of predators. That's when I knew I wanted you for myself."
Kirishima laughs. "Greedy, little Y/N."
I shrugged.
"Come here."
I gathered the football player into my arms and pressed my lips onto his. Taking in every ounce of his kiss. Sucking on his bottom lip. Slipping my tongue within his mouth. Tugging against his collar to close the distance between us. After a few seconds, Kirishima kissed down my body again until he was face to face with my heated center. He scrunched the dress around my waist and pulled my panties off my legs before spreading my legs wide open.
"Oh… look how wet you are, baby," he kissed the soft skin in between my thighs. "All for me."
Kirishima dipped his head between my legs and took a long swipe at the sticky mess between them. A shiver ran along my spine, Arching my back, I released a soft whimper and spread my legs further apart. He dipped his tongue into the smooth canal repeatedly, bobbing his head as he completed the action. His calloused hands slid up my legs once more and hooked around my thighs. Kiri moved his hot mouth from the very bottom of my womanhood to the top, leaving a long string of spit along the way. The redhead sucked on the protruding bud tenderly; with hollowed cheeks, he looked up from my heat and stared into my eyes. I bit my lip and moaned loudly.
“Fuck, you feel good,” I arched my back against his mouth and bucked my hips slowly.
Kirishima released my bud with a silent “pop” and began lapping the rosy, pink button in great haste. My legs jolted at the new source of stimulation and a throaty whine fell from my lips. Squeezing my eyes shut, I squirmed underneath his mouth, desperately wanting to add more friction. Kiri noticed my slutty movements and began to move his tongue even faster.
“Ah. . . just like that, don’t stop,” my fingers gathered my bosoms and gave them a firm squeeze. The walls of my slick cave began to clench and release themselves at a faster pace. Tingles rose up my body, swirling against my lower abdomen, almost numbing my lower half entirely. Then, a searing sensation ripped through me, causing my hips to raise from the bed and my knees to shake. A low scream left my mouth as I felt the throbbing of my bud increase tremendously.
“Oh fuck! Oh fuck! Oh fuck!” My hips fell on the bed again and my legs shook violently. Kirishima steadied them as much as he could before a whole another wave hit my body and my entire being went still.
“Ah! Eijiro!” I screamed as the pleasure shot through my body for the last time. Pants left my throat and short spurts, just as sweat dripped from my forehead. I looked down at Kirishima, who had just pulled away from my spasming cunny. He had a look of astonishment on his face, as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. He looked down at my wrecked body, taking in the shaking limbs, the thin layer of sweat upon it, and the scrunched-up dress at the waist.
“You sounded so hot screaming my name,” he finally said after a few seconds of silence. “No one has ever made it sound so good as you.”
“Well, grab a condom and I’ll scream your name for the rest of the night,” I replied with a smirk. “If you can last that long.”
“Oh, baby,” Kiri’s smile widened. “You have no idea.”
He walked over to his dresser and pulled out a box of condoms from the top drawer. He ripped one off the sleeve and walked back over to me. I pulled the scrunched-up dress over my head and tossed it to the side. I looked over at Kiri and he’d already stripped himself of his T-shirt. He was currently unbuckling his belt with the condom packet in his mouth. His massive bulge immediately caught my eye and I moaned in anticipation. Kirishima rips the packet open with his teeth and rolls latex down his throbbing shaft. My walls clench at the delicious sight and I could feel my nipple begin to stiffen
“If you’re still tired, we can wait a little—” Kirishima begins to say before I cut him off.
“Eijiro, stop being nice and fuck me like a slut.”
His lips were on mine within the next heartbeat. His hands roamed every crevice of my body, taking in the soft tissue and stretchmarks lovingly. His throbbing member slowly slid into me with little to no friction. He made sure to thumb my clitoris while inserting himself, just so he wouldn’t hurt me. And I swear, I was seconds away from asking him to marry me. He gently moved his hips backward, and then pushed forward again. Highlighting his first stroke. He looked at the crimson hue on my face and leaned down to kiss me.
“You are so pretty, princess,” Kiri groaned softly, as he moved his hips at a gentle pace. “So, so pretty.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him again. Our tongues danced together as his member tenderly kissed my sensitive walls with each thrust. Kirishima moaned against my lips, as he took in every part of that union. He hiked up one of my legs and hooked it around his waist while he cradled the back of my neck with the other. He looked into my eyes as he increased the pressure of his strokes and their depth. My mouth hung open, and drool poured from the side of it as he kept up the sickening pace. My eyes began to roll back as throat moans rose from the depth of my body.
“Oh God. . .” I slurred as the pleasure increased within my body.
“Aww look at my pretty baby,” Kiri grunted as he rested his hand on my neck. He pressed his thumb between my lips.
I sucked on the digit and looked into his eyes. He moved his hips faster and my lips separated from around the finger. Pants fell from my lips as I felt his member sensually assault my cervix. After a few minutes, Kirishima suddenly pauses and hikes one of my legs up to his shoulders. He readjusts his body, leaving his hand on my neck and placing his hand on my clit. Kiri began to rock his hips in a powerful, but steady motion. He rubs the throbbing bud in a gentle motion, slowly gathering every ounce of pleasure within my body. The pace of my breathing increased rapidly, as the pool in my stomach began to inflate. Whimpers fell from my lips as I gripped the sheets underneath me.
“I’m so close. . .” I whispered through tight lips. “Please don’t stop. . .”
“You’re squeezing me so deliciously tight, baby,” Kirishima grunts as a droplet of sweat drops from his brow. “Milking my cock for everything it’s worth. What a greedy little cunny you have.”
“Eijiro. . . I wanna cum so bad,” I whimpered through pants. “Please let me cum, baby.”
Kirishima curses under his breath and releases his hand from my throbbing bud. He places both hands onto my neck, thumbs pressing against my jaw. He eases his body forward and keeps his sickening pace. “You’re gonna be the death of me, I swear.”
I sucked in a breath and wrapped my hands around his forearms. I furrow my brows and pant with my mouth open. “You make me feel so good, Eiji. So fucking good!”
“You’re mine, you hear me?” He drops his hands from my neck and presses his forehead to mine. “You don’t get to fuck anyone else. . . . .You don’t get to be with anyone else. . . .My name will be the only name you moan for the rest of your life, do you understand?”
I nod. “I understand.”
“You’re mine and no one else's.”
He pulls me into a searing hot kiss. Drinking in all the love and energy throughout my body. I hook my arms around his neck and moan against his lips. Suddenly, I felt an intense rush of adrenaline pass through my body and everything seemed to go silent. A low ringing noise sounded in my ear as my mouth fell open. I dug my arms into his back and clung to his body. Every fiber of my being tensed and my mind went completely blank for several seconds. Then, slowly, my body released itself and collapsed onto the bed. I opened my eyes lazily to see Kirishima’s eyes tightly closed and his hips slightly shaking. Once he finished his ride, his body relaxed and he lowered my leg from his shoulder. He pulled me into an embrace and pressed another kiss onto my lips.
I pulled away from the kiss and looked into his crimson eyes. “Were you serious about calling me yours?”
“Ugh. . . yes?” He replied hesitantly. Then, he added “If that’s okay with you! I don’t wanna force you—”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” I cut him off with a smirk.
“Oh, I was worried for a second.”
“The only thing you should be worried about is your Advanced American History grade.”
“Oh, right. . .”
“You miss another one of my sessions, I’ll ignore you again.”
“Please don’t! I will be present at every session.”
“Good. And you have to be Starbucks.”
“The drink that tastes like the moon?”
“Matcha latte with 2 pumps of chai. Yup.”
“And two chocolate cake pops.”
“Mhm. You know me so well.”
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nagipops · 3 years
Note
Hi!! Could you do headcanons for a Nagi x reader where the reader is amazed at Nagi with soccer and games? I hope this makes sense :,p
AMAZED READER HEADCANONS!
FEATURING: nagi seishiro!
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you’re often caught gaping with stars in your eyes at the tall, agile, soccer player
and this is, of course, how the two of you first met
he looked like an angel floating in midair as he maneuvered his nimble feet into a skillful trap before shooting the ball directly into the goal at an alarming speed
you actually thought you saw the ball drill a hole into the net
you just froze there, shellshocked, as he turned to reset the field, but not before he locked eyes with you
and boy did his heart thump louder than ever
it was as if time had crawled to a stop, and here was this incredibly attractive stranger who was just… looking at him like that
it piqued his curiosity, and the rest is history <3
don’t get me wrong, you’re still just as starstruck at his soccer skills as you were when you first met him
but this time, you’re able to yell it at the top of your lungs
“go nagi!! that’s my number eleven!!!”
everyone just stares at you like you’re deranged, but then they spot number eleven on the field, and your strange behavior is 1000% justified
this man is an absolute GOD in his cleats, make no mistake
so obviously, you’re his god-in-crime (do those exist?)
you just can’t wrap your head around how he does the swish-woop-tap-bop-smash thingy with his legs and feet and it boggles your mind
but all you know is that 1. it looks awesome as hell, 2. that’s your boy, and 3. hot damn how did you get so lucky.
his lanky legs aren’t the only nimble thing about nagi tho!!!!!
HIS FINGERS!!! seriously how is this man so lazy yet his limbs are quick as hell.
when he’s shooting everything in sight on his little console, his fingers and wrists twist and turn every which way at a million miles per hour
he’s so nonchalant about it too
he’ll be complaining about how boring his day was, lying on his back and stifling a yawn while his fingers jab at the buttons and swipe across the joysticks at the speed of light
you just gape. and watch. and marvel at your insanely talented boyfriend
he’s just. chef’s kiss <3
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if you enjoyed this post, likes and reblogs are much appreciated :) feel free to request here, and make sure to read the rules first! have a lovely day everyone <3
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disapoitment · 3 years
Text
Am I about to overanalyse another throwaway gag? Absolutely! This time it's from the classic season one episode, Napoleon Brainaparte.
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So, towards the very end of this episode, our poor, beloved mice are about to meet their tragic end. They're threateningly informed that an afterlife awaits them, and as they cower in what they believe to be their final moments, the viewers are given a glimpse into their heads...specifically, what they each imagine heaven to be like. This scene surprised me on my first watch, because it was pretty unexpected. And surprisingly...sweet?
Let's start off with Brain's idea of heaven, which is shown first.
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Right off the bat we have him surrounded by a chorus of Pinky angels. This is one of the rebuttals I have for people who doubt Brain cares about Pinky...I mean, if I didn't like someone, I definitely wouldn't include them in my idealised afterlife, nevermind multiple versions of them!
Uh, I digress. The thing I actually want to draw attention to here is the fact that Brain actively desires Pinky in his life (or, afterlife, in this case) and can't imagine existing, in any form, without him. We've seen it time and time again, from the episode "Snowball" to that one story from the comics, but this is one of the earliest, most apparent instances of it in the show. This scene alone proves to the audience that Brain isn't using Pinky to reach his goals, but genuinely sees him as a friend and a companion. And maybe there's an unhealthy splash of codependancy in there.
To take this a step further, an afterlife is commonly portrayed as a sort of perfect world; a place of eternal happiness, even. It's safe to assume from this daydream that Brain subconsciously associates Pinky with the same joy and contentment associated with heaven. We can even interpret this scene as Brain viewing Pinky as an angel, which is not only heart-wrenchingly sweet, but makes a fair bit of sense, all things considered.
After all, though Brain himself tends to shy away from explicit displays of emotions and empathy, he's been established to admire these traits in others. In "TV or not TV", he claims to find Princess Diana (who was well-known for her activism) attractive, and he repeatedly praises Pinky's kind nature throughout the series, even when it directly interferes with a plan. He even sabotages his own plots when Pinky objects for moral reasons, eg "Inherit The Wheeze", and then there's the iconic instance of him DESTROYING his own machinery after tearing up over Pinky's Christmas letter. I believe this is why Pinky is an angel in Brain's eyes: he's compassionate, he's pure-hearted, and he's innocent. Well, innocent in the sense of intention, at least. Pinky represents all the things Brain is too afraid to be himself, lest morality get in the way of his goals.
On top of that, Pinky always stays by Brain's side. He's the only person/mouse who has never left him, hurt him, or betrayed him. It's natural that someone so lonely, cynical and self-loathing as Brain would view his polar opposite as a literal angel...or, even more impactfully, a full chorus of them. Of course Brain's idealised heaven has himself as an angel too, but I'd say that's either his ego coming into play (he's both self-hating and conceited) or just to serve as a visual signifier that he's...um, dead. The flock of Pinky angels is what I'm focusing on here, because the sheer amount of them in comparison to Brain highlights them in this miniature megalomaniac's reverie. And also because it's more interesting to take the analysis in this direction! ♡
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Honestly, there's not quite as much I can say about this segment of the scene. Brain is on a throne, so presumably he's imagining himself ruling...heaven? Good for you, Brain!
It's very in-character for Brain to put himself as the centrepiece of his ideal afterlife, and as much as I love this little guy, the angel imagery is obviously ironic. Whether intentional or not, this can be connected to his egotism, as well as his belief that everything he does, no matter how severe or morally corrupt, can be justified by the end goal of ruling Earth and making it a better place. I don't believe that Brain genuinely sees himself as an angel when it comes to his purity, but rather that he thinks all his sins can be forgiven if/when he becomes the "benevolent dictator" (his words, not mine) of the planet...or maybe that's just what he tells himself to be able to sleep at night.
He looks noticeably very content and calm as an angel. I would go off on a tangent about how this is a version of Brain who is finally freed from the burden of his never-ending cycle of failure, and that this suggests that he needs to break out of his world domination obsession to ever be truly happy, but...I'll spare you.
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Oh, Pinky. Poor, poor Pinky. He's so selfless that it stings :(
It says a painful amount that in his idea of heaven...he's not even in it. I don't think he hates himself, yet he's so good-natured that he ends up neglecting his own desires for the sake of others. In this scene, he has literally forgotten to include himself in his own idealised world. I hate to say this, but this could be a result of his codependent relationship with Brain. He's so focused on Brain's happiness and goals that his life almost revolves around him at this point, and as I mentioned before, they fall apart without eachother. Pinky pours his heart and soul into helping Brain, partly because he genuinely believes Brain will make the world a better place, and partly because he'd do almost anything for Brain's sake. His love for Brain is so strong that he's the focus of Pinky's own paradise.
What I find significant is Brain taking the role of every single angel in the fantasy. He's portrayed as a sweet and wholesome creature wearing a cute smile, a stark contrast to reality. Even just him being an angel in the first place implies that this is how Pinky sees him. A big part of the latter's motivation to help Brain take over the world, though scarcely mentioned in the show itself, is so it can become a happier, nicer place for everyone. As a determined optimist, Pinky shares the desire to improve the Earth, and so views Brain as a sort of hero, someone surely worthy of a halo and wings.
His view of Brain as a good person can be explained further when we consider that he doesn't mind being bopped (and in some interpretations, downright enjoys it), can shrug off any verbal abuse, and clings onto any snippets of warmth he receives from Brain. The things others would raise their eyebrows at are things Pinky ignores or adores. I think it's safe to say that, overall, Pinky is the type to focus on his friend's positive traits and simply ignore most of the negatives, as seen in "Pinky's Plan" when he gives an extremely sugarcoated description of Brain to the world leaders. Because of all this, in Pinky's mind, Brain truly is an angel. It's bittersweet, really.
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And here we have it again. Brain on the throne, ruling. This is all Pinky truly wants—for his friend to be happy, fulfilled and at peace, making whatever world he may rule a better place. There's not an awful lot more to say now, since this is just a repeat of the scene from Brain's fantasy, but I think that's the most heartwarming part. These two mice are working towards the exact same goal, and yet their reasons for doing so are quite different: Brain to rule the world, Pinky to make his friend smile. It's almost poetic in its simplistic beauty. The voice actors said it best when they described the show as a "desperate love story", and the little scenes like this only prove that to me.
Welp, that's all I have to say for now! I haven't reached this hard since I tried to get to the chromatica oreos on the top shelf in Tesco. But this was fun, anyway! Thank you ever so much for reading :'D Your patience must be incredible! 💕
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literatelogan · 3 years
Text
I NEVER SAID FRIENDS
part twenty-eight - alone at last
part twenty-eight bonus: nsfw of their first time. assigned male route. assigned female route. both have gender neutral pronouns.
masterlist | previous - next
updates every mon, wed, fri @ noon CST
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pairing - shota aizawa x gn!reader
genre - fluff, angst, humor
summary - it’s your first year teaching at u.a. high school and you would be lying to say you weren’t intimidated. school is months away from starting but principal nezu has taken it upon himself to set you up for success. all of the teachers will be helping you onboard but shouta aizawa has been assigned to be your mentor. he hates this but does he hate you? yes. will he stop hating you? maybe.    
tws - you still might cry. but it’s pure fluff.
a/n - 1.1k ahhhhh holy crap! okay yeah this is the rest of the first day together. i will be doing the smut separately and it will be posted sometime this weekend. also i am here for the friendships of y/n with ecto, vlad and cementoss. 
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The first day felt like each moment was in slow motion. The meetings were intense and required so much concentration that it was a bit hard to make it through. Toshi was great about that though. He was an amazing mentor even when in person. Being the newest staff member before you definitely helped that. There were a few times that you felt like more than just a couple pairs of eyes were on you. Being the newbie was always stressful but some of those looks were very questioning. Not mean. Just confused. During one of the breaks, you actually made it your goal to spend time getting to know your other coworkers. While spending the entire day with Shouta would have been wonderful, your job did come first, and only socializing with him wasn’t healthy. Ecto had so many questions. He wanted to know the play by play. When you showed him, Vlad, and Cementoss the pictures of all the presents, they were shocked. Snipe loved poking fun at Shouta. He kept jabbing him in the side. “Someone’s a softie. What happened to the asshole we all knew and tolerated?” You couldn’t help but laugh. Sho gave you an annoyed glare at that but you didn’t care. “He even uses memes now. All the time! Oh! Do you want to see pictures of him smiling? I have a ton. He’s not great at it but he’s cute so it’s okay.” Shouta had moved behind you now, wrapping his arms around your shoulders making you think he was about to hug you before he snatched your phone out of your hand. “Hey!” He shook his head. “You’ve lost phone privileges. You’re lucky I’m not giving you detention.” That promptly earned a “Kinky!” from Nemmy. Shouta was blushing now and that only made it worse.
At lunch, the two of you ventured away from the others to an empty classroom. Alone. For an hour. And not allowed to have sex. The Shouta you knew and…god. The one you knew and loved was back once the other teachers weren’t around. Laughing at your dumb jokes and staring at you with that look in his eyes as you rattled on about your plan for your classroom. Once you were done actually eating, it was a bit more difficult to follow Nezu’s rules. You still had twenty minutes before you had to be back. Just a couple little kisses as you moved closer to each other, head leaned against each other. “You’re not a bad kisser.” He pulled back a little and gave you an inquisitive look. “Not bad? That’s not a great compliment, darling.” He pulled you in for another kiss but this one was more heated. Your lips parted as his tongue pressed against them. Your mouths fit so well together. They were made to join. You pulled apart and rested your foreheads together. “I want to do so many things to you, darling. It is taking all of my composure. Do we really need this job? What if we just leave and spend two weeks quarantining with each other?” You gave him a little bop on the head. “You’re thinking with your downstairs brain and it’s not as intelligent as your upstairs one.” He grumbled but immediately relaxed as your hand started to run through his hair again.
He pulled away from your face and moved to lay down in your lap. As promised, you ran your fingers through his hair and played with it. It was surprisingly soft. He could do with a better comb though. Untangling pieces as you went and rubbing little circles onto his scalp until your fingers tingled a little. The timer on your phone went off to let you know that you only had about five minutes to get back to the meeting room. “Darling, we need to go back.” No response. “Sho, seriously. I don’t want to either but we need to.” The only response was a soft snore and you couldn’t help the chuckle. He was conked out. Waking him was painful. He looked so peaceful. But you knew that you needed to go or everyone else would be even more suspicious than they probably were. You would get to see him sleeping so many more times. Maybe even wake up to that cute face. Your fingers weaved through his hair as you gently jostled him until he opened his eyes. “Darling, you need to wake up. We have to go.” With a grumble and some rubbing of his eyes, he got back up and you both rushed to get back to the others. Hizashi and Nemmy looked like they might explode if they didn’t hit you with a snide remark.
The rest of the day passed by just fine. Sure it was an exciting day as your first one both working and with Shouta but it was still work. Ecto was a sweetheart and the two of you worked on plans for decorating his classroom as well. When you told him earlier about Shouta’s present, he couldn’t hold back his excitement. “I can’t believe he’s been hiding you from all of us.” It was sweet and reassured you that you wouldn’t just be Shouta’s partner or the new teacher but a welcomed part of the staff. The end of the day could not come soon enough and as you all gathered your things to leave, Shouta hovered behind you. “Breathe. You can wait.” He pouted a little but quickly hid it when Vlad burst out laughing. “It’s cute, right?” Vlad’s nodding was accompanied by his almost silent wheezing laugh. Walking out was extremely exciting. If you could run without everyone making fun of you, you would. Once you stepped off campus grounds, you knew you wouldn’t last long.
The walk to your place was a mostly silent one. You were pretty sure that if either of you said two words, you would jump each other right in the next alleyway. Once you were on the other side of the door of your apartment, his arms were around you tight. His face was snuggled into your shoulder and you could feel him smiling against you. Your head rested on his as you stood in silence. It was warm but not just in a physical way. Your heart felt warm in a way it hadn’t in a very long time. Your skin tingled under his in the few places it touched around your clothing. After a while, Shouta’s face peeked up from your shoulder and nuzzled against your chin. His stubble brushing against your skin and making it itch a little. “We should go to your bedroom.” He pulled away just enough to move to your side and wrap his arm with you, grasping your hand in his. You led him through your apartment. Your skin on fire. You had thought about this moment so many times.
It was happening.
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taglist -  @thatcutewerewolf @propertyofpoeandbucky @goodgodimaweirdperson @moon-spirit-yue @ravenkake @grungelovebug @freyafolkvangr​ @punicorn999​ @courtneypaigemartin​ @pasteldaze​ @therealwalmartjesus​ @ethylalcoholforfandoms​ @ineedmorefanfics​ @lunarentity @delightfully-anonymous​ @moremilkforkags​ @noonewouldlisten25​ @jazzylove​ @megalomango​ @bluefaeriefury​ @kizzannebaby​ @thepuckishrogue​
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firstagent · 3 years
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Review: Digimon Adventure: (2020) Episode 61: A Place To Return To
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In this episode, Takeru earns his merit badge by helping ElDoradimon cross a hill.
If the crests are all meant to represent attributes of each of the eight kids, that sure isn’t reflected in the kinds of stories we’re getting. While some of them are better at showcasing their traits than others, they’ve all fallen in the category of “needing additional power to stop the bad Digimon from doing bad things to not bad Digimon.” When you add in the variances among these bad Digimon, from evil spirits to possessed fanboys to not-really-all-that-bad pirates, it’s disappointing that the solution to all of them is still beating them into submission. That makes this story, slow and exhausting as it gets, an appreciated break from the norm, with no enemy other than physics and an outcome that still dials in on Takeru’s key attribute.
The most striking thing about this episode is that it doesn’t have an enemy at all. Or rather the enemy is a mountain if you’re into the whole “man vs. nature” brand of conflict. The fact that it’s anything other than some random antagonistic Digimon is eye-opening, to the point where you spend the entire episode waiting for someone (hey there Gravimon) to show up and try to kill everybody. That anticipation creates a sort of artificial suspense that carries you through until the end, when you realize the premise isn’t a buildup to anything. It’s just a long story about Takeru trying to do one good deed. Then it’s all kind of wholesome.
Wholesome doesn’t get far without substance, however, and along with Takeru’s unending need to get ElDoradimon over the mountain, there’s a quiet sociological examination going on with the other Digimon watching him. ElDoradimon wants to get over the mountain because his homeland or whatever is on the other side. The other Digimon in Leomon’s party don’t have homes at all anymore, refugees from Millenniumon’s destruction. Naturally more than a few of them are bitter about this. So is it worth going through the trouble of a cumbersome, maybe impossible task of helping somebody achieve the dream none of them will ever be able to realize? Not everyone’s on board immediately, and the fact that the show even takes time to ask the question deserves credit.
This is crystallized through Gravimon, a victim himself, one of the final holdouts, who even mocks the effort. Takeru wins him over with a surprising speech about how he’s in the same position. The low-hanging fruit here would have been talking about how he would like to go home at some point, a sentiment that nobody has brought up despite the length of their journey (and the fact that last we heard, this was all happening in real time!). Instead, Takeru brings up how the happy memories of his complete family will never happen again. That’s deep for an eight year old! For a series so afraid of diving into each kid’s story, it’s done an admirable job sneaking in genuine feelings over the Ishida divorce.
Takeru also gets a crest story that fully centers around hope without banging you over the head with it. After several dubious parables, Hikari and Koshiro’s certainly were about light and knowledge, but in a glaringly obvious way. Takeru’s show of hope comes in simply sticking to the belief that getting ElDoradimon up the mountain is actually possible. The task looks gargantuan, enough to make not only other Digimon, but the audience itself, question whether giving a single Digimon a spot of joy is really worth it. It’s honestly exhausting to watch. But he never wavers on this belief, and it’s that conviction that activates his power, wins over Gravimon, and leads to the miracle to make it work.
It’s not a shame that they resort to a miracle. Early on it felt like it needed one. The tragedy might be that even the most customized of stories all still amount to one of the kids digging deep and refusing to give up. Even without an actual enemy, it still requires a big show of force from a strong Digimon. It’s far too late for the show to redeem itself as far as character development or having a compelling narrative. It’s now in Hunters territory where the quality of an episode depends on its ability to tell a unique story on its own. Despite the format, we’ve only gotten a few in this arc. Its slow pace and lack of real action may not be the most exciting watch, but its success lies in doing things differently. With a show this banal, different is always appreciated.
My Grade: B
Loose Data:
It’s obvious why ElDoradimon was featured here, but his lack of vocabulary continues to make it hard to understand his thought process. He’s clearly relentless and he’s clearly happy to reach his goal, but everyone has to go off assumptions as to why.
This is now the second episode featuring the kids trying to make sure ElDoradimon gets from point A to point B without killing himself. A little strange that the emphasis with him remains his difficulty with elevation and not the fact that he’s a giant moving castle, the actual awesome thing that got him all the love in Savers.
He was first introduced on Cloud Continent. If we’re to believe this is his homeland, either this place is on Cloud or he made his way up there prior to the Devimon arc. Which means at some point, ElDoradimon somehow went from the lower continent all the way back up to Cloud. Now that’s what I want to watch.
Okay, A for effort and all, but I refuse to believe that Takeru and Patamon pushing ElDoradimon did a lick of good at the start.
Glad they started to work in ropes and pulleys and some sort of system to move him, but surely there had to be a smoother way to get to the other side of the mountain. Search for a pass or a river or swallows with string or something. You’d think it would cross somebody’s mind to consider possible smarter routes rather than straight over.
Boy, I’m already starting to cringe at how they’ll explain that the crest of courage could only be activated by Taichi bopping around from place to place helping his teammates out like original Sora in the Vamdemon arc. But man, that would have been the perfect framework for Yamato getting his crest of friendship.
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thenotetoselfpod-hq · 3 years
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“The answer is yes if you were wondering if y’all were spoiled. Whew, Chile. Don’t ask me for NOTHIN’ else.” Zion chuckled sweetly as she dramatically cleared her throat. “Lets get into it. Welcome back to another episode of the Note to Self podcast where we talk all things self care of the body, spirit, mind, work ethic, sprinkled in with a whole lot of motivation to carry us into a new day. I am your host Zion Taylor and with me in my makeshift studio is my lil baby who listens to all of my problems, my boss friend THEEEEE Brilliant O’neal.” Zion air claps as she smiles over at Brilliant. “How are you on this lovely day, mama?”
“Hey, hey, hey! I’m so excited to speak to the note to self listeners all over, it’s been fun listening in and making my own input here and there but wheww being here feels so rewarding.” She said warmly before playfully exhaling. “I’m doing good, managing like I usually do but good nonetheless. How are you?! What jewels do you plan on dropping for the people today?”
“I’m probably doin’ a little less good than you since you’re managing but girl .. I cannot complain at all. So thankful to have you here for this episode and to just catch up. We’ll get into the tea of it all a little later. We start every episode with a brief recap and I wanted to thank everyone, again, for all of the love. I hope you all were inspired to really keep killing shit in the industry that you’re in and watch the doors open up for you. Last weeks top listeners were the beauty that is known as @royalnike who spoke about her Black Owned Mechanic business and the short term goals that she has for herself in that business. Of course you, Mrs. Brilli Dis, founder and owner of The Glamour Parlor, and the beautiful @syxrai, who I’m obsessed with on IG by the way, but who also is a film producer ALL shared your short term goals which inspired me tremendously. If you missed out on that go give it a listen and drop your own goals in the comment section.
Music is the only thing that gets me through my week sometimes. This week is on you because Channing is still pressed about Good Days so that shit rings in my head every day because of her.” Zion laughed, “What have you been listening to this week? Any new music you wanna share? Put us on.
Brilliant cracked up in laughter at the mention of Channing. “That baby got taste, because that’s my jam! But this week I’ve been on my Gangsta Brilli, I’ve been playing A Gangsta’s Pain by MoneyBagg on repeat. I think his track with Jhené is the perfect vibe, so if y’all need something to vibe to, with a nice little glass of wine, One of Dem Nights, but the whole album bops.”
“Okaaaay. Now see I haven’t always been a MoneyBaggYo fan up until his songs started getting airtime on the radio. I’ma definitely have to give that a listen once Channing is done boppin’ to her fave.
And that brings us right into the TEA for the day. I’ve known Brilliant for several years now and I feel like I’ve only known her as this amazing business women, wife and mother. We both know how crazy it can be going from Hashtag Living Single to Mommy Duties real quick once you’re married and have wifely duties, etc. How long did you know your Husband before you two decided to make it official AND tie the knot? Was marrying young something that you were open to or did it not matter? What’s that young love story you can’t wait to share with your kids?” Zion smiled as she looked over at Brilliant.
“So I always tell people that me and my husband’s love story is literally crazy, and I don’t think it could’ve happened any other way. Because were short on time, for the real how we met tea, watch our YouTube video! But..I think we dated for about a year before I got pregnant and just because of the type of man he is and how in love we were, and how happy we were when our son Justice was born, we got married when he was about 3 months. I honestly didn’t see myself marrying that young or having children..and my life did a whole 180. I just thought damn I’ll probably hate it here but when you have that person to make those defining moments with..it was a breeze and I found myself being happier with my little family than when I ran the streets. I don’t think marrying young is for everyone but when you make the right decision..man the moments you’ll create..priceless. Still a hot girl though, don’t get that twisted.” She said with a playful laugh.
“EXACTLYYY. I have to remind Lex all the time when he sees me playing dress up in my boots and coochie cutters that mama BEEN a stallion, okay?! Hot Girl Summer me, please!” She laughed, “No but seriously the feeeeels. I’m obsessed with the love you two have for each other. It’s infectious. But I’m sure it hasn’t always been cupcakes and rainbows, right. Y’all, shit gets real after the wedding and the vows and even after that honeymoon phase. I know for me and Carmelo, I’m more of the opinionated one and I really had to learn to step down and let my man LEAD our home. We were pregnant before the wedding ... liiike ya girl had her dress taken OUT 4 times before I was satisfied with how my hips looked in it.” She chuckled, “You said something so special, when you have that person to make memories with you will DEFINITELY not want to live a single day without them and expanding that love into children only makes it better. Melo was trying to get me pregnant BEFORE he proposed to me and I wasn’t having it because at the time I was dealing with fertility issues and having a baby seemed damn near impossible. I always say that he spoke the life of our son, Lexington, into existence because I didn’t think that I could physically carry.” She stated, smiling again at the thought.
“I remember you alls last video where you announced the pregnancy of my other child, Jewel” She chuckled, “Um, what was the experience like for you? Having to go through all that you did for the blessing that is currently your literal shadow. She looks like her Daddy but has your everything else. What was that like?”
“That’s your child for sure.” She said with a laugh. “It was actually on the difficult side, she’s my rainbow baby. I suffered a miscarriage and some issues with fertility so I actually got pregnant with Jewel through IVF. I adore her, it’s scary having a mini version of myself. Someone who’s with all my hair, makeup and nail antics because my son Justice is not with it at all! He won’t even let me take his picture half the time.” She laughed momentarily. “I know it’s the same way with you and my baby Channing”
“I can imagine it being extremely difficult. When God’s mind is made up we can only pray that He’s included us in His plans and when he made Channing? He definitely had me in mind.” She laughed. “I still don’t know how we got so lucky but I don’t question anything. She’s obsessed with all of my clothes and hair and everything in between.”
“The last thing I wanted to talk to you about is what’s been going on in the media with Porsha, Falynn, and the Husband who I don’t even know his name yet. So Porsha Williams brought onto the Real Housewives of Atlanta show her friend Falynn a few years ago. Maybe like two seasons ago. This is someone who was also featured on this last season of the RHOA show that was filmed in 2020. Apparently the two are no longer friends and Porsha is now ENGAGED to Falynns’ Husband because they haven’t even gotten a divorce yet. I wan’t to know your thoughts on the whole situation. What type of friendship dynamic do you think they had for Porsha to be comfortable MARRYING this man?”
“Engaged. To. A. Former. Friend’s. Husband.” She said slowly before letting out a low sigh. “Now, the first mistake she made was being engaged or dating a man who is still married. I don’t care what the circumstances are, he is legally married! It is literally code and decency not to date or marry after your friends. If y’all are friends or have ever called each other friends, that’s just unacceptable. I would beat the breaks off anyone I called a friend for going after my husband if we ever were to divorce. That’s just grimy and I don’t think Falynn is mad enough. I do know though, one of my followers who is a hair stylist said how she married one of her old client’s ex husband and child’s father. Do you think that’s acceptable? Say I did a woman’s hair for years and nothing besides that and I went on to date her ex?”
“Absolutely not. Unacceptable and I’m the type of crazy that belongs in jail so you already know how that’s gone gooo. It’ll forever be up until they give me life.” Zion laughed and shook her head, “Period. Porsha is most definitey a fucked up individual but I would LOVE to hear y’alls thoughts on the matter so leave alll comments in the comment section below.” 
“Thank you all so much for listening to me and Brilliant catch up. Brilliant please tell my listeners where they can follow you and how they can support The Glamour Parlour. Alsooo, when’s the next brunch or giveaway?”
“It has been sooo fun talking with you! I’m glad I got the opportunity to talk with to boss friend Zion! I get this question a lot..so often.” She let out a low laugh. “All I’ll say is to stay tuned, we’ll be turning up soon and the giveaways won’t stop!”
“Ayyyy so there it is people, the beautiful Brilliant O’neal. Be sure to check her out across all social media platforms at @brillixdis​ and I’ll talk to you in the next episode. Byyyyyyyye.”
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kuroo testuro boyfriend headcanons 🥰
i loooove kuroo sm so here you goooo
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so y’all are literal GOALS 
everyone wants what you guys have, you guys have that best friend bond
you guys are always roasting each other and coming for each other’s necks, but you both still act like a couple
‘‘and thats why you built like a door frame,’‘
‘‘thats why you built like a lego man, rooster headass’’
5 minutes later: omg kuroo bby i love you sm 💖💘💗😍🥺
just chaotic energy all around
maybe you guys would start one of those trash soundclouds together (as a joke ofc)
you: THAT NIGGA GAVE ME HEAD IT SOUND LIKE OOGA BOOGA WOOGA
kuroo: I JUST HIT MY GRANNY IN THE HEAD WITH A SNOOGA BOOGA TOOGA  (an actual soundcloud song)
actual relationship tingz ⬇
whenever kuroo has a game, you always wear his jersey. no questions asked
he’ll act all big and bad but in reality when he sees you in his jersey he gets all soft cause its so big on you and you look adorable
and you’re cheering loud as hell, gettin weird looks n shi but its all worth it for your bb 🥰
after games you run up to him and shower him in kisses
‘‘YOU DID SO GOOD!!!”
‘‘babe i’m all sweaty-’’
he loves coming up and hugging you from behind and kissing your cheek
and if you do a sport, he’ll be just as supportive, maybe even more
he loves that you have a love for a sport just like him
date nights are the bestttt, whether you actually go out or not, but i’d like to think kuroo would rather build a pillow fort and do a movie marathon with you
testu: ‘‘lets watch shrek?’‘
you: ‘’😐’’
sometimes at like 3 in the morning, kuroo will pick you up and you guys will drive around bopping to music
‘‘BIG OLE FREAK, BIG BOOTY BIG OLE TREE’‘
kuroo is so good at the’’ 😜 ah’’ adlib and you can’t tell me otherwise
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puckngrind · 3 years
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What’s In a Name: Epilogue - J. Toews
Epilogue.
Where we left off: Jon and Bekah welcomed Lincoln into the world in 2020.
Warnings: smut, language
Word Count: 3,827
Series Masterlist ) Puck ‘n Grind’s masterlist
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2025.
The rink has seemed like home for Bekah since meeting and marrying Jon. This morning it was a bit different as she kneels in front of her now five year old tying his hockey skates.
"Tight enough Linc?" Bekah asks and Lincoln stands to his feet.
"Yes, Momma. Maybe even better than Daddy does it." Bekah muffles her laugh from Lincoln's comment.
"Good. Now, let's get this jersey and your helmet on." Bekah stands and pulls over the house hockey green jersey over his pads. She feels someone staring but doesn't take her focus off the very squirrelly Kindergartener who doesn’t have the patiences for her to stop. Tapping his helmet she hands him the gloves and the eyes she felt moves closer.
"Hey there!  Do ya'll know you have the same last name as the Hawk's captain and your son is wearing his number too. That's cute." Her comment was laced with a sense of entitlement and Bekah bit the inside of her cheek.
"Yup. Heard his foundation bought the jerseys for the league too." Bekah replies and turns her focus back to Lincoln as she rubbed lightly along the JT foundation logo on his shoulder. The woman then got called by her own son and scurried off before continuing.
"Is Daddy going to be off work before my game starts?" Lincoln's voice is muffled with his mouth guard in place.
"He should be here any moment baby boy." Bekah leans down to reassure him. "Speaking of!" Bekah eyes Jon coming through the doors of the rink. He embraces Bekah as he does every time he comes home before turning his attention to the kids.
"Sorry I'm late but looks like you’ve got this covered." Jon whispers after his lips brush hers.
"We are all set. And the fake Louis over there thinks it's cute Linc is wearing 19 and has the Captain's last name too." Bekah smirks.
"Well maybe Scar should run by with her Daddy sweater on." Jon shakes the toddler's hand. "Hey baby girl!" Bekah laughs and goes to take Scarlett out of the toddler carrier attached to her back. The now two year old in her St. Patrick's Day Daddy jersey goes running after Lincoln who started walking to his team. "You would think she runs this place." Jon laughs grabbing Bekah's hand as she tucks the carrier into Lincoln's bag.
"She had grown up coming here. Linc has been taking classes since she was 7 months old, Tae."
"I'm gonna go save Linc from the relentless questions I am sure she’s asking him." Jon heads over to scoop Scarlett up and wishes Lincoln's team good luck playing their first game. The three walk up to sit in the stands and Scarlett starts cheering as the team takes the ice.
"Coot! Core! Let's go Inks!" Scarlett's chubby hands clap.
"You really think he's okay playing with these older boys?" Bekah's leg is bouncing on up and down and Jon's hand settles her.
"Yes. He's playing up because he's good not because he's our son, Beks. No one knows he's five." Jon whispers to calm his wife's nerves.
Lincoln's first hockey game started and even though he was the youngest on the ice by two years, you would never guess. The Toews genes evident in how he played. Bekah, Jon, Scarlett cheered as he scored his first goal and then laughed as he jumped up in excitement but didn’t land on his skates. Bekah looked towards the scoreboard and realized the same mom from earlier was staring at Jon. "I might never get use to people just staring at you." Bekah whispered not realizing she even said it out loud.
"I know Babe." Jon's lips kiss her temple. "Maybe you should bring your Louis with you next game." Jon chuckles knowing the Louis Vuitton collecting dust in the closet was never coming to the hockey rink.
"Funny Tae... funny." Bekah bumps her shoulder into his side. "Maybe if Scar decides potty training is actually something she's interested in I could bring a real purse with me." Bekah spins one of Scarlett's ringlets around her finger.
"She won't even be three until February." Jon bounces his mini-me on his knee and she laughs.
"Yeah, yeah. I know, boys and girls are different." Bekah knowing where Jon was going with the conversation and how she already had Lincoln trained by Scarlett's age. "There you go Linc!" Bekah shouts as Lincoln dives in front of a puck and Jon's laugh rings out.
"You would never know Momma wasn't really into hockey ten years ago. Would ya?" Jon kisses Scarlett's head.  “Now she’s rocking the hockey mom life.” Bekah eyes Jon and he mouths, “sexy at it too.” Bekah feels the heat in her cheeks but turns her attention back to the ice.
The game ended and Jon helped Bekah put Scarlett back in her carrier then met Lincoln and his team.
“There’s my boy!” Jon scooped Lincoln up with all his gear on. “You played hard. We are so proud of you.” Jon drops Lincoln down and the three of them start taking off his gear while Lincoln talks a mile a minute recounting the entire game.
“Did you see my double shift dad? See how I used my skate to kick the puck out of the corner?” Lincoln’s little voice sounding just like Jon and both parents laugh.
“We sure did Linc. Now let’s get home and get ready for Auntie Rin, m’kay?” Bekah feels Scarlett bopping up and down on her back while Jon tries to control Lincoln’s excited dance as he attempts to undress him the rest of the way.
The car ride home was filled with giggles of Brynn’s arrival and recap of the game. Bekah grazed her finger down Jon’s arm and he shifts as she moved to his leg. “What was that for?” She questioned and sees Jon smirk.
“Nothin’ Beks.” The sly smirk permanently graced his face for the rest is the ride. Bekah dropped it knowing if it was something he was hiding she’d find out soon enough.
The kids bolt inside the house as soon as they are unbuckled. “Don’t go too far Rin will be here in less than an hour!” Bekah called out and hears a door shut from behind her and spins on her heals to see her best friend rounding her car.
“How about like one minute? You should know my driving skills would get me here faster!” Brynn opens her arms waiting for Bekah’s embrace. “Now help me with these crazies!” She pulls open the sliding door to a choir of squeals.
“Hey kids!” Bekah leans in and unbuckles Derek and Brynn’s newest edition to their family. Morgan’s little fingers make grabby hands at Bekah. “Hey sweet girl. You taking it easy on your Mommy?”
“You lied about 18 month old girls, friend.  Lied.” Brynn answered.
“Mom’s right Aunt Beks.” Jack, the oldest, pops out and half hugs Bekah. “Morgan is giving her a run for her money as Dad says.” All three adults laugh and Jon scoops up Brynn’s middle son, Jameson.
“How about you boys take Morgan to find Lincoln and Scar. I’m sure they are in the playroom. Remember how to get there?” Both boys nod and run in the house with their sister in tow.
Jon and Bekah flank Brynn as she breathes out. “I love them but they can be a lot.”
“And you are doing a damn good job. Have you heard when Morgan can be adopted yet?” Jon moves to the back of her van to take out the suitcases.
“Caseworker says she’s different than the boys even though it’s the same birth mom. So in the land of foster to adopt... We shall wait.” Brynn laughs. Derek and Brynn decided to be foster parents not long after Lincoln was born. They took placement of Jack and Jameson not long after finishing all their paperwork. Jack was 3 and Jameson was a newborn. When the couple found out that the birth mom had another baby and she could either go into foster care with different family or them. There was no question. They needed to keep the siblings together.
“So glad you decided to spend the boys’ fall break here Rin. I’ve missed you.” Bekah slid a drink over as Brynn launches herself up to the kitchen stool.
“Me too. How do the kids get up here? I see the pictures.” Brynn laughs while taking a sip.
“Have you seen my children, they climb on everything! Scar swings her tiny self up there and then jumps down. It’s resourceful.”
“They are Jon’s kids, there is no denying that.”  Brynn laughs with a sip.
“Hey!  I should take offense to that but I might have to agree there.”  Jon presses his lips to Bekah’s temple and she leans into him.  The friends fell into easy conversation until they were interrupted by Morgan who wanted a snack.  Jon handed the toddler enough fruit snacks for all of them and she toddled back.  “I’ve wondered this for awhile.  Why is she not a J?”
Both women just look at him.  “Tae, I’ve never thought about it.  Jack and Jameson.  A J girl name makes sense.”  Bekah looks at Brynn who just shrugs her shoulders.  The caseworker said her and Derek could change any of the kids names but they decided to leave them for a few reasons then gave the boys new middle names when they were officially adopted.
“They are all alcohol brands, but is that just...” Jon questions and Brynn’s mouth drops opens.  
“I... how... ummm...”  Brynn starts and her eye go wide.  “At least they aren’t named after the place they were...”  Brynn looks down the hall then back to her friends, “conceived.” Her face lights up with mischief.  
“Rin, Linc and Scar aren’t named after that.”  Bekah answers with a puzzled look written all over her face.  
“Sure they are.  Lincoln was in your Lincoln Park place and still miss that roof, every time I come here...”  Jon starts laughing as he’s caught on.
“But Scarlett?  Are you saying she was in Columbus?  Like Scarlett and Grey?  Because that’s not the case.”  Bekah runs her hand over her face.
“Beks, we live on Red Maple.  R-E-D.”  Jon laughs while pulling Bekah into his side.  “And everyone in this room can do the math on Scar’s birthday and my last cup win.”
“Oh.  My.  No!”  Bekah responds sending both Jon and Brynn into a fit of laughter.  
“So if Jon makes the All-Star game this year, maybe we can expect a Seattle named baby to come out of the trip?”  Brynn snickers knowing she’s getting under her best friend’s skin.
“Speaking of trips.  I miss you coming with me.”  Jon seems to have changed the subject before hearing his name being called and he retreats to answer the kids.
“Bekah, you know you could go with him Wednesday.  They play in St. Louis.  I’ve got the kids and Kelly lives here now.  I’m sure she can help if something goes crazy, which I don’t plan on that happening.”  Brynn jumps off the stool and backs up to look down the hallway.  “Seriously, you should go.”  
Brynn was right.  After the shut down of the economy in 2020, Kelly and Zack made the decision to move back to Chicago where Zack started teaching at DePaul for help with future college tuition.  Bekah and Jon hadn’t gotten away as much as they had in the past without taking the kids.  Taking a day and a half to go watch him play and enjoy dinner alone did sound amazing.  
“You sure Rin?”  Bekah sounded giddy.
“Yes, very much so.”  Brynn had wandered into the living room that was now the Sedona inspired room.  Prints hung of Jon and Bekah’s first trip, wedding day, the first time they took each kid and a family picture from the past summer when both kids hiked most of the way up.  “I like the new one!”
“Speaking of new ones.”  Jon’s stealth like entrance made both ladies jump.  “I have something for you, Babe.”  As he spoke, he pulls out a puck from his pocket.  Bekah spins it in her hand and tears come to her eyes.
“Lincoln’s first game 8U game. October 18, 2025.”  She sees that Jon had Lincoln sign the top too.  “Tae.”  She squeaks out.
“We might need a Lincoln shelf.”  Jon wraps his arms around his wife and pulls her in.
“Tell him!”  Brynn breaks the couple’s embrace as she spoke.  Jon looks down with his eyebrows raised.
“How about I come to St. Louis with you this week?”  Bekah stands on her tippy toes to whisper in his ear, “Just me.”
“YES!”  Jon shouts out.  “Seriously, Brynn?  You are making this happen?”  Jon turns and pulls her into a hug. 
“You two lovebirds...” Brynn started and looked at how Jon lifted Bekah up in the air in so much joy about a few moments alone. “Still after all these years I’m happy as hell for you but also your passion for one another is...” she starts making a heaving motion.
With that, Bekah and Brynn soaked up their time together. Let Lincoln take a day off school on Monday to play with what he calls his cousins. And really with David’s kids living in Manitoba, Kelly and Brynn’s kids were the closest thing he had to cousins near him.
Monday night was a home game. Jon rented a box and invited Kelly and her family to join. The kids had so much fun cheering on the Hawks. After years of going to games they still loved the atmosphere. Tuesday morning came quick. Bekah left a giant list of instructions for Brynn which made her laugh. Jon took Lincoln to school before taking a morning skate. They flew out that afternoon. Jon interlaced his fingers in Bekah’s as the plane took off.
“You look like a first time flyer Beks. What gives?” Jon kisses her ear sweetly.
“Just worried about the kids and Rin and...” Jon’s lips land on hers to stop the rant swirling from her brain to her lips.
“They will be fine. Promise.” Jon pulled his arm around her and she breathed him in. The flight was short and the drive to the hotel was too. “You know you’ve never stayed here but could’ve all those years ago. New Years. Winter Classic.” Jon places her bag on top of his and grabs his wife’s hand.
“Yeah, I didn’t make the wises choices back then.” Bekah whispered.
“You are here aren’t you? We are here... so those choices lead to now.” Jon’s knuckle pressed the button. “And while it took some convincing..”
“Sorry.” Bekah mumbled as she pressed their floor.
“Baby, don’t be.” Jon kisses the top of her head as the door opens and leads them to their room. Opening the door he drops the bags as Bekah closes the door. His body pressing hers agains the door and lips locked together. Pulling at her legs to wrap them around him. They break and Jon’s lips slide down her neck. A moan escapes from her lips.
“Tae.” She tries to continue but Jon’s lips are on hers again. His hands tight around her with the door holder her up. “Tae.” She moans out again. Jon leans back a little to look her in the eyes.
“Ca va, mon amour?” Jon leans back and takes in his wife.
“I’m okay. Extremely turned on but also slightly worried about your teammates hearing us as they check in. Plus, there are things I would like to do to you that I cannot do pinned to this door.” Bekah leans to bite at his lips.
“Well for starters we aren’t on the team floor. I made sure of that. Now, what things are you talking about?” Jon pulls both of their bodies away from the door and carries Bekah towards the bed.
“First, Captain,  I’d like you to rid you of these clothes.”  Bekah wiggles free of Jon’s grip and stands to her feet.  He grunts as she starts to take off his clothes.  Running her fingers over his still well toned abs followed by her tongue until her teeth find his boxers.  She pulls on them with only her mouth and Jon helps with an approving grunt.  “When is the last time we didn’t have rushed sex Tae?”
“Too long Beks.”  Jon barely gets out as his entire body reacts to Bekah’s lips running along the bottom of his shaft.  “C'est cela.”  He moans out as he finds the edge of the bed.  Bekah continues until she wraps her lips around him and he stops her.  “I need you undressed and up here.”  He lifts her up and slides her tunic dress over her body then her leggings.  “Damn sexy Baby.  Damn Sexy.”  He stands to carefully removing her bra then underwear kissing her skin as more is exposed.
“Really?”  Bekah questions placing her hands over her breasts.  “Sorry.  Just feeling not as perky as I once was.”  Bekah doesn’t look up at Jon with her admission.  He pulls her chin up to make her eyes meet his.
“Rebekah, you are more beautiful and sexy than ever.  I’m so fucking lucky you are mine.”  He shifts her to lay her on the bed and hovers over her body.
“I’m lucky too.  I just went from confident at hell to catching a glimpse of my stretch mark in the mirror.”  She ran her hand over the mentioned mark from her last pregnancy.  Jon met her hand with his lips.
“This means you worked hard to bring our sassy daughter into the world.”  Jon moves up to her breasts and sucks one in between his teeth.  “And I’m glad I currently don’t have to share these.”  Bekah’s breath hitches then she laughs as he moves to do the same to the other.  He kisses down her stomach and moves his way between her legs.  Spreading her lips with his fingers he sucks on her clit causing Bekah’s hips to jump off the bed and her hand to land in his hair.  Jon hums in approval.  He moves his fingers to scissor deep inside her.  Bekah went to call out his name and bit her lip.  Jon looked up and kissed her thigh.  “Beks, no one to wake up.  Let me hear you.”  He moved back to circling Bekah’s clit with his tongue as she moaned out.  
“Tae.  Fuck.  Tae.”  Bekah feels her orgasm crashing over her.  Jon doesn’t let up as it washes over her.  Her legs tremble and toes curl up his back.  She loosens her grip and he quickly shifts up her body to press himself fully in her.  Both moaning in the familiarity and need for each other.  Jon presses his lips to hers and stays there.  “Tae, move please.” Bekah tries to press her hips up and Jon smiles.
“I love you Beks.” He simply says as he pulls out slightly and starts a rhythm making both moan and spill out affirmations in the moment.  Jon feels Bekah tighten completely around him and with a few more movements of his hips they both hit their high.  Jon crashing into Bekah’s body, chests heaving from the intensity.  They stay like this for a moment then a beeping sound starts in the direction of the pile of clothes.
“Tae, what is that?”  Bekah questions and Jon laughed.  “What?”
“I set an alarm to make sure we made it to team dinner.”  Jon moves to find his phone.  Turning off the alarm he looks at a notification.  “Oh, dinner on our own.  Fantastic!”  He jumps back in bed and wraps Bekah up.
“Can we still go get dinner?”  Bekah asks.
“Or order in.”  A sly smile crosses Jon’s face and Bekah nods.  “Hey, did you tell Brynn we were trying for a third already?”
“No, why do you ask?”  Bekah looks up at him.
“Well she mentioned the whole naming of kids thing and Seattle plus she suggested this trip...”  Jon trails off.
“Oh, no, but she’s Rin.  I swear she knows things without me telling her.”  Bekah jokes.  “Oh, shit.  What time is it?”  She looks at Jon’s phone.  “Get your shirt on, we need to FaceTime the kids!”  Jon heads to his luggage and quickly pulls out two Hawks shirts.  He starts to FaceTime and Bekah looks at her now sexed looking hair and quickly braids it to the side just in time.
“Hey guys!”  Jon waves at the screen seeing Brynn, Lincoln and Scarlett sitting on the couch.  Bekah notices Brynn’s face with Lincoln asked what they have done since they got there and Jon talked about getting to the hotel and checking in.  The family talked for a little and said their goodbyes.  Jon gets up to head to the shower and looks back.
“J’ai besoin de nous.”  Bekah whispers just looking at the floor.  
“Babe, did you just say I need us?”  Jon comes back over and pulls her up to his chest.
“Yeah.  That’s right, right?”  Bekah bats her eyes.
“It is.  You are picking up more French from my mom’s FaceTime lessons with Lincoln aren’t you?”  Jon kisses her cheek and she feels the heat rushing to them.
“Yeah.  Speaking of, he said, ‘j’ai mon voyage’ and also ‘tabarnak’ the other day.”  Jon starts laughing.  Hard.  “Shit, what did he pick up?”  
“Well, I had enough is basically what j’ai mon voyage means and...as for the other.  I’ll talk to my parents.  I’m sure they didn’t mean to teach him what some deem a cuss word.”  Bekah’s mouth hangs open.  “Babe, I’ll fix it, okay?”  He moves her braid and kisses her again.  “Back to the I need us.  Explain.”
“Just that.  I need us.  I love our family and our life and even this team but at the end of the day it’s me and you.”  She spins her ring around her finger.
“Well, Beks... J’ai besoin de nous too.”  Jon whispers.  “I told you hockey is almost over and then it’s just us being parents and husband and wife.”
“You really think you are done Tae?”  Bekah questions.
“Yeah.  Dach is ready to be captain.  I have four rings.  Kaner and I are talking about going out together.  This team has what it takes to win another one too.  Now, I would love baby number three to experience some of this hockey life.”  Jon rubs Bekah’s lower abdomen.
“Are you asking if you think that got me pregnant?”  Bekah laughs and Jon nods.  “Well, you might have to try harder Mr. Toews.”  She smirks and heads towards the shower.  “And if so... I’m not naming the baby Louis!”  
“Death of me Beks.  You will be the death of me!”  Jon scoops Bekah up and heads towards the shower.  
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‘Tis the Damn Season- Chapter 2
Winter Wonderland
Hello loveys! Here is chapter two, a new year, a new world, a new Harry video! Thank you to @dirtystyles for fixing my tenses, which I promptly messed up by revising and adding. All remaining mistakes are mine.
Happy reading- reblogs are love!
Emma was annoyed before she even caught her flight, but she loved airports, so she got lost in watching the peculiar things people did in the there to sublimate what was probably just anxiety. She'd once watched a boys' trip, maybe a bachelor party, get on a plane and begin toasting at 5:30 am. The groom had almost bought the whole plane a round, but one of his mates had stopped him. She assumed this wasn't his first beer of the day, but maybe it was the last of the night before?
People acted different in airports.
That had been her first flight to Holland. When she went to her interview at Wageningen University and Research Center. She really needed to impress, she'd pressed her outfit more than she had ironed anything since she'd been taught to do it. This was her dream school and the climate research they did was groundbreaking and she wanted to be part of it so much that she was willing to do whatever it took. Beyond the heavy course load she could expect during the regular school years, the top students got amazing summer work or internships. She'd promised herself she would not be going home for breaks for some time. Honestly she was just fine with that. There wasn't much left for her in Holmes Chapel.
There wasn't much in Holmes Chapel at all.
She'd wanted to move from the little village the minute they'd moved there when she was eleven. Sure it was cute, picturesque and maybe something out of a Jane Austen novel, but Emma did not read much Pride and Prejudice. Though she definitely had seen Mr. Darcy come out of the pond. Honestly, she was more of a nonfiction girl, and she like investigative reporting. She'd missed London pretty much immediately and begged to go back for months. It was a time in her life she would have called the absolute worst, until it became the foundation for the best years. Emma made really good, motivated friends. Big dreams were common in little Holmes Chapel, so Emma fit right in. It may have never felt like home exactly, but she made a home of those friends.
Gemma was one of them. She had done her share of Austen reading. Reading in general, and she had the sweetest family. Her little brother Harry was so nice to their mum, though he loved nothing more than bugging Gemma. Like all little brothers. She'd heard at least, Emma was an only child.
All her parents' hopes and dreams rested right on her shoulders.
But theirs weren't nearly so weighty as her own. Even then she knew she was going to save the planet, or at the very least reduce the number of climate refugees.
Now, after two summers in Reykjavik, she was more into sustainable energy and zero waste production, but she was still trying to change the climate game.
She would really rather be going back to Iceland now. A friend had invited her to see the Northern Lights. They were most active in the winter and she'd only caught glimpses of them during her summer internships. It may have been the experience of a lifetime.
But her mother had laid on a major guilt trip. Emma hadn't been back to little Holmes Chapel in two years. She'd come home that first Christmas because she was tired, overwhelmed, still adjusting to her school schedule, and a little homesick. Her mother told her so. She'd even skipped the Twist's Christmas party, which was the shindig of the season. She'd slept right through it, and only seen Gemma at the pub later. She hadn't been up for company, but Gemma was family.
This year? After a year's absence, she'd be going. And she'd receive the hometown-hero-returns treatment. Though she was sure her reception at the airport would consist of her mum with a single sign. When she did make it to the pub, she might see a few friendly faces besides Gemma. Last time? Since she'd missed the party, she didn't have anything to contribute to the discussion. She'd just listened to everybody else rehash it. Normally, that would be fine, but she already felt removed, and had always felt a bit like a screw among nails in Holmes Chapel, so she was determined to go to the party this year. She had all kinds of plans, how many hours she'd socialize, rest, and read.
The flight was easy at least, and the train up to Manc doubly so. She liked to sleep on trains, something about the rocking, and she resumed her old habit of sleeping wrapped around her backpack.
"Welcome home, love!" Her mother shouted and Emma actually got a little misty, just like her Mum. Maybe she should try to get home more than once a year, but there's just so much she wants to accomplish. She even had a list. All the things she wanted to do before she turned thirty. It's been revised of course, she'd not unrealistic. Once the list is complete, she can have a life outside her ambitions, like a real boyfriend.
There's not much time for anything but hook-ups for the next ten years., and Emma was ok with that.
Up til now. She might need another pass at her bullet points, or to at least read her goals again when she got to the Twist's new brick beauty of a house. Harry had bought his mum a new home, one not watched as closely by his obsessive fans. They hadn't found this one yet.
Emma could see why they followed him around so, and why some people risked it all for a certain face. His face, his very famous, gorgeous face.
It was so weird that Harry wasn't just Gemma's little brother who grew up cute anymore. His music wasn't really her style, though some of the songs were catchy and Emma did like his latest album. She caught herself humming about life stories long after she heard it, and she seemed to hear his latest single playing in lots of shops and restaurants, even in Holland.
At the party, she also found herself in the same room as Harry more often than she can find an excuse for. Her eyes also seemed to find him a lot, she knew because of how many times she had to whip her head away quickly. As a tactic, that didn't work because he was always either already looking at her,or he immediately turned like he knews where she was. Maybe her gaze had weight, or she was as subtle as an axe.
When he smirked at her the tenth time their eyes lit upon each other, she choked on her wine.
What the fuck?
She'd finally got herself calmed from that little encounter. Mostly because she left the room to find a loo. The water she splashed on her face was cold and woke her up. "What are you doing, girl?" Emma asked her reflection but found that she couldn't help but smile at herself, and bite her lip. The flush on her cheeks was lovely; she could blame the wine, everyones favorite excuse.
An hour later she was pleasantly tipsy, the kind of buzz you could maintain and still wake up the next day not regretting, and she'd gone to the kitchen to grab another glass to nurse her merry state. "Be right back. We need another round!" She was calling back to Gemma when she bumped into a tall lanky body. She caught his hips with one hand and found them with just enough give to grip. "Oof!" She exclaimed before looking up to see how much damage her wine had done. Good thing she drank white, there was a growing spot ok his sweater. Wait a second! Then she coasted her head up the lovely lilac sweater toward his face. "That's my sweater." She said first off, bopping his chin.
"Um, no, mine now." Oh, his voice was adorably thick with drink too. "You give it to Gem or something?"
What was he talking about? Her eyes stayed with his and she was kinda trapped in his greens when she realized he meant the sweater. She had, right. "I'm yeah, years ago. Was my favorite and we shared it a lot. I decided she should have it before I moved. And I guess she decided you should have it when you moved. Though I expect your life change was a little different than mine. Yours was like overnight and mine a life long plan, and oh my god, Emma stop talking." She would have kept rambling except, well, he kissed her, right on the mouth and held his overfilled lips to her own. No, overfilled wasn't true. They were full, but not crazy big, they just were so plump at the edges. God, when had she thought about Harry's lips so much.
Right now, as much as she could think of anything, it was Harry's lips. She'd relaxed into his rhythm and was following his lead when her free hand took on a mind of its own and coasted from his hips up his back and into his hair. He groaned a little before he disengaged and then chuckled.
"Well," he said as the offending hand went to her mouth. Maybe she did need to stop drinking. That was bold, unlike her, and strange. But wait! What just happened? Why did he kiss her?.
"Huh?"
"I think that beat my last mistletoe kiss and I'd convinced myself that was impossible!" He was giving her a knowing look, like a wink in his smile. Did he kiss somebody else tonight? She looked up at him and tried not to be annoyed, or feel jealous, or focus on the shape of his mouth, still a little wet from her kiss. Was he just hanging out by the mistletoe like a weirdo? Seemed odd for a bloke people were lining up to meet, let alone kiss.
"Why'd you do that?" She found her voice to ask. It was rusty, like she hadn't just been laughing and talking for hours with people she'd forgotten how much she enjoyed.
"You bumped into me under the mistletoe. I assumed you wanted me to." Well, she did while he was kissing her, but now he was being a bit of an ass.
"Um, you were just in the way..."
"Well, I'll have to find myself in your path as often as possible then." Ok, that was cute, a bit cocky, like the smirk on his face. Then his face flushed and his dimples were so deep and she decided that shift, from smirky pop star to hometown mumma's boy was the best quick change she had ever seen. "Ah, see, that got you to smile!" He bopped her nose and she knew her own dimple pressed in even further.
"Nah, you're a little shit, but I like your smile. Especially when you blush." The color he turned then made her laugh out loud. She felt drunk when she realized how long they'd been staring at each other grinning. She was counting her drinks a second later when he caught her off guard again.
"Where'd you just go?"
"Wha'?" Oh boy, she'd dropped her t, she was really home now.
"We were having a moment." He motioned between their faces. "Then you went in your head. Lost your attention, didn't like it at all."
Then he caught her hand, their fingers entwined together like their lips moments before. It was hot in there. Emma shook her head and glanced around, but she didn't untangle them. She looked at her boots and felt shy. But Emma wasn't shy, Harry used to be shy, though now he was bolder than her, apparently.
"Listen," he started and she looked up to his eyes again. When had they gotten so attractive? What had gone on with him in the last couple years? Other than the international superstardom she supposed, but he'd grown into himself, like expanded his skin and presence. He was cute, but all she could think was that the end of puberty was rarely so damn kind. His fingers even seemed attractive, long and slim and she was imagining him playing piano, but then the instrument was her body, and damn, she was in her head again. She could feel that her eyes widened comically. She knew her pupils were blown. When was the last time she'd gotten laid? Apparently too long if holding hands had her imagining unspeakable things and holding in moans.
He smirked then, she guessed he knew where she went then. "Listen," he leaned in close and she nodded, their noses brushed. He exhaled and her lips tingled. "Where are you staying?"
"Huh?" She wasn't sure what she'd expected him to say, but that wasn't it.
He giggled, and it was cute enough that Emma felt a splash of awareness hit her face. She looked around to see if anybody saw them flirting if she could disengage her gaze. "Are you at your parents?"
"Oh, um yeah?"
"Are you sure?" He laughed then and the brush of his thumb across the back of her hand was warmer than the mulled wine in her belly.
"No, I'm sure, just not sure why you are asking." She nudged him and realized a bit too late that her nipples touched him first, she was only half sorry this top meant no bra when she felt the friction.
It was his eyes' turn to widen. "Um," he exhaled and she missed his eyes when he quickly glanced down her dress like there might be a cookie there and then up quickly like he remembered he wasn't supposed to have any sweets. "Ok, um," he said after he visibly took hold of himself, "I was just hoping you had a room above the pub or something."
She knew her face called him idiot better than her mouth could.
He rolled his eyes, "I know, it was a shot in the dark!"
"Did you expect me to slide you my room key if I did?" Emma flashed her eyebrows like she wasn't imagining him finger fucking her with his piano hands a moment ago. "Isn't that your move?" She teased, kind of. She imagined he knew his way around hotel rooms, and women in them.
"Heeeey," he was being cute but the corners of his eyes dropped a moment and the green dulled. "It's not like that."
Emma scoffed.
"Well, I mean," his other hand found hers and now if anyone was watching them they were getting a show. "If it was like that, I wouldn't say no, but just want to hear about Holland, seems so amazing, and where you are in the summers..."
She could see him racking his brain.
"Iceland." They said together. And then giggled together too.
"You been keeping tabs on me?" She leaned forward and enjoyed the brush of him on her again. He shivered.
"Yeah, always admired you." He looked at her through his lashes. "I'd like to hear more reasons you're the most impressive person I've ever met."
"But I don't have a place." She reminded him.
"If I got one?"
"What?" She thought she knew what he was asking, but she wanted a minute to think about her answer, to quiet the resounding YES that echoed in her body and her mind. Because he might have said it wasn't like that, but they were chest to chest and had been holding hands since they kissed moments ago.
He looks down chagrined at his pigeon toes, before his gaze lit on their hands, then her face. "If I got a room at the Vicarage? Would you come with me? Really! We can really just talk." He assured and then the cocky boy who found his stride in hotel room assignations showed out, "if you want." Those dimples were deadly.
"Can it be the Boar's Head?" She knew she'd showed her cards, by asking for a room the town over.
He nodded and grinned like he'd just hit the hotpicks. "It can be the Boar's Head." He nodded like a dashboard bobble head. "I have to make nice here a bit longer, but I'll call now, and put your name on, so you can go when you're ready."
They'd been standing close for just a few more seconds when Gemma said- "Harry! Get off. God you are such a flirt!" But she was in her cups too, so they laughed it off.
The next hour, Emma stayed near Gem, but her eyes tracked Harry. Once, he came by and stole a sip of Gem's cocktail off her and Emma was glad her friend's ire distracted her, because Emma was watching him giggle like a fiend and the contraction of his throat. When their eyes met, she knew hers made a promise. One she wanted to keep.
So now she was alone in a couple of quaint rooms a town over, waiting to have sex with Gemma's little brother, Harry Styles.
She was torn, half of her wanted to open the bottle she'd swiped from the alcohol table at the party. The other half wanted to call an Uber and go back to her parents' house, where she should have stopped and grabbed some clothes so she wouldn't have to do the walk of shame.
But getting clothes would have meant forethought; she will deny that, especially to herself.
Emma had just opened the uber app and cursed their rural area when she heard a key in the lock.
Like a gun at the races.
They were never going to just talk. She'd just dropped her phone on the couch before Harry laid the first kiss on her.
The first kiss she planned to really remember, that is. Their mistletoe kiss had caught her off guard enough that she could only remember the feelings, not the details.
Yet, she was here, kissing him in a rented room after sneaking out of his mum's Christmas Eve party, on the strength of those feelings.
The kiss started strong and sweet, just like she takes her tea. He didn't taste like tea, he tasted like wine, Merlot maybe, but it could have been any red. And his tongue had this delicious slither to couple with its intoxicating flavor. She was in for a penny when she rode over here, but now there was no way she was going anywhere but to bed with him, no matter how pound foolish. He was nipping at her bottom lip and mouthing at her jaw before he sucked an almost mark into her collarbone and love bites onto the sides of her neck. He was just about to hit a particular sweet spot while working off her clothes, his hands were at her zipper. The cheeky boy, and she felt like they should at least hit pause even if stop was off the table.
"Harry," she moaned, or breathed, it was a sound she'd never made before.
"Hmmm?" He asked without stopping any of his forward momentum.
"I thought we were gonna talk." That one was like a laugh, there was a trill in her voice certainly.
"We'll talk afterwards." He said it like a statement, but looked to her for confirmation. At her nod, her skirt dropped and his hands were all over her bare ass above the stockings she'd worn to feel sexy but hadn't expected anyone to see. She normally would have worn tights. Thick ones, certainly, in Amsterdam. It would have been smarter here too. It was at least as cold. She'd been feeling that mix of confidence and self consciousness one gets when seeing people from your past when you think you've leveled up. She wanted to feel her best, look her best. Sexy, even if no one was interested. She's thankful, both for his interest and her unintended preparation. When he caught the sides of her knickers while her shirt and bra were as untouched as his clothes, she figured she needed to get with it. She'd been clutching his shoulders and his gorgeous hair instead of doing anything of use to their current pursuit.
Emma pulled at his shirt until it came over his messed up disheveled hair and laughed at the hodge podge of black ink haphazardly spread over his torso and one arm. "What's this then?" She said between licks of his tongue.
"After, we talk after!" He'd gotten her shirt unwrapped. She liked that detail of the shirt too, a sexy secret, like her matching bra. He pulled back to stare and was distracted long enough for her to give him another look over. He does look sexy in his decorated skin.
"What do they mean?" She liked things to make sense, her world was ordered, scientific.
Harry shrugged. "Lots of different things. Or nothing. Now can we please go to bed and we can discuss my stupid tattoos after I've had you."
"Oh fuck,'' was all she could say to that. He smirked and hoisted her up his hips to carry her through the open frame to the bedroom. He pulled her knickers free as soon as she was done bouncing.
She'd just about caught her breath when she saw him go for the button of his jeans. She lost it again when his thick bulge became visible and he pushed his tight jeans forcibly down his thighs. "Damn!" She looked at him with a glint.
He mounted the bed and spread her open, kissed her right knee over her stocking, which he seemed intent in keeping on, and looked pointedly at her center. She was swollen, his eye contact with the evidence didn't help. "Damn!" He echoed and she would have laughed but Harry, Gemma's sexy little brother, was kissing up her right thigh, with just a few licks and nips to her hip creases and so damn close to where she wanted him before he was testing the fuck out of her by kissing and licking and loving her left thigh. Ignoring her desperate need.
"Fuck, Harry. Please." She'd got the bedspread balled in her hands and she would normally have removed that before considering getting into the bed but she was also usually in pajamas and alone.
The filthy things he was saying were way worse than whatever could have been on the bedspread. Though she enjoyed them a great deal more, and it made her happy to have taken off everything already.
Harry had finally gotten to the main course. Only After her begging got loud enough to be heard by the room next door and the innkeeper, she won't make eye contact with anyone tomorrow. Maybe not even Harry, if he stayed. Emma had his full attention now, she could learn about all the things his mouth could do. The wet flat of his tongue caressed her like she was a bit of deliciousness and sunk down to find her creamy center.
"Fuck!" She yelped when he sealed his mouth over her for a tight suck and rub until she was rolling and writhing and fighting against the arms banded around her thighs. He laid one across her belly to hold her down.
"Do you like that?" He kept going because her answer was obviously yes. When the arm not restraining her passion made its piano fingered way between her thighs to do the thing she'd imagined earlier, sliding in tightly where she was wet and wanting, she clenched down on his three fingers and said his name.
He slid up her body and reached for the condom, but Emma had gotten her head back around to stop him before he got it on. She hated the taste of rubbers, and she'd like to know his flavor first. "Wait." She leaned forward between his legs and stroked him base to tip. He really was well favored, and not just from the neck up. She pressed his length to his stomach and licked the seam from his balls around and up to his head before she got a mouthful of him. Now he was her dessert. She didn't even think to try the pies and things at the party, she had been so preoccupied with the taste she'd had of him. It was but an appetizer for this. He leaked on her tongue and she moaned and hummed.
"Jesus! Emma! Stop, I'm gonna!" He pushed her back. And she was a little mad he'd taken away her sweetie. "Enough. I'd like to get inside you."
That was a suggestion she could take. So, she lay back and thought of anything but England while he stroked his skinned cock and spat over the tip. God. The way his stomach flexed caused an aftershock to recapture her. "Harry?" His name a plea. His knees hit the bed and her heels pressed him toward her, toward them.
"God, I've never seen you like this!" She'd have to ask him what he meant by that, later. Then he nodded, using his thumb to press his cock head inside the tight ring of muscle at the top of her entrance. Except he was a little low.
"Uhh!" She glanced down and grabbed him to redirect. "Wrong one." She tried not to laugh.
"Sorry, might be a touch too eager." He confessed: She's now laughing, openly. "Hey! It may have went right in, as wet as you are?"
Now she'd be indignant if he wasn't so ridiculous. "Are you really complaining about how wet my pussy is?"
"No, no, that would make me an idiot right?" He asked and found the right spot to start pushing in.
This was always her favorite part, and since this was her favorite fuck already, she knew the pop when he got the lip of his head in would be enough to begin her tip over the edge.
She moaned even before he caught the exact right angle to square her desire and she clutched his back and lifted her bottom to chase his withdrawal. "It would, god, you're perfect, an idiot."
"Oh God, Em!" She liked that. And the kisses to her mouth and chin and neck. Messy and wet and out of control. He'd gone from deliberate and self possessed to a man overcome as he rolled his hips up and into her and against that delicious place inside.
"Harry, don't stop. I'm close." Her head fell back when he slowed down just enough to draw out her orgasm, bring it to the surface and ride it home. He stroked her through and then brought his hands under her ass to lift her pelvis up to his driving thrusts, more deliberate and direct than the ones he used to get her off. She watched his face scrunch, and then open, his jaw down and his eyes closed until he smiled and licked his lips.
It's that face she decided she wanted to see as much as she could.
And she did, it was made better when he bit his lip and laughed. "Am I a perfect idiot then?"
She was blissed out and couldn't stop herself saying, "no you're an idiot with a perfect cock!" He was just pulling out of her then, and she was so embarrassed when he stood up to tie off the condom and preened.
"Am I now?"
She was the idiot. "I'll Pay you to forget I said that!" Emma wants to scurry to the bathroom and get out of here. She's already feeling shame, may as well get the walk over with.
"I don't need any money." He's laughing now. Shes scooting to the restroom when he catches her hands and holds her close. "Where are you going. You owe me, you're gonna pay me in conversation."
Wait, he still wants to talk, even after they've done what they came to do. "Ok." Shes still a little embarrassed and pulling away.
"No, no, stay and talk, come back to bed and tell me about my perfect co—" she's clamping her hand over his mouth.
"Only if you shut up, and I have to have a wee first."
"After!" He begged. "I wanna hear about school and everything. What exactly you're doing to save the world."
"I'll tell you, I have to go after, prevents uti's and such." She hated being clinical, well right now.
"It does?" He asked and she nodded. "That's good to know."
She wants to be embarrassed, but his ease when she comes back from washing up, the way he is still naked and opens his arms to her, helping her find the right spot on top of him where they are both comfortable, it makes her less self conscious, about her little factoid, her nudity, or that she's essentially slept with him right off.
She sighs and is about to ask about the giant butterfly, moth, when he speaks. "Tell me about Holland, about school." His voice is like molasses, and her words come out as slow.
"It lovely, and school is so hard, some times I might as well move onto campus, live in the library-"
"You don't live on campus?" She shakes her head. "Do you ride your bike into town?"
"Yes, I do."
"Oh, you must send me a picture of you on your bike. In a dress." He wants to text.
"Then I want updates on any stupid tattoos you get!" She counters.
"You think my tattoos are stupid?" He pouts, and she's captivated by that face.
"Very." She kissed both sparrows beaks. "But their also sexy."
He likes that, his dimples say so. Then he asks about Iceland and they talk for an hour or more before she's over him, swallowing his moans. They have another go in the morning before leaving, he's hard to convince that she'll be fine with an Uber. If he drives her, it'll blow their cover.
She wound up in his suv anyway.
For the next week they snuck out to warm up the backseat of his Range Rover, her mother's kitchen counter, his childhood bedroom, and then the inn again the night before she left. Just for a few hours, she'd told her mum she was going to the pub to say goodbye to mates.
Their goodbye meant his face remained her go-to for the next year whenever she was alone in her room, at night, missing him.
"Can I have you again, next year? For Christmas?" He'd asked.
Who could say no to that?
She faced those plans unafraid, the ones they made, for the whole next year.
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snowdice · 4 years
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Finding the Time to Study Fic 2 [Day 15]
Here is my starting post for today’s study break stories session. See this post for more details and feel free to send me asks to keep me going! It’s been a lot of fun so far! I will reblog this post with the story as I write them today. I’ll be constantly looking for ideas of times and places for Janus to have missions, so feel free to send in any you can think of at any point!
If you are a new follower or just don’t want all of these posts clogging your dash, please feel free to block the tag “study break stories” as all posts and voting about it will go there. You can still see the finished product of the story even if you are blocking that tag as I will not tag the edited chapters with “study break stories” but with the tag “folds in paper.” See edited chapters below. Chapters 3-7 and what I have of Chapter 8 are under the cut.
My Masterpost Part 1 Part 2
I also have a playlist on youtube (because Spotify didn’t have one of the songs I wanted). It’s short, and not really for serious listening, but I had fun with it.
This thing is going to be 1K words with the semester I’m having. :P The plan is to do a lot of work today. I even have my dinner in a crock-pot. I’m giving a presentation on October 13th and want to basically knock out the prep today so I don’t have to have it hanging over my head. Not sure if I will achieve that, but that’s the plan! I have big goals! Wish me luck! :D
Chapter 3
Janus and Remus both appeared at the same moment a couple of feet apart in what looked like the inside of a garden shed. There was already a man waiting for them a few feet away. “Sup babes,” Remy said, just like he always did. The T-Agent looked their costumes up and down and whistled. “Now that,” he said, “almost makes me want to be one of you time jockeys.”
“They wouldn’t let me have a gun or a canister of moonshine,” Remus pouted.
Remy snorted. “Sorry, babes, but that makes my job a lot easier. If I’ve gotta fish you outta the 1920s criminal justice system, I’d rather it not be because you shot someone on accident ‘cause you don’t know how to use the safety.”
 Remus groaned dramatically. “Everyone is lame.”
Remy just shook his head. “Meet back here when you’ve got the necklace,” he said. “Don’t make a move until after 11:05pm and before 11:17. That’s your window.”
“We know,” Janus said. “See you then.”
“Have fun at the party boys,” Remy said and then lowered his shades to look at Remus, “but not too much fun.”
“Yeah, yeah,” said Remus, already towing Janus out of the garden shed. The way had been specifically cleared for them, so they met no other people before they’d rounded the house the party was taking place and had gotten onto the driveway in front of the house.
 Without missing a beat, they strolled up to the front of the house, just as a car pulled into the end of the driveway. Janus rang the doorbell, and a few moments later, a man who was clearly the butler answered the door. They handed over their invitation, and the man immediately let them in.
The party had already started when they slipped into the medium sized ballroom that had been decked out in streamers and other decorations. Janus’s nose immediately wanted to scrunch as the smell of sweat from all the dancing already going on as well as the too strong perfume meant to cover that stench wafted over him. It was by far not the worst smelling time period, but he was pretty sure some people still weren’t aware deodorant had been recently invented.
 He checked his time piece which had been disguised as a fancy wristwatch for this trip. “Okay,” he said. “We have about two hours before we need to make our move. We should…”
Remus’s attention was already being dragged away by a young man who seemed to be providing guests with food. “I’m going to go ‘mingle’,” he said, winking.
“No!” Janus hissed. “Re- Richard! No!”
Yet, he was already disappearing into the horde of stinky bodies, likely to go scandalize a bunch of rich folks, and leaving Janus alone. Janus mumbled a curse under his breath that he was sure no one around him would understand even if they could make it out.
 Unsure what to do with himself, he wandered over towards where the live musicians were playing jazz music, being sure to keep out of the way of the dancers. He was edging around the makeshift dancefloor, when one of said dancers must have misstepped and knocked into another one. The second man stumbled right towards Janus, arms pinwheeling. Janus reached out on instinct to catch the man as he fell.
There was a moment where the two of them just stared at each other, surprise evident on the other man’s face. He was wearing a mask that just covered the area around his eyes and the top of his nose, revealing a smattering of freckles across his cheeks that Janus imagined extended to his nose.
 The mask was a light blue velvet with a flower stuck on the side near his right ear, and a trail of curled golden ribbon bobbed down around his chin. The party continued on around them, a blur of movement and sound.
“Are you alright?” Janus asked.
The man blinked up at him and then tilted his head slightly to the side as though confused, before a smile slowly grew on his face. “Oh, I’m fine Dove.”
“Dove?” Janus asked.
He giggled. “You have dove feathers on your mask,” he explained, reaching up a hand to touch one. His finger brushed the tip of Janus’s ear, “and I don’t know what else I am supposed to call you.”
 “My name is Lee,” he automatically lied.
“Is it?” he asked, sounding amused. “Doesn’t seem to fit you well. I like Dove better.”
“Oh?” asked Janus. “And what’s your name so I can not call you that?”
The man chuckled. “Call me Pat.”
“Hello Pat,” Janus said.
“I thought you didn’t want to call me by my name.”
“I changed my mind.”
“Hmmm,” Pat said, finger tracing idly across Janus’s forearm which was when Janus realized with a start that he was still holding the man in his arms. He quickly went to release him, which Pat allowed with clear amusement.
 Yet, instead of completely stepping away, Pat grabbed Janus’s arm. “What are you doing all the way over here by the way?” he asked. “Don’t you want to dance.”
“Oh,” Janus hesitated. “I don’t really dance.” Or at least not in the way the people around him were. He’d had basic training for this style, but it had been a while and he was a bit rusty.
“Everyone dances Dove,” Pat claimed. “At least if they know the steps and have the right partner.”
“But I don’t know the steps,” Janus said with an eyebrow raise.
He hummed. “Well, I know the dance pretty well by this point,” Pat said. “Why don’t I teach you how it goes.”
 He was agreeing with the soft beseeching tone before he even realized it. Pat pulled him into the middle of the throng of people. He seemed to think, bopping his head to the music playing for a moment, before looking back at Janus. “Heard of James Johnson?”
Janus inclined his head.
“Well, have you heard his new song? Because there’s a dance that goes with it.”
He took a few steps away from Janus and started to dance. Despite his claim to know the steps, he wasn’t particularly good, but he made up for any loss of rhythm with pure enthusiasm.
 Janus found himself smiling at the man, and after a few moments, joined in with the dance. Despite his lack of practice, he ended up having a better natural rhythm than Pat. Pat didn’t seem to mind that he was being outperformed, however. On the contrary, he giggled at himself the couple of times he stumbled.
When he fell into Janus’s arms for the second time that night, Janus decided he’d probably had enough dancing for the moment and pulled him off to the side to get something to drink and cool down a bit.
He watched the man take a snack and some punch from one of servers and thank him happily before turning back to Janus. Pat was easily able to keep Janus’s attention as they chatted. He was bubbly and soft, and Janus found himself enchanted as they talked.
 He was explaining the steps of a different dance, a couples one. “Knowing how to perform the tango will entrance any girl you want,” Pat said, something mischievous sparkling in his eyes. ���Assuming you’re that type of fella.”
“As opposed to what?” Janus asked.
Pat leaned in a bit closer. Not too much, but enough that he was definitely in Janus’s space. “A different type of fella,” he said simply, before smiling and leaning back.
Janus let out a shaky exhale and took a sip of punch. He glanced over at Pat. “Tell me about yourself, Pat,” he said.
Pat hummed in contemplation. “Well, I went to France recently.”
 “You did?”
“Oui, c'était amusant, mais j'ai eu des ennuis”
“What kind of trouble?” Janus asked curiously.
“Oh, the kind with a pretty boy and crepes that were way too sweet. Anyway,” he continued. “Other than that, I mostly help out my friend. He’s an inventor.”
“And how do you help him.”
He shrugged, “Running errands mostly, and making sure he gets enough sleep, because otherwise he gets distracted and forgets. And you?”
“I’m a banker,” he said, remembering his cover, but felt compelled to add, “but I like to travel as well.”
“You do look the type?”
“And how is that?”
   Pat shrugged. “I can always tell a wandering spirt from the masses, and you are easy to spot.” Pat looked at him then with a secret smile on his face, and Janus felt suddenly known, like the man in front of him had known him for years even though they’d only just met. Looking at him then, he wanted suddenly for that to be fact and not a flight of fancy.
He was brought firmly back to reality in the next moment. “Lee,” a pointed and familiar voice said. Janus’s head snapped up to see Remus, staring at him. He tapped his wrist. Janus glanced at his own wrist: 10:58pm. He just barely managed not to curse.
 “I,” he said looking up at Pat. “I’m sorry, but I have to go.”
“That’s okay,” Pat said easily. “It is getting rather late.”
“Yes,” Janus agreed. “Well… goodbye.”
Pat, titled his head, a half smile on his face. “I’ll be seeing you around.”
Janus nodded, and turned away from him towards Remus. He didn’t look back as they excited the ballroom. They snuck into a small side closet for coats that wasn’t being used as it was summer.
“So,” Remus said when the door closed behind them.
“Don’t,” warned Janus.
“I’m not one to judge,” Remus said.
“Shut up.” He glanced at his watch. It was 11:02. “We’ll go in 5.”
 “I have to give it to you. He was very cute.”
“We’re not talking about it.”
Remus just laughed joyfully, and Janus did his best to halt the blood rushing to his cheeks.
At 11:07, well into their window, they slipped back out of the closet, and towards the stairs as the party raged on.
Despite how Remus usually never shut up, he was able to be quiet when it counted. They snuck to the master bedroom of the home’s owners in silence. The door was already wide open by the time they got there, and Janus didn’t think anything of it. At least, he didn’t until they entered the bedroom, and there was someone already there.
 He turned from the dresser he’d been standing in front of to face them, sending Janus the same smile he had down in the ballroom. Janus and Remus both froze. “Sorry, sweetie,” Pat said. “Were you here for this too?” he held up the necklace they’d been sent for. He closed his fist around the charm made out of time travel tech.
“What?” Janus said.
Pat giggled and winked. “Unfortunately, I need it a bit more than you at the moment. So, I’m gonna have to go.” Janus stepped forward, not really sure what he was intending to do, but Pat just smiled. “See you some other time, my Turtle Dove.” With a snap of his fingers and loud crack, he disappeared. The mask he’d been wearing fluttered to the ground.
  Arc I: Finding Cinderella
Chapter 4
Janus was frozen in surprise for a few long moments after Pat disappeared. Which had been, admittedly, his mistake, because, while their window had technically been until 11:17pm and it was only 11:10, the loud crack that whatever Pat had been using for time travel made, garnered the attention of someone else.
“Uh oh,” Remus said, likely hearing footsteps. “Hide.”
That snapped Janus into action, but instead of hiding immediately like a sensible human being, he chose to go for the only link to the man who’d just stolen time travel tech and waltzed away, the mask.
Which was why he ended up getting arrested.
 Remy tsked the moment they were all alone in the police car having come to ‘transfer Lee to another facility.’ Remus was already waiting in the front seat, and flashed Janus a smug smile. If Janus wasn’t still handcuffed, he’d slap him.
“Well,” Remy said. “At least you didn’t shoot anybody like I asked. I was joking by the way. I didn’t really want to pick you up from a 1920s police station period.”
“It wasn’t my fault.”
“Mmm, nah, ‘cause Remus managed to not get arrested this time, so you defiantly screwed something up.”
“Oh, he defiantly wanted to screw something all right,” Remus said joyfully.
 “Remus,” Janus hissed.
“What?” he asked. “I’m not the horny one for once. Well, no, that’s a lie, but it didn’t affect the job this time.”
Janus groaned and leaned his head back against the seat.
Remy pulled into a seemingly random garage around 20 minutes later. “Alright,” he said. “Here we are.” He got out of the car and then helped Janus out before uncuffing him. “Here’s your ‘watch,’” Remy handed him the timepiece that had been confiscated when he’d been arrested.
Janus put it on and activated it. “Shit,” he said.
“What?” Remus asked.
“An appointment with cultural outreach has already been downloaded to my calendar for once we get out of decon.”
 “Oof. Going to baby jail,” Remy laughed. Remus was cackling.
“This,” Janus said, “was not a cultural faux pas. I did nothing that indicated that I was not from this time. I am not some rookie.”
“Don’t forget cell phones don’t exist in the 1920s,” Remus sang.
“The real question is whether or not my foot exists in your…” Remus disappeared before he could finish, a smirk on his face. Janus growled. “By Remy,” he gritted out. He selected the decontamination chamber from his queue, ignoring the appointment that came after it for now.
He knew exactly where Remus would be standing when he landed, which was why he stepped forward on reentry to ram into him.
 He yelped in surprise. “Sorry,” Janus said pleasantly. “I must have also forgotten landing procedures.
Remus laughed good naturally. “Aw, come on Jay,” he said, bumping Janus back, albeit much gentler than Janus had been. “It’s not a big deal. You just go talk with some crusty old college professor who is far too interested in spoons and then everything’s fine.”
“It’s the principle of the thing,” he growled. “They’re treating me like I’m an idiot who accidently invented disco in the 1920s when I was conned by some free agent time traveler.”
“‘Conned,’ Remus said. Is that what they’re calling it now?”
 “I know where and when you live Remus,” Janus said.
Remus gave him a dopey smile as the decontamination cycle finished and the door unlocked. Janus’s wrist buzzed telling him that the coordinates to the cultural outreach office were now unlocked. Instead of pulling them up, Janus walked to the door.
“Um,” Remus said, following him. “Aren’t you supposed to be going to your appointment?” Janus just kept walking towards their office. “Uh… Jan?”
“It’s absolutely ridiculous that I have to go to cultural outreach,” Janus said. “In fact, no one can make me. If they want me to go have a discussion about the definition of ‘bushwa,’ they’re going to have to have me dragged there.”
 “Mmm, I feel like The Boss won’t be too happy about that, and I have a feeling she’d be 100% down to dragging you there herself.”
“Well, then, let her,” Janus said, stalking through the door to his office. “I’m not going to…”
“Ah, Agent Picani,” the woman standing next to his desk, clearly waiting for him, said when he came through the door. “Dr. Picani was informed that there were complications with your last mission and wishes to have a conversation with you and asks that you meet him in his office at the AMO.”
“Oh, um,” Janus said, stumbling a bit before plastering on a regretful half smile. “Unfortunately, I actually have an appointment right now at Cultural Outreach. It’s mandatory and very important, and I have to go now. So, I’ll have to take a raincheck on that.”
 “But-” she started, frowning.
“Remus, work on the report!” Janus said quickly as he waved his hand to bring up his timepiece display and jammed his finger at the glowing appointment card in his queue. A few moments later, Janus was at Cultural Outreach.
Cultural Outreach was not part of the TPI, though it often worked very closely with them. It was a collaboration between the government and multiple universities to help government workers, politicians, and other citizens understand and bridge cultural gaps. It had existed before time travel was invented but had expanded to also teach people who needed to time travel how to behave in unfamiliar times and cultures.
 After it had to be expanded to provide for the TPI, it had been moved to Silver Mountains University. The building had once just been a museum, but it had been thoroughly renovated and there had been add-ons for office space and some classrooms. It was still a museum, however, its purpose had expanded greatly and there were many areas that were off limits to the general public.
One of these areas was the fourth floor, where Janus’s timepiece had dumped him. This was the floor that was almost exclusively for TPI agents and staff of Cultural Outreach who worked with them.
 He immediately turned away from the reception area, hoping that he could escape and go sit on the university’s quad or something of the like for the next hour or so in hopes the woman his brother sent to fetch him would give up and go back to the AMO. Yet, the receptionist apparently saw him.
“Janus Picani?” he asked.
Janus grimaced and turned back towards him. “Yes,” he said.
“Is something wrong?” he asked. “You’re 5 minutes late for your appointment and seem disoriented.
“Nothing’s wrong.”
“Is your timepiece malfunctioning?”
“No.”
“Uh… okay. Well, if you sign in here, I can take you to your appointment.”
“…Fine.”
 He begrudgingly stepped forward and touched the screen he’d gestured to sign with his fingerprint, and then let the man lead him down the hall.
The door they stopped at was propped open slightly, but he still paused and knocked. “Professor Eran? Your 2:30 is here.”
Janus had just a moment upon hearing the name to think that maybe there was actually some sort of intelligent design of the universe and whatever being of ultimate power had crafted it was a dick.
The door opened and Virgil Eran’s eyes immediately narrowed on him. “Janus.”
“Virgil.”
“I see you’re still late for everything.”
“I see you’re still a bastard.”
 Janus saw the receptionist slowly back away in the direction they’d come.
“Why don’t you come in?” Virgil said faux pleasantly.
Janus did, because he really didn’t have much of a choice at this point unless he wanted to jump out of a window… or push someone out of a window.
Virgil turned back into his office and took a seat behind his desk. Janus unhappily followed him in and sat across from him.
He took his time pulling up whatever the TPI sent him and reading it over. “So, I see you failed your recovery mission and were arrested in 1923.”
 “It wasn’t like that,” Janus said. “I shouldn’t be here.”
Virgil gave him that same suspicious look he used to give Janus whenever Janus claimed to have not eaten his hot pockets out of the freezer in the middle of the night. He’d only been lying 80% of the time. Virgil had a tendency to forget what he’d eaten in a half-conscious state at 3 o’clock in the morning.
“I shouldn’t,” Janus snapped defensively. “Nothing went wrong with anyone from the time period. An illegal time traveler screwed up the mission details.”
“Well, it is still protocol to make sure nothing slipped when agents go off script. You weren’t prepared to be in a jail cell, and it is possible that you screwed something up.”
 “I didn’t screw anything up,” Janus growled.
“Alright,” Virgil said pulling up a document on his desk. “The mission started on July 27th, 1923 at 9:58pm, correct?”
“Oh, god, we’re not really going to fill out a time sheet. I don’t have time for that today.”
“It is protocol and best that the information is documented when it is still fresh in your mind. Besides, your schedule has been cleared for the rest of the workday.” The bastard was enjoying this. He knew how much Janus hated this stuff.
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Janus said, “it was the damned illicit time traveler.”
“And I will be the judge of that,” Virgil said. Janus should have just bit the bullet and had coffee with his brother. “If you truly did nothing wrong, your supervisor will see that when I send this to her.”
 Yet, despite the fact that Virgil clearly relished in his suffering, he was charitable enough to do most of the actual filling out of the forms. He’d read out the questions and write down what Janus said instead of making him do it himself. Janus really only had to do a quick quality check and sign it at the end.
He still was an asshole about the details, but really he’d been like that about stupid thing like the settings for the dish washer and how the pantry was organized during their college days before they’d had their falling out, so Janus wasn’t particularly surprised. When they were finally done, Virgil sent it off to get filed by the TPI.
 Then, they were left staring at each other with nothing between them but almost a decade of radio silence and a whole lot of awkwardness.
“I should go,” Janus finally said, standing up.
Virgil tilted his head slightly to the side and gave him a half smile. “Don’t lock the door behind you,” he said. “Not that I’d expect you too.”
Janus took it for the clear attempt at a joke it was intended to be and puffed out a breath of amusement with a head shake. “No risk of that,” he said. Then, he turned and walked out of the office.
 Chapter 5
Janus stepped back into the reception area and booted up his time piece. Instinct said to go back to the office despite the fact that it was late enough that most people had gone home, but he hesitated. Surely Emile had given up by now, but considering he’d sent someone to ambush him in his office, Janus wasn’t sure if he should trust that. He could just go home, but he already knew his mind was racing too much to sleep tonight so he’d probably just end up staring at the lake for the next 6 hours. So, he decided on the only other legitimate option he had. He pulled up Remus’s home coordinates and selected.
 The home that Remus had chosen (after his long line of rejected requests) managed to somehow make no and absolute sense simultaneously to anyone who knew him. It was a small farm in the United States just west of the Mississippi in 1842 in what would be ratified as the state of Iowa in a few years. When asked why he would choose that time and place, Remus always responded with “I thought it was funny,” whatever that meant.
Unlike most time agents who simply used the identities assigned to them by the AMO as a cover, Remus actually lived his part time.
 Janus was… fairly certain he was cheating a bit to get everything done, but he maintained his small farm all on his own, growing most of his own food. The neighbors he had lived very far away, but he still spoke with them far more than Janus did his own.
Janus appeared inside the small home, his eyes already shut. “Are you hear and dressed?” Janus called. Something bumped lightly into his legs.
“I’m in the kitchen!”
Janus peaked his eyes open and squatted to pet the cat at his feet. “That doesn’t answer my question!” he called back to Remus.
 “It’s a surprise!” Remus said.
“Remus.” Diesel Fuel the cat flopped to her side on the ground as Janus continued to pet her ears. He heard Remus’s footsteps, and saw cloth covering his legs, so risked looking up. He was currently not only dressed, but wearing an apron that Janus was fairly sure was not time appropriate judging by the fabric and cat pawprint design. He had a bit of flour on his hands, and it may have been a bit too white for the time and place, but Janus couldn’t be completely sure.
“What’re you doing here?” Remus asked.
 “My day has been an endless series of frustrations,” Janus said. “So, I have come to see the only tolerable being in the history of the universe.”
Remus snorted. “Since I know that isn’t me, I’ll assume you’re talking about the cat.”
“I still don’t understand why you tolerate this creature,” Janus addressed Diesel Fuel. She blinked slowly up at him. “To be fair, he was assigned as my partner. I didn’t have much of a choice in it. You could go always run away and become feral in the woods if you’d like.”
“So could you, technically,” Remus pointed out.
“I’m thinking about it after today.”
 “Would you like some bread?” Remus asked. “That’s all I’ve been making this afternoon. Some fresh should be coming out of the oven in a few minutes.”
“Do you have anything stronger made out of wheat?”
“Ew, no, but I do have vodka.”
“Vodka works.”
“Want me to mix it with something?”
“No.”
“One of those night then,” Remus said, easily. “Let me finish up the bread, so I don’t burn the kitchen down. You can go get the alcohol from the cellar while you wait if you want, or you can just flop down on the couch.”
He was going to just flop down on the couch.
 He did just that as Remus disappeared back into his kitchen. The cat hopped onto his stomach, proceeding to purr loudly and kneed at chest. Janus petted the cat and listened to the noise of Remus moving around in the other room, letting his mind drift. His mind drifted to Virgil for a bit and he steadfastly did not allow it to drift to his brother. Yet, the thing that most was on his mind was the strange man who had flirted and charmed Janus all night before mercilessly screwing him over. ‘Pat’ he’d said his name was, but surely that was not his real name.
 Janus sighed and scratched the cat’s ear. “He certainly wasn’t an amateur,” Janus mused to the cat. “With that amount of precision to get in before we did, he must have someone not on the ground feeding him information. Perhaps more than one.” He was part of a group of time traveling thieves perhaps or something worse. “I didn’t get a good look at his face since he was wearing a mask,” Janus said, “but I spent a lot of time with him, and I’m sure Remy swiped the mask from the police since it had been on me when I was arrested. It’s a good lead.”
 He continued to pet Diesel Fuel. Eventually, Remus came back in, noticed Janus hadn’t bothered to get the alcohol and went outside to the cellar. “I’m going to find him,” Janus told Diesel Fuel. “I’ll stop whatever it is he’s doing, and I’ll bring him in.” Diesel Fuel mewed her support, and Janus patted her on top of the head.
Remus came back in with the bottle of vodka and handed it to him without a word. He sat down on the couch near Janus’s feet and patted his lap so Diesel Fuel would come over to him and allow Janus to sit up.
 The bastard waited until he was approximately 3 shots in (he didn’t have a shot glass and was just taking drinks from the bottle) to ask the questions Janus really didn’t want to answer. “Are you mad at Emile?” Remus asked.
Janus groaned, trying to wash out the bitter taste of shame and grief with the sharp sting of vodka. It didn’t work. “No,” he said to Remus.
“Then why have you been avoiding him?”
“Shit, I’m here because I didn’t want to think about it. Can’t we just not.”
“Don’t want to think about what?
“It’s none of your business, Remus.”
 He could feel Remus frowning at him, but Janus stared resolutely ahead. At least, he did until a foot poked his face. He slapped it away, but it did the job of getting Janus to look at Remus.
“It is my business,” Remus said, foot still in the air. “I’m your partner and your friend.”
“If I’m your friend, you’ll drop it.”
“So, you’re not mad at Emile,” Remus continued, contemplatively. “Did you do something to him, then?” Janus bit his lip and looked away. “What?” Remus asked. Janus didn’t respond. “Look, I’m sure he’ll forgive you for whatever it is. He’s a good guy. Just talk to him about it.”
 “I can’t,” Janus said.
“Whatever it is, it’s probably been long enough that he forgives you. You literally just have to have a conversation, say you’re sorry, and everything will be A-OK.”
“I can’t,” Janus repeated.
“Why not?”
“He doesn’t know about it.”
Remus paused. “So, as far as he knows, you just cut contact with him all of a sudden for no reason and have been avoiding him ever since?”
Janus looked at his shoes. “Yeah.”
“That…” Remus said, “is not fucking fair Janus.”
“I know.”
“Then why the hell are you doing that to him? He’s like… soft and feeling-y. He’s probably really upset.”
 “I know, Remus.”
“Tell him. Whatever it is.”
“I can’t.”
“Look,” Remus said. “You tell him and he either forgives you or he doesn’t. If he does, everything’s fine. If he doesn’t… well, it’s not like it would be any different from you two never being in the same room the last few years. Either way, you can’t just do this to him. He’ll probably forgive you. He’s your brother. Brothers don’t… brothers would forgive each other.”
Janus laughed softly and met Remus’s eyes. “That’s the problem,” he said. “He’d definitely forgive me.” He turned away and opened the vodka bottle again. “Now, if you’ll shut up for a few minutes, I’m going to drink until I black out.”
 Chapter 6
“Really, Khalid,” Janus said, storming into his boss’s office. “A yellow?” It had been about a week since the 1920s incident, and his incident report had finally been cleared. Sure, it wasn’t a red or a black and he wasn’t facing any reprimand, but it should have been a green.
She looked up at him, clearly unconcerned. “There was an incident,” she said. “You handled it well, but there was one. Therefore, yellow.”
“It wasn’t a time travel incident! It was a rouge time traveler.”
“Janus, you helped me make these rules,” she said impatiently.
“Which is why I know this is bullshit,” he snapped.
 She rolled her eyes. “If it was anyone else, you would agree with me. While you didn’t go against protocol and had no time related incidents, the fact of the matter is, you were still distracted by this ‘rouge time traveler,’ didn’t complete your mission, and were arrested.”
“He was good,” Janus said. “You can’t fault me for that. He also could be dangerous and you’re busy handing out yellows instead of working to track him down.”
She raised an eyebrow. “We are working on tracking him down,” she said. “We have done an analysis on the mask and found fibers dating to the 2010s and some DNA. Though it isn’t exactly a high priority.”
 “We have no idea who he is or what he’s planning to do. Why is that not a high priority thing?”
“At the moment?” she asked. “Because we have reports of a time bomb being activated.”
“What?” Janus asked sitting up. “When?”
“New Years Eve going into the year 3,000 in Brazil,” she said. “Which you’d know about if you’d bothered to check your integration port this morning before storming into my office.”
“It’s my mission?” Janus asked.
“The incident investigation is over and your active again despite the dreaded yellow,” she said, clearly making fun of him a bit. “So, yes, and it’s a high priority mission, so I’ll be running it.”
 “Who all is going?” he asked.
“Other than the two of us, Remus, Lena, and Fred,” she told him. “We leave in three hours, so, you might want to run off to Rhi before Fred gets to her and ties her up for an hour on details.”
Janus nodded and got to his feet. He turned back at the door. “I still don’t deserve the yellow,” he hissed.
She waved him off. “I’ll see you in a few hours, Picani.”
He ground his teeth a bit about the dismissal of his worries, but his resentment was slightly soothed by the fact that she’d assigned him to go on such a high priority mission and with only senior agents.
 He took the advice and grabbed Remus from the office, noting Lena hadn’t been able to wrangle Fred yet as she was still at her desk, and they both headed off to see Rhi.
A few hours later, they were all in decontamination together, decked out in truly god-awful costumes. The turn of the third millennia had been a wild event, and the best way to fit in was to look like you’d grabbed something from every century in recorded human history, dyed it in neon paint, and rolled around in a vat of glitter.
Remus had opted to stick his head in a vat of glow in the dark green paint that costuming had offered them, and it wasn’t even going to be slightly disruptive to their covertness.
 In fact, costuming had frowned when Janus had insisted he not get his hair dyed and instead wore a bowler hat. They had required him to have flowers made out of glitter on it.
There were five people waiting for them when they landed 6 hours before the turn of the millennia. Three were touchdown agents, including Remy, and two were on location tech support. Usually it would be overkill to have that many people there just for support even with five agents in the field, but today the TPI needed to be cautious because they were planning on instituting a time lock.
Time bombs were dangerous things that would ripple through time if not contained. Even if it did end up going off (killing everyone in its reach), the time lock would serve to prevent most damage outside of the city and, more importantly, the year it was planted.
 Janus had only been in two time locks before, and he was one of the most senior agents in the TPI, outranked only by the founder: Lia Khalid. Time locks were designed to keep all time linear in a certain fixed time and geographical area as well as prevent any time travel in and out. Once it was engaged, all forms of time travel would not work for the duration, bar the pin device. Khalid was already switching out her regular timepiece with the slightly bigger one that was designed to support the time lock.
There was a failsafe back at the TPI that could be engaged in an emergency, which was why tech support was here, but other than that, the only thing that could break the time lock was that timepiece, and it would break the moment the time lock ended.
 As soon as it was on Khalid’s wrist, she looked up at them all. “Our information says the time bomb was planted in the costume of one of the ‘Millennium Birds’ who are the organizers of the different events,” she said. Janus had seen a photo of the identical costumes in the mission details. They were all robe like garments with giant fans of feathers coming from the neck that coalesced in a peak a foot above their head to hold a fake bird egg. At least they’d be easy to find. “There are 25 of them throughout the city. We need to find each of them. So, we don’t double count, you’ll need to subtly,” her eyes touched on Remus, “scan each one you find for the bomb and tag them with a tracker if it’s not on them. You can view the already tagged ones, as well as the rest of us on your timepiece even once the time lock is engaged. When you find the bomb, call it in.”
 They all nodded, and Khalid looked over at one of the techies. She nodded at her and then the techie flipped a couple of switches. “Three, two, one,” the techie said. There was a slight shift in the air that most people would disregard, but Janus as a seasoned time traveler could feel the change even before his wrist buzzed. He glanced at his timepiece to see it had a big red ‘X’ across its display. He tapped it and was still able to bring up the map of the city with 10 green dots on it all clustered together in their current location.
 After that, he tested the scanner on his timepiece that he would use to search for the bomb, just to make sure the time lock hadn’t messed anything up with his equipment. He glanced up to see everyone else was doing the same.
“Keep in contact,” Khalid said before everyone split up. Janus and Remus started by going North while Fredrick and Darlene were to go South. Khalid was a floater who would tag any Birds she saw but was mostly there for backup and orders.
Janus and Remus stepped into the chaos of New Years Eve before the turn of the third millennia. The streets were already swamped with people and it would only be getting worse the later it go.
“Where should we start?” Remus asked.
 “Let’s go all the way North to the games area,” Janus said. “We can work our way back here.”
“Okay!” Remus said. “I wonder if they have those fun little genetically modified goldfish as prizes. I’ve always wanted to eat one and see if I end up getting whatever design was on the fish on my body.”
Janus gave him a disgusted look.
“What?! People eat fish all the time!”
Janus shook his head. “We’re not playing the games anyway. We have work to do. Important work.”
“Boo,” Remus replied. Janus chose to ignore him as he spotted one of the Millenia Birds letting people into the gaming area.
 They walked over towards the entrance. Janus got in range first and moved to subtly scan the Millenia Bird, Remus doing the same the next moment. After a second, Janus’s timepiece buzzed and lit up red, meaning the bomb was within range. “Well, that was easy,” he said. “It was on the first one we found.”
“Uh…” Remus said. “Jan.” When Janus looked, he was holding up his wrist to show his green lit time piece.
“What?” Janus asked. He quickly moved to rescan the Millenia Bird, and his timepiece came up green as well. Which, meant the bomb was not in range, even though the Millenia Bird had not moved. “But…” He and Remus’s eyes met, and they quickly both started turning in a circle to look at the crowd around him. No one looked like they’d just stolen a time bomb off the Millennial Bird, but then Janus’s eyes caught on a man. He blended in perfectly to his surroundings. He was wearing the disgusting garb of the times, a large light blue piece that bubbled near his hips, and had most of his skin covered in rainbow neon paints. Yet, something about him, the curl of his hair or the way he moved, drew Janus’s eyes to him. He recognized the man immediately even in a completely different dressing style. Yet, what cinched it was the moment Janus’s eyes met his and they seemed to sparkle slightly in the afternoon sun. The next moment, the person Janus knew as Pat, turned to disappear into the crowd.
 Chapter 7
“Him,” was the only thing Janus said before taking off after the figure who had just disappeared into the game area.
“What?” Remus’s voice followed after him. “Janus! What?!”
Janus did not pause, just continuing to run after Pat, hopping over two barricades as a shortcut. Janus cursed when he lost sight of the man for just a moment near the prize table filled with colorful goldfish, but he was able to spot him once again walking into one of the tents. Janus blasted into the tent. It was a game where they raced rats, and when Janus entered, Pat was cooing at one of them.
 “Who’s a tiny little squishy precious baby?” he was asking one of them, wiggling his pointer finger at it.
“You,” Janus growled stepping up to him.
He turned and tilted his head at Janus with a frown. “Um, me?” he asked, pointing to his chest, all sorts of innocent, but Janus could see a spot of hidden amusement in his eyes.
“Where is it?”
His eyebrows drew together, but it was an act. It was clearly an act! “Where is what?”
“The…” he glanced around them at the people surrounding them. “Thing you just took.”
“I didn’t take anything,” Pat said with a frown.
 “Oh, no,” Janus said. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fooling me twice is not an option.”
“I’m sorry sir,” Pat said. “I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Bull. Shit.”
Just then, Remus jogged into the tent. “What’s going on?” he asked.
“It’s him,” Janus said pointing. “He took it. He has it.”
“I… don’t know what you’re talking about,” Patton said. He looked over to Remus with a confused frown.
Remus looked at Janus. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” Janus said. “It’s him. It has to be him. He’s the mask guy.”
Remus squinted at Pat. “He is?”
“Whoever you think I am, I’m not. I haven’t worn a mask all night. I just did the face paint,” he pointed to his cheeks.
 Remus raised his wrist and his timepiece lit up green. He looked at Janus.
“I lost sight of him for five seconds. He must have stashed it somewhere,” Janus said. He turned on Pat. “Where did you put it?”
“…Are you,” Pat asked, his eyes going back and forth between Janus and Remus, “… the police?”
“We are, actually,” Khalid said as she stepped into the tent. Remus must have called her. She inserted herself between Janus and Pat. “Agent Khalid,” she said, offering a hand with a smile. Pat looked at it in surprise and then smiled back hesitantly as he took it. “Apologizes, one of the big game prizes was stolen by someone matching your description. Would you mind coming down to security for questioning? Just to clear it up.”
 “Oh,” Patton said, hesitant. Janus expected him to refuse outright, but then he said. “Uh, sure.”
“Thank you very much, Mr…”
“Jonas,” Pat told her earnestly. “Do I need to be handcuffed?”
“No,” Khalid said. Janus frowned at her, but she ignored him. “It’s just a talk for now.” She gestured to the tent entrance. “Come with us.”
He did without argument, and Remus and Janus followed behind the both of them. Khalid did not lead them back to the base, but to a little spot that said “security” near the center of the event. Remy was already there waiting for them at a desk.
 “Remy, would you please take Mr. Jonas to go sit down?” she asked.
“Sure, boss,” Remy said, standing up. He led Pat away.
Khalid turned to Janus and Remus once they were out of earshot. “What is going on?”
“It’s the mask man,” Janus said, “the one from 1923, and my scanner said the time bomb was on the Millenia Bird outside the games entrance, but then it was gone the next second, and I saw him, and then he ran away.”
“So, does he have it on him?”
“No. I lost sight of him, and he must have stored it somewhere, but I know he took it.”
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“He’s the man from 1923?” she asked.
“Yes! Remus, that’s him, right? You recognize him.”
“Well,” Remus said thoughtfully. “He was in a mask, and it was dark in the room with the necklace. Other than that, I only really saw his back, and he was wearing pants. Mr. Jonas is wearing a dress, so I can’t really tell if their asses match.”
“Okay, but I was with him for hours. I swear it’s him, and I swear he took it,” Janus just about shouted.
“We’ll question him,” Khalid placated, “and Fred and Lena will keep looking in the meantime.”
 “He knows where it is,” Janus insisted. “I swear.”
“Okay,” Khalid said, before leaving to follow where Remy and Pat had gone. She stopped Janus with a hand on his shoulder. “I think Remus and I will do the interrogation.” He opened his mouth to argue. “You know the most about him, so observe from the sidelines and see if he makes any mistakes that indicate you’re right.”
“That’s just to placate me and you know it.”
“Observation’s over there,” she said pointing.
He got a thumbs up from Remus as he walked by, and Janus glared at his back before walking off to the indicated location.
 He watched as Remus and Khalid entered the room, and Remy left it. Remy joined him in the observation room after leaving and leaned against the wall.
Pat was sitting at a table and watched Remus and Khalid with that same rubbish placid confusion that he had before. “So,” Khalid said, “Mr. Jonas.”
“You can call me Nick,” Pat interrupted.
“Lia,” Khalid replied. He smiled at her happily. “So, are you enjoying your day?” she asked.
“I am!” he replied. “It’s a big day. You only get to see the turn of a millennia once in your life.”
“Ah, yes,” Khalid said. “Doing anything special for it?”
 “Um, not really,” he said. “Other than the party. I’m going to meet up with my roommates after dinner. Kevin doesn’t like this sort of thing, and Joe couldn’t come.”
“Your roommates,” Khalid said, considering him. “Do you live around here?”
“Uh huh,” Pat replied.
“Do you have any ID?”
“I do, want me to get it?”
“If you wouldn’t mind.”
Pat unzipped one of the bubbles on his waist and handed her a chip. “Remus, would you mind going out and getting the ID scanner?” she asked, even though her timepiece would be able to read it.
“Ah, shit,” Remy said. “Props. What do those things even look like?”
 As Remy scrambled to find something that would pass for an ID reader so “Nick” didn’t get suspicious of Khalid using her timepiece, Janus watched the two alone in the room like a hawk.
“I see you’re wearing a dress inspired by the 2770s,” Khalid noted, as Remus came to stand next to him.
“Yeah!” Pat replied. “Joe made it for me. He’s really good at fashion design!”
“Can I see?” she asked.
With a happy smile, he reached over the table to let her get a look of the sleeves. Janus saw her subtly scan the fabric, probably to make sure it was from the 2990s and not actually from the 2770s. Considering she didn’t mention it, Janus assumed it checked out.
 Remy came back with some sort of device then and handed it to Remus who saluted and wandered back into the interrogation room. Khalid pretended to scan the ID in her hand. She handed it back to him without comment. “So, you said you live with your roommates: Joe and Kevin?” she asked.
“Yep!” he replied. “We’re practically like brothers.”
“Would you mind calling them?”
“Erm,” he titled his head like he was confused by the question. “Well, like I said, Joe is a bit busy, but I could definitely call Kevin.
“Here,” Khalid said, “use my phone.”
“I have my own,” he said with a frown.
“Humor me,” she requested.
“Uh, okay,” Pat agreed. He took the offered 2999 phone and dialed a number on it. Khalid reached over to put it on speaker.
“Hello?” a voice asked after a few seconds.
“Um, hey Kevin, it’s Nick.”
There was a sigh on the other end. “Hello Nick, is something wrong? Why are you calling me from someone else’s phone?”
“I’m fine, I think.” He looked up at Khalid. “Why am I calling him exactly?”
“Hello, I’m Officer Khalid,” Khalid said. “I just wanted to confirm that you are Nick Jonas’s roommate, and he does live in Manaus.”
“Yes, we live together with our other roommate,” the man replied flippantly. “Officer? Is something wrong?”
“I believe there was just a case of mistaken identity,” Khalid said.
“Bullshit there was!” Janus hissed, though she could not hear him.
“No need to worry,” Khalid continued.
“I’m good Kevin,” Pat said.
“Are you absolutely sure?” Kevin asked.
“Don’t be Paranoid, Kevin. I’ll see you Tonight for the New Years Celebration. You know I Live to Party.”
“I am hanging up now,” Kevin said.
“No! Comeback.” The line went dead. Pat handed the device back to Khalid.
She took it and smiled at him. “Give us just a couple of minutes,” she requested. He nodded easily, and she and Remus exited the interrogation room. “I… think we’re done here,” Khalid said.
“No, he’s lying,” Janus insisted, and got a dubious look in return. “I know he is! Remus!”
“The alibi is pretty solid…” Remus said, “and he doesn’t have the bomb on him.”
“Oh, come on,” Janus said. “You can’t say there is nothing fishy going on here.”
Khalid and Remus shared a look. “Janus,” Khalid said. “I respect your intuition. It is usually very good, but you have been a bit intense about the man from the 1920s, and I think that may be blinding you a bit...”
“I am not imagining this!” Janus said. “That’s him and he took it.”
“You only met him once while he was wearing a mask,” Khalid pointed out with a frown, “and you didn’t see him take the bomb, did you?”
“No, but he looked at me and I knew,” Janus argued. They both gave him a skeptical look. “Oh, come on!”
“You know that’s a little weak, Jan,” Remus said.
“Let me talk to him,” Janus requested. “Just give me five minutes to talk with him.”
Khalid raised one eyebrow. “Fine,” she agreed. “You have five minutes, but after that, you have to let it go. We can’t waste any more time.”
 Chapter 8
Pat looked up as Janus stepped into the interrogation room. “Hi,” he said with an innocent smile that could cut steal.
Janus didn’t say a word as he took a seat; he just watched him intently. He leaned slightly over the table and steepled his fingers in front of his chin. “So, your name is Nick this time?” Janus asked.
“Nicholas Jonas,” he said. “Always has been.”
“Stop it,” Janus said.
“Stop what?”
“Cut the crap. I know.”
Pat leaned forward, mirroring Janus as he leaned closer, interlocking his fingers and laying his chin on top of his knuckles. “What did you say your name was again?” he asked, pleasantly.
 “Janus,” Janus replied.
“No, I’m Jonas,” he said, pointing to his chest.
“Not Jonas,” Janus spat. “Janus.”
“Um,” Pat said, eyes alight with amusement. The bastard. “Those are the same words.”
“No, they’re not. It’s Janus. J-A-N-U.-S.”
“Well, that’s confusing,” Pat said with a frown, but his nose was crinkling. “It’s close to my name. You should go by a nickname instead.”
“What?” Janus said. “No.”
Pat hummed. “How about Love Bug?”
“What! No!” Janus sputtered, almost flipping the table, as Pat winked at him.
“BB Good?”
“What does that even mean?!”
“Mandy.”
“No!”
“Okay, okay, how about Macy Misa.”
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Janus stared at him for a moment. “Fine. Whatever. What was I even talking about?”
“Hmm. I Believe we were talking about my name and how you think it’s not my name.”
“Right,” Janus said. “So, Nick. That was your roommate, Kevin on the phone, right? He seemed a bit unhappy with you. Any reason?”
“Nah, we’re Cool” said Pat. “That’s Just the Way We Roll.”
“Not because you’re messing up a mission right now?”
Pat’s eyes crinkled together. “A mission?” he parroted. “I’m not messing up a mission.”
“Oh, really?” Janus growled. “Because you’ve been captured by the TPI, and I know who you are and what you’ve been doing.”
“I have no idea what the TPI is,” he claimed.
“Yes, you do!” Janus said, standing up. “You obviously do! Or you wouldn’t be playing this game!”
 “Game?” Pat asked. “Macy I ask you what you’re talking about.”
“This is all just a game to you isn’t it!” Janus said, slamming his hands down on the table in front of them.
“Whoa,” Pat said, putting his hands up. “Calm down. Your face is getting all red. You must be Burnin’ Up.”
“I’m not sure what, but something about what you just said pisses me off.”
“And that is five minutes,” Khalid said, bursting into the room. He felt a tug on the back of his shirt and glared back at Remus who was putting his own body between Janus and Pat.
 “There was no way that was five minutes,” Janus growled.
“It was five minutes,” Khalid gritted out. “Remus, get him out of here.”
“Come on Jay,” Remus said, dragging him back towards the door.
“Remus, I swear to god.”
“Just chill, Janus,” Remus said, slamming the door closed behind them.
Janus shrugged him off. “You chill!” he snapped. “He’s playing you all for the fool.”
“Wow, Macy,” Remy drawled like an asshole. “I’ve never seen you so fired up.”
“Oh, my gosh. No one is going to believe me, and he’s going to get away with this.”
“You’re not really helping your case, babe,” Remy said.
 Remus grabbed him by the shoulders again. “Here, let’s go get some water.”
“I don’t want water,” he said even as he let Remus lead him to another room to get a glass of water.
“Look,” Remus said. “I know the Mask Guy thing really sucked, but you have to look at the facts.
“I am looking at the facts,” Janus insisted, “and the facts are, he’s fucking with me.”
“You don’t know what mask guy looks like,” Remus said. “You didn’t see Nick take the time bomb, he has an ID from this time period and a roommate in this time he called on the phone, and he legitimately seems to not know what any of us are talking about.”
 “Did you even listen to our conversation?” Janus asked. “He was screwing with me the entire time!”
“Janus…” Remus said.
“What?” Janus said, narrowing his eyes at Remus’s tone.
“I know you recently had a bad experience, but not everyone who flirts with you is doing it out of evil.”
Janus’s mouth hung open for a few seconds. “That’s what you got out of our conversation?”
“He called you Love Bug.”
Janus felt his face heat a bit at the reminder. “That’s not… I. I’m stealing your cat and then never speaking to you again.”
Remus laughed. “Ah,” he said. “Young lust.”
Janus elbowed him roughly in the side. “No!”
“Yes!” he crooned, pleased.
45 notes · View notes