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rosycheekedandsmilin · 3 years

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Here Comes the Sun

Here Comes the Sun

Luke Patterson Imagine

Summary: Luke sees you at one of the boys’ practice sessions.

Warnings: just fluff with a hint of angst, I think. There is a mention of a pregnancy rumor and implied bullying, but not extensively

(A/N: I’m soooo sorry this took so long. Things have been hectic. Also, this would be before they died back in 1995. Plus, I’m new to all this so any recommendations, comments, tips, etc would be appreciated)

You had told your friend, Dianne, that you had homework to do, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer. The boys of Sunset Curve were rising quickly on the LA scene and your friend was just one of the many to join their legions of female fans. It also helped that they happened to go to school with you. You couldn’t deny that they were all pretty cute, but you sided with many when you decided you had a preference for the front man: Luke Patterson.

You both used to be close your freshman year, but after he joined Sunset Curve your sophomore year, you both went your separate ways. You’d actually seen him several times in the hallways this year when he wasn’t surrounded by girls. He would be stepping in time with some imaginary beat, his fingers plucking on the old messenger bag hanging from his shoulder. He was always looking up, ever the optimist, looking at the horizon like only good things could ever come his way. His bottom lip caught in his teeth through a beaming smile, his hair brushing along his long eyelashes-

Whew. He was gorgeous.

And trigonometry homework could wait for you to see that gorgeous again up close.

The boys would sometimes hold open practice for a few fans to come watch and hang out, but it was starting to become exclusive as more people began to show up than they had room for.

Thus, your friend lept at the opportunity when she cornered Reggie alone in World History. You giggled at his adorable smile as your friend twirled her hair and flirted his socks off. Before you knew it, she was running back to you with a grin and the promise to see the band practice that coming Thursday after school.

You dressed in some simple mom jeans and a graphic tshirt tied at the waist, hopefully to flatter your figure. Dianne guaranteed you looked “smokin’ hot”, in her words. 4:10 struck and you both got in her car to head that way. The practice started at 4:00, but Dianne told you repeatedly that being fashionably late would set you both apart from the crowd.

On the way to the studio garage, you found yourself extremely nervous. You didn’t even fully know why; it was just a band, just a boy. It wasn’t a date or you throwing yourself at him, but you couldn’t help the fluttering feeling in your stomach at the thought of seeing Luke Patterson perform before a selected crowd, you being one of them.

Meanwhile, the boys were starting to warm up when Reggie started rambling.

“Isn’t it weird that no one comes on Thursdays?”

Bobby snickered. Alex and Luke shared a look before Alex turned to Reggie.

“Dude, that’s because the school has lacrosse games on Thursdays. No one wants to be here when our team is on a winning streak.”

Reggie thought a moment before laughing at himself.

“Oh yeah! I completely forgot. Then Dianne must have forgot too.”

Luke, Alex and Bobby all turned back to Reggie.

Luke spoke up this time.

“Dianne as in Dianne Parker?”

Reggie nodded. Luke’s eyes widened.

“Dianne Parker, as in friends with-“

Reggie smiled. “Yep. Y/n y/l/n.”

Bobby turned to Luke.

“Isn’t that the girl you’ve liked since-“

“-freshman year. Yeah,” Luke sighed.

He turned to Alex, but Alex waved him off.

“Even I have to admit the puppy dog eyes you used to get around her.”

Luke smiled softly, falling back into a memory.

You and he had been lab partners in Chemistry your freshman year, as well as shared a homeroom together. This was back before he was introduced to the music that saved his life, so he was still a shy little kid. He hadn’t found the passion that spurred him to connect to people. You, on the other hand, were everything he wished he could be: kind, smart, and courageous.

You weren’t quite an extrovert, but you always made sure others felt included and valued. When someone fell quiet during group discussion, you encouraged them to speak up and always made sure they knew you valued their input. When he would inevitably get an answer wrong in class, you would quietly show him the correct answer and explain it to him in a way that he didn’t feel stupid. And you would regularly invite people eating alone to join your small group of friends.

There came a point where Luke’s parents pushed him to get a tutor because of his failing grades, and you offered immediately after hearing about it. Every Tuesday and Thursday, you both would meet in the public library after school. As time went on, Luke grew to enjoy your time together and even grew a crush, but he never thought you would like the little shy kid that couldn’t speak up for himself. Then his sophomore year, his parents gifted him with his first guitar and it changed him forever. He connected with people in a way he never had before. By the time he worked up the courage to tell you how he really felt, you were in your first relationship with Danny Fenton, the star quarterback.

Luke just had to watch as you walked with him everyday and cheered him on the loudest on Friday night football games. Then, you had a messy break up. Not even a week later, a rumor spread that it was because you had cheated and were pregnant. It was a nasty, false rumor, but enough people believed it that you moved away your junior year.

In the meantime, Luke had already formed a band and was rising through the social ranks. When he learned you had moved back your senior year, he flipped. Still, he could never find the nerve to talk to you again, and you kept your head low to avoid the social radar.

That all changed today. The boys cornered Reggie.

“Is she coming today?” Luke asked.

Reggie gulped, his eyes darting between the three faces in front of him.

“I-I don’t know! Dianne just stopped me in world history and started asking about the band and Luke and-“

“She asked about me?”

“Well, yeah and she was twirling her hair and you know I have a thing about hair-“

“Did she mention anything about y/n?” Alex piped in.

“Well, she said that she and a friend wanted to watch practice today-“

“A friend? I’m sure it’s her,” Luke spoke to himself, running his fingers through the scruff on the back of his neck.

“Dude, are you gonna be okay?” Bobby asked, the three other boys staring nervously at Luke’s retreated figure.

He turned slowly, his deep hazel eyes wide in uncertainty.

“Well,” he said, taking in a breath, his shoulders dropping in finality, “it’s now or never.”

•••••

“We’re here!” Dianne cheered as her mom’s van screeched to a halt in the drive of the studio garage.

Forget the butterflies, hornets filled your stomach now. And they were angrily looking for a way out.

“Are you sure about this?” You asked weerily, holding your stomach.

“Absolutely!” Dianne beamed, turning to you from the front seat.

Your eyes finally caught the obvious problem outside your window.

“Um, Di?”

“Hmm?”

You blanched.

“Where is everyone?”

“Oh. My. Gosh. Well, what do you know! I must have completely forgot that everyone goes to the lacrosse games on Thursdays! Looks like we’re the only ones to watch today!”

It took all the zen you had not to throttle her little neck.

“Why do you hate me?” You cried out.

She giggled. “‘S all love, darling.”

“Dianne,” you begged, “you know our history.”

“And I know your chemistry too.”

You let out a small wail and looked out the tinted window at the studio garage. The doors were closed, but you could hear the muffled sound of guitars and drums warming up still.

Dianne had already stepped out of the van.

“Y/n, c’mon. We’re already late.”

“That was your idea!”

She held out her hand, giving you a pleading look.

“Di, I don’t know if I’m ready to face him again. So much had happened since-“

“Since you realized you liked him? And Danny got jealous and started that rumor?”

You nodded.

“Darling, that is the past. This is the now.”

“But what if-“

“Can I let you in on a little secret?”

You took a deep breath.

“Yeah?”

A small smile made its way onto her face.

“Reggie told me that Luke still has it bad for you.”

Your jaw dropped.

“You’re lying.”

She shook her head, smiling.

“I’m completely serious. That’s one of the reasons that Reggie was so excited to have us come today.”

You rolled your eyes.

“And what was the other reason?”

Dianne blushed.

“I may have told him that I would make out with him under the bleachers tomorrow at lunch.”

You smiled softly at her.

You were still a scarlet letter when you came back to school, so you couldn’t find anyone willing to be seen with your reputation. That was until you met Dianne, who was known as a serial home-wrecker. That wasn’t true, of course, but a bended truth of a spited ex-girlfriend. Still, she’d had more romantic exploits than you could count on your fingers and toes.

“C’mon, (y/n). Prince Charming is waitin’ for ya.”

You blushed as you made your way out.

•••••

There was a knock on the studio doors and three heads snapped up.

Alex, Reggie and Bobby all looked to each other and Luke.

Luke was facing a nook in the back, his headphones playing from a Walkman. He was still trying to see if he could learn the riff from Wonderwall by Oasis before you came in, but none of the boys wanted to be the one to nudge him with the way he was practically vibrating in his seat.

They shared a silent look before Reggie nodded knowingly.

“Rock, paper, scissors, boys.”

Alex turned to him, blinking.

“Reggie, there’s three of us. That’s not gonna- ok.”

Alex walked up to the door and opened it to reveal you and Dianne, both smiling nervously.

“Hellooo, Dianne,” Reggie crooned as Dianne waved at him, a suave smile painting his features. Dianne giggled beside you and you found yourself bristling with nerves.

“Uh, hey, y/n,” Alex greeted you warmly, nudging Bobby forward as well to greet you.

You pressed your lips in an awkward smile and forced your hand up into a wave. Your mind began to get caught in a cycle.

I should not have come I should not have come I should not have come-

“Hey, y/n, welcome to our practice. Because you both made the wonderful choice to come watch today, we have decided to gift you with free merch!” Reggie grinned, winking at Dianne.

“Reggie, all our merch is free-” Alex started, but Reggie pressed a finger to his lips, pressing them to the side as Alex glared at him. Bobby laughed and you quickly joined in, eager to rid yourself of your nerves. You all began to fall into comfortable banter and the boys were hilarious. Dianne was flirtingly feeling up Reggie’s bicep, asking him about his workout schedule.

“Oh, yeah,” Reggie said, his voice jokingly low and gruff. He flexed his arm. “I have quite a regime.”

Alex scoffed. “What regime? Your type of workout is chasing down the ice cream truck and lifting meatball subs to your mouth.”

“Hey,” Reggie said, turning to Alex with a look of betrayal on his face, “it is an intense regime none the less!”

Suddenly, there was a creaking sound from the back corner.

You stiffened.

The boys had forgotten about the tense guitarist behind them, who had been blocked from your and Dianne’s view by their figures.

A footstep. Another. Then another.

The boys parted and your heart stopped.

Two perfectly sparkling hazel eyes looked up at you through brown tasseled hair. And there it was, that beaming smile that warmed every inch of your body.

You were thrown back three years to the vision of that shy boy with a nervous bounce asking you for help with number three.

That same boy stood before you now, gazing at you like you were a triple-chocolate sundae surprise, a brand new guitar, an open stage, a raging crowd, and every answer he would ever need, all wrapped up in one person.

“Hello there, Sunshine,” he said, at last.

#luke patterson #jatp #julie and the phantoms #luke patterson x reader #luke patterson one shot #julie and the phantoms fanfic #fanfic #sunset curve #reggie #alex #luke #netflix #jatp netflix

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thweaty · 3 years

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tomdaya tea ☕️

ok i have to submit this because it’s just TEW much to explain otherwise. like i said i stan them both so i been here for it all and know ALL the tea. i’ll give you the rundown of their relationship and then the drama that went down when she was dating jacob. there’s a whole tumblr timeline spanning years you can google if you’re interested in seeing it in detail but i’ll give you the basics. this is going to be a literal dissertation sorry in advance but i feel responsible for letting the general public know about the tomdaya agenda since i know so much

so they started dating in like aug/sept 2016 right after they finished filming homecoming. he went to canada right after to film another movie and during the course of filming she went to visit him and he flew to la to visit her, this is when people started getting sus. when he finished filming this movie he made an ig story about how he was going home to london to be with his family and spend the holidays with them, except he lied because he flew to la to see z and spend thanksgiving with her and her family lmao (he actually spent thanksgiving with her family 3 years in a row 2016-2018….more on that later tho 👀) her cousin exposed them when he posted a video on thanksgiving at her house and you could see her and tom cuddling on the couch. so everyone was like they’re 100% dating. like i said he was always flying to see her, he was going to workout classes with her mom and shit, he always stayed at her house in la (there’s multiple sets of photos of him outside her house with luggage). another thing that convinced people was sometime in early 2017 she made a whole snapchat story about how she was super sick and overworked and then after that accidentally posted a snap to her story that said “your sick girlfriend really loves you”. she deleted it quickly because it was obviously an accident and wasn’t meant to be public but people got screenshots. tom was also in nyc visiting z when she was filming the greatest showman and told a fan he met that he was in town visiting his girlfriend because he dumb.

so at this point we KNOW they’re dating. zendaya is notorious for being extremely private with relationships, the guy she dated before tom she was with for 4 years and called him her best friend all along. she didn’t admit they actually had dated until after they broke up bc he cheated on her. so her being so private with tom and hiding it was expected. all this same shit goes on for the next nearly three years, they’re doing long distance but he flies to see her at least once a month sometimes more, they spend time with each others families, visit each other on set, etc.

so this is where it gets interesting. tom is photographed on the euphoria set during a night shoot in like early may 2019. this is apparently right around the time they break up. tom’s best friend tuwaine was dating this girl audrey and when they broke up she started spilling tea on tomdaya (tom unfollowed her after this so it was def true). she said they broke up in may because they were fighting more due to long distance AND tom was tired of being so private, he didn’t want to be public but was over being so secretive and wanted to be a little more lax but she wasn’t comfortable with that. they decided to stay friends. the far from home press tour was in june and they were clearly still super close friends, nobody could even tell they were broken up cause they were so chummy (looking back now it’s more obvious cause tom was saying shit about his love life being a disappointment and stuff). they go their separate ways after the premiere but stay friends and continue to interact on social media, even months after the breakup tom met a girl at a con dressed like mj and asked if he could take a photo with her to send to zendaya so they were def still talking and stuff

fast forward to feb 2020. z is dating jacob and they’re being papped like every single day in nyc. pictures come out of them kissing out in the open in nyc. as a fan of z this was VERY weird to me because she’s always so private, but i was like maybe she’s trying something new because being so private caused the downfall with tom. BUT then she started DMing her fan accounts on twitter and ig asking them to take the kissing photos down (so idk what happened, she had to knew they were being papped but maybe she had second thoughts and regretted it)…. her fan accounts do delete the photos, but it’s too late. everyone has already seen them including tom, who is in the middle of a self-proclaimed instagram break. the day after the kissing photos came out, he goes back on ig and unfollowed two of z’s best friends, one being her assistant and basically brother darnell who tom was also good friends with. he posts a photo on his story of him drinking and puts emojis over his eyes and said something like “back for a minute, now i’m gone again.” he was going through it lmao so he literally went onto ig to be petty and unfollow people close to z because he was mad she was kissing her bf of a few months in public when they were together for nearly three years. and obviously he couldn’t unfollow her so he did the next best thing, and fans obviously took notice. a week later he followed darnell back cause i guess he realized how bad it looked but the damage was already done. tom and z from then on do not interact or acknowledge each other for the next SIX MONTHS. idk if they fought or if she was mad he unfollowed darnell or what. but it was MESSY.

a month later tom starts dating this girl nadia, she moves into his house a few weeks into dating for quarantine. they date throughout those lockdown months. z breaks up with jacob sometime in june. she gets nominated for the emmy at the end of july, and days after she gets nominated her and tom start liking all of each others photos again. the assumption is he reached out to congratulate her and they made up. a few days after they start interacting again, tom posts a photo of his girlfriend on ig, and z likes it. tom and nadia break up like a week later 💀 he was filming uncharted in berlin at this point, him and z continue to interact, he finishes uncharted and flies right to atlanta to start filming spider-man. they’re still in atlanta now and we know they hang out all the time, but a lot of people think they’re back together because they’ve done some very 👀 things. her mom came to atlanta for thanksgiving and you guessed it… tom spent it with them (which we only know cause the celeb chef who cooked for them posted on his story that he made thanksgiving dinner for zendaya and tom holland. he then deleted and deactivated cause he realized he fucked up lmao). they started interacting with each other’s families and friends again. hunter (jules from euphoria) who is z’s best friend drove to atlanta to see her and her and tom followed each other. tom is very selective of who he follows and doesn’t even follow a lot of his costars so people were shook by this, especially because him and hunter met multiple times before but never followed each other. i have no idea if they’re back together, at the very least they’re good friends again, but i wouldn’t be surprised at all if they were. we’ll see what happens when they finish filming 👀👀👀 lmk your thoughts, questions, concerns etc.

bitch my fave part was zendaya liking that pic and tom and his gf breaking up a week later 😭😭

#my GOD #submission #i kno this is a controversial topic but i love the drama SKNDF #thank u anon >:)

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ultimate-kaisa-simp · 3 years

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Ok so this took a while to write, but hopefully it doesn’t suck!

This is a re-write of season 2 episode 3 with @kaminos-hangout-corner’s The Mum Swap AU.

It skips going through the actual labyrinth, but i does do the before and after.

Very angsty because is there another way to write?

Might do a follow up if people ask but it probably won’t be as long as this one (2044 words!!)

Without further ado, hope you enjoy!

Hilda and Frida hid behind a cart full of books as they watched the librarian approach three women sitting at a very tall table. When none of the three made any move to speak, the librarian took a step forward, earnest expression on her face.

“Honored Council, does you calling me here today mean you’ve reconsidered my request?”

Her tone was so pleading, so vulnerable, that the three women - the council, Hilda guessed - shared matching looks of pity before they schooled their faces into stern expressions.

“Unfortunately not Johanna. We have called you here for a separate matter entirely. 29 years, 364 days and 22 hours ago, The Skeleton Whisperer was checked out. As the Keeper- sorry, the librarian, after 30 years the responsibility for the missing book passes to you.”

A book floated off the cart and towards the council as the woman on the left waved her wand shaped like a rose. Or maybe it was a rose, Hilda couldn’t tell from where she was hiding. She was so entranced by the show of magic Frida had to pull her down so they wouldn’t be seen.

“But I wasn’t even the librarian then! That was-”

Johanna’s protests died off and the council members were all looking sympathetic again? Hilda didn’t know what was going on, but she intended to find out. If it weren’t for Frida’s hand on her arm keeping her down, she would have already jumped out.

“We understand, and as a non-witch, we can’t throw you into the Void of No Return, but we would have to fire you. Do you have the card with you?”

Johanna nodded and reached into her pocket, only to find it was empty.

“I swore I had it in here, maybe the other one?”

Her checking got more frantic until Frida jumped out from behind the cart waving the card, dragging Hilda out with her.

“It says Pilqfvist! M. Pilqvist!”

Johanna turned towards them as the council reeled back in shock.

“Hilda? Frida? What are you two doing here?”

As Hilda took a deep breath to tell her the whole long story, the middle council witch cut her off.

“It doesn’t matter what they’re doing here! Non-witches! In the Witches Tower! It’s unheard of!”

Johanna crossed her arms and turned back to the council with a huff.

“I’m a non-witch, and you called me here. And I come here with some regularity. So I wouldn’t say it’s ‘unheard of’.”

The middle witch was about to say something else when the witch on the left cut her off.

“Well you were always a special case Johanna,” the witch smiled. “But the point remains that the clock is ticking and these two followed you here. Luckily for you, we know where you can find Matilda Pilqvist.”

Johanna smiled back up at the witch as Hilda and Frida went to stand beside her, handing her the card as they did so.

“Thank you Abigail,” she said with a sigh of relief. “Is it nearby? I won’t be able to open any portals to get there if it’s not.”

All three witches winced before Abigail waved her wand. Nothing happened for a few seconds before a different wand came zooming into the room. Abigail floated down onto the floor as she took hold of it, drawing a rectangle in the air while chanting. Once the shape was complete, she stepped back as a door materialised and placed the wand in, turning it like a doorknob. Turning, she faced Johanna with a somber expression.

“Through this door is the labyrinth of Arch-Sorceress Matilda Pilqvist. She’s… not one for visitors. I wish you the best of luck. You… you’ll need it.”

Hilda, Frida and Johanna all looked at each other and nodded. In sync, they all stepped through the door.

~~<3~~

“Ok, I think this should be the last room,” Johanna remarked, glancing up from the map that Frida had managed to find. They stepped through to find the room full of snow and ice.

“I bet we’re going to have to fight a snow or ice monster in here!” Hilda exclaimed excitedly. As soon as the words left her mouth, a burst of steam shot up from the ground. A monster made of lava and molten rock stepped out of the steam and roared, spraying lava everywhere.

“RUN FOR THE DOOR!”

It didn’t matter who shouted, they all jumped into action. Hilda and Frida ran around each side and Johanna slid underneath the monster. Once they were all on the other side, they slammed the door shut and took a moment to catch their breaths.

Straightening, they took in their surroundings. They were in a pitch black room, no end to the expanse, only one other door. Cautiously Hilda placed a hand on the handle and turned it. Behind the door was not a castle, like Frida was picturing, or a spooky dungeon like Hilda was, but instead a place very familiar to Johanna. As the younger two entered, there was a voice coming from an armchair in the corner.

“Oh look Cornelius! We have visitors!”

As an old lady rose out of the chair and floated over to the girls, Johanna, still outside the doorway, spoke, voice so quiet it was barely a whisper.

“Tildy?”

Tildy’s head snapped towards Johanna, who had tears pooling her eyes. She flew over at speeds far faster than one would assume she would be capable of, and wrapped Johanna in a hug. Johanna sobbed into her shoulder as she hugged back. Frida and Hilda turned away, feeling that this was a private moment not meant for them to witness.

“She’s gone Tildy, I’ve waited 10 years and she never came back! I miss her so much it hurts and, and-”

Johanna cut herself off with a fresh round of tears. Tildy just patted her back sadly, leading her over to the couch.

“I know dearie, I know. I miss her too. I tried to find her but she’s blocked her magic. Short of going door to door, there’s not much we can do aside from hope she comes back.”

As Johanna sat on the couch, head in her hands, Tildy turned towards Hilda and Frida.

“Now what can I do for you two young ladies?”

Frida didn’t answer so Hilda stepped in and took the lead.

“We’re looking for a book that you checked out… uhh… 29 years, 364 days, 23 hours and 45 minutes ago. The Skeleton Whisperer?”

Tildy huffed and rolled her eyes.

“Did those three fussbudgets send you here to make me return a book? I have more important things to deal with right now, you tell them I’ll return it when I’m good and ready.”

Hilda wasn’t sure if it was magic, or just Tildy’s grandmotherly nature, but she found herself relaxing a bit. It’s not like anything life threatening was at stake, right?

“But if we don’t get this book returned in time, Johanna will lose her job!”

The sense of urgency returned to Hilda at Frida’s words, and she started looking around for where the book might be.

“Oh dear, that is a problem! Well it can’t have gone far, we can look for it together. I’ll go get my crossbow!”

Hilda watched as Cornelius munched on a ball of yarn that was lying on the ground and got an idea.

“Tildy?” She started. “Is there any way your familiar might have the book?”

Tildy and Frida both turned to look at Cornelius as Tildy floated over.

“Cornelius? What’s that in your mouth?”

Tildy grabbed Cornelius as he tried to slowly shuffle away, making him spit out the wide variety of stuff he had swallowed, including the book which Frida quickly found. Tildy turned to Johanna and took her hand.

“Are you ready to go dear? There’s no rush.”

Frida covered Hilda’s mouth before she could point out that yes, there was a rush, but it didn’t matter as Johanna stood up, wiped her eyes, and then nodded. They all linked hands and teleported to the Council Room.

The card tower that the council was building fell abruptly as the group teleported in, though they all rushed to get back into dignified positions.

“We got the book!” Hilda yelled, waving it around for the council to see. Hilda and Frida were standing in front, Tildy beside them and Johanna behind them.

“I’m sorry, but a deadline is a deadline. You missed your chance by about 15 minutes.”

Hilda was confused and angry. They totally had more time than that!

“I’m sorry dears. Time gets a bit… messy when you translocate like that,” Tildy apologised.

“NO!” Johanna cried. “I have to stay here! What if she comes back! I need to make sure she’s ok!”

The council shifted in place as Tildy placed a comforting hand on Johanna’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry but rules are rules. Johanna, Librarian of Trollberg City Library and The Witches Tower, Famil-”

“Oh what utter nonsense!” Tildy interrupted. “Aren’t you the slighted bit impressed that three people without magic made it through my maze, when so many seasoned witches have failed? And can’t you see one of them is a natural witch?” She added, when the council shifted some more.

“Well that is true,” the middle witch conceded.

Hilda puffed out her chest a bit in pride and Frida gave an encouraging smile.

“So what do you say… Frida?”

Frida looked just as surprised as Hilda felt.

“Me?” She questioned. Tildy just nodded.

“Of course dear! And Hilda, you’ve got the spirit to be an invaluable familiar to Frida.”

As Frida and Hilda were celebrating their new witch-and-familiar status, Johanna stiffened behind them. With a wave of her finger, Tildy summoned her teapot, some cups and a few board games, leaving Hilda and Frida to catch them.

“Now, time for tea and board games back at my place! It’s been so long since I’ve had anyone new to play with, Cornelius is a horrible cheat!”

Tildy grabbed Johanna’s hands and started to pull her along when Johanna stopped her.

“Girls, would you mind waiting outside for a bit? There are a few more things that The Council, Tildy and I need to discuss.”

After sharing a look, Frida and Hilda nodded and left, finding the perfect position to eavesdrop.

~~<3~~

“Dear I understand you might be upset but-”

“OF COURSE I’M UPSET!” Johanna interrupted. “TILDY WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? THERE IS NO WAY THIS WILL END WELL!”

Johanna had tears streaming down her face as years of bottled up emotion came out. Abigail opened her mouth to speak but Johanna cut her off as well.

“I THOUGHT THE COUNCIL SAID I WAS THE TRIAL! WELL GUESS WHAT? THE TRIAL FAILED! THEY’RE JUST CHILDREN, WE SHOULDN’T DO THIS TO THEM!”

Johanna finally ran out of steam and sunk to the floor, overwhelmed by memories and emotion.

“We were just children,” she whispered through tears.

Tildy patted her on the back comfortingly.

“That’s the thing about children dear, they can learn from the mistakes of the past and become better for it. And you’ll be there to help them along the way, you can help them avoid those mistakes. Now, how about we go back to my place? I think we’ve kept them waiting long enough, don’t you?”

Johanna nodded and stood up on shaky legs. Wiping her eyes, she gave Tildy a hug and they left the room together. Once they met up with Hilda and Frida, Tildy teleported them all back to set up some games.

BONUS:

“Johanna?” Hilda started. “What’s the name of the person that you’re trying to find? We’ve met a lot of people on our adventures, maybe we’ve run into her!”

Johanna stiffened a bit before relaxing and let out a low chuckle.

“Well I don’t doubt that,” she laughed. “Here, I’ll draw you a picture as well.”

Hilda nodded and took her turn in Dragon Panic. By the time it got to Johanna’s turn, she was finished.

“This is Kaisa,” she said, sliding the paper over to Hilda. Hilda just stared at it in shock, picking it up and looking at it closer.

“This-” she said, the words getting stuck in her mouth. “This is my mum.”

#hilda librarian #hilda kaisa #hilda johanna #hilda (hilda)#hilda frida #hilda netflix #hilda the series #hilda tildy #hilda the council of three #the council of three #sketchbook ship #angst #fic #fan fiction #my writing #hilda fic #hilda fanfiction

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astrologista · 4 years

Text

jason stop dying

ooooook i just watched ditf. it was PRETTY GOOD.... i only wish there was MOOORE! watching this REALLY brought me back to 2011 times to see it and i think they did a good job with most of the character design and animations insofar as matching it to the original. (maybe i’m totally wrong but i thought it looked good for the most part... also i just really love these character designs in particular). obviously the budget is not what it would be on a feature, so there are a LOT of places where animation gets recycled and many still frames. some parts are basically a slideshow lol. but i only sort of came to that realization awhile after watching, so i think they did a fairly good job of masking this... ymmv

so let’s get into it!!!

SPOILERS a-head! do not read until you’ve watched it because i’ll spoil everything

now obviously the thing to be aware of if you are not is the fact that this adaptation is not a panel-by-panel adaptation of the original death in the family comic. all references to jason’s mother (save one mention of her dying of illness) are completely removed, they go to bosnia instead of africa, and the circumstances around jason leaving are also heavily altered to fit the new narrative. this adaptation does slot perfectly into the universe established by the under the red hood animated movie from 2011 though, without which one would be pretty confused when watching this. it’s kind of a mystery as to why they didn’t just package this with utrh and release the entire thing as a collectors edition. instead they package it with like 4 or 5 unrelated dc showcase shorts which makes absolutely 0 sense but go off i guess. anyway

i liked that they took the time to adapt the scene from the original ditf where bruce is talking to alfred about jason! (i do not like that alfred didn’t get any lines. bad choice). tbh i can’t understand why they bothered showing us alfred, barbara and dick if they weren’t gonna give them any lines..... like come on........??

HOW INTENSE BRUCE LOOKS WHEN HE FINDS JASON IN SARAJEVO and just. grabs him lol. hes smad :)

ok so one two skip a few and we get to the first branch. instead of calling 1-900 we now get to choose whether jason lives or dies. there are 7 possible endings i think i got em all so let’s see what we got here.

“Hush” Route - Robin cheats death

hgrgdggr. i definitely think this is one of the more interesting endings, if not the most interesting one. this is also the only ending in which both bruce and jason survive the bombing. bruce is still too late, but this time jason barely clings to life and survives. as a hurt/comfort fan i was 100% on this shit from the word go but then jason? runs away from home lmao lmao i thought that was SO funny because 1) hes super messed up, how is he able to just literally run out the house that is SO funny to me and 2) implying that bruce would ever not be keeping an eye on him after that is just, lmao. it’s so zany. i call this the “hush” route because of the bandages but there are no other references to hush so ok. that’s fair. so anyway jason is now angsty for loosely explained reasons but the most fun part is yet to come.

when talia showed up, i really thought / was terrified for a second that they were gonna bring up certain “events” regarding damian’s parentage / who damian’s father is but then she mentioned bruce and i was like OH THANK GOD WE CAN STILL GO TO HEAVEN. i am so so grateful to the writers for NOT going there. cuz it was damn close ok. im not sure what the implication of this route is in terms of talia, jason and damian being a family unit but i want to believe talia sees jason as a son and damian’s brother (which is how she refers to him, damian’s brother) and not... yknow. i mean. jason raising a baby is kind of like a baby raising a baby...

no actually the reality of this scene is really dfuckin interesting like. they actually go with the “birth of the demon” (forget if it was birth of the demon or bride of the demon. one of those.) explanation for damian and that is something i’ve NEVER seen adapted so whoever wrote this can have a cookie and i kNOW this is something a certain someone will appreciate :)

not only that but the implications? are interesting? so talia’s claim is she miscarried so bruce won’t have to “choose” between damian and jason and idk if she’s supposed to be all on the-up-and-up in this universe but. i’m sitting here like GIRL YOU DON’T GOTTA DO THIS HE HAS A PRIVATE JET HAVEN’T YOU HEARD OF SHARED CUSTODY and BETTER YET HE HAS A MANSION JUST GO ON MAURY AND GET THIS SORTED OUT RIGHT NOWwwww

i’m also LAUGHING at the implications of jason thinking theres anywhere on earth that he’s going to go and hide damian’s existence from bruce. because you already know he’s just going to be tearing the planet apart looking for jason so this is actually hilarious. imagine he finds jason in one piece and also a baby. his baby. he’d be like (@ talia) “OMG WHY WOULD YOU THINK I WOULDN’T WANT THEM BOTH u are tearing me apart talia......” BUT THEN HE WOULD BE SO FREAKING HAPPY BECAUSE HE HAS TWO ALIVE SONS AND HE THOUGHT THEY WERE BOTH DEAD / (lost to crime)!!!

please lord imagine all of jason’s angst probably just originating from the fact that he has a brain injury that hasn’t fully healed and the trauma of going through all those surgeries probably gave him a lot of fear / paranoia about bruce and associating him with the joker because his neural pathways are all messed up but after he leaves he starts slowly healing back and regaining some of his lost sanity and thats when he realizes he misses bruce so much... but hes also raising his child... and every day it gets more difficult for him not to just take damian and bring him home and i ;v;

anyway i thought this route, while it had a few inconsistencies in it, was really freaking interesting and it gave me feels and plot bunnies and is probably the one i want to write about the MOST despite the fact that baby damian looks like a character from one of those web flash games in this lol

“True” End - Jason Dies

now if you select that jason dies the route basically defaults to the canon of under the red hood and the fact that utrh does not come packaged with this movie is a rather mystifying choice to me as i don’t think this adaptation would stand on its own very well. like you need quite a bit of background to really get anything out of watching this on its own, which is probably why it’s classified as a “short” and not as its own movie.

instead of showing all of utrh, it seems they took the opportunity to give a ~30 minute recap of utrh with basically entirely reused animation but they allow bruce to sort of. give his dvd commentary over it.

the biggest feeling i have on this is that it’s sad that they had to waste 30 minutes like this that could’ve been used to do something new and much more interesting, but honestly i’m not mad. it seems kind of obvious that this choice was probably made for budget and/or runtime reasons because a short does not get the same budget set aside as a full length feature film does. so they basically took the option of recycling 30 minutes of animation from the movie and dubbing new audio over it.

in evangelion they ran out of budget and that’s why the last two episodes consist of nothing more than still pencil drawings and frames while the characters engage in philosophical debates concerning the nature of reality and human connection. and i really enjoyed that. and for the same reasons, i also really enjoyed this.

i enjoyed seeing the clark kent of this universe. i enjoyed that he was basically out on a date with bruce. i enjoyed that bruce was willing to open up for once and tell clark all of what happened with jason. but what really makes this segment shine bright are bruce greenwood’s line reads. there are SO MANY good line reads in here. and i LOVED how many times he said the word “son”. very wholesome. the way he describes how he felt during the final fight with jason? probs my favorite FUCKING part.

and then him and clark joking together about contingency plans and then they’re going to work together to find jason and i ;_; this is probably the closest thing to a “good” ending but as a continuation of utrh i thought it worked really well. i really want to believe that bruce and clark did find jason in this route and that there was some closure in the end even though we didn’t get to see it.

including clark in this was DEFINITELY the right move as well, considering that he played a rather large role in the original ditf so it’s a welcome nod.

The rest of the branches exist under a separate option where Bruce makes it in time to save Jason from the warehouse... but Bruce dies......... :O

let me tell you bout it... bruce’s fucking DEATH SCENE i don’t know WHAT my man bruce greenwood is on, but the freaking LINE READS in this dialogue had me making INHUMAN NOISES. LIKE NOT ONLY WAS THE DIALOGUE GOOD, NOT ONLY DID HE SAY “I LOVE YOU, SON”, but this man is just an amazing actor. not just voice actor, but actor. he really really really really gave it the most i don’t know how else to say it....... it was very very well done and punched me sideways in the heart and i haven’t recovered and i’m not going to recover. and

ok so once we get past that.... scene.... u have to choose whether you’re going to catch the joker or kill the joker. bruce asks jason to promise not to kill the joker but technically jason doesn’t promise so........

Let’s start by choosing to kill the Joker. Jason attends Bruce’s funeral and various members of the Justice League show up to talk with him and just generally hang out. He has Alfred, Dick and Barbara as his support system, but Jason has some other plans.

This leads to a scene in a cafe where Jason meets with a man who... something something Killing Joke, flashlight, more Barbara being used as a plot device when she deserves better, Jason kills the Joker with a butter knife.

Once you do this you can choose to surrender to the police, or retaliate and escape.

Jailbird Ending

basically if you surrender to the police jason ends up in prison where he can actually attack even more criminals so.... ya

If you retaliate and escape instead you go to the Red Robin route where Jason becomes a vigilante who kills people much like the Red Hood and you get a further choice in a fight with Two Face where you can control how Harvey’s coin lands.

Tim Ending!

If you choose the coin to land clean face up, the thing rewards you by having Tim show up and I forgot what happened (wasn’t really paying attention lol) because i was so focused on TIM!

Prolly they felt sorry for him what with Jason stealing what is essentially his outfit (ok I know it was Jason’s first, but Tim made it cool) so they let a little baby tim have an appearance :) he’s very smol

I guess in this ending Jason gets reintegrated with the family somehow and Tim becomes “Bat-kid” which is hilarious to me but you know what it’s cute. CUTE.

The one ending where the coin lands scarred side up

i honestly forget what happens if you choose to have the coin land scarred side up but let me just say this is a FUCKED route to take, not only have you had jason survive and bruce die, you’ve now chosen to kill the joker against bruce’s dying wish, you’ve chosen to attack the police, and at the end of that you really are gonna choose harvey’s coin to be scarred face up???? choosing this made me feel like a DICK because here i am supporting jason’s whole fall to madness and villainy thing the way it wants me to and now he’s gonna die HERE? i hate it here.

interestingly enough he doesn’t actually die in this route. he ends up at home with barbara and dick while dealing with the fact that he killed the joker but the route ends with jason saying “i promise” so i guess this is supposed to be kinda sad. im so confused lol ok

So that is all the options if you choose to kill the joker, I believe. You can also make the choice to just catch him instead of killing him but amazingly enough, those routes are even more FUCKED up.

If you do this option Jason goes home, mourns Bruce with Dick, Barbara and Alfred, and becomes Red Hood BUT with a twist, he’s entirely on a bloodless operation in line with Bruce’s wishes. OR.... IS HE?

Things then follow the events of UTRH until the scene on the bridge with the van and the guys. Jason finally confronts Joker, who reveals the truth.

Apparently in this route Jason has actually been killing and decapitating his victims just like in the original movie, but he’s repressed it so as to not even realize to himself that he’s doing it.

that is FUCKED. also. i wanna cry because jason doing all of that stuff but not even realizing it ;------; jason blocking it out, because he wanted to honor bruce’s wishes for him not to kill anyone ;______; but he’s doing it anyway ;_____; he’s actually hearing voices telling him to kill ;____; like it’s a very cheap twist in a sense and also really quite cruel but.... damn, son.

There is a branch here where you can choose to spare or kill the Joker at this point (UNDERTALE???) but from what I can tell it seems to be totally meaningless what choice you pick because you end up at the exact same point either way, I think there’s a small variation in what happens after you make the choice but after that they just coalesce back together into the following two endings. Which seems incredibly cheap to me, I mean making a choice like that should alter Jason’s path completely but, it doesn’t! So... ooook....

Either way Jason ends up on the Wayne building and Talia shows up with a re-animated Bruce from the pit. Here’s another fun blast from the 2011 past with more gratuitous Grant Morrison dreck, remember that shit? Well, they’re gonna jam it down your throat here, too.

The reanimated Bruce is the Zur En Arrh Bruce and he’s already dead so this is all meaningless but basically Jason fights him and you get to choose whether everybody lives or dies.

Zur En Arrh - Everyone Lives!

if you pick this, jason actually gets the re-animated bruce back to the batcave and they lock him up down there because he’s still pit-mad and the prognosis is not great. but i’m not sure what they expected, he is the zur-en-arrh guy so I don’t think he’s getting better.

Zur En Arrh - Everyone Dies!

pretty much there’s an explosion and all three of them die and that’s it

I think that should be all the possible endings there are.

By the way the different ways in which black mask dies in this was actually a fairly clever running gag lollll. let that mf burn we don’t need no water.

overall there are a couple of things i would have done to SIGNIFICANTLY improve this adaptation beyond some of the obvious ones.

- the fact that all of the branching options are branched exclusively under the “jason lives and bruce dies” branch is a huge wasted opportunity. imo this is the most egregious problem with this, i was really looking for a more balanced tree / explanation of different things. i am probably super biased though being a fic writer and used to fic, we’re the ones making huge ass trees every day lol.

- the fact that there is no “good” ending here is something i kind of expected but given the context of this is lackluster. i sort of get it though because granted, the original ditf ends in an unresolved manner but it’s distinctly unsatisfying here. i secretly wanted an ending where bruce, like, figures out about the different endings and hacks reality to try to find a good ending where jason lives and everything is fine lmao. like a bat mite ending.

- i was disappointed in a sense that the narrative given in here is so basically simplistic? maybe i’ve been spoiled by games like 999 and undertale where shit gets messy and that’s not what this is supposed to be but when i play something with multiple endings in this day and age, at least play with the concept a little bit and connect some of the branches together narratively. use different devices. i was also hoping some of the choices would be a little bit meatier like you could choose to “forgive bruce” or something cool like that lol. but it looks like the majority of choices have to do with who lives or dies. and i felt like they couldve been a bit more creative with that ya know? being able to control harvey’s coin was a GREAT example of having some more fun with this.

- it is a huge missed opportunity not to have a “secret ending” on something like this. like where. the fuck. is my secret ending for completing everything. come on. and in a similar vein there should’ve been at least something in terms of bruce and jason interacting in a “true ending”. even if very brief. the closest thing to an ending this has is the “jason died” route and then the ending where he’s talking to clark which i feel like was a REALLY nice good optimistic ending as far as this goes, but it comes off as kind of disappointing i guess

there were SO many interesting nuggets locked into this thing though. i can’t deny it bugs me how many wasted opportunities there were with how they chose to structure things but i guess it’s the best you can do with limited runtime. i thought it was really well done though, makes an interesting companion piece to the original utrh, and is definitely something that i will be re-watching again soon!! overall i give it a 7/10 and some parts an 8/10+!

#a death in the family #death in the family #ditf #it was cool to see the different ideas they had to offer finally?#for what it was #it was kind of a collection of shorts and half spun ideas #plus i think about this shit like every day #so i cant help but be interested #someone come and talk to me about this #i really want to know #what ppl thought #spoilers #ditf spoilers #death in the family spoilers

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ordinaryschmuck · 3 years

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What I thought about every episode of The Owl House Season 1 (Part 1/2)

Salutations random people on the internet who probably won't read this. I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

Hey, do you miss Gravity Falls?

...

Yeah, I know, dumb question. Which is why I have good news! Not only is there a new series that is just as good as Gravity Falls, but in some ways, it's even better. That new series would be none other than Disney Channel's latest hit: The Owl House.

The Owl House, slowly but surely, became my new obsession since Eda reacted to decapitation with an unconcerned, "I hate when that happens." I wrote fan-fiction, made fan-art, and even began to separately review new episodes. Unfortunately, I got in a little late in the reviewing game and only managed to analyze the last four episodes of season one. And like an idiot, I promised that I'll review the rest when they came out on Disney+. Seeing that all of the first season has finally come on a legal streaming service (which means WATCH IT RIGHT NOW!), it's time I finally saw through to that promise. However, I'm not going to over-analyze each episode because that would be insane. So instead, we're going to lightning round these suckers. Because it's my Tumblr, and I get to decide what I review and how the hell I review it...hooah.

Which means this is your last chance to avoid spoilers if you haven't seen The Owl House yet. Seriously, it's a great show, and you can catch up right now on Disney+. A week-long trial is more than enough time to watch the series, so DO IT! With that out of the way, let's get started with:

“A Lying Witch and a Warden”: This episode gets a lot of flack for having poor pacing and being too preachy with its message. And to that, I say...you're not wrong. Yeah, I wish I could be that person who can defend this episode against criticism like that, but these are understandable problems that just left this icky feeling in my tum-tum when watching. But that's only when looking at it as a regular old episode when in reality, people need to see it as a first episode. The first episode in any show needs to get viewers interested enough to continue watching by answering these five essential questions: What's the plot of the show? What's the tone? Who are the main characters? What's the world they live in? And what are the rules of the same world? "A Lying Witch and a Warden" does a great job of answering all of these questions. And if you stuck around until the season finale, then that means it did a great job of keeping you interested in sticking around as well. So seeing how it got its job done, albeit, with mixed results, I give this episode a B-.

“Witches Before Wizards”: Don't mind me. Just reveling in the fact that Luz escaped to a fantasy world to avoid Reality Check Camp, only to get a reality check anyway. Because that's what this episode is in a nutshell. Through the "quest" that Luz goes on, she learns two important lessons: One, don't trust strangers who offer you something nice and shiny (bonus points for Eda warning Luz to avoid men with sandals and then have Ategast wear sandals). And two, there is no such thing as having a predetermined destiny. I love the idea that Luz coming to the Isles was just a twist of fate, and everything that happens afterward is pure dumb luck. And that moment when Eda gave a speech about making your own path instead of waiting to become something special? That was the moment when I went from thinking this was going to be a fun show to thinking it's going to be a great show. So consider this episode a solid A in my book.

“I Was a Teenage Abomination”: How is it possible for an episode to get better and worse with time? Because here's the thing: This episode does a great job of showing how perfect Amity's development is. After one single season, it already feels jarring, seeing the way she acts in certain scenes. However, in that same respect, it's the same reason why this episode got worse. I didn't mind that Willow practically got away with cheating and vandalizing the school with her magic because she and Luz were basically trying to show up a two-dimensional bully. But knowing what we know in the future, it does seem unfair that Amity gets punished for their bad behavior and Willow got little consequences for it. Sure, Luz got banned and had to work at gaining Amity's trust, but what about Willow? Although, despite this complaint, I don't really hate this episode. It builds a believable connection between Luz and her friends, and the B-plot King and Eda show off their budding friendship. So while this episode is a C-, it's a somewhat enjoyable C-.

“The Intruder”: Is it weird for anyone else that King gets most of the blame in this episode? Yes, he took the potion, but Luz was the one who kept pushing him. This is why it never sat right with me seeing how everyone, including himself, blames King for this episode's incident. That being said, "The Intruder" is fantastic. Eda, as the Owl Beast, is legitimately threatening, and the way the episode treats Eda's curse like a chronic illness is actually kind of sweet. It teaches kids how this is something that just happens to people, and they're not any weaker because of it, as long as they take the right steps. Which is cool, and it's why this is another solid A episode for me. Sure King getting the blame bothers me, but it pales in comparison to everything else “The Intruder” does right.

“Covention”: If you want my personal opinion (obviously, seeing how you're reading this), "Covention" is the perfect episode to show a friend to get them into watching the The Owl House. Everything there is to love about the show is seen in just these twenty-two minutes. Eda being a chaotic good, Luz being a sweet and understanding character, some incredible/natural world-building, an actually decent B-plot, an epic fight scene, great comedy, and, my personal favorite, the building of Luz and Amity's relationship. In fact, this episode has the most quintessential moment between these two, that Dana Terrace herself took charge of making the animatic for it. A scene that is so perfect that you can do an analysis of these few minutes alone...which is what I did. Click here to read it! "Covention" gets an A+ in my book and might possibly be the best episode of the season. Maybe even the series!

“Hooty’s Moving Hassle”: There's not really a lot I can say about this episode. I don't hate it, but I'm not exactly in love with it. The interactions between Luz and her friends are adorable, and there are a few good jokes that kept me laughing. But the story is kind of bland, and I just find Eda's sudden obsession with Hexes Hold'em kind of odd. Especially since a card game is what nearly defeated the "undefeatable" Owl Lady. If it wasn't for the nice reveal of Willow's and Amity's friendship (which comes into play in a far better episode), I'd say that you could skip this one on future rewatches. Because this is a C grade episode that just doesn't grab me as well as others.

“Lost in Language”: Ah, yes. The episode that made dozens of fans jump aboard the Lumity ship...unless you're like me, and you've been shipping these two since the show's theme song (And I don't know why, either. It's just the second I saw Amity my first thought was, "Oh, honey. You're gonna fall in love with the main character, aren't you?" AND I WAS F**KING RIGHT!). But jokes about shipping aside, "Lost in Language" is a fantastic episode. It has a great lesson about how people are more complex than their first impressions (Or to not judge a book by its cover, if you wanna stay on theme). Edric and Emira seem like a chaotic duo who cause mischief all for good fun. But Luz, as well as the audience, learns that Ed and Em are kinda the worst (they get better in future episodes, but still). Then there's Amity, who hasn't had the best first impressions in the last few episodes. We got glimpses of a good person here and there, but for the most part, that's all they were. Glimpses. Then there's this episode, which gives us more than a small look, but some actual insight into who Amity really is. Better yet, who she wants to be. It's something that I appreciate about The Owl House in that it wastes no time in developing Amity's character. So much so that I can forgive this episode for shoehorning a "Two idiots and a baby" plotline that does nothing but add maybe two minutes of padding. So yeah, it's an A+ for sure.

“Once Upon a Swap”: "Ugh! It's the body swap episode! How cliche and-" SHUT UP! Shut your mouth, and listen: Something being cliche does not always make it bad. Only when the cliche fails to tell an entertaining story does it have the right to work as a complaint. "Once Upon a Swap" may have a cliche premise, but it's still an enjoyable story (or stories) with great laughs and even some ok lessons. I can understand if you hate the episode because its premise is something you've seen a dozen times to the point where your sick of it. My most hated story idea is the "Character A saves Character B, and Character B becomes a life slave." If you have seen this story once, you've seen it a thousand times, and it's the same case with a "body swap" episode. But guess what: The Owl House is a kids' show. Kids'. Show. You can complain all you want about predictability, but kids are the type of viewers who will be new to this experience, despite if it's one that is done to death. Which is why this is solid B of an episode if you ask me.

“Something Ventured, Someone Framed”: Can people please stop shipping Gus with Mattholomule? Because that slimy, greasy, weaselly little son of A BASTARD BITCH WEASEL DOES NOT DESERVE LOVE IN WAY POSSIBLE!

...

But enough about how Mattholomule is the worst character ever, because "Something Ventured, Someone Framed" is a B+ in my opinion. Sure it shows the worst side of Gus and lets Satan's little herpe win in the end, but there is still quality to be had. We get insight into who Gus is as a character, on top of Eda swallowing her pride and cleaning the school so Luz can get into Hexide. Also, Eda's permanent record was the first time this show brought me to tears due to laughing so hard. So while I have to take points off for the inclusion of Mattholomule (I don't make the rules. I just live by them), this is still an episode I wouldn't mind revisiting.

“Escape of the Palisman”: I subscribe to this theory that Luz will one day have Eda's staff as her own. And episodes like this that strengthen the bond between Luz and Owlbert help confirm that theory. Luz's dedication to trying to make things right could just be part of her kind nature, but I like to believe that this is Dana and the crew trying to set up this possible outcome. As for what I think about the episode itself...it's ok. Again, Luz's dedication is nice to see, and King's adventure with Owl Beast Eda is somehow insanely adorable, but there's not really much to say other than that. So it's another B episode for me.

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And that’s the end of part one! Part two has probably already been posted by the time you finish this, so you can go ahead and find that if you’re interested.

#the owl house #the owl house review #what i thought about

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monstersandmaw · 5 years

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Male gargoyle (Alesh) x female reader - Part Two (nsfw)

Edit which I’m including in all my works after plagiarism and theft has taken place: I do not give my consent for my works to be used, copied, published, or posted anywhere. They are copyrighted and belong to me.

Ok, so it’s been over a year since I posted Part One of this boy on Tumblr when I was just starting out on here, and I’ve had people popping into my inbox every now and again and asking if there’ll be more. And here, finally, it is! All 5776 words of it!

It’s been up on my Patreon for about a week or so now, and if you want early access to every Tumblr story, plus lots of extra bonus content and patreon exclusives, don’t forget to sign up and become a part of things over there too!

There’s a fair bit of nsfw in it, and some separation, but it’s got a happy ending. I hope you enjoy it.

Part One to remind yourselves!

___

All you wanted to do the next day was stay on that balcony and stare at him. His stony gaze was locked on you if you stood on the balcony, and you blew him another kiss before you went down to breakfast in the hotel, and another before you left to explore for the day. You felt a little foolish, but you thought he might appreciate it, if he could even see you when he was literally made of stone. You didn’t exactly know how his magic worked.

You really had to force yourself to go out and see some more of the city. There were art galleries and museums housing incredible artefacts from the city’s history, and you weren’t going to sit around all day waiting for your statue to come to life again. The thought occurred to you that maybe you should be surprised - or even concerned - at how quickly you’d accepted this turn of fairytale events, but all you honestly felt was excitement.

You ached all morning, still able to feel him deep within you from the night before. You kept replaying the way his whole body had gone rigid as he came inside you, his great wings spread above you like the sails of some dark ship. He had been immensely powerful, jaw gritted, muzzle pulled back and locked in a ferocious snarl that should have been terrifying, fangs flashing as he spent himself. Those enormous talons had left holes in your sheets large enough to put your fingertips through, and you hoped you wouldn’t be charged for those.

His shoulders could have been sculpted by Bernini himself from the way they curved into his biceps, and his leather-smooth, dark grey skin was flawless until it reached that extensive scaring on the right side of his face. The bomb damage in the war had ripped away the flesh of his muzzle to reveal a number of the teeth along one side of his jaw. In the moment he’d given himself to you, he’d forgotten about the ravages done to his face, and he had looked more beautiful than ever, his eyes glowing like sunset. Those growling snarls of pleasure filled your mind all day as you walked the city.

You eventually lost yourself in taking photographs of the former city gates, walking the city walls, tasting amazing local food in the market, but every time you smiled – truly smiled – it was because of him. You couldn’t remember the last time you’d really smiled like that. Sure, your ex had been able to make you laugh, but that was before he cheated on you. You shuddered at the thought of what a mess that had all been.

As you wandered up towards to the old castle on the hill above the centre of town, a chill wind began to tug at your clothes and hair, but you kept going. No point going back to an empty hotel room when your gargoyle wouldn’t be able to move for hours yet anyway. You hoped he would come back again, that he wouldn’t have grown bored already. He’d said he wanted to come back, but a lot could change in a day, as you well knew.

You couldn’t help but wonder as you walked around the grounds of the medieval fortress whether all the statues in the city could move. You eyed a fierce looking lion on a pedestal and imagined it roaming the castle grounds at night. Another gargoyle, not dissimilar to yours, leered down at you from a parapet of the castle keep, with twin horns that curved backwards over its head and a pair of large wings protruding from muscular shoulders, and you smiled as you saw it, and even greeted it as you passed beneath.

Perhaps Alesh had looked like that when he was new. You wouldn’t change him though. You liked his face the way it was. You liked to see the teeth as they ground together, you liked – “Oh hell, stop thinking about him and enjoy the damned castle, will you?” you snarled at yourself.

The sky eventually began to darken, and you made your way back to the hotel, grabbing something to eat on the way. You had a couple of hours before sunset, but when you got back to your room, you couldn’t help going to the window and peering out. Your gargoyle was still there, hand extended towards you. There were people on his balcony though, obviously on a late, guided tour of the cathedral. A sudden thrill of fear shot through you at the thought that he might have given himself away or something by randomly changing after, what, centuries of being the same, but no one seemed to notice.

One tourist did put their hat on his head and take a selfie with him. You snorted at that, imagining that somehow he would not be best pleased about that.

You showered, washed your hair, dried it, put on just a little makeup, checked your reflection in the mirror, took a deep breath, and then went back to the balcony with a book to wait for sunset.

Minutes ticked by like hours.

You could barely reach the end of a sentence without looking up at the sky to see if the sun was nearly set.

Eventually, torturously, it slid below the roofs, the tide of light washing away up the walls of the cathedral as the shadows pushed it back until it left him illuminated in a pool of fiery light.

You stared transfixed, smiling, waiting.

Slowly, very slowly, the skin seemed to come alive as the light faded to the quiet purple of twilight. His body no longer looked completely like cold stone. His tail began to move first, slowly swinging free of the pedestal like a weighted cord. Next, he shuffled the weight on his back paws, taloned toes wiggling slightly as though cold and stiff. His wings began to flex slowly, cautiously, as though they might shatter if he moved too suddenly.

He worked out the crick in his neck, and finally his shoulder released and he lowered his extended arm carefully. It honestly looked extremely painful, and you realised your brows were pinched together with worry and concern for him. Your heartbeat thudded in your ears. He looked at you and then lowered his head slightly, as though bashful. It seemed almost ludicrous that a creature as big and intimidating as him could be shy. Then he cocked his head to one side and you beckoned him questioningly over to you.

Alesh looked around before reaching down and padding across the balcony like a leopard on all fours, keeping his profile low. He popped his front paws up onto the balustrade and looked carefully in all directions, including at the windows of the hotel. His left ear – the right had been blasted off along with his horn during the war – was flat against his head and his wings were pinned to his back. He was frightened.

“You want to wait til it’s darker?” you called, as loudly as you dared.

He looked up at you with such longing in his eyes, and whined like a dog shut outdoors. He still looked stiff and sore but he shook his head. “I can’t,” he whimpered.

“Be careful…” you said. God, if anyone with a smartphone happened to be standing by the window…

He gave a tentative flap of his wings, then leapt onto the balcony railing properly and sprang off, gliding over to you and landing a little awkwardly, right at your feet. He skidded, tail working to balance him with his wings, and you had to step back to avoid being skittled like a bowling pin.

“Come inside,” you hissed, throwing the door open and stepping aside as he slithered into your room, quiet and quick as a cat’s shadow.

The moment you closed the door and drew the curtains, he turned around and all your doubts evaporated. Standing on his hind legs again, he drew you into a huge embrace, one of his huge paws around your waist, the other cradling your head. His talons pricked your scalp, but not painfully. His tail coiled around your left leg and squeezed. His wings too unfolded and he held you with those, blotting out the light so all you could do was feel him close, smell the leathery, mossy scent of his skin, and hear him breathing hard, a sound like wind through the cathedral columns.

He was cold this time. Not painfully so, but still, his skin was chilled as though, well, he’d been outside all day. You muttered something about him being chilly, and he pulled back a bit. “I’ll warm up in a moment,” he said. “I’m still… adjusting.” He pressed his muzzle to your hair and inhaled the scent of you. “I missed you. It’s been torture.”

“You should have picked an easier pose to hold all day,” you laughed, running your hands up to his massive shoulders and squeezing the muscle. It was so solid beneath your fingers you weren’t sure he wasn’t still made of stone. “Does it hurt…? When you change, I mean?”

“Yes,” he grunted. “But not for long. Now I have you, I have something to look forward to. Something to change for…”

“So if I weren’t here, you would still be stone? You don’t automatically shift at sunset?”

He shook his head, moving a little way back to let you breathe better without being smashed against his chest. His torso was smooth, though the collar of his mane hung around his neck like a mantle and trailed a little way down between the planes of his pecs and down his spine between his wings. A single line of thick hair trailed all the way down his abs to between his sculpted legs as well. He was speaking, but it was hard to concentrate on his words while you were looking at him.

His fingers slipped beneath your chin and he tilted your face up to look at him. “Are you even listening to me?” he chuckled.

You blushed, the hot sting filling your cheeks, and you looked away. “I’m sorry.” You turned your eyes back to his after a few heartbeats, and looked up at him through your lashes. “You’re so tall,” you giggled. He let go of you then and fell forward, landing silently all fours to become more like a big cat. A big cat with wings and a horn…

“Better?” He smirked and the gesture was accentuated by the scars that rendered his face somewhat lopsided. He still came halfway up your torso, even like this.

You threaded your fingers through his shaggy mane on the top of his head and he started to purr almost instantly. He leaned into your touch as he had done the night before, pressing his cheek against your palm.

You sank onto the small sofa in your room, and he pressed your thighs open so that he could put his chest between your legs and rest his face in your lap. He still kept the left side towards you, the right with its long-healed, leathery scars concealed. His tail was working idly behind him, back and forth and occasionally wrapping itself idly around his own ankle, as though for something to do with it. He was still purring. “Your touch,” he whispered after a while, a shiver running through his whole body.

You smiled. “Has anyone ever touched you like this before?” you asked him.

Again, he shook his head.

“Never hooked up with another gargoyle from the other side of the cathedral?” you asked playfully.

He snorted a laugh and looked up at you with eyes that glowed like the embers of a campfire. “There’s never been anyone.”

“Wait,” you breathed. “The cathedral is, what, early fourteenth century?”

He stared at you and took a steady breath.

“Were you part of the original design?”

“I was added during the nineteenth century craze for all things gothic,” he said. “I’m old, but I’m not that old.”

“But still, you’ve never been with anyone?”

He shook his head and sat back suddenly on his haunches. “Does that bother you? Did I not please you last night?”

“Oh, Alesh, no, that’s not it at all! You definitely did please me. You were incredible. I’ve never come like that before. No one has ever –” You broke off as an image of your ex flashed across your memory.

His paw came down gently on your thigh, the lethal talons resting idle. He made a noise in his throat and chest, a curious kind of chuffing sound, and you looked up at him. Still with his face half turned away, he managed to look you straight in the eye.

You sighed, trying to relax. You reached your hands out and cupped both sides of his face in your palms. He closed his eyes, as though steeling himself to let you see him properly, and as your fingertips fluttered down to rest on the puckered scars of his face, he shuddered.

You leaned forward in your seat and planted a kiss on the unbelievably soft skin of his muzzle. A tremulous gasp left him then. You ran your finger along the fangs that protruded from his upper jaw. The one on his right side was a little chipped. You kissed his delicate, scarred muzzle again and again, over and over until he was shaking so hard you thought he might just collapse.

“Please,” he rasped. “I… It’s too much… I can’t…”

Glancing down, you saw that his cock had unsheathed itself, and was standing erect, pre-come already beading on the red tip and rolling down its ridged length to slide over his balls.

“You’re so sensitive, Alesh,” you murmured. You ran your thumb over the ear that twitched every so often, sitting just below his left horn. Since his right ear was also missing, you wondered if it affected his hearing. He had been lucky not to lose his right eye as well in the bombing. His left ear, you discovered, was also immensely sensitive.

Gasping as you drove him rapidly almost to the edge just by playing with him, he rolled suddenly over onto his back on the floor, exposing himself at your feet, eyes closed, long body stretching away from you. His hard cock bounced against his abdomen, printing a pearly spot onto his abs. He was clearly so hard that he could barely think straight. His lips drew back and he began to snarl softly, tongue working behind his teeth as he tried not to drool out of the right side of his mouth.

“You’re so beautiful,” you smiled, sinking onto your knees on the floor beside him and stroking his hard chest and chiselled stomach. One leg began to twitch a little, taloned toes curling, and you sank your teeth into your lip to keep from smiling too broadly. He was gone. So beautifully gone.

He cried out and his whole body lurched when you lowered your head and took him in your mouth.

Alesh’s taste was salty and a little sweet, and you made a firm circle with your lips and sank as far down his shaft as you could reach before returning to his head. Your tongue played with the slit at his tip and he writhed and whimpered, more of his pre-come leaking from him as you licked the sensitive underside of his cock in a searing stripe.

“Stop,” he panted as you worked up and down his shaft as best you could. You had to close a fist around the base because there was no way you could take all of him in your mouth. “Please… I’m cl- … I won’t… I won’t last if you… ah!”

You ignored him. You didn’t care if he came quickly. He looked so beautifully lost.

Your fingers teased the curve of his balls as you took him all the way to the back of your throat, eyes beginning to water. Your lips and tongue played over the ridges and bumps in his cock, and you fought to stay relaxed as he rutted upwards into the heat of your throat. You pulled back to recover and he reached vaguely for your shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “I’m sorry. I’m –” You silenced him by swirling your tongue around the head of his cock again, pressing the tip of your wet tongue into the slit while your fingers played along the edge of the velvet-soft sheath at the base and he cried out again in a seemingly endless series of moans and whimpers.

His thighs shook with the effort of holding himself back, but as you hollowed your cheeks and sucked, your middle finger teasing the subtle crease behind his balls, he gave one final grunt of a warning, and you felt him clench.

Hot cum hit the back of your throat and you tried to swallow it, but there was too much. It spilled from your lips and poured down your chin, splashed onto his hips where you were still leaning over him. His fists clenched and his jaw jutted upwards, and his scarred lips drew back as the sounds of his growling snarls filled the room. Luckily the tip of his horn was rounded and not sharp, or there would have been a long gouge in the hardwood floor of your hotel room.

His abs clenched as his climax tore through him. His tail lashed wildly and caught his ankle, coiling around it and tightening like a python as waves of pleasure shot through him. As it passed, he went slack with a grunt, head hitting the floor again with a soft clunk. Your lips and chin and cheeks were absolutely covered in his release.

He cracked an eye open a moment later, still breathing heavily. You smiled shyly at him and he took a few more breaths to steady himself.

“God above,” he swore. “I was not prepared for that.” He shot you a sidelong glance through heavy, lidded eyes and added, “Nor were you by the looks of things.”

“I hardly mind; you came so beautifully,” you said. “But I am gonna clean up, ok?”

He closed his eyes and nodded, resting his head back on the floor again. “I’m not sure I can move yet.”

When you came back from the bathroom, he was just rolling onto his side and pushing himself up onto all fours. He shook himself like a dog for a moment, his mane rippling, and turned to look at you. “I could have cleaned you up, you know?” he smiled. His speech was still a bit slurred, partly due to the extensive scarring and partly due to just how dazed he was.

The rest of your trip passed very much like that, with nightly visits and exquisitely powerful sex, but finally your last night came, and you cried and cried into the soft fur that formed the collar around Alesh’s neck. He held you tight and wept with you. “Tell me about where you live,” he said when your sniffles had abated a little, clearly trying to distract you.

You did. You told him of the little cottage you’d been renting after your ex had moved out, and you’d no longer been able to afford to keep the place you’d been in before. You told him of the country church nearby and of the allotments where people grew their own vegetables, of the little village shops and the crossroads, of the clear river that ran in a shallow, gravelly bed, of the ducks that liked to dabble there… You told him everything until you were hoarse, and the sky had begun to lighten.

The way he made love to you as dawn drew ever nearer was different from any other night. He was slow and careful, intense, taking his time with you, taking you to your peak over and over in gentle, rolling crescendos.

At dawn, he barely gave himself enough time to get back to the cathedral before the light broke over the building. If he transformed mid-flight, he could shatter on impact with the cathedral, but he just made it back to his plinth and settled into his normal pose as dawn crept up the carved facade of the cathedral and snuck down the northern side of the long nave where he lived.

You cried yourself hoarse again before you left the city and headed back to the quiet emptiness of your cottage.

Gradually, things returned to normal. You went to work, and you enjoyed looking back at the photographs you’d taken of your time in the city and with Alesh. All in all, it had turned out to be a much better trip than you’d imagined it would, but you couldn’t help missing your gargoyle dreadfully.

Late one Saturday afternoon, you decided to walk into the village to post a letter that you’d hung onto for far too long through sheer laziness. As your route took you past the local church, you glimpsed a shape on the roof that you’d never noticed before. The church had one or two finely carved gargoyles and grotesques dotted about it, so you assumed it was just one of those which had never caught your eye before then. Maybe they moved around too when the sun set…? They would never be like Alesh to you though, even if you could find the courage to introduce yourself at some point.

As you stared up at it, the sinking sun caught what was visible of the sculpture from behind, throwing it into harsh and yet shapeless relief, and the memory of Alesh on his plinth speared once again into your mind. You looked away, forcing yourself to walk on into the village via the post box, and to focus on something other than the searing ache in your chest.

Idly picking up a newspaper as you browsed in the village shop, your eye was instantly drawn to an article on the apparent theft of a cathedral sculpture which had been heavily damaged during the war. Your heart slid sideways in your chest. That had to be Alesh. Who would steal him? And how? Your eyes scanned the article; it seemed that the authorities and the cathedral staff were baffled as to how such a heavy sculpture could have been removed without anyone seeing.

At that, your brain began to work.

Had he left? Could he even leave? Didn’t he have to be back on holy ground to recharge, otherwise he could crumble away to nothing? Holy ground. Like a church…

You turned on the spot, dropping the newspaper back into the pile and racing out of the shop without buying anything. Sweat rolled down between your shoulder blades by the time you reached the parish church, and you barely dared breathe, let alone hope, as you stared up at the leaded roof behind the crenellations. Sunset was possibly still an hour way.

You paced.

You walked the graveyard, trailing along the rows of headstones, reading every name but never remembering it for long. You kept staring up at the roof line where you could barely see the figure of what looked - at least to your delirious thinking - like a gargoyle, sitting half crouched behind the row of crenellations which jutted up along the top of the walls of the parish church. It was simply impossible to tell if it was him or not, and as the daylight faded with the tantalising slowness of sand through a watched hourglass, your agitation became unbearable. If it turned out to be a discarded bucket or something, your disappointment would be crushing.

Finally, with the lengthening shadows, the chill of evening started to seep into you and you found yourself standing under an oak tree, shaking with anticipation and wild hope. Could it be him? How had he found you? Surely you were more than a day’s flight from the cathedral? Was he alright? Was it even him?

Eventually the sun sank behind the hills and you couldn’t stand the tension any longer. “Alesh?” you called into the empty evening air. “Fuck, if that’s you, please try to hurry!”

A minute or so later, a face appeared above the crenellation and you gasped as huge wings spread wide behind them. A familiar silhouette, barely visible, of one horn and a stump on the other side, was all you needed to see to know it was him.

“Alesh!”

He glanced around and then hurled himself down, soaring on stiff, leathery wings. He landed right in front of you and staggered slightly with the force of his impact. He reared up onto his hind legs, barrelling into you hard enough to drive the air from your lungs, and swept you into his chilly embrace. “I missed you so much,” he whimpered, enfolding you tightly in his wings and pressing his scarred face against the side of your head.

“I can’t believe you’re here!” you whimpered, still crushed by his embrace. “Alesh, they’ve noticed you’re gone,” you said as you hugged his slim waist and inhaled the beautiful, mossy scent of his skin.

“Really?” He seemed genuinely surprised at that and shifted his face a little. “Ha, well, that’ll give them something to chew on I suppose! How are you? Are you well?”

“How did you find me?” you asked in astonishment.

“I looked for weeks for a village fitting the description…” he said, sitting back on his haunches like a tired hunting dog and smiling up at you. His familiar, weathered, puckered, scarred face sparked such intense joy in you that you simply burst into tears. “Oh, don’t cry,” he said. “Did I do the wrong thing? Should I not have looked for you?”

“How long can you stay?” you asked through your sobs of relief and happiness.

He shrugged. “I can rest on this roof, I suppose, or on the hallowed ground of the graveyard somewhere in the bushes, so… indefinitely…?”

“You’d… You’d leave your cathedral? For me?”

Alesh nodded. “I already did,” he grinned.

You sat with him in the churchyard until it was full dark, telling him about what you’d been up to since you’d left the city. It couldn’t have been very interesting for him, but he listened attentively nonetheless, happy to be with you and purring softly like an idling motorbike.

Gradually he got closer and closer to you, stealing little nuzzled kisses against your neck as you spoke, and as his attentions grew more heated, you felt your own body reacting. The scrape of his teeth as he opened his jaw and gently mouthed your entire neck made you whimper, and you finally hissed, “Not here…”

“Where then?” he said. “I’m aching for you… though I’m not sure how far I can fly now like this…”

Your eyes travelled ostentatiously down between his legs to where the tip of his cock was just peaking from its velvety sheath and leaking already. You sucked your bottom lip and groaned. “I missed you,” you said. “It’s dark now - can you fly high enough not to be seen but still be able to follow me home?”

He nodded, his jaw slightly slack and his eyes glittering. He was further gone than he wanted to admit.

You simply smiled and petted his head, fingers lingering on the stump of his right ear which made him gasp and whine softly.

“Come on.”

He took off in a rush of wings, sending leaves and light debris swirling around you as he sought the safety of the sky above. You could barely keep from laughing like a maniac all the way back to your house, and as you opened the front door of the little cottage at the top of the hill, he landed on all fours behind you and followed you inside.

You closed the door and turned around to find him gazing about your house with curiosity. He was panting, so he clearly hadn’t forgotten about how much he wanted you, but, like a curious cat, he was keen to start poking around already.

“Alesh?” you murmured, placing your hand on his back and making him wobble visibly.

“It’s nice,” he said quietly. “And it smells of you.”

You chuckled and began to head upstairs. The near-silent tread of his paw-like hands and feet on the stairs behind you got you oddly worked up as well, imagining his lithe body pacing behind you like a stalking predator. But Alesh was a gargoyle, a protector not a hunter, and he would protect you where others in the past had failed you; of that you were absolutely certain.

He followed you into your small bedroom and came up close behind you. His hands found their way to your waist and he lingered there before slipping his scarred, misshapen, beautiful muzzle up underneath the fabric of your top and licking soft kisses across the bared skin of your stomach. His teeth raked lines over your body and he worshipped you, rubbing his cheek across you in a very feline gesture of ownership and protection. All the while he showered you with affection, his deep, sonorous purring filled the room.

“Alesh,” you gasped, breath hitching as he finally tipped you back onto the bed and drew your clothes off you with his hooked talons.

You helped shimmy out of the last of your clothes and as you lay naked before him, you saw his cock - fully hard now - twitch at the sight of you. Pre-come drooled from the tip and dripped copiously onto your thigh as he lowered himself towards you. He took your nipple gently between his teeth, letting his tongue play over the hardening bud, kneading your breasts with his hands as he rutted his cock against the hollow of your hip.

His breath stuttered, a broken, frustrated, chuffing noise escaping him as his head dipped and he groaned.

“Alesh?”

“I want you…” he whispered through gritted teeth. He rolled his hips against you, the slick slide of his cock making your eyes roll and your clit throb. “I want to take my time with you, but… I… I need…”

“Then have me, Alesh,” you said, parting your legs a little and smiling up at him. “You think I don’t need you too?”

With that he lined his cock up with your wet lips and let the tip play there for a moment, enjoying the sensation of your arousal against his searingly hot cock. Then, in one smooth motion, he seated himself fully inside you.

A resonant growl left his curled lips as they peeled back to reveal his huge teeth and his eyes rolled closed just before his head bowed to rest on your forehead. You could feel the vibrations of his purring as you ran your hands over his muscular chest and up over his gorgeous shoulders. His skin was flushed and heated, the dark, slate grey warm to the touch as you skimmed your fingertips over him. His powerful body was notched here and there with scars from the bomb damage, but you had never beheld anything so beautiful in your whole life.

You told him so as he began to move, and he grunted and picked up his pace, spurred on by your words. His hips began to piston against you and he sat back a little raising one of your legs. “Is… Is this alright?” he barely managed to ask through his haze of lust.

You nodded. “Yes. More. Please…?” and he obliged by raising your other leg and hooking your legs around his neck.

His wings suddenly unfolded with a snap like a dark canvas above you and he growled, kissing your ankles and your calves, then biting your legs, raking his teeth over your skin but never hurting, holding your legs in place on his shoulders with his taloned hands. The sight of his claws pricking against your skin, like the teeth of a hunter’s trap that he was hardly managing to hold from snapping shut, made you tighten and clench around him and he lost the regular rhythm of his hips.

Drool slid from the scarred side of his face where his lips had been blasted off in the war, but he didn’t seem to notice as it hit your skin and rolled down your leg. Your arms snaked up above your head and you squirmed, back arching, your skin feeling like it was tightening all over, shifting your hips so that he could hit you deep, and just there where sparks shot through you. Sounds and praises poured from you as he rutted deeper and deeper, and finally he grabbed your hips, lifting you right up off the bed and tugging you flush against his body, driving himself as deeply into you as he could and then releasing with a wild roar.

His jaw widened, his teeth showing, his tongue curled, and his eyes were rammed shut as he emptied himself inside you. His wings were stretched as wide as they would go, and the sight and feel of him tipped you over the edge right after him. The sound and sensation of your clenching orgasm wrung every last drop from him until he let you back down onto the bed and collapsed on top of you, chest heaving.

You held him close, wrapping your arms around his neck and shoulders, letting his hot breath fan across your sweat-damp skin.

“I missed you so much,” he gasped, unable to catch his breath or steady himself.

“I missed you too, Alesh,” you said. “You don’t have to go back. As long as you don’t get me in trouble for theft of holy statuary…”

He laughed softly against your neck and you wriggled as it tickled. He grunted as his oversensitive, spent cock twitched at the movement, and you felt his release begin to slide out of you. “I’m making a mess,” you whispered.

“Will you let me clean you up this time?” he asked, pulling back just enough to see your face and pressing his clawed hands carefully into the sheets beneath you.

You nodded, and he withdrew, settling himself between your legs and beginning to lap gently over your sensitive clit, cleaning you with loving strokes while his huge hands rested on your thighs.

“I love you,” you whispered, and he froze.

Nuzzling his scarred, gnarled cheek against the inside of your thigh, he purred loudly and said, “I love you too.”

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

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artificialqueens · 4 years

Text

Hot as Hell and No A/C, Chapter 8 (Branjie) - Blackhighheels

Eight

Jose is completely lost in the beat of the music and his own movements, when suddenly the beat stops and the music is turned off.

”Hey!”

”Vanj’ it’s one am, I’d like to sleep for a bit, but my bedroom is right above the studio,” Jason points out and Jose is shocked when he hears what time it is.

”Sorry, mami, didn’t realise how late it is.”

”It’s ok. But why are you still here?”

”I don’t know. Can’t sleep, I guess.” Jose knows exactly why he can’t sleep, but he doesn’t really want to talk about it.

”How’s it going with Brock?” Jason addresses the elephant in the room anyway and sits down crosslegged on the floor.

”Child… nothing’s going. I think I should have stayed my ass home in L.A.” Jose sits down beside his friend.

”So you’re not back together?”

”The asshole’s not even really talking to me and when he does, he’s yelling, telling me to go the fuck home and leave him alone.” Jose mumbles, because the words are hard to get over the lips. He doesn’t want to say them. ”And we was never together.”

”But you want to be.”

”I don’t know,” Jose shrugs helplessly. ”I still can’t see how’d work.”

”Isn’t that why you here though? To get him back, or like, get ya man?”

”Nah, mami, that’s not why I’m here. I’m here ‘cause Miss Ada scared the shit out of me when she told me how bad things had got. I tried posting shit online, knowing he’d see it. I tried calling again, I texted… but the motherfucker never reacted. I was worried he’d hurt himself and jumped into the car, texted Ada I was on my way and came here. Just to be told to fucking leave him alone.” It’s good to get it off his chest, when he’s been keeping it all inside for the last five days.

”He still didn’t talk when you went to Dallas together?”

”Not a single word.” Jose shakes his head. ”He slept though.” He adds, but Jason just nods and shrugs a little, because he doesn’t understand the importance of that little detail.

Brock had fallen asleep in his car, his head turned in his direction, his fingers laced with Jose’s on the middle console. They had only been twenty minutes from home when Brock fell asleep and Jose kept driving. He drove around in the dark, not really knowing where he was going. At some point, when Brock slouched more and more in the seat, Jose turned off the road and into a field somewhere along the road. He parked on the gravel road, unbuckled his seatbelt and Brock’s and pulled him against him, when he basically fell into him. Brock didn’t even budge, he was so fast asleep. Jose thought long and hard as he held Brock in the car, the situation not too different from the last time Brock had slept in his arms on the couch in Jason’s guest apartment. But Brock felt different. Thinner, more tense, less tall in a way. Jose leaned his cheek against Brock’s head and felt needed. Brock’s a stubborn motherfucker, who refuses help, but he needs him, wether he wants to admit it or not.

Jose is still convinced of that two days later, but Brock’s behaviour is starting to wear him down. The hostility hurts like a bitch and every time Brock remains silent, ignores him or tells him to leave, Jose loses hope a little bit more. It’s not even about a love story anymore; it’s about a friendship, a gay man in need or just a person who needs help, plain and simple. If Jose didn’t love him as much, it wouldn’t hurt as badly.

”Well, you’re here now and I don’t think you drove all the way just to give up like this.” Jason gives him an encouraging smile.

”I don’t even know if it’s worth to keep fighting. I don’t even know for what? That he talks to me or gets fucking forced into some kind of weird ass friendship with me? If he don’t want me here, maybe I should just leave.”

”Jo, I’ve know him all my life and he’s never been anything but polite to everyone. Even if he hated someone’s guts, he was at least cordial and aloof. Now, if he’s like that upset you’re here and pushes you away that hard, that means something.” Jason wraps one arm around his shoulders and gives him a hug. ”I think you should stay here and wait until he can’t resist no more. I didn’t tell ya, because we kind of avoided the subject, but when you left, he was sobbing right outside that door and I had to bring him inside so people wouldn’t see him losing it. That’s not something a guy does who doesn’t feel anything for you.”

”Then he’s an even bigger dumb-ass than I thunk.” Jose sighs and places his head on Jason’s shoulder.

”That he is. But you wouldn’t be in love with him if he wasn’t.” Jose playfully punches Jason’s thigh and they both grin.

***

Brock is incredibly wary when he gets called to Jason’s dance studio to once more fix the faulty air-conditioning. He wishes Jason would just throw the damn thing out and get a new one, so he wouldn’t have to fix it very couple of weeks, especially now that Jose is back. Since Ada tricked him into driving to Dallas with Jose, he always suspects the Puerto-Rican to pop up somewhere and the two of them be pushed together again. It’s only been a couple of days since the trip, but he still hasn’t really recovered from it and keeps looking over his shoulder, metaphorically speaking.

When he’d woken up in the car hours after they were supposed to be home, he had awkwardly untangled from Jose and had asked him what they were doing parked in the open field. Jose told him that he didn’t want to wake him and then drove him home without so much as another word. He hadn’t got out of the car as Brock took out the bags and Jose was gone as soon as Brock closed the trunk. Since then he hasn’t seen him, which makes him feel even worse. He fears that Jose is gone, as much as he fears that he is still around.

Brock thinks that if he sees Jose again, he should maybe just explain himself. Jose hadn’t been as hostile when he got here at first. It was him, completely overwhelmed and always angry, who had been rude right from the start, without any reason. It was highly unfair, Brock knows that, but he’s not sure what the best plan of action is. He doesn’t know Jose well enough to figure out which way will be better: Talking to him and letting him know they should both go their separate ways, because it’s better for Jose in the long run, or just shutting him out and not discussing the issue with him. It’s made harder by the fact that Brock longs to talk to him, just to tell him about his days, what he’s done, what he’s seen, the fights he’s had with his father and the way the kitten he named Henry, is still following him around and is waiting for him every day when he gets home.

To his biggest surprise, it’s Jason who is waiting for him, while he can hear the blaring music from the dance studio.

”Don’t worry, it’s just Vanjie who is working on new choreo. He’ll be in there until the middle of the night and won’t bother you,” Jason tells him when he glances at the door of the room.

”He doesn’t bother me,” Brock shrugs and sets up the ladder he needs to climb up to the air conditioning device. He will take it down today, disassemble it completely and only put it back together when he knows exactly what is wrong, once and for all.

”Alright then, just close the door behind you when you leave, Jose will lock it once he’s done. Good night.” And with that Jason is gone.

It’s hard to concentrate when you know that the man you both love and fear is just behind the door, but somehow Brock manages to keep his mind on the job at hand.

”Oh, I didn’t think you’re still here. The banging stopped a while ago,” Jose’s voice makes him look up a long while later, when he’s just trying to rewire the whole unit. He sounds surprised, wary and already harsh.

”Fixing the electric doesn’t include banging,” Brock shrugs. Jose just nods and turns to leave. ”Hey, uhm, Jose?” Brock adds quickly, because he can’t bear to watch him walk away from him again.

”Mh?”

”I just… like…” Seeing the unnerved look on Jose’s face, Brock loses his courage. ”Forget it.”

”No, spit it out,” Jose comes back, arms crossed in front of his chest, chin raised.

”It’s… it’s not important.”

Jose huffs. ”Not important, huh? You’re such a fucking asshole. Just stop talking to me then.”

”Why are you being like this?” Brock asks, puts down the tools and stands up. He knows he has messed up, but Jose has never been plain out hostile before.

”Why am I… Bitch!” Jose turns red in the face, his arms uncross and his fists clench. ”You’re the most unfeeling and cruelest motherfucker I’ve ever come across! But I guess that’s how your fucked up family treats people and you no exception! What’s next? You gonna beat me up? Spit at me? You’ve fucking hurt me enough!” Jose is yelling now.

”I’ve never hurt you!” Brock yells back, because he is absolutely sure he’s never laid hands on Jose, hit him or harmed him otherwise.

”You’re fucking hurting me right now! Right here!” Suddenly there are tears in Jose’s eyes and that’s even worse than Jose’s anger. ”This shit right here, hurts so bad. You hot and cold, push me away just to start talking to me again. You say you my friend, then beg me to make love with you, just to ghost me. You’re so fucked up you don’t care about nothing but your own feelings and your own misery and your own fucked up life. You haven’t ask me once how I am. Not months ago, not now. Like the absolute idiot that I am, I come back here to help you and what do I get? Nothing but rudeness and silence.”

”I never asked you to come back! I wanted you to stay away from me, from this town, so you would be happy and won’t get hurt. I know I’m fucked up, that’s why I didn’t want to ruin your perfect life, in the perfect town far away from here.”

”What do you know about my life? Nothing, that’s what! If you’d asked even once, you’d know about my own fucked up family, the racism in the industry, the threats I get online ‘cause I’m gay. Your hillbilly ass don’t know nothing about how my ex cheated on me and then abused me, ‘cause you never fucking asked! Took me two long years to kick his ass out and now, just my fucking luck, when I finally made it through it all, I fall in love with a guy who doesn’t fucking want me and wastes away right in front of my eyes, because he’d rather be fucking unhappy than be himself. You used me for one night only and now you don’t give a shit about me or you wouldn’t hurt me like that.” Jose is yelling again. But he’s also crying, tears dripping off his nose, though he tries to stop them by wiping at his eyes every couple of seconds.

If Brock thought he felt horrible before, he’s learning now that nothing compares to watching the man you love break down in front of your eyes. He feels helpless, he feels sad, he feels Jose’s pain and he knows it’s all his fault. No one is allowed to hurt Jose, not even himself. He can’t stand seeing Jose cry.

Jose is sweaty from the training, but his skin is cool when Brock pulls him against him and holds him tightly. He feels Jose’s sobs against his chest and doesn’t really know what to do, other than hold him.

”I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Brock keeps repeating as he presses kiss after kiss to Jose’s damp forehead. ”Of course I care about you. I love you, too. And I’m so so sorry.” If Brock could take his pain, he’d do it gladly, even if he’d feel even worse.

”You better be,” Jose sniffs once he has calmed down a bit. ”Fuck, I missed you,” he says and adjusts his hold on Brock, wraps his arms around his waist and buries his face in Brock’s shoulder.

”I really am sorry, papi.”

When Jose looks up, their eyes meet and they both lean in simultaneously. Finally, after all these months, Brock feels Jose’s lips back on his. This kiss is sweeter than all those before. Brock knows what he feels for Jose is real and it’s not going away and this kiss isn’t just to say goodbye. With a heavy heart he stops, before the kiss can escalate even further, but keeps Jose close. ”Can we talk?”

”We better, before we continue this and things will get even more fucked up.” Jose agrees but doesn’t let go of him either. Instead he leans his forehead against Brock’s chest, seeking more physical contact.

”I just have to finish here first.” Brock wrinkles his forehead as he looks at the chaos of the still disassembled AC and runs his fingers through Jose’s sweaty hair.

”Leave it. We talk and Imma help you later, k?” He places a kiss to the middle of Brock’s chest before he stands back up straight.

”Ok.”

With that Jose takes his hands and leads him upstairs to his apartment.

***

”Did you bring Thackery again?” Brock asks as he gets dragged into the apartment.

”Yeah, bet the lazy fucker’s sleeping somewhere,” Jose nods, leans against the closed door and pulls Brock’s head down to kiss him again. It’s a lot more heated than any of their previous kisses. Brock is easily lured into the kiss and pushes Jose against the door. He holds him up, Jose’s legs slung around his waist as they kiss each other senseless, noses bumping, tongues battling and the occasional bite in between. After a while, Jose finds his common sense again and breaks the kiss, much to Brock’s disappointment. He doesn’t want to stop because this is the first time in months he doesn’t feel like shit.

”Fuuuuck, we was supposed to talk not make out,” Jose groans as the back of his head hits the door. There’s a small smile on his kiss-swollen lips.

”Then let’s do that.” Gently Brock lets him down and they sit down on the sofa.

”You wanna drink something?”

”No, not really. I’m too nervous.” There’s a sense of doom still hanging over his head. Jose’s acceptance of his apology and his enthusiastic kiss should give him hope that they will somehow find some common ground, but he doesn’t trust it. He never trusts anything good that happens to him, because it never lasts. Why would this thing with Jose be any different, when he can see absolutely no reason why he would want to be with him for longer than one night. He might think he loves him, but what about when his parents find out? What when he has no more place to live, no job, no car, no nothing. What will Jose think then, when at the same time he has his life sorted out in L.A. He doesn’t need his problems and Brock can’t understands why he has come back to dive head first back into them.

”Nervous? You didn’t get nervous when you ravished me against that door,” Jose points out.

”I didn’t….” The shit eating smirk on Jose’s face stops Brock’s protest. ”Idiot.” They smile at each other and it lightens the mood a bit.

Brock doesn’t really know where to start or how to explain himself. He wants Jose to be happy, but he’s not sure how to achieve it: By staying away or by being with him.

”What do ya want, Brock? What do you want from me?” Jose finally asks, his voice soft and quiet, maybe a little scared, but he keeps up the eye contact, which is unnerving.

”I… I know that you’re better off without me in the long run. None of what’s here in this town and with me is anything that will make you happy. I have nothing to offer you and I don’t know why you came back. That’s why I should push you away again, make you go back to L.A..”

”I didn’t ask what you think you should do, I asked what you want. You know, that’s different.”

Brock doesn’t have to think about it, he knows what he wants, even if he can’t have it. ”I want to be with you.” Jose smiles. ”But I shouldn’t because…” He is silenced with a kiss.

”I wanna be with you, too.” Now Brock is smiling, can’t help it when Jose looks at him like this, all cute and with all the love shining in his eyes. ”Now we just gotta figure out how we do that.”

”Do you really think we could make it work? Why do you want… me?” Brock is still doubtful. He’s never even allowed himself to hope that this could come true.

”It’ll work if we wanna make it work. We just gotta put the work in.” Jose is so sure about it, that his optimism is contagious. ”And I want you, ‘cause I don’t choose who I fall in love with, it just happens. And you’re funny and sweet and you don’t do me dirty, you have a good heart and love your family. You’re not a player nd you don’t give a shit about my fame. You don’t even really know anything about the people I work with. You no fame chaser and you care about me, Jose, not Vanjie. And it’s not a bad thing either that you hot as fuck.” Brock’s smile gets wider and he has to kiss him again. As they make out once more, Brock ends up lying on top of Jose, their legs tangled on the couch as they kiss and can’t stop. It’s a weird thing, considering that Brock went his whole adult life without being as helplessly subjected to his own primal urges; but around Jose he can’t help himself. For four long months he’s missed him and he’s denied himself even the hope of ever being with him again. And yet, here they are, helplessly and stupidly in love with one another.

”Before we gonna get down and real dirty, I have to take a shower. I’m all disgusting,” Jose mumbles in between kisses.

”You’re not disgusting.” To demonstrate it, he sucks and licks the skin beneath Jose’s ear, tasting the salty sweat.

”You can always join me in the shower, if ya know what I’m saying,” he grins up at him. When the words register with Brock, he basically jumps up and makes Jose laugh out loud. ”You such a dork.”

”Oh shut up and lead the way!” Brock laughs with him, his head already full of fantasies about Jose in the shower, his skin wet and the room full of steam as their bodies glide against each other.

It’s a bit awkward to get undressed in front of each other, while not undressing each other, Brock thinks. He’s never been one to play any kind of sports that needed locker rooms and community showers. He steals glances at Jose, who throws his sweaty clothes into the hamper, while Brock folds his carefully. He’ll need them later.

They climb into the tub and start kissing again as soon as Jose has turned on the water. It’s more fun than sexy, Brock finds, as he washes Jose’s hair and steals kisses while Jose keeps complaining about the suds running in his eyes. Brock styles his hair, so it’s sticking up, held up by the foam.

”What are you doing?” Jose asks him, still wiping at his eyes.

”Nothing,” Brock giggles and wipes Jose’s eyes with a towel. ”You look like a porcupine,” he finally points out.

Jose shakes his head. ”I should kick your bitch ass for all the shit you put me through. This,” he points to his hair, ”is just the top of the iceberg.”

”Tip of the iceberg, babe.” Jose gives him a death stare, which makes Brock laugh. ”I’m sorry.”

”It’s ok. You can make it up to me.”

Brock wraps his arms around Jose’s waist as he tips his head back and rinses out the shampoo. ”How?”

”Like this.” Jose pushes at his shoulders, so he goes down on his knees. If this is the penance Brock has to do, he does so gladly, Brock thinks, as he takes Jose’s half hard cock in his mouth.

He takes his time licking and blowing him. He moves his mouth down, sucks his balls and finally turns him around and does something he’s never had the urge to do before, and rims him. The sounds Jose makes above him are delicious and by the time he turns off the now cold water, they’re both fully hard.

Thackery is spread out across the bed when they make it into the bedroom, both still more wet than towelled dry. Jose picks the cat up, puts him in the hallway and closes the door.

”He’s a voyeur?” Brock smiles and sits down on the bed.

”No idea, but I’m not fucking with my cat in the room. That’s just sick. I’d feel like a perv,” Jose scrunches up his face in the cutest way and straddles Brock’s lap. ”Here we are again.”

”Mmh. Only you won’t leave tomorrow.” As soon as he’s spoken the words, it registers with him that he never actually asked. ”You won’t, right?”

”No, I won’t. Can’t leave you idiot alone for too long or you go nuts.” Jose looks at him with such tenderness that Brock lowers his eyes so he won’t start crying. ”We gonna make this work, I promise. Tomorrow we’ll come up with a plan. I like you too much to be ignored by you again. And by the weight you’ve lost, I’d say you weren’t doing too great either.”

”I missed you so much.” Brock admits and looks at him again. ”I love you.”

They let their bodies talk afterwards and neither lasts too long. They’ve been apart for too long and they are both exhausted. Jose gets up once more to let Thackery back into the room and then they fall asleep, naked and holding each other close.

***

Brock watches Jose as he wakes up. He’s barely opened his eyes when he’s already smiling sleepily because he sees him.

”Morning.”

”Good morning,” Brock replies and gives him a kiss.

”What time is it?” Jose rolls towards him and places his head on Brock’s chest.

”Shortly after six,” he replies after checking.

”Why you watching me awake so fucking early?” Jose’s eyes close again as he snuggles even closer, one leg now thrown across Brock’s. It’s true, he has been watching him for a while. It still feels like a dream to be here with Jose. Now that he has this again, the closeness and the feeling of being loved, he doesn’t really understand why he pushed Jose away in the first place. He’s changed since Jose’s first visit; a lot actually. He’s cried, he has talked about his feelings and his dreams. It seemed like talking about it provoked a change in how he lived and carried himself. He’s out to Ada and he’s ok with being gay. He doesn’t fear going to hell most days anymore, his sister made sure of it. For the first time ever he stood up to his parents, he set boundaries for his father and he started talking honestly with his mother. It all helped him feeling a bit less trapped and unhappy, but nothing compares to just being with Jose. He can’t lose him again and he knows there is one more step he has to take in order to achieve it. Thinking about it makes him nervous, but knowing that no matter the outcome, Ada and Jose will still be there afterwards, makes it a lot less scary.

Brock chuckles. ”Early? I usually get up at half past four. I should have been at work over an hour ago.”

”That’s sick. Torture. Abuse. Cruelty.” Brock knows he’ll go on and on, so he silences him with another kiss. ”You really here?” Jose opens his eyes and blinks at him.

”I should ask you that. I still can’t believe you came back,” Brock wraps both arms around him. ”Why did you come back?”

”Promise, you won’t get angry?”

”I can’t until I hear what you have to say.”

”No, you gotta promise first,” Jose stubbornly insists.

”Fine, I won’t get angry.” Brock agrees, but still rolls his eyes.

”Ada called me and told me you weren’t doing good. She asked me to talk to you, but, ya know, you wouldn’t pick up your phone. She also told me you stalking me on insta, and I tried to get a reaction from you with the last couple of posts, but you cold-hearted bitch didn’t give me one. So what’s a guy gotta do? I grabbed Thacks and drove my gay ass here, cause I didn’t want to have your sister call me again and beg me to do this and that.” Jose places a kiss in the middle of Brock’s chest. ”And I missed ya.”

”You know, no matter what we come up with about how to make this work, I think I really need some professional help at some point. I don’t know where or who or how to pay for it, but I can’t go on like this. It hurts Ada and it made me nearly lose you…I don’t wanna feel like crap anymore all the time.”

”I think that’s a good idea. There are some dope ass therapists in L.A., ya know?” Their eyes meet and Jose’s brown orbs say it all.

Still, Brock has to ask because he needs to hear him say it out loud. ”You really want me to come to L.A. with you?”

”Yes.” There’s no hesitation, not for a second. ”I love you, of course I want you with me.” Brock kisses him for the answer that makes his heart warm.

”What would I do there?”

”Therapy,” Jose smirks but then becomes serious again. ”And I dunno, whatever you wanna do. You could find a job as a handy man or work in retail, as a waiter… Whatever, I don’t care. You could also become my sex slave and just wait on me when I get home… naked. Or you could go back to school, get a degree. You wanna study photography, right? You could do that. You’re smart, you’ll figure it out.” Suddenly the possibilities seem endless, when just yesterday there were none.

”I wouldn’t want to be a burden and live off your money.”

”You’re not a burden, you my boyfriend.” The last part sounds more like a question than a statement and Brock knows he has to say something.

”I am.” He confirms and they both smile.

”And I know you not the type of guy who’d just bum around and let me pay the bills. I don’t mind paying for stuff until you’ve got it figured out. If, ya know, that’s what you want… coming to L.A. with me and all.” Brock thinks about it while he places random kisses on Jose’s skin, wherever he can reach.

”I think first I need to come out to my parents and see how that goes. If they accept me, us, then I’ll stay and run the farm. But if they’re not… I might have to take you up on the offer, because unless I’d like to share a room with Rachel, Jonathan and Ruthie, I won’t have anywhere to go.”

”If ya really wanna stay in town, I could talk to Jason. I bet he’d let you live here.”

”How would I pay for it? Without the work on the farm I have no income. Neither Dan nor Ada can pay me.”

”You sure about telling your parents? I don’t wanna force you into doing something you’ll regret. Once it’s out it’s out and I’d hate it if you only come to L.A. with me ‘cause you got no other choice.”

Brock slowly sits up and keeps Jose close until he’s fully upright. Then he pulls back, so he can look at him better. ”Coming with you sounds too good to be true and I’d never see it as my last resort. It’s a dream. In fact, I’d say let’s go right now, if things were different. But my parents are gonna lose the farm if I leave. They can’t do it on their own and the extension of the stable has caused them to be in significant debt. We’re only hanging on by a thread. As soon as I’m gone the bank will come in and foreclose it. But the land has been in my mother’s family for generations and I don’t wanna be the reason why it’s gone, you now? And then there are Dan’s medical bills… it’s a lot.” Jose nods and takes Brock’s hands. ”But after yesterday, last night, this morning…. I’ve been thinking and I can’t remember the last time I slept as well as I did last night and I don’t think I’ve ever been as happy as when I woke up this morning and you were there. I haven’t been happy in a long, long time. I can’t go back to how I was feeling just yesterday. It’s been hell and I know Ada is right and I need professional help, but like… you make it better. Being able to be myself makes it better. Even if you’re willing to hide around here and let me stay in the closet, I can’t do it. I’m done with it, Jose. I just… I can’t live a lie no more.”

”Then you shouldn’t.” Jose encourages him and kisses both of his hands, before he pulls and makes Brock fall on top of him, as he laughs.

”I have to get up and fix the AC.” Brock’s aware that the device is still lying on the grounds in parts.

”Forget about the fucking AC and fuck me instead,” Jose huffs as his hand wraps around Brock’s dick. Who is he to argue with his boyfriend’s wishes?

***

Afterwards Brock takes a quick shower while Jose makes coffee and feeds Thackery. They meet again in the kitchen, Jose only in sweatpants and Brock fully dressed, but it already feels like they’ve been apart for too long.

Brock has to touch him again and runs his hands over his chest as soon as he’s close enough. Jose lets him explore his upper body by touch and memorise him with his rough fingertips, he only bites his lower lip, his teeth digging into it.

Brock steps even closer, and watches Jose’s eyes fall shut and his breath hitch when he runs his fingers up Jose’s sides gently, stroke over his shoulders and make it to his chest. He places his hands there and feels Jose’s heart thumping away against his palms.

”You’re so gorgeous. Inside and out.” Jose opens his eyes again and looks straight into his.

Jose smiles, steals a kiss and cups his face with his hands. ”Right back at ya, babe.” Then he leans in again.

Their coffee is cold when they come up for air and Jose slides off the counter, a mischievous smile on his face. Brock wonders how long they will be like this and won’t able to keep their hands off each other.

”You gonna go down like this?” he asks Jose as they decide to go downstairs so he can finish his work while his boyfriend will keep him company.

”Why you got a problem? Don’t like the view?” Jose is such a fucking tease.

”I love the view a bit too much. You’ll just distract me and I’ll never fix that damn thing.”

”Fine,” he sighs dramatically and quickly grabs a shirt from the bedroom. ”Might be better to cover the hickey you left on me, fucking vampire.”

”You also got on here,” Brock places a kiss on Jose’s clavicle. ”And here,” another kiss on his neck follows, because it’s not like the loose shirt actually covers up anything.

”Stop, idiot or we going back to bed,” Jose giggles and they finally leave the apartment.

Jose is completely useless when it comes to tools or fixing things, Brock finds out, but it’s still more fun to work when he keeps babbling about whatever and Brock can steal a kiss every few minutes.

”You still not done?” Jason comes around the corned when Brock has just reassembled the AC again. ”Don’t tell me you’ve been here all night.” He looks truly shocked.

”I’ve been here all night,” Brock confirms, because it’s the truth after all.

”And what are you already doing up? You better haven’t touched anything! You can’t be trusted with tools.”

”I sure did touch some things… Wouldn’t call them tools,” Jose says with a shit-eating grin and Brock rolls his eyes before they both start laughing.

”No fucking way!” Jason exclaims, his mouth hanging open as he watches them. ”You bitches spent the night together again? There better not be the same drama as last time. No crying!” he points at Brock.

”There won’t be no tears. Imma make sure my boo’s happy,” Jose vows and leans in for another kiss, that Brock gladly gives him.

”You’re really doing this?” Jason sits down besides Jose, absolute disbelieve showing on his face.

”We are. I’m gonna come out to my parents later when I’m done here.”

”Oh… make sure first your dad’s not armed.” Jason isn’t really joking.

”He won’t hurt me. At least not physically.”

”You’re sure about that and you’re ready? I don’t know your family too well, but judging by the way they treat me, you better brace yourself.”

”I know,” Brock sits down on the other side of Jose and places his hand on his thigh. ”Ada already knows and she’s fine with it. Dan and Lily will probably hate me and my father hates me anyway, so not much will change. I just don’t know how my mother will react.”

”What are you gonna do afterwards?”

”If they throw me out I’ll go to L.A. with Jose. If they want me to stay, I’ll stay.”

”If he stays, ya better keep this apartment ready for me, cause I’m gonna spend a lot of time here,” Jose lets Jason know.

”Wow…. I didn’t see this coming. I mean, I never thought you’d come out to your family.”

”With Ada already knowing and now with Jose… I have to. I’m sick and tired of pretending.” Jose gives his hand a squeeze and their eyes meet for a second.

”Seeing you together now it’s not like you got a choice. One look at your dopey smiles and ‘love’ written all over your faces and everybody knows what’s going on. I’m just waiting for the violins to start in the background.”

”Can ya blame me? Look at him!” Jose screeches and makes them all laugh, as Brock pulls him in a playful sideways hold. ”Don’t kill me, babe, kiss me!” he puckers his lips and of course Brock gives in.

”I’m gonna get some coffee myself and then I wanna know how this happened.”

”You not getting them dirty details!”

”I don’t want’em!” Jason laughs as he walks away.

”I’m scared, now that Jason talked about your dad with guns and shit.” Jose becomes serious as soon as they are alone again. Just because he can, Brock pulls him in his lap.

”My dad is always talking about his guns and how he’ll shoot people and what a tough guy he is, but he’s always been an awful shot and since his heart attack he’s had trouble with his eyesight as well. Also, he’s drunk most of the time these days, so he’s aggressive, but hardly able to carry a gun, much less shoot with it. And he doesn’t do well with people that are stronger than him. Beating up his wife and kids is one thing, but he’d never even confront Jason or you, because he’s a fucking coward, gun or no gun.”

”Please, be careful anyway.”

”I will.” He gets a kiss for his answer.

”Imma be your get away driver, if needed.”

”With screeching tires and all?” Brock jokes to lighten the mood.

”Of course. Real gangsta style.” Jose nods his head up and down. This time it’s Brock who initiates the kiss. It’s like he’s suddenly addicted and can’t go without touching or kissing Jose for longer than a minute or two.

”Hey you two, knock it off! I’m paying ya to fix my AC not to give me a live sex show in the middle of my dance studio.” Jason is back with his coffee and busts them.

”We not doing anything!”

”Jo, that would be more believable if you didn’t still have ya hands under his shirt and down the back of his pants.”

Jose pouts as he’ still sitting in his lap, Brock and Jason are laughing, and for the moment everything is right in Brock’s world and he can forget for a second what he has to do later today.

TBC

#rpdr fanfiction #brooke lynn hytes #vanessa vanjie mateo #branjie #m/m au #slow burn #romance #smut #angst #hot as hell and no ac #blackhighheels #tw religion #tw internalized homophobia

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ficsandcatsandficsandcats · 4 years

Note

Hey!! Can you write the First anniversary of Reader and Punk!Jaskier, as a married couple? Just thought it would be a cute idea, especially as Jaskier spoils the reader on their special day!!

Fandom: The Witcher Pairing: Punk!Jaskier x Reader Word Count: 1,585 Rating: T Taglist: @heroics-and-heartbreak @whatevermonkey @mynamesoundslikesherlock @kemmastan @magic-multicolored-miracle @writingstudent @mlleecrivaine @coffee-and-stories @amirahiddleston @ultracolorfulnerdcollection @astouract @your-not-invisible-to-me @mycat-is-mylove a/n: I picture their one year anniversary being the trip they couldn’t take for their honeymoon. Which means it’s long and beautiful and detailed. I wrote the start of the trip here and might do more bits and pieces over time, but here is how it began. May all of our trips go so well. Thank you! xo

It was raining in Paris when you touched down and you knew it was going to be an even better day than you could’ve anticipated.

It was one year to the day that you and Jaskier had gotten married, six months after giving birth to your daughter, and you were finally taking the honeymoon you’d planned but hadn’t been able to go on. You’d decided to make it two weeks to make up for the lost time and to give yourselves time to roam and enjoy. You’d still found yourself struggling with the need to fit as much in as possible. It had been your dream to go to Paris since you were a child. You’d both been renewing the French you learned in school by using Duolingo and you felt confident in your ability to get around town. But there would be no getting around today.

“I’m so sorry love,” Jaskier sighed as the pair of you bundled into a taxi, soaked through despite only being outside for a few minutes. He gave the directions to the taxi driver and you took his hand, squeezing it tightly with a wide smile on your face.

“This is perfect,” you reassured him, “We can just stay in today and look out at Paris and relax.”

“That does sound nice,” he admitted, “You sure you don’t feel cheated, though? I know we were going to go to les Jardins des Tuileries.”

“I have been incandescently happy for six years,” you replied, “and then beyond incandescent as of a year ago. Frankly if I get any happier, I may die. It is medically inadvisable that you make me any happier, Pankratz. Jaskier chuckled at your faux solemn expression and pulled you in for a kiss.

-----

You were dropped off at the hotel and Jaskier asked you to close your eyes which made getting out of the taxi a little harder but you soon felt the door open and Jaskier’s hands as he helped you out and then he positioned you facing outward.

“Open them,” he said. The first thing you noticed was the metro line close by and thought of how convenient it was for your plans and then you looked up and gasped, hands flying to your mouth. Before you was Place de Concord. To your left was les Jardins de Tuilireies, on the other side of which stood the Louvre, and to the right you could see the Eiffel tower. Cars drop by at insane speeds sending gushes of rain water up onto the sidewalk but you were transfixed by the sudden, certain reality that you were standing in Paris, France. Jaskier watched you adoringly, loving the expression on your face. He could hear Aevryn whispering in his ear to take a picture but he was selfish and he wanted this moment all to himself. He knew he would never forget it and he knew that it, like you, were all his. He tipped the driver and an attendant from the hotel came up with a cart, loading your luggage onto it as Jaskier spoke to him, and finally you pulled yourself away to go inside and get checked in. Everything went smoothly, though you felt a little bad about tracking in water, a guilt that was eased by the signs already up saying to be careful, clearly you were no the first ones to come in out of the rain. The elevator was smaller than the ones back home but also nicer. Jaskier told you about the history of the hotel and you smiled at him in amusement.

“What is it?” he asked as he realized you weren’t smiling that way at the revelation that elevators were to this hotel.

“You’re just… such a dork,” you sighed fondly.

“Well you married me so that makes you… the… most dorky,” he retorted.

“Well you’re a dungeon master sooooo,” your voice trailed off and his mouth fell open, amused but also taken aback.

“Well,” he countered, pressing you up against the back of the elevator, eyes trailing over your face and across your lips, “You love playing D&D and you’ve already said you’re going to DM a one-shot so, ha.”

“Dork,” you murmured as you pressed your lips against his, muffling his reply. The door dinged open and you stepped out where you found the hotel attendant who had gone up with your things waiting for you. The room was gorgeous and your hands flew to your mouth again in shock.

There was a laptop set up on the desk and zoom was up. As soon as the door had opened you heard four familiar voices cry out “Happy Anniversary!”

Yennefer, Geralt, Aevryn, and Valdo sat crowded around the computer at what looked to be your office at home and in Aevryn’s lap sat Sam.

“Oh my god!” you cried, “Hi!”

“I knew you’d be wondering about her pretty soon and missing her,” Jaskier explained, joining you by the laptop after tipping the hotel attendant.

“Oh sure, all for Y/N’s sake, definitely not because you’ve been texting me every possible minute to check on her and asking for photos,” Aevryn teased.

“Oh sure, cuz you haven’t been sending me roughly a dozen photos an hour unprompted anyway,” he volleyed.

“Look! It’s your mummy! And your daddy! Can you say mummy and daddy?” Valdo asked Sam who just giggled at him in confusion, large, sky-blue eyes sparkling and her little hands grabbing at the laptop screen.

“She’s not due to speak for a bit yet,” you said, laughing.

“Oh Valdo has decided she’s a savant and that he is going to get her to say her first word,” Yennefer said with a wry smile.

“It will be Uncle Valdo and she will thank me in her Valedictorian speech at Cambridge,” Valdo replied, puffing out his chest proudly and squishing her little cheeks with one hand that she immediately seized, gnawing on one of his fingers which must have been painful but he bore it without complaint until Aevryn pulled his hand away and asked him to retrieve her teething toy.

“We should feed her but have the very best time! Eat all of the bread and cheese and pastries! I will be spamming you with photos of Sam so don’t worry for even a second,” Aevryn said reassuringly.

“Ok, thank you again so much for taking care of her. We love you! I love you pumpkin!” you called to Sam who waved, unaware of what was going on, happily chomping on her teething ring.

“Thanks you guys, take care. Love you Mitka,” Jaskier called, kissing his fingertips and then resting it against the screen where her little cheeks were. The video call closed and before Jaskier could move an inch you pulled him into a deep, long kiss that left you both a bit breathless.

“You are the sweetest, most thoughtful, sexiest man and father in the world,” you sighed.

“So you admit it,” he said, a sly smile curling up the corners of his mouth.

“What?” you asked.

“You admit that I have ascended and taken the title…” he continued, waiting for realization to dawn on you. He saw your face shift from confusion to exasperation and his smile grew wider.

“Jaskier no I will never-“

“I’m a DILF,” he said, waggling his eyebrows.

“I will never call you that. It’s gross,” you sighed, shoving him back and throwing a plush, satin covered pillow at his face.

“Oh c’mon love, that makes you a MILF you know,” he said, trying to pull you into his arms, crawling across the overly large bed to get to you.

“I don’t think that’s how that works,” you said, laughing, “I think both partners are judged separately for their attractiveness. I’d be a MILF with or without you. Except I’m not one! Cuz it’s gross!”

“Too late! No takebacks! Y/N Pankratz has finally declared herself the MILF that she is!” declared triumphantly as you slid off the bed with a “harrumph!”

He leaned over the side of the bed to peer down at you where you lay on a carpet nearly as plush and comfortable as the bedding you’d be sleeping under that night.

“Hungry?” he asked.

“I could eat,” you said, “Why – do you have a chocolate fountain stashed in the bathroom or something?”

“Tragically they could not accommodate that, an insurance thing I think. But they do have room service and I looked ahead at the menu and found that they have a number of splendid gourmet dishes including all the classics, escargot, steak frites, yadda yadda but! Most importantly! They have a grilled cheese,” he said the words in a seductive purr and your eyes lit up as he knew they would.

“Have I told you lately that you are a very good, very kind, very handsome man?” you asked.

“Would you go so far as to call me… a D-”

“Julian Alfred Pankratz I am never going to call you a DILF for as long as we both shall live. I practically wrote it into our vows,” you said.

“Fair enough!” he said lightly and rolled off the bed towards the phone to order your food.

As you sat on the balcony overlooking Paris with your perfectly toasted grilled cheese in one hand and the front man for your favorite band aka your husband’s hand in your other you were reminded yet again how bizarre life could be and how grateful you were for it.

#Anonymous #Punk!Jaskier x Reader #Punk!AU #Vicious Mockery AU #Vicious Mockery

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minjiwritesstuff · 5 years

Text

Guardian Angel

Pairing: Hyungwon x reader

Genre: Angst, fluff

Words: 1,8k

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You were sitting in the car, talking on the group chat with the three of your friends, which included your best friend, your other friend Millie and the only guy in the group, Hyungwon. You were happy but that was until your mom received a notification on her phone, phone that you were watching because she was waiting for an answer from your aunt. Your mother told you to not worry, that it wasn't happening and you believed her, even though you knew, ever since you were young, that your parents would one day split, you simply didn't know when. But after discovering that your mother was on dating app, your trust in her that was so strong after all those years declined. It fell down like a wall after being hit by a wrecking ball, not piece by piece like a house that is getting way too old to hold on still. The same night you discovered it, you couldn't keep it to yourself and tell your best friend. You broke down in tears while walking in the streets of your hometown, the streets you knew way too well because your town wasn't huge. Your friend tried to comfort you as you told her about how scared you were of the separation, but not because of your parents splitting, you were actually scared to lose your house. Some people could think it was stupid because it's only a house, but to you it was everything. It was your comfort, it was all of those memories you made in all the 13 years of living in it, it was one of the only places where you felt safe, were you could at least be a bit happy. It was the only place where you felt free to sing and dance at almost any time of the day, which meant a lot to you. That night, you and your friend walked for about half an hour, maybe more before coming back to your house.

After that, everything became a heavyweight you couldn't support anymore. Your mom started going out often, stating she was going to take a coffee with her best friend or your aunt, but you couldn't help but doubt her words. The only thought you had was that she was meeting some random guys from the dating app, but your friend kept saying that it wasn't it, that you were only scared. You tried to believe her but it was hard. One night you came back from your friend's house and found a piece of wrapping on the ground and saw it came from a condom wrapping. The worst thoughts came to your mind and you told your best friend. Once again she said that it was probably because your parents had some good time together while you were gone and that she didn't think your parents would go see somewhere else. You tried to believe her again but it was hard.

It was only about two weeks later that you discovered the whole truth. Your mother and you were heading to make groceries when she announced you that her and your father were splitting, you said that you guessed it would happen one day and your mom started to explain how it was hard to live with your father. You understood because you knew it was true so you said nothing. But what she told you next, you weren't ready to hear it. Your mother announced you that she has a fuck friend, that it has been lasting since one week, confirming all of your thoughts, that she was saying another man, that she slept with someone else, that she cheated on your father. You simply couldn't believe it, the person beside you was not your mother, it simply couldn't be. Your mother was not the type to do this, she was habitually so sweet and caring. You understood that she wanted to think about her own good first now but to the point of cheating on her boyfriend of 23 years? This couldn't be true. Even though she told you that it wasn't supposed to happen like that, that it wasn't supposed to happen this fast, you couldn't forgive her. So you stayed silent and tried hard not to cry.

Now you needed to break the news to your best friend. But how? You thought of more than 20 ways of telling her, but none were good enough, so you simply send her a message.

(y/n)

My mom has a fuck friend, I knew something was odd. It's been like 15 minutes that I wanna tell you so sorry it's a bit rough but I needed to tell you

She was quick to answer.

Best of the best ❤️

WHAT THE FUCK?!?!

You both kept talking, you told her about how you weren't able to tell your mom what you were thinking and stuff. She told you to try and relax and think that in a few days you would be out of town, living your best life, which made you smile some.

That was the second hard shot, but sadly not the least. Even though you didn't want to accept it, you'd have to move. Your mother had clearly no intention in keeping the house and your father couldn't afford it. So like every moving, you had to pack your things. So since you were living at your grandma's with your mom, you and your mom were going back to the house to make some boxes. Almost every time you went, you heard your parents talking loudly and almost fighting, which you couldn't stand. So you grabbed your phone and wrote a message, saying how you were done with your parents, mostly your mother, and that you wanted to just go away for a few days to get away of all this shit. But instead of writing it twice, you sent it to both of your friends at the same time by clicking on their name. But little did you knew, you sent it to Hyungwon at the same time. At first, you didn't notice and kept doing some boxes in your room while listening to music to calm you down, and also to make sure you wouldn't hear your parents but after a while, you heard a ding and raised your eyes to look at your phone and noticed Hyungwon's contact name

Wonwon 🐢❤️

What's wrong? What's happening with your parents? Are you ok?

You took your phone and groaned.

- Fuck, you cursed while sitting on your bed beside your cat.

Yours and Hyungwon's relationship was a bit special because you were close, to him you were like his little sister and plus you had feelings for him so you didn't tell him about your parents because you didn't want him to worry about you. Seeing that you weren't answering, Hyungwon sent you another message.

Wonwon 🐢❤️

(y/n)?

You sighed and opened the message.

(y/n)

I didn't mean to send you this actually… 😔 I'm sorry Wonnie… I didn't mean to hide it from you but I didn't want you to worry…

Wonwon 🐢❤️

What's happening?

(y/n)

To do quickly, my parents split, my mom cheated on my dad, she has a fuck friend and we're moving

Wonwon 🐢❤️

Oh shit… I'm sorry… If you need anything just tell me, I'll always be there for you

(y/n)

Yeah, I know Wonnie, thanks 💙

Wonwon 🐢❤️

If you want maybe we could do something together so it can change your mind, anything 😊

(y/n)

Yeah it would be nice 😊

Wonwon 🐢❤️

Alright, then we have to do this soon

(y/n)

Yeah

A few weeks later, you were in your car driving to this abandoned road you and Hyungwon liked to go. When you got there, you saw Hyungwon's car so you parked yours beside and got out, looking for your friend. You walked a few meters and saw him near a tree. You smiled some and walked to him.

- Hey, he said while smiling when he saw you.

- Hey, you answered a bit shyly.

It was weird how you were still shy around him even though you guys were close and that he considered you like his sister.

- How you feeling? Hyungwon asked as he started walking on the cracked road.

- I could be better… I haven't been feeling great lately. I mean, with the stress of moving and everything… And plus my mom is a real pain in the ass these days… She always has that mad expression on her face, and she's always rude, I can't deal with her anymore, I'm sick of it, you said before sighing.

Hyungwon looked at you and sighed at his turn.

- Yeah, must be annoying.

You nodded and walked. You and Hyungwon kept talking until after about half an hour later when you said something that didn't really please Hyungwon.

- Sometimes I feel like it would be easier if I wasn't there.

You didn't mean it as if you were dead, but that's what Hyungwon understood from it.

- Stop this (y/n), do you know how scared I am? I'm so scared you'll do this that we can't undo. I'm scared you'll hurt yourself, you did it once and that's more than enough, he said grabbing your arm where a white scar from a few years was still visible.

- Hyungwon… You know I won't do any of this…

- No, I'm not sure! It's not I don't trust you, but you said the exact same thing before cutting your arm 5 years ago! When you did that you scared me to death! Do you know how much blood there was on the floor when I found you? I thought you were dead, (y/n)! I don't want to find you in this situation ever again ok? Why do you think I protect you this much since a few weeks?

- I… I don't know, you said while tears fell down on your cheeks.

You weren't scared or sad that Hyungwon was acting like this, but you were crying because you realized how he cared about you. He and your best friend were the only ones that showed this much how they cared for you.

- Because I have this bad feeling something will happen to you and I don't want this to happen. You're my friend for God's sake, I've always cared for you and I'll always do.

Hyungwon took a deep breath and sighed. He then looked at you and took you in his arms, putting a hand in your hair while your forehead was resting on his chest.

- Fuck I love you (y/n)! I never told you because I was scared to but I love you ever since I found you in your room! It made me realize that you mean so much to me.

Hyungwon stopped talking after this, only holding you close to him. Habitually the silence would have been awkward, but right now it was reassuring. It took a few more minutes for you to calm down and you looked at Hyungwon. Only with your look, he understood that you loved him too so he kissed your forehead softly.

- I promise to protect you for the rest of my life, I'll always be by your side. I'll be your guardian angel and make sure you're the happiest, you deserve nothing but that.

######################

This is a bit long, sorry. I hope you guys liked it! (sorry if there are some typos and mistakes!!)

#hyungwon #hyungwon imagines #monsta x #monsta x imagines

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englacial · 5 years

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ok this will probably be the only time i post about this but i just really wanted to make a post apologizing for my unreliability in activity here & the fact that i basically ghosted some very good friends who absolutely didn’t deserve that with no explanation -- nothing prompted this & things seem to be all good but i don’t want anyone thinking i just dropped off the map for no reason so im gonna give just a little insight to everything that’s been going on ! (long post ahead) <3

as a lot of my friends here know, in february of 2017 i got married (i was 19 and can say with certainty now it was a huge mistake & i made a hasty and immature decision but really could not see that at the time), i was super excited, felt like i was in a good relationship & was finally able to live my life, all that good sappy stuff -- so i literally moved across the country into a totally new state away from my friends & family with a fresh start with this person thinking that this was a great way to get out of my abusive living situation (as some of you who have been w me a long time may recall i got kicked out, was briefly homeless, and my life fell to literal shit) and also have someone who cared about me. but as some people suspected (and im really sorry for not taking your concerns for me more seriously, i know now that i shouldn’t have treated it so flippantly, i was just really blinded by my love for this person and i don’t think anyone could’ve gotten through) it was just... not all i made it out to be. he was really abusive and controlling and i made excuses for him and defended him, i let myself excuse a lot of things, wrote off any and all red flags, and ended up alienating a lot of friends (and family) who were just worried about me.

there were several moments later in my relationship that i started to realize what was happening, but i tried really hard to fix it within our relationship. i literally convinced myself i could change him. i pushed for counseling, group therapy, self help books, literally ANYTHING i could in an attempt to get him to see what he did. at one point i even sat down in the car with him to discuss things that needed fixing and he told me to my face that he didn’t think i deserved things. like direct quote “i just don’t feel like you deserve things”.

it was bad, but i was still making excuses and still convinced he was a good person with good intentions just misdirected. (i was way off).

it wasn’t until january of this year that i kind of had the biggest wake up call as to the things he was putting me through and that he just... wasn’t a good person, and it took him divorcing me for it to really hit me everything that happened.

in january, he announced out of the blue that he was divorcing me but that he still wanted a relationship with me but that he felt we needed to “work on ourselves separately” to do better in our relationship. i ignorantly believed him at first and for a few months post-divorce we had an “open relationship” (really just his way of having his cake and eating it to, he wanted all the benefits of a relationship with me without the work and i didn’t realize that initially), however i pretty quickly found out this was him wanting to control me and still have the romantic/sexual benefit he got from our relationship without the burden of having to actually communicate and work on himself the way he claimed. he watched me get a job, get my own car, and do everything i was supposed to without him ever lifting a finger to do hard work on himself & eventually i got fed up. over the few months of getting divorced i found out that he stole over $500 from me to buy my plane ticket home + a ticket for himself (the money was from savings i had for a camera so i could start doing photography, i thought he had ordered the camera but he actually used all of the money for the plane ticket which i only discovered later when .. lol, my camera never showed up and i confronted him), he gave me only 20 days to collect my things and arrange a new living situation (which put me back in the home of my abusive mom whom i still have to live with), made numerous threatening and scary posts about me on his social media accounts, i discovered he’d been cheating with potentially multiple women (when he shipped back some of the remainder of my possessions, there were clothes and beauty products that didn’t belong to me among them), i found transphobic posts he’d written about me being nonbinary & literally just SO MUCH other stuff that was absolutely unacceptable.

there’s way to much that happened post-divorce to even go into and this isn’t even including the things that occurred WHILE we were married. it just wasn’t a good thing at all.

in the midst of all of this, very recently, he alerted me no more than 6 months AFTER our alleged divorce at the beginning of july to tell me that the paperwork got kicked back to him and we were never actually divorced and that he had known SINCE BEFORE I HAD GOTTEN HOME that we weren’t officially divorced. it’s been a struggle getting things sorted, he’s committed all sorts of fraud, tricked me into sending nudes to him (yikes), and a whole number of things that have made me really begin to unpack how unhealthy and abusive our relationship was from the start.

he isolated me from all of me friends, regularly would encourage me to cut ties with people i cared about, and even limited my time online which cut into hobbies like this that i really enjoy. additionally, when we would visit my hometown, he would primarily want to spend time with his own family & wouldn’t give me much time to see mine. there were some other abusive things that happened within the relationship prior to him announcing he was divorcing me, but they’re personal so i won’t go into a lot of detail but it was just very, very bad.

all of this are literal classic warning signs of abuse and i just... really fell for it. it makes me really ashamed to admit that, as someone who has been abused my whole life, i basically fell right into this trap all over again.

on top of all of this and the legal battles resulting, i have been dealing with a medical crisis linked back to a car accident in september of 2017. ive had a lot of bad stuff happen with my health that were tied to the misalignment of my neck and back that i DID NOT EVEN KNOW were related until only a few months ago when i got a second opinion from a much more experienced and adept doctor. ive had multiple surgeries from complications related to injuries i had initially been told didn’t exist, i’ve literally spent thousands of dollars for things that actually could’ve very simply been avoided had my spine been treated properly after my accident.

all of this has just... really taken me out of the rp scene but also made me a really shitty and unreliable friend. being in a controlling relationship isolated me from a lot. ive lost a lot of friends because i was in survival mode even after the relationship ended. i regret that a lot and i understand that it’s hard to be friends with someone when they are not present so ive been working a lot on myself nd how i communicate with the people i love when i feel unable to be in their lives for periods of time for one reason or another.

so now im 22 and divorced with the back problems of a 83 year old who’s three times divorced lmao it’s literally like... i sometimes feel a lot of shame for what i let myself go through but i know it’s not my fault that the person i thought i loved and thought loved me ended up not being who he said he was.

it sucked. there was a lot that happened that i can’t begin to even summarize. i still have some sleepless nights where i wonder why i wasn’t able to see it then when it was literally blatantly obvious what was happening, but hindsight is 20/20.

now, i can pretty happily say i am in a MUCH better situation. things are not perfect (im literally living with an abusive parent again and yikes but it is not near as bad as when i was a teenager), but i am no longer in a relationship that was about the convenience of using me more than it was caring about me, and alllllll of my medical stuff has an active treatment plan that has been working wonders for me!!! (yay!)

so i just wanted to firstly apologize for my inability to be in people’s lives the way ive wanted to. i know that this is hurtful and not ok. it was wrong of me to ghost and leave people wondering where i was or what i was doing and there’s no excuse for that tbh. im actively working to be more present in the lives of people i care about as well as communicate more when i am not able to be that present. it’s taken a lot to get to that point, and i want to secondly affirm that my inability to be consistent and reliable with this hobby as well as consistent and reliable as a friend has nothing to do with any kind of personal slight i had with anyone or anything else. it’s been a rough few years, it took me a long time to see that i was in a situation that was harming me, and there was a lot of fallout as a result.

rest assured, i intend to do a lot better about being here now that i feel like im properly adjusted. you can expect me to be a lot more communicative if i take time away and a lot more attentive to the things and relationships that i want in my life. ive taken way too much shit and let myself sacrifice too many people and situations for ONE person whose end goal was nothing more than using me to his convenience. i am not going to lose that again.

im in a much healthier relationship, taking care of the responsibilities i have as an adult, and have an active treatment plan for my various health needs that has improved my condition significantly. like, ya’ll.... life may not be perfect right now but it’s pretty damn good from where it was nd im excited to continue to grow and do better (for real this time) especially now that i feel like i can do the things i love again (like writing here with all of you lovely people).

thanks for reading!! sorry things have been sporadic, unreliable, confusing, and that i haven’t been a very good friend. i recognize these things & want to prove that i can do better now that i have a handle on things.

#* here for a good time not a long time / ooc #anyway... i didn't just want to show up out of the blue (AGAIN) and offer no explanation #i know that a lot of my friends are kind of fed up and if not fed up are just confused and worried and hurt #just want to offer some insight into... everything #i love the people ive met here very much #i love this hobby very much it has genuinely gotten me through a lot!#so i owe it to the community and the people here to explain what the fuck has been going on & yeah it's a lot #im not going to push this further tbh i just want my actions to speak for themselves as to how i intend to do better #i know telling people what im gonna do only does so much lmao i have to actually ACT on that and do it #but anyway!! here's this. thanks for reading ! triggers are tagged #abuse tw #car accident tw #long post //#(if you notice anything else that needs to be tagged let me know!)

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sasuhinasno1fan · 5 years

Text

Clearing a misunderstanding- Shiro Ship Week Day 5

I think I almost wrote a story like this for the vld poly exchange but it didn't work out. Like I said, haven't watched s8 but I feel like Shiro's parents would always be supportive of him. I mean, they let him go to the Garrison even with his illness without any big issues (that we know of). Home/Family

Shiro pulled into the driveway of his childhood home. He was more than happy to have dinner with his parents, his schedule had been really hectic recently, but the sudden insistence to be there was strange. Back when they lived in Japan, his dad was usually out late working. It got better when his job transferred him to America before it turned into Shiro being out late with his after school activities he took up. But dinner was something they always did, minus the 4 years Shiro went to an out of state college. He had missed the family dinners though. Even after he moved back to start his job, family dinners didn’t happen as often. Then there was his dating life also taking time. He hadn’t introduced his parents to his two boyfriends yet since they were still trying to settle into their relationship first. He hoped that the next time his parents told him to come, they’d be able to come with him.

Again though, the insistence that he be at this particular dinner was not really normal of his parents but he wasn’t going to complain.

He used his key to open the door and called out, “Tadaima,” as he took his shoes off and put them on the rack, pulling his preferred black cat slippers down to slip on. He had hung up his jacket when he realised he hadn’t heard either of his parents call “Okaeri.”

“Kaa-san, Too-san, I’m here.” Silence. Where were they?

Shiro walked into the kitchen, where he saw his parents sitting at the breakfast nook. They had a dinning table just opposite of the short wall that separated the kitchen and small dinning area. They had only really used the breakfast nook for 2 reasons. One, only one person was eating there i.e. him when he was eating before going to elementary and his mother couldn’t join him because she was saying goodbye to his father. The other reason was family meetings. Shiro had sat his parents there to tell them he was pansexual. He was instantly worried that something was wrong.

“Takashi sit down.” His mother said.

His mother only called him by his first name when he was in trouble. Growing up in Japan, there was at least 4 Takashis on their street and 2 more in his class. Shirogane wasn’t a common last name in their neighbourhood so since he was a kid, everyone would call him Shiro, including his parents. When he was in trouble however, that’s when they used his first name. Not even in serious conversations did they use it unless it had to do with him being in trouble. He had no clue what he did but he listened to his mother anyway and sat down.

“Takashi, when you told us about your preference for dating partners, all we wanted was for you to be happy. You are our son and your happiness are all we want.”

Now he was really getting worried. Did they decide that they couldn’t accept their son being pan? He knew it didn’t exactly fit into what they wanted, but he never thought they’d change their mind about it.

“We’re not going to pretend to understand all the sides of being pan, but from what you explained to us, that didn’t give you a free pass to cheat on people.” His father continued.

Huh? What?

“I happened to be passing where you worked when you guys were having an event and saw you kissing a man, I thought we’d soon be introduced to your boyfriend. But your mother saw you at IKEA with another man, being very cosy with him only days later. I know what being in a happy relationship looks like Takashi and I saw it with that person you’d been kissing. I never thought you’d go so low to cheat on a person.”

Shiro blinked at his parents’ stern expressions, slowly understanding what was going on.

“Um, too-san, did the guy you saw me with, look like this?” he asked, taking out his phone and hitting the lock button to show him his lock screen picture; a picture of Matt with his long hair in space buns that their co-worker Allura had done on him.

“Yes, I believe so.”

“And kaa-san, is this the guy you saw me with?” Shiro asked, pressing his finger against the sensor to unlock his phone so his mom could see his home screen, with all apps moved not to block the face of Adam, with flour streaking his face when he suddenly decided he wanted cookies and Matt got too happy with the flour.

“Yes. Takashi, why do you have their pictures on your phone? Are you that smug about what your doing? Have you no shame?”

“Ok, I think I should explain before you cut me out from the family. There’s another part of myself that I discovered not long after I told you I was pan. I hadn’t said anything because I wanted to give you guys time to recover from what I told you. I know you said you were happy for me but what I said was a bit world shaking so I didn’t want to throw this other thing at you.” Shiro took a breath. It was still scary to tell them, even though he was ready. “I’m polyamorous, which means I’m comfortable being in a relationship with more than one person. The people you saw me with are my boyfriends Matt and Adam.”

“Wait, don’t you work with a Matt?” his mom asked.

“Yeah and I went to school with Adam. Around the time I came out to you, I was dating Adam. Have been since my Junior year of college. We moved in together but neither of us were out to our parents so we just played it off as roommates until we were ready. When I was getting ready to tell you, I meet Matt. He had been transferred to our team and we got close. I started to feel bad about having feelings for him when I was dating Adam and when I told him about it, I was expecting Adam to not want me to interact with him. Instead, he went to Matt and told him how I felt and asked if he felt the same, which he did. So then we all talked and agreed that Adam and Matt were ok with me being both of their boyfriends. So long story short, the guys you saw me with are my boyfriends. They’re not dating each other, just me but they are really good friends.”

He stayed silent as he let what he told his parents sink in.

“So you’re not cheating?” his father asked slowly.

“No, I swear, the minute I realised I had feelings for Matt, I told Adam. He’s the one who went to Matt to suggest I date both of them.”

“Why did you feel like you couldn’t tell us this? No doubt it couldn’t be easy to figure out.”

“A lot of people have a skewed perception of what being poly is. I already had to fully explain what being pan was and how it didn’t mean I would cheat. I didn’t want to have to explain that being poly meant I was going to be with more than one person and get you completely confused. I was going to tell you, trust me, just not yet.”

“Oh Shiro,” his mother said, “we didn’t mean to push you before you were ready. Darling, you’re our son and all we want is your happiness. Obviously, you talked to your partners about this and it was something you all agreed on. We can’t be mad at you for that.”

“We’re sorry you keep thinking you can’t tell us things like this.”

Shiro smiled at himself. It felt good to know he could always trust his parents. “it’s not that I don’t trust you. I do. It’s just hard to say these things without worrying it’ll change how you feel.”

“Sweetheart, nothing could change how much we love you. Nothing.” His mother said before clapping her hands. “Now come on, we’re going out for dinner.”

“Going out? You didn’t make dinner?”

“We thought we were going to spend the night yelling at you for cheating. What do you want? Indian?” his father asked, getting up and walking to the front door.

“There is this really good Indian place Adam swears by.”

“Darling, when do you plan on introducing us to your significant others? Should we invite them out with us?”

“Kaa-san, you just pushed me to come out a bit early. Let’s not push that on them. You’ll meet them soon. I have more than enough pictures and stories to show you. Too-san, don’t bother with your wallet. Let this be my treat. Payment for causing you heartache.”

Because if his parents were more worried about him cheating than who he was dating, he knew that had to be the best parents around.

#shiroshipweek2019 #shiroxmattxadam #coming out

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arecomicsevengood · 5 years

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A YEAR OF READING ACKNOWLEDGED MASTERPIECES #3: E.C. SEGAR’S POPEYE

So, while the original idea behind this series was for me to read an acclaimed comic I expect I’ll like but had not yet actually read, or to read something I’d read a little of but not its entirety, covering E.C. Segar’s Popeye is something of a cheat. When Fantagraphics began their reprint series, a roommate had the first volume, of what would eventually be six, and I read that; I later ordered my own copy of volume 3, and I own a copy of The Smithsonian Collection Of Newspaper Comics, which reprints the “Plunder Island” series of Sunday strips covered in volume 4. I enjoyed all of it, but didn’t feel a pressing need to acquire more, and now Volumes 4 and 5 are out of print and command high prices on the secondary market. This motivated me to get a copy of the still-available volume 6, which might seem less appealing because it’s the last stuff Segar did before he died, and health issues led there to be periods of time where the strip was entrusted to his assistants, in sequences not included.

The editors say those strips aren’t good, I’ll take their word for it. Other people have tried to sell other Popeye product, and I’m sure some of it is quite good: There are some people who take pains to point out that the Segar comic strips are not similar to the Fleischer brothers cartoons, but I’m sure those cartoons are good fun, I generally like the stuff that studio produced. I have seen the 1980 Robert Altman movie, starring Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall, with a screenplay by Jules Feiffer and songs by Harry Nilsson, which is a notorious flop, but with some admirers: Still, it’s a slog, which the comic strip never is. IDW’s comic strip reprint line put out books collection the late eighties/early nineties run of former underground cartoonist Bobby London, what I’ve read of that stuff (just previews online) is unfunny garbage. I think they also were behind reprints of comic books by Bud Sagendorf, and a revival written by Roger Langridge, neither of which I’ve read, though Langridge’s work is always ok; good enough for me to think it’s good, not compelling or transcendent enough for me to spend money on it. It’s all work done by those who have rights to the license, which makes me view it as essentially merchandise, like a pinball game or something. The Segar stuff is where it all comes from.

While other masterpieces of the first half of the twentieth century comics page, like George Herriman’s Krazy Kat or Winsor McKay’s Little Nemo are definitely acquired tastes, Popeye was not only popular enough to make its creator a rich man back in the day, it remains functional as populist entertainment today. I feel pretty “what’s not to like?” about it, and would recommend it to whoever. It’s funny, the characters are good, there’s adventures. The humor is three quarters sitcom style character work and one quarter the sort of silliness that verges on absurdism.

This light touch separates it from the first half of the twentieth century’s “adventure strips” that didn’t age as well, despite having well-done art that would influence generations of superhero artists. Segar’s art isn’t particularly impressive, but every strip tells a joke or two, and even if you don’t laugh at every joke, you’ll appreciate its readability, especially if you’ve ever tried to read a Roy Crane comic, or even Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy. I don’t want to praise E.C. Segar by merely listing works his comics read better than, but it really is notable how many people today are basically trying to do what he did, but are failing at least in part due to not understanding that’s what they’re trying to do. If you want to do a comedic adventure story that becomes popular enough for you to be financially successful, it might be worth reading a volume of Popeye and observing its rhythms. When I was reviewing Perdy a few weeks ago, I was thinking “This basically just wants to be a R-rated Popeye.” I recently found 3/4 of the issues of the Troy Nixey-drawn comic Vinegar Teeth for a quarter each; despite that comic’s high-concept pitch involving Lovecraftian monsters, it would probably have been better if it thought of itself as being a descendant of Popeye, rather than something that could be adapted into a movie. I’ll just phrase it in the format of a popular Twitter meme: Some of you have never read Popeye, and it shows.

Lesson number one, which just sort of emerges naturally from the format of the daily strip, is you’ve got to make jokes, and they can’t just be the same one, over and over again. To that end, you need a cast of characters, who each have their own bit, and who play off each other in various ways. It is easy to see why people don’t do this: Large ensembles grow organically, and most people start telling a story with either a central character or something precisely in mind they want to chronicle. The comic strip, with its long runs originating from a practitioner’s ability to tell a joke, can be a bit freer to stumble onto something that works, without even necessarily having a title character to return to. The collections might be named after Popeye, but the comic strip being collected in these books was called Thimble Theater, which ran for a decade before Popeye showed up and circulation sky-rocketed. For a while, I think the consensus on the early stuff was it was pretty boring and hard to read before Popeye came in and livened the whole thing up, but recently there was a reprint of this earlier material, and I know the dude who reviewed it for The Comics Journal liked it, though I’m sure it’s easy to find someone at The Comics Journal who will like an old comic strip even if it’s bad. Either way, modern cartoonists don’t have Segar’s luxury, or having their work run for a half-disinterested audience until something clicks so much word spreads.

The gag-a-day pace, built around getting into new situations and adventures, itself creates a pressure to be inventive today’s graphic novelists can’t really match. After Popeye is established as a good character, prone to getting into scrapes, Segar can show us the comedy of him caring for a baby. He can also introduce Popeye’s dad, Poopdeck Pappy, that this character looks basically exactly like Popeye but is a piece of shit is a funny idea that would not occur in the early days of planning a project.

One reason why you wouldn’t necessarily do such a design choice is because, if you’re thinking of different media as a way to success, having characters with the exact same silhouette runs counter to the generally accepted rules of animation. Thimble Theatre, as per its name, is based on theater staging, rather than the more expressionist angles of film: We’re looking at characters from the side, usually seeing whoever’s talking in the same panel unless one of them is out of the room. These characters tend to have the same height, basically. Someone once said that looking at Popeye, printed six strips to a page, is kind of like looking at a page of sheet music. It’s not a particularly visually dynamic strip, the amount of black and white on a page is close to unvarying.

This is why I don’t believe in prescriptivism, or a suggestion of rules: I’m pretty sure that Popeye works because it’s not working super-hard to be visually interesting. This would be the number two lesson of what there is to learn from Popeye. I think this transparency in style is what allows this comedy/adventure hybrid to work, though I know others would blanch at this. It’s going for a big audience, and while I think this visual approach serves that end, I know why others, especially those who’ve been struck by later superhero comics or manga, would see visual excitement as the best way to achieve that goal. The audience that read newspaper comics wasn’t necessarily adept at following visual storytelling, and the sort of relationship that newspaper strips could have with a wider readership is not going to be achievable now. The folks that ride for Segar these days are mostly alt-comics people, like Sammy Harkham or Kevin Huizenga, who aren’t attempting the sort of popular entertainment extravaganzas he trafficked in.

Reading Popeye feels like reading, basically, which is a nice, contemplative experience, that not all comics can capture. I read a few pages of it before bed. Obviously, this pace is not how people consumed it in its heyday, but the pace people took it in at, a strip a day, is even more deliberate and steady, and I think, was crucial to its popularity. For a comic to be popular, it has to have characters that are interesting, obviously; there is probably no better way for an audience to build a relationship with fictional characters than over extended periods of time. This speed corresponds to the pace it was created at, one that now seems insanely luxurious to anyone whose workflow is dictated by the internet’s demand for content. It’s a total crowdpleaser, but it existed at a time where crowds could slowly gather. Popeye’s a popular entertainment from an era of reading, listening to the radio, going to plays or movies. It holds up, owing to a basic pleasantness we can understand as low stakes, and that’s helped along by the restraint of the art. It’s telling a story. It’s not a farce, crowded with visual jokes, and it’s not dictated by characters’ emoting either. I love a visually expressive art style, but here it’s important that the visuals remain “on-model,” reinforcing the stability of the characterizations. This sort of thing is also evident in Chris Onstad’s Achewood, which I would argue is the preeminent 21st century character-driven comic strip, with an audience that feels relatively “wide” rather than pointedly “niche.”

Lesson number three to how to make a popular comic is the thought I find myself thinking all the time, which is “Everyone needs to chill out.” The number one impediment to making entertainment that just quietly works is the desire to stand out and make a name for yourself as quickly as possible. This is similar to how the number one impediment to a peaceful and contented life is the demands of a failing capitalism where we are all competing for a shrinking pile of resources. To read these books now is a luxury, an indulgence, and while I don’t much go in for those, reading older comic strips carries with it this sort of nostalgic appeal for an era where it didn’t feel like everything was screaming at you for your attention all the time. As broad as Popeye is, it now possesses a certain dignity, owing to this dislocation in time from its origin. I don’t know if this felt like a feature at the time. I do think that if you are an artist that wants to be successful now, you should do what you can for the sort of circumstances that allow for genuine, long-lasting success to build, which involves a certain degree of permission to fail. Mainstream comics companies, with their mentality of “we’re going to print hundreds of comics a month, in hopes some find a niche large enough to be briefly profitable we can then try to milk for their last dollar and they quickly become exhausted,” act against this. As in a garden, there needs to be space for things to take root and grow.

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hoyoungy · 6 years

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Tied | Seungcheol (1/2)

genre: angst, comedy, fluff | best friend!seungcheol x fem!reader summary: you made a deal with your best friend that if you were both single by 30, you would marry each other. what’s better than marrying your best friend as a desperate attempt to prove that you had your life together? but when you kiss him and start to fall for him, you find it hard to get back up word count: 4848 a/n: a two-shot with the most gorgeous man alive. it was originally just going to be a one-shot, but then it exceeded a lot of words.... warnings include mentions of alcohol and cheating

part 2

“Why is dating so hard!?”

It was 9:30 on a warm Saturday evening when you burst through Seungcheol’s apartment door uninvited. He sat comfortably on the kitchen table as he studied, undisturbed by your breaking and entering as he was already used to it after a couple of years.

“Hello to you, too,” he muttered, not taking his eyes off of his textbook. “You’re back from your date quite early.”

“Oh, my God, he was so boring! All he talked about were video games and-and developing them and said so many big words that I didn’t understand… And he had the audacity to ask me to come back home with him!”

You invited yourself to some snacks and a drink from his kitchen as you rambled on about how horrible your date was. Seungcheol finally looked up from his studying so he could watch you make yourself comfortable in amusement. Watching you binge on all of his junk food was always something he never got tired of.

“You’re telling me talking about games didn’t make you want to just rip your clothes off?” he teased. “A bit picky, aren’t you?”

“You’re one to talk! Didn’t you reject a date because her fingers weren’t pretty?”

“They were dirty, dry, and her cuticles were flaking. It’s basic hygiene, _____! If she couldn’t even take care of her hands, who knows what else she neglects!”

“Fine, so we both have impossibly high standards, but it’s because both you and I are too good for anyone.”

“At least we can both agree on that.”

“How long have you been studying?”

“Since four.”

“What!?” Upon hearing that, you jumped up from your slumped state and pulled two bottles from his fridge. “Alright, time for a study break, my friend.”

“I can’t, I have a midterm on Monday -”

“You always overwork yourself, ‘Cheol. Take a break and talk with your best friend once in a while, will ya? You know, your brain retains information better if you take breaks.”

“Oh, yeah? Does the alcohol help with that?”

“No, it’s your incentive - a completely separate element.” You handed Seungcheol a bottle before closing all of his textsbooks for him. He sighed loudly, fully knowing he couldn’t fight you. But he took the bottle graciously with his cute, cheeky smile that you loved so much. You two clinked your bottles together to begin his break.

“It’s been a while since you and I have just hung out together,” he noted to you.

“Yeah, guess whose fault is that?”

“Don’t use that tone with me, missy. I’m sorry I can’t help that our midterm schedules conflict with each other.”

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

The real reason you and Seungcheol haven’t spent time together recently was because he occupied nearly all of his free time to his new girlfriend. They’ve only been dating for about two months, but they never leave each other’s side! When you wanted to eat lunch with him, she was there; when you called him on the phone, she would always answer; and when you asked him to pick you up after a night out, she was the one driving.

At first you thought it was because she was jealous of how close you two were, but it was the opposite. When Seungcheol told you it was because she was kissing up to you and wanted The Best Friend Approval, you almost didn’t believe it because it sounded completely ridiculous. Needless to say, she was already off to a bad start, considering it’s been two months since you and him had more than two minutes of alone time together.

“I’m surprised she’s not sitting on your lap as you study.”

“Ha ha… I told her to stay home tonight because I can’t focus when she’s around.”

“Ugh, I don’t want to know the reason why,” you groaned. “At least she finally gave you some breathing room after two months.”

“If you don’t like her ~” he trailed off, hinting he could end it with her any moment.

“No, no… She’s tolerable… And she makes you happy, so I guess she can get half of a point from me.”

“So generous of you,” he quipped, kicking you from under the table.

“Just because I’m lonely and unlovable doesn’t mean you should have to suffer like me.”

“Aw, don’t talk about yourself like that!” Seungcheol scoots his chair over to you and pulls you into a good ol’ knuckle sandwhich. “You’re not lonely and unlovable! You have me, and your Mom loves you.”

“Good one, Cheolie.”

“Wow, you haven’t called me Cheolie since freshman year. Are you drunk already or do you miss me that much?”

“No. I’m just feeling nostalgic, that’s all.”

“Sure you are.”

You and Seungcheol spent the rest of the night drinking whatever alcohol he had left in his apartment. It wasn’t much, but it was enough that you felt tipsy. The two of you used to spend countless nights just hanging out and talking with a drink or two all of the time in your early years of college, but as graduation was approaching, those nights became less frequent, and even more less frequently now that he has a girlfriend. So tonight, you were going to cherish this time you had with Seungcheol.

“I’m going to die alone,” you cried dramatically as you laid your head down on his kitchen table. The past couple of hours, you and him were just talking about the old times and past relationships and Seungcheol just had to remind you about that you haven’t been in a committed relationship for three years now and that you’ve only been coasting through the dating scene.

“No, you won’t. You might just… get married really late?”

“I bet by then I won’t be able to have children.”

“Don’t talk like that about yourself, _____. Do you remember how long I was single for before I met Yunah?"

"Twenty three years."

"Exactly! Your three years doesn't even compare to my twenty three. Besides, I bet the guy out there that was meant for you will be worth the long wait. He'll have to get through me first, though."

"But what if it's taking me so long because no one wants me?" you pouted, taking another swig at your drink.

"Hey," Seungcheol nudged you to look at him. When you lifted your head, he had his arms out wide open, telling you to come in for a hug. You slowly scooted your chair towards him and laid your head on his shoulder lazily as he rubbed your shoulder assuringly. "Anyone would be crazy not to want you. You're an amazing friend, and I bet even a more amazing partner."

"You're the only man in my life that likes me, can you believe that?"

"Unsurprisingly, I can."

"Honestly, I don't think I'll ever find someone who will like me for who I am more than you."

"You better, or else you'll actually never marry."

As you both sat in silence, your thoughts flashed through many moments you've shared with Seungcheol. You two have watched each other grow up over the years and you knew each other like you knew the backs of your hands and that included Seungcheol knowing how badly you wanted to get married. You used to talk to him about your infinite Pinterest boards about cakes, dresses, and venues and how you wanted him to be your Man of Honor, and all of the details in between.

Seungcheol never asked you about what kind of man you wanted to marry. He knew your type, or at least the superficial parts of it, but never what you looked for in a husband and to be quite honest, you've never thought about it, either. At least until now. Sitting next to your best friend, a bit intoxicated, and emotionally thinking about the inevitability of your relationship status got you thinking.

What kind of man did you want to marry?

Well, he had to be handsome, of course. And a good sense of humor was always a requirement. Intelligent, kind, and playful were all necessary, too. You wanted to marry someone who would support you no matter what and would only build up your confidence, never tearing it down one bit. You wanted to grow together, even if it meant falling down a couple of times. They sound like the basic elements of a husband, but for some reason, you could never find all of those qualities in a single man.

Except Seungcheol.

Well, besides the fact that he was handsome… Seungcheol was average on a good day.

“Cheol-ster,” you slurred as you struggled to sit up properly to face him. You hadn’t had the chance to get a good look at his face the past few hours, but you now noticed how red his cheeks were. You forgot he turned red easily when he drank. “Let’s make a deal.”

“Ok.”

“You don’t even know the deal yet��”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“What if I asked you to marry me, you’d still agree?”

“Very funny.” He stared at you for a solid ten seconds to realize you weren’t kidding. “Oh, my God, you’re serious. _____, I have a girlfriend -”

“Not now, you idiot!” you scolded, hitting his arm. “I mean later. Like, way later. Like if we’re both single by thirty-something, both hate dating people like five years younger than us, both hate our lives, and just want to settle down with a dog or two or three.”

“Marry each other as a desperate attempt at life?”

“Yes!”

“How romantic…”

“But think about it! Think of all the benefits that come with being married to each other. We already know what we’re like around each other, I practically live with you already so we got that situation out of the way, we can be each other’s emergency contacts - there’s no downside to this!”

“We might as well be celibate.”

“Oh, shit,” you cursed. You forgot about the whole sex part when it came to marriage… “Ok, so there’s one downside, but don’t the pros outweight the cons!?”

“Why are you like this all of a sudden?”

“Because now that you finally have a girlfriend, I can see how you are around her and it makes me jealous in a way that I miss having that, you know? You’re the one person who knows how much I want to get married. I just want to secure something because at this rate, I really will be single my entire life.”

“So I’m your last resort?” he pouted.

“Oh, come on, don’t act like that! You know I’d love to get married to my best friend!”

You gave Seungcheol the puppy eyes that he could never say no to. Even when drinking, he knew that this wasn’t the brightest idea ever, but how could he turn your lonely self down like that?

“… Fine.” He covered his ears instinctively when he heard you screech with joy. “But I’ll only agree if you agree on three simple conditions.”

“Shoot.”

“One, this is if and only if we are both single by thirty.”

“Deal.”

“Two, if I cook, you have to do the dishes.”

“You’re pushing it, but that’s completely fair, I get it.”

“And three, I get to rap at our wedding.”

“No, absolutely not.”

“It’s all or nothing, _____.”

“I refuse to let you rap your vows to me.”

“Take it or leave it,” he threatened.

You couldn’t believe that this was his ultimatum to you, but he was just as serious as you were about his whole ordeal.

“Ugh, fine!” you groaned, caving in. “I hate you.”

“Don’t hate me too much, you might have to deal with me for the rest of your life.”

“I have reached a new low.”

As a silent agreement, Seungcheol raised his almost-empty bottle to you. You clinked yours against his begrudgingly and chugged whatever was left in your bottle.

“Cheers to the next seven years. Let’s see where life takes us,” Seungcheol said.

“Seungcheol, I need your help! It’s an emergency!” you panicked when you opened the door to his place.

His eyes were glued to the TV screen when he gave you a nod of acknowledgment. You sat beside him on the couch and watch him vigorously play a game of Fornite with his headset on.

“I’m half-listening,” he said.

“This is going to sound ridiculous, but I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend.”

“What!?” Seungcheol was so shocked by your proposal that the one second he looked away from the TV to look at you, his character died instantly.

“Hear me out before you say no! So you know my cousin’s getting married, right? He’s making me the only person in the family who is unmarried and single and I cannot face my entire family unless I bring a date.”

“Why can’t you ask Jeonghan, or something?” he asked, starting up a new game.

“See, that’s where this gets difficult…” you smiled sheepishly. “Don’t hate me, but I kind of have been pretending you were my boyfriend for a whole year now…”

“What!?” Oops, he died again. “A whole year!? Why didn’t you tell me!?”

“Because I was hoping I’d have a boyfriend to bring to the wedding by now and then I could lie and say that you broke up with me!”

“Unbelievable… You are hopeless.”

“I know, that’s why I need you to pretend with me! Please ~! They think I’m lying! Well, I mean I am, but I want to prove myself to them for once, you know? Think of it as practice for when we turn thirty!” You begged again, using your famous puppy eyes that you’ve been using to your advantage way too frequently lately.

Seungcheol groaned loudly, throwing his head back in defeat. “You owe me big time. Like a three-course meal once a week big time.”

“Yeah, totally, whatever you want!” You lunged at your best friend and gave him the tightest hug. “Ah, you’re the best!”

“So when’s the wedding?”

“… This Sunday.”

“What the hell, _____, that’s in like three days!”

“Sorry! I completely forgot about it until my Mom texted me an hour ago!”

“You’re so lucky my anniversary is the day before.”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot you have another woman in your life that isn’t me,” you snorted. “How long have you two been dating now?”

“Six months.”

“Ugh, it feels like it’s been three years.”

“Don’t be like that. Now leave, she’s coming over in an hour and I haven’t seen her all week.”

“Wear protection, my friend,” you said as you ruffled his hair playfully. “Try to look decent on Sunday.”

“Same to you.”

Normally, you don’t care much to impress your family with the way you look or how you carry yourself. But tonight was a big deal for you. Being one of the youngest in the family, it was natural that you would be one of the last ones to get married, but when you found out your youngercousin, who has been with his fiancé for nearly four years now, was getting married before you, you decided to get your shit together and show your family that you were totally capable of maintaining a relationship.

You stumbled outside of Seungcheol’s apartment struggling to walk in your heels. After knocking vigorously on the door, Yunah opened it up for you with a bright, fake smile.

“_____!” she squealed, pulling you into an awkward hug. “You look so pretty!”

“Ah, hey, Yunah! Thanks, you too, as usual.”

“Oh, stop it ~ Come on in, Seungie’s almost ready.” You cringed at her nickname for him when she turned around and went back inside.

“Thanks for letting me borrow him. I don’t know what I would do if I showed up to a wedding without a date,” you sighed.

“It’s no problem at all! I always feel bad that I take him away from you so often. He needs to spend time with you once in a while.”

“I’m not a child,” Seungcheol said as he walked out of his room straigtening his tie. “You guys act like I’m the son of divorced parents…”

You gawked at your best friend as he walked towards the two of you. He wore all black, from head to toe, and even fixed his messy, fluffy hair a little bit. He looked like he was ready to walk the red carpet, and you’ve never seen your best friend look so stunning before.

“Hello?” he called, snapping his fingers in front of your face. “Earth to _____.”

“Huh? Oh, hey…!”

“I know, I look sexy in all-black, huh?”

“You look presentable,” you lied.

“Don’t listen to her, you look very handsome ~” Yunah gushed before she pulled Seungcheol in for a deep kiss.

The scene in front of you made you want to throw up and throw yourself down the stairs. This wasn’t the first time you’ve seen them kiss, but it gets worse the more you witness it. “Ugh, gross…”

“Ok, let’s get going. I want to make it there before the open bar closes.” Seungcheol gives Yunah one last parting kiss before you both leave his apartment.

“You look dashing tonight,” he teased. “I haven’t seen you in a dress like this since freshman homecoming.”

“You know I hate wearing dresses like this. I’m only wearing it because I need to look like an adult with her life together in front of my family.”

“Good thing I’m here then. I’ll be your personal hypeman.”

“I should rent you out to bring to family functions more often.”

“That’s a large price to pay.”

The two of you arrived at the wedding around the same time as everyone else did and the venue was packed. Half of it was full of aunts, uncles, and cousins from across the world that you haven’t seen since you were a little girl and the other half was the fiancé’s side of the family. There had to be at least three hundred people here.

On top of that, all of the decorations were so beautiful and detailed. Your cousin had the type of chairs you wanted for your wedding, large center pieces at each table, and hundreds of twinkling lights hanging from the ceiling. The inner desperate and younger you was squealing at all of the wedding galore.

It only reminded you of how alone you really were.

“Quick, to the bar,” you guided, taking Seungcheol by the wrist.

“We don’t even know where we’re sitting yet!”

After getting a couple of drinks for each of you, you wanted to sit at your table as quickly as you could. Maybe the reception would move faster that way. Your seats were located near the dancefloor and the bridal party’s tables, right where your parents and a few other cousins sat.

“You didn’t tell me I was meeting your parents!” Seungcheol hissed to you.

“Did you think they weren’t going to be here!?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t prepare anything! We didn’t prepare anything!”

“We’ll be fine! It’s not like you don’t know anything about me!” You plastered on the biggest smile on your face when your parents got up to hug you. “Hi, Mom, Dad.”

“_____, I’m so happy you came! And with Seungcheol, too! We’re so happy to finally meet you!” In her ecstatic state, your Mom hugged Seungcheol even tighter than how Yunah does.

“Nice to meet you both,” Seungcheol said, clearly nervous from the way your Dad eyed him suspiciously.

“I can’t believe he’s real!” One of your cousins snorted. “And he’s hot!”

“Hey!” you scolded.

“No offense, but we all thought you were fake.”

“Yeah, she warned me about that.”

Throughout most of the dinner, you were so nervous that you were almost sweating. A situation like this wasn’t even serious, even if Seungcheol were to slip up, but the wedding atmosphere just really made you anxious. The drinks only helped a little bit. It was mostly your parents who asked the two of you questions about your relationship. They asked basic things, like how he asked you out, what was your first date like, does Seungcheol wear condoms - you know, basic things…

But as dinner moved forward, you started to relax a bit. Seungcheol was answering all of the questions quite impressively and it made this whole fake boyfriend thing look very much believable. You were surprised with his acting skills - who knew Seungcheol would make a great boyfriend?

“Tell me, Seungcheol,” your Dad began. Oh no, this sounded like it was going to be one of those Dad questions… “What do you like about our daughter?”

“Dad!” you hissed.

“C’mon, can’t her family wonder what this boy thinks about our precious daughter?”

“You’re so embarrassing!”

“Yeah, Seungcheol. Tell us all what you see in this little brat,” your cousin teased.

“What do I like about her?” Seungcheol repeated.

You slowly shrunk in your chair. This was it, this was how your whole family was going to find out about your fake boyfriend and how you’ll be single forever…

“When we first met, she was the closed-off girl on our residence floor. She always hung out in her dorm, and when she wasn’t, she was in the community room in the corner couch with her headphones in. When the rest of our floor was out having fun at parties, she would finally prop the door open to her dorm room and blast her music. One time, I stayed back because I had an exam the Monday after and I just talked to her the whole night. At first, we made it a weekly thing to hang out, but it gradually become more frequent. During those times, I’ve gotten to know her a lot more. She was cold, but she opened up her heart to me so easily. We were friends for a long time before we started dating, so I came to her for anything and everything and she came to me, and it was all the more reason to like her. In those past four years, I’ve seen her be kind, intelligent, gentle, angry, sad, frustrated… I’ve seen it all at this point, but it’s part of the infinite reasons why I love her. And even after all of that, I still can’t take my eyes off of her.”

Throughout his whole speech, you looked at Seungcheol with wide eyes. You couldn’t stop staring at him even when he finished. You thought that he was going to tell them a fake story about how you met at a coffee shop or something, but he told them a story full of truth, one that you kept in your heart. The day you met Seungcheol was when your life changed for the better and hearing him repeat it back to your family in a way that made your heart flutter brought tears to your eyes.

And to your Mother’s…

“And you two have only been dating for a year?” your cousin asked. “It feels like you guys have been married for ten years.”

“Oh boy, you made her mother cry!” your Dad chuckled as he teased your Mom. “That story deserves a drink. Let me buy you one.”

“Thanks.” Seungcheol shot you a quick wink before he got up to go with your Dad to the bar.

“I like him,” your Mother smiled as she gently wiped her tears. “I like him a lot!”

“Clearly. I think you and Dad like him more than I do.”

“Even better!”

The rest of the night went on extremely smoothly, which made you even more anxious than before. It was probably because you couldn’t take your mind off of what Seungcheol said about you to your parents. You spent your college years with him mostly teasing each other and only ever said sincere words to each other when either of you was upset or really needed to hear some sort of validation. Maybe it was the wedding fever, but the whole night, you thought about how much you really appreciated Seungcheol and how Yunah was so lucky to have him.

The wedding fever hit it’s high point when your cousin and his now-wife danced alone together on the dancefloor. You could hear a collective, longing sigh throughout the venue from all of the ladies in the room, you included. The dancefloor opened up to the whole room once the lovely couple finished their first dance, and you and Seungcheol were the only ones left at the table.

“How am I doing so far?” he asked.

“You’re way too good at this for someone who has only been in a relationship for six months.”

“Yeah, I had some practice with Yunah’s parents not too long ago, so this was a piece of cake.”

“I bet. Do her parents love you more than she does, too?”

“No, that’s not possible.”

As you sat in silence for a bit and admired the couples on the dancefloor, Seungcheol took this opportunity to look at you while you were distracted. The look on your face wasn’t necessarily sad, but it was something else - like you were longing for something. He hadn’t seen you like this since your last boyfriend broke up with you, and he remembered how devastated you were.

You looked at Seungcheol with a brow raised when he stood up.

“C’mon, let’s dance.”

“Dance? With you? No, thanks.”

“If I don’t force you to, your parents will.” Seungcheol nudged his head over to your parents on the dancefloor who ushered you to join them.

“Fine, but if you step on my feet, it’s over.”

The song was slow and gentle, muttering lyrics about how much the singer loved their partner. Seungcheol bowed to you embarrassingly before wrapped his arms around your waist. Hesitantly, you put your hands on his shoulders.

“This isn’t some awkward middle school dance,” he teased. “Don’t be afraid of me.”

With that said, he forced you to wrap your arms fully around his neck, forcing you to close the gap between the two of you. You two were so close that you could smell his cologne and shampoo. There was something that was pulling the two of you even closer together - like a magnet. So close that your noses were almost touching. You never noticed how long his eyelashes looked, how clear his skin was, and especially how soft his lips looked…

Oh no, this was bad, this was really bad! You can’t be thinking these things about him! And why now, of all times, when you’ve known him for four years! What was even worse was that he was looking at you and thinking the same things, too, and you knew it by the way you caught him staring at your lips.

What surprised you the most was that he was the one to lean in and kiss you. You returned the kiss immediately, shocked by how soft his lips were against yours. It was a short, simple kiss, but it was one that struck you in your core.

When he pulled away, he pressed his forehead against yours.

“What are we doing?”

The car ride home was a long and silent one. The air was tense and awkward and it was all your fault! If you just sucked up your pride and just went to the damn wedding alone, you wouldn’t be in this mess! You couldn’t believe you just ruined four whole years of friendship in one, desperate night -

“Hey,” Seungcheol said, shaking you from your thoughts. “I’m sorry about… you know, what happened back there when we were dancing…”

“No, it was my fault -”

“I should have kept my distance -”

“I should have set some boundaries -”

“It won’t happen again, you know -”

“It’d be best if we could just forget about all about it -”

“It was a mistake, and Yunah doesn’t have to know.”

“Yeah…” you breathed out. “A mistake.”

When he pulled up to your place, you were almost too scared to get out of the car. The minute you stepped out, your entire relationship with him was going to change, and that was the last thing you wanted. If you could rewind and prevent that kiss, you would in a heart beat, but for now, you wanted to stay in this moment forever so you wouldn’t lose your best friend.

“This won’t change anything, right…?” you whispered.

“Not unless we want it to,” he reassured. “We just have to pretend like it didn’t happen.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll head on in now. Thanks again. Not just for tonight, but for everything.”

“_____, nothing’s going to change -”

“I know! I just don’t appreciate you as much as I should, you know?”

“You’re a great friend, too,” he said, ruffling your hair playfully. “You still wanna get married at thirty, right?”

“If that’s ok with you,” you smiled.

“Just making sure ~ Good night.”

“Text me when you get home.”

When you went inside your home, you went straight to bed, spending the entire night crying yourself to sleep.

#svtwriters #hhunit-net #sfwseventeen #peachesnet #seungcheol #s.coups #seventeen #svt #seventeen scenarios #seventeen imagines #svt scenarios #svt imagines #choi seungcheol #i have too much time on my hands

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awkwardnessandbaseball · 6 years

Text

Galentine’s Day

Happy Valentine’s Day @pearlmackie :)

I’m your CS Secret Valentine! It’s been so lovely to get to know you over the past few weeks, and I hope you like this fic I put together for you ;)

AO3

GALENTINE’S DAY , Emma began to type. She’d been assigned a story on the phenomenon and was less than eager to get started.

“It’s like Valentine’s Day, but with your friends. The girls. The gals, if you will,” Regina had said earlier that day.

“Right but… I don’t have any ‘gals’ to celebrate with. I’m the worst person to assign this story to. Give it to, like, Mary Margaret. She’s probably got enough friends to have Galentine’s Day every day of the week.” Emma really didn’t like to turn an assignment down, but this was just so out of her realm of expertise. She normally did stories that required hours of research and difficult-to-obtain interviews. She’d nearly forced her way into politicians’ offices and snuck into at least three press conferences she hadn’t been invited to.

Storybrooke Press was a no-name newspaper in a no-name town, but it was Emma’s paper and it was her town, too, dammit. She loved stories that exposed hard truths and made people question everything they were being told.

“Mary Margaret’s got some sort of special romance story she’s working on,” Regina had rolled her eyes. “She wants it to be a surprise, but I told her I obviously have to give the ‘OK’ before it goes to print. Regardless, she’s busy. Galentine’s Day is yours.”

Knowing there would be no arguing with Regina anyway, Emma left her office in a huff. Now, she sat in front of her computer, the cursor blinking at her, taunting her.

It wasn’t just that Emma didn’t have any ‘gals’. She didn’t have any… anything. She’d grown up alone, bounced around within the foster system until she’d finally aged out of it. She’d tried her hand at romance, but Neal Cassidy had been the wrong person to try it with. He’d done nothing but lie and cheat, but at the very least, her story about him had gotten her onto the paper to begin with.

When he’d left her broken-hearted and just plain broken, Emma had written a detailed account of all of the jobs they’d pulled – every store robbed and every pocket picked – right up until the stolen watches he’d left in some locker on the other side of the state. She’d written it as a form of self-healing, posting it to a blog she’d kept anonymous.

Regina had been intrigued by her writing style and her voice and had emailed the address Emma had created for the blog. She’d asked her to come into the office. Regina promised to keep the blog separate from the conversation, to never bring up Emma’s past that she’d revealed.

It was unconventional, but it was the first time Emma had seen a future for herself. From the moment she’d walked into the Storybrooke Press offices, she’d felt a sense of comfort that she could only assume felt like coming home.

But just because the writing world had welcomed her with open arms, that hadn’t mean her co-workers needed to do the same. Emma knew she came across as a bit prickly and standoffish, but she’d been alone for… ever. She didn’t know how to approach people with anything less than a large amount of distrust and a small dose of fake smiles. The ladies at the paper all knew she was faking, and made no attempt to coerce her into conversation.

Except Mary Margaret.

The lead writer for the Lifestyle section, Mary Margaret Nolan was the kindest, most giving and open person Emma Swan had ever met in her life. There were times – like when she was sick, and Mary Margaret reached into her purse for tissues and cold medicine; or when she’d locked her keys in her car and there was Mary Margaret with a wire coat hanger, shimmying the window down – when Emma really wished that she could have been adopted by the Nolans. They were the same age, of course, but there was something distinctly motherly about Mary Margaret and Emma felt like a kid again whenever she came around with her freshly baked cookies or collecting signatures for someone’s birthday card. Her husband, David, had come to visit once, delivering a full bouquet of flowers to his wife, but also a single flower for everyone else in the office.

It was part charming, part ridiculous. Emma secretly loved it.

Still, even Mary Margaret was no match for the sky-high walls Emma had built around herself. At first, Mary Margaret had tried inviting her to group outings – trivia night, bowling, happy hour, you name it – but Emma declined, and she stopped asking.

Staring at the yet-to-be-written story on her screen, Emma nearly jumped out of her skin when the very subject of her thoughts spoke from behind her.

“Oh, Regina gave you that story? That’s so lovely!” Mary Margaret was nothing if not genuine, despite all the times Emma had tried to see some sarcasm or skepticism in her tone, a darkness behind the light in her eyes. “Have you decided who you’re going to take?”

“Excuse me?” Take where? , Emma thought to herself.

“Well, which girls you’ll be taking out for Galentine’s Day, of course!” Mary Margaret was bouncing on the balls of her feet, and Emma breathed out a deep sigh.

“I hadn’t really planned on throwing a Galentine’s Day… thing. I’m not sure who to invite.”

Mary Margaret’s jaw dropped.

“Oh, Emma, you should come to mine! We’re going to that restaurant across town with the silly pirate statue out front. They do a really great brunch special to celebrate!”

“I’m sorry, The Jewel of the Realm does a special for Galentine’s Day ?” Emma tried to keep the nasty tone out of her voice, she really did. She snorted, despite herself. “They probably just want all the girls to come in so they can hit on them.” To Emma’s surprise, Mary Margaret giggled.

“Probably! But it’s worth it – all-you-can-eat for two people for twenty dollars!” She bit her lip. “Please come, Emma. I’d love to help you with your story, and some of the girls from the office will be there, and some of my other friends, too.”

“How many… how many people, exactly?” Emma really didn’t relish the idea of sitting at a table with a ton of strange women, watching to them get champagne-drunk on mimosas and listening to them talk about… what did large groups of women talk about? Emma assumed that on a day like “Galentine’s”, they didn’t talk about men.

“Hmm,” Mary Margaret silently counted on her fingers. “I think I’ve got five for sure, including myself. Six, if you agree.” And there she went, bouncing again. Emma resisted the urge to put her head in her hands and instead forced a smile.

“Sure, I’ll be there.”

“Oh, Emma, that’s fantastic! We’ll be there at ten in the morning, and stay till about noon.” Before Emma knew it, Mary Margaret was hugging her, bending down and wrapping her arms around both Emma and her chair.

The things we do for journalism , Emma thought to herself.

~~~~~~~~~~~

At roughly quarter after ten, Emma strolled into the Jewel of the Realm. It was packed, with laughter echoing in every direction. Emma heard champagne glasses clinking and smelled a whole lot of bacon.

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

“Emma! Over here!” Mary Margaret was waving her arms over her head from a round table with one empty seat. Emma made her way over and Mary Margaret jumped right in with introductions. “So you know Ruby and Elsa from the office,” the two brunettes waved and looked at each other, seemingly surprised that Emma had actually shown up for something, “and this is my neighbor Belle and my childhood best friend, Ashley.”

Emma lifted her hand up in a small wave and promptly took her seat, eager to have all of the attention focused on literally anything in the entire world but her .

The conversation picked up quickly, and Emma felt a bit lost. Here were five women who’d clearly known each other forever. They were talking about memories Emma wasn’t a part of, stories she hadn’t been present for. She had nothing to share, nothing to add.

“Emma, what was your favorite birthday party theme when you were a kid?” Mary Margaret asked her suddenly. “Ashley and I had a joint party one year and everyone dressed up as princesses. It sounds so silly, but it was so fun at the time!”

“I um… I never had a themed birthday party.” It would have been easy to lie, to say she’d had a princess theme too, and to simply agree with everything the other girls said, but Emma was never going to get a story out of this ridiculous day if she didn’t participate on some level.

She was a journalist, dammit.

The table went silent for a moment.

“Me neither,” Elsa said. Every head at the table turned her way and Emma instantly felt herself cool off. “My parents passed away when I was very young. My sister and I were raised by our aunt, and she didn’t really believe in large birthday parties. We each got a cupcake or a few brownies, but never a party.” Her eyes met Emma’s from across the table.

“I was raised by my Grandma,” Ruby jumped in. “She’d bake me a cake or something, but I almost always had to work at the diner on my birthday once I was old enough. No bouncy castles for me, either.”

Emma cleared her throat.

“I was raised in the foster system.” Oh God, what have I done? She hoped Elsa and Ruby didn’t think she was trying to out-do their stories, make her own childhood sound worse, as though it were a competition. “I get myself a cupcake on my birthday every year now, though,” she added with a shrug. “We all have our traditions, I guess.”

She looked around, and all the women at the table were smiling at her.

On her second trip to the buffet, she was so focused on the seven different bread options, that she completely missed the man behind the station talking to her.

“Miss?” he said, and he sounded exasperated, as though he’d said it more than once. Emma looked up and instantly felt herself blush.

A man with dark hair and blue eyes, who looked as though he hadn’t shaved in three days, was staring at her. And he was hot .

“Sorry, yes?” Emma blinked a few times. He grinned, clearly pleased with himself for catching her off guard.

“I was asking you if you’d like bacon, ham, or sausage.” He winked. Oh, God . Emma tilted her head.

“This is the bread station,” she replied, instantly feeling absolutely ridiculous. The man laughed good-naturedly.

“Yes, it is. But the meat station is up ahead, and my brother asked me to find out what you’d like, so he can have it ready for you. That okay?” He raised an eyebrow and smirked at her, waiting.

“Oh. Okay.” He was far too good looking to be taking her breakfast order on a day when she wasn’t supposed to be talking about men. Or was she? Was that rule ever actually established? “Bacon, I guess.”

“Excellent.” He walked away and reported her order to the man at the grill. The man handed over the spatula and Emma watched as the dark-haired man started cooking her food himself. It shouldn’t have been hot, but she found herself biting her lip. Focus, girl!

“I thought you said your brother was manning this station,” she said as she reached the grill, plate half covered with a slice of wheat toast alongside an everything bagel.

“I told him this was a special order, so he could take a break.” The man looked up from the grill, his eyes meeting hers. “That okay?”

“You ask that a lot,” Emma mused.

“I try to make sure I’m not offending anyone,” he grinned, passing the sizzling bacon from the grill to her plate.

“You’re not,” she smirked at him. Belatedly, as she sat back down at the table, Emma realized they’d been flirting.

By the time noon came around, Emma was full of mimosa and eggs and toast and bacon… and a little more mimosa.

Spilling her past about the foster system had been tough, but once it was out in the open, Emma found it easier to relax and tell stories – good and bad – about her childhood. She listened to Belle’s stories about her beast of an ex, and shared her own gripes about Neal. Mary Margaret talked about her struggles to get pregnant and Emma found herself tearing up.

“You can adopt me,” she said before she could think better of it. The whole table laughed, and for a moment, Emma was embarrassed.

“Um, me too, please!” Ruby shouted.

“You and David have enough room for three grown adult women to become your adopted children, right?” Elsa was nearly crying with laughter.

And then they all had tears streaming down their faces, and Emma wasn’t sure how much of it was out of sadness for Mary Margaret’s struggles or their own pasts and how much of it was out of pure, unadulterated amusement at the idea of David Nolan being surrounded by four adult women, three of whom were proclaiming to be his children.

She was nearly out the door, check paid and phone numbers exchanged with girls she’d barely even known a few hours ago, when Emma caught the eye of the man who’d made her bacon.

“How was it?” he shouted from his post – he’d moved onto eggs, apparently.

Emma found herself walking back into the restaurant towards him.

“It was decent,” she shrugged. His jaw dropped.

“Just decent?”

She shrugged again.

“Let me cook you something else.”

“I’m pretty full, actually. Mimosas and eggs and toast and all that.” She looked up at him, wondering what his next move would be.

“Tomorrow then.” He was determined, the set of his jaw and the furrow in his brow told her as much.

“Tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day,” she laughed. He raised an eyebrow.

“Have you got plans?” She couldn’t read his face or his tone anymore.

“Well, no, but—”

“Great. We’re having a Solo Special. If you come in and let me, Killian Jones, co-owner of The Jewel of the Realm, cook you the meal of your choosing, it’s on the house.”

“I’m sorry, you’re offering a free meal tomorrow?” A short gentleman serving himself some eggs interrupted. Killian didn’t turn away from Emma’s stare.

“Only for her,” he said simply. “She said my bacon cooking skills were decent. I’m simply out to prove her wrong.”

Jaw hanging open, Emma was speechless.

“What do you say, then? One-time only offer. Unless you like the food. And me. Then you can probably come again some other time and chances are, I’ll cook you something on the house again.” He winked at her.

Flirting, again.

“Okay,” Emma was surprised to hear herself say. It must have been all of the mimosas. She’d see if she actually felt like showing her face in this restaurant again when she woke up clear-headed.

“What shall I place the reservation under?” he asked her as she turned to leave.

“Emma Swan,” she told him, and she left.

~~~~~~~~~~~

GALENTINES DAY , Emma typed in a brand-new Word document. She hadn’t gotten any further than the title in her original attempt, but starting fresh with a brand new perspective felt like it would be good for the story.

For someone who grew up on the outside looking in, Galentines Day seemed like little more than an excuse for a bunch of women to get drunk on mimosas and complain about their lives. There didn’t seem to be a point to it – don’t ladies get together all the time to talk about menial things? Why a whole day dedicated to it?

But then I realized Galentines Day is about more than just champagne served before noon.

Valentine’s Day is about showing the person you care for romantically that you cherish them. You show them love every day, but on one day every year, you’re allowed to get as cheesy and romantic and heart-eyed as you deem fit. You can get sappy and wax poetic about the first time you met, and how their eyes struck your soul or some other over-used line that would seem out of place on any other day.

Galentines Day is about showing your friends that you cherish them. It’s about sharing your past and your present and your hopes for the future, and about making new friends when you didn’t think you could. It’s about appreciating each other in a way that maybe you don’t go out of your way to do the rest of the year.

And maybe it’s also about drinking champagne before noon.

It turned into a late night and an early morning, Emma writing and editing and writing and editing. She made it strictly factual, then added opinions back in. She shared one of her own experiences from brunch, then erased it for fear of exposing some part of herself she wasn’t ready to share.

She handed in exactly 700 words to Regina exactly nine minutes late, but there were no complaints, and both women seemed to think they’d won, somehow.

“So, are you going back to see that hot guy today?” Ruby asked Emma at lunch. Apparently, making friends also meant that Emma didn’t have to eat her lunch alone at her desk anymore. She was invited to the diner next door, owned by Ruby’s grandmother, with the rest of the girls.

“What hot guy?” Emma, of course, knew exactly what hot guy, but she hadn’t realized that anyone else had even noticed their interactions from the day before.

“Don’t play dumb,” Ruby grinned. “I came out of the bathroom and saw you talking to the guy at the egg station. I thought I heard him offer you a free meal.”

“Wait, the owner of The Jewel of the Realm offered to cook for you?” Elsa’s voice reached a record-high pitch.

Ruby, Mary Margaret, and Emma all turned to her, surprised by her reaction.

“I’ve had a crush on Liam for forever ,” Elsa admitted. “I go there, like, once a week, hoping I can get his attention somehow.”

“Liam? Oh… that must be Killian’s brother,” Emma realized.

“There, now you have to go back!” Ruby grabbed Emma’s hands. “If only to set poor Elsa over here up with Liam.” She gave her best attempt at a puppy dog pout, but only ended up looking like a model posing for a photograph.

By the end of lunch, Emma was pretty sure she was going back to The Jewel of the Realm.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hello, do you have a reservation?” The hostess smiled at her.

“Um, maybe? If I do, it’s under Emma.” She couldn’t believe she was here. It was Valentine’s Day, and some stranger was cooking her dinner. Was this a date? It seemed like a date. But did dates generally cook you food… in the restaurant you were eating in?

The hostess grinned even wider, somehow.

“Emma Swan?” Emma nodded. “Yes, there’s a reservation here. You can follow me.”

The girl led her to a table off to the side, somehow just a bit quieter than the rest of the restaurant. There were two place settings and a candle in the center of the table.

“Killian will be with you shortly,” the hostess told her, as though Killian were just another server and not the owner of the damn restaurant .

What the hell was Emma doing here?

She sat for a moment and considered getting right back up and walking about, but a man approached her with a wine list and she decided that if nothing else, alcohol would certainly help her feel a bit more at ease. She’d done all of the flirting in the world yesterday with just a bit of champagne in her system after all.

She chose a cheap white from the bottom of the list, but she knew as soon as she tasted her glass that it was top-shelf. Cheap wine didn’t go down that smoothly.

“I hope you didn’t order a low-grade wine because you thought you’d have to pay for it,” Killian said as he sat down, seeming to appear out of nowhere.

Emma blushed.

“I told you this was on the house,” he raised an eyebrow at her.

“You said the food was on the house,” she pointed out, unfolding her napkin across her lap, simply for something to do.

He sighed.

“The whole thing is on the house, Swan. You’re lovely and I would have asked you on a proper date for Valentine’s Day, but I own a restaurant, so this is pretty much the best I can do.” He bit his lip, and for the first time, Emma realized that he might be as nervous as she was. “Is this okay?”

“This is nice,” she assured him. “It’s great, actually. I’ve never had anyone cook me a meal before, so you’ve got a low bar set for you.”

“No one’s ever cooked for you?” He looked far more surprised than she’d expected. She shrugged and shook her head. “What’s your favorite food? We’re talking, last meal before the electric chair, guilty pleasure, absolutely cannot live without it meal.” He stood as he spoke.

“Um, I don’t have a very refined palate,” she admitted. She admitted that she’d grown up on lukewarm French fries and day old peanut butter sandwiches, mostly.

He smiled.

“Chicken tenders and onion rings it is.” He disappeared into the kitchen.

Wine with a kids meal , Emma thought to herself. The epitome of romance .

Killian came back with a huge pile of onion rings and a basket of chicken tenders. It smelled incredible, and Emma’s mouth began to water.

“I know it’s not exactly a romantic meal, but I find that eating whatever food makes you happy also helps you enjoy the company you’re with.”

“Is that some long-winded cliché you just made up on the spot?”

He grinned.

“Maybe.”

“So, did you make all of this fresh, just for me?” She hadn’t kept track of how long he’d been gone, not wanting his staff to catch her glancing at her phone constantly. They were no doubt all watching her, and she didn’t want them telling her she was an impatient jerk who couldn’t wait for her food to come out.

“I did,” he said. He at her, and she met his eyes. She believed him.

The food was unsurprisingly delicious.

“How are you able to sit and enjoy an entire meal in the restaurant you own on such a busy night?” She asked him as she finished her third glass of wine.

“My brother’s running the floor right now, he’ll come and get me if he needs me.” Killian sipped his water, still working despite the fact that this was very clearly a date.

“Speaking of your brother, I have a friend—”

“That blonde girl from your party yesterday? Oh God, please tell me she’s interested in him.” Killian rolled his eyes. “She’s in here constantly and all Liam does is whine about how pretty she is, but he won’t just go and talk to her.”

Emma laughed, and Killian tilted his head.

“She is,” she said when she caught her breath. “When she heard the owner of this place was cooking me dinner, she almost lost her mind. I had to tell her it was you, not your brother.”

This time, Killian laughed with her, and they must have looked quite the pair, cracking up with a half-empty bottle of wine on the table.

“Bring her with you next time, then.”

“Next time?”

“Yes, if… if you want to come back, that is.” There was that nervous smile again.

Emma nodded.

“I do. This was… nice.”

“Killian!” came a voice from the opposite end of the restaurant. Killian’s eyes closed as his head fell forward.

“I’ll be right back ,” he assured her, reaching over and squeezing her hand before he went.

He was only gone a few moments, but he looked much more disheveled upon his return.

“I’m afraid we’re down a cook, so I’ve got to head into the kitchen and take over. I’m so sorry. I hope—”

“Do you have time to walk me out?” Emma bit her lip, feeling the buzz from the wine bring a flush to her cheeks. She pulled out her phone to order an Uber. “I’ve got… six minutes until my driver arrives.” She looked back up at him.

“Yeah, I can spare that,” he grinned. He helped her into her jacket and offered her his arm. They walked out of the restaurant together, and the hostess erupted into giggles as soon as they passed her.

“This was a really nice night, Killian. Thank you.” Emma told him as soon as they were outside.

“I’m glad. I was a bit nervous you wouldn’t come.”

“I almost didn’t,” she admitted. “But the girls at work convinced me that it was a good idea.”

“I’ll have to thank them sometime.” He took a step closer to her.

“When should I come back with Elsa?” she asked, feet glued to the spot they were in. Would he come closer still?

“Whenever you like. I’m usually not here Tuesdays and Liam’s not here Thursdays. Other than that, I’m all yours.” He was nearly flush against her now.

She tilted her chin up, wondering if people still kissed on the first date. She thought for a moment about how horrible her onion breath probably was, but before she could consider it too deeply, he was kissing her.

He stopped quickly.

“Was that ok—”

She grabbed his jacket and kissed him again. Her phone buzzed with the arrival of her Uber. She pulled away and sure enough, there was the blue Ford Focus she was supposed to be waiting for.

“I’ll be in on Friday,” she told him before she could think better of it, and climbed into the car. She could see him through the passenger side mirror, touching his lips and staring after her, and she smiled.

#captain swan #captain swan fic #galentinesday #galentinesgift #csvalentines #valentinesday #captain swan ff #captain swan fic rec #captain swan secret valentine #cssv #cs #cs fic #cs fanfic #pearlmackie

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zebraslovescupcakestoo · 6 years

Text

Golden Eyes chapter 13

We entered the casino in a large group, aside for the ones outside. I know that we all altered our appearances for this, but there's also a chance that we might be discovered. Especially with me.

The reception was purple theme with white and gold in the mix. Some roman pillars to lead at the reception desk along with palm plants. We were at the desk until that man came along.

“Welcome to the King Dice casino. The only place for the high class and the elites can enjoy to the fullest. But we can include the lower classes if they can pay the same price as they do.” The receptionist sneered at some of us. Nice warm welcoming tactic there, bud!

“We're here with some money to burn on those nifty slot machines, may we please go to them?” Oswald told him.

“I must first see your I.D.” He asked. Carp fish! I forgot about mine! I had it, but it was my REAL identification!

“Here we go! All five of them!” Mickey handed them over. Huh? How did... did he planned this ahead of time, just in case?

He examined each of them and then said. “Very well, it's on your right, straight up and please don't cause any trouble. We have strict policies here for the 'rebels' who do.”

I have a bad feeling about something... but I don't know what it is just yet. Even I can tell that Sam wasn't looking too good either because I'm here.

We were then inside of the entertainment area. It has his slot machines, the roulette, blackjacks, you name it standard gambling stuff with a bit of glamour in them. There's also at the further end of the room, there's like a circus ring like the one back in Chinatown. Maybe that's where they make those live shows I've heard from. The room was nice with a royal blue ceiling with some crystal chandeliers hung up. Italian paintings are also hung up on the white walls that looked like it was from an European like museum. I can see why it's high class standard here.

Mickey then signaled us to round up at a table. We took our place and make sure that nobody else was hearing our conversation. He whispered. “OK, so is everybody ready for the second phase?”

“You two create a distraction while we get to the jewels?” I asked. He nodded. “But before that.” He handed over a brown wallet with a Gucci brand on it. It was fully filled with cash. I was confused on why is he handed over to me. “You need to make it looked like you were here to gamble.”

Is this that bad feeling I had a few seconds ago? “How much did you stuffed in there?” I asked.

“About two thousands, mostly in hundreds. I think.” He said and I nearly chocked.

I can't take this! “I can't do that! I don't want to be in debt by you two a-”

“Keep it down a bit, you don't have to spend it all at once. Besides, this is 'burning' money for the slots or whatever you pick here.” Oswald tried to reason with me, but I still can't take that kind of money!

Then Sam held my elbow and it made it looked like I was taking it, just to avoid suspicions. “Just take it for now and you can return the rest later. Don't worry about the amount.” He said. I was going to say something, but then they were out of sight. Probably they didn't wanted to make it looked like we were all together or something. I can't believed he made me take it.

Lumière then pointed and said. “Now that they are gone, we must play along. The exchange booth is over there, next to that playboy rabbit sign. Allons y!”

I guessed I have to do it... We changed our cash with coins. Luckily for me, There was a twenty dollar bill among the hundreds so I can manage with that. I got a few bills and coins for the slots so let's see which ones are available for me and the other two.

Sam spotted three conveniently available places for us. We settled in and began to play a little. I was going to put a coin in until Sam said to me. “Félix, Before you put that in, I need to say something.” I looked at him without turning my head. “Don't shout cheat if you noticed something odd. That will draw attention to you instead of the others first.”

Don't yell cheat if I found something odd? I didn't know what he meant until I tried it out for myself. I put the coin in and pulled the leaver. The pictures rolls until I had a seven, seven, and...! The first picture moved! I had a lemon then the first one got a cherry! What the-! Is that what he meant about cheating? I looked back at him and he knew what I was going to say.

“You're not the only one. It's the same with the others like us. If we don't look like the upper class, we get loser all the time.” I looked around a bit to see if anyone near us can hear what I'm about to whisper. “Are you telling me that they rigged the games between the middle and lower classes? Just so that they can keep their wealthier customers happy or something like that?”

“More like cheating their money out of it. But don't look around like that for ears dropping again, that can lead to suspicion.” Sam told me.

“Sorry, but again, why would they rigged like that? Isn't that-” I noticed that one of the staff was passing through and I put another coin in just to make it look like I tried again for luck. This time I hit a lemon, lemon then almost a lemon until it countered rolled to a seven. It's rigged, it gotta be! He passes by and away from us so I resumed. “Isn't that cheating? Or illegal, to be precised?”

“You may be right, but in this place, we cannot do much.” Sam explained. “See, the manager here is Giovanchi Dazzardo as you know along he's serving under you-know-who. Right now on the surface, he looked like he's running an average luxurious casino, but if you stick around a little too long, there's a reason why they have a shady reputation.” He explained without making eye contacts with me.

“But what-” I got interrupted again by another staff member passing by our direction. I put another coin in and this time, I have all three diamonds! YES! Jackpot-WHAT THE?! It jacked to a lemon, seven then a lemon! Now I'm getting fed up with that mechanical garbage can! No no! Keep a cool head, I'm not really here to gamble, I'm here for the operation. So I continued. “What did they do for that title?”

“For starters, they held black market auctions once a week right here for the selected few. I'm not in one of them but I did caught a drunk conversation on one of the wealthy lawyers about how he 'purchased' a rare painting here that was probably stolen or something. But that's only the tip of the iceberg. There's also those dog fight shows that has grown more popular recently these past few weeks. Apparently, they only do that on occasional nights. Which tomorrow's the 'perfect' night. So I guessed that's why they wanted to be tonight and they wanted you to do that 'liberation' thing.”

Black auctions? Dog fights? Dang! I had a feeling they have something shady in here. Who knows what else they might have done here! I then hear something like a siren going off on one of the gambling tables to the far north.

Lumière then said. “This is our chance! Let's go!” We immediately went to the stair case that lead to the second floor. The hallway was quite elegant. There was supposed to be a door where it should be according to the blue prints. “Tabarnak. Did we pick the wrong hall?” Sam cussed. “Non, this must be the one! Maybe there’s a secret switch or something. Quickly! We must find it before they noticed we went missing.” They both scanned the walls where that door is supposed to be. I had to think of something quick! That's when I noticed my ring started to react. It must have tried to tell me something. My sight! I took off my sunglasses and I concentrated. I then opened them and I noticed a lady like statue with a ring holding at a high place. I placed my sunglasses back on and my sight disappeared. I guess I have to take note on that.

“Hey, I just had a thought.” They both looked at me. “Isn't that statue with a ring holding up high might be that secret switch?” Sam looked at it. “Either that or you might have a Greek women fetish you just had.” I glared at his sarcastic jokes. I'm a gentlemen and YOU know it! He pulled the ring and then a secret passage was shown. “Bravo Félix! Now Sam, wave this yellow handkerchief at the window. You'll do the passing and make sure you just drop it straight down, not tossing them straight-”

“Yeah yeah! I know the drill! But hurry up with that!” We then entered the secret room.

I was surprised on how many they are! There's so many replicas here and they all looked alike! I did however noticed one set that was separate from the rest. It might be the originals. “So do you know which ones are the real ones yet, Félix?” Lumière asked. “Um.. just give me a minute.” I don't know if he knew about my 'sight,' but I have to hurry! I concentrated on those peculiar sets and I got my answer. They are the real ones! “It's them!” I told him. “Excellent!” He then grabbed the Lavender Pearls first and swap it from the fakes hidden in his vest. I started to noticed that the 'mocking' Sapphire collar wasn't among them. He did mentioned that it was a fake with a few real sapphires here and there, but I had this gut feeling that it might be something important. I looked around the room to see if they are somewhere else. That's when I noticed something gleamed in an classical place for any detective to spot and a criminal's classical, armature mistake: the garbage can.

Why do every clues ended up in there of all places? Then again, it could be worst... I pick up the case from the thrash can and I opened it. They were as they explained it, but the chain was broken. I guessed they must have find out about their mocking plan. I was lucky enough that they didn't took the few that were real. Lumière then asked. “Qu'est-ce qu'il y a? Ah! That must be those mocking necklaces!” He took them. “I'm surprised you found them. My friend Oswald did wanted them back if we found them. They're not much, but it was a bit important to him.” I was a bit confused. Why would he need those back? “Is it because some had the real sapphires?” I asked him while he swap the Snake's Emeralds. “Proche. They belong to his lady, Ortensia. She didn't minded when we used her earrings for this.” He explained. I was frozen on the spot.

...wait? His girl? Meaning he's got a girlfriend?... How old is he again? If Mickey and I are the same age, twenty one, and he's older... I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH EVIDENCE!

“Félix? Are you alright? You looked a little pale.” Oh shoot! I'm in a middle of a heist! I'll think this over later! He then swap the Snowflake Diamonds, the last ones, and we both exited the room. He pulled the ring again and it closed behind me. They finished their job and Sam turned to me, looked shocked and scolded. “Calice! Put your sunglasses on before anyone noticed you eyes!” I was reminded that I had unusual yellow eyes. He's right! Good thing I kept them in my pockets, so I put them back on. “Hurry! We need to go the men's room so we looked like we were there.” We then skedaddle to the nearest restroom on the first floor.

We waited there for like a minute or so until we exited so it looked like we were there the whole time while whatever happened there that got them distracted. We returned to the entertainment area and we met up with them at the same table we first met up. “Did you finished you business?” Mickey asked us.

“Yes, 'Mike.' But it took me a little while because of that we ate earlier. I was worried that it might clog the toilet with the amount of 'crap' I had to dump it in. Luckily so far it went down smoothly without being backfired.” Sam covered our mission blog. I know he's trying to cover our conversation, but couldn't he just use something else besides a dirty bathroom joke?

“It went smoothly without a problem, how's your end?” Lumière said. “That's good! Now we need to rescue those poor creatures. However, we snagged a small problem.” Mickey admitted. “What is it?” I asked.

“That commotion earlier was caused by one of the staff members nicknamed Pip and Dot. They were having some fight with another one nicknamed Mr. Wheezy because of how much of his fumes are choking the air they breathe while they were on a trapeze and then there was a brawl out.” Mickey explained. “Then what happened?” I asked.

“I intervene their brawl. I manage to break them up, but now they have eyes on me.” Oswald explained. Darn! If he tries to leave this area, they'd sure would have noticed it. “So what's the plan now?” Lumière asked.

“We still stick to it, but this time, I'm staying with Felix. You and Sam can go with him.” Oswald said.

“Absolutely not! We had an agreement that if he comes here, I'm the one in charge of him. He's not leaving at my side apart from bathroom breaks.” Sam disagreed. “I'll be right next to him and keep my guard up. We don't have much choice at this point.”

Sam was hesitant about this. “I swear if something happened to him- YOU will be responsible for this...” He didn't held back on his anger.

“I-I'll be careful. It won't take long for 'that' to be done, right?” I tried to reassure him. If what he said about those dog fights and animal abuse was true, we need to rescue them as quickly as we can.

“This better not take long.” He then turned to Mickey. “And don't even think on putting another show like the one you did earlier!” He then glared at Oswald. “Let's hurry! The sooner the better!” Lumière claimed. We then got separated and I'm now alone with him. So I sat down next to him and I tried to start a conversation. “So uhhhh... How do you feel? Like, after all that just happened a moment ago?” He looked away as to say he wasn't interested to respond. OK... Change the subject. “So... how's your neighborhood? I heard it was a good place to live. A lot of variety of fresh products, some really colorful people, great shops, pretty much anything that you won't find anywhere else! Can you tell me more about it since you knew it more than I do?” Maybe I can get some new info from the Chinatown district and what more stories I can sniff out.

Again, he doesn't reply. So maybe, third times a charm? “Alright, then how about your hobbies? I heard from a mouse that you play the piano very well. I also believed him when you said you can cook. I thought I was the only guy who can in this big old city.” Maybe his personality? Nope.

I'm getting a bit frustrated. How the heck can I understand you better if you keep your personality as close shut as you can? I'm trying to be nice here and you're not even trying. Unless... you were a bit sore about what I said yesterday. Maybe...

I took a quiet, deep breath before I spoke. “Look, if it's about yesterday, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to accuse anyone or saying it was true. I just wanted to know your side of the story before I can better judge who you really are.” His eyes then finally looked at mine. Finally! I got his attention.

“Look. I know it might be your fault to bring up that subject, but to be honest, I was at fault too. I shouldn't loose my temper like that. So I'm the one who should apologize first.” He then sounded responsible.

“Um. Thanks. But it also kinda my fault for bringing up something that kinda open up an old wound.” Even if I did wanted to find out more, I have to considered the person's feelings before I can press on. That was one of the golden detective rules my father taught me.

He took a second to scan our area and he turned to the table, as I did too. “That day when we first met our 'allies,' we were in our late teens. Kay and Alfonso had an agreement on a huge heist that required both ours and their respected skills for the jobs. Our 'uncle' and the former mafia boss, Alfonso, used to be great rivals back in their younger years. One day they were fighting like cats and dogs, the next they are old friends. Nobody asked why they had that odd hot and cold relations, but what they DID know, is Alfonso was the reason why uncle Kay had to wear a skull masked bandanna and the same goes for Kay on why Alfonso had a scar right across his face. But one thing they had in common is that they were like they found their equal match in combat terms.”

“Whoa... They used to be like the ultimate rivals way back?” No wonder they were tough! With these guys around, they must have something to impress them.

“The reason why Alfonso wanted to team up with us is because he said that Kay was his only equal when it comes to planning and executing them. He was the only one who knew him better and a bunch of @ss kissing in the speech just to convince us.”

“Did you tried to refused?”

“If we knew the events that happened on our 'last' job, we could have.” His eyes then looked down.

Did something happened during that particular 'last' job? “So who did it? Who stabbed you guys in the back? One or all of them?” I asked.

His brows snapped together. “I believed it was that one guy who Mickey and I thought was our friend then he stabbed us in our backs. His gang then followed after. And afterwards, because of that 'mistake' we were then labelled as a 'mafia' to everybody's eyes.”

“But... what exactly happened in that job?” He then shot a glare straight through my sunglasses and caused me to froze on the spot. Aw, carp fish! Did I stepped on a land mine again?

He then closed his eyes and calm himself down. “I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't ask like that.”

“No, it's fine... It's just, well... it IS that, but there's more to that in our past... That screwed us more than what it's worth.” He explained vaguely.

So not only is this character had stabbed you two in the back and gave your 'family' a bad reputation, but he did something inexplicable afterwards? Just, who IS he? I wanted to ask but seeing him in a mood like that and knowing where we are, I think I'll ask about it for another time. Right now I had to cheer him up.

“I won't ask further about it for now, but how about we talk on something else? Say, how about cooking? Is there a kind of dish that you liked in particular? Mine are seafood dishes! I really liked tuna, salmon, sushi, pretty much any dish. But I also tried to balanced out with other food groups like milk, veggies, bread, and-”

“You said that earlier about you doing some cooking. Take my advice: If you're cooking something special for your girl, turn down the music so you can hear your smoke alarm.” He advised with an insult to my cooking skills.

“My meals are fine, thank you very much!” I frowned at him. Jerk!

“I'm surprised you didn't set your kitchen on fire yet. I bet you burned your meals on your first tries.” He's trying to start me up.

“They come out fine! I was cooking since I was eight or nine, and I didn't had any problems.”

“I'm surprised that your nephews and your girl have survived that long.” He then smirked at me. Cheeky rabbit!

“Oh! And I supposed YOU are a much better of a 'master chef' than I? Why don't you put your money where your mouth is, once this is over?” I dared him.

“I think it's fair to warn YOU that I've learned a wide, variety of recipes from all over the world before I entered my teen years. Mine's are not just your average home recipes that anyone can do. If I were you-” He then gently hold my jaw and looked straight in my eyes. My heart started to pound quickly again. “-I'd choose my words wisely. No clever man fight another one without fully knew what his strong point are. Right?” He then gave that wink that causes my face heated up. What the heck?! Aren't you taken or something? No wait! What are you doing in public?! I quickly turned away and he lets go. I looked down and calm myself while Oswald chuckled a bit. I took a glance at his reaction and he kinda looked good with a smile and in a better mood.

... Although, I preferred that he wouldn't use my distress as a sort of amusement! “I still want to see if you can do better.”

“If I do win, would you invite my family over to your place?” I chocked on his words. What did he just said?!

“Why the heck would you want to come over at my place? It's just a modest home. Nothing like the ones you and your brother would have lived by now.” I doubt I have anything impressive, custom made from an recommended artist in a foreign country or something like that.

“I wasn't going to ask your girl if I can go out with you. I have a girl too, you know?” He bluntly said. That takes my nerves to it's limit and I blushed in a deeper shade. “IneversaidIwantedtogooutwithyou!” I quickly blurred it out.

Now he's laughing. “I'm only joking on the 'date.' But I was serious about your bet. If I do win, you'll invite us over. Do we have a deal?”

I may have placed a bet, I wasn't going to let him win this time! “Why do you wanted to come over at my place? I could have done it and bring it over at your place. Whatever where you work.”

“I preferred fresh from the pot. Besides, you'll be losing points if it looked worst than before.” He insulted my cooking skills and pushing my buttons again.

“Listen, funny bones! My cooking is fine-”

“Are we interrupting something in your lover's quarrel?” WH- LOVER'S QUARREL?!? I turned back at who said that and my face went pale.

It was those two magicians from that circus! They were right between next to me and I'm getting nervous. If they found out about my disguise, I'm so screwed!

“Oh he's not my beau, he's just a friend of mine visiting from a average town in England. He wanted to see and tried those slots machines if he think it was a good idea to set one up in his bar.” Oswald calmly told them.

“Ohhh! He's trying to copy us?” The red one said. “We don't tolerate copy cats.” Then the blue one followed after. I then felt something sharp 'gently' touched my back.

“Laiser la tranquille.” He waved at them. “Use your heads. He couldn't afford the same ones you all have here. Don't believe me, look at the way he's dressed. Not exactly fit for a millionaire, right?”

They took a few seconds to take a good look and then said. “He's right, Mugman. He looked like one of those hipsters with little cash.” I then felt the sharp object removed from behind. “From what he's wearing, it might be borrowed from someone else. These are so last season, Cuphead.” He agrees with him.

Is this intentional when you 'changed' me, Oswald? But then again, I was safe for a second there. Then that Cuphead guy went next to him and said. “So tell us, Lapin, What are you doing here? Playing his escort or something like that?”

“Something like that. Why are you two doing here? Don't you have your 'job' to do? I wondered why your boss haven't caught you two slacking off yet.” Oswald responded. They kept calling him 'Lapin,' why is that?

“We're on our break. We just noticed you two and we wanted to ask if you both wanted to play a little game with King Dice himself. Maybe your friend would like to try a game of cards for a change.” Mugman replied.

Oh no. I don't! “I'm sorry gentlemen, but I never played much on card games. I'm afraid that-”

“I can assist him. I can teach him a thing or two about poker. Does this place does that?” Oswald answered for me and my face went from pale to horrifying. I'm not supposed to draw attention, you stupid, bunny, rabbit!

Cuphead smiled.“Oooooh! I know JUST the man to do the job! Suivez nous!” They 'escorted' us to a poker table at the other end of the casino with that same man I've say in that Fallen Glass shop. Giovanchi Dazzardo a.k.a. King Dice. I was sat down at the middle on one end of the player's table with Oswald at my right. Then the two magicians went next to that dice guy. “I thought I told you boys to keep animals in their cages, not bringing them here.” He scoffed at them, talking about us.

“But boss, didn't you say you wanted something to pass the time not five minutes ago? Plus, this guest wanted to try poker. He's new!” Mugman tried to encourage him to play that game with me.

“That doesn't mean I wanted ANYthing to cure my boredom. His white friend next to him had caused enough trouble earlier with some of my staffs.” He sounded annoyed. He was breaking up a fight, you ungrateful jerk! Mugman was trying to explain but one look at his glare said 'shut it.'

Cuphead then said. “Well, too late now! Why don't we settle for 'just' one game of poker? Just to a quick mach, boss! Then they'll play something else, AWAY from you. His friend told me he's from England. You like to play with Europeans guest, oui?” He taunted him to play with a big smile until he got upper cut-ed from his right hand. “From the way he's been cheaply dressed aside of his outdated Gucci glasses, can he afford to bet?” He rudely asked.

“I saw him exchanged a twenty dollar bill for smaller change and played on those slot machines earlier.” He 'tsked' on Mugman's words. “BUT I do have a feeling he might have some hundreds in his wallet. Can you show him, English boy?” Cuphead asked me for proof.

I was nervous on the edge. I really don't want to play with them, but I can escape because that might cause suspicions. “I...I was hoping that I could try some of the other games in this er... unique establishment he-”

“Come on, sunglasses! It's not everyday you can play with the best hands in Chicago. Do you know how many wanted to be served by him during big gambling nights? We had line ups 'way' passed the parking lots. You should be lucky-no! HONORED to even be a step closer to him!” Cuphead bloated.

“I didn't mean it like that! I just- wanted to play some games...” Oh boy! What did I do to let myself into this? Oh yeah... I put this on Oswald when I meet the 'Big Guy' upstairs.

“Enough! I'll play with you very quick, so don't waste anymore of our time.” He took the purple themed deck and shuffled the cards. He passes two face down cards at me and kept two cards at him. I was going to see what I got but Oswald put a hand on mine to tell me 'Don't look at them yet.'

“Place your bet.” The 'Dealer' said. “You can take out a hundred, 'Frederick.'” Oswald said to me. You wanted to place THAT much? I wanted to be lower, but from the looks on their faces and in my position, I don't have a word to say in this matter. I took out that hundred dollar bill and place it on the table. “Minimizing your damage, si?” He said with a raised eyebrow. “Kid, in this business, you either go big or go home. But I'll be 'generous' and let this one slide.” He then placed his hundred dollar bill on the table.

He then took out three cards and place them on the center of the table. It was an ace of diamonds, a seven clover and a king of ace. “Let's draw two more cards to end this quickly.” He wanted to end the game as soon as he can. I couldn't agreed with him more... for this time.

“Bah! That's so not like you! Aren't you supposed to raise the bet in those turns?” Cuphead whined and frowned.

“I doubt that he's got more on him.” He told him displeased. “Then how about we make things interesting?” Mugman suggested with a mischievous grind. “What is it? You telling me he should bet his organs on the table?” He then looked up to Mugman with a raised eyebrow. I have that feeling that I won't like where this is going.

“Can't he place his sunglasses on the table?” He suggested. Now I felt dizzy. “What use can I have for his out of date sunglasses? These are just-” “But I wanted to see his eyes. Don't you think he looks a bit familiar?” King and Cuphead then looked back at me to take a good look. Uh oh! He's on to something.

“Come to think of it... Your facial feature looks familiar...” King said. “I want to see his eyes too! I bet it's 'that' color!” Cuphead happily said. “I knew you'd like the idea! Place your sunglasses, sir.” Mugman then said to me.

I was paralysed with fear. If I took them off, they'll kill me right on the spot! I then felt a gentle hand on my left shoulder that calmed me down a bit. “Don't worry. I'm here.” I looked at Oswald as he gave me that look that said: you got this. I don't really get why he means like that, but that makes me feels a bit safer... somewhat. He turned to them and said. “What will you bet if he does?”

“Two hundred more!” The twins shouted in union and slapped their bills on the betting table. Fish paste! They REALLY wanted to take mine off! Oswald then continued. “Dealer, draw the two cards please.”

He draws to more cards and line it up with the other three. An ace of heart and a king of diamond.

He then smiled devilishly and revealed his cards. A seven of hearts and a seven of diamonds. “Oooooh! A full house!” Mugman clapped his hands together with glee. “What YOU got, pauvre homme?” Cuphead taunted at me.

This is it... my life on the line here. If I lose, I'm gonna be executed in this seat. Oswald then whispered something in my ear. “If you lose, I'll protect you.” I know that. I placed my hand again on the cards and gently peeled the top to see what I got.

“Allez! Allez! Show us the cards so you can take off those shades!” Cuphead impatiently said.

I looked up to them and said in a British tone. “I say, does your hand still win? All I got is two pairs.”

TO BE CONTINUED.... Chapter 14

Read chapter 12 here.

Read the beginning here: Chapter 1

Wow... I feel like it was an eternity the last time I’ve type this.

Believed it or not, I did wrote that poker game way before the last pages of the canon comic was posted. Bendy seems like he has luck! (Or he was cheating, but we’ll never know.)

Any who! I did made an even further relation on the Red Dragon’s story, and it seems Felix and Oswald did tried to get along until the rabbit pulled an Gordon Ramsey on him and then messes with him again.

Low and BEHOLD! The cup bros has made an SECOND appearance! This time with the big block head himself, King Dice! (Unofficially named Giovanchi Dazzardo in this AU.)

And for this week’s question: Felix seems to have lost, is he going to die?

Check in next week for another chapter!

BBTIM Characters belong to Marini4. Some OC’s belong to me and DIsney’s.

#bendy before the ink machine #Felix The Cat #Felix #oswald #oswald the lucky rabbit #Mickey Mouse #mickey #marini4 #fanfiction

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