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girlwithwolftatoo · 2 years

Text

Bunny and Hat

Pairings: The Grabber x Reader

Summary: Your fun time at the carnival takes an unexpected twist.

Warnings: None.

Word count: 3516

Part three

"Thank you" you said as you received the caramel apple. A sincere, almost childlike smile appeared on your face as you saw the fruit stuck on a wooden stick, covered with red candy that made it shine like a jewel among the yellowish spotlights hanging from the tents.

You longed for the arrival of September because with it came carnival. Almost all of your fond memories came from the walks you took, first with your parents, then with your friends, through the barley field that was used to set up the traveling rides that came to town. Fairground rides with prizes that ranged from the outlandish to the unimaginative, mechanical games that had their own lighting, tents with weird amusements that teenagers would bet each other to enter, and of course, the food and candy stands, like your beloved caramel apples.

"There you are!" Dorothy caught up to you, carrying what looked like a ball of pink fabric in her hands. Next to her was Dean, her brand new boyfriend "We were looking for you...look what Dean won for me" she then showed you that the ball was in fact, a stuffed rabbit in bubblegum pink. The bunny had an almost cartoonish expression, and a red ribbon around its neck.

"Very cute" you nodded just to say something. It was awkward being the third wheel on that outing, so when Dorothy practically dragged you along with her, you averted your gaze so as not to run into her companion's.

"How can you eat that?" protested Dorothy, giving your apple a dirty look "Sugar is very bad for your teeth, my dad always says so."

"Ya, but your dad's a dentist, isn't he? Shouldn't he recommend more sweets to get more patients?"

"Oh, that's awful!" and the girl laughed.

You arrived in front of the flying chairs. Dorothy squealed and hung on Dean's arm, a tendency she had adopted since they became sweethearts in which she pretended to be more innocent and clumsy than she was, because she thought boys liked that sort of thing. You disagreed, but her strategy seemed to work after all, and you told them that you passed on coming up.

"I'm not that into those games" you explained.

"Oh, suit yourself, but you're going to have to go in with us on some game, you hear?" warned Dorothy, handing you her stuffed rabbit "Can you watch it for me, don't get it dirty with candy."

You watched the two lovebirds walk toward the line, content, and you stepped back a bit, the bunny under your arm, to take a bite of your apple. The sensation was always delicious, the hard, sweet caramel shattering, like glass, under the pressure of your teeth (which contrary to what Dorothy said, were quite healthy), only to release the juice of the apple trapped underneath, fresh, a little tart and soft, really soft. You closed your eyes with an expression of immense pleasure, you were no longer a child to celebrate by jumping up and down, but you sighed as the mixture melted in your mouth.

Something caught your attention as you looked around lazily. It was not so obvious, but it was peculiar amidst the tumult of lights, noises and above all, colors. A balloon, but the most unusual balloon you had ever seen, black in color, whose string was almost miraculously stuck between a string of lights. The object moved awkwardly, in the wind, almost invisible against the night sky.

You ended up going for it, black balloons weren't something you saw every day, and when you got close enough, you looked down at your two busy hands, and exhaled a snort of frustration. Not for anything in the world would you let go of your apple, but if you left the rabbit on the ground, Dorothy was going to go nuts. You made an unorthodox decision, biting down on the apple as hard as you could, and then stretched out to reach the balloon, standing on your tiptoes.

You almost screamed when you achieved your goal, and immediately passed the balloon to the hand you were holding the rabbit with to take the apple out of your mouth. You had gotten a smear of caramel on your lips, and were still licking it off when again, Dorothy came up beside you.

"You should have come with us, it was fun and not scary" she added, looking tenderly at Dean "What about that balloon?"

"I found it" you replied simply.

"It looks like from a funeral home... Anyway, come on, let's go, I want to go to the fun house."

"Really? That's for kids" Dean pointed out, but there was no choice and the three of you headed off to where the energetic Dorothy was leading you.

The fun house was the biggest and most eye-catching attraction, if you didn't count the carousel and the Ferris wheel. Its light wood exterior was painted white with scenes of a fairy-tale forest, though the artist had taken pains to make the faces of the fairies and goblins less sweet and more mischievous, Next to the huge sign in letters that looked inflated, the entrance was in the shape of a Chesire cat's face, its mouth veiled with black cloth.

As soon as you entered, the first room was lined with mirrors. You remembered with a certain nostalgia the laughter you had as a child, on your first visits to the fair, when you saw your body comically deformed in the reflection. Dorothy squealed and exaggerated her movements, Dean seemed to force his smile more and more, uninterested in what he considered boring, and they continued on through a small wooden door to which they had added a giant, unevenly striped red and white doorknob. You lingered a little longer, looking at yourself in a mirror that made you blur, like a pointillist painting, the red apple and the black baloon framing your figure.

You went behind the same door as your uninteresting company, and found yourself in a narrow, crooked hallway, across whose walls hung different pictures. You knew that old trick, some of those pictures seemed to follow you with their eyes, and the flickering gas lights made the experience more frightening than amusing. You started walking, and then, you stumbled.

"Fuck!" you blurted, some of the flagstones were loose, so that when you stepped on them, they tilted. You continued on your way, carefully stepping on each slab to make sure you didn't fall into the trap, and inside the enclosure an old song could be heard.

Run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run run run run run

Run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run run run run....

At the end of the hallway, two extravagant doors stood waiting, and the wall was positioned so that it formed an angle of about ninety degrees. The doors each possessed a hand from which two signs hung: "One of us always tell the truth," read one, "One of us always lie" read the other, an old riddle that basically, led the traveler down one safe and one, terrible path.

"Let's see..." you reasoned, biting again into your apple "If the one who always tells the truth lies, then the other one tells the truth, but actually lies too..."

The lights flickered brighter, and the song stopped for a moment. You looked back, puzzled, and after a few seconds where everything returned to normal, you focused your attention back on the doors. Power problems were common at the carnival, and almost never lasted more than a couple of minutes.

Then, the lights went out completely, and with it, so did the music. You snorted, and chose almost without thinking the door on the left, popping the apple back in your mouth to open it.

"Run, rabbit..."

This time your jump was one of real fright. You spun on your heels, eyes wide open. Someone had spoken not far from you. The interior was still dark, but you heard nothing else, no footsteps, no voice.

You stood still for several seconds, your eyes struggling to see something in the gloom, maybe, you thought, that was part of the show, maybe even Dorothy and Dean went through the same thing before you, although it hadn't taken you too long to walk after them, so... Yes, surely it was a trick, there was nothing to fear.

Or so you thought until you noticed something moving next to you, and a flash of something small and shiny came close to your face.

With a slight scream, you opened the door on the left, entered almost throwing yourself through it and closed it, using your body to block it. You heard your breath hitching, thinking maybe you were scared for nothing, but you couldn't help it, it had been so sudden....

The lights came back on, and you found yourself in the new room. The furniture, a couple of tables, armchairs, chandeliers, everything was nailed up, so that the floor mimicked the ceiling. There you realized that you had lost the balloon, possibly dropping it when you slipped through the door, but you didn't decide to go for it, it was better to move forward and get away (from what?) as fast as possible, and so you did, thankful that there, the only "trap" were some automated doors that opened on the sides and, on inconspicuous rails, some toy rats were advancing.

Stairs waited at the end, half hidden by the wall, and you began to climb them. The last stretch of the house was always a maze, you knew from experience, sometimes of mirrors, but since this one was on the top floor, it must have been somewhat less elaborate. Upstairs, a ceiling lined with lights imitating a starry sky, and a huge smiling moon pointing to the center of the labyrinth, awaited you next to an entrance flanked by two cardboard trees, where a mechanical owl blinked and, along with the music, a mixture of forest sounds created the atmosphere.

You squinted your eyes, the moon would be your only visible reference to go through the labyrinth, dark walls and just over six feet high, and began to walk. Right, left, right... zigzagging was the safest thing to do in the labyrinths, as your father had told you, because at least that way you were sure to get somewhere. Left. The lights flickered again and you crouched down, uncomfortable. Nothing. You moved forward again. Right. Right again.

You thought you heard voices, there were still more people in the labyrinth. Relieved by that thought, you looked again at the moon, which was a little to your left. Left. Right. Your foot found something soft and you looked down. Your surprise was enormous to see that it was Dorothy's pink bunny.

"How did you end up here, buddy?" you muttered, looking at the stuffed animal's silly, adorable face. You couldn't think of a good reason for your friend to forget something she apparently held dear, unless she'd had an argument with her boyfriend (most likely) or something had led her to drop it, like you did with the balloon (which gave you the creeps).

Hugging the stuffed animal against your chest, you kept walking, but didn't get very far before the lights again went out.

"Goddamnit" you growled, fed up, the moon still emitted a sort of greenish glow, useless for illumination, but the truth was that the whole place was already a bit dark with everything and electricity. You had practically finished your apple, so you stuffed what was left of it in your mouth to grope for the walls and keep walking, the last thing you wanted was to stay there, in that horrible silence.

You had just turned around when you saw someone standing at the end of the new hallway. The lights flickered in a lazy attempt to return, so you got glimpses of the person in front of you: a little taller than you, dressed very plainly, and you guessed from the build that it was a man.

The lights buzzed before coming back, but much dimmer. The man turned around, he was wearing something on his head, a tall hat, apparently, and despite the semi-darkness and remoteness, you felt his eyes on you... and that made you uncomfortable.

"Rabbit..."

It was that voice. It was him.

You ran back, scared, no longer caring where you were going, sure that he was following you because you heard him, heard the loud footsteps behind you. You turned several times, desperate, wanting to scream for help but without enough breath to do so, until you ran into a single wall that marked, almost sadistically, a mocking phrase:

Dead End.

You had reached a closed alley of the labyrinth, because of course, that was precisely what had to happen, it happened in horror movies, and now it was happening to you. But that wasn't a movie, and no one was going to help you. Screaming was not an option, because then he would find you more easily, so you cowered on the floor, with your back against the wall, hugging the stuffed rabbit and trembling like a child.

And then, he appeared. He stopped for a moment in front of the hallway, silent, as if pondering what he was about to do. You looked at him, horrified, paralyzed with fear, and then he began to move forward. You closed your eyes as if by instinct, maybe he was just an attraction worker, put there to make the game more interesting, that would explain him wearing a top hat and whispering such terrifying things, yes, it must be so, God, it must be so....

The man planted himself in front of you, his shadow covering you from the dim light. Against all your wishes, you opened your eyes and looked at him, feeling like crying. He was dressed in black pants and short-sleeved shirt, though underneath, another piece of clothing revealed a high, red, almost proverbial collar. He wore the hat, just as you had already seen, but something else: half of his face was covered by a mask that simulated an eerie smile.

"Did you get lost, little rabbit?"

You swallowed saliva, unable to speak. The man stretched out a hand, and you shrank back.

"Don't touch me," you muttered. The hand remained still in the air, not far from your head.

"I'm not going to hurt you" he expounded. How you wished you believed him, but your instinct said otherwise.

"What were you doing then?" you asked.

The stranger cocked his head to one side, his hair was a bit long, shoulder length.

"You need help" he inquired "I can help you".

"Do you work here?" you shrugged your legs, almost sticking them to your body "What's your name?"

A sort of hollow chuckle was the initial response.

"I'm Fantastic Al" he introduced himself "I'm a part-time magician. I came here during a break, sorry if I scared you back there."

Since you didn't move or say anything else, the man squatted down. You could see his face a little better, at least the uncovered part, he had peculiar eyes, blue and almost friendly. Still...

"And what's your name, bunny?" he asked.

No talking to strangers. It was a basic rule of all life, you thought, so you just went about looking at him, ready to react to any of his moves, even though you had no way to defend yourself.

"I get it" he murmured "Let's see... how about this?" he showed his hands in front of you, wiggling his fingers "Nothing this way, nothing that way... aha!" in an imperceptible gesture, he made a small bouquet of wild flowers appear, "For you, young lady" he crooned, holding it out to you. You looked at the bouquet, then at the man, and very stealthily stretched out your hand to take it.

Your instinct was not wrong. As soon as you took the flowers, his free hand went to your wrist, holding it so tightly that you feared he was going to hurt you. You let go of the bouquet and kicked him, but the blow was useless, and the magician lunged at you, pressing you against the wall, one of his knees between your legs. You opened your mouth to scream but his other hand went to your face, gagging you.

"Don't you dare!" he commanded "Quiet!"

Your gasping breath was the only sound you could utter. Your eyes filled with tears at the horror of the situation, trapped as you were between the man and the wall.

"I'm sorry" he said suddenly, in a kinder voice "I didn't mean to make you cry, forgive me... I'm going to take my hand away, okay, but don't scream, don't scream, please, just-"

You were sure that, if you disobeyed him, he would not hesitate to hurt you, so when he released your face you just pouted, resigned. The magician brought his hand to his mask, and took it off. Now you could see him well, with his nose straight and his lips twisted into a kind of gentle smile.

"See?" he continued "I'm not a bad person, I don't want to hurt you..." his fingers met your cheeks, wiping away your tears "Sorry, really... Don't cry, okay? You don't have to cry, I won't hurt you... you're so pretty..."

"Please let me go" you whispered "I won't say anything, I swear, but..."

The man ducked his head, sorrowful, then, he looked at you again. His voice grew deeper.

"I can't do it."

"Please" you begged again "I don't even know your name, I'm not going to accuse you, I swear."

"I believe you, I believe you...it's just that..." his eyes went down "What a cute little bunny."

You looked down too. On your belly rested, half cocked, the stuffed animal. The man picked it up carefully, looking at it as if it made him curious, and let out a chuckle.

"That's adorable, where did you get it? I'd love one for my tricks, rabbits get really sore when you grab them by the ears, you know?"

"Keep it" you blurted out "But let me go."

"But if it's yours" he repeated, ignoring your plea.

New tears appeared in your eyes.

"What do you want from me?" you sobbed.

His face changed again, serious, indecipherable. He put the little toy aside, carefully.

"I just wanted to look at you" he said at last "You are truly beautiful, really, your face, your hair, your body..."

The lights went out again. You gasped, and that again caused your captor to cover your mouth.

"I told you to shut up!" he growled, angrily. It was amazing how quickly his mood changed. You noticed him glance over his shoulder, nervously, before turning his attention back to you, again, his voice sweetening "Run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run run run run run..." he sang in a whisper "Don't give the farmer his fun, fun, fun..."

He stretched his neck, moving closer to your neck, and you felt the tip of his nose brush against your skin.

"Oh you're pretty, bunny, may I come near?" the man sang and you felt his warm breath on you "Can I hold you and touch your ear?"

The tip of his tongue brushed your earlobe. You struggled to turn your head away, but he still held you and his fingers tightened around your cheeks, holding you still. He placed a brief kiss on your cheek, then another, and another, reaching up to your nose.

"I'd like to..." he murmured, kissing your face again "How I'd like to... May I kiss your lips?" he asked, almost tenderly "May I? They're so pretty, so red... If I kiss you you won't bite me, will you? I wouldn't like that at all-"

Again, he turned his head. You both heard it, new footsteps, and voices asking for some straggler in the game. Hope returned to your heart, but the captor's gaze suddenly seemed to darken.

"Too bad, I wanted to have more time with you" he spat, twisting his lips in such a way that he looked like a dog showing his fangs. He reached out and picked up the stuffed animal from the floor, placing it on your legs "Here you go...just one more thing, but promise me you won't scream, okay?"

Resigned, you nodded. The man removed his hand from your mouth, only to hastily replace it with his own. It was a bold, aggressive kiss that barely lasted a few seconds but left you breathless. With the same haste he pulled away from you, looking into your eyes and licking his lips.

"Caramel apple..." he whispered "I love it."

The man stood up, readjusted his mask and waved a gallant goodbye wearing his hat.

"See ya, bunny."

Before the lantern lights had even approached the hallway, the captor had already disappeared. Two workers found you, cowering on the floor, hugging the pink bunny.

"Are you okay, miss?"

#fanfiction #fanfic #the black phone #the black phone movie #the grabber #the grabber x reader #ethan hawke

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amethystamaranth · 8 months

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SNS Fic Recs Part II

My end of summer gift:

As said on my last rec, these are in no particular order

If you love these too plz message me I need someone to scream about these with

Anw hope you guys enjoy!

After The World Fell Down by zephyras13, 36k https://archiveofourown.org/works/217460

Given Summary: Naruto has been fighting a war for the life of his neighborhood for the past four years, with no end in sight. His world is violent, arbitrary, and ruthless, but it is simple. It makes sense. And then Uchiha Sasuke fucks everything up. SN EXCHANGE FIC.

My summary: Listen I never read mafia AUs but I looove this one it deals with overcoming grief and finding light in despair and the characterization is just (chef's kiss) and there’s this intensity that’s so characteristic to them I just--

2. Gloss by Fahye, 2k https://archiveofourown.org/works/758123

Given summary: It begins with the way Sasuke reaches out and picks up Naruto's hand, with the way his lips are dry and smooth and he never even blinks as he pulls Naruto's fingers into his mouth.

My summary: The characterization!!! I just want to grab people by the shoulders and shove this in their face like THIS IS HOW THEY HAVE SEX

Also--beautiful language, I still trace out phrases from it on my shower walls that’s how lovely this is

3. 999 Cranes Down, 1 To Go by RecitedPlay, 4k https://archiveofourown.org/works/46529917

Given Summary: Sasuke relies on Naruto's hospitality while his arm heals, Naruto's prosthesis fresh and clumsy. Out shopping with Sakura, Naruto spies origami paper and an advertisement featuring the old legend - fold a thousand paper cranes and make a wish. Sakura suggests it as dexterity training for Naruto, but Sasuke can't help but wonder about the wish Naruto will make at the end.

My summary: post-war slice of life, made me Feel Things, great dialogue, domesticity sns style

4. Clouded Mind and Heavy Heart by dawnstruck, 9k https://archiveofourown.org/works/2608253

Given summary: You reap what you sow. Sasuke plants seeds of doubt. Instead of fighting in the Valley of the End, Sasuke convices Naruto to join him.

My summary: This one is a dark jewel of a fic, a bit messed up but not DDDNE, first part of a series, Sasuke manipulates Naruto into leaving with him at the first vote fight, explores the ways their relationship is altered by only being in each other’s company, one I return to devour over and over again,

5. Something to Remember Me By by heimai, 83k, https://archiveofourown.org/works/16251461

Given Summary: Every summer, Naruto visits the sleepy beach town of Oceanview. Easily the best part of the trip is the carnival, set up for three days at the end of August. As summers pass, Naruto finds himself coming back again and again to see the boy at the end of the boardwalk. First, he wants to win the game the boy runs, but it turns into wanting to win Sasuke's heart instead. For some reason, Naruto just can't get him out of his head.

My Summary: SAD ENDING, the only fic to ever capture what childhood feels like, I cried over this and I Never cry over anything wow, one of those fics you are forever changed by, I felt hollowed out, like someone scooped out my insides, also has some of the most beautiful verses I’ve ever read in fic, unbearably beautiful and beautifully unbearable

6. Stormborn by blackkat, 136k, https://archiveofourown.org/works/1877970

Flashes of an unknown past haunt Naruto, entwining his steps with those of a former life no longer content to stay forgotten. There's a voice on the wind and another lifetime in his head, and it’s time for Uzushio’s Storm God to rise once more. (The soul of a city is a hard thing to kill. Uzushio is still aware, still waiting. And now, with the rebirth of her greatest Kage, it’s time to call her people home.)

My Summary: I always have such a difficult time summarizing longer fics, because so much happens over the course of them, but take my word for it this long-fic is worth it! A classic for a reason

7. A World of Truth by luchia, 24k, https://archiveofourown.org/works/649537

Given Summary: The world is trapped in an illusion which removes anger, hate, and death. It's paradise, giving everyone everything they've ever wanted and reviving anyone they've ever lost. Nearly two years into the illusion, Sasuke snaps back to his senses and must decide whether to keep the world in false bliss, or return it to war-torn reality.

My Summary: Sasuke and Naruto are together in the infinite tsukuyomi, and when you have everything you have ever wanted, are they willing to dismantle the dream and face reality? Yea I know it’s basically the same as the summary above but anything else is a spoiler

8. Let Go the Tide by GreatLoversLieInHell, 32k, https://archiveofourown.org/works/46708438

Given Summary: Six months after Itachi's death, Sasuke visits the island her brother used to spend every summer at. All she wants is peace and quiet, to meditate on the future her parents have laid out for her. On her first day there, she meets a girl with wild blonde hair who won't leave her alone.

My Summary: Lesbians sns, surfer AU, The Sea is a principal character in this and as someone who grew up alongside the ocean I appreciate this, sooo beautiful

9. Of Fire, Water, and Glass by cyberflamingo, 19k https://archiveofourown.org/works/34826755

Given Summary: “Let me worship you,” Naruto breathed.

For one long moment, Naruto’s eyes reflected the continuous, lazy rotation of pinwheels. Red against blue. Fate within the unknown. Silence and anticipation. But then the pinwheels faded to black, and Sasuke uttered a phrase that would seal their connection forever.

“Are you offering yourself?”

- The god of Misfortune fulfills a child's wish and receives faith, loyalty, and a fellow god in return.

My summary: see above I cannot describe this without spoilers! Wonderful prose

<3 <3 <3

#sns fic recs #sns #sasunaru #narusasu #sasunaru fic recs #narusasu fic recs #and sorry again tumblr why won't you let me link authorsssss

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bunnymermaidsblog · 10 months

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Happy birthday to my friend @writerfae ! Sorry I'm late! All these are their characters from their story The knights of the Alder

Welcome to the Clown Aiden au

The overlapping sounds of guitar, violin, cymbals, drums and bells were jumping over each other like deer in the forest. They were, of course dampened by the chatter and cheer of humans enjoying the carnival that came to town.

Talon had no idea how Hela managed to convince him to come here. He has to wake up at dawn tomorrow for crying out loud! Yet here he was watching some poor man on a colorful stage pretend to swallow a flaming torch as the crowd egged him on.

"He's not even really swallowing it..." he whispered to Maya. "This is just ridiculous. Humans don't even have magic and yet everyone is going along with this idiotic..." he was promptly shushed by everyone around him, including his friends.

"Just try enjoying it, Talon" giggled Hela, her red locks falling into her face.

Talon just crossed his arms, preparing himself for a whole night of boredom.

The next preformer was a man who was the size of two. He had his muscles on full display. They looked like the mountains in the far distance. He was carrying a big gold box. The crowd gasped and clapped as the man raised it into the air. Hela was screaming directly into Talon's ear. And then the box opened.

At first nothing happened. Then a boy stuck his head out of the box. He was wearing a jester hat, his brown bangs sticking out from underneath. He looked around curiously. For a moment he accidentally locked eyes with Talon, then continued scanning his surroundings. The crowd cheered. The boy pulled his head back into the box.

The way everyone fell silent almost got a chuckle out of Talon.

The boy stuck his head out once more. The crowd cheered, he hid again. Again and again.

Only when you started hearing the disappointment, the first whisps of anger, the crying of children who wanted to see the man in the funny hat did Aiden whisper excidedly, while bracing agaist the inside of the box:

"Okay, it's show time!"

A small shadow flew out of the box heading for the sky, suprising even Talon. Following it the boy also jumped out, with the happiest grin on his face, red makeup on his button nose.

He moved like unfolding paper, with a destination in mind. He crossed the stage, flicking his wrist, pointig his shoes, making sudden, exaggerated motions. He jumped, and the bells of his hat jingeled. He made silly faces, to which the kids in the crowd fell over laughing.

Talon thought he moved so gracefully, as if the stars themselves were puppeteering him with invisible strings.

The shadow came back, and landed on the boy's shoulder as he bowed. A crow.

Aiden slightly lifted his chin with a knowing smirk. The cool metal of his bells brushed across his skin making it tingle like a kingdom of ants. His crow, Kara was watching him expectantly. They knew this routine well.

He sucked in a breath, filling his lungs fully, so the next move wouldn't hurt. When he started letting the air free, and the crow let go of his shoulder, suddenly (to the audience that is) the large man grabbed his upper body throwing him to the back of the stage where he landed, arms and legs flailing like a ship's flag, as the crowd gasped.

Amongst the people watching Talon felt his muscles tense and loosen over and over again. It was clearly a show, but a good one. The boy looked like a clown getting an undeserved beating. A clumsy duckling facing off against a hissing swan. But all his movements had a purpose. Chest rising and falling like tide of the water, so the hits, few as they may be wouldn't hurt. There were some close calls, he could tell. Both by the boy's few quicker moves to avoid a blow, and the growing frustration on the strong man's face. The clown was clearly improvising. And yet he was smiling like nothing could take away his joy.

Aiden didn't even have to look at Kara, to know that she was wearing the same face she always wore, when he was being reckless. How could a crow have so many different expressions, with so few facial muscles he had no clue. She didn't even have lips.

"Oof" he sucked in a breath, nearly getting hit in the chest, but avoiding it last second, as if he were a floating leaf.

He smirked. This was not their practiced routine, but you don't understand! He was bored! He has done this a million times, in the exact same way.

His pointy shoes hit the wooden stage, as he stood up straight. He needed to spice it up a little.

A fist contacted his face. His bells jingled like never before. This is fine, Aiden thought. It wasn't even that hard of a blow. He staggered back a few steps. This is fine. He stepped backwards, tripping off the stage. This is fine. He looked at Kara's worried face. This is completely fine.

The people in the audience cried out in alarm.

Talon sprang forward to the front of the crowd. He knew that wasn't part of the routine. It couldn't have been. It was just too sudden. The movements were too jerky, not graceful as they once were.

He caught the boy, looking like a child trying to catch a falling star, and held him in his arms.

Aiden's eyes snapped open, smile returning like it was never gone in the first place.

He let his eyes roll around for a moment. That fall didn't hurt nearly as much as it should have. Only then did the clown realise that someone was holding him in their arms. Someone who could have been an angel if it wasn't for the lack of wings. Maybe he is, Aiden wondered. After all who was he to say that angels absolutely had to have wings! He didn't know!

Talon didn't even have time to get annoyed as his head was pulled toward the boy, who planted a big kiss on his cheek, as the audience began to laugh once more. Hela looked like she could pass out at any moment.

"My hero!" The clown sang "Kara, would you be a dear, and give my blonde knight in shining armor a simbol of our gratitude!" His fingers brushed through Talon's hair.

The guard couldn't even utter a word, his tongue like heavy lead, tring to decide between saying: "I need no gratitude, it was my duty to help" or "what kind of self-respecting man kisses a complete stranger?"

A black feather was stuck behind his ear. He looked up at the crow, whose wings moved like spilling ink on paper. He saw gratitude in her eyes, and nodded back.

The next minute the clown literally jumped out of his arms and hopped back on the stage. He held hands with the strong man and they both bowed. When the crow landed gracefully on his shoulder all three dissappeared in a cloud of golden smoke.

The crowd began to trickle away, like rain water through a drain while Talon stood there, unaware of the fact that a smile slowly spread across his face like honey on a warm day.

The end

I hope you enjoyed reading it. I also hope I did your characters justice, as much as I could.

#i hope you like this #not my oc #i have never written romance but Taiden got me to do it #happy birthday

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stelloids · 4 years

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new town for an exciting new update!

#my towns....... are carnival and clumsy #hee hee hee <3 #my new map is real good!! i'll show it in a sec #acnh #animal crossing new horizons #animal crossing

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raleighcarrera · 3 years

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outpoint

foreign affairs | m!blaine hayes x mc (kennedy monroe)

a cut scene from chapter 4; after dionne’s party, blaine and kennedy work on their project a little bit and then not at all.

catch up: knockout (E) / on the ropes (T)

tagging: @pixeljazzy ; @zigtheeortega ; @pixelsandkink ; @writinghereandthere ; @choicesarehard ; @natesewell ; @flyawayboo ; @withbeautyandrage ; @blainehellyes

~3.3k words | T

it would be easier not to be seen together if not for the fact that they’re no where near done with their project. in fact, they’ve barely even started.

there’s also the added complication of their less-than-platonic relationship; they’re far from just classmates, or even friends.

everything feels like it’s gotten out of control so quickly.

but he hadn’t planned for this. he’d agreed to go to vancross because it was that or the campaign trail; when he’d first arrived on campus, blaine had expected to coast through his classes, party until he forgot how pissed off at his parents he was and wait out the boring political drama unfolding back home with a few more years of school.

he hadn’t expected her.

to their credit, his father’s advisors had done their best to warn him. still, he’d slept through so many briefings before packing up and heading out that he lost count -- going to vancross was supposed to be a reprieve from being blaine hayes, a chance to get out from under his parents’ noses. the first daughter of rutherland was a nonissue, hardly part of the equation at all.

...then he’d met her, and she’d called him a jackass with that cute little challenging sparkle in her eyes, and a part of him that had long since been quiet slowly stirred awake again.

and now he’s here: playing it so cool that kennedy is clearly starting to doubt whether he even likes her at all, fidgety and tense where she’s doing her very best to pretend to be engrossed in her textbook, sitting right beside him on the couch in her suite.

her bodyguard is definitely glaring at him, too.

blaine looks away, clearing his throat and nudging kennedy with his shoulder. “hey,” he murmurs, voice purposefully low, “i think i found something.”

it’s only when she blinks at him curiously that he realizes he has absolutely nothing at all to offer her and only wanted an excuse to break the silence between them. he points to a random passage in the book in his lap. “we can use this for our argument.”

kennedy looks down at the section he’s indicated and then stares back at him as though he’s one of the dumbest people she’s ever had the displeasure of talking to. rather than wilt under the disappointment in her eyes, he only smiles charmingly back at her, until she heaves a sigh and says, “maybe you should just work on our citations.”

god, no. anything but that. panicked, he grabs for the book she’s holding before she can retreat silently into its pages, burying her nose in the spine and refusing to look at him like she has been for the last hour. “look,” he starts, tongue darting out to wet his lips. the sudden spike of nervousness that flares up within him is... new, to say the least. he needs a plan. “can we talk privately for a minute?”

she looks past him, quirking an eyebrow at her bodyguard. there’s a beat or two of silent communication between them that makes him feel uneasy and a sharp twist of her mouth before he hears the front door open and shut, and then they’re alone.

blaine exhales, jumping to his feet. “okay -- come on.”

he crosses the room without waiting for a response from her, prying open one of the windows in her kitchen. his head leans out to judge the distance to the cobblestones beneath them; it’ll be a bit of a jump, but he’s had worse. when he looks back at kennedy, she’s still blinking at him owlishly. “uh, what are you doing?”

“we’re ditching your bodyguard,” he grins, more confidently than he feels. it is kind of funny how she’s looking at him, like he just suggested a bank heist. “come on. he’ll be back any second.”

kennedy glances at the front door, then rushes over to meet him at the window. “but -- why -- we’re supposed to be working on our project.”

he arches his eyebrows at her, unimpressed. “and we’re obviously not making any headway. plus, i can tell you’re distracted, and since i’m pretty sure that’s my fault... i want to fix it.” well, those are words he’s almost definitely never said to anyone before. to cover up his own surprise at himself, and how uncomfortably true they ring, he widens his grin and asks, “don’t you trust me?”

as soon as she leans around him to peer down at the length of the drop, he knows he’s won. “not enough to go first.”

blaine winks at her before deciding to hell with it, leaning out the window and jumping down to the ground, wincing when his shoes slam against the pavement. fuck. that probably wasn’t worth a shot at impressing her.

though it is worth being in the perfect position to catch her, when she slips from the windowsill and straight into his arms, windswept and adorable. her trip down had been clumsy and imprecise, with all the grace of someone who had probably never snuck out of anywhere before.

before he can stop himself, he lifts a hand to her face to brush her hair back behind her ear. she smiles at him, as his fingertips graze her temple, and for a moment it’s like they both forget who and where they are.

it’s terrifying.

he sets kennedy down on her feet as quickly as he can, reaching for her wrist to tug her through the courtyard. “come on.”

“where are we going?” she asks, stumbling to catch up with him, “and -- slow down, jesus. i can’t run in these shoes. no one’s chasing us, anyway.”

right. he knows that. he’s done this plenty of times -- evaded his own security detail so frequently he could probably do it in his sleep. he’s snuck plenty of pretty girls around behind guards, including this pretty girl just a few days ago. there’s no reason he should be off his game now.

blaine shakes his head at himself and then slows to a stop, finally dropping kennedy’s wrist back to her side. “well, you can’t ever be too sure,” he muses, pleased to find that they’re definitively alone, no other students or faculty or wayward paparazzi following behind them. “but you’re off the grid, now. how’s it feel?”

kennedy pauses, then unleashes a blinding grin that’s a little bit dazzling. “i see why you do this all the time.”

he hums his agreement, trying not to stare at her smile. “we’re not even at our final destination yet.”

she makes an interested noise that he tries not to find sexy and fails. no one ever said he didn’t have a one-track mind. “where are we going?”

“you’ll see,” blaine promises, his own smirk sharpening as soon as they reach the gate and his hands find it unlocked. some state-of-the-art security.

kennedy falters beside him as he holds the wrought-iron out wide for her. “we didn’t fill out any paperwork.”

that’s true. but it would’ve been impossible to ask for permission when the plan was still only half-baked in his mind, sprung into being just twenty minutes ago. “we’ll be back before anyone notices,” he assures her, “except maybe your shadow.”

kennedy rolls her eyes, but his teasing does the trick. she saunters out of the gate with him without a glance back. “tatum’s just doing his job.”

“right,” blaine scoffs, “that’s all he’s doing.”

there’s a pause that feels just a touch too long before kennedy carefully asks, “what do you mean?”

“i mean --” he adopts the most casual tone of voice he can muster. it still feels like not enough, making him instantly regret dancing around this topic of conversation. “it just seems like there’s something else going on between you two.”

yep. kennedy smirks wide, as obviously delighted as any one person can look. he should’ve seen that coming. “is that so?”

“don’t be smug,” he mutters, hunching his shoulders in when a group of random strangers walk past them on the sidewalk.

“no, i’m going to,” kennedy argues, looking unfairly cute as she does the same, mimicking his movements. god, he hates her. “tell me, what do you think is going on between us?”

“only if you tell me why you’ve been so quiet,” he fires back, leading them off down a side street. “you’ve been weird ever since we got back from pavadena.”

“i have not,” kennedy insists immediately, though when he looks her way again while they wait for the light to change so they can cross the street he sees she’s biting down anxiously on her bottom lip. “i’m not even supposed to be seen with you.”

“i know.” he’s not, either. yet here they both are, in broad daylight together, in the middle of town. “so?”

“so, i’m risking a lot, and it’s like, for what? you didn’t even -- you’ve barely spoken to me, too.” she looks embarrassed by the admission, avoiding his gaze while she stares at the sidewalk instead. “when other people are around, you act like... it’s nothing. me and you.”

blaine frowns. it’s unexpected, how hurtful it is to hear her say that in the soft tone of voice she’s using, uncertain and uncomfortable. she shouldn’t sound like that. “isn’t that what you want?”

she sighs, hesitating for a moment before opening her mouth again. “i --” kennedy cuts off abruptly, leaning to the side to peer around his shoulder. with a sheepish shrug, he realizes they’ve reached their destination, and that kennedy’s stopped talking because of the music playing, trying its best to lure them across the street and into the carnival. “oh my god,” she laughs, her whole face transforming from shy to excited so quickly it makes his head spin, “how did you know this was here?”

her reaction is worth any potential disaster waiting for them back on campus. it might even be worth the ass kicking that’s definitely heading his way from that surly bodyguard of hers, too. “doesn’t matter. come on.”

they jog across the street with their heads down, though as soon as they’re actually on the fairgrounds he realizes there’s no need to look over their shoulders; it’s the middle of the day and the carnival is pretty much empty, a wayward toddler being chased by an au pair the only other sign of life on the premises besides a few bored looking workers hanging out of their booths.

“god, i haven’t been to something like this in ages,” kennedy gushes, already dragging him over to a big table marked tickets. “this is amazing.”

the thing is -- he knows exactly what she means. growing up like they did, being who they are, it’s impossible to do anything normal. he can’t remember the last time he had an afternoon out that was as mundane as this one, either. even date night with his last girlfriend had become a production; nothing was ever just dinner and a movie.

instead of acknowledging her gratitude, he shoves her out of the way with his shoulder and opens his wallet for the most tickets the teenager behind the counter will give him. kennedy completely ignores him while he pays, twisted around to look out over the fairgrounds, cataloging every offering with wide, overeager eyes. somehow she makes this traveling carnival that’s absolutely seen better days feel like a luxury destination, and as he passes the tickets over to her blaine finds that his smile is tough to dampen, despite his best efforts to keep his expression contained.

they burn through a good chunk of the tickets throwing baseballs at milk bottles -- mostly because kennedy insists she can knock down more than he can, and that simply won’t do. he refuses to stop until he’s won her the biggest prize they have available, an obnoxiously pink stuffed elephant with giant, floppy ears.

fortunately, there’s still enough tickets left for the fun house and the photo booth and every other stupid thing she wants to do that he pretends to hate but doesn’t, until eventually the sun’s starting to set and he knows their afternoon out is coming to an end.

“we should head back,” blaine suggests regretfully, watching her pick her way through the giant cotton candy he probably shouldn’t have bought for her with a mix of disgust and pride. “we’ve been gone awhile.”

“have we?” kennedy blinks, as though she’s only now noticing how late it’s gotten. “ugh. one more ride -- i have to finish this.”

“you don’t,” he remarks with amusement, noting the tips of her dyed-blue fingers even as they walk off indulgently towards the only ride they’ve yet to approach. “you can just throw it out.”

“that’s quitter’s talk,” she says through a mouthful of melting sugar, chewing with her cheeks bulged out while blaine uses the last of their tickets to get them onto the ferris wheel, which is completely abandoned except for the two of them, as far as he can tell.

once the door is shut and they take off it’s the most alone they’ve been in awhile. the last time they were this secluded was in the kitchen in pavadena, when he’d licked frosting off her fingers and she’d looked at him like maybe she wanted him to kiss her, too -- like maybe she wanted even more than that.

sort of like how she’s looking at him now, doe eyes wide and nervous, the cogs of her mind very clearly turning into overdrive behind them.

it seems so obvious, now, staring at her in the cart. of course she’d wanted him to kiss her on dionne’s birthday. she’d dressed up, searching for a sincere compliment that she hadn’t gotten and invited him to dance in the hopes that if she made the first move he’d make the finishing one, like they’d done before. and he hadn’t even realized it.

so -- he probably is as stupid as everyone thinks he is.

the ferris wheel creaks around them as they slowly ascend to the top, old machinery groaning while they climb higher and higher. it feels like it takes forever for him to sort his thoughts into a sentence that’s actually passable, but for once, he wants to be careful about what he says. “i didn’t mean to make you think i don’t care.”

he hears her inhale. kennedy flicks her gaze out at the view behind him, then bravely looks back at his face. “no?”

“no,” he confirms, shrugging helplessly again. “this is new to me.” even this conversation is beyond him.

but judging by the look on her face, he’s yet to colossally fuck up. that’s good. “me, too,” she admits, leaning in a little closer across the metal bench they’re both sitting on. “it’d be weird even if we weren’t... us.”

except that who they are has nothing to do with why this is so strange for him. kennedy could be from antartica, and he’d still be the unlucky bastard who finally met someone he thinks understands him and has botched talking to her about it at every opportunity.

well, there’s one thing he knows he can still execute perfectly. as the ferris wheel glides to a stop for them to take in the view, the setting sun streaming in picturesquely through the little window in the cart, he leans in and kisses her, hands fanning out low over the small of her back.

kennedy tastes like cotton candy and her hands are sticky when they cup his face -- sticky like they would have been if he’d seen the signs for what they were and kissed her in pavadena like he’d wanted to, if he’d taken advantage of the rare moment alone in the way he was now, crowding her back into the corner of the cart with a grip that he knows is probably too tight.

but she kisses him back just as urgently as he’s kissing her, dragging him in closer and biting at his mouth. she’s kissing him like she’s been thinking about this, too -- like she’s found it even a fraction as all-consuming as he has, late at night when he can’t get to sleep and he’s staring at his ceiling cursing the absurdity of it all.

the moment is gone in the blink of an eye. the ferris wheel lurches back into motion with a sound that would be alarming if he wasn’t so distracted, the cart swaying in the wind as they slowly come down the other side of the circle.

she pulls away despite blaine’s best efforts to keep her in his personal space, his hands still firm on her hips. “blaine,” she murmurs, so prettily he actually has to shut his eyes -- just for a second -- just to catch his breath --

light spills into the cart as the door is wrenched open. they’re on the ground again, and there’s a line of kids waiting for their turn on the ride. going up had felt like forever, but the descent was done before he could even figure out what he wanted to say.

they make their way back to the street silently. blaine is so lost in thought it takes him a minute to realize kennedy is on the phone, wincing and rushing to promise the world to whoever she’s talking to -- that they’d only run out for a little, that she was perfectly safe, that she’d be back soon. tatum, she mouths at him as soon as he catches her eye, though as she talks he finds it hard to do anything but stare at the blue corners of her mouth, where she probably still tastes like cloyingly sweet artificial sugar.

he half expects an ambush to be waiting for them at the vancross gates, but it’s quiet when they head back across the quad. after a few steps in the direction of kennedy’s dorm, blaine’s horrified to find that he’s dragging his feet, reluctant to let what was probably one of the better days of his adult life come to an end.

this is going to be a problem.

they stop on the side of her building, out of sight from any students who may be using the main entrance. kennedy clears her throat, then announces, “well... this was fun. consider me -- fixed. i think i’ll be able to get my head in the game, now.”

he should make a joke. she’s lobbed up the spike perfectly, all he has to do is hit it. he’s done it a thousand times before -- it should be as easy as breathing.

instead, he finds himself staring at her. blaine ignores what she’s said. “it’s not nothing.”

kennedy blinks. “huh?”

well -- saying it once was one thing. repeating it is something else entirely. he shoves his hands deep into his pockets, shuffling his feet uncomfortably. “you. this. it’s not nothing... to me.”

she’s smiled at him a lot since they’ve met, in pretty much every way imaginable: exasperated, fond, excited, alluring. none of them compare to the way she’s looking at him now, her whole face lit up with joy.

the kiss she presses to his cheek is soft, yet still so heavy. there’s a promise of something that makes him feel off-kilter weighted beneath it, and his stomach unknots as he realizes he’s said the right thing. “me either. goodnight, blaine.”

she disappears around the corner, pink elephant tucked up under her arm, half-finished bag of cotton candy dangling from her free hand. he watches her go, shaking his head at himself again and running his fingers through his hair once she’s out of sight.

ideally she’d be out of his mind, now, too, but he’s starting to realize there’s just about nothing that can make that happen and, if he’s being honest with himself, he doesn’t really want it, anyway.

you just went on a date, chirps an annoying little voice in the back of his mind.

huh.

so he did.

for the first time since he came to this stupid school, blaine whistles on the way back to his room.

#blaine hayes #foreign affairs #choices foreign affairs #blaine hayes x mc #myfic #long post #i'm worried blaine is ooc here but ! oh well ! i hope u guys like it

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infinitegalahad · 3 years

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HOW TO SAY I LOVE YOU (WITHOUT SAYING I LOVE YOU)

Summary: Everybody in Easy Company can see that Shifty is like a love-sick puppy with a cute truck driver. He loves her, but he's too shy to confess. Popeye, his best friend, can no longer stand to see it. Floyd Talbert is the man of the hour and knows how to get Shifty, who can barely say I love you", to say those three words without actually saying the words. The way to solve this pining? A classic carnival date.

Word-Count: 7.4k

Notes: Howdy y'all! Once again, I am back from the dead! School has been a little crazy lately. I'm still working on requests and opening up some prompts, but I have two essays that are due in a month and aka-my life is a mess but...writing. I hope you guys will forgive me for dying and take this tooth rotting fluff of Shifty and cheeky tab! Shifty basically has a phd in being adorable. It's pure fluff, not a single ounce of angst! Once again, fem reader. Also unbeta read, we die like idiots. Enjoy!

Taglist: @tvserie-s-world @easy-company-tradition @liebgotttme @50svibes (add yourself to my taglist)

“Oh, it’s hopeless!” Popeye sighed, his face landing into his hands. It had gone on for too long. At that point, it was sickening to watch Shifty. As much as Popeye loved him, he couldn’t stand to watch him attempt flirting, or whatever he was doing with his crush. Something had to be done, and the infamous playboy Floyd Talbert was the perfect person for the job.

Floyd had a smirk sprawled across his face as he looked behind Popeye, seeing the interaction blossom between Shifty and his crush. Shifty towered over them, shining his pearly whites and saying something inaudible, earning a sweet chuckle. His sun tanned cheeks turned tomato red as he rubbed his nape.

“I love Shifty, but that poor boy doesn’t even know he’s in love with her.” Floyd remarked. Being a serial dater, he knew how to charm people, with his dashing looks and personality. Floyd studied the Virginian, struggling to hide his obvious affections. His bright smiles, rosy cheeks, spotting them within the crowds-the boy was enamored with her.

Not only was Shifty in love, but so was y/n. Shifty and y/n were both quiet, and shy people. They were adored by the company as being the nicest people alive. You were a truck driver assigned to the company in Aldbourne. Being the only girl donned in pants, the men of easy company were both intimidated and intrigued with you. When you weren’t driving trucks, you were either subjected to Floyd’s advances or the mortar trio attempting to flex their muscles. Y/n eventually eased her way into the company, becoming “Easy’s girl”. Even though you felt welcomed, you didn’t really have a friend you could rely on.

That was until you met Shifty Powers. You met him by accidentally running into him with a box full of mountains. He, being the kind soul he was, offered to help you reorder the thousands of bullets. In exchange, you offered him a ride to a location he was running late to. He introduced himself by Darrell, insisting that you called him by his real name with a smile on his face. He was an undeniable gorogues with sun tanned skin, a smile to die for, and chocolate hair that was golden in the sun. Not only was he attractive on the outside, but within. You were convinced that Shifty could do no wrong whatsoever. Heck, you also believed that he was legally not allowed to curse.

Ever since that encounter, you and Shifty had begun to hang out more. The two of you would talk for hours on end, explore the town of Albourne, escape the bars and find a little bookshop or peaceful space to talk. It was soothing to sit next to Shifty and simply hear him breathe, talk, or smile. It always makes your bleak world a tad bit better. But you were convinced that Shifty wasn’t interested in you, he was too innocent. So you decided that the farthest you would be is friends. And yet, it didn’t sit well with you.

Floyd had noticed that y/n was in love herself. Whenever she was around Shifty, she’d become a mess as well, being clumsy and blushing red. She’d twist a strand of hair in her fingers every time Shifty looked at her, batted her long eyelashes, and looked in the distance to find Shifty, intent on his target, letting out a dreamt sigh.

Floyd was in love with y/n. After all, it was rare to find a female in a company full of men. However, Floyd was Shifty’s best friend, and he wanted what was best for both of them. Popeye could see this too and he was sick of seeing two people who didn’t even know what they were in love with each other.

Floyd, Chuck, and Popeye watched Shifty and you say something to each other. It was pouring outside. Attempting to find your rain jacket, it was nowhere in sight. Shifty, seeing your frustration, took off his jacket and gently put it on your shoulders. You turned around and tried taking it off, but Shifty insisted that you stay warm.

“My pa’ always made sure my ma’ would stay warm. It’s the best I can do,” He reassured.

“Oh Shifty, thank you. This is too kind. How can I repay you?” You offered, wrapping the jacket around your body.

He shook his head, smiling, “I don’t need a single thing from you, miss y/n.”

“Boy, the world truly doesn’t deserve someone like you.” You stated, standing on your tippy toes. “Let’s get out of here so I can sneak you a Hershey bar, or two. How does that sound?”

Shifty froze and looked side to side. It felt like the devil was tempting him. But he could never see y/n as a devil. She was a beautiful angel in his eyes.

“Well,” Shifty put a finger to his lips, “That does sound mighty fine, Miss y/n.”

You took his hand and dragged him to the door, your laughter echoing in the door. Shifty held the door open and let you exit first before closing the door, making your way to the supply room to eat chocolate.

Once Shifty was out of sight, Popeye turned back to Floyd. “I’ve tried to ask him, trust me. He won't say a dang word on it.” He explained, “He thinks miss y/n wouldn’t like a fellow like him. But I’m pretty sure she loves him.”

“You kidding?” Chuck added on, “She spoils him with free food, contraband, whatever. Anything he wants, he gets. She doesn’t do that to any of us.”

“Well, miss Y/n did give me hershey bar last week,” Floyd proudly smirked.

Chuck looked unashamed, “Yeah, because you were trying to convince her to go to the amusement park with her this weekend.”

The Boy from Kokomo playfully rolled his eyes, “Shifty’s not her only favorite.” For a second, he froze, a thought finally coming in his mind. “Wait...the amusement park…”

“She already said no to that one, and all the other dates,” Chuck said.

“I know that,” Floyd replied, rubbing his chin, “I got an idea. For Shifty and Miss y/n.”

Chuck and Popeye looked at eachother, and then Floyd. They could already see the idea forming, but it would take a lot of work.

“I’ve known Shifty all my life. He’s too shy to ask a girl out,” Popeye acknowledged, “He’s too scared of being rejected.”

“I know that.” Floyd pointed his finger as he stood up and fixed his belt, “I’ve got a plan.”

“For once?”

“Yes-be quiet,” Floyd teased, “All those two need is a little push.”

-----------

Shifty looked up and down at the brightly colored paper and at y/n, who was loading up the back of a supply truck. His mouth hung open as his eyebrows rose in diseablief.

Floyd, Chuck, and Popeye stood all in front of him, waiting for an answer. Shifty shook his head and shoved the paper back in Floyd’s hands.

“Oh, I can’t do that. No way.” Shifty denied, his cheeks growing red.

Popeye let out a defeated sigh as Floyd clicked his mouth, walking up to Shifty. “Yes way! Have you not seen the way y/n looks at you?”

Shifty looked in the distance and then back at Floyd, “What? No! She looks at me like I look at you-like a friend. Besides, you’ve seen miss y/n,” Shifty’s gaze turned back to you as the butterflies fluttered in his stomach, “She made it clear ‘dat she ‘dun needa’ man, and I wanna respect ‘dat wish. ‘Sides, she wouldn’t be into a guy like me.”

Popeye shook his head, “God darn it Shift! You gotta realize dat your-”

“In love. L-O-V-E.” Floyd teased, budding shoulders with Shifty. “Based on the dames I’ve been with in Kokomo, I know how women work. She looks at you like a lovesick puppy. The two of you are meant for eachother.”

Shifty looked at Floyd, blinking his eyes like a child looking at a math equation. He still wasn’t understanding. “But...oh, leapin’ lizards! Miss y/n would be into a guy like you. You get all ‘da pretty ladies...how do you dewit?”

Upon hearing Shifty’s pleas for help, Floyd let out a chuckle and slapped Shifty’s shoulder, who looked like a lost lovesick puppy.

“Shifty, Shift, my dearest friend,” Floyd reassured, giving him a double pat, “That’s why I’m here. You’re getting the best advice from your best man.”

Chuck rolled his eyes, “Fan-fucking-tastic Shifty, you boosted his ego. This is going to be great.”

Floyd looked at an unassumed Chuck, giving him a pout. “Oh come now, Chuck! Look at him, he’s in love.”

“But you like Miss y/n! I don’t wanna steal her. I mean, I want someone who can treat her right,” Shifty said, resting his hands on his cheeks.

“Shifty, as your friend, I’m pretty sure everybody in easy company wants Miss y/n to accompany them at the bar for a dance or two.” Floyd explained, trying to encourage Shifty. “I know how much you love her, and I think it’s fair to give you a shot. The only way you’ll get what you want is by working for it.”

He saw Joe Toye walk by you. And even Joe Toye, one of the scariest people in the company, gave miss y/n a subtle nod. She smiled back and gave him a wave, a bandanna in your hair and dirt smudged on your cheek.

Just your mere presence made Shifty melt like an ice cream cone on a hot summer’s day. No matter what you were in, your uniform or covered in pig guts, you always found a way to be absolutely gorgeous. When Shifty had first bumped into you, he was convinced you were a fallen angel. You were too beautiful and bright in the rainy, gloomy Albourne. Yet there you were, always by his side with a smile on your face and story to tell.

Shifty let out a dreamy smile, a crooked smile on his face. “I wanna say I love her…” Shifty added on.``...without sayin’ I love her.”

The boy from Kokomo cracked his knuckles, “Well, don’t I just got the plan for you too. How does nice and slow sound?”

----------

“What are you doin? Stop pushin’ me! I can’t dewit!” Shifty whispered in a hush as Floyd and Popeye pushed him towards the truck where you were loading supplies for easy company.

“Boy, quit being afraid of anything. Take that leap of faith!” Floyd called out before pushing Shifty near the truck before he and Popeye hid for cover.

Shifty turned around to find them before he heard a familiar voice call his name.

“Shifty?”

The Virginian sharpshooter turned his shoulder and hid his hands behind his back, smiling with a piece of his golden chestnut hair falling on his forehead. “Miss y/n! Pleasure to see ‘yah. I hope I wasn’t interruptin’ anythin’ too important.”

“Shifty, you’re too sweet. I was just finishing the last load of K-bars…” You explained, lifting a large box and shoving it into the back of her full truck, unable to see. Finally, done after a long day. Wiping the sweat off of your forehead, you walked towards Shifty only to be greeted by a variety of poppies.

“ ‘ere, got ‘em for you. You said you like the color red…” Shifty blushed, looking to the side. Floyd and Popeye hid behind the side of the truck, giving him a thumbs up.

You took the flowers and examined them, a smile growing on your face. “Oh, these are so sweet! Thank you..” You put the flowers in the pocket of your overalls to retrieve a few hershey bars from the back of the truck, “I’ll getcha’ somethin-”

“Wait, miss y/n!” Shifty announced, following after you as he grabbed your soft hand, pulling you back. You tripped on your own feet, almost falling to the ground before Shifty catched you, his hand on the small of your back. The two of you stared at each other, cheeks both burning with desire.

Shifty coughed and lifted you up, neating your ruffled shirt and cap with your hair messily tucked into. “S-sorry, I…would like to ask you somethin’. Not chocolate, ma’am.”

You raised your eyebrows, insisting that he go forward with his response, his hand still in yours. He didn’t even notice, but you did. You could recognize his soft, tan skin from anywhere.

“Would you go to the amusement park with me? As my date?” Shifty blurted out like word vomit, “I mean, only if you want. If you don’t wanna go with somebody like me, then I understand.”

“Yes, of course I would!” You also blurted out, your face red like a tomato. You took your cap off and hid your face, embarrassed by yourself. Inhaling, you let out an exhale before pulling yourself together. “Shifty, I would love to go with you. I wasn’t even planning on going at all until you asked me.”

Shifty’s eyes sprinkled with happiness, like a child on Christmas morning. “Really? You wanna?” He squeezed your hand, realizing that he was still holding it.

You looked up at him with a warm smile, placing your dirty hand on top of his. “Yes, I would love to.”

Shifty looked speechless. The rumors were true; his smile was infectious. Perfect and bright like the sun of a warm summer day.

“Sufferin’ succotash!” He cried, “Miss y/n? Can I ask you one last thing?”

“Yes, Shifty?”

“Can I give you a hug?”

It was definitely not what you were expecting. But then again, you weren’t hesitant. Shifty could do no wrong-he simply seemed over the moon about asking you out. You were as well, but seeing Shifty’s excitement made you smile and accept it. He was too cute for his own food.

“Yes, you can.” You opened your arms only to have long hands pull you up and spin you around. It was a quick welcome as you spun around, heartfelt laughter escaping from you and Shifty. Shifty could do no wrong, whether that be at shooting or giving the best bear hugs. They were bear-like, but affectionate and protective. He trapped his arms around your waist as you held the back of his necks, your fingers tangled in his soft hair which shined in the sun. Shifty looked amazing no matter what, always glowing.

Babe threw the clown nose off of his face along with the roses Guarnere had picked out for him. Eugene was walking by, mortified to see Babe dressed (apparently) as a clown and a disappointed Guarnere. Not an unusual sight.

“Heffron,” Eugene walked towards a sad Babe, scanning his figure. “What are you doing…”

“I’m heartbroken! Look at them!” Babe mourned, pointing at you and Shifty in an embrace, happily giggling. “I was gonna ask miss y/n out and give her these roses. I dressed up like a clown since I thought we could both be clowns together.”

Eugene simply blinked, perplexed by Babe’s logic. All he could think of was the word Yikes. He would’ve most likely scared away y/n instead of winning her heart over. “Pardon?” He looked at Guarnere for answers, who simply shrugged at him.

“Don’t look at me like that. I tried, the kid wouldn’t listen. He’s a lovesick puppy with that damn dame.” Guarnere explained, crossing his arms as he looked at the happy couple.

The Cajun medic, along with Babe the sad clown and Guarnere, observed you and Shifty. A small smile crooked at his lips. He normally wasn’t one for gossip or dating, but he was happy for the two of you. Even someone as quiet as him didn’t deny the obvious chemistry between the two of you. It was like the two you were destined to be together. Humble, adored, and both beautiful in your own, respective rights.

“Yeah…” Eugene slowly bopped his head, “There sure like lovesick puppies…”

-----------

The Carnival brought light into the gloomy Alborunte with it’s bright rides, laughing children, and joyful ambience. Shifty could recall his childhood with Popeye. Every year, they’d have a carnival during the dog days of August. He loved the shooting games, winning thousands of plushies and eating candy with Popeye until he was sick. He was sure his Ma still had the plushies tucked away in the attic.

But instead of feeling overjoyed, he felt like he was walking on eggshells.

He waited at the entrance with Floyd, Popeye, and Chuck. Chuck kept looking down at his watch, keeping lookout for y/n as Floyd gave Shifty a final pep talk. They were all dressed in fresh uniforms with showers and fine cologne. It was a refreshing change, even if it was for one night.

“Remember, play it cool. You’re sweating’ like a damn dog!” Floyd said, fixing a stubborn curl into his cap.

“Oh, I don’t think I can do this. I mean, miss y/n deserves a real man. I mean she’s so…” Shifty rambled on before Popeye swatted him on the shoulder, gardening his attention to y/n in the crowd. You were far away but to Shifty, you were still recognizable. The girls in the crowd wore plain and monotone colored dresses but you wore a beautiful floral button up with sheer sleeves and ruffles, your makeup done. It was the first time Shifty had ever seen you without your flap cap and dirt on your face, and he wanted a better look.

“Beautiful…”

Floyd smirked and patted Shifty’s shoulders, letting out a dreamy sigh, “God damn it Shifty, you’re lucky I’m being nice to you. Hottie on the dot. Go get ‘em, tiger.”

Giving him a push on encouragement, Shifty’s friends eventually faded into the crowd. Gulping, he began to walk forward towards y/n, who stood in the crowd, waiting in the exact location Shifty told her to wait in. Catching him the corner of his eye, she smiled with her red lips and walked over.

“Shifty!” Y/n exclaimed with glee, looking at his clean uniform and quivering an eyebrow. “Thank goddess I found you…and you look handsome in your uniform.”

“Says the pretty lady talkin’,'' Shifty commented back as he looked down at your tinier form. Now that you were up close, he could admire every little detail from your rosy cheeks, red lipstick, manicured hands, and glimmer in your eyes from the fairy lights. “I mean, you always look very nice but tonight you look stunning’.”

“Oh quit being’ nice to me, Shifty.” You playfully swatted his shoulder, “Every guy’s in the company’s said that to me. Not half of them even acknowledged me before I got dressed up.”

Shifty, like a confused puppy, tilted his head. How could someone such as y/n, who he considered to be the prettiest lady he had ever seen.

“Whaddya mean? You always have been very pretty, ma’am.” Shifty acknowledged, his hands fiddling behind his back. He could feel his palms sweating, seeing the moon reflect onto your glowing skin. “You always look beautiful. It’s just tonight that you look even more beautiful than you usually do.”

You shook your head as you looked down, fiddling with the sides of your dress. Nobody had said those words to you in years. They were truly heartfelt and not some cheap way of getting into your pants. “I may not see it, but thank you Shifty.”

“Well, my ma’ has always told me that I’m one bad liar. I like to say it how it is,” Shifty insisted with a finger in your face, “and I’m saying that you are one hecka’ ova’ pretty gal.”

You smiled at Shifty, amazed by how cute he was. He didn’t even have to try, it was all natural. “Oh Shifty….” You looked down at your shoes, seeing your feet brush against his boots. Clearing your throat, you looked up to talk. ‘I…”

Before you could say a word, you could see Floyd Talbetr in the back. He noticed you talking to Shifty and upon seeing you, had a devilish smirk sprawn over his handsome face. You clicked your tongue, shaking your head. “Oh goodness, doesn’t he see I’m on a date?”

Shifty turned around and bit his lip. He gently grabbed your hand. It felt natural in the moment too, his larger work in your pretty manicured hand. “That son of a gun! I’m sorry ‘bout him, miss y/n. ‘Ere, let’s go. I’m sure he’ll find another lady, but not as pretty as you. I mean she would be very pretty, but not the miss y/n typa’ pretty.”

The two of you walked side by side, hands together. You looked at Shifty, raising an eyebrow. “Are you gonna keep callin’ me pretty the whole night?’

Shifty nodded his head like an enthusiastic child, “Like I said, if it’s true, is true.”

---------

Once the two of you escaped the infamous playboy, you and Shifty walked around the amusement park. The two of you had eventually let go of your hands since something had caught your eye, causing you to mindlessly wander. Shifty followed you like a puppy dog, whatever you wanted to do he wanted. Besides, anything with you was time well spent. Carnivals were something he always enjoyed with their bright lights and shiny attractions, especially with a pretty girl he was in love with. He forgot he was in a raging war whenever he looked at you; with your soft smile and calming words. Just for one night, Shifty could escape into his fantasy world with you, which to his surprise was the reality he was currently standing in.

You were full of life in the park, dragging Shifty to every ride, whether it be scary or for toddlers. The two of you first stopped at the Haunted House, which Shifty was terrified to go into. You were scared, but it was the rush of adrenaline driving you. Shifty wanted to impress you, so he held your hand hand for “safe precaution” and walked in front of you. It was adorable to see him jump back at the slightest scares and mumble under his breath an alternative curse word, such as “leapin’ lizards” or “great scott!”

As the two of you exited the haunted house, lost in conversation, the two of you had been jumpscared. Shifty jumped and grabbed your waist, pulling you in for protection. You felt his stomach on your back and his firm grasp on your waist. You looked up and Shifty, who immediately realized what he was doing. The two of you broke into laughter, a few snorts in the middle. Shifty slowly let go of your waist, wanting to hold on longer.

“Sorry miss y/n.” He apologized, bowing his head. “Jus’ got a lil’ scared in the moment. I don’t mean to be a coward.”

“A coward? Nonsense,” You smiled in reassurance and grabbed his hand, “Your no coward to me. Now come on! There’s more rides to go!”

Shifty was distracted by your beauty as you dragged him along. Once again, the two of you trekked around the park. He was lost in your gaze. How did a guy like him end up with a lady such as yourself? It was hard to deny the butterflies in his stomach. He had never dated in the past. Yes, he had crushes, but they never acknowledged his feelings. He’d do anything for his crushes whether to be holding their books, walking them back home, anything for them, yet he never had his feelings returned. He always felt like he was the second choice. But with you, it was different. You were truly his best friend, and he wanted you to know it, but he still had no idea how to say it.

The two of you decided to take a break and ordered a sugary milkshake to boost your energy for another hour of rides. The two of you sat at a small table in the back, watching the happy couples and children in the distance. The waiter had brought over a milkshake, interrupting your peaceful little silence. Shifty wasn’t even looking at the crowds, he was simply staring at you. His long legs brushed against yours until they finessed each other, making his cheeks go red.

He looked down and saw one milkshake with two heart shaped straws. You raised an eyebrow and fiddled with the straw.

“Odd,” You remarked, examining the milkshake, “ I thought we ordered two…”

Shifty raised his head to see Floyd Talbert in the back, a smirk as he winked, two girls leaning on his shoulders giggling. Was he following them this whole time? Wasn’t he too busy with those girls on his shoulders?”

Shifty tilted his head back down and muttered a curse under his breath, “That son ova’ mother trucker…”

“Shift?” You questioned. He looked up at you, to see that you were already taking a drink. “You okay?”

Shifty rubbed the back of his nape, “Yes ma’am. Ma’ apologies.” He looked at the milkshake and your manicured hands holding the cup down. “Hey! Leave a lil’ for both of us.”

You cutelty giggled, “I haven’t had one of these in a while! I can’t help it. After all,”

“Strawberry, it’s the best flavor,” Shifty had said, and you had followed along in his words. The two of your eyes met, both leaned in close to the milkshake. To cut out the awkarenedess, both of you let out chuckles. A small snort emerged from your mouth, in which you soon covered in.

“Sorry,” You mumbled, hand over your mouth. Your chuckles became faint, another snort escaping your mouth, “It’s not very ladylike.”

Shifty looked puzzled, “Whatcha’ mean? What’s not ladylike?”

“My laugh,” You answered, “I always snort. It’s horrible. Whenever I’d laugh, these girls in my school would make fun of it. I can’t really control it, sorry.”

“Why would they laugh at you?” Shifty looked saddened at your insecurity. You were perfect in his eyes. You truly couldn't do anything wrong. “I think your laugh is very pretty, miss y/n.”

“As sweet as you are, you don’t have to lie.”

Shifty scooted up towards you, his hand sliding onto yours. He had a small smile in his face, his thumb caressing the inner part of your hand. “Well, I am bein’ honest. I ain’t a good liar, you know ‘dat. I’m sure ‘dose girls were jealous of you. ‘sides…” Shifty looked down and back at you with his hazel orbs, “I like your laugh a lot, miss y/n. ‘S pretty, ‘jus like you.”

Oh god, It was happening. Whether it was his cuteness, his Virgianian accent, he was luring you in. You looked up at him as your cheeks grew rosy. The two of you sat there, hand on hand, sipping on a milkshake with the lights glowing in the back. You always had the tiniest crush on Shifty, but it had finally hit you like a bus that it wasn’t some tiny schoolgirl crush-but it was truly love.

You had told yourself over and over that the only reason he liked you was because he was nice to you. You were a cheery person, but deep inside, you had been hurt in the past. Always feeling you were the second choice, you shut yourself out from love. Especially in war. Sure, you were friendly towards the men, but you told yourself you wouldn’t grow close to them. If they died, it would be better. As cruel as it sounded, it was kinder to them are you. It was for the better, right?

That fateful day you bumped into Shifty Powers changed your aspect. You were officially stupid with love, sitting there at a bright carnival, hand in hand as you sipped on a milkshake. He was too kind for you and the world you lived in.

“You’re not gonna stop being nice to me, are you?”

“No ma’am.”

----------

After the milkshake incident, you had noticed you clung onto Shifty more. You were a little taken aback when he asked to hug you. Not that you didn’t enjoy it, you truly did, and it was something that infected your thoughts. Your cheeks would go red and you’d cover the lower part of your mouth. Whenever Shifty walked into the room, it felt like the sun was shining in the dreary Albourne. Just looking at him made your IQ drop to single digits.

And Floyd had caught onto it before you had even noticed.

Instead of holding Shifty’s hand, the two of you walked arm and arm, chatting the night away. The two of you exchanged stories of your childhood, home, and how you ended up where you were. He truly was an angel with a bright smile. He wasn’t like other guys you had met who bragged about themselves. Whenever you would compliment him, he’d deny it with his cheeks all red from embarrassment.

“You’re the best shot I’ve ever seen!” You announced, in disbelief. You had seen him practice a few times, and he would hit every target with grace. “You make it look easy.”

“I’m not a good shot,” Shifty doubted, “But Pa was a good shot. The best shot I’ve ever seen. I think you’d like Pa a lot.”

As the two of you walked in the crowd, you noticed a shooting booth in the corner of your eye. It was a classic paladone duck shooting game. You smirked and pulled his arm to the side, “Well, prove it then.”

Shifty let out a sigh and stood straight, saluting like you like you were Sobel, but much less intimidating. “Yes ma’am.”

You saw him stand there, his fingers curled around the trigger and the butt resting against his shoulder. He took a breath and exhaled, and let the bullets blue. Every duck fell to the ground within a matter of seconds. A minute later, Shifty returned with a large stuffed animal and a smile on his face. He handed it to you. It was a tiny, stuffed bear with button airs.

“For you.” He commented, “I wish they had bigger ones. But I can get you more, if you want.”

You looked at the plusive. You felt juvenile, but it was Shifty. Besides, the two of you weren’t in the army in the moment; you were two lovesick puppies, running around a carnival without a care in the world.

“No, this is...perfect.” You held it close to your chest, “I’ll name him Popeye, a good luck charm.”

Shifty had taken you to every booth he could find, effortlessly shot the gates, and won you more stuffed animals. Whenever he’d give you one, you’d smile like a child on christmas. He loved to see you happy, so he kept doing it more and more. In his mind, it repeated like a broken record, “for y/n”. Wherever you went, Shifty went. Whatever you wanted, Shifty wanted. He was truly a lovesick puppy.

After Shifty’s a thousandth win, both of you walked side by side, arms full of plushies. Each of them were named after members of your company. A racoon named Luz, a black cat named Roe, a cub bear named Liebgott, a fox named Babe, a rabbit named Dick, and so many more. You held up a medium sized shark and nudged Shifty’s shoulder.

“Alright, this one?”

Shifty put some thought into it, “Webster. Doesn’t he like sharks?”

You let out a dry chuckle, “Yeah, he won’t shut up about it.”

The two of you giggled until hitting the next booth and running into a familiar playboy and his newest addition bound to be one night stands. Floyd noticed you and Shifty arrived. He crossed his arms and walked over, faking a cough.

“Look at what we have here,” Floyd scanned you and Shifty, the both of you with wide eyes and stuffed animals overflowing in your hands, “Y’know Shift, I’m proud of you. The whole company hates you for it, you lucky son of a gun.”

Shifty softened his eyebrows, “Wait, they hate me? What did I do wrong?”

Seeing Floyd’s cruel teasing, you interrupted the two. “Floyd, don’t be so cruel,” You put a reassuring hand on Shifty’s shoulder, “Don’t listen to him, he’s just being himself.”

Floyd did a fake pout, “Oh, come on hon. All due respects, but Shifty hit the jackpot before me. After all, he doesn’t miss.”

Shifty and you both went as red as tomatoes, looking sideways. Floyd’s armcandy giggled at his comment and playfully slapped him in the chest. He reassured his sweetheart and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her away.

After Floyd had disappeared to do god knows what, Shifty still looked perplexed and concerned. His thoughts were once again racing. Not about the company disliking him, but Floyd’s comment. Even though he and Floyd were best friends, the two of them were different. He was a playboy in the spotlight, and Shifty was in the back, always tagging along. Growing up, Shifty considered himself to have a loving family. He saw the way his pa treated his ma; giving her his coat, bringing her presents, and treating her like she was a queen. Shifty had never been with a lady before, and he considered you his first real one. Twenty years of age and this was his first rendezvous with a girl, he couldn’t believe it. And he wanted to make sure you were loved and not some jackpot, trying to be won like a competition.

“Miss y/n?” Shifty asked, gaining your attention. He cleared this throat, “I just wanted to tell you that I don’t think of you in ‘dat way.”

“In the Floyd way? That’s alotta’ guys, Shifty.”

“Well, I don’t want you to think I’m doin’ this because of him. Since you’re a very pretty lady, a lot of guys wanted to ask you, and be there arm candy. I just wanted to letcha know now that you're not some kinda prize to be won. I hope to god I ain’t makin’ you feel ‘that way.” Shifty exhaled, letting all his words come out like word vomit. They came out so quickie that he didn’t even know what he was saying.

“Shifty, I know you. You’re a sweetheart,” You kindly affirmed, “Any dame would be lucky to get a guy like you. This has been such a wonderful night, so thank you for that.” The two of you were close to each other, your hands hovering against his chest. His uniform looked perfect on him, you didn’t want to mess it up. Your fingers sucked in as they laid at your side, resisting the temptations that were filling your mind. “But, I do have one request.”

“Anything for you, ma’am.” He vowed, letting you take the floor.

“Teach me how to shoot.”

Shifty look behind you at the booth, a shooting gallery, and then back at you. It was an odd request for sure, especially considering the tender moment the two of you shared. “Like here, right now?” He coaxed. Out of the people, him? He was flattered. No lady had ever asked him something such as that.

You nodded, shrugging your shoulders, insisting, “You are the best shot in the world, after all.”

“Alrighty, if you insist.” Shifty grabbed the small of your back as the two of you walked to the booth. Once you were given the prop gun, you placed the butt on your shoulder and closed an eye, the other looking out of the iron sight. Shifty got right behind you, his chest against your back. He leaned on your shoulder and moved your hand to the trigger and bottom while getting a sniff of your perfume. He never missed, but being around you was definitely a distraction.

“Don’t aim for what you're shooting’, aim’ for where you shootin’,” He instructed, your eyes focused on the moving targets. Shifty hadn’t realized he had put a hand on your waits to turn you over slightly. It wasn’t like you minded his gentle touch.

The moving target came up, and with Shifty’s hand upon yours, you pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the middle of the target, slamming to the ground. However, the two of you didn’t stop. Every target that came, you shot and didn’t miss once. While you were focused on the red targets falling to the ground, you could also feel Shifty’s breath on you and his firm grasp on your hips. His fingers were on top of yours and the trigger. Whenever you were to get a target, he’d mutter “ ‘atta girl…” or “aim a lil’ higher, darlin’.” It made you lose focus, making you thankful that Shifty was right by your side. You lowered the gun, his hands still resting on your hips. When the clerk had announced you had won, you shook it off and walked over to claim your one hundredth stuffed animal. Shifty had a pout as you walked away. He truly enjoyed being close to you.

“Hey,” You called, a smile on your face, “Thank you. I’d like to do that again.”

“Shooting’ again?”

“Of course. I’d like to learn how to do it.”

“Oh miss y/n, I’d love to help, but I ain’t a good shot.”

“Stop denying it,” You affirmed, holding his hands in yours, bringing them to your chest. You looked up at him, the fairy lights glimmering in your eyes, “That you’re a bad shot and not a gentleman and that I deserve to be with someone who can treat me right. You are an amazing shot. This night has been amazing. You are someone who can treat me right. I…” Freezing on your words, the butterflies in your stomach crippled you. You knew what you wanted to say, but how could you word it into a coherent sentence. His hands scrunched in your chest as you still held them close, like a child with a stuffed animal.

“Well, stop denying’ you're not pretty'. Because I think you're the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen,” Shifty confessed as he moved closer to your tinier form, “Not only on the outside, but inside. You're kind, always putting others before yourself. You also sneak the company Hershey bars, even though they don’t need them. You're so interesting to talk to, you can just...light up a whole room when you walk inside of it,” Shifty’s cheeks were burning like a fire as he pulled you close to his body, both of your breaths heavy. “I...oh gosh darn it…”

You looked over to the side and turned back to Shifty, “Ferries Wheel.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s go. It’s the last ride of the night before they shut the park.” You exclaimed. Maybe the two of you needed a private place to talk. I love you, it was three simple words. You couldn’t say it and he couldn’t say it. Maybe it would work, maybe it would be a disaster. You had nothing to lose at

this point.

Shifty and you both walked over, seeing that there was no line for the ride. It was late at night. You only had an hour left on your night pass, and you wanted to make sure you used the most of it. What if always lingered in your mind. You knew not to get close to the men in the company, it was for the better. But now, with Shifty holding your hand, it was undeniable.

The two of you boarded onto the small cart, still hand in hand. No words were spoken between you two. You looked at the bright lights, which were getting smaller as you moved upwards. You could feel Shifty’s gaze burn into you. Although the two of you

“Miss y/n?” He broke the silence.

“Yes, Shifty?” You said, turning to look into his Hazel eyes. He smiled and shook his head, using one of his hands to cup the hand he was holding.

“I don’t know how to say this but, I want to be honest with you since we only got a little bit of time to do so. I remember when I first met you and I was speechless, and I still am. I’ve had feelings for you for a long time now but tonight...made me realize them more. It made me realize what a foot I am for not knowing’ sooner. But now, I know. I gotta say it. Miss Y/n, I love you.” Shifty declared, “more than anything in the world. If you don’t like me, ‘dat’s okay. But I can’t hide it anymore. I wanna help you learn how to shoot, I wanna go on more dates with you, I wanna be around you every single day.”

It had finally hit you. You looked at Shifty and chuckled, “You said it. I love you too. I couldn’t find the words for it...but now, I have. I love you, Darrell. ”

You moved to Shifty’s side of the cart and leaned on his shoulder, nuzzling into it as Shifty wrapped an arm around you, pulling you close to his body.

“Have you always loved me?” Shifty questioned, his fingers trailing against your bare arms.

You nodded your head, playing with his fingers. “Since day one. You?”

“Since I first looked at you,” Shifty confessed, “Floyd and Popeye always teased me ‘bout it. I didn’t have the courage to say it before, but they…”

“Helped you. I guess you're not the only one here,” You sighed, just knowing that Floyd had something to do with this. Of course, it made sense for the playboy to make a matchmaker. “I told Luz by accident and you know Luz. Floyd had overheard our conversation and had to include himself. He helped me get a dress and prepare for this all. So yeah, I guess we both liked each other...but we didn’t know it.”

“Well, know we do it. We both love each other,” Shifty said into your hair.

“Yeah…” You looked at the night sky, the stars and moon sparkling. “I like that a lot.”

The cart had stopped on top of the ride. In that moment, you felt on top of the world. Shifty had you in his arms, the temperature wa sprague, the sky was beautiful. It was all coming together now-but there was one missing detail.

Shifty’s arm pulled you in closer before he asked gently, “May I kiss you, miss y/n?”

That was it, the one missing detail. A kiss to wrap up the perfect moment. You turned your body towards him, wrapping your arms around his shoulders. “Yes, you can Shifty. You can do it as many times as you like.”

“Yes Ma’am,” He chuckled like a child. Wrapping his arms on your waist, your lips collided with each other. Your heart began to pound as you felt a desire run from your heart, to my chest, and down toward my inner thighs.

Shifty touched your neck, and the hair as it was moved away nearly gave me the chills. His hands went from the sides of your head and down to your neck, out to your shoulders and down to your hands. He grabbed your hands gently yet firm. You felt safe, he spoke no words. Your heart is about to beat out of your chest as you shut your eyes and took a deep breath out.

Shift kissed my shoulder, and ran his lips on my skin towards my ear, but didn't quite make it that far. It doesn't hurt, it only makes me want more.

Shifty turns you around, and we are facing each other. He stares into my eyes and smiles. Shifty’s two hands grab your left hand as he places your open palm on his heart, and he holds it there. His eyes exude love, protection, security, safety, patience, and respect. You smile and he lets go of your hands, with one hand he runs his fingers through your hair and gently guides your face closer to his, eventually leaning me in to rest my head on his chest.

His other arm wraps around me, and you hope he never lets go.

And in that moment, the world was still. It was you and Shifty, on top of the world.

#shifty powers #shifty powers x reader #shifty powers imagine #band of brothers #band of brothers x reader #band of brothers imagine #we all need a little shifty in the world

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rungalwaysheretolisten · 3 years

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Armada Review episode 5-8

I am putting the read more so that you do not have to read all of this if you do not want to. This is a review for episodes 5-8 season 1 and again, a reminder, these are my thoughts, if you don’t agree with what I have to say that fine but please respect my thought and opinions on what I think about the serious.

So to start this up let go in order

Episode 5 Soldier:

So with Soldier, this episode focused a lot on Red Alert, Hotshot, Optimus, and their relationship. We learn about Red being a chef science engineer which brought up a question, does that really make Red a medic? I mean, sure they are robots so you could say that that would make him a medic, but in other transformers, they call them medics, so a question I like to ask you all and see if you guy can answer this question, is Red Alert a medic or is he just a mech who had to learn both engineer and medical seen there no one on their team right now really a medic.

Anyway, we notice right away Hotshot and Red not getting a lot and having some problem working together, we see Red as being tight follow the book like Magnus and we see Hotshot being this go luckily relaxed kid like Rodimus.

We also learn about how close Red and Prime's relationship is when they talk about fighting side by side in the war which I thought was a very amazing touch to the episode and that Red is really a good person who can kick ass, and do good. Then you have the Decepticons who are just treating Starscream like trash, teasing him about not having a min con and going as far as not wanting to listen to him which I thought was brought back wonderful in the episode Jungle which we will talk about in a bit but for now, we just see Megatron as normal treating Starscream badly and not even telling the other to listen to him, which in turn make Starscream want to prove himself to Megatron and which unfortunately cause him to fail in the end when he gets beat by Red and is not able to get the min con. We also get some foreshadowing of a clue of what the next min con will be but I won't talk about that till I get to the last episode but had to say that it was an interesting idea and is pretty cool.

Overall this episode was alright, the animation again, was a little bit over the place but I say it not a skip episode because you do learn a thing about the Autobots and learn a thing about the Depictions.

Episode 6 Jungle:

*sigh* Well, everyone let buckle up for safety because we about to get into an environmental episode and I like to talk about this before I talk more about this episode. I hate environmental episodes only because it always feels repetitive and it always makes me think of the Nostalgia critic reviews where the tv or movie is so bad because of the environmental episode and that they really don’t care about the message but have to but it just because they have too.

So with that out of the way, was it that bad?

I mean, it not good, but there is some part I feel made it not as awful. So the plot of this episode is they have to find a min con in the forest and the kids point out that they have to be careful in the forest and to not hurt the living things that are there, and it made me think for a moment wow, do you think the Autobot or any of this bots care about the forest as they destroyed there whole home because of a war, I don’t think they give two shit but as I watch the episode, I notice something about Optimus...he does care, he even said: “This planet looks peaceful from a glance but it has some serious problems.” I might be going deep on this, might but hear me out on what I think he meant by thought words.

I think at that moment he was thinking about Cybertron. For a glance a long time ago, you would have said the same thing, but after the war, and how much fighting they still are doing, it looks awful and sad. The fighting is causing a lot of problems and hurting others, it hurting living being, hell the min con had to leave because they were being used as weapons just like you could say about the forest being chop down for things that might be good at first but will harm everything later on if we not careful.

So yeah, the Deception, of course, they are cutting down the tress to get to the min con and of course we get to the part I want to talk about, Starscream being treat like trash and not being taken seriously. We get a glimpse of this in the episode when there doing a simulation and Starscream is trying to tell the other what they need to do, asking them to let him do something, to have them trust him but they don’t listen which cause him to lose the simulation and be scolded by Megatron!!

Which then again, makes Starscream, even more, determined to get a min con to prove why he is the second in command and should be listening too and it somewhat looks like Starscream looking for power but really in this episode he in the right to do that. Why because he has been treated awful, no one listens to him, Megatron has undermined him so many times that when he does and this is a spoiler. When he does get his min con Swindle which I think is a great name because Starscream names him that because he Swindles Megatron out of min con he could have used and Starscream get a really powerful one that works with him and listen to everything he asks it to do, and once he does the team start to listen to him and follow his orders. He so happy and start to get respect out of fear, which is sad because he shouldn’t have to scare them into listening to him but because Megatron would not make them listen to him and he saw Megatron get respect out of fear he thinks this is the only way to get everyone to respect him and which is why I also think he says he might be even more powerful than Megatron. Which make Megatron even angrier and maybe even get him to be more paranoid.

So yeah, this episode was awful with its speech about saving the environment, and yeah it can be a bit corny with them fighting in a forest hunting for the min con, and fighting Megatron the big old deer of the forest. (Had to put that joke in sorry.) But overall it was an okay episode and it wasn’t that bad...now for the next one well.

Episode 8 Carnival

I’m sorry, watch this episode twice, twice to find the meaning of this episode, to give it a reason why you should watch this episode and I just can’t.

Again this is my own opinion, but this episode was not that good. It not awful, but it not good. Like, I love finding out Hotshot loves to watch old western, I thought that was cool, I even thought it was cool and spoiler, about him using the canon at the Carnival as his new guy that he shot with know and play western with. That cute! I love him being smug with the bullies. But this episode was bad!

The humans were dumb as bricks when they min con and Hotshot show up to the Carnival, because yeah, for a while it made seen when they sneaked out the min con to the Carnival to have some fun rather than having to stay in the base cleaning up with Alexia. Yeah, it was kinda silly how the human thought they were something that came from the sciences department and that there was clueless. But when Billy and Fred when after the min con to take them because they knew they were not science department gimmicks to help them get more funding or something like that, had them “malfunctioning” around them Carnival which scared a lot of people to run away and to have Hotshot trying to get them to leave Jolt alone, Jolt flying them, them dropping off onto a ballon and having Hotshot later save them while flying around, you can not tell me the military was not call out for that little stunt or that the people that live in this town are that dumb!

Like yeah, they are panting them that way so they can get away with things sure. But maybe it just because I was spoiled by Transformers Prime seriously but looking back on that it scary and the worst part, they don’t get yelled at by Optimus but at Alexia, Optimus should have been yelling at Hotshot and the boys! Telling them that was dumb!

So is this episode have anything worth it? Well, it shows the difference between how the Autobot work as a team to fix up the base vs the Deception who are just fighting during the whole time there fix the base, put Demoloisher down for being clumsy, which he is but he only fell down because he didn’t want to step on a min con, which I did check in the animation and thought that was interesting, he cares not letting the min con get hurt and I don’t care what anyone says, I think that kinda sweet but sad as he scolds and tases about him falling down, we later in the last episode will talk more about Demolisher and I thought it was cool about the foreshadowing spoiler about the Star Saber sword min con that going to come into play later down the next few episodes.

Overall this episode was bad but if you want to see it for thought reason I won’t blame you but I will not also blame you if you skip it.

Finally, the last episode I watch for this review is episode 8 Palace.

This episode was beautiful!!!

Like I could go on and on about the animation, it was the best one so far and I think that was because they focused a lot on the robots. The music was amazing too like it made me feel like a little kid again while watching it.

So, the story was also interesting about how min con was thought of as a gift or some type of spiritual being that was probably thought of as a god or something like that, and this episode my sibling Jamie who was watching this, geek out about her Anthropologie stuff, and before you ask no they are not an Anthropology that study Egypt, in fact, they are a Mayan Cultural Anthropologies but they did remember something from there class and nerd out with me. Anyway, we just love the way they did the building, we love the fight scenes.

Demolisher was somewhat cool in this episode too, all he wanted to do was get the min con for his own and he really tired his best, I even felt bad for him having to give it back to Megatron, I also felt like it was not fear but then again, Megatron is scared of being out powered by anyone and even thought he could challenge Starscream or order him to give it to him, it would look bad and would look like he taking his word away (even thought I’m sure he wouldn’t care about that he know for breaking it) but still maybe he was afraid of Starscream betraying him or thought maybe Demolisher couldn’t handle such a thing, or that he might both might betray Megatron whatever the case might be.

I felt sorry for Demolisher and sorry for when he spoke up agents him, that it piss of Megatron enough to want to punish him which Starscream laugh and it supose to be a funny scene but it really scary because when you think about it Starscream not laugh because it funny but because he scared.

When people are scared they sometime laugh because Starscream know how bad a beating Megatron can give when he don’t get what he wants and I just thought that was also very interesting.

I might later down the road when we get to more episodes might do a break down some of the transformers and what I thought about them throw this serious and point out the thing that I think is very interesting to me and might even say something I think are canon for them. But anyway. I think this was my favorite animated so far and I say give it a watch if not for the story then for the beautiful animation!

Next Monday I’ll be reviewing 9-13 (Yes five this time because we're getting close to the end of season one!) Thank you all for reading my review on this serious I hope you all like this and have a good night.

#Rung mun talking again #Transformers Armada review by Rung mun #Transformers Armada #Hotshot #Starscream #Red Altert #demolisher #Megatron #Optimus

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springtimebat · 3 years

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The demon and the seer

Chapter One: The Carnival Folk

In which a trip is made early, predictions are performed and Frankie Albarn is oddly at home

The last days of October were fading, just like the embers of a dying fire, and the devious clutches of November were finally stretching. It was during these twilight hours, between All Hallows Eve and the broken weeks of early winter, that the Carnival Folk made their return to the town of Bad Seed.

The fields around the place succumbed to grey clouds as their visitors slithered across cracked cobblestone. Their van, that dreaded thing of nightmares, resembled an ancient hearse, with its collapsing bumper and its range of old knic-knacks plastered onto the doors, the windows, the floors. And as the vehicle made its way to the Old Albarn farm, descending through to the hills on its thousands of legs, its swollen exterior fighting against the rain as it began to rain, the villagers of Bad Seed glowered at the fog that had began to make its clumsy way up lanes and junctions, smashing against brick, a homemade, foreign concoction brought with their Carnival Folk in order for them to stay in the shadows. So they could hide. Men crouched in armchairs as the monster passed by the windows, worried for their children. Women of all shapes and sizes, eyes bulbous and full, whispered amongst themselves, heads swimming with myth. Murders of children flocked together around misted glass, hoping to catch a glimpse of phantoms. For a thing of legend to become a thing of reality. For they were all living in rare times. The Carnival Folk, with all their monsters, their fog, their shadows, only visited Bad Seed once in a blue moon. Mutters around town spoke of a blood pact with the crazy old Albarn Family, high up of their farm just outside of town. Others spoke men as big as houses, running through the town, carrying body parts, animals, circus equipment. Some spoke of animals; of elephants with three trunks, of wolves with human hands, of birds with paws and snouts. And then, of course, there was the woman of ancient tomes, with her hunched back and her gammy legs. The old one with her gnarled fingers, her walking stick; a tree branch that was said to stamp out peoples’ lives, summon devils and reanimate the dead. Most importantly, of course, was her glass eye, blue as frost said to bring those who gazed upon it eternal damnation, to curse the onlooker with rotted flesh and a taste for bloodshed. Shadows grew heavy in the town of Bad Seed and the children, in their murders, in their flocks, giggled in delight, in mischief. The old one was here!

Too soon, the van was making its way up old country lanes, having left the harsh confines of town square. The driver, hooded and armed with a threadbare whip, pressed firmly in, until in the midnight throes of mist and dew, the Carnival reached the old Albarn Farm, withering away on its small stretch of fields just outside Bad Seed’s suspicious gates. The van groaned as it came to halt, low exhausted. The driver sighed and mopped thick streams of sweat from his brow. Then he jumped down from his position, rounded the back of his family hearse and pulled the back door open. In the back was the old one, her wrinkled hands clutching the scrap walls. She frowned as she was led out into the moonlight, her amber eyes tiny slits as she got used to her surroundings. The driver, a man of very few words, grabbed the crone by the waist and delivered her onto the decaying pavement, where she landed on two slender legs hidden by an inherited grandmother’s smock.

“Ah, back again Wilson,” The hideous one announced, her voice thick and high. She pointed a finger at the old Albarn Farm just before them. The driver grunted and held out an oak branch he had kept in the front seat until she was ready. The woman shook her head and glowered at him.

“No need Wilson! I can make it on my own this time I know it! This place has a bitter taste. Always has, always will. I’ll be fine for this visit.”

Wilson sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Don’t start that my boy,” The old woman scolded, batting away flies with a claw, “Now, have you got the tub?”

Wilson nodded and tapped a rucksack on his brick back. The old master nodded and with that, the two set off towards their destination; the crumbling Albarn farmhouse, taken apart by weeds, with its eyes blank slates.

“Bloody Albarns! They make this journey hard enough without the stairs to climb!” The old one puffed as they finally got to the front door, after ten minutes of step after step after step. Wilson groaned and pressed the doorbell. There they stood for a while, waiting for a welcome, tapping their boots.

Footsteps soared to the old one’s strange ears and the door finally swung open, with a hideous creak. She noticed it was on its last rusty hinge. The Albarn woman appeared in the door frame, her face pale and warped, swarmed with cold sores. After catching sight of the old one and her assistant, Mrs Albarn’s eyes, already quite glassy, dimmed further.

“Do you want to come in?” She muttered, twirling a strand of straw hair around a bony finger. There was a thud from Wilson as he pulled the rucksack off his shoulders and the poor Albarn woman gave a squeak. The old woman smiled up at her, her teeth shiny in the dark.

“That would be nice dear, thank you.”

And with that, the Carnival Folk entered the Albarn farm for what seemed like the thousandth time.

It had been six long years since the old one’s last visit and six long years since the last Albarn child. Yet, as they were ushered into the dilapidated foyer, the old master and her apprentice both realised the house hadn’t changed at all. Same furniture in the same place, just shaggy and worn with time. The carpets had not been replaced and the same cracks had not been scratched from the walls. All that seemed different were the portraits. The Albarn portraits were of the ugly necessary variety. They were an assortment of long gone corpses lining the foyer walls, detailing which was which. Now all the walls were filled to the brim with baby pictures. They told of first steps, of first words, of first guns. The insidious gap-toothed grin of a toddler loomed over the old one and made her cough. As she looked around and as Wilson rummaged through his supplies, Mrs Albarn seemed to stand in her own hallway, clasping and unclasping her greyed hands, opening and closing her fish mouth, unsure of what to do.

“Strange,” The old one wondered, “She wasn’t like this the last time. She was such a happy lamb last time.” The old woman cleared her throat, making the Albarn woman tense.

“Is there anywhere to place the tub? Or shall we go into the Parlour like last time dear?” Mrs Albarn shivered in an invisible wind then nodded. Raising an eyebrow at Wilson, who looked just as puzzled, the old one led the way into the side parlour, just to their right.

“Is there any reason why Frankie insisted we come so early after the baby's birth?”

They had set up the old tub on the coffee table and had now taken to listening to the rain thrash against the windowpane. Mrs Albarn, sitting on a patchwork couch, bit her lip.

“It was actually my idea. I was...concerned. I’m still concerned.”

The old woman rolled her eyes. New mother jitters. There was no doubt about it.

“Couldn’t you have waited a little longer dearie? Autumn is a very hard time of year for us. When you turn your head, October bleeds as quickly as it can into the following February.”

“Don’t you mean November?”

“No. February. Frankie should know how difficult the journey is here. It took us seven months to get to him. And Frankie was a real handful!”

“Yes well, this is a very special case.”

“Has the child set the house on fire?”

“What? No!”

“The barn? The fields?”

“No! Nothing’s on fire!”

“Ah, you see that’s what I would class as a special case. What has the child done there? She’s only what...two months old? What could she have possibly done to make you so anxious?”

Before Mrs Albarn could answer, her husband slumped into their make-shift parlour. He was different too. So very different. When Frankie Albarn’s first child had been born the man had been glowing with pride, happiness… a third thing the old one couldn’t quite remember. Now, he was pale and grey, just like his wife. But Frankie was an Albarn! He had descended from witches and shadows! He was crafted from the midnight sky! Yet those bright eyes had fallen to smoke and faded glass. The old woman sighed. What a waste.

“Hello,” Frankie nodded at the two Carnival Folk in his parlour, “How are you two?”

“Confused Frankie,” The old one sighed, “There better be a good reason for you calling us out here in November no less! Would you care to tell us what is going on?”

“The baby is…odd.”

“Odd how?”

“Just...odd. And Ruth was afraid-”

“Oh yes! She’s already said that! But here we all are, in the farmhouse. Nothing on fire.” A small smile formed on the old woman’s careworn face. Frankie gave a little chuckle, remembering the time he set the living room drapes alight.

“We had them replaced.”

“Oh yes I noticed last time!”

Ruth Albarn sat between them all, perplexed.

“Fran’s upstairs,” She cut in, “Would you like to see her yourself?”

“By all means. Go girl go!”

A few minutes later, the old one of myth and fantasy was sat on a parlour armchair, prodding a baby with a wrinkled finger.

“Ah, lovely! Just lovely! Much better than the boy was!”

Fran Albarn, plump as plump can be, gave the old one a giant grin. Her mother, sitting on the far side of the room, had turned a livid purple.

“Yes,” Ruth growled, “We know. The very first time you said it.”

The old woman blew a loud, obnoxious raspberry on the baby’s tummy. Fran erupted into a cackle, a noise Mrs Albarn seemed utterly repulsed by.

“She had your laugh Frankie!” The crone gawped, “Your hair too!”

She stroked the girl’s dark brown tufts, which had just started to sprout.

Frankie didn’t seem happy about this news and looked down to the floorboards.

“I see nothing wrong with this one. Why on earth did you call?”

Frankie Albarn ran his fingers through his hair.

“When she was born she didn’t scream. She was completely silent. The midwife, some girl from town, said she was born with her eyes wide open.”

“And what lovely eyes too!” The old woman giggled, pinching Fran’s nose. The baby nodded, squirming, “Cheeky bugger!”

“...Anyway, isn’t that a little odd, you know? Being born observing the world around you. Having that much self awareness is a dangerous thing.”

“Perhaps for ordinary folk,” The old one picked the bay up, resting her in chicken-bone arms, “But this is an Albarn. Her kind swims with the fishes and flies high with the birds. There’s more witchcraft in her bones than sewing and farming.”

Ruth Albarn gave a little sob. The crone opposite growled.

“Oh, pull yourself together! It could be much worse!”

“How?” Ruth wailed, “How could it possibly be worse?”

Wilson, silent as the grave, tapped the tub in the centre of the room, his eyes hooded. Frankie patted his wife on the back.

“I think we’re about to find out Love.”

“Steady Wilson! Steady!” The old crone called, placing Fran into the tub, tickling her head and pinching her cheeks before letting go.

“What’s the bowl for?” Ruth whimpered.

“To cook her dear.”

“What?”

The old one sighed and turned back to the baby.

“It was a joke Ruth. Just a joke,” Frankie explained warily.

“Wilson,” The crone called, “I need the flask. Pour the flask!”

Out of his pocket, Wilson produced a flasky, grimy and half full. He reached over Fran in the tub and poured the flask into her forehead, making the baby gurgle.

“What’s all this for?” Ruth whispered to her husband as the old one placed a hand on her daughter’s head. Foam had started to crawl out from the bowl and began to take over the coffee table.

“We’ll see.”

“But-”

“We’ll see.”

“You have to list-”

“Trust me.”

After a minute or so, the old one’s eyelids began to droop and her hand let go of Fran’s head.

“Here we go.”

“Wha-”

“The Fawn!” A voice pushed Ruth back. It was a rough male growl, which soared out of the old one’s throat with such force, it seemed to be the voice of a prisoner, trapped in her tiny frame, “A fawn will come. Only its eyes will remain.”

The Albarns watched, their mouths open. Wilson, stood beside them, lit a cigarette.

“Nothing significant. A man made out of cinders. Crimson. West-West! North-west!” The old one called out, as spit flew down her chin, “A man with no names... A demon... A demon and its…” At this point, the old woman’s eyes, now red and puffy, clicked open. She stared down at the baby, full of so much light, so much potential, so much magic. Then she turned to stare at the parents, all lost and frozen in time.

“Do you know what’s wrong with her?” Frankie asked slowly. The old one shuddered violently but then twisted her mouth into a smile.

“Nothing’s wrong with her. She’s going to be a great little witch. One of the greatest I will ever see.” She replied, with some sadness. Ignoring Ruth’s tears, the old woman of myth, of legend, stumbled back to the parlour door.

“We’re leaving now.”

Frankie Albarn, who had gone to collect his daughter, nodded reluctantly.

“Ruth will see you out.”

“Don’t you want your equipment back?”

“No need for it,” The old one replied, “Got hundreds of them, haven’t we Wilson?” Wilson grunted and raced forward to their van to retrieve his whip.

“That thing you did, it was a prediction right?” Ruth asked as they returned to the front door.

“Indeed.”

“So, they don’t always come true.”

“My predictions are very precise. I have thousands of satisfied customers. But yes I suppose there is room for error.”

“My pa always said to never trust your carnival lot,” Ruth Albarn glared. The old one smirked, her eyes like little suns in the shadows.

“Frankie’s pa ran off with a she-wolf, if I recall correctly. Make sure his son doesn’t do the same dear. History repeating itself is a horrible thing.”

Ruth scoffed and shut the door in the old one’s face.

As the old lady walked down the stairs, she chuckled. By the time she got to her carnival hearse, she was cackling. Wilson, who had climbed back into the front seat, grinned at her.

“I’ll bet you he’s gone in five years time.”

Wilson held up two fingers in the fog.

“Oh that’s a brave bet Wilson my boy!”

Both giggled and the old woman circled the van. When she opened the back door, her face fell a little.

“Shame about the girl. Terrible start to life. Still, I suppose she’ll get away soon enough.”

Wilson grunted and the old one, a relic of lost times, of monsters and men, climbed back into her van. Her assistant, who only spoke in noises, spat out the end of a cigarette and hit his whip onto the dry ground. A strange goodbye to an even stranger place.

And with that, the Carnival Folk disappeared into the hills, its bumper falling off with a giant thud as they hid in the mountains. They would never be seen in the peculiar town of Bad Seed again.

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slutnali · 3 years

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I was tagged days ago by the lovely @myhusbandharryhamilton Thanks, gorg! ❤️ (this took forever bc I suddenly forgot who i am as a person)

rules: get to know your mutuals! list 5 things about yourself you want your followers to know. they can be as simple as your age or as complex as your deepest fear. when you’re done, tag 5 people you want to get to know better!

Sorry if you’ve already done this and I tagged u, my bad! : @studgenius , @salope69 , @littlesunflowerthatcould , @sportkura && @aqpippin

1. I’m clumsy?? Like for the past 6 or 7ish years (on and off) I’ve had some semi serious leg/ankle injuries whether its really bad scrapes that have gotten infected or sprains. But never have I broken anything! Knock on motherfucking wood it doesn’t happen. I just sprained my ankle on Tuesday bc I am what? A pendeja

2. I’m afraid of dying in the bathroom and my friends always make fun of me every time I talk about it. Hear me out: you are so vulnerable there and you wouldn’t expect to be murdered there. Like.. I don’t wanna be found dead in my bathroom naked while I was showering.. or what if I die on the toilet.. This haunts me.

3. I was a movie extra for Hurricane Bianca 2. It was for the bar scene where the police barge in and Katya has like an ass kicking scene.

I met Darienne Lake and talked to her, super funny and great! I also met Katya and we took a bunch of selfies and I was worried about my tits being out and she let me stuff some of the fabric of her robe/dress into my shirt to cover up LMAO I couldn’t meet Bianca because she was slumped and sleeping in between takes/scenes.

I skipped my college classes that day and called out of work and didn’t regret a damn thing babeyyy !

4. I am afraid of roller coasters, you cannot convince me to get on one. Maybe if I was offered a large amount of money.. but also I don’t understand how people trust carnival or fair roller coasters?? How u gonna trust a ride that gets packed in a suitcase and goes town to town... also I’ve seen final destination

5. I am left-handed... lefties rise

#tag game #abt me

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chasseurdeloup-retired · 4 years

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Dreams Most Fowl || Erin and Kaden

TIMING: Current LOCATION: We just don’t know PARTIES: @corpse--diem and @chasseurdeloup SUMMARY: Erin and Kaden are feel a little squirrely at a funeral

Kaden had nothing but dreamless sleep ever since Regan had come home. It was deep and he woke up still tired, but at least it was fucking sleep. Alarm was going off. He slammed it off and quickly got dressed into his running gear. “Yogurt’s on the counter,” he called out to the still tiny Regan as he clipped Abel’s leash into place. “Wait,” she called out from the tissue box, climbing out of her makeshift bed. “I need to show you my latest crumb drawing,” she said. “After my run. Pr--” The word caught in his throat, either voluntarily or otherwise, he wasn’t sure. “After,” he said as he headed out the door, Abel in tow. A few quick stretches and he was off, jogging out of the neighborhood towards Gallows Grove. Try as he might to avoid it, the cemetery was some of the nicer plots of land nearby. It also may have become a bit of a habit given who he was dating. But he wasn’t drawn to death. Not like she was. As he ran, he started hearing a chirping behind him. And squeaking. Must just be the animals in the trees. But oddly it sounded… louder than normal. Whatever. He kept on running, Abel by his side. Totally normal.

Dirt thumped onto the casket hovering above an open grave as Mr. Rodriguez’s widow’s tears filled the brisk morning air. There was nothing abnormal about today. Not for Erin. This was as routine as filling out paperwork in her office. She stood towards the back as the mourning family said goodbye, her eyes drifting to the sea of headstones surrounding them. The air felt eerily still when she locked onto ‘Nichols’. That wasn’t right. Her family’s plot wasn’t even in this cemetery. Hair on the back of her neck stood upright, like warning. She couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe as she watched grassy dirt shift and move in front of her father’s plot, struggling to climb it’s way out. The empty plot where her father would have been if the witches hadn’t helped her send his decaying carcass into another world. A shrill yet thundering squawk overhead tore her eyes from the sight. A shadow stretched out, darkening every corner of the cemetery and then some. It was the gust of wind that knocked her and the panicked mourners on her ass that got her to look up. Through their screams of terror, one of them voiced the question her mind was screaming but her lips were too shocked to form. “Is that… is that a bird?”

Abel was running steady beside Kaden when they came across a funeral. Merde, he usually didn’t run into funerals this early in the morning. Shit. Jogging past them felt so disrespectful. Shit. Turning around felt worse. Maybe they wouldn’t see him. Only the people dressed all in black were waving at him. Okay, then. Kaden tentatively waved back. White Crest was fucking weird. Before he could consider why the fuck they were still waving and looking past him, Abel was tugging at the leash and twisting behind him to bark. “Come on. There’s nothing th--” Kaden twisted to look back and saw it. The source of the chirps. “Bordel de putain,” he muttered to himself right as he tripped on the pavement ahead of him and went toppling to the ground. Fuck, that hurt. Right. The people weren’t waving at him, they were pointing at the giant fucking bird behind him. His eyes were fixated on the creature as its beady eyes darted and flitted around, looking for something. But what? Shit. Didn’t matter much. Kaden scrambled to get up and tried to pull Abel back, jerking the leash towards him. Only there was nothing on the other end. Just a dust drawing of his nose where he should be. “What the fuck?” he mumbled. A bellowing squawk came from the bird and he started to turn to run away when he ran into something. Again. The fuck, he wasn’t normally this clumsy. “Erin?” he asked as he realized who he’d just accidentally shoulder checked while trying to get away.

At some point, Erin had started running. She didn’t remember scrambling to her feet or ditching the fleeing family at the gravesite. But here she was, booking it through the grass, only vaguely aware that she suddenly also wasn’t wearing shoes anymore. Not relevant. Not when the gush of wind from another flap threatened to send her flying again. It wasn’t the bird that nearly bowled her over this time. “Jesus--” she groaned, narrowing her eyes as she just barely caught herself. “Kaden?” Of all the people she could have run into, this was the last person on earth she expected and her face mirrored that surprise. “Christ, were you a linebacker in another life?” She grimaced, holding and shrugging her aching shoulder. Outside of the giant fucking bird, this didn’t feel right. If she had more than a few moments to focus, maybe she would’ve noticed how time was playing fast and loose with her perception, or how the landscape and the expression in faces of the mourners kept subtly changing around them. What she did notice was the way the ground was shaking. Suddenly the cemetery was filled with people, standing in awe, watching something just beyond the trees. She couldn’t see it though. “What the actual fuck is going on?” She asked, trying to catch a glimpse at whatever horror these people were screaming about.

“Sorry,” Kaden muttered. What the hell was Erin doing here? And was she shoeless? Kaden figured that didn’t matter. What mattered was getting the hell away from that big ass bird. “Hunter strength but we don’t have time to--” The rumble of a chipr rang out along with ripples of giant talons scratching along the ground in the distance. He wasn’t sure what Erin was doing here, but he grabbed her arm and started to direct her to follow him, they had to run from the bir-- His hand dropped and he stopped in his tracks as the ground became even more unsteady. It rattled and shook and the trees across from the beant and broke until big, fuzzy grey paws broke through. Then a nose, twitching to reveal huge, square, sharp teeth. The beady eyes were looking right down at them, the small ears swiveled in their direction. The squeak and squeal roared out at them. “Putain,” Kaden said, gaze pinned on the squirrel as it came straight towards them. He turned. Yup, bird still behind them. There were sounds of applause and cheering that started nearby and Kaden looked to see the mourners clapping as they watched the scene in front of them. “What the fuck?” He knew White Crest was weird but this was next level.

Did Kaden just say hunter? Erin didn’t push it. For some reason Kaden was here, and so was a bird the size of Mothra. All that mattered right now was not getting plucked up and swallowed whole for dinner. Time crawled as the oversized squirrel revealed itself, trampling through the trees, snapping them like twigs beneath monstrous paws. This was it, huh? Of all the fucked up nonsense this town had thrown at her, giant woodland creatures were going to do them in with an ecstatic audience cheering on their impending doom. Wait. Erin stilled. A bird and a squirrel? There was something familiar about that combination eating at the edge of her consciousness. The squirrel’s chittering and squeaking pierced her ears and the word run was screaming louder than anything in her brain. The crowd of mourners were suddenly startling quiet, still as corpses themselves, the corners of their lips forced upward in unnatural, wide grins. “Oh, fuck this,” Erin murmured as she started elbowing her way through the crowd, casting a look back to see if Kaden was following her when the casket caught her eye. It was open. It shouldn’t have been open. It shouldn’t have been empty. When she turned, she realized she was running straight towards Mr. Rodriguez. Eyes still sealed shut, his skin was dripping as if he’d been in there for months instead of hours. Like her father had. Like a zombie. He smiled and waved and she veered hard into the woods away from him.

Kaden took off at a run at the same time that Erin did. There was a casket. Sure, that made sense, this was a funeral, even if it was a weird one. What didn’t make sense was the man climbing the fuck out of it. “Putain,” he said as he jumped away from the body as it waved at them. Fucking hell. Kaden swerved to follow Erin, running after her towards the forest. He weaved in and out around trees, dodging braces, the cawing and chittering bellowing behind them still. As he ran, the trees started to thin out, the path ahead got clearer. That didn’t make sense, he was sure they had run north, deeper into the woods. But all the same, the way opened up and the ground beneath him became more even until it wasn’t dirt anymore but hardwood floors. The trees that had been reaching out were gone and he was surrounded by the four walls of his apartment. His run slowed to a jog and then a walk. When Kaden turned to look behind him, the door was even there, as if he hadn’t just come there from the woods. What the fuck?

“Kaden, over here! You can see my drawing now,” a small voice called out. Regan? His brow furrowed but he walked towards the counter. “It’s missing something,” she said, furrowing her brow and tilting her tiny head, arms crossed in front or her as he approached. When he looked down, he saw a surprisingly detailed crumb rendering of a marble gravestone. The grass and flowers, all perfectly pictured with tiny remnants of crackers and bread. “Ah, that’s right,” Regan said as she went back to work rearranging more crumbs. “This is perfect.” When she backed away, the headstone had a name above the epitaph. Kaden Langley. Gone but never forgotten. Beloved by family and friends. “That-- That’s just like what we saw at the carnival. Why would you draw that?” Kaden asked, eyes wide and slowly backing away from the counter. “It’s what I do,” she said simply. Kaden backed away more and stumbled and tripped over a root, falling down onto what was once more the dirt ground. When he looked back, a squawk rang out. He screamed. The bird’s colossal beak was right above him, ready to swoop down and pick him up.

At some point in her scramble in the opposite direction of that nightmarish scene, Erin realized she’d lost Kaden. Maybe he should have been worried or turned back to check but she couldn’t stop running, even as the rocks and branches scratched up her feet. Why had he even been here? Fuck. She should go back. When she finally had the nerve to glance back, all she could see was trees, inexplicably denser and darker than when she’d run through them. No Kaden, no corpses, no fucking woodland creatures though. This was fine. This was fine--she slammed into something hard but soft, sending her bouncing backwards. Looked up to see a giant, grey paw as big as her sunk into the dirt. Where the fuck had this thing come from? Hadn’t it behind her? She frantically scurried backwards as it sat up on its hindlegs, sniffing the air, beady, black eyes locked on Erin.

Her back hit a tree and she glanced around, trying to find somewhere to run. The forest had cleared out in front of her but the woods behind her had seemingly multiplied in just a few seconds, jutting up from the ground like prison bars. She couldn’t run through it if she tried. She was trapped. This was it. This was actually the end. The squirrel was leaning down again, the looming shadow swallowing any sunlight from above. All she saw was giant, snickering teeth and mischievous paws reaching towards for her. All Erin could do was close her eyes and pray it’d at least chomp her down in one go. Tried to think of anything else to soften the incoming blow. Nic’s shy smile, pancake breakfasts with her family, Betty curled up in her lap--

A deafening POP filled the forest. Suddenly she was drenched and getting lobbed with gooey chunks of… something. It was raining. She felt that too. The squirrel was gone when she opened her eyes but a horror scene had been left in its place. Looked down at her hands, her arms. Red. Everywhere. Did it--did it explode? At least it was fucking dead and she wasn’t. She could breathe. She looked up again, the man from the casket suddenly inches from her face. Grinning, teeth sharp and menacing, eyes bright blue and hollow all at once.

Kaden tried to scramble away, but the bird had grabbed his leg and picked him up so he was flying in the air upside down, away from his apartment, tiny Regan waving as everything grew smaller and smaller. The world below became nothing but a sea of tree tops, until he caught sight of the cemetery again. And the fucking squirrel. The bird swooped down to give him a better look. No, there was no swooping, just falling. Lots of falling. Kaden screamed as the sight came closer and closer, faster and faster. Even then, he couldn’t miss the squirrel exploding, viscera flying everywhere. At the same time, so did the funeral attendees, their heads beant back and their chests exploded, heart and lungs bursting out of their chests before they collapsed in place. Kaden tried to scream again, sure that he was getting close to the ground below when he felt the world spin and jerk around. He heard rattling and cheering and screaming nearby. Was he-- He was on the roller coaster. “No hands, Langley,” Wu said, turning to him and prying his fingers off of the restraint. Every inch of him knew it was a bad idea, he tried to hold on, but he couldn’t, she wouldn’t let him. “Come on, it’s fun.” It was the last thing he heard as the car took another loop and he toppled out of his seat, falling into a black abyss below.

Kaden jerked out of bed, sitting up, sweat beading on his forehead, trying to catch his breath. Bed. Blankets. Wing. Wing? He looked next to him and saw Regan fast asleep and her wings were sprawled out, one was resting on top of him. Dream. That’s all it was. He rubbed his face while the dog peeked his head up to see if it was time to go out. “Go back to sleep,” he whispered to Abel. And that was exactly what he planned to do himself. Hopefully dreamlessly this time.

Erin was still screaming when she launched herself out of bed, tangled in bedsheets. Her knees hit the floor and the deafening silence of the dark room had her reeling. It’d been a dream--a fucked up, hyperrealistic one, but a dream nonetheless. She was fine. She was sweating, struggling to catch her breath, heart lumped in her throat--but she was fine. “The hell--you alright?” A tired but worried voice broke her thoughts. Of course she’d woken Nic, suddenly awake and alert. Right. That kind of thing happened when you woke up screaming next to a hunter. Hunter. Kaden. That’d been weird too. “Sorry, sorry--I’m fine, it was just a dream,” she waved it off, a little embarrassed as she pulled herself to her feet. “Fuck, ow,” she hissed and slumped down onto the bed. Froze again when she pulled her leg up, spotting the small cuts littering the bottoms of both of her feet. She remembered she’d been running. But it was… just a dream?

#wickedswriting #writing #erin #corpsediem #dreams most fowl #chatzy

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brokenstrangetown · 4 years

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"Nobody better expect me to clean that up! I have stuff to do!"

Mitchie and Tina go down to the carnival grounds and Tina teaches her to throw an ax. It's hard!

Not that log rolling is any easier, but it's cooler. (Literally, once you fall in.) "I've always been more stable than you, Tina!" "But I'm the epitome of grace and style!"

"Whoop!" "Told you!"

Oh, great. Didn't that stupid evil witch ever hear of erosion? This town could wash away, but would she care?

The girl at the register is kind of cute, and Mitchie's feeling a bit desperate. "You'd think it'd make people afraid to go stargazing, but nope." "It didn't used to be that way. My family's worked hard to get the word out that it's not that common or that terrible."

Oh. Wait. Alison is kind of cute; her brother Edward is a dreamboat!

"Oops. I slipped. How clumsy of me." "Well, isn't it a good thing I was here to catch you?" "Oh, gag me!"

(Yes, when I realized Allison the cashier and Edward the TRIPLE BOLTER had the same last name I went into SimPE and related them. Guess who’s going to college when Mitchie is?)

"You've been going wild on the dating scene lately, Tina! I don't know how you do it." "One, it doesn't pay to be too picky."

She is going to corner Edward with the bumper cars - if Tommy'll stay out of her way!

"Keep walking, jerkface." "We're going home anyhow, Tina, relax!"

#Curious Prime #mitchie #Tina #Mitchie & Edward #meet cute!

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andturpentine · 3 years

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An Abandoned Work

This is an excerpt from a story that I lost the outline for. I love it a lot, but I can’t remember where I was going for the plot, so unfortunately, this is it.

The Downfall of Margaret Rafferty, Otherwise Known as the Street Organ Peddler

Margaret Rafferty was a disgrace to the art of the Circus. The bright lights and glittering costumes were muddled by her drab, lull of a personality.

Smoothing out the wrinkles on her dress, the girl stood up from the mud puddle on the side of the road. The navy blue fabric was almost imperceptible underneath the dirt and grime, but even just a couple hours ago the fabric was beautiful, and unstained.

Margaret walked down the uneven pavement on the road, all air of elegance depleted, her gait stilted. When had it all gone wrong for her? Her whole life had been given to her, fed to her on a spoon. Perhaps the spoon wasn’t silver, as most people believed it to be, but it was a spoon nonetheless.

She glanced at herself in a shop window, disappointed with the face that looked back. Her once fiery hair was now a dark auburn of falling curls. Her eyes were a jaded shade of green, and her fair pink skin was dull, freckles blending in with the flecks of dirt on her face. She had been beautiful once. Before the art had died. Even before then, she was unmatched in her presence.

Margaret looked away from the window, spotting a scrap of paper in the gutter. Kneeling, she picked up the paper, sighing as she saw its contents.

One night only! It declared. See the talented Margaret Rafferty Perform! The drawing underneath looked nothing like her.

Margaret sighed, folding up the paper and sticking it in her waistband.

Margaret Rafferty killed the art of the Circus.

Since being a child, in the home of a wealthy doctor, Margaret had found herself stifled by the constraints of the upper class. Finishing schools, strict schedules, even drinking tea felt like a chore. There was one thing that melted the stress of being a proper lady away. One day of the year, from her sixth to her tenth birthdays, her father deemed it questionably acceptable to visit the circus. Of course that stopped as soon as the unhealthy obsession arose.

At age six, it was endearing. The small redhead with the wild hair, balancing on the edge of the road, parasol high over her head. By age ten it became less endearing, and more troublesome. Especially to the girl’s mother, Ellouise

It seemed impossible for Ellouise to have a perfect child. She forced all of her energy into Margaret, her only child, and yet the— now adolescent woman— was as wild as ever.

The final straw was crossed when Margaret had fashioned a tightrope from her bedroom window to the large oak tree in the field. Margaret was quickly sent to a boarding school.

Dressed in white lace gowns, and tightly laced corsets, the girl learned to sip her tea quietly, never having an outburst, or an original thought, lest she be switched. It was pure agony. For a free spirit like Margaret, the school seemed like the end of her days.

Nothing, of course, could stop her love for the circus. She worked in secrecy, creating elaborate costumes from the allowance that her parents send her each month. By the time it was her 17th birthday, Margaret had a collection of glittering acrobat costumes, each more elaborate than the last—all hand made, all hardly worn.

The spring was nearly unbearable. As soon as the weather started to get warm, Margaret could practically smell the buttered popcorn, and hear the beautiful waltzes played on the organ in the big canvas tent.

Just before her final month of school for the year, Margaret received a letter. Mail was not unusual for her, but she didn’t recognize the sender. She furrowed her brow for a moment, quickly stopping. Furrowed brows cause wrinkles. Her mother’s voice rang through her ears. Margaret gently broke the wax seal on the back of the envelope.

By the time she had finished reading the letter, Margaret was panic stricken. Her mother was trying to marry her off. Margaret hadn’t even met the man and here she was, already betrothed to him, without her consent.

Margaret’s chest felt tight, and for once she knew it wasn’t the constriction of the corset. As night rolled over the town, and the circus lit up, she knew what she had to do.

Margaret was going to become a goddamn carnie.

Margaret was horrible at tightrope walking. It turns out that watching a funambulist was not enough for her to learn. She had walked right up to the ring leader, asking to join, but instead of being openly accepted among the freaks and frauds, she was asked to show her skills.

There was only one problem with that. Margaret had absolutely no skills whatsoever. She balanced on the edge of the platform, ready to take her first step onto the rope. One thing that the ring leader could appreciate about Margaret was how gracefully she fell onto the practice net. Her face didn’t display any fear as she fell, almost appearing like an angel. If angels could have hair so red that it burned in the sunlight, of course.

“You are exceptionally unskilled,” The ring leader offered her a hand, helping the ripe, young beauty off of the net.

She smoothed out her skirt, a pink blush creeping up her neck. “Please. I need this.”

He bit his lip, observing her. “We don’t have charity to give to anyone who comes our way. Everyone in this troupe has their purpose.”

The flush on Margaret’s face immediately faded as a look of determination was firmly set in her eyes. “I can be very useful. I can cook or clean. I can learn to be a tightrope walker. I can learn anything. I’m willing to do anything.”

Looking at her with sullen eyes, the man sighed. “Look. I’m sorry. I have to turn you down.” He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, his eyes twinkling, “Although it’s quite a shame.”

Margaret’s posture escaped her, the spinal column in her back practically disappearing. She grabbed her small wicker train case off of the floor, walking past the ringleader and into the rehearsal of the circus.

Margaret was by no means a clumsy girl. She had always carried herself with the elegance that many ladies had tried so hard to obtain through years of training. Yet, as if by magic— or some sort of destiny— she had tripped over herself, her belongings splayed all over the floor.

The intricate jeweled costumes, on display for everyone to see, were hardly soiled by the dusty ground before the ringleader picked one up. It was a light pink number, with small, labyrinthine beads adorning the front, and a beautiful feathered cape trailing behind it.

“Did you make this?” The man looked at Margaret, who was still frantically trying to keep the costumes from getting dusty.

“Down to every last bead.” She closed the latches on her small piece of luggage, oddly proud that her craftsmanship was being acknowledged.

“What did you say your name was?”

“You never asked.” She smiled a bit. “My name is Margaret Rafferty.”

He took her by the hand, kissing the top of it gently before intertwining their arms. “Welcome to the Circus, Miss Rafferty.”

When she was told she was going to be a part of the circus, she didn’t realize that the ringleader meant she was a glorified seamstress, but she didn’t really mind. The tightrope walker taught Margaret her craft, and in return Margaret taught her how to dance a waltz, and how to play the carnival’s organ.

Within a month, Margaret had mastered the tightrope.

#fiction #writing #writer #short fiction #draft #short story #circus #unfinished #creative writing #artist

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kaymarie6252 · 5 years

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Prompt # 68

“You’ve got to be more careful”

Note: I may have already written for this prompt, but this idea popped into my head today and I just had to write it. The clumsy and embarrassing things written in this post are based on my own clumsiness and all things that I have done. As always, feedback is welcome!

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Being clumsy was something that you were used to. You had been a clumsy person since birth; always tripping over your own feet or running into stationary objects. It was part of your identity now. Each one of your friends could recall at least 10 times that you had ran into, tripped over, or dropped something in a ridiculously over-dramatic fashion that only you could manage. Usually you weren’t embarrassed by your clumsy adventures. You had gotten used to the fact that being clumsy was just something that you were. However, after starting at U.A. high, and subsequently meeting your crush, every time you did something clumsy, you felt the pang of embarrassment. It seemed as if fate loved to play jokes on you because during each one of your clumsy moments at U.A. high, your crush was right there to witness it in its full glory.

***

The first time you felt embarrassed for your own clumsiness was when you met your crush. It was the first day of class and you were radiating excitement in waves. Being able to study at a prestigious school with so many amazing and talented people was something that you always dreamed of. Not wanting to be late to class, you ran toward the steps. As you ascended, your foot managed to hit the top of the step, causing you to fall forward. Reaching out your arms in the hopes of stopping yourself from falling, you accidentally grabbed hold of the book bag belonging to the person in front of you. Unfortunately, it was not enough to stop you from falling. You fell onto the stairs, dragging down the person in front of you. Your fall managed to trip the person behind you as well, causing a pileup of students on the steps.

“I am so sorry!” You exclaimed looking frantically at the two people laying on the steps next to you. Your eyes met the guy in front of you and you immediately froze. He had wide eyes and black hair. He was rubbing his arm from where you assumed had hit the railing during the fall. He looked up at you, his face displaying a look of confusion. Your face went a dark shade of red before you immediately popped up from the floor. “Sorry!” You yelled back while running away in the direction of the classroom. You had hoped that you would not see that student again, however you were in no such luck. Ten minutes later, the door of the classroom opened and in walked the boy you had taken down on the steps. Your faced blushed red again and you put your head down in the desk wishing the floor would open up and swallow you whole.

“Hey, are you okay? You kind of ran away before I could ask?” You heard a voice say from above you. Slowly lifting your head, you saw the boy staring down at you with a look of concern on his face.

“Yeah.. I’m okay. Are you okay? I am so sorry I knocked you down!” You exclaimed frantically, causing your face to redden even further. He chuckled and nodded his head.

“Yeah, I’m fine. That was a spectacular fall you did. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone take down two people with them.” He said in a teasing tone. You groaned and smacked your forehead with your hand.

“I’m very clumsy.” You mumbled looking at your desk. “Sorry again!”

“That’s okay! It makes for a cool introduction story. I’m Sero Hanta. And you are?” He asked, tilting his head to the side slightly. You smiled up at him.

“Y/L/N, Y/N. It’s nice to meet you. I promise I won’t knock you down anymore stairs this year.” You said laughing quietly. You and Sero sat and talked before class started. During your conversation, a familiar warmth began to develop in your chest, signaling the start of your crush on Sero.

***

The second time you felt embarrassed by your own clumsiness was when you were walking back to the dorms after classes. It had just rained so everything was wet and muddy. There was something about the rain that made you feel happy and comforted. Despite the gloomy looking sky, you felt almost childlike walking back to the dorms. You were skipping along the path, jumping over the large puddles to avoid getting your feet wet. As you went to leap over a large puddle that was full of mud, your shoe betrayed you and slipped. The sudden loss of balance caused you to fall onto your hands and knees straight into the muddy puddle.

“Y/N! Are you okay?” You heard Sero call from behind you. A blush bloomed on your face at the sound of his voice. You were hoping that no one was around, but turns out the universe wanted to mess with you today.

“Um, yeah, I just slipped. I’ll be okay!” You said, standing up slowly. Huge globs of mud fell from your arms and legs and landed next to your feet. You looked down at the mess and frowned, feeling the pangs of embarrassment radiate through your chest. You felt your face blush red. Glaring at the mud puddle you fell in, you willed a lightening strike to come down from the sky and take you out right then and there.

“You are very unlucky, Y/N” Sero said, offering you a comforting smile.

“Isn’t that the truth” You muttered under your breath before looking up at him and weakly returning his smile.

“Let me walk back to the dorms with you. You know, in case you slip again. That way I can catch you before you fall.” Sero said, a slight blush spreading across his cheeks. You smiled at him and nodded.

“I would like that.” You said, blushing again. Okay, maybe your clumsiness helped you out this time.

***

The third time you felt embarrassed by your clumsiness happened at a gathering that you and a few other students were doing off campus. There was a large carnival that had come into town and Class 1-A decided to attend to relax some before the semester ended. You were extremely nervous for the carnival. Sero had asked you to spend time with him while you were at the carnival. The entire time you were headed there, you were hoping and wishing that you would not do anything embarrassing while together. You managed to steer clear of any embarrassing actions while at the carnival and had a lot of fun spending time with Sero away from all of the other students in Class 1-A.

“Thanks for spending time with me today. I had a lot of fun.” Sero said, smiling down at you as you walked. You smiled back at him and nodded your head.

“Of course! I had a lot of fun too. And you won me this cute plushy!” You said while hugging the cat plushy to your chest. “Although, I totally think you cheated in that one game. I definitely should have won.” You said, smirking over at him.

“Uh, you have that all wrong. I won fair and square in that game.” Sero defended himself, holding up both of his hands out in front of him.

“Oh yeah? Let’s have a rematch then!” You exclaimed with a wide smile on your face. Sero laughed and looked over at you.

“The carnival is closed, no rematches today.” He said, still chuckling.

“Well, how about a race then. We can truly see who is superior then,” you threw back at him, smiling. He thought about it for a second before a huge grin spread across his face.

“You’re on. First one to the end of the parking lot wins, yeah?” Sero said while stretching his legs out. You giggled and nodded your head.

“You’re going down Sero.” You said, getting into a stance to prepare to run. “On your mark… Get set… Go!” You shouted before taking off as fast as you could go. You both were running through the cars in the parking lot, laughing loudly as you ran. You looked over at Sero and giggled at his severe look of concentration on his face. Unfortunately, your lack of concentration came back with a vengeance. In your moment of not paying attention, you ran straight into the back of a truck, the hitch of the truck slamming into your thigh at full force. “Whoa!” You yelled at the impact. You threw your arms into the air, trying to keep your balance and not fall forward, which resulted in your plushy flying out of your hands and hitting Sero in the face.

“Are you okay, Y/N?” Sero called, rushing over to you. You were bent over, holding your thigh and taking deep breaths to stop the tears from spilling out of your eyes. Your thigh was throbbing from the impact and you could tell that there was going to be a massive bruise on your leg within 10 minutes. “Here, let’s sit down for a minute.” Sero said, helping you to the ground. You still clutched your thigh, wishing for the pain and embarrassment to go away.

“Thanks.” You whispered through the pain. Sero looked at you, concern written all over his face. He took his phone out of his pocket and turned on the flash light.

“Can I see?” He asked, looking into your eyes. You nodded and slowly removed your hands from your thigh so Sero could assess the damage. With the help of the flashlight, you both saw a large bruise forming on the middle of your thigh. It was already a deep purple color despite just happening. “Does it hurt?” Sero asked, looking back up at you.

“Yeah. A lot actually.” You said, taking another deep breath. Your thigh was still throbbing, but the tears had at least disappeared from your eyes. “Wow, I think my clumsiness went to a whole new level tonight” You said while giggling, trying to make light of the situation.

“You’ve got to be more careful, Y/N. You’re going to seriously hurt yourself one day.” Sero said, giving you a smile. He looked relieved that you were not seriously injured. “We should probably get you back to the dorms before you hurt yourself more.” He said, laughing. He stood up and crouched down in front of you.

“Um, what are you doing?” You asked, looking at him confused. He looked back at you and rolled his eyes.

“Giving you a piggy back ride, obviously. You can’t be trusted to walk without tripping over thin air so I’m going to carry you back to the dorms.” He said, smirking over at you. You put a hand over your heart and mocked being hurt from his words.

“First of all, it fell over a hitch in a truck. Second of all, thank you.” You said, smiling at him. You climbed onto his back, wrapping your arms around his shoulders. He stood up and started carrying you back to the dorms. You rested your head on your arms and smiled. Maybe being clumsy in front of your crush wasn’t the worst thing to happen to you.

#bnha #mha #bnha sero #mha sero #sero x reader #mha x reader #bnha x reader #bnha imagines #mha imagines #sero hanta #writing prompts #new writer #feedback welcome #my hero academia #boko no hero academia

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