#not moving....and then clicked and the. soul

[loserdiaz]

no but i can't stop about eddie finding queering the map and being overwhelmed by the amount of stories that resonate with him.

it starts with buck, because of course it does.

buck comes into the station one day, rambling about this site he found online. he's still figuring out bisexuality for himself and has been going down a rabbit hole ever since, reading endless articles and reddit stories and experiences told from so many people.

and something about it, about this particular site, catches eddie's attention. he really can't stop thinking about it, wondering if people from el paso would have any of those pins. if anyone from the place he grew up in, was raised in, ever felt like him.

he can't stop wondering if maybe he was never as alone as he thought he was.

when he gets home, he decides to look for himself— it takes him a while. there's too many black pins and he doesn't quite know how to navigate the huge map on his screen. it takes him a few minutes to get the hang of it.

but when he does— oh, when he does.

right there in el paso, people from the same streets he once rode his bike in, are sharing his experiences. fellow soldiers in the same base eddie trained at.

eddie reads these sacred, secret little messages and feels his heart expand more and more with every each one of them.

some of them makes him laugh and chuckle, teary eyed but amused, like "even the army has gays," and "from one gay cowboy to another."

others, nake him falter. make his bretah hitch inside his chest. make something beautiful and fragile and orecious uncurl from the deepest depths of his soul. make him feel seen in a way he isn't sure he's quite ready to.

messages like— "you're not the only one," and "you'll be okay." "the heaven the people from this town speak of, is not a heaven i wanna be sent to." "i should've told him when i had the chance." "stuck in a warzone, thinking about how i wasted so much time and now i might not make it home to him."

messages that hit a little too close to home. from soldiers still in the closet, struggling to accept themselves and living a lie.

messages from dumb teenagers, scared of the future— just like eddie had been once.

messages from people braver than he ever could be, sharing the stories of how they came out to their families and moved across the country to be able to live their truest selves.

eddie spends hours and hours just reading post after post, goingbthrough as many lins as he can and drinking them in as a dying, thirsting man in the middle of the driest desert. he reads until the light from the comouter makes his head hurt and his eyes burn everytime he blinks.

at the end, before closing the tab, he decides to put on his own note.

📍not sure if I'll ever be ready to say it out loud, but I love him. i'm too late. I've lost my chance. this changes nothing, my heart is still in his hands.

he clicks on add and feels the tiniest amount of weight lifting from his shoulders.

#i.... don't know what's this tbh #queering the map #eddie diaz #buddie #kinda #evan buckley #911 abc #911 on abc #april writes #my writing #911 ficlet #911 fic #buddie ficlet #buddie fic

[applejuicebegood]

The Softest of Jason Todd HCs

Fem!Reader A/N: Some of these were originally conceived for the lovely, talented, wonderful @midnightorchids. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE FALLOW HER RIGHT NOW

Jason fell for you slowly. It was the kinda falling that took on the form of severe distraction and confusion during his patrol time. The only spot in his second life he had crafted into hours of precise control and expectancy. He hated how, as he was clicking a mag into his handgun, his mind would flash to your smiling, blushed face. He hated how you would unintentionally make him trip and stumble over the roof-tops of Gotham. He hated how recalling the chime of your laugh made his hands sweaty under his leather gloves. He hated how he had to take off his helmet in the seclusion of an abandoned wear-house because recalling how his hand slipped in to your on your last date made his face heat up to the point where he felt like he would pass out.

Once he realised that the nervous pounding in his gut whenever your shoulders brushed was in-fact caused from a growing crush on you, he panicked. The eventual confession was awkward and stumbled, him making it clear that he needed time and room to figure it out. He took your smaller hands into his, promising that no matter what, for now he would figure it out with you at his side. Of course you agreed, squeezing his hands in confirmation.

Ya'll are soulmates, period. Very big 'he is half of my soul' energy. Your bodies fit together like puzzle pieces. Your words have already been said by the other before you can string them together in your head. You share in each-others grief and rage. Five years into the relationship, Jason knew you so well (and being raised in a family of detectives) that you would never have to explain your frustration or annoyance - and on days like that he would always be ready to wrap you up in a weighted blanket, forcing a cup of raspberry tea into your cold hands and his headphones over your ears with one of his audiobooks already playing. Carrying you to your shared bed for you to fall asleep leaned up against his chest, his thick arms wrapped tightly around you.

Despite his availability of wealth and status, he keeps your date-night very low-key and personal. On his off days from Red-Hooding, both of you would have cooking nights. Where you would sway and giggle with the slow drift of music coming from the kitchen radio. You would make something hearty and filling. You wanting to see Jason sigh in the comfort of good food. You both would curl up with your steaming bowls on your couch, probably watching Tangled (at your request). It's all extremely cozy, Jason smiling into your skin as gratitude blooms in his chest for you. For having created this safe, hidden expanse of reassurance. All while the harsh Gotham wind whipped just outside your window.

This man is smitten- he worships you entirely. His is in awe of you, even as both of you grow old, his love and his care for you never relents or dwindles.

Ya'll would go to museums and art galleries and he would point at statues and paintings of goddess and queens and say 'you', under his breath. It's so horribly corny but it makes you hold his arm just a bit tighter every time.

After you both moved in together, he developed a habit of making your coffee alongside his and bringing it to you in bed in the mornings. This eventually just became your routine on weekends when you both had enough time to bask in the slow creeping of sunlight over each-others skin.

He's a romantic at heart, a part of him you had to slowly unearth under years of torment and blood. You were the one to force him out of his cave of isolation and into the reality of him deserving softness and joy. It's a dept you have assured him he doesn't need to pay back. That doesn't stop him from trying.

Giggles and smiles like a little boy if you kiss his forehead, specifically at the roots of his white streak. You think it's one of the prettiest things about him.

Unintentional scary dog when you guys are out together. He's got his hand laced with yours or floating somewhere on your hip or lower back. It's mostly due to his anxiety, constantly having his head on a swivel. It's all heightened due to the fact that he has the most precious, important individual standing next to him. Whether it's at one of his Dad's galla's or trips to the local library, he likes to have you near him.

Bitch has multiple playlists made about/for you (a lot of Noah Kahn and TV Girl)

Example:

A/N: I may be gay but I have a very special place for sappy Jason in my heart. Please send in any requests regarding our boy (or any of the bat boys or girls)- I really love writing for the people in this fandom.

#jason todd x you #jason todd x reader #jason todd #batfam #batfamily #jason todd x y/n #jason todd fluff #red hood imagine #red hood x you #jason todd imagine #jason todd fanfiction #jason todd comfort #robin jason todd #red hood #dc robin #red hood x reader #red hood x y/n #red hood x fem!reader #jason todd x fem!reader #Spotify #Soft Jason Todd

[heavenlyraindrops]

♱ Father Forgive Me (For I have Sinned) ~Chapter Twelve ♱

Lucifer Morningstar x Angel!Reader Fandom: Hazbin Hotel Chapter Twelve Warnings: profanity Click on the first tag to see all the other chapters

♱Where the purest soul in Heaven falls for the Devil♱

[Chapter Twelve]

You set your phone down on the counter as someone pounded hard on your front door. You flinched, immediately recognising the knocks.

You opened it, standing in the doorway and blocking the entrance before smiling thinly. “Adam. Lute. To what do I owe this displeasure?”

Adam arched an eyebrow. “Well someone’s gotten cocky,” he sneered, trying to brush past you. You put your foot in the way, making him stop and whirl around.

“The fuck’s your problem?” Lute snapped, storming forward. “Let us in.”

“Back off. You’re not coming inside until you tell me what you want.” You put your hand on her chest, pushing her back. She blanched, and looked at Adam helplessly.

Adam’s expression darkened as he leaned in to whisper. “Are you forgetting what I know?”

You bunched up his collar in your fist, dragging him in even closer. “There’s still one month left before I decide. You tell, I fall, and you’ll never fucking marry me.” You released him and he stumbled back a little, face hard, but you could tell you had frazzled him as you stood aside to let them in.

“Go in, then,” you said flatly. They both flashed triumphant smiles at you.

“Where’re the hellspawn?”

“Why?”

“We just wanna talk to them,” Adam said, smiling innocently as if he hadn’t been threatening you five seconds ago. His lips moved, mouthing more threats as if he had no shame in blackmailing someone.

“Upstairs,” you said reluctantly, then jabbed a finger in his direction. “And if you lay a hand on them…”

“Pinky promise,” came the reply, thrown over his shoulder as he sauntered up the stairs. Lute glanced back at you, her frown deepening.

You sat down at the kitchen counter, an internal debate raging within you. A letter lay on your right, next to your elbow. You wondered if you should have asked Charlie to deliver it to Lucifer for you, or not.

You sighed, shutting it away in a drawer.

♱♱♱

It had been hours since Charlie and Vaggie had left, shortly after Lute and Adam had stormed out. You’d waved them off, wishing them good luck. As you shook Charlie’s hand, your hand clamped around hers, pulling her in to whisper.

“Between you and me, love,” you muttered. “You’re more than just right in this.” You hesitated. “Tell Lu…” you mumbled the rest of the sentence, trailing off into a volume barely audible as you chickened out. She blinked at you, befuddled, before her lips stretched into another smile as she pulled you into a hug.

“Thank’s, [name],” she said. Vaggie nodded approvingly from behind her, before they both turned around and left.

You watched them fade into the distance, before stumbling back inside. You took the letter out of the drawer and crumpled it up, throwing it in the bin. You felt like you were about to throw up.

“Fuck,” you gasped.

♱♱♱

“Emily? How was the trial?”

You blinked down at the seraph, who gazed up at you solemnly. You could tell there were angry tears behind her eyes, threatening to spill out. “Tell me you didn’t know,” she said, voice trembling. You took her hand, pulling her inside and setting her at the couch.

“Didn’t know what?” You asked, gently and cautiously. At the same time, the door swung open again, and Adam barged in.

“Sugar tits, we fuckin’ won,” he cackled, grabbing your wrist. “I kicked those cunts back downstairs where they belong-“ he paused, eyes sliding over to Emily.

You gulped.

Emily stood up, hands bunched up into fists. “You did, didn’t you,” she hissed. You let out a small breath.

“Emily, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“She’s talking about the exterminations,” Adam rolled his eyes, slinging an arm around your shoulder with a hand on his hip as he stared Emily down. You stiffened, looking at him as if to say ‘what the hell did you do?’ But refrained yourself from saying anything aloud.

She blanched at the look on your face. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t anyone tell me?” She stretched her arms out wide, and her wings stretched with her. Your heart sank.

“No one is supposed to know about the exterminations except for the exorcists,” you said calmly as you could, despite a slight shake in your voice as you straightened up and pulled your shoulders back.

“You know, and you’re not an exorcist,” she retorted, eyes accusing. You stepped back.

“[name]’s special,” Adam sneered, looking at you. You couldn’t meet his stare.

“It’s for the greater good. Are you really questioning Sera’s judgment?”

Emily’s shoulders sank. “You don’t believe that,” she said, as if she was trying to convince herself instead of simply making a statement. You gulped.

Did you agree with the exterminations? You had never really thought about it. But if they hadn’t existed you never would have met-

“Emily, I don’t like them either,” you said, leaning forward and gripping her shoulders, desperation oozing from your like an aura. “But Heaven needs to keep the pure- the good souls, safe from the bad.” You felt a stab at your heart even as you said it, because saying those words made you feel like you were betraying Charlie and Vaggie, but you pressed on. “Emily, no one enjoys the exterminations.”

Adam scoffed from behind you, stalking forward and yanking you back. “Oh please, sugar tits.” He looked hard at Emily. “The exorcists love the extermination. It’s the perfect form of entertainment!” His eyes and grin widened, and you flinched away as his gaze snapped back to you again. “And don’t pretend like you’re against them, sugar. You wouldn’t have met your demon boyfriend if it weren’t for them.” His tone was lined with hurt, as if getting with Lucifer was the biggest betrayal you could have done to him.

And, you realized, in a way, it was.

“What?” Emily said, wondering if she had heard him right. You could feel your face heat up, your golden blood turning to fire in your veins.

“I said,” Adam clarified, “if it wasn’t for the exterminations, she’d be bored as fuck here.” Emily frowned, but you could tell she believed him. “What’d you think I said?” He didn’t wait for an answer, turning back to you. “Don’t act like you threw yourself at the chance to come along with us down to Hell.”

You chewed your lip furiously, mind racing. “Don’t you dare throw me under the bus.”

“Why fuckin’ shouldn’t I?” He hissed, eyes glittering darkly. You could sense the meaning underneath, cutting you like a double edged sword.

“You know what?” You said, flatly. “You’re just pissy that your dick is so fucking tiny, Like- opposite the size of your fatass ego, which is so big it’s fucking obese, by the way- that you lost three women to a guy who lives in a dimensional oven.” You jabbed your finger at him. “I’d rather date the Devil himself than a fucking cunt like you,” you scoffed. “At least he’d last more than thirty seconds.”

Emily stared at you blankly, amazed, not ever having heard you swear so much, and also by your blatant blasphemy. You pulled back, smoothing down your shirt, satisfied at Adam’s shocked expression. You glanced at her.

“I wouldn't actually,” you reassured her, lying straight through your teeth.

♱♱♱

A/N: first of my double chapter release. Two chapters in one day isn’t that crazy?!.?, turns out my 400th follower was my friend stalking me… they read all my smut. I’m cooked 😁 Coco if ur reading this… get off my blog rn

I’m giving up on the taglist cause it don’t work anymore sorry guys 😔

#FATHER FORGIVE ME (FOR I HAVE SINNED) -LUCIFER MORNINGSTAR X ANGEL!READER #hazbin hotel #lucifer morningstar x reader #memes #shitposting #hazbin fanfic #hazbin hotel fanfiction #lucifer x reader #lucifer morningstar #romance #funny #hazbin hotel x reader #hazbin hotel memes #hazbin hotel lucifer #lucifer x reader smut #lucifer x you #lucifer smut #luxury #hazbin lucifer #lucifer magne #lucifer #lucifer hazbin hotel #lucifer x reader fanfic #lucifer x reader hazbin #lucifer x reader angst #lucifer x y/n #hazbin hotel angel!reader #angel!reader hazbin hotel #angel!reader #hazbin hotel fanfic

[reddamselette]

previous part

-

As they strolled down the endless paths of the mall, directed by signs and asked questions by the concession stands, Jason fidgeted with the teddy bear. His fingers would pick and pinch the fur, his eyes fell down to the beads with small glances, and for the first time, he couldn’t keep up with Leo.

He was quiet once they entered the court. Thousands of voices drowned out the music and the carousel, children’s laughter and family conversations. He remained silent until they sat down with their food.

Jason raised the fork to his lips, tongue melting with flavor from the cheese fries and the sip of soda he drank beforehand. He chewed slowly, staring at Leo as he unwrapped the monstrosity of a burger and bit into it happily. 

With a small, quickly fleeting burst of courage, Jason swallowed and spoke quietly, as if he hoped for the mall ambience to drown out his voice as well. He was never lucky that way. “I do. Dream about you, I do.”

“Do you?” Leo asked again, mouth filled with food and his words muffled but enough to be coherent. Jason’s heart paused for a moment, the calm before a wave of thunder washed over his body and rang in his ears that reddened each passing second brown irises stared past his physical body and directly into his soul.

Jason glanced off to the side. He felt breathless and lost the appetite to eat, instead reaching for his soda with a shaky hand that he also hoped wasn’t visible. He knew it was. He confirmed, lips moving around the red straw, “Yes.”

Almost like he was pleased, Leo nodded and let the conversation go. Jason’s fries had long became cold once they were ready to return to the arcade.

They played for hours. Basketball, bowling, racing simulators, and even games of ping pong— Leo won all three. Not fairly though as he had tossed Jason smiles and comments that sent the boy reeling and weak in the knees. It was cruel. He should’ve never told him the truth to his question, he realized too late that Leo was never going to let it go. He could still blow out the fire but a small spark could still ignite it. Once the flames grew in volume and size, there was no turning back.

Jason didn’t want to turn back, not at all. Instead, he’d rather stay and inhale the smoke in his lungs. Has he always been this hopeless? Yearning for something so close but so far out of reach? 

He and Leo were leaving the mall as the sun set beneath the skyline— covered in all sorts of colors with sun rays that formed a perfect halo around the other that it was unfair— when he tugged on the hem of Leo’s shirt, stopping both of them in their tracks just outside the doors.

“What..was that?”

Leo turned, tilting his head to the side that his dark curls fell over his eyes. “What was what?”

“That. Everything. All of it.” Jason said breathlessly, the words tumbling like he needed to push everything out before he overthought every single thing they did and kept it inside, locked away.

Leo didn't answer, grabbing Jason's wrist and pulled him into a photobooth after inserting a couple of bills to pay. Unease settled in Jason's chest as he held the stuffed animal on his lap, Leo's arm around his shoulders as they posed for the first picture and watched the numbers countdown before the camera clicked and the light flashed.

The first picture, they smiled. Leo held up a peace sign with his eyes crinkling as it reached his eyes, glittering like honey in the sun. Jason's smile was smile but genuine yet as they posed for another, Leo pulled him closer, their cheeks against one another. The camera clicked and the light flashed for a second and third time.

On the last picture, Leo cupped Jason's cheeks, his thumb brushing the faded scar over his lips with a dreamy look and a lovesick gaze. Leo pressed his lips against Jason's, the college printed out and ready to be taken as their lips moved in a gradual motion of yearning, fitting perfectly within each other's.

I dream about you too, Leo thought as he placed his hand on the wall behind Jason's head to deepen the kiss, running out of air but he was sure, he wouldn't need any. Jason had always managed to draw the oxygen from his lungs with breathless laughs and his softspoken voice.

Jason pushed Leo away gently with his hand on his chest, lips red and swollen with his ears burning in heat and a blush across his skin. "Wait, I— holy shit, wait. I thought—"

"I've been, like, so obvious," Leo whispered with a smile and Jason rested his head on the wall, beside Leo's hand and breathed heavily.

He pressed his hand to his forehead with a deep sigh. "That's what it was? With Piper and Nico and— oh my go— I'm sorry. I think I wouldn't have noticed if you didn't kiss me."

"Oh, you think?" Leo teased and leaned in for another kiss, pecking the corners of his lips then his cheeks and jawline. Jason laughed into his lips, cradling a head of dark curls and paid for another photo collage. Evidence printed with colorful ink of their kisses, catching small smiles and intertwined hands.

#valgrace #leo valdez #jason grace #percy jackon and the olympians #heroes of olympus #percy jackson #pjo #hoo #fic #my writing #leo and jason #i would've posted yesterday but like #the weekends are my off days of writing so monday!!! #dont ask me what happened to the teddy bear #its forgotten on the floor in the presence of young love

[bloodynereid]

Burnt Longing

part 4 of Those Sunlit Kisses! you can find part 1 here, part 2 here and part 3 here.

pairing: robert 'rosie' rosenthal x fem! oc (lucy everett)

warnings: assumed death, really bad coping mechanisms, crying, mentions of alcohol, swearing, mentions of smoking, angst with a happy ending

description: lucy gets a call.

a/n: i made the mistake of listening to sufjan stevens while writing this and nearly ended up sobbing like a small child so that was fun. anyways hope you enjoy the last part before the epilogue! i had so much fun writing this series (not really this last part but yk). also pls make sure to read the previous parts or else you will be VERY confused. OH and this isn't about the real people just the characters portrayed on screen!

Lucy felt herself float off again, the words in front of her were becoming blurry as tears started to pool in the edges of her eyes. She bit her lip, hard, in an effort to make them go away and tried to refocus.

The smell of coffee, ink and paper surrounded her at the desk she shared with Martin, one of the older correspondents who more or less hated her. It was a small mercy that he was off on assignment that afternoon; he wouldn’t be there to witness her complete breakdown.

She hadn’t cried since she got the news, instead she threw herself into writing and now it seemed like her body was done fighting the battle against grief as tears fell down her cheeks.

Lucy thought back to the horrifying phone call she had gotten in the middle of the night about a week ago, maybe longer. God, time was starting to blur.

The loud ringing of her phone pulled her out of a deep slumber, making Lucy stumble around until she finally lit the hallway light and got to the living room just in time to pick up the phone before the last ring.

“Hello?” She asked groggily, coughing slightly trying to clear her throat that was clearly thick with sleep.

“Lucy?” She perked up at the familiar sound of Harry’s voice.

“Yeah? Is everything alright, Harry? Is this about the travel arrangements for next week be-”

“It’s Rosie.” 

The tone in his voice made an ice cold chill run down the length of Lucy’s spine. Her instincts were screaming at her to run, to do something but she stood frozen as Harry’s voice sounded more and more muffled. The ringing in her ears intensified as she uttered some words in response to one of Harry’s questions and then clicked the phone back into the receiver.

She felt like a ghost from that moment on as she got back into bed and didn’t move until the sun started to shine through her window.

Sleep had evaded her grasp for the days after, the only thing that seemed to get her to finally rest was quite a few glasses of rather strong scotch.

Lucy wasn’t really sure she was actually at work at that moment. She was aware that she had written and delivered two articles in the past few days which according to her editor were some of her best work yet but she didn’t feel real.

There was a cold feeling encasing her body like a shroud, that knowing that she would most probably never see her darling Rosie again was chipping away at her soul.

Lucy knew she wasn’t the best at coping with grief, and there was a large possibility that Rosie was still alive. He had promised to come back to her after all, but she could never be sure. Not until she heard his voice, saw his ocean blue eyes and ran her hands through his curls.

She couldn’t believe that it was a month ago when she last saw him. When she last kissed him. When they last hugged. When- Lucy muffled a sob with the palm of her hand as she blurrily looked around the newsroom.

The feeling of complete desperation hadn’t gone away since she had heard those horrible words. Lucy had done what she had always done and threw herself into work but it felt different this time. It was like her other half was just gone. Void.

Lucy wiped off the tears that started to fall from her eyes and looked at the hand written pages of notes in front of her. A brief exhale later she started to gather them together into one not very neat pile and shoved them into a folder. 

She then briskly walked over to Johnson’s office, watching as her editor typed away at his typewriter - probably writing an angry letter to the promotional people that came in that morning. He still hadn’t gotten another assistant and now had to deal with typing things out himself.

“Hey. Is it alright if I leave a little early today? It’s rather slow today.” Lucy said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. She could already feel the tears starting to pool in her eyes once again.

“Of course, Everett. Uh- are you alright?” Johnson said as he looked up for a moment and grimaced slightly.

“Oh yes. Of course. Just tired.”

“Right. Will you be alright by tomorrow?”

“Yes, sir. It’s nothing a good night’s sleep can’t fix.” Lucy knew that the only thing that could mend her broken heart at that moment was the news that Rosie was alive but her editor didn’t need to know that. Not when he literally fired his last assistant for just messing up his coffee order.

“Wonderful. See you tomorrow then, Everett. Good job this past week.”

“I try, sir. Thank you.” Lucy tried to smile slightly as Johnson looked at her for a moment before nodding and going back to angrily typing out something.

The streets of London were crowded and Lucy desperately tried to keep things together for just another fifteen minutes until she reached her flat. She kept getting jostled by passing strangers and annoyed mothers.

The only time she took a moment to stop and breathe was when she saw one of the many wreckages that the German bombs had caused. She thought she was desensitized to it all by now but it still made her heart ache whenever she saw the ruins of lives that could have been.

Rosie was one of the reasons why more German bombs weren’t dropped and Lucy just kept getting reminded of the man she so desperately loved. The world just wasn’t fair. It was like she saw his ghost everywhere.

Cold bed sheets welcomed her in when she finally collapsed into bed. The open bottle of scotch that sat on the bedside table burned her throat as she took a gulp of the burning liquid. 

Lucy also went to grab the pack of cigarettes she had swiped from Martin’s side of the desk that morning. She hadn’t smoked in a while and she knew that if Rosie saw her right now he would be disappointed. But he wasn’t there and that was part of the problem.

So Lucy lit up a cigarette and sat cocooned in bed until several hours later the sound of the phone ringing filtered through the flat. She laid still as it seemed to get louder and louder, taking drags of the stolen cigarette until the phone stopped ringing. 

The last time she had answered that damned thing, her entire world had stopped. Her irrational mind supplied her with the tortuous idea that the call would be to inform her this time that Rosie was no longer M.I.A. instead that he was K.I.A.

The phone rang again. And again. And again. Until Lucy had no other choice than to angrily stub out the end of the cigarette and walk over to the living room. Where with trembling hands she picked up the receiver and pressed the cool plastic to her ear.

“Lucille Everett speaking.” She answered cooly, clutching the cord with such intensity she could almost feel it penetrating her hand.

“Lucy? Darling? Are you there?” Lucy’s heart stopped for a moment and then restarted when she heard Rosie’s voice through the receiver. This couldn’t be real. She had to be dreaming. A strangled breath fought its way out of her throat as she dropped the phone back to the receiver.

A moment later the phone rang, and Lucy bit her lip as she traced the black cord. Her heart was thumping and she couldn’t believe that this was happening. She gingerly picked up the phone and pressed it to her ear.

“Rosie? Rosie? Are you real? Are you alive?” She whispered, not allowing herself to hope too much. This might just be some scotch induced delusion after all.

“Yes, sweetheart. I’m okay, I’m here. A little banged up but I’m alive.” Lucy let out a relieved sob and collapsed onto the couch cushions.

“I thought- you promised you would make it back to me.”

“I did and I have. I would never leave you by choice, Lucy.” Lucy felt herself smiling slightly at Rosie’s familiar American accent. The fog slowly began to lift from her brain and she let herself to giggle slightly. Probably sounding completely insane but who cared? Her Rosie was alive.

“God. Rosie. I love you.”

“I love you too, so much.”

“Never do that to me again, you hear me Robert Rosenthal? I don’t think my heart can take it.”

“I swear on the love I have for you, darling. I’m here, alright? I’m going to be here for the rest of our days.”

“I sure hope so because I’d rather not be marrying a ghost.” Lucy said as happy tears rolled down her cheeks, her laughter sounded foreign to her ears. It was a sound she hadn’t thought she would make again.

“I promise that when this is all over I will get that ring to you.”

“You better, my love.”

“Lucy! Lucy! There’s a call for you.” Lucy turned around from the celebrations and looked as Margaret passed her pointed at the phone hanging off the wall.

“Thanks. Can you hold my glass?” Margaret nodded as Lucy passed her the champagne glass she had been sipping prosecco out of. She could hardly believe that it was the end of the bloody war! When Churchill had announced it on the radio it felt like the weight of the world suddenly disappeared from her shoulders.

“Hello? Lucille Everett speaking.” Lucy said as she pressed the familiar weight of the phone to her ear.

“Lucy! Darling! Let’s get married.” Rosie said, clearly laughing - making Lucy's already joyful heart burst.

“I thought we were already doing that!”

“Yes, well…”

“Rosie. I want to marry you but you said you wanted me to meet your mother first, hmm?”

“Alright but we get married right after! And I just know she’s going to love you.”

“Well we have all the time in the world now, darling.”

“Yes, we do. Are you coming up here soon? I haven’t seen you in too damn long.”

“What have you been drinking, Major?”

“Lucy…”

“Alright! I’ll stop teasing. I’ll be there when Harry can find me a place to stay.”

“Croz!” Lucy pulled the phone away from her ear and shook her head at Rosie’s antics. She pressed it back and heard some muffled talking before a loud indignant yelp was heard.

“Hello Rosie’s sweetheart! I’m Bucky.” Lucy let out a laugh as she heard the voice of the man Rosie so admired.

“Hello there.”

“Oh she’s British! Why didn’t you tell us, Ro- hey!”

“Sorry about that, darling. He arrived last month and has only been causing too much trouble.”

“It’s alright, Rosie.” Lucy said with a laugh, “I’ll see you soon, yeah?”

“Of course. I cannot wait to marry you.”

“That makes two of us, I love you.”

“I love you more.” Lucy heard as various other men’s voices chimed in with ridiculous imitations of Rosie’s accent before the line clicked.

The world was suddenly theirs again and Lucy couldn’t wait for the rest of her life. A life she would share with Rosie.

i'm sorry??

taglist: @justheretoreadthxxs @callumsgirl

#rosie rosenthal #robert rosenthal #robert rosie rosenthal #masters of the air #mota #mota spoilers #mota fanfic #mota oc #masters of the air oc #masters of the air x oc #rosie rosenthal x oc #rosie x oc #robert rosenthal x oc #my ocs <3 #harry crosby #nate mann #maria writes

[hyuuukais]

⋆.˚𖦹°‧✮‧°𖦹˚.⋆ ERROR 404

pairing ~ yang jeongin x fem reader

synopsis ~ y/n starts getting messages from an unknown number after buying a used phone for cheap. as she finds out more about the boy she's talking to, it turns out there's much more to this than a wrong number --- he died, and she's talking to his spirit, yet he has no idea what happened to him. will y/n have what it takes to solve the mystery of his death? or will the boy's spirit remained trapped in his phone?

warnings ~ gen, death, blood/injury, implied child abuse

MASTERLIST | PREVIOUS | NEXT

CH 2 ~ THE PLAYGROUND (wc: 2.9k, 2 screenshots)

Nothing you find online even hints at foul play, or at least, nothing official. There's a blog you come across called Souls of Seoul, a conspiracy theorist obsessed with fishy deaths citywide, and they just so happen to have classified the death of Yang Jeongin, a 23-year-old actor about to snatch his breakout role, fishy. She has multiple posts dedicated to it, but you skim most of them as they repeat information or add details that are a little... out there. You finally reach the final post where she writes an in-depth analysis and theory of what she thinks really happened.

"And then his rival and best friend... ah," you click the continue reading button, wanting to learn as much as you can, but the page refreshes to find nothing, a big, red message screaming at you.

ERROR 404 : PAGE NOT FOUND !

You refresh the page again, but the same words flash at you. Weird. There's contact info at the bottom of the page, but when you try and text the number, your messages don't go through, almost like the universe is trying to stop you from uncovering the truth. At first, you weren't really sure if you believed Jeongin's death was something deeper than the story told, but evidence keeps piling up, making you become suspicious.

On the bus ride to work, you can't help but ponder the strange dream you had last night. You can still feel the breeze on your cheeks and hear the breath in your ear. Something isn't quite right, the air around you too still when the bus is stopped too long at a red light. The bus lights flicker, then turn off completely. You're sitting near the back by the door, watching a man walk onto the bus and gasp at the sight of him.

There's a large butcher's knife digging into his neck, wet blood slick around the site of the wound, soaking his shirt and beige coat red. He pays the fare, sitting down in a seat closer to the front. No one else seems to notice, but no one else is moving either. People around you are frozen in their seats, paused mid-movement. A girl across from you has one earbud in her hand, centimetres away from her ear. Another passenger beside her has just dropped their water bottle, the object half way to the floor. You hand covers your mouth as you take everyone else in, eyes finally landing on the man again.

He's looking at you, seemingly just as shocked that you can see him too. His eyebrows furrow, mouth shut in a tight line as he gets up and moves to sit next to you.

"You're not dead," his voice is raspy.

"I'm not," you whisper, hand falling away from your mouth to grip the pole beside you, fighting the urge to run off this bus.

For all you know, the bus is still moving and this is another lucid dream. The last thing you need right now is to try and leave, ending up in the hospital for leaping off a moving bus. Although this doesn't feel like a dream, you can always tell, you won't risk it.

"How are you not dead?" His fingers brush up your jaw, cold and dry. "What are you doing here?"

"Trying to get to work," you reply, voice shaky.

His eyes snap down to yours and his hand drops. "Oh."

Then the lights come back on, there's a clang of metal hitting the floor, and the man is gone, leaving you with a raging headache.

-

You're distracted all day as you help Changbin catch up on client orders, mind wandering to the man you saw on the bus when you're alone in the back of the shop. Changbin left to watch the front of the store, leaving you to work on a bouquet someone ordered last minute yesterday, thanking you both immensely for doing it on such short notice. The arrangement consisted of white and black roses tied with a simple ribbon, and you wonder what, or who, they were for. Of course, you never asked personal questions, always left creating your own story for each client.

When you prick yourself on a thorn, the blood has you back on the bus in an instant, letting the red liquid drip onto the table. The air is thick, and you shut your eyes to regain focus, bringing your finger up to your lips until you can find a bandaid. There's one in your apron pocket; you really should stock up again and soon.

The question of this man bothers you, and the way he's affected you bothers you more. Why could you see him? Why did time seem to stop? What's happening? You think, Jeongin might know; you should text him.

Y/N : Why can I see other ghosts and not you?

"You can see other ghosts?" You jump, dropping a pair of scissors to the floor with a clang.

"What the fuck!" You whisper-shout, backing against the table.

In front of you stands Jeongin, dark black hair nearly covering his eyes. He's wearing the same clothes as he did in your dream, a blue sweater and black jeans, but they aren't worn or tattered. They look brand new, actually, like he had just bought them. There are no signs of death on him at all, the bleeding and matted hair gone.

"Y/n?" You hear Changbin call from the front. "Everything okay?"

"Everything is fine!" You shout back, not wanting him to come back and see Jeongin- that is, if he can. "Just dropped scissors."

"Listen, I need to bring you somewhere." Jeongin steps back into your view, blocking the hallway Changbin's voice drifted down.

"Can't you see I'm working?" You gesture behind you. "Whatever it is, it's gonna have to wait. I'm busy."

"Please, I think this could help," he pleads, his hand about to grab your arm, but he sees how you flinch back and stops himself. "C'mon, you only die once, and I'd really like to know how it happened. I know you do too."

"You don't know shit about me," you scoff.

"Really? Well-" he huffs. "You're right, but I know enough, otherwise we wouldn't be having this conversation at all right now."

"Ugh, fine, let me tell Changbin-"

"Just text him! Let's go!"

As you sit down on the playground swing, you send a quick heart emoji back to Changbin. Part of you feels bad lying to him, but a bigger part is wrapped up in the mystery of the man sitting next to you. You wonder what other people at the park might see, if there were any people here. It's weirdly deserted, but then again it is pretty overcast. Would they see a girl and a boy talking on the swings? Or would they only see the girl, talking to an imaginary entity?

When you look over at Jeongin, he's focused on the monkey bars with a sad smile on his face. Following his gaze, you see two little boys, one sitting at the end waiting for his friend who's seconds away from slipping. If you were to stand underneath, you could touch the bar with the tips of your fingers, maybe even wrap your hand around one without much effort, but you know for this kid the ground seems a million feet away.

"Hyunjin! Hyunjin!" The kid's feet are starting to kick wildly, panic present in his voice. "I'm scared!"

"You're fine! If you freak out now, your palms will sweat and then you'll fall," the other kid stands, leaning against the pole connecting the bars to the landing. "C'mooooon, I thought you said you could do this."

"I can," the boy, who you know assume is Jeongin, huffs and reaches for another bar. His fingers slip and his body swings back with a twist, the hand still on the equipment slipping as well. "Owwww!"

Little Hyunjin jumps down to his new friend, little Jeongin clutching his red knee with tears welling in his eyes. He's trying hard not to cry as Hyunjin assesses his scrapes, running over to his bag by the edge of the sand and pulling out a band-aid and a water bottle. Jeongin's tears have fallen by the time Hyunjin returns with the supplies, instructing him to stretch his leg out.

"If you don't wanna look like you peed yourself, you'll do it. Then all the water will fall on the sand and not you." Jeongin does as he's told, wincing as he straightens his leg. "Okay, this might sting, but I don't know cause it's just water, so it might not."

"Okay."

The water runs over his knee and flushes the blood away, leaving damp skin and red marks. After patting the area dry with his sleeve, Hyunjin sticks the band-aid diagonally across the wound.

"See? Not so bad." Hyunjin sits next to Jeongin in the sand shoulder to shoulder. "You need to practice landing on your feet."

"I wasn't trying to fall," Jeongin pouts. "I could have made it if-"

"Hwang Hyunjin!" A deeper, male voice calls out, and you jump a little when a man appears in the corner of your eye. "What happened to no wandering?"

"Sorry dad," Hyunjin mutters, standing up and moving away from Jeongin quickly.

"What's that?"

With a side glance to Jeongin, Hyunjin hangs his head. "Sorry sir."

"Better. Now, how about we head home?" It's only now that you hear the slurring of his words, and your chest tightens with empathy for the small boy. "We can... I'll put on that show you like, have some family time, quality time. Let's go."

When Hyunjin doesn't move, his dad sighs, throwing his head up to the sky and placing his hands on his hips.

"Don't be difficult, c'mere." He still doesn't move. "Have it your way."

His dad is tense as he walks over, grabbing Hyunjin's upper arm and practically dragging him over to a rusty car parked in a driveway not too far away. The whole time little Jeongin had been watching intently, taking in the way Hyunjin's cool-guy attitude changed once his dad showed up, the way he flinched when his dad started walking over. Present day Jeongin is watching them walk away with his lips pulled tight.

"That's when I decided to make Hyunjin my best friend," he says, eyes glued to the scene. "Make an excuse for him to be home as little as possible, and it worked. He was almost always at my house on the weekends. We only made plans to go over to his occasionally when my parents would start to question why we didn't."

"Was he really that bad?" Jeongin finally looks at you again with sad eyes, and you already know the answer.

"You have no idea."

-

"Hwang Hyunjin, where are you now?" You're typing his name into the search bar on your laptop, Jeongin looking over your shoulder.

Jeongin disappeared shortly after the memory, leaving you to go home and do your own research. One thing bothered you- how familiar Hyunjin felt. You've never met him, not properly at least. Looking at his photo you realize he's the same guy you ran into at the café, but other than that? Nothing. You shrug off the feeling and continue digging.

"Oh- look here, Hwang Hyunjin hits the big screens this summer with new movie Side Effects, a look into a man's life as he navigates adulthood after the tragic death of his twin sister. Could this be his breakout role... read more... hm," you lean back in your chair. "You both were actors?"

"Y-yeah, we were..." Jeongin slides into a chair beside you.

You're sitting in your dining room with your laptop open on the table. It's getting late, so you know Changbin will be here soon and you'll have to wrap up what you're doing quickly, but there's so much more you want- no, need, to know. There's an itch you can't scratch in the back of your mind saying there's more to this than two best friends with tragic tales.

"We were both auditioning for that movie," he starts, looking away from you and places a palm flat on the table, long fingers outstretched. "I guess he got the role then. I'm proud of him."

"Did he ever get away from his dad?" You ask, too curious not to.

"I..." Jeongin squints, shaking his head. "I don't remember."

With a frustrated sigh, Jeongin puts his head in his hands, elbows on the table. His fingers run through his hair as he tries and tries to remember, but nothing is coming to mind. The problem is he knows there's something- something important, but it's just gone.

"It's okay-"

You're interrupted by a loud knock on your door, the sound of your door opening behind you catching your attention. Closing your laptop, you notice Jeongin is gone again. You wish there was more you could do for him, to help him remember; you can't begin to imagine how aggravating it is for him to have everything just beyond reach.

Changbin is politely toeing his shoes off onto the rack by your door, his hands full with bags of takeout and snacks. Wrapping your sweater around you tightly, you shut the door for him.

"Thanks for coming by," you take a bag from him. "I'll bring this to my room, meet me there?"

"Where else will I go?" Changbin laughs.

Sitting down on your bed, you gently place a wooden tray down for the food to keep it stable. As you're waiting for Changbin, a million questions race through your mind. Something doesn't sit right with you about what you've learned tonight, but you also don't know enough to form a proper theory either.

"What's on your mind?" Changbin sits next to you, shaking the tray just a bit. You put a hand on the edge to keep things from spilling. "Or is it just pain? Oh! Where's your heating pad? Let me-"

"I lied."

"What? About what?"

"I lied about the cramps," you admit, avoiding his eyes. You can feel his stare on you. "I need to tell you something, but I might sound crazy. Remember how I asked if you believed in ghosts?"

"Y/n, where are you going with this?" Changbin's voice is low. "Why would you lie to me? Ditch me at the store during our busiest time-"

"There's a boy I've been seeing-"

"You ditched me for a boy?! Y/n!"

"No! Just- just let me finish!" You snap. "There's a boy who I've been seeing named Yang Jeongin, and he's dead. The phone I bought used to belong to him and we both think that's our connection. For some reason, it didn't work for anyone else, but it worked for me and then I started communicating with him."

Changbin is silent, taking in your words and waiting for you to finish.

"We think there's more to his death than what people say, which is suicide. He can't remember much."

"Is..." Changbin is glancing around your room. "Is Jeongin in the room with us...?"

You snort at his reaction. "No, but I was with him right before you got here. It's like, he just shows up sometimes. I have no way of contacting him outside of texting, but even then he doesn't always reply. Look, I'll try now."

Picking up your phone from your nightstand, you click Jeongin's contact and press call. It's silent when there should be ringing, a robotic voice telling you after a few seconds that the service has been disconnected. Tossing your phone to the end of your bed, you're about to complain about that when it starts to ring. The phone is lying face down, but you already have a feeling you know who's calling. Flipping it over, you accept the call.

"Jeongin," you breathe.

"Y/n."

"What do you want?"

"Who's that guy you're with? Wh- wait, can he hear me?"

You look over to Changbin, who is staring at the phone warily. "Um, I guess so. He's my best friend. His name is Changbin-"

"Yah! Don't tell the ghost my name!" Changbin slaps your arm lightly.

"What? You don't want me to haunt you?" Jeongin taunts. "Listen, I can't talk for long. I needed to let you know that I think other spirits are catching onto your ability."

"Don't phrase it like that! Ah, that makes me sound like some kind of psychic..." you frown. "It's freaky."

Without a reply, the call disconnects and you roll your eyes.

"See what I mean? Unreliable!" You groan, but catch the look on Changbin's face. "That's your thinking face."

"I have this friend who used to be a private investigator," Changbin blurts, looking over at you. "He doesn't do it anymore, but this might just be interesting enough for him to pick up. I'll give you his number later. And not to question you, but how do I know you're not pranking me right now?"

Reaching forward to grab your phone, you pull up a few videos of Jeongin for Changbin to hear his voice. There aren't many out there that you could find, a few audition tapes and personal videos on his socials, but that's it. After, you search for a news article about his death and show him the photo of him they used, one of his headshot right before his death.

"Okay, I believe you," Changbin exhales. "Minho might too."

~

notes ~ i seriously can't wait for the lino storyline u have no idea

taglist ~ @chaeryred @toplinelix @channie-143 @bloomingstay @sona1800 @dollschan @defnotfertilizedtoesw @thisisnotjacinta @kayleigh-28 @kayleefriedchicken @lailac13 @linocvp1d @ilov3jeong1n @mooseung

reply or send an ask to be added (18+)^^^ green means i can't tag you

[murderedbyhomework]

Kinda scared to post this but

translation of the last chapter of mlc novel not including the extra here:

If anyone doesn’t want to click into google docs full translation plus an extremely lengthy translator’s note underneath the cut

Main Text:

Di Feisheng had already crossed blades with all the main sects consecutively. Except for the Shaolin1 “Empty of tricks” Abbot who insisted against fighting, and Wudang2 “Purple haze” Daozhang3, who had been in seclusion for a long time, he was nearly undefeated in this world.

25th of August.

From the day they’d plummeted into the sea, till now, 13 years had almost passed.

Di Feisheng arrived at the shore of the East Sea very early, at a little village called “Grave of Clouds”, where everyone in the village was surnamed Yun4. The beach outside the village was very clean, with pearly white sand and an aquamarine sea, its waters reflecting the cloudless blue sky.

As if recalling the weather that year, on this patch of the beach, there was a great reef named “Sun Summoning”.

On some unknown date, an unknown person carved on this rock in unrestrained and majestic handwriting. As of now, miniscule sea conches had buried themselves in the deepest nooks and crannies of the calligraphy, but they could not take away from the magnificence of those winning loops and strong strokes5.

Di Feisheng stood on this very reef, clad in green billowing robes, just as he had all those years ago. In all honesty, he could kill Li Lianhua very easily, but what he wanted to achieve victory over, was not Li Lianhua himself, but Li Xiangyi’s swordsmanship.

13 years ago, he’d won the match, only because Li Xiangyi had been severely poisoned, but even poisoned, he’d still been able to do great damage to Di Feisheng. That move “The bright moon sinks in the west sea”, and the resulting 10 years spent on a sickbed, was engraved not just in his memory but in his bones, his heart6, for the rest of his life. 

Today.

Di Feisheng felt that he could even just use half his true power to fight. He was going to kill Li Xiangyi. But not before he could crack his “The bright moon sinks in the west sea”. Besides, that man was crafty and resourceful, and in 13 years, perhaps he’d perfected maneuvers that surpassed “The bright moon sinks in the west sea”.

Di Feisheng stood on the “Sun Summoning” reef, and his heart faintly looked forward to the fight.

Beneath the reef, around 100 people stood there.  The heads of Sigu Sect of course came, which among them included Qiao Wanmian. Emei7 Sect sent some young disciples, the gang of beggars sent 3 elders, Wudang Sect had Lu Jianchi, and even Shaolin Temple had some bald young monks arriving.

Among this motley crew of unusual people, a big golden and flashy sedan was what caused people to gape in tongue-tied disbelief8. The walls of the sedan were made of golden satin, which were embroidered with colorful phoenixes. The four people carrying it may have worn simple clothes, but with their arrogant attitude and blank expressions, it was clear that they were highly trained martial artists.

Sitting in the sedan was naturally great Young Master Fang and Princess Zhaoling. Outside, there stood a blank faced scholar, whose face was quite darkly tanned. Confronted with such a strange sight, members of the martial world kept their distance from it, exchanging hurried whispers and theories.

Fang Duobjng actually wasn’t willing to ride the sedan here at all. He’d originally planned to throw his wife off his trail, climb over the wall, and leave, spending the better half of the next year free to do whatever. Unbeknownst to him, his wife knew the tune his soul strummed out9 too well, and, knowing that her husband was about to run away, cheerfully prepared a grand sedan and carriages, sorted out their duties, and came here hand to hand with her ‘good husband’.

Along with this loving couple came Yang Yunchun. He’d been curious about the legend of Li Xiangyi and Di Feisheng for long, and had practically been raised on their stories. As a practitioner of martial arts, why wouldn’t he be curious? On the reef, Di Feisheng seemed as imposing as the mountains and the abyss, his impressive aura reaching far and wide10. To Yang Yunchun, this sight greatly expanded his horizons, and he silently praised how people of the Jianghu were indeed different from the ones in court.

And yet even as Di Feisheng stood on that reef for 4hours, until it was past noon, nobody caught a glimpse of Li Xiangyi’s figure.

The crowd began exchanging theories in hushed whispers, Ji Hanfo’s forehead creased, as did Xiao Zijin. Bai Jiangchun had started to quietly order his attendants around, and Qiao Wanmian had unconsciously adopted a troubled expression.

Fang Duobing poked his head out from the sedan, “Why hasn’t he arrived after so long? Li Xiangyi wouldn’t have broken his promise right?”

Princess Zhaoling said quietly, “With an event of this magnitude, if he’s that unique among his contemporaries, a god amongst men11, how could he miss this? What if he’s had something happen to him?”

Di Feisheng stood on the reef, clear in mind and heart. Li Xiangyi was cunning, his late arrival was possibly a way for him to throw him off balance. At this moment, a large horse galloped towards the crowd, and someone called loudly from quite a distance away; “Young Master! Young Master! First Young Master!”

Fang Duobing leaped out from the sedan, brows drawn together, and asked, “What happened? During such an important moment, the Fang family somehow decides to send a messenger to yell and cause trouble, is it not really embarrassing?”

The servant boy had sped here by horse, and his breath was nearly gone, his face pale as he raised up a letter.”Young master, young master, this is a letter.”

Fang Duobing replied, not particularly good-natured in tone, “Of course I can tell that’s a letter. Hand it over!”

The servant boy handed over the crumpled up letter, turning paler by the second in fear, “This is Li Xiangyi’s letter…..”

“What kind of letter has to be delivered right now? Since when was Fang Family matters decided by this respectable one12?”

In a moment of infuriation, the phrase “this respectable one” fell from his lips, and yet Fang Duobing suddenly paused, “Li Xiangyi’s letter? His letter wasn’t sent to Sigu Sect instead? Why was it sent to me?”

He’d already been taking quite loudly, and after he said this sentence, everyone turned to look at him, and surrounded him and the servant boy quickly.

Li Xiangyi’s letter? Why would he send a letter to the Fang Family? And why wasn’t he here in person? Fang Duobing nervously opened the letter, his fingers trembling. The letter was a very commonplace piece of white paper, and on it was very familiar handwriting.

It wrote:

During the battle of the East Sea 13 years ago, this one, surnamed Li, used the advantage of concealed weaponry, and took the chance of a sinking ship to battle with you, yet was unable to emerge victorious. Your bravery and honor is near unmatched in this world, this one’s defeat graciously and gladly accepted. many years have passed, this one has succumbed to illness and cannot recover, blade broken and spirit departed, thereby unable to attend the promise of the east sea, much to this one’s regret.

Fang Duobing stared at that familiar handwriting, and only after a few sentences, he felt cold all over, and he could only see the letter say:

The mountains and rivers ever endure, ever changing. Departure follows departure, and my time has come. Today Xiao Zijin of Sigu Sect has trained with his sword valiantly for many years, and is not inferior to “the bright moon sinks in the west sea”. You pursue not a fleeting moment, not a deer in flight, but strive towards the martial world’s peak. This one has departed, and should you be dissatisfied, please request Sect Leader Xiao to take my place.

Fang Duobing’s face was deadly pale, and he looked at that last sentence:

Li Xiangyi passed on 13th July.

“What did the letter say?”

Ji Hanfo and Xiao Zijin walked over shoulder to shoulder, the crowd scattering out of their way, yet still poking their heads around in curiosity. Fang Duobing swallowed with difficulty, and when he opened his mouth his voice was hoarse. 

“He said…...”

Xiao Zijin’s gaze was filled with a fierce light, and he grabbed Fang Duobing by his robes at his chest. 

“What did he say?”

He was infuriated beyond belief, how dare Li Xiangyi break his promise to avoid a fight! This shameless type of vile character practically took Sigu Sect’s face and threw it out of the nine heavens13! If he did show up later, even if Di Feisheng didn’t kill him, he would!

“He said….. .he said…...” Fang Duobing looked at Xiao Zijin blearily, “He said he was already dead, so he can’t come, and he asked you……he asked you to take his place.”

“What?” Ji Hanfo exclaimed, and snatched the letter.

Xiao Zijin blinked, startled.

“What?”

“He said he’s already dead, so he can’t come, and that he regrets it a lot……” Fang Duobing mumbled. “He said…... he said your sword skill was very good, better than his, so he asked you to take his place.

The flame of fury burning in Xiao Zijin’s chest shot up into the heavens in an instant. 

“What do you mean he’s already dead? Why does he want me to take his place? This is his oath of battle! This is his place! Why do I have to take his place?”

“He said…….” Fang Duobing said dazedly.

“Because you’re Sigu Sect Leader. Di Feisheng…….. is here to duel the Sigu Sect Leader, is he not?”

Xiao Zijin paused, dazed by the words.

“Why didn’t he come? If he came…... If he came I’d have….... returned the position to him….... returned it to him……”

He didn’t know why he said this, but somehow it came out so smoothly and naturally, as if he’d already said it in his heart a hundred million times. Fang Duobing shook his head. 

“He said his blade was broken and his spirit was gone……. He’s already…....” 

His voice was soft.

“He’s already dead.”

After that, he paid Xiao Zijin no more attention, and shakily walked back to his sedan.

“What is it?” Princess Zhaoling looked at him in concern.

Fang Duobing stood dazedly next to the sedan, and after what seemed like an eternity, the corner of his mouth twitched.

“Say……Darned Lianhua isn’t Li Xiangyi right?”

Next to the sedan, Shi Wenjue had watched as he became near dumb after reading the letter, and he hmphed.

“Pah! This respectable one told you ages ago, Li Lianhua is Li Xiangyi, Li Xiangyi is Li Lianhua, it was you who’d die rather than believing it. What is it? He sent you a letter? Now you believe it? Hahahahaha, he tricked us both so many years, it really is entertaining.”

Fang Duobing shook his head.

“Tell me— Darned Lianhua isn’t Li Xiangyi—“ Shi Wenjue was taken back.

“What is it?” Fang Duobing lifted his head.

“He sent a letter to Di Feisheng, he said…... he said he’s already dead, so he asked Xiao Zijin to take his place in the duel today.”

Shi Wenjue stared at Fang Duobing, as if in that instant, he’d become a piece of rock or a monster. Fang Duobing stared back in dazed confusion.

“Why did he have to send a letter to me? How nice would it have been if he hadn’t sent it?” 

If he hadn’t sent it, I would never have known the truth.

Shi Wenjue dumbly looked back at Fang Duobing. All around them were so many people, yet in his eyes, they were but stone. Li Xiangyi was dead? That liar was dead? Why would he die? Wasn’t he Li Xiangyi? Li Xiangyi should’ve been…….undying.

“Was it really because of…… those injuries?” Shi Wenjue mumbled.

“Skies above…... I’d clearly known, yet…… yet I left— Skies above—”

Fang Duobing turned around, grabbing him all of a sudden and lifting him up, and snarled,

“What did you know?”

Shi Wenjue’s smile was more terrible than if he’d started crying.

“The liar has a lot of injuries, really severe old injuries…..probably remnants from when he fell into the sea…….”

Fang Duobing paused for asecond, and he wanted to continue yelling, but instead loosened his grip and put Shi Wenjue down.

“Whatever” He murmured, “Whatever whatever…...” He lifted his head to look at the turquoise sea and cerulean sky. 

“This respectable one has known him for so many years, we ate and drank and even relieved ourselves in front of each other, but didn’t I end up knowing nothing about him anyway?”

“Is he really dead?” Shi Wenjue stood back up. “Who knows, maybe he lied, and to avoid coming to the duel, he’d pull something of this magnitude.”

Fang Duobing dazedly looked at the clear sunny sky, and shoke his head.

“He’s not pulling a trick. He might be a liar and a trickster, but he never really did trick anyone much……. not really, it’s just that you and I didn’t understand…....” His voice faded into a murmur.

“We just……. we just never took him seriously.”

On the reef, Di Feusgeng had also heard about Li Xiangyi’s last letter, where he requested Xiao Zijin to take his place. After listening, he calmly tilted his head towards the sunlight and flew away, too disdainful to even cross blades with Xiao Zijin.

Yet Xiao Zijin was also unwilling to fight with him. He still couldn’t think it through, as to why Li Lianhua would rather run away than kill him that day, but suddenly died without a trace?

He’d said blade broken and spirit departed. Was it really that back then, when he’d shattered Wenjing, he’d also destroyed his chance of staying alive? Xiao Zijin felt horrified. What if….. what if it really was himself……. who had forced Li Xiangyi to death? He’d wanted him dead with singleminded passion, yet now when he really seemed to be dead, Xiang Zijin felt it was incomprehensible and unacceptable. Li Xiangyi was undying, he was undefeatable. He was supposed to be a godly presence, and no matter how Xiao Zijin treated him, how he spat hateful words or pointed swords at him, he should’ve never faded away and ceased to exist.

How could he just…... actually die? Was it because of the severe injuries he’d suffered years ago? When he’d been unwilling to kill, unwilling to end his own life that day, was it because—

Xiao Zijin’s face paled in an instant— could it be that Li Xiangyi didn’t want the former to kill him by his own hand! He didn’t want Xiao ZIjin to do someone he’d regret, or let Wanmian know he’d tried to force him to end his own life— so he couldn’t die at that moment! If he’d died then, Wanmian would’ve never forgiven Zijin.

So he’d jumped onto a fishing boat, to go…... to another place…... to die alone.

Xiao Zijin’s eyes reddened. He’d died alone, but when he died, was anyone there for him? Was there anyone who’d buried him, who’d given his corpse proper respects?

On the other end, the shore was silent in desolation, interspersed only by a few sobs, which were let out by some blue robed women in the corner. Ji Hanfo’s face was deathly pale to to extent of appearing gray, Bai Jiangchun collapsed to sit on the ground, and Shi Shui walked away silently. Xiao Zijin lifted his head to shout out sternly.

“Where did you die, Li Xiangyi? If you’re alive I’ll find you in person, if you’re dead I need to see your corpse. Even if I have to travel all over the world and overturn every inch of the ground, I will find you!”

Translator notes:

A sect for martial artists. One of the biggest, most prominent, most diverse martial arts sects with one of the longest histories in irl China. Present in reality and therefore referenced in a lot of works of literature as a martial arts sect

Wudang is a fictional martial arts school that’s often present in wuxia works of fiction

Daozhang, which might be familiar if you’ve read mdzs, is a title for very knowledgeable and spiritual people in Taoist believes. It can be extended to be used as a title of respect for any high up member of religion. In Taiwan it is also an address of respect between lawyers

Yun2 云 is the mandarin pronunciation for the words cloud. In the ancient times, entire tribes in China would often share the same surname and live together, and they’d often name the place they settled in after their own surname.

The chinese idiom used here was 银钩铁画 which refers to majestic calligraphy that deserves to win prizes essentially. The characters literally translated are silver, hooks/ticks, steel/metal, and strokes, so I went with half the idiom meaning and half the literal meaning.

Another chinese idiom (the author uses a lot honestly I’m just explaining the ones that I think deserve it) 刻骨銘心, which refers to a memory or experience being so unforgettable, it’s like it’s engraved into your bones and carved into your heart. 刻 and 銘 both mean carve/engrave, while 骨 is bone and 心 is heart.

The sect is called 峨嵋 sect, which sounds perfectly fine in in chinese, and in fact is named after a place in Taiwan, but unfortunately if you translate it literally it’s something like “mountain peak” and “brows” respectively, which sounds weird so I left it as the pinyin instead. Know that I tried. 

Yet another idiom (Tengping I admire your literary ability and degree of culture, but please have mercy on the people translating ty <3) 瞠目结舌 which literally translated means to stare unblinking and unwaveringly, with your tongue tied. Mostly used to express great shock or disbelief.

The exact expression was zhiyin 知音, a term which anyone here who likes watching ‘bromance’ dramas will undoubtedly be familiar with. It actually doesn’t mean soulmate completely. Zhiji means something like “the one who knows me and my soul, my self utterly”, with zhi 知 being “to know/understand/comprehend” and ji 己 meaning “self”. Zhiyin therefore means something similar, but yin 音 means “sound”, or in this case “music”, so the meaning of this term would be “the one who understands the music my soul makes”. It originates from a very interesting story between friends Zhong Ziqi and Boya, and to summarize, Boya was a musician and Ziqi his friend, who despite his lack of formal education compared to Boya, could understand what Boya wanted to convey with every melody he performed, which is where the term zhiyin came from. 

The idioms in question are 岳峙淵渟，氣象磅礡´. The first idiom 岳峙淵渟 means that someone is as silent as an abyss(淵渟) and as tall and imposing as mountains(岳峙), and is a metaphor for one’s upstanding and noble character (岳峙 part), as well as how great their tolerance is (淵渟). For 氣象磅礡´, 氣象mostly refers to weather, but in this case refers to one’s aura, while 磅磚 means expansive and endless. 

Original idiom is 绝代謫仙, 絕代 means for one to be unique among one’s contemporaries, or to be the best within your generation. 謫仙 refers to gods who have been cast down into the mortal world, which extends to being a metaphor for people who are both noble in character and extremely talented, so much so that they seem otherworldly and unattached to the rest of the mortal world. God among men/mortals was the best translation I could condense this into.

The name Fang Duobing calls himself by is 老子ich can mean father, but in this case is a way for men to call themselves if they feel highly about themselves. Essentially it’s a pretty arrogant way to call yourself, because the title in the end can also mean father, so its a bit like someone saying “I’m your father” as in they have authority over/are senior compared to you

There’s a chinese saying 丢脸面which means to lose face. Xiao Zijin essentially wants to say that Li Xiangyi made Sigu Sect lose face so badly they can’t regain said “face” because it's 9 realms/heavens away. 

#li lianhua #mysterious lotus casebook #li xiangyi #lian hua lou #di feisheng #fang duobing #xiao zijin #my translations #my writing #mlc novel #lianhualou novel #吉祥纹莲花楼 #if the format is iffy just bear with me i’m sorry #tumblr hates me #and also copy paste fucks up format so bad

[sollunaastra]

What do you think their reconciliation looks like?

The words stuck in Aziraphale’s throat like a toffee swallowed too quickly, and he stuttered, before managing to eek out the thing he'd been meaning to say since his departure to heaven with The Metatron. “You know, Crowley… I have done nothing BUT think of you. I have done nothing else. Every spare, blasted moment, I've thought about you, and my heart has broken every single time!”   He sighed and threw his hands up in exasperation, turning on the spot, eyes darting around like he was trying to seek a place to run away to. 

There was nowhere to hide, though. Not inside the bandstand nor outside of it. Flat tarmac hardly made a good hiding place, after all.

Crowley pursed his lips. He was exhausted, more tired physically than he'd ever really been before. The weight of heartache wore heavy on him, and yet he had managed somehow to soldier on alone for the past who knows how long. He'd stopped counting the days, the hours, the minutes. Shoulders slumped forwards, Crowley blinked and pushed his sunglasses up his nose. A sniffle, and he was turning to leave, boots clicking on the concrete in a way which almost echoed around them, such was the heaviness of the silence. 

In a small burst of speed, Aziraphale stepped after Crowley with purpose, extending his hand and grabbing at the Demon's sleeve, then moving his grip to Crowley's arm.

Crowley made no attempt to move away at first.  He felt defeated by the entire fiasco. Maybe he should've arggreed to the whole Archduke of Hell thing after all. Maybe then he'd have had the strength to stop coming back. To the bookshop. To their bench. To the bandstand. 

“It's okay. “ Crowley broke the silence, wanting his head to the left slightly as he tugged his arm away and out of Aziraphale’s grip. “I forgive you,” he sneered. 

“Crowley!” Aziraphale could feel that burn behind his eyes. Such a human show of emotion, hardly befitting a Supreme Archangel of Heaven. “Why can't you see? Why won't you see?”

Trying to grab Crowley's arm again, Aziraphale felt the fabric slip through his fingers. The Demon began to walk away, and that was when Aziraphale started to walk, (it was more of a stomp in truth,) behind him; he kept pace and then sped up as Crowley neared the edge of the circle of tarmac where the bandstand sat.

This time, instead of gripping his arm or sleeve, Aziraphale lunged forwards and got a grip on Crowleys waist. The Angel stubbornly refused to let go, even when he was pushed away. They struggled silently for a moment, before Crowley spoke once more. 

“You were- are, I mean, the most important person, angel, whatever. You left me behind for your precious heaven. They're welcome to you.”

Aziraphale felt his heart aching in his chest, a deep longing urging him forwards until he was close enough to spin Crowley round on the spot. 

He lunged forwards again, this time intent on getting his lips against Crowley's, which he managed to do semi-successfully. His lips smudged down Crowley's cheek until he was kissing him properly. Aziraphale felt nauseous, his heart drumming angrily in his chest, and, finally, the tears that had threatened to spill from his eyes leaked down his cheeks in heavy rivulets. 

Crowley froze. He swallowed thickly, the tear tracks on his own face becoming wet and shiny again as tears poured forth from his ophidian eyes. He stopped struggling and tried to savour the moment, but instead of the joy he should've felt, he felt a deep sense of pining… and deep, soul destroying loneliness, like someone had cut off his limbs and left him for dead. 

Aziraphale pressed against the demon, wrapping his arms around Crowley's waist and shoulder alternately, fingers turning white with the effort of holding onto Crowley as his nails dug little crescents into the leather jacket he was wearing.

“Stay,” Crowley whispered into the kiss, finally allowing himself the kindness of kissing Aziraphale back. It was a slow, firm kiss, but slowly devolved into desperation and over 6000 years of pent up frustration. "Please..."

The Angel eventually pulled back from their kiss, but not before they were both tear streaked and breathless, panting and holding onto each other like the other might discorporate suddenly if either let go.

“I'm not leaving you. Not again. Not ever. I love you, Crowley. I love you so much. It feels like my heart is going to burst. ”

"I love you too, 'Ziraphale, I love you."

#this is soppy as fuck wxcuse me.getting sentimental #good omens #crowley #aziraphale #aziracrow

[yacinthemorning]

Birdsongs

Chapter 7

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Summary: The Life Pilgrimage is the biggest music festival of the century, set to take place all across the continent. Small-time rock band, GIST, and the up-and-coming alternative band, Empire, are both lucky to be among the hundreds set to make appearances, but there's just one problem. Neither can afford the travel expenses on their own. For better or worse, they're stuck with each other for the next five weeks as they try to make their dreams come true.

And, perhaps, among the chaos and music, two unsuspecting souls find one another...

Ships: Jimmy/Tango (slow burn romantic), Joel/Lizzie (romantic), Jimmy & Scott (platonic)

Warnings: Alcohol, drugs, verbal fights, theft, divorce talk

Jimmy was driver for the second day in a row.

Not that he minded. Actually, he’d discovered so far he quite liked driving, especially the trailer. It felt satisfying, the movements the vehicles made when he turned the wheel or pressed on the brakes. He caught a lot more of the scenery when he had to concentrate, also. Time just passed by faster, more peaceful. One of the few times of this trip he could stop thinking.

It was a bit funny really, because he’d waffled on acquiring his license until college, so he hadn’t gotten to drive much as a teen. Then he’d gotten together with Scott. It wasn’t something they talked about, but even when they drove Jimmy’s car the keys always ended up in Scott’s hands. After moving back in with Lizzie he’d sold his car to cushion himself. Joel was the sort of guy who refused to let anyone touch his baby, so more often than not he was driven around or carpooled. Really, the fact that Jimmy was even allowed to drive the trailer seemed wild to him, but he was glad he was.

Especially now, with everyone so quiet.

The trailer bounced on the uneven country road. There was a whistle-like squeak and a thunk. Joel groaned. Between the lights being off and the shade of the forest outside Jimmy didn’t bother trying to check on him. He took a deep breath of the morning air as it rushed past the open window, letting his hand hang against the outside of the door. There was a hum on his tongue, but he kept his mouth shut to avoid fratricide.

Another bounce, another whistle, another groan.

Shuffling footsteps slowly approached, and this time Jimmy did check the mirror. It was Tango, eyes still shut and using the walls to navigate his way up until he flopped down into the passenger seat. Jimmy smiled, “Mornin’, sunshine.”

Tango let out a grunt, head reclined and face pulled tight around his nose as he tried to adjust to the bright window. He flicked his red sunglasses out of his pocket before even daring to try opening his eyes. “What sort of mutant are you to be so perky this early?” He muttered, eyes squinted. They scanned about until they landed on the half-folded map across the dash, and snatched it up.

“One who had seven AM classes and never readjusted.” He shrugged.

“That’s such a lie.” Wheezed Lizzie from somewhere in the back. Jimmy could picture her wagging finger. “You’ve always gotten up at unholy hours and I know you know it.”

“Hey! You would have never made it to band practice all of grade eleven and twelve if it weren’t for me!”

“Twas you whom sealed my fate, oh retched inhuman beast.”

“A thank you would be fine, you know!”

Thump, whistle, groan.

Tango snickered. “Alright, so where’s the hospital?”

“Should be a few miles up the road in another town.” He reached over, tapping a red H located on the map. “Another ten minutes probably. There’s a Ricky’s across the street from it so we can meet there for breakfast and sort all our stuff back into the right vehicles.”

The mention of food elicited a happy chorus from the zombie horde. Jimmy smiled and reached over the console for his water bottle before pushing it into Tango’s face. “I refilled all the ones I could find before disconnecting the water.”

Tango blinked, eyes dilating at the speed of molasses as his brain clicked back into reality. “Look at you, thinkin’ of everything. What’d we do without you?” He grinned and took the bottle. Jimmy felt his cheeks warm, back straightening up as he turned his attention onto the road.

Thump, whistle, groan.

His hold on the wheel tightened. “Well, all the responsible people are at the hospital, so someone has to do it.”

“I’m not sure going to the ER ‘cause of a bar brawl screams responsible.”

The bottle clunked back into the console, Tango scooting forward in his seat to lean his head back. Not on Jimmy’s watch. “Says the man without a seatbelt on.” He said, then cringed. It sounded so much more obnoxious when he said it aloud. If it bothered Tango he didn’t show it, fumbling for the belt with one hand and eyes closed.

“Ah well, stuff like this is gonna happen.” Tango said. “Better to get it out of our systems early, right? It’s all smooth sailing now.”

“Are you trying to dare the devil or something?” Joel interjected from his seat, giving voice to Jimmy’s thoughts.

But Tango waved him off, “What? That’s how you’re supposed to do it. Go wild the first little bit so everything after feels like a walk in the park! That’s how we’ve always done things, shakes off the nerves.”

Jimmy wasn’t so sure that’s how it worked, but he certainly hoped it was. As much fun as last night had been, it was probably for the best it was behind them.

A sign flashed by, almost too fast, telling Jimmy it was finally their turn off the freeway. Trees gave way to a town that was more of a giant truck stop, uncomfortably sparse with everything paved over, and enormous signs advertising fast food joints and gas prices heads above the tallest building. Actual homes were scattered further out in the hills or awkwardly dotted among the half-empty parking lots, their picket fences and old shingles all that was left of when the town must have been much quainter.

Their bandmates were already waiting for them outside the hospital, and five minutes later they were piling into Ricky’s for brunch. Judging from its proximity to the hospital and the fact that Jimmy could recognize several faces at the other tables, it probably wasn’t a surprised the waitress didn’t question why they all smelled worse than they looked. Scott managed to escape with only a split lip and bruise under his eye, his stitches being for a long cut up his forearm. Fwhip was not as lucky. Gem was already busy making fun of the man who looked like he’d been one with the bar floor mid-brawl. She was one to talk, given the black eye she sported. Jimmy was pretty sure he saw her nearly bite someone’s ear off, though, so he abstained from interrupting her.

With ten people their orders came in rounds. First came Pearl’s omelette with the works alongside Scott’s bennies and Skizz’s ridiculously huge grand breakfast that seemed to be three of everything. It was less ridiculous when Jimmy realized he was sharing with Impulse. Then came Gem’s clubhouse, Fwhip’s chicken tenders, and Lizzie’s fish and chips. After that was Joel’s bacon cheddar burger, and finally-

“Here you are, buttermilk pancakes.” The waitress announce cheerfully as she slipped one plate in front of Jimmy and another in front of Tango, placing a single plate with butter, strawberries, and maple syrup between them. Or, rather, directly in front of Joel, who was sat in the middle of them and giving Jimmy the most unimpressed look. It was his fault for insisting on sitting across from Lizzie instead of beside her.

Tango snatched up the butter, seemingly unsatisfied with the single square already atop it. In the process he all but pushed the strawberries onto Jimmy’s plate. More than fine by Jimmy. “So, Miss Manager, what’s the verdict on getting to the venue today?” He asked, giving Jimmy a thankful grin when he was passed the syrup that made Joel pretend to shove his knife down his throat to gag. Jimmy knocked his leg.

Pearl hummed until she could swallow. “Should still be able to make it if we just keep going, maybe ten or eleven?”

Just shy of twelve hours with breaks and dinner. “Y’okay to drive that long on your own?” Piped up Impulse, the only other person without a headache or head wound.

Jimmy nodded, “Think so.” He frowned, looking the man up and down. “Um, would you prefer to switch?” It may have been Impulse’s car, but it was still cramped compared to the trailer. Impulse waved him off, though.

“We need more buns and salad before we go.” Chimed Gem.

Skizz balked. “What? What happened to the tub of macaroni salad?”

“Someone left it out.”

“Hey, don’t look at me. I hate that stuff!”

“Sounds exactly like something someone who left it out would say.”

“Why does it matter? You didn’t have to throw it out, one night wouldn’t hurt it.”

“Um, ew? It absolutely would!”

“Yeah, I gotta agree, it’s pretty nasty...”

Joel smacked the syrup right out of Tango’s hand as he passed it over the shorter man’s head. It clattered to the table, rolling off into Jimmy’s lap. “Joel!” He shrieked, pushing up out of his chair. The case hooked over the back of his chair clattered loudly to the ground, wringing winces from those around him. Both his shirt and jeans were coated in sugar. Everyone paused in their arguments to watch Jimmy squirm in his own skin. The whole restaurant was, actually. Jimmy’s face turned beet red, grabbing a napkin to try and at least wipe down his arms, but the thin paper just curled and tore and created a worse mess. Joel just laughed.

“Here, dampen it.” At the very least Pearl tried to help, dabbing another napkin into an untouched glass of water, but it didn’t help much.

He sighed in resignation, and began to pick up his poor guitar. It was a delicate process not to get it coated as well. “I’m going to the bathroom.”

“We should find somewhere to do laundry, too.” He heard Scott say behind him. “Some of you have been wearing the same clothes for a few days now and you can smell it.”

Several individuals protest, all people Jimmy knew for certain qualified for that statement. He hurried along before he could get caught in the crossfire.

-

The dryers were taking their damn time.

Tango chalked it up to the things looking about thirty years old and beaten to crap by who-knows-who.

The washers rumbled under him, eyes glued to the ever spinning clothes. Goosebumps ran up his arms from the air conditioning, a constant reminder he was stuck in his undershirts and shorts. His own fault for throwing all his clothes into simultaneous loads. There was the softest tune under the hum of machines emanating from a portable radio in the staff booth echoed by his bass. He’d taken a page out of Jimmy’s book and brought it in with him. Of course, he wasn’t about to plug the thing in, lest the ancient temple’s Edwardian era wiring explodificate and leave them with nothing but wet clothes and sadness. That didn’t mean he couldn’t strum along to the Steve Miller Band while longingly watching the concrete outside bake.

“How does he do that?”

Tango let out a screech like a shot seagull, almost falling off the washer. When had Jimmy and Gem gotten here? How long had he spaced out? The two weren’t even paying Tango any attention while Jimmy slipped his case off his shoulder and popped it open. Gem dropped a grocery bag and hopped up on the washer beside him, enclosing the tallest between her and Tango, while he organized his fingers along the strings. “What?” Tango finally asked, grabbing the two’s attention.

“That little- like, the cat call.” He muttered, mimicking the whistle. Hands absently adjusted to what he thought might be the proper notes.

Gem reached out and adjusted his ring finger. “I’m pretty sure it’s that, then you just sorta...” She pulled away, air-guitaring the motion for him to copy. He did so, but without being plugged in it was hard to tell if he’d gotten it for certain.

Tango’s eyes followed the movement of his left hand. Theoretical tones played along in his brain. Too stiff. He scooted around until he was facing them. “Here.” He called for their attention. When Jimmy’s curios gaze shifted from Tango to his bass Tango showed his own attempt at the segment. One he’d done long ago but not since. Both guitarists had their eyes glued to his hands, making him second guess every single choice he’d ever made in life that put him here, thinking he could teach other people how to play their own instruments while in his skivvies in public.

They foolishly mimicked him anyways, pleased with whatever popped up in their own mind’s eye. Tango went back to strumming along with the actual bass. Gem happily jumped in as well. “I’m a joker, I’m a smoker, I’m a midnight toker, I get my lovin’ on the run,” she sang, too pretty. Jimmy quickly picked up after them on the guitar after a stumble in the first notes. Something Tango was beginning to suspect he was incapable of not doing. For someone who spent his time on stage just setting the beat, Tango thought Jimmy handled the solo better than expected. The lazy guitar was well out of his comfort zone, though, his movements still stiff.

Both men half-heartedly joined Gem’s singing as the song came to an end, her hands slapping the lid of the machines as some type of drum. Tango’s nose began to itch. The song faded out and the channel host piped up. At the same moment the machine Tango sat on ended its cycle, buzzing at him. All of it was drowned out by the loudest sneeze Tango had ever suffered, the force of which was enough to knock him right off his precarious perch. Enough to scare his companions.

“I think Skizz’s grandma heard that!” Gem laughed.

But Jimmy frowned, “Do you need a sweater?”

“S’in the dryer still.” He sniffled, trying to keep his eyes from watering.

That didn’t deter the guitarist, who went for their laundry bag, then stumbled outside towards the trailer when he didn’t find what he was looking for. Tango wondered if he even noticed he still had his guitar around his neck, case abandoned. Another machine buzzed, this time a dryer.

“He’s definitely going to bump off the doorway.” Gem whispered. On cue, Both ends of Jimmy’s poor guitar slammed into either side of the trailer, almost throwing Jimmy to the ground. He stood there, confused, before he hugged his guitar to his shoulder and went in sideways. Tango raised an amused eyebrow towards Gem, who was trying not to laugh too loud. “Oh, silly Jimmy.”

“Can’t say I wouldn’t do the same.” Tango tried to defend even as he also began to giggle. He absently grabbed for the laundry bag and yanked open the dryer. The warmth soaked into his skin.

Gem rolled her eyes and sent him a pointed, unimpressed look. “That’s ‘cause you’re also a silly goose.”

“Guilty as charged.” He couldn’t exactly defend himself on that one. So, he changed the subject. “You two play well together.”

There was a hum Tango thought might have been agreement. “We picked up guitar around the same time, so we learned together from my mum.”

He’d heard it before. How Gem had gone from only wanting to sing as a kid to feeling embarrassed it was all she could do in her teens. Nothing wrong with expanding your horizons, he had told her. As often as Tango experimented with new instruments he always wandered back to his bass.

“You were part of Empire, then?” He asked.

Gem shrugged, “Not really? I mean, we played together and Lizzie and Scott were writing some songs, but the band didn’t really exist yet. They talked about it a lot but I don’t know, guess I knew from the start I wouldn’t end up playing with them.” She grinned, “I have way more fun with you guys, anyways!”

Maybe it was just his imagination guilt tripping him, but it felt like there was something almost determined and a bit desperate in her last statement. He looked away. “It’s been fun playing with you too, Glitter Girl.”

The door creaked open, and Jimmy tripped through it. One hand held his guitar flush to his chest, while the other was wrangling a familiar blanket that had been rapidly unfolding itself. “I couldn’t- Scott wouldn’t let me mess with the clothes he already folded, but...”

“Thanks, partner.” Tango smiled, letting the man throw it over Tango’s shoulders like a cape. He didn’t bother to mention that he now had access to several pieces of his own clothes. It couldn’t hurt to wait for the second load. What was he going to do, suddenly be even more embarrassed than he already was? Besides, the blanket had trapped its fair share of warmth from the dryer, and Tango was very quickly sinking deeper into it.

 Jimmy’s smile was shy, cheeks just slightly rosy, before he turned towards his guitar case. Leaned out of the way, Tango got a clear view of Gem once more, who had her clasped hands to her cheek and was making kissy faces at Tango. Like the responsible adult he was he stuck his tongue out at her. She giggled. Well, at least he had company now.

-

It was ten to eleven when they rolled into the next venue. They were lucky to do so, as check in would close for the day after eleven. The very grumpy and tired staffer was particularly adamant on reminding them of that fact through the entire process. They made it, though, and they parked in their place. A gravel lot used for parking, with no room for much else between vehicles. Worse yet, there was separate designated spaces for cars and trailers, so the car wound up a quarter of a mile away. It all sucked, to be frank, but it also didn’t matter. Everyone was too tired and too excited to care. Everyone except Scott, at least, who was already preparing a speech that would make whatever poor worker he would confront tomorrow morning about these inconveniences wish they were never born.

For the rest of them, though, it was bed time.

By this point in their journey, Jimmy had become used to waking up wrapped around Tango. It was cold at night and the man was practically a furnace, sue him. The sun had yet to rise, but there was a subtle thumping from the bathroom before Scott walked out, sans makeup or patience. His exhausted glare landed on Jimmy and warped into a raised eyebrow. Jimmy’s face turned pink, rolling over and burying it into Tango’s hair. No confrontation came of it, only a snort. Still, he waited until the door rattled close. Someone else in the trailer groaned, but no one got up.

After a long moment of debate, Jimmy decided to begrudgingly get up. Someone should make breakfast, and he was on a usefulness streak lately. When he sat up, though, Tango’s face scrunched and he was pulled in tighter. Jimmy muffled a snort, “I’m not your teddybear, you know.” he murmured to the sleeping man. A pillow seemed to suffice as a replacement for Tango. It did not do so for Jimmy himself, who was now surrounded by freezing morning air and clinging to his equally cold guitar. Right, sweater first, then teeth.

Ten minutes later Jimmy made it out of the trailer without waking anyone else. Scott was, predictably, nowhere to be seen. Whoever their neighbour was to be had yet to arrive, so Jimmy got to work pulling out the folding table.

The smell of coffee woke someone up. Jimmy was halfway through setting up chairs when something inside slammed against the wall. That, or someone went face first into the bathroom door. Pearl’s face poked out the door, hair still twirled up in a braid and a sheepish smile on her face. “How’s it going out here?” She half-whispered.

“Was about to mix up scrambled eggs.” He explained, motioning towards the table. Milk, cheese, and the whole carton of eggs patiently waited next to an unopened tray of breakfast sausages and bag of hash browns. “We got some miniwheats if you want something now, though.”

“I can wait.” She flopped down into one of the folding chairs, next to the one Jimmy’s guitar was leaned in. He threw her an orange juice at the very least. “So, where’d Scott run off to?”

Jimmy tilted his head, frowning. Not that he was an expert, but that was most certainly not Pearl’s usual tone. She was focused on getting the straw into her juice box when he looked to her, though. Was he still half asleep? “He’s-”

“Right here.”

Now that tone Jimmy was an expert in. Tired, cranky, and done with everything, but, like, while still covered in glitter and a spotlight. There was no way to tell if he was actually enraged or just wanted to put on a show. Either way, Jimmy counted down with perfect timing to Scott’s hand slamming against the table and letting out the world’s longest sigh. “The organizers at this venue are absolutely incompetent.” He whined, head lulling dramatically as though he’d been shot. A show it was.

“Oh really? How so?” Pearl indulged.

“Well, by not even being awake yet, for one.”

“It’s six AM, mate. Give ‘em at least until eight, there’s like five people here at this point.”

Scott pouted, glancing off into the distance as if he was really considering it until he huffed. “I’m awake now, though, and I want to give them a piece of my mind.”

“A piece, or the whole pie.” Jimmy teased, pointing the whisk at him before turning towards the eggs.

There was a gasp, “Jimmy! Of course not.” There was an odd quiet moment that followed. One that had Jimmy worried until he heard the hash brown bag shake. His head shot up in time to watch Scott place the frozen bag back into the cooler.

“Hey!”

“They’ll thaw.” Was his only explanation before he went to sit down.

Jimmy’s nose scrunched up in annoyance. “They’re just hash browns, it’s not a big deal.”

“I don’t want to have to buy a whole new bag like the salad.”

Another protest almost left his lips, but they clamped shut as he watched Scott run his hands over his face. Bags under his eyes and bruises all over his arms still. You said it yourself, it’s just hash browns, not a big deal. He went back to preparing the egg mixture and setting the table, waiting for more folks to awaken. If Scott needed to stick his nose in things to get over his mood it wasn’t his business.

Pearl had much stronger words for him from what Jimmy could make out from her tone, though too quiet to catch much of what it was. Given he heard something about punching Jimmy guessed it was about the bar still. He snorted, good luck with that. Scott had always been a messy drunk, like one of those toy cars. The tighter he wound during the day the worse it was when he let go. Something people had to learn on their own, he supposed.

Some time later Impulse and skizz tumbled out of the trailer, perkier than any of them, and Jimmy was finally allowed to pull the hash browns out of the cooler.

Jimmy was sitting with his chin up on his guitar when Tango stumbled out, last of the whole bunch and clinging to the pillow Jimmy had left him with like a lost child. He caught sight of Jimmy and beamed a toothy grin his way even as he shivered like a leaf in the cold morning air. Whatever was left of Jimmy’s earlier sour mood flew away. “Anything left for me?” He asked.

Skizz answered, putting sombre hands on the sleepy man’s shoulders. “You know what they say, Top. Early bird gets the worm. I’m afraid you’ll have to starve.”

“I made you a plate already.” Jimmy announced, pulling the pot lid off the plate sat behind him and holding it out. “You’ll have to make the toast, though, if you want any.”

A smug little noise left Tango along with a matching look towards Skizz, “Thank you, and that I do.” He then turned to the toaster and spun the dial all the way up to charcoal levels. That, Jimmy mused, was a practice he could never get behind. But to each their own, he supposed.

Then something whistled.

There was no thump.

And others paused.

“Okay, what is that?” Joel hissed as he approached the tires. “There a leak?”

“Never heard a leak sound like that.” Impulse chimed in with concern and joined him. Jimmy pulled his case closer.

Another whistle. Another no thump.

That one had Pearl, Scott, and Skizz all joining in the search for the defect. Lizzie worried the hem of her shirt. “Oh gosh we only just got to the second venue. I hope nothing’s broken.”

“You okay?” Tango asked, and it took Jimmy a moment to realize it was directed at him. He shrugged back and buried his face in his case.

“It’s from in here!” Skizz called out. The storage lock clicked open. “Kinda sounds like- WOAH, HEY!”

The whistle turned into a frantic flurry of chirps and rattles. Someone nearby gasped.

“What in the world-”

“Is that a bloody bird?”

“Oh my god!”

“Stop! Don’t open it!”

“Who would...”

“Put it down, put it down!”

Metal clanged against the gravel lot. Jimmy finally peeled himself apart enough to peek out at the scene. Most of the two bands were surrounding a painted cage, where a little yellow bird was flitting about in a panic. Instantly three sets of eyes turned onto him instead. Lizzie, Joel, and Scott.

“Jimmy.” Scott said with great strain.

Jimmy shrunk away, face twisted. “What?”

“I couldn’t help notice you don’t seem all that surprised.”

“Wait a minute, I’ve seen this before.” Skizz interrupted them both, kneeling down next to the cage. “There was something just like this in a house next to the park.”

Lizzie’s hands went to her hips. “James Solidarity, did you steal a bird? Don’t you lie to me!”

“No!” He lied.

Joel’s hands went to his hair, a humourless laugh escaping. “Dude, what the heck, you didn’t even drink! Why did you steal a bird?”

“I don’t know!” He curled his whole body around his guitar. “I was just- everything was really exciting and- look, I’m not the one who got stabbed with a broken bottle!”

“Uh, this ain’t about me right now, dude.” Fwhip muttered, though he nudged out of the circle to hide behind his bandmates.

While his own bandmates continued shouting GIST stood to their own side, caught between shock and amusement. At least Impulse and Gem seemed shocked. Tango was doubled over, cackling like a madman, while Skizz tried to hide his giggles and failed miserably. “Oh this is too good.” He said. Pearl had her own hand over her mouth, impossible to tell what his emotions were except from the wrinkles in the corner of her eyes. None seemed angry. It made Jimmy feel much better, if he could only block out the yelling from his peers.

He launched forward, spurred on by a new wave of confidence, “Look, I know it was stupid-”

“Stupid barely begins to cover it.” Scott drawled, rolling his eyes. “What are we supposed to do, now? We can’t just bring it back, we’re on a schedule. And what if someone saw you? Did you think this through at all?” His foot was going against the gravel, letting Jimmy know how close he was to the end of the fiddler’s nerves. For once it only put more coals on the fire. It was Scott’s fault in the first place for his own stress, he had no right to put it on Jimmy like he was the only one who did something stupid in the last few days.

No, it was entirely unfair. “Everyone’s made a fool of themselves, why are you singling me out?”

Scott gaped. Wrong answer. “Because there is currently a fucking bird in our trailer right now! That you stole and that I’m going to have to clean up!” He snapped, throwing his hands at the cage and then at Jimmy. “Why are you always like this!”

Everyone quieted. GIST’s giggles died while Empire’s various reactions all settled into concern. The indignation had fizzled out from Jimmy’s heart as well, leaving him stubbornly silent as his face heated. Scott’s chest heaved, glaring Jimmy down and oh, if looks could kill he’d be nothing but minced meat ground deep into the mud. It’s about what he felt like in that moment.

Fwhip was the first to dare break the silence, placing a hand on Scott’s shoulder that was promptly thrown off. “Hey, it’s fine. I’ll just take the car and bring the bird back.”

“No, you won’t.” Scott hissed. He tore a lighter out of his pocket. “You need to be here to sell our CDs and manage contacts while we’re performing, and you can’t do that if you’re busy a day’s drive away searching for the owner on your own, because Skizz and Jimmy are not going back with you.” As he rambled his grip shook and the cigarette he fumbled with snapped in half. It was thrown to the ground, “Fuck’s sakes...”

“Hey, buddy, calm down.” Tango interjected. He was silenced with a single side eye, but Pearl took his place.

“Look, this is entirely fixable. If Fwhip can’t go then I will, and if not we’ll find another solution. It’s not the end of the world.”

If Scott heard her he didn’t acknowledge it. Instead he stomped off towards a neon green trailer down the way, leaving the group caught in the awkward atmosphere. When some of the eyes turned to Jimmy he took up examining the gravel under his own feet.

“Well, that... was a lot.” Impulse chuckled.

Tango snorted. “A lot of bullshit.”

“Tango!”

“What? It’s true!”

“I’m so sorry, I don’t know what’s come over him.” So started Fwhip’s apologizing, rambling on explanations to avoid their bands’ collective embarrassment. Jimmy could still feel his blood simultaneously boiling and frozen in his veins and did not bother to contribute.

A delicate hand landed on his arm, Lizzie’s eyes wide and glossy. “Are you okay, Jim?”

He shook off the touch and went to grab the cage, and bolted for the door. The moment it shuttered behind him muffled conversation picked up outside, audibly tense. Instead, he put the bird down on the counter, crawled into the safety of bed, and pulled his case into his lap. The leather was cold against his forehead, cooling his quick breaths before they buffeted back against his throat.

This was inevitable. They all knew it, it wasn’t like five whole adults were completely oblivious to the winding key that had been tightening since the start of this trip. Since the divorce, really. Or maybe before. Probably before. It still hurt.

Free from the dark the bird began to chatter. What seemed so soothing days ago grated against the last shreds of Jimmy’s composure. “Shut up.” He tried to snap but it came out more like begging. Of course, he canary had no idea. The chirps continued on. He thought he might be able to feel them scraping against his brain. It was probably thirsty and hungry, the kinder part of him reminded. He didn’t want to be kind right now, though. It was all he could do not to find something to throw at the cage.

The door shook. Jimmy didn’t look up, but he recognized the sound of heavy steel-toe boots by now. There was the smallest sound of a breath catching, but no words followed. Instead the bird cage rattled, agitating both the canary and Jimmy. “Here, find some food for it or something.” The bassist whispered to someone before the canary’s cries became distant. Jimmy knew from the way the trailer tipped that Tango had not left with it, but nor had he entered further than needed to close the door. He was probably waiting for some sign from Jimmy, whether to go away or not. Not a question Jimmy was sure he had an answer to quite yet.

“You want breakfast?” Tango asked instead.

Jimmy wanted to say no, but his stomach protest. He shrugged. The trailer shook and a box thunked against the counter. At first he assumed Tango was pouring cereal until he heard the faucet and something scraping. That was apparently enough to get Jimmy to peek. Butter hit the frying pan, and he watched half-baffled, half-fascinated, as Tango poured batter into it soon after.

Cooking took only a few minutes. Really, with the instant mix it was amazing how quickly it could go. Inevitably, the fire alarm went off, startling both of them. Tango grumbled and hissed while waving a towel around. It didn’t take long, but just long enough for Jimmy to loosen the tight ball he’d pulled himself into. Giant boots still on, Tango sat down on the bed next to Jimmy and handed him the pancakes past his guitar.

They sat in silence through the first half, Jimmy slowly shovelling bites that were a bit too big into his mouth while Tango looked at everything but him. Eventually, though, the guitarist remembered his manners. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” Tango assured, even though it certainly was.

“I’m sorry you had to see that.” He said instead.

It got a shrug and a shift to a more comfortable position on the bed, accepting the silent invitation. “Every bands’ been there. Can’t tell you how many times me and Skizz have yelled at each other.”

“But not like that.” Guessed Jimmy, which from the look on Tango’s face he was right. He sighed and set his plate aside. “He’s never yelled at me before.”

“Really?” There was a skeptical eyebrow raised.

“Yes.” Jimmy shut down immediately, though his full reply took another moment to gather his thoughts. “Silent treatment, passive aggressive comments, but we’ve never yelling. Not seriously. Never had a fight.”

“Nothing at all?”

He paused. In the grand scheme of things, Tango was still a stranger. All of GIST except Gem were, really. Having someone new to talk to was great, and Jimmy wasn’t clever enough to deny his growing fondness for Tango, but he was still mostly a stranger. One who didn’t need dragging into their band’s silly interpersonal drama. Maybe, though, that Pandora ’s Box was already ripped wide open, given the incident that just occurred. If they were going to be stuck with it for the next month they at least deserved to know a bit more.

Or maybe Jimmy was just looking for an excuse to let it all out on some poor guy who was a bit too nice to him. His tongue made the choice for him, beginning to spill out the story before he thought anymore about it. “You know there wasn’t a fight even at the end?”

Tango perked up, attention fully turning on him now with a sombre expression.

“I just- there never was. I remember thinking now and then about what getting a divorce might take. Scott’s the one who organized all the marriage stuff. There’s probably something poetic in there or something.” He let out a humourless laugh. “But, one day I just sort of... did it. Nothing happened. Normal day. I just called up and asked after work, and then I had the paperwork in my hands.”

He could picture the scene quite clearly, not from that specific day but from how many times he walked through that side door. The teal paint that was beginning to chip, the colourful fish themed wind chime, the tall trashcan he always caught his jacket on no matter how many times he passed it. “Scott was sitting at the table writing a song or something. I put them down beside him and asked if he could sign them. Think he already knew, not like I do much paperwork stuff. He didn’t say anything, though. Just read it like I was handing him a flyer or anything else. I don’t know if he really was fine with all it said, it was pretty heavy in his favour since I was the one with family nearby and the house and car were his to start. But he signed it. Four minutes of reading and he just signs it and hands it back.”

“After that was like the most normal conversation in the world, too. Asked when I wanted to move out, when he should call Joel and Lizzie to come over, if I had boxes yet.” And Jimmy had replied much the same back. Of course, he knew what was going on in his own head at the time. A whole lot of nothing and everything all at once that made the rest of the day pass in a blur until he was in the spare room at Lizzie’s. It took a day before he finally had his first breakdown over it, and of course it had to be at the dinner table in front of both his sister and brother-in-law. “We didn’t see each other for two weeks, and then we were back in his studio, practising for a gig that was coming up. It was like none of it ever happened. Talked about it one more time, wrote a song about it as you do, just to get it out of our system. Peachy after that.”

“That’s a lot to just sweep under the rug.” Tango finally interjected, brow pressed into a stressed line. Saying it out loud, Jimmy understood. The whole thing was ridiculous.

He leaned back, letting his guitar fall off beside him. “But we never yelled at each other.”

A particular loose thread in the blanket had captured Tango’s attention at some point, long enough for his finger to have gotten under the weave and pulled it further. He’d turned his full awareness onto it now, unlooping his finger and trying to smooth it out despite how long gone it was. Jimmy began to think maybe Tango wasn’t the person he should be talking to about this, that it should be Lizzie, or maybe some random person in a bar. Someone who wasn’t straddling the line, unquestionably on Jimmy’s side of things.

He had the sudden urge to assure that Scott was a great guy, it was both their fault things fell apart, that he was normally kind and funny. Anything that might leave Tango with a better impression than yelling and binning a seven year relationship and three year marriage without a fuss. It didn’t make it out of his head though, past the fog of annoyance that stubbornly clung to him. Deep down he knew he wanted Tango to join him in being spiteful and angry, some sort of external assurance it was okay. Either side being validated would make him just feel like crap.

Yeah, he definitely shouldn’t have chosen Tango to talk to. He was going to blame the pancakes, who wouldn’t blab after that?

It took him a moment to register Tango was speaking again, after an eternity of silence. “You wrote a song about it?”

Jimmy shrugged, patted his case. “Quick thing in like twenty minutes. Fixed it up here and there, but it’s still pretty awful. Bunch of self-indulgent metaphors and stuff.” Scott had joked, once, that it was an example of why he and Lizzie were the lyricists and Jimmy just played guitar.

“Do you play it?”

“Just with each other.” In fact, he could count on his hands the number of times they’d played it. “Whenever things get a bit tense. Don’t think either of us brought our copy along.”

“Does it help?”

At that Jimmy had to pause. Did it? Sometimes. It helped them get back into the groove of working together in the band, reminded Jimmy they weren’t just husbands, but friends and bandmates. It probably wasn’t what they needed specifically, but it did something. So, he replied, “Yeah.”

“That’s good.” Tango said genuinely. “Maybe you guys should do that then? I don’t know, sorry, I’m not very good at this sorta thing.”

He laughed. “No, you aren’t. I thought you were going somewhere with that.”

“Listen, I’m trying!” Tango threw his hands up. “I mean if I were you I woulda knocked the guys’ teeth out, got the daylights knocked outta me back, and never showed my face again. I might still do that anyways, who knows.”

“Aw, don’t do that, I’d miss you.” Jimmy bumped his shoulder into the others, trying hard not to keep giggling.

A smirk stretched across Tango’s face, eyebrows jumping up to where Jimmy worried about the piercings in them pulling at the skin. “Oh is that the part wrong with that? Maybe you aren’t as forgiving a guy as you seem.”

“Nope, I’m an angel.”

“I’d believe it.” Tango got up. “Point is, I talk a lot and don’t say much. You two seem to have a lot to say, though, that you don’t like talking about. Can’t be to good for your noggins. Or your music.”

Jimmy sighed, and accepted the hand held out towards him that pulled him up out of bed. “No, probably not. I wouldn’t know where to start, though.”

“That one is definitely outta my pay grade. You’ll have to upgrade to Skizz or something. I’m just bozo over here.”

As he said it he reached up and squeezed his own nose, making a strange noise that took Jimmy far too long to realize was supposed to be honking. He barked, slapping a hand over his mouth. “Oh my gosh, what was that?”

“Hey! Don’t laugh at my joke!”

Jimmy burst, doubling over.

The door opened, interrupting their laughter. Joel poked his head in, looking wary only for a moment before he got a good look at Jimmy and his shoulders visibly dropped. “You guys okay in here?” He asked anyways.

“Think so?” Tango replied, gaze darting back to Jimmy, who nodded.

“That’s good. Couple of us were going to go get a look at the stages while Pearl talked to the organizers. You feeling up to coming along, Jim?”

He suddenly became painfully aware of how cramped and stuffy the trailer was, now that everything seemed lighter. “Yeah, okay.”

They were filing out when, “Oh, hey, Jimmy?”

Jimmy turned, watching as Tango’s hand hooked around the strap of Jimmy’s guitar case and lifted it up off the bed, holding it out towards him in question. A hand flew to Jimmy’s shoulder, and he blinked. “Thanks.” He muttered, taking the guitar and throwing it back into its usual place. It never felt so light.

Tango grinned, and slapped him on the back. “Alright, let’s go!”

#solidaritek #team rancher #jimmy solidarity #tangotek #scott smajor #geminitay #mcyt #trafficshipping #traffic series #fanfic #fanfiction #modern au #hurt/comfort #sharing a slice of cake

[buckttommy]

and you know what the thing is, is i don't even think the biggest problem is going to be that buck's jealous. eddie knows buck. that's the love of his life, but more than that, he just knows him intrinsically. he knows how he is. he knows he gets insecure. he knows he has abandonment issues, like. he knows. he has never once hesitated to give buck assurance and he'll give it again (that scene in buck's loft in 7x05). the problem is going to rise when eddie's relationship with tommy is still a problem after their talk, and neither of them are going to know why. becuase from eddie's pov, it's going to be like, well now you're just being ridiculous. i already told you i love you (in so many words). i already told you we're solid, i already told you nothing's going to change and you're still being weird and i don't like it. and from buck's pov, it's going to be like. i realize we had this conversation, but i still don't like this relationship. i still want things to go back to the way they were. i'm still hungry for your attention and you're not giving it to me.

and so it's like. that's where the wires get crossed. because at some point, buck is going to have to examine his thoughts and feelings again, and he's going to be like, well this man and his relationship with eddie has been the only thing that's consumed my thoughts for weeks; therefore, i must want him desperately. and it's like. yes. solid thinking there, buck. definitely no other options it could possibly be. nuh uh. makes perfect sense. 1000/10 excellent problem solving, great job, buckaroo. dumbass.

#And there's also something to be said about Buck's reaction to hearing that Eddie and Tommy clicked because he's like... 'Yeah I know #exactly what that's like because (when I stopped being dumb) you and I clicked' #and considering Buck's brain I have to wonder if there's something there in the way he thinks Eddie processes his own relationships #as in: the key to having a good solid bestfriendship is clicking with someone right off the bat #so in Buck's mind he is (for lack of a better word) relegated to JUST friendship because he thinks that's how it is in EDDIE'S mind #So of COURSE he's freaking out about Tommy moving in on his best friend because as far as he's concerned #being best friends with Eddie is just about having a natural connection #and not about like. What you actually offer him. Which is so shallow. Buck knows him deeper than that #but he's so blinded by his own irrational paranoia (and queer feelings which are scary when you are a baby gay!) #that he doesn't even realize what the fuck is going on in HIS head since he's so focused on what he THINKS is going on in Eddie's #Bless his sweet soul i need to kiss him so bad like buck you're so fucking dumb let's make out #anyways

[sysig]

Dr. ZEXenstein (Patreon)

#Doodles #SCII #ZEX #The Captain #DAX #I made this before Halloween so it was appropriately spooky at the time of creation! I swear!! #I have a favourite Frankenstein: The Musical animatic that occasionally goes through the rotation but it was still a surprise to crossover #But you know how it goes - at first it's just a fun initial silly/spooky idea and then my brain clicks back on and Oh No This Is A Thing lol #But for now! Silliness! #I'm still really enamoured with the idea of ZEX as a warrior and a scholar - very Thucydides y'know ♪ #His extremely brilliant tactical mind needs puzzles! And I mean with all this free time on Cerenkov and given the right Ingredients #He'd certainly have the motivation to try and figure out the trick to life maybe-very-specifically-about-humans lol #It does raise the question of what a ''human'' made by a VUX might be like ♪ Yes he's a reanimated corpse(s) but like #Surely even with all his research - at the very least something /could/ have gotten lost in translation :) #Maybe even just the inherent Thing of humanness - the soul or respect of the dead? Like swearing in another language if you know what I mean #It's interesting :) I mean it's interesting either way haha it's a fun concept! #Especially with Frankenstein specifically since y'know - the creature's whole Thing of why he Came Out Wrong was mostly on Victor! #He rejected and abandoned his ''child'' - of course he's gonna have some emotional issues Victor! #ZEX tho - ZEX has no reason to abandon a human(oid) especially one he intentionally went about bringing about! #So his eyes are a little weird - so he's got some odd stitches and he moves strangely and smells a bit - how different is that from humans? #All humans are monstrous! What's a few extra details? ZEX is already a xenophile and a teratophile is what I'm saying lol #DAX on the other hand is not convinced lol ♪ Drawing his head tendrils change expressions so fast was fun haha #As was drawing the Captain all stitched and with the bolts! Yes yes they're movie addition shhh all art is scaffolded over time #The real question is where ZEX got all the parts from - is that the Captain for realsies? #Or a fun role fill-in ''What if ZEX made a human and it was the Captain [before the Captain would've existed anyway]?'' #It could go either way! It'd be sad if ZEX lost his Captain and then tried to bring him back :') #But then again the alternative is him like........harvesting? (Off the battlefield? Ew lol) #Oh yeah and do you like the broken-off head tendril as a stand-in for Victor's whitening hair lol #I imagine it went necrotic and wasn't quite fully reaccepted - it's still full of blood and healthy but the skin is faded and pale hehehe

[orcelito]

It's been a month and a half and I'm still not even over Cassy yet, idk how I'm supposed to live with my uncle being dead too

#speculation nation #negative/ #i have been. yeah. but it barely feels like living. #acting as a marionette as people expect me to. revving my mental engines like 'yes i am absolutely going to work on a creative project #just watch me go i am Going to work on a creative project' #but then i try and it's just lacking in soul because it almost feels like i dont have one right now. #because my uncle is dead and my life is normal and i dont even have a loud grey baby to yell at me until i feed him #because theyre dead. theyre both fucking dead. #sometimes i wish it was possible to pick and choose who fate goes for next. there are people in my life that i just would not mind dying. #people who only bring difficulty to me. why cant They have died instead? #but no. it's my precious little loverboy and my fun loving & kind uncle #i hugged him goodbye and told him i love him and the next day he was dead. just like that. and i was in fucking colorado. #im at the end of my fucking rope y'all and i need to clean my apartment and set up a psychiatry appointment and call my landlord #and through it all i have to work and work and work and work #and im trying to bring some semblance of normalcy to myself by pointing myself at creative projects #but i cant commit to one bc im feeling it im feeling it im feeling it and then im not #click click click click goes the revolver of ideas on and on and on and it wont settle i think it settles and then it's moving on #and i pretend it's okay i smile i pretend it's okay i laugh i pretend it's okay but im living with a permanent crack in my brain #on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on (and on) #at least i have video games. im probably just going to play more fire emblem when i get home. #sorry for getting a bit to venting in here but im still sitting in the bathroom after clocking out 45 minutes ago #and i feel like my entire sense of being is being squeezed by the giant hand of god. oh how cruel. #animal death ment/ #no im not over cassy dying yet. he wasnt even 2 years old yet. he was way too fucking young to die so suddenly. #my uncle was too young too. my dad is 2 years older than him & he's in general good health still #but cancer doesnt descriminate. it would take us all if it could.

[fandomsandfeminism]

Yall wanna hear a kinda funny, kinda sad story about my grandmother and hetero-normativity?

Ok, so... when my grandmother was in her 50s (I was an infant), she met a woman at the Unitarian Church. And, as can happen when you meet your soul mate, this event made it impossible for her to deny parts of herself that she had fiercely hidden her whole life.

All the drama- their affair being found out, the divorce with my grandfather, the court battle over who got the house, happened while I was a baby. Even in my earliest memories, it's just Mama Jo and Oma, and my grandfather lived elsewhere (first his own apartment, then a nursing home, then with us.)

But here's the thing- no one ever explained any of this to me. No one ever sat down and was like "hey, Rosie, so do you know what a lesbian is?" It was the 90s. It was Texas. I think my mom was still kinda processing all this, and just assumed that like... I was gonna figure it out. Don't mention it, let it just be normal. Like I think my mom thought that if she explained the situation, she would be making it weird? I dunno.

But like. In the 90s, in all the movies I had seen and books I had read, do you know how many same sex couples I had seen? Like. 0. Do you know how many "platonic best friend/roommates" I had seen? A lot. I had no context, is what I'm saying.

I literally thought this was a Golden Girls, roommates, besties situation until I was like...I dunno, 11? 12?

It was actually their parrot, an African Grey named Spike, imitating my grandmothers voice saying "Johanna, honey, it's getting late", that triggered the MIND BLOWN moment as I realized that *there's only one master bedroom and it only has 1 waterbed* when all the pieces finally clicked.

Anyway. I think it's a real important thing for kids to know queer people exist, for a lot of reasons, but also because kids can be clueless and it's embarrassing to have your grandmother be outted by a parrot because everyone just thought you'd figure it out on your own.

Anyway, here is my grandma and her wife, my Oma, after they moved to Albuquerque to be artsy gay cowboys and live their best life. They helped run a "Lesbian Dude Ranch" out there (basically just with funding and financial support. As Oma has explained "traditionally, most lesbians don't have a lot of money" so they wrote the checks and let the younger ladies actually run the ranch.)

#this is the grandmother who passed away unexpectedly earlier this month #she was so cool yall #and so weird #they got married twice by the way once when Massachusetts legalized it and once when New Mexico did #they hiked the grand canyon together #they had a european river cruise planned for this fall #she was 89 and she wanted to see the whole world with her wife #and they were working on it #literally i thought they were roommates #and there was only one bed

[jyoongim]

LISTEN!! I have a spicy request!!

Alastor x reader and it's that stupid demon using reader as a cockwarmer while he's on air.

Ask and you shall receive!

Sorry if this was a little short!

Themes: established relationship, cockwarming, alastor being a little shit, soft porn plot

You were tinkering around the hotel running a few errands when Alastor had summoned you to his radio tower.

you knocked on his door and entered when you heard his muffled voice.

”Alastor did you need something?” You asked him as you walked in.

He was sitting at his broadcasting station and adjusting some knobs.

”Aaaah my dear, youre just in time to keep me company for todays broadcast” he chirped getting some scripts ready.

you smiled and went to make yourself comfortable in the other chair.

you enjoyed being in the studio as Alastor worked as he usually liked to be alone as he broadcast his talk show.

before you could even make past him, he caught your waist and plopped you into his lap. You were quirked a brow but he just smiled and cut on his radio.

”salutations you damned souls” he started.

you nuzzled against him as you got comfortable and leaned your head against his shoulder as he did his thing. Alastor’s voice was so relaxing to hear.

you listened to him for a while in pure bliss.

until you felt a noticeable lump underneath your ass.

oh

you blinked and tried to adjust yourself, when Alastor’s hand gripped your waist. His lips were at your ear “what a naughty doll you are dearest” he whispered. You blushed and tried to move so you weren’t causing him any discomfort.

but Alastor had other ideas.

He lifted you up a bit and you heard a distinct click of his belt and zipper

you went to ask him what he was doing when you felt his claws pull at your panties and brought you back down onto his lap.

only to have your cunt filled with his cock.

your back arched and surprised you let out a soft gasp.

”A-Alastor?”

he hummed and kissed your neck “you’ll have to be quiet mon Cher, wouldn’t want the listeners to hear would you?”

you whimpered and tried to stay as still as possible.

but it was so hard.

Alastor continued on with his broadcast and you were positive that you were leaking all over him.

”please” you whined as his dick dragged along your insides.

alastor tutted at you, nipping at your ear.

His hands had moved to gripped your waist and he purred into his mic

“Well folks that all for tonight so please enjoy the sensational tune of true radio”

he hit a button ending the audio and switched to having soft jazz play.

he turned you around and grinned at your wobbly lip

”you did better than I thought my dear…now how about I treat this needy cunt hmm?”

#hazbin alastor #hazbin hotel #alastor #alastor the radio demon #alastor x reader #alastor x y/n #alastor smut #hazbin hotel fanfiction #jyoongim

[oceantornadoo]

home invasion

neighbor!simon, gender-neutral reader, fluff, implied violence

--

there was someone in your room.

you had fallen asleep on your living room couch, soothed by the sounds of the trashy reality tv show you had on. some creeping sensation overcame you, cold hands tickling your spine, waking up you body with a bucket of ice water. you lay absolutely still as you heard sounds of someone rummaging through your things. thankfully your apartment walls were thin, so you heard them closing drawers loudly, as if they didn't think you were home. you started running situations through your head, ones where you called the police and they came too late, your trespasser having heard the phone call. there was only one decision to make.

silently, like you were five again and playing hide and seek, you moved towards your door. thankfully your door didn't squeak, blood rushing the only sound running through your head. you left the door slightly ajar as you sprinted down the hall to his door.

"simon!" you whisper yelled, knocking furiously but trying not to alert the intruder at the same time. tears were gathering in your eyes, ones of frustration of having your safe space broken into. finally, after what felt like an hour, the lock clicked and he opened the door.

simon was grumpy. he had just started to fall asleep, that elusive feeling he seemed to chase these days, never quite catching it. he was about to tell you as such until he saw your eyes glistening, hands gripping your blanket fiercely. "theresanintruderinmyroomhesinmy" you sputtered, absolutely distraught. "slow down, lovie. wha' happened?" fuck, he wasn't supposed to call you that. he was supposed to keep his distance and not be one of those creeps you complained about. and now he had fucked it up and- "there's someone in my apartment. in my bedroom. going through my things. i knew the cops wouldn't come fast enough so i just thought-" he interrupted you, opening his door just wide enough to shove you through it. fast as a whip, he turned around, kissing your forehead through his mask and murmuring "lock it behind me." suddenly, he was gone, your vengeful grim reaper stalking down the hall to his next victim.

ten minutes later, the clock in the kitchen ticking slower than humanly possible, you spotted him closing the door of your apartment, shoulders bunched around his ears. you were pressed against the peephole, opening the door for him as he neared. "simon? what happened?" his eyes were black pits in his head, pupils blown wide by some intangible force. bloodlust. he reached behind you, triple checking the lock, before turning on the light. you gasped.

his knuckles were bloody, gray shirt disheveled, like someone tried to claw it. his mask was askew, shoved slightly up as if someone tried to pull it off but were stopped before they got the chance. he pulled your forehead to his, souls touching in some intimate embrace. this was your neighbor, the one who always held the door for you and accepted your extra baked goods with quiet disagreement. the one who covered sharp edges of corners before you bumped into them, watching your door to make sure you got in okay after late nights out with friends. he breathed in your scent quietly, telling himself this was not a mission, this was you. he ran his thumbs under your jawline and down your neck, feeling your pulse to remind him you were alive. you, this bundle of life he came back to, week after week, deployment after deployment, the one reason he stayed in this shitty building when he could easily afford something better. "yer stayin' with me tonight." you nodded easily, soft as butter in his arms.

you blinked and you were in his bed, strong arms wrapped around you. he gripped you hard, like he thought the intruder might try to steal you straight out of his arms. in the darkness of his room, you slipped off his mask, laying it on his bed table. you kissed his forehead, a mirror of the one he gave you earlier, and snuggled into the crook of his neck. "thank you." you whispered into the silence of the night. you felt him nod against you, arms constricting tighter, legs tangled in the safety of his bed.

simon didn't sleep much. too many memories, sounds of gunfire and the glint of the meat hook ever present. he was required to see a shrink on base, but even that didn't help. turns out this whole time, all he needed was you.

--

#simon ghost riley #simon riley x reader #simon riley x you #fluff #ghost call of duty #tornadothoughts

[angelfrombeneth]

HIS FAVOURITE - T . NOTT

Mature Content Ahead

Theodore Nott x F!Reader

Summary: *REQUESTED*, You and Theo are best friends with benefits, you thought what more could you want. Until you finally get faced with a girl brave enough to touch what's yours. But he wasn't yours was he?

Warnings: SMUT, Switch!Theo, Switch!Reader, Unprotective sex (WRAP IT UP!!), Tit Sucking, Alot of grabbing and marking. Slight blood kink mention. Pain play to a certain degree.

Your giggling as Theo, kisses down your collarbone, pulling down your bra as he latches himself onto your breast, his free hand gripping your other one. Your hands running through his hair as he peers up at you, his dark eyes staring into your soul.

"God you are so hot" Theo growled against your skin, licking a stripe between your breasts before unclapsing your bra and dropping it off the side of the bed as you giggled, pulling his tie as you latched onto his mouth once again.

The pair of you were making out on his bed, partially clothed. It's not like you wanted to have sex with this moment, you just liked the feeling of being skin to skin with him. Theo was completely free of his uniform, only in his boxers and his tie that hung loosely around his neck. You were in just your skirt, with a completely bare chest.

You pecked his lips softly as you moved to straddle him, giggling as his hands rested on your ass, squeezing the flesh tightly.

"I dont want to go to DADA" you groaned, leaning forward against Theo's chest, arching your back slightly as you leaned up on your elbows.

"Just skip, I had a free" He whined, pouting up at you.

"Theo don't get me wrong, I love spending time with you but I can only handle your presence for so long" You giggled as you sat up, Theo following suit, kissing your neck softly as his hands roamed up and down your back. "And besides, I get to stare that new girl- she's super cute you know" You giggled as you looked at him.

"Cuter than me?" You looked at you briefly before burying himself back in your chest, sucking the flesh around your tits, leaving dark hickies.

"Obviously not" You ruffled his hair chuckling as you lifted up his chin and began to kiss him again.

You both heard a loud knock on the door, pulling away from eachother briefly.

"Who is it?" Theo yelled as you began to now attack his neck. Nibbling and sucking on the skin as he chuckled as your neediness.

"Its me- Do you have a chick in here-" Mattheo busted the door open, hand over his eyes.

"Mhm, its Y/N tho" He slapped your ass harshly as you yelped giggling as you cuddled into him, pressing your tits into his chest as you looked at Mattheo.

"Hi Matty" you cooed.

His hand drooped from his eyes as he looked at the two of you and scoffed, shutting the door and throwing himself on his bed. "Thank god its you" He groaned.

"Excuse me are there other girls?" You looked at Theo, your words spilling out of your mouth quickly before noticing that was riddled with jealousy.

"What! No?? Mattheo is just fucking around" Theo looked at you.

You rolled your eyes standing up, as you put your bra back on. You couldn't help but notice Mattheo sneaking a glance.

"Y/N, I'm serious-"

"Theo I'm joking" You laughed out, poking his chest as you pulled your blouse back on. "Its not like we are dating or something." You laughed awkwardly before clapping your hands together while slipping your heels on. "I've got DADA, see you boys later" You smiled.

"What your leaving? But I'm fucking harder than stonehenge right now" Theo whined.

"OK and? You have a fucking hand Nott. Bye Riddle!" You yelled before shutting the door behind you.

After class, you spot Pansy waiting for you outside your class.

"My lovely wife escorting me to lunch?" You gasped.

"Of course!" Pansy chuckled as you kissed eachothers cheeks.

"God DADA was so boring, but I heard some gossiping from the Ravenclaws" You raised an eyebrow.

"Oo I'm listening" Pansy chuckled.

The pair of you walked down the hall, your heels clicking insync as you giggled, whispering to eachother and gossiping. You walk into the Great Hall, a few people looking at you both as you turned to them, glaring at them. You both made it to the Slytherin table, looking at your friends smiling.

You walked over to Theo, his hand instantly resting on the back of your thigh, right below the curve of your ass as you smiled down at him.

"Your guys's friendship is fucking weird" Draco groaned.

You rolled your eyes, sitting down beside Theo as you, began to eat your lunch. "Of course you'd say that, you can't even wrap your head around the concept of friends with benefits because you dont have any friends" Theo barked back.

"I have friends. You guys are my friends!" Draco defended, looking round at you all as you all plmade questionable noises to wind him up. "Oh piss off" You all laughed.

"Oh! Y/N!" Pansy grabbed your hand, leaning over the table. "I forgot to tell you, Harry and Ron are having like this weird argument because Ginny admitted to Ron she likes Harry but Ron is blaming Harry, how weird right?!"

"Ron is definitely a weird one, let Ginny be happy" You scoffed.

"Thats what I said, but poor girl.. She likes Potter, he's just.. hes not even in the top 10" Pansy gritted her teeth causing you to laugh.

"Top 10?? you guys are ranking us?" Mattheo chirped.

"Whats this about ranking?" Blaise walked over, hand in hand with Daphne as Astoria loomed behind the two.

"Tori!" You smiled as the girl sat beside you, as you hugged her.

"The girls have ranked us apparently" Draco quipped.

"Oh yeah, we ranked everyone worthy" Daphne smiled, removing Blaises hand from her shoulder.

"Who's first?" Theo asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know" Pansy smirked.

Everyone hounded Pansh with questions about the list and you all giggled at the boys being so desperate to know.

Theo looked at you with pleading eyes, you giggled looking at Theo and whispering. "Your my number one anyway" You smiled, squeezing his thigh before standing up.

"Right I'm off, want to make sure I can get a good seat for Charms" You smiled standing up, everyone turning to look at you.

"I'll walk you" Theo smiled and standing up and walking behind you, his arm over your shoulder.

As the pair of you walked off, Theo smirked, dropping his arm from your shoulder and slapping your ass loudly.

"Theo!-" You yelped looking around the Great Hall before smacking his arm. He laughed as you scoffed walking faster out the hall.

After what felt like fucking hours, you finally finished your classes for the day and went back to your room. You had two extra classes today which meant you finished at 6pm whereas everyone else finished at 3pm. You skipped out on dinner, grabbing some snacks from the kitchen during your 2 minute break you had.

You walked back to your dorm, opening the door and ignored your surroundings as you crash into your bed, face first.

It took you a few seconds to realise the music filling the room before you sat up and looked at Astoria, Daphne abd Pansy all huddled in the shared bathroom you all share.

"What are you guys doing" You groaned, your head resting against your pillow as you layed on your side.

"Its a party girl!" Daphne smiled.

"Party? What party?" You sat up, groaning.

"Just the boys felt like it. We organised it over dinner. Hope you don't mind Y/N" Astoria looked over at you.

"Of course not, just give me 10 minutes to power nap" You sighed, pulling your pillow to cover your face as you blacked out.

You felt yourself being shaken as you woke up, looking around the room confused. You looked to see Pansy sat next to you smiling.

"Oh Pans- Fuck what time is it.." You sat up, hearing music downstairs.

"Its 9:30pm, the party started an hour ago. We were going to wake you up for pres but I wanted you to rest" She smiled.

"Fuck Pans that's like nearly 4 hours" You groaned.

"Its ok, I told everyone you aren't dead just sleeping. You know who wa super worried.." She nudged you. "Theo"

"Pans I told you.. Its not like that" You sighed.

"I know, but I think he likes you Y/N, I wouldn't be saying this if I didn't mean it" She followed you as you walked into the bathroom quickly stripped down as you hopped in the shower. You and Pansy were super close, you even showered together sometimes so it didn't bother you that she was here.

"God I wish" You groaned. "Do you think he's sleeping with other girls"

"No, I don't think he is. Mattheo is a whore but he has loose lips, we'd know" She hummed.

"Mattheo said 'do you have a chick in here' earlier what if he's seeing other girls Pans-"

"Y/N, your overthinking it.. Calm down"

The two of you went back and forth for a half hour as you showered quickly, drying yourself over as you sat in a towel doing ur makeup as Pansy dried your hair and styled it.

"Give it a chance, I mean you two literally hook up anyway. He fucking slapped your ass in public!" She laughed as she combed your hair.

You set your makeup, sighing at Pansy smiled backing away and staring at her masterpiece. You turned to her with a weak smile. "You think?"

"I know" She smiled, grabbing the dress that was on her bed. "This will make it work" She smirked as she held up an extremely tiny black dress. It was strapless and and ti y! It looked like a top.

"I can't fucking wear this" You held it uo to your body.

"You can and u will, now hurry up!" She grabbed your towel, pulling it off as you stood just in panties.

"Whatever help me with this" You pulled the dress up, holding it up around your breasts as Pansy zipped it. You won't lie, it was a fucking work out, your tits were way too big for this dress, pratically spilling over the top and the bottom of your ass was very much visible and if you bent over so would your red thong.

"Isn't this too slutty?" You looked to her as you put your heels on.

She popped a gummy in your mouth as she smiled at you. "Nope, now chew"

The two of you swallowed the gummies and waited until you started to feel the effect. The pair of you had hardly eaten so the weed hit you quicker than usual. Within minutes you were feeling the buzz and feeling more relaxed.

"Lets go" Pansy smiled taking your hand and leading you out of the room.

The two of you decended down the stairs, giggling as you held one another. People turning to look at the pair of you.

You noticed multiple people looking, feeling slightly nervous because of your outfit.

"You look hot, that's why they're looking" Pansy whispered smiling. You sighed as she continued to lead you through the crowd to the corner of the common room.

"Pansy is back!" A very drunk Daphne cheered as she sat on Blaise's lap.

Everyone turned to greet the pair of you, you noticed Theo by the window. The moment his eyes locked onto you he beckoned you over. You rounded the couch and walked to the window.

"What are you wearing?" Theo looked up at you, looking behind you and glaring at people who stared at you.

"Pansy gave me it" You felt his gaze burning through you.

His hands gripping the top of your thighs tightly, his hands threatening to grip your ass.

"Your driving me insane" He bit his lip, pulling you closer. "You can't wear this, not when other guys can see you"

You looked down at him, giggling softly as your hands rested on his shoulders. "Oh yeah?" Your right hand going to his neck as you softly caressed it.

"Mhm.. You're mine" His right hand gripping your left cheek tightly as his hand slid up your dress. He leaned up, taking his right hand and pulling your neck as he kissed you.

You felt as if it was just the two of you, no one else around as you pulled away he smiled up at you. His hand stayed on your ass as his other hand reached into his pocket, popping a cigarette in his mouth, pulling out his lighter.

"Light this for me, Principessa" He mumbled with the cigarette between his lips. You took the lighter from his hand, covering the end with your hand as you lit it. You watched him take a long drag as he exhaled, smiling up at you. "Thank you"

You stayed with Theo for a bit longer giggling as you two exchanged your days. You really fucking liked this guy, but you were still unsure if he just saw you as a friend.. a body. You got too in thought and had to excuse yourself.

"I'm going to get a drink" You smiled. "I'll be back"

"Don't be too long" He chuckled, taking his cup to his lips as he took a swig of his drink.

You walked away from him, you walked futher into the crowd spotting Pansy and grabbing her arm as you walked over to the drinks table.

"Holy fuck, you were literally making out back there" She laughed, as you stared at her.

"Pansy- I can't do it anymore. I can't kiss him- I love him.. I'm too invested, my heart is literally in my throat" You blabbered.

"Tell him then.. I think you should just go for it" She smiled at you. "You can do it"

You took a deep breath. "I'm going to do it" You nodded smiling.

"OK, well its just you two over there, just let me know how it goes. Promise?" She holds up her pinkie.

You chuckled, locking your pinkie with hers. "Promise"

"Good luck!" She cheered as you turned around and began to walk back towards where you left Theo.

This was it. You were going to do it. You were going to tell Theodore how much you liked him. You loved him, everything about him. You two would seal the deal with a kiss and have a great night. You were excited despite the nerves eating you up.

As you saw the end of the crowd, you pushed through the last few people turning towards the window you left Theo. You noticed he wasn't there anymore, your eyebrows raised as you turned around looking around the room before you spotted his hair. You smiled, skipping towards the wall he was leaning against before you froze. A girl infront of him, he smiled as he spoke to her. You recognised this girl as the new girl who had recently transfered to Hogwarts. Her blonde hair flipping as she played with her talking to him. You slowlee down as you bared closer, stopping completely in your tracks when you saw it. When you saw them kiss.

Your heart dropped to your ass, the nerves rising to your mouth like you were going to throw up. Everything went in slow motion, the second she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him towards her. The pressure on the glass in your hand was harsh, the glass burst in your hands as your tongue poked the inside of your cheek, you radiated jealously. You ran, dropping the remainder of the glass as you ran towards the dorms, towards your safe space. Your bed.

You opened the door, tears staining your face as your makeup slightly ran. You looked in the mirror and just laughed. "You are so stupid.. Why are you crying? Crying over a boy!"

Third POV

As you ran through the crowd Theo, pushed the girl away, and noticed you rushing through the crowd quickly.

"What the fuck are you doing?" He looked at the girl.

"Kissing you duh?" She looked at him weirdly.

"I have a fucking girlfriend!" He snapped as he pushed past her and ran through the crowd, looking for you.

He was running everywhere looking for you, but noticing his friends are still here, especially Pansy, so he retreated to your room.

Your POV

"Stupid!" You yelled as you kicked your heels off.

Just then the door swung open and Theo looked at you, his face softening at the sight of yours.

"Y/N- Listen let me explain-"

You cut him off "You don't need to explain Theo. We aren't dating, I shouldn't be upset. I know. It's just.." Your lip quivered. You turned to look at him.

"God Theo. Why did you have to be so fucking perfect. This makes this so fucking hard for me!" You screamed as you hit his chest sobbing. "I- I know we aren't dating. I have no right- we are just friends but... you make it so hard to just be friends" You sobbed loudly into his chest as your balled fist, hit against him softly.

Theo's heart was in his throat seeing you like this. You wouldn't stop rambling on about how your sorry you got jealous and everything, you weren't listening. You werent giving him a chance. Theo pushed you away, before crashing his lips onto your to shut you up mid rant.

You were shocked from the action, freezing momentarily as he pulled away, holding your shoulders. "I didn't kiss her Y/N. She kissed me- I pulled away. I don't want anyone else. I only want you-" He looked down at you, biting his lip nervously.

"Y-You do.." You nibbled on your own lip too, looking up at him.

"Yes! You idiot" He laughed, as you smiled at him. He took your hands into his but noticed a cut.

"Did you hurt yourself?" He lifted up your hand to examine said cut.

"Um well-"

Theo just laughed as he shook his head. His eyes locked on yours as he smirked, licking the blood from your hand before pressing a soft kiss on it. "Lets get you cleaned up"

Theo pulled you into your bathroom cleaning your cut and wrapping it up. While he teased you for getting so jealous you smashed a glass. You were flustered and didn't know what more to say, which he found entertaining.

The pair of you left the bathroom, and Theo sat on your bed as you stood before him.

"My jealous little girl" He smirked.

"Stop it.." You looked away.

"You going to fight any girl that looks my way huh? Be my personal guard dog" He teased, laughing. You pushed his chest as you whined and he took the opportunity to take your hands and pulled you closer, causing you to fall forward ontop of him. His back now against the mattress as you held yourself above him.

He smiled up at you, as you peered down at him. "I love you, really. I've wanted to say it for so long" He snaked his hand around your neck as he kissed you harshly, sitting up and pulling you to straddle his lap.

Your hands snake around his neck as he gripped your waist harshly, pulling you closer as you both makeout. His tongue sliding into your mouth as you hum softly. You pull away, biting your lip as you whine. "Unzip me"

Theo is quick to unzip the dress and pull it up over your head as you unbutton his shirt and slide it off, kissing down your neck, sucking at the skin harshly, leaving dark hickies. Soft moans left his lips as you continued to move down to his collarbone, grinding back and forth on his bulge before pulling away.

"God, you are so perfect" He groaned, u buckling his belt and pulling it off roughly. You got off him momentarily as he stood up, taking a condom out his pocket, throwing it onto the pillow and dropping his jeans before you grabbed him, pulling him back down on the bed as you straddled him once again. "Fuck- Needy too"

"Shut up" You laughed, sitting up slightly as you pushed his boxers down, watching his cock slap up to his stomach, precum leaking from his tip. "You're the needy one" You cooed, taking his length in your hand and jerking it a few times watching his face contort as you smirked. You reached for the condom that he took out of his pocket, ripping it open and sliding it down his dick.

You held his dick, using your free hand to pull your panties to the side as you slowly sunk down on it, leaning your head back as you whined softly before taking a deep breath in before letting your whole body just drop onto his length as you gasped, scratching his chest as you felt him pratically fold inside you.

"Fuck- so tight" You gritted his teeth, using his arms to support himself up on the bed as you sighed, grinding back and forth ontop of him. Feeling his cock move inside of you.

"...holy shit.." You whispered "Am I high or does this feel better than normal" You whined, gripping his shoulders are you spend up, rocking your hips back and forth faster. "Fuck yes!-"

"Fuck yourself on my cock, yeah like that-" He groaned, throwing his head back momentarily before reaching his hands to your hips, rocking you faster.

"God I fucking love your cock!-" You whined, leaning forward as you kissed him roughly. Theo sat up, pulling you as close as he could, shoving his tongue down your throat as you madeout extremely sloppily. His hands gripping your ass as he forcefully rocked your ass back and forth at a phenomenal pace as you both moaned into the kiss.

You've never been more grateful until now that Theo was a vocal guy during sex, he was beyond turning you on.

He took your lip between his teeth as he groaned, sucking on your lip as you yelped, scratching at his back as you began to bounce on his dick. His hands on the curve of your ass helping lift you up and down. He let out a whine as you threw your head back, gasping for air as you repeatedly moaned his name.

"Yes! Oh yes- Theodore! There!" You screamed out as you let out a soft giggle.

His lips latched to your breast again, sucking it harshly as you bounced up and down on his cock like your life depended on it. His tongue swirled your nipple before flicking at it, his cheeks hollowing as he sucked the flesh, his cock growing harder inside of you.

You pulled his head up to yours, your tit falling from his mouth, his lips wet with saliva as you pressed your forehead to his.

"M' love you- you feel so good" He whined.

"Love you too" You sighed, pecking his lips softly.

You felt so drunk on his dick you were going insane. You push him back to lay against the bed as you leaned forward, your breasts pushed up against his chest as you slapped your ass down against his pelvis with each movement. Skin slapping and bed creak filled the room as you did so.

"Teddy- I love you so much-" You whined out.

"I know darling- I know you do" He croaked as he looked at you, panting heavily.

You gulped, lifting your ass pulling his dick out of you, his eyebrows furrow as he looked at you. You pinch the tip of the condom before yanking it off harshly, tying it quickly before throwing it into ur trashcan. "I want to show you.. that I-" You steadied yourself, holding his dick against your wet folds as you rubbed it up and down before sinking down yet again. "That- I love you.. fuck.. cum in me-"

Theo's eyes grew wide as you wiggled back down on his cock. Gasping at the feeling of being bare inside of you. He didn't last long, neither of you did.

You continued to rock back and forth, panting heavily as you gripped his shoulders feeling his dick twitch inside of you, no condom barrier. You tugged at his hair throwing your head back as you gasped, as you rode him with all your might.

You kissed him deeply, moaning softly into the kiss as he held you close. His hand on your neck as he kissed your deeper.

"Fuck yeah- m' coming" He growled as he gritted his teeth, thrusting harshly up into you, flipping the pair of you over so that you layed against the bed. His thrusts became erratic as the bed creaked with his moments as you gripped his back, your legs tightly clamped around his waist as your whole body rebounded off of him. Theo was spoilt for the view, watching as your tots bounce against his thrusts. His hands gripping both of them as he thrusted deep and harsh one more time before letting out a soft whiney moan as he came inside of you- you also following suit.

The two of you panting heavily as Theo, layed next to you, cuddling you as you snuggled into his chest.

As Theo went to pull out, you gasped slightly, gripping his chest. "Dont" you whispered. He smiled as you pulled you closer, holding you tightly as he pulled the covers over the pair of you.

"Goodnight Amore mio" Theo spoke softly, pressing a kiss onto your temple. He looked down at your peacefully sleeping figure as he smiled to himself, snuggling into you as he also closed his eyes.

Third POV

Pansy giggled, holding Luna's hand as she opened the dorm door, before scanning the room noticing a very drunk Astoria passed out on Daphne's bed right by the door. Daphne no where to be seen. She walked to the other side of the room, opening your shared drawers as she grabbed some pajamas but noticing you abd Theo cuddling, under the duvet. She smiled to herself before tiptoeing over to Astoria and pulling the covers over her.

"Y/N and Theo are so cute" Luna cooed.

"I know.. Hopefully they are official now, this never happens" Pansy giggled, exiting the room with Luna and slowly shutting the door.

#harrypotter fanfiction #slytherin boys #slytherin boys fanfiction #lorenzo zurzolo #slytherin fanfiction #theo nott x reader #theodore nott x reader #theo nott smut #theodore nott smut #angelfrombenethfics