#or like i order a coffee and they give me a larger or smaller size and im like u know what thats okay! fate says less coffee today!

[storiesofsvu]

Heavy Hearts Ch 10

Casey Novak x reader warnings: language, hangovers, puking, general unwellness all around lol, it's the beginning of the angst folks.

Casey woke up with a soft sigh, gently stretching out her body as she rolled over in her bed. The sun was just beginning to peak through her blinds, streaming into her room, fresh morning air wafting in through the open window. She could smell the slight dewiness in the air, having fallen asleep to rain the previous night and it made her ache to get outdoors. She pushed back the covers, hopping out of bed and rummaging through her closet until she found her preferred running gear for the day, changing into it before she jogged down the stairs and out the front door.

She loved early morning runs in the city, most days she didn’t even bother to bring music with her, she liked listening to the world around her wake up and start its day. The hustle and bustle hadn’t quite began, garbage trucks and delivery orders being driven through the streets before the morning commute truly began. She often encountered other people out on morning runs, a quick nod of acknowledgement as they passed each other, though her favourite part was the quick dog walks around the block before work, getting to stop to say hello and give as many of them pets as she could.

Runs like this were among the best ways that she could start her days, they put her in the best mood and she just knew that the rest of her day was going to be great.

By the time she got home she could hear her parents in the kitchen as she came through the front door. She paused to tug off the hoodie, tossing it onto a hook before she kicked off her shoes.

“Case?!” Her dad called out and she glanced in the direction of the kitchen.

“Yes to coffee and yes to breakfast please.” She called back and she heard him laugh.

“C’mere.”

“Coffee can wait I was just gonna jump in the shower.”

“Casey,” her mom’s voice flowed through the air next, a laugh in her words as well, “your father has a surprise for you, it’ll only take a minute.”

Casey’s forehead scrunched and curiosity got the best of her, wandering through the dining room and into the kitchen. Ben was sitting at the kitchen table, newspaper and steaming mug of coffee in front of him while Grace was at the stove.

“Nice run?” He asked.

“Yeah, it’s gorgeous out there today. What’s up?” She glanced around, trying to get a clue on what the surprise could be but there was nothing that seemed out of place.

“Before you went back to school you asked me to do something for you.”

“I did?” Her head titled in confusion, earning another laugh from Ben.

“I picked it up a couple of weeks ago, figured I should probably pass it along to you now.” He slid a small box across the kitchen table, one that she hadn’t even noticed and suddenly she was piecing it together.

“Oh my god dad! You didn’t!”

“You wanted me to help you with something and who am I to say no to my favourite daughter?” He teased and Casey rolled her eyes.

“I’m your only daughter.”

“Well, what do you think?” He asked, cracking the box open and she gasped.

“That’s a little bigger than I had planned.” The diamond was gorgeous. While it was the exact one she’d wanted, the one that she knew was perfect, it was certainly a larger carat than she’d suggested.

“You said you wanted to impress her, didn’t you?” Grace asked, crossing the room to put down a plate of food for Ben, pausing to kiss Casey on the temple, “and you two deserve something really nice after all the hard work you’ve put in at Harvard.”

“Yeah, but even with the extra hours over the summer I don’t think I’m gonna have enough to pay you guys back for this…” Casey practically pouted, now that she’d seen it, in person, in her own kitchen, her heart was dead set on this particular ring. Which is why it stung so much to have to turn it down, to go exchange it for the smaller size.

“Which is exactly why it’s a gift from your mother and I.” Ben shrugged, leaving the box on the table while he dug into his food.

“Are you serious?!” She replied with a near shriek and her parents laughed.

“Casey sweetheart, this is the happiest you’ve been in a long time.” Grace said, “the two of you are meant for each other, we can both see it. This is our gift to the both of you, some families hand down rings, this is how we decided to do it.”

“Thank you.” She somehow managed to loop both of them into the biggest bear hug, warmth blooming through her chest as excitement began to bubble in her stomach. This was actually going to happen; it was becoming a reality and now she was one step closer to it. “This is so incredible. I mean it.”

She kissed both of their cheeks before letting them go, plopping into a chair across from her dad as she picked up the small box, admiring the ring. Grace let out a little chuckle, moving back to the stove to grab her own plate, pausing to fill up a mug of coffee, placing it down in front of Casey before she sat down herself.

“So?” She asked, eyes gleaming at her daughter, “are you going to let us in on any of the plan?”

Casey ducked her gaze as she blushed, a huff of a laugh escaping her lips before she glanced back up with a hesitant expression on her face.

“You’re gonna think it’s so cheesy.”

“So what?” Ben laughed, “it’s not us you have to impress. We’re just here to support you and help you pull it off if you need it.”

“I was thinking during or after the fireworks at the end of summer party?” She shrugged, “I dunno, it sounds lame. But we both really loved that night last year, everything just felt, right… ya know?”

“I think it sounds perfect.” Grace squeezed at her hand, “you start brainstorming and you let us know if you need help setting anything up, alright?”

“I will.” Casey shot her a bright smile, closing the ring box and tucking it into her hand, “I’m gonna go hide this, shower and call y/n.”

“Did she say how the engagement party went?”

“Not much, just that it was pretty lame. She got pulled off by some old acquaintance. I’m sure she’s bored out of her skull out there.”

“Well we’ll get her out here as soon as we can.” Grace smiled again as Casey stood from the table.

“Yeah. Thank you guys, again.” She beamed as she smiled at them, unable to hold back the giggle as she bounded up the stairs to find somewhere in her room to stash the ring that you wouldn’t find it later that summer.

**

The first thing you registered was the cawing of a crow outside your window that was making your head absolutely throb. The second was the sandpaper feeling inside your mouth, you did your best to swallow and there was basically nothing to swallow. As your conscious started to wake up you could feel your bra digging into your ribs, your skin aching underneath it, actually, your entire body ached. You cracked open one eye, at least you recognized your surroundings as your bedroom, and your blinds were closed, the room still bathed in darkness. Though the entire thing was spinning, you felt like you were in a wave pool and with each breath you took the nausea was getting worse.

Incredibly slowly, you lifted you head from your pillow, finding remnants of your makeup smudged on it from passing out on your stomach. You let out a groan as you pushed yourself up, cautiously rotating so you were sitting on the edge of the bed. You couldn’t remember a time you’d been this sore upon waking up, every inch of every limb ached, you noticed one of your knees was scraped up, then you realized the slit in your dress was torn nearly all the way up to your waist. There was a forming mark that you couldn’t quite make out on your inner thigh, clearly you’d taken a tumble at some point last night, you could only pray it wasn’t in front of people at the country club. You swallowed again, unsticking your tongue from the roof of your mouth and then it hit you, the faint taste of cigarettes in your mouth and you did your best not to gag. You ran a hand over your face, letting your head rest in your palm for a moment before you let out another groan, a spasm of hurt running through your body.

The ensuite bathroom was five feet from you, and at the very least you needed to pee, get rid of your bra, you could try to deal with the rest later. Once you were finished and up washing your hands you realized if you were going to show yourself downstairs to get water, medicine, anything, you needed to not look anything like you did right now. Your mother would never let you hear the end of it.

You didn’t want to risk brushing your teeth and activating your gag reflex, opting for some mouth wash instead to get rid of the horrid taste in your mouth, bracing yourself on the basin for a moment to regain some strength. You unzipped your dress, letting it drop to the floor, followed shortly by your bra. Somehow in your drunken stupor you’d decided that taking off your underwear was the only priority before bed and you rolled your eyes at yourself before stepping into the shower.

You’d only been under the stream for a few minutes before the shakes started to hit. You turned the temperature down in an attempt to regulate your body temperature, though that did nothing to help the shakes. You managed to wash your hair before you wavered and you knew whatever was still in your system was not okay with you being vertical yet so you lowered yourself to the shower floor, closing your eyes to try and stop the spinning as the water washed over you.

When you finally gathered the energy to get on your feet again you did a very quick wash and rinse of your body, scrubbing away at the smeared make up on your face before wrapping yourself in a towel and making a beeline for your bed on shaky legs. You dropped down onto it, your head now pounding, you’d been hoping to try and get some more sleep but with the way your heart was ringing in your ears you knew that was never going to happen. You so rarely got hangovers you certainly weren’t prepared for how severe this one was. Your head lolled to the side and you whined at the sight of your nightstand empty, drunk you was doing hungover you no favours, no Advil, no cups of water waiting. Dragging yourself off the bed you shuffled into some pyjamas, looking around your room for your purse with no luck, you let out a soft sigh and made your way downstairs.

Your purse was on the door in the entry way, your shoes tossed aside on the floor, keys dumped beside them. At least you’d made it home in one piece. You dug through the pockets of your purse for your phone and once again, ran out of luck. Maybe someone had plugged it in down here, you were sure it had to be somewhere, letting out a huff of defeat you shuffled into the kitchen.

The first thing you did was drop into a chair at the island, your elbows on the counter to prop your head up in your hands as you closed your eyes. The kitchen was bright, way too fucking bright for your senses right now and it made you want to disappear into your room again but you knew you needed to try and make this better. You grabbed a glass of water, returning to your spot at the island as you tried to control your shakes and take tiny sips to start to rehydrate yourself.

“Darling I thought we talked about this.” Your mother’s voice rang through the quiet air like a shrill banshee, her fingers tracing through your damp hair, attempting to untangle a few locks, “you need to do those hair treatments right as you get out of the shower.”

“I barely made it down the stairs mom.” You grumbled back, your voice hoarse, your throat hurt, still dry as sandpaper.

“You’re hungover.” She clicked her tongue, “not a surprise considering the shape you were in last night.” She moved toward the fridge, opening it to grab a bottle of sparkling water for herself, “another thing I thought we talked about, or have you forgotten the rules in the years you’ve been away? You cannot go and make a fool of yourself at events like that. You have a reputation and a family name to uphold, I’m a little ashamed on your behalf today, I hope you know that.” You ignored her, taking another tiny sip of water.

“Have you seen my phone?”

“Oh, please don’t tell me you’ve lost that along with your dignity?”

“Mom.” You half groaned, wincing at the sound of your own voice, “I get it okay, I’m sorry, you don’t need to lecture. And it’s not in my room or my purse, I just thought someone might’ve plugged it in down here.”

“I can call the club, it’s probably there or in Brock’s car.”

The glass stilled halfway to your lips and your brow scrunched as you finally looked up at her, head tilting in confusion, “why would it be in Brock’s car?”

“Well he drove you home sweetheart.”

“I… Ethan drove me home.” You struggled through the sentence as you really started to think about the night before and just how much you actually could remember. Your mom laughed,

“Why would Ethan leave his own party?” She shook her head, “you were more far gone than I thought. Everyone saw you and Brock leave together, he even texted me and your father to say you were home safe. That young man really is such a gentleman.”

“Yeah… sure.” Another wave of nausea was building up inside your body, heat churning from down in your gut all the way through you as you started to overheat again.

“You know, I am so happy that you finally said yes to a date with him!” She smiled brightly at you and your heart about dropped into your stomach, “I knew that whole thing with the Novak girl was just a phase you’d grow out of and now’s the perfect time for you and Brock to get together.” She leant in to press a kiss to your cheek, “I’m sure he’s thrilled and can’t wait to see you at dinner.”

“I think I’m gonna be sick…”

It was barely over a mutter, one that your mother didn’t even hear as she made her way out of the room and you were honestly lucky that you made it to the hallway bathroom in time. There was barely anything to throw up, water, stomach acid, but that wasn’t stopping the intense dry heaving. Your entire body shuddering, coated in a sheen of sweat as tears pooled in your eyes, another bout of stomach acid expelling from you and you were finally sure the heaving was done. Flushing the toilet you leant back against the bathroom wall, your eyes shutting as you tried to catch your breath, relishing in the cool air of the room. Before you even had time to think there was a knock at the door,

“Mom, seriously…”

“Miss Y/n?” Larissa’s soft voice came through the crack in the door as she nudged it open.

“Oh, sorry.”

“If you’re that sick you should drink this, electrolytes.” She held out a bottle of Pedialyte to you and you took it as she settled on the side of the tub, “and saltine crackers. They’ll help settle your stomach.”

“Thanks.” You smiled wearily at her, your body still tremoring somewhat, “hey have you seen my phone? I really wanna call Case.”

“No.” She frowned, “I’m sorry. You could use mine? If you’re worried about your parents knowing?”

“I—” you sighed, your head dropping against the wall behind you, “the only part of her phone number I know is that it’s a New York area code.”

“I’m sure it’s just at the club.” She offered with a small smile.

“Yeah. Were you here when I got home last night?” You asked, hoping she could help you piece things together.

“I was already in my room. But I heard you come in, two voices, sounded like Mr. Lexington, footsteps on the stairs, less than a minute later, he came back down and left. I went out to make sure the door was locked.”

“So he was in the house like… less than five minutes?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” You sighed, cracking the bottle of Pedialyte and taking a small sip.

“You don’t remember coming home?” She asked, her brow furrowing as she looked across at you.

“No. It’s completely black. I remember saying goodnight to Kim, but things start to go out around there. Normally it’s like… fuzzy, ya know?”

“I’m sure it will start to come back to you.” She stood, squeezing at your shoulder, “c’mon, get back up to your room, I’ll bring you a hangover relief tray.”

“You truly are the only good thing about this city.”

You accepted her hand to help pull you to your feet, letting out another groan as you did so. Right now you needed to get some remedies into you and hopefully some more sleep. You could deal with the rest of this when you finally had your head on straight.

**

Casey chewed on her lip as her eyes darted around her room, ring box still in her hand as she tried to figure out where to hide it. It had to be somewhere she’d remember but hidden enough you wouldn’t spot it. She knew you likely weren’t going to be able to escape your parents until she was in the Hampton’s anyways so she could probably just stash it in her dresser for now. She’d want to pull it out to admire it and imagine the future that lay in front of the two of you anytime she felt like it.

She was distracted in her daydreams as she picked up her phone, clicking on your contact and letting the line ring a few times until a voice answered.

“Hello?”

“Morning baby! How was the rest of the party I—” She stalled suddenly, realizing the voice that answered was deep, a man’s voice and she pulled the phone away from her ear to make sure she’d called you, “hello?”

“Hello?” The voice repeated.

“I’m uh… looking for y/n?”

“Well this is her phone, who is this?”

“Casey.” She replied adamantly, starting to get annoyed. Then she remembered you had an older brother, one you bickered with frequently and her shoulders relaxed, “is this Ethan?”

“No,” he chuckled, “this is Brock.”

Casey felt her blood run cold. The last time she’d heard that name was the day after you didn’t come home from a night of partying. The name that came up relatively frequently when you spoke about Washington, the annoying family that your parents seemed to love so much and the son who they wanted you to end up with.

“Oh…” Brock started with a small laugh, “Casey… Harvard girl! The roommate! Yeah I think your name came up last night, somewhere in between all the shots.”

“Yeah… that’d be me. Can I talk to her please?”

“Sorry sweetheart. She’s still sleepin’.”  She cringed at the pet name, it practically made her skin crawl, she heard the creak of a door swing open then shut softly with a click, “yup. Out like a light. Makes sense, we had a pretty wild, late night. One too many cocktails, you know how that goes.” He laughed, “I thought she texted you before we left the party? Did she forget to hit send or something?”

“I.. uh..” Casey pulled the phone away from her ear, swiping though the screen to notice she did in fact have two text notifications from you she’d missed in her excitement over the ring. “Guess I didn’t see those.” On the other side of the line Brock let out an obnoxious yawn.

“Well Case, how about you check those and I’ll tell her you called. I’m gonna have to let you go, pretty wiped myself, think I need a nap. Man, she really knows how to tire ya out, doesn’t she?”

The phone line went dead with a click.

Casey felt like her heart was beating a million miles a minute, her stomach doing flip flops as her brain tried to process what had just happened. This had to be her imagination playing tricks on her. She nearly felt dizzy, bile starting to creep up her throat as her thumb hovered over the text icon.

She wasn’t really sure she even wanted to open them. Couldn’t she hold on to this little moment of happiness just a little longer?

___________

@bisexualcrowley @red1culous @imlike-so-gaydude @wannabe-fic-reader @altsvu @disneyfan624 @svulife-rl @svushots @whimsicallymad @mysticfalls01 @naturalxselection n @bumblebear30 @solemnnova @infernumlilith @australiancarisi @cerberus-spectre @emskisworld @thestarrynightslover @lawandorderuswnt @ex-uallyactive @hbkpop @samwithnoplan @multifandomlesbianic @narvaldetierra @dxtery @poisonedcrowns @a-little-bit-of-this-and-that @clarawatson @mickey-gomez @momlifebehard @yeeterthek33per @brooklynmhm @summergeezburr @alexxavicry @daddy-heather-dunbar @7thavenger @augustvandyne @msvenablesbitch @kdaghay @happenstnces @valentinesfrog @geekyandgay98 @onmykneesformarvel @akingcalledkris @desperate-gay @riveramorylunar @prentiss-theorem @irishavengersassemble @louderfortheback

#casey novak #casey novak x reader #law and order svu #heavy hearts #casey novak series #casey novak au #harvard au #law and order #law and order special victims unit #svu

[foxaes]

I’m not the kind of person to complain or send food back at places (exceptions include ordering rare steak and getting it well done, or getting a poorly made version of something I order often and Know shouldnt be like that) not because I dont want to bother anyone but mostly just bc like, you know, sometimes fate intervenes and food is food and who turns down a lovely surprise?

#fox talks #one time i was really craving a chocolate lava cake but i ordered a chocolate milkshake instead and they brought me a chocolate lava cake #and i was like. fuck . how did they KNOW?? #or like i order a coffee and they give me a larger or smaller size and im like u know what thats okay! fate says less coffee today!

[dreamingofaizawa]

Good Kitty

Shouta Aizawa x Chubby! Kitty Hybrid! Fem! Reader

***18+ Fic***

If you are under the age of 18, leave. Thank you.

Warnings: Kitty hybrid reader, smut, fingering, unprotected sex, praise kink (?), reader has insecurities, Shouta is soft and lowkey feral?, chubby kink (sorta), reader has a heat for the first time, barely implied virginity loss, a touch of dacryphilia

Word Count: 2.4 k

Author’s Note: This is inspired by @cupcake-rogue ’s fic Not Allowed on the Bed. I got permission to use it as inspo so here we are! Tbh the orignal had me feeling all sorts of feelings because, as a very subby sub that loves to please, I definitely have a praise kink and I WILL CRY if I’m called a bad girl. HOWEVER, Katsuki being the rough-around-the-edges guy he is wanting reader regardless of size made me very happy and warm and fuzzy. 

The premise with this is pretty much the same, except I made reader a kitty hybrid...and of course I wrote for Shouta, love of my life he is. I’m such a fucking simp. I’m not the biggest fan of the ending, but this has been sitting in my WIPs for too damn long and it’s decent enough for me to feel ok posting it.

Also, for reference, reader has black fur regardless of hair color. Reader could be blonde, but still have black ears and tail. That’s just the way I’ve chosen to write this for some reason, don’t ask me why, I’m weird like that. 

I think this is the first time I’ve written for a hybrid, so cut me a little slack.

Anywho, enjoy~

*

*

*

You can’t remember life outside the shelter. You’d grown up here, the caretakers said they’d found you on the street as a nearly newborn kitten and immediately scooped you up and brought you back here. That was a long time ago. Now you sit, waiting, your hopes for getting adopted diminishing with every passing day.

It’s unfortunate, but you still haven’t been adopted. It’s not that you’re bad, you always behave, you make sure you do. But you’ve overheard time and time again the people that gazed down at you and whispered about how you were too chunky, too big and too squishy for a kitty hybrid. And some even called you bad luck. The pitch black fur on your ears and tail warded off many.

Today was just the same as any other day. Wake up, get fed, wait in your room while potential owners pick and choose not you. Adults and children alike would take chunks out of their time to play with you, but they all left the shelter with another smaller cat. It was nearing bed time now, dinner just finished and the caretakers were about to start closing when the little bell on the front door jingled. Someone had just come in. You ignored it all the same.

Two pairs of footsteps began making their way past rooms, whoever it was that had entered smelled good, like coffee and tree bark. A smooth hum accompanied the caretaker’s voice, it made your ears twitch and tail sway gently. Still, you decided to just curl up in bed and try to sleep. The chance of him adopting you was slim, if it existed at all.

As you lay there your ears pick up their footsteps, the lazy set that dragged familiar, the nearly silent set less so. You listened as they came closer, never stopping as the man strode past each room and peered in the windows. You waited for them to pass right by your room, as they had been, but suddenly the footsteps halted. The caretaker spoke first.

“Y/n? You awake?” You let your eyes flutter open and sat up, tucking your legs under you and sitting up straight. They asked the man if he wanted to go in and see you, and he gave a simple nod. When he entered you finally looked up at him. The first thing you noticed were his eyes, tired and bloodshot with dark circles beneath them, a deep scar curved under his right eye. His long black hair fell around his shoulders, swaying lightly with every measured step he took toward you.

He stopped right in front of you, a large hand stretching out and you give it a small sniff before nudging your head into it, letting him pet your hair and scratch at the base of your ears. It felt nice to be getting attention like this. A small purr sounded in your chest, your tail gently swishing behind you.

“How long have you been here?” His voice is deep and calm, tired even, but it sounds so welcoming. It’s so soothing to your sensitive ears, like a warm blanket. You give a small hum before answering.

“A long time. I don’t remember anything outside this place.” At that he raised an eyebrow, turning to the caretaker with a questioning look.

“Most people look for...specific traits in the cat hybrids. Y/n here is well behaved, a perfect house kitty really,” you purred a bit at the praise, “But she’s a little larger than most. And her black fur wards off the more superstitious.” The man gives a curious hum before looking back down at you.

“Do you want to come home with me, kitty?” The question caught you a little off guard. Nobody really asked the hybrids if they wanted to go with them. You looked over to the caretaker, who nodded their head with a gentle smile, encouraging you to answer. All you could do was give a small nod, and soon you were in the car, on the way to your new home.

He’d told you to call him Shouta. He was nice, always quiet and never got mad. He never smiled, but you supposed that’s just the way he is. He gave you your own room, and always let you rub up on him when you wanted to, taking the opportunity to pet you. Occasionally you got the odd kiss on the forehead when you nuzzled into his neck. Those always made you purr. He never came seeking you out, which was good since there were times you really didn’t want to be touched. 

The longer you’re with him the closer you get, and you find yourself doing things you’d never thought to do before. Sometimes you found the floor more comfortable than the couch, and would kneel down and rub up on his leg, your tail wrapping around his ankle. There were times you’d see his fingers idly drumming on his lap, and you’d lay down and nibble on one with your little fang-like canines. He didn’t seem to mind that little oral fixation, and he always let you do whatever you wanted. All in all, life with Shouta is great.

But today you feel weird. You’d been cooped up in your room for the first hour or so of the weekend morning, not quite wanting to go out and make it known something was off. But it’s gotten abnormally hot, your face and chest especially warm, and between your legs as well. Your panties are beginning to feel damp, your thighs starting to feel humid and sticky. It’s a little uncomfortable. And your tummy is starting to boil, neediness beginning to cloud your mind. This never happened at the shelter.

Reluctantly, you step out of bed onto slightly wobbly legs and peek your head out of your door to see him sitting on the couch, a book in hand and a mug of coffee on the table. His hair is loose, his strong lean body relaxed as he read. The sight of him and his scent made the feeling worse, made your panties and thighs wetter, your chest beginning to heave with your panted breaths. 

“Sh-shouta…” Your voice came out shakier and quieter than you wanted it to, but he’d heard you regardless. He closed the book and peered over at your shaking form in the doorway.

“What is it kitty?” You nearly mewled at his voice, his heavenly smooth baritone sending a shiver down your spine through to the tip of your tail.

“Something’s wrong...I feel weird…” As you tell him about everything that’s happening to your body, he’s dragging his eyes over you, taking in every detail. Soon he’s on the phone with the doctor, you can’t quite comprehend his words, only catching snippets. ‘Help’ and ‘how long’, followed by agreeing hums. It was all jumbled after that, your mind refusing to focus as you leaned heavily on the doorframe, your quivering legs barely able to hold your body.

Shouta’s large hand came up and cupped your cheek, letting you nuzzle into his palm. When had he hung up the phone? He ordered you to sit on the bed, and you obliged, watching as he swept up his hair into a loose bun and strode over, tilting your chin to look up at him through half-lidded eyes. He’s so close, his scent overwhelming and making your brain fuzzy.

“You’re in heat, kitty.” Heat...where had you heard that before? Back at the shelter, maybe? It was all a distant, unfocused memory right now. Shouta leaned down and kissed you sweetly, lips melding with yours as you purred and mewled, your tail thrashing behind you. His hands tugged at your clothes until you were bare before him, every inch of you on display. 

“You’re such a pretty kitty, you know that? So beautiful. Lay down for me.” The praise made you purr, made a chill crawl up your spine and your tail flick wildly. You obeyed the command, laying flat in the middle of the bed and he slotted himself between your legs, plunging two fingers into your tight hole. He let out a groan, pumping and scicssoring his fingers to stretch you out. You were already a sloppy mess, loud squelches ringing through the room in between your loud, whiny mewls and panting. 

It felt so good, the heat in your belly burning and tightening until Shouta’s fingers curled up into a spot that made stars dance in your vision. The pressure in your belly snapped hard, your legs trembling as he kept fingering you through it. His fingers slowed when you whined about it being too much, too sensitive. But you still felt hot all over, now it was worse, you wanted something so bad but you didn’t know what.

He got up and undressed himself and you licked your lips at his naked body, scarred skin pulled taut over thick muscle. What stood between his legs had heat spreading like fire through your body. You’d never seen a naked man before. He was quick to return to you, slotting his hips between your thighs and guiding the thick head of his cock along your soaked folds. 

“Relax kitty. I’m gonna make you feel good.” You gave a small nod and then he was pushing his thick cock inside you, groaning at the way your pussy clamped down on him. Your tongue lolled out of your mouth as he slowly pushed and pumped his hips, cock dragging along your wet warm walls perfectly. Mewls slipped past your lips, high pitched whines and pants like music in Shouta’s ears. 

His hands wandered over your body, squishing and pulling at every piece of you he could get his calloused fingers on. It made you squirm beneath him, your own hands trying to push his away, but he wasn’t having any of it. He grabbed both your wrists and pinned them above your head in one strong hand, then went right back to groping your body with his free one.

“I can’t have you stopping me from touching you, kitty.” That’s all he said before focusing back on your body. He tugged at your belly, your sides, every place that was fatty and squishy. He’d never admit out loud how much he loved how soft you are. You’re perfect, plump and meaty, just more for him to touch, to look at, more to squeeze and pinch and pull.

He groaned out as you whined beneath him, tears beginning to clump in your lashes because he just kept squeezing, and he isn’t fucking you hard enough. Your orgasm built slowly with his languid pace, not nearly enough to get you to that peak and you were frustrated because you wanted relief but it wouldn’t come. Shouta picks up on your hips jerking and rolling, trying to get him to fucking move faster. He pulled his hips back and slammed back in, setting a brutal pace and making you whine high and long. 

Tears begin to fall from the sheer ecstasy of it, and he’s realizing how much he loves to see you cry from the pleasure he can give you. With a groan, he’s releasing your hands and wrapping his arms around your waist, burying his face into your breasts and biting and sucking at your skin as he pounds you into the mattress. He isn’t normally an impulsive man, wouldn’t let himself let go like this. But for you. For you he’d give in to his lust and ravage you like you need him to.

Your orgasm slams over your body like a tsunami, your muscles locking up and a loud yip ringing from your throat, pleasure making your whole body shake. Shouta let out a hiss, your nails digging into the muscles in his back furiously, but he wouldn’t stop for that. He never stuttered in his pace, just kept ramming his hips into yours, heavy balls slapping against your ass and lewd squelches coming from where your bodies are connected. 

You’re overstimulated, throat feeling raw and tears still falling down your heated cheeks as you thrash from another orgasm, this one just as powerful as the last and making your vision spot black. This time Shouta leans back, wrapping a hand around your throat and licking the salty trails away.

“Such a good little kitty for me, so good.” With a few more thrusts he’s spilling inside you, and you can feel the warmth spread in your belly as you lay there, boneless. He lays down on top of you, both of you sweaty and tired and he starts whispering sweet words into your twitching ears.

“So pretty. You’re so pretty, kitten.” 

“Such a good girl for me.”

“You’re all mine, kitty. So good, all for me.” Tears begin to spill from your eyes for a different reason. Up until now you’d lived your life believing nobody wanted you because there was something wrong with you. You never felt ugly, never really felt like there was something truly wrong with you, but you always felt...unwanted. Unloved. Unlovable. 

But Shouta makes you feel wanted, and loved, and pretty and all the things you always assumed you didn’t deserve. You’re his kitty now, and you’re such a good kitty for him too. He’s showering you with affection that you’d never known before and you’re shaking from all the overwhelming emotions. He can feel your body quivering, leans back to look at you and cups your face in his warm palm.

“What’s wrong, kitten? Why are you crying?” Your nose twitches as you sniffle, which he mildly notes is fucking adorable.

“Do you mean it? Am I a good kitty?” His eyebrows furrow and he rolls the both of you over so you’re on top of him. He’s peering into your big sad eyes as if reading your soul through them, trying to read the emotions you’re feeling, but it isn’t hard for him to figure out what’s racing through your mind. You nuzzle your nose into his neck and breathe in his scent, his hand coming up to pet your hair and ears.

“Of course, kitten. You’re such a good kitty.” The small reassurance makes you feel warm and happy, your tail flicking softly before curling around both your leg and Shouta’s, the end brushing his skin gently. You can’t help but want to stay with Shouta forever.

#shouta aizawa x reader #shouta aizawa #shouta aizawa x fem reader #shouta aizawa mha #shouta aizawa bnha #aizawa shouta x reader #aizawa shouta #aizawa shouta x fem reader #aizawa shouta mha #aizawa shouta bnha #aizawa mha #aizawa bnha #tw: hybrid #shouta aizawa smut #aizawa shouta smut #aizawa smut

[slutfor-fictionalmen]

Perfect

Levi ackerman x plus size reader 

based off of this post; y/n and levi get into a fight

You stretch in your shared bed groaning as you move your sleep-sore muscles and look over at the statuesque man besides you. You sigh as you remember the argument you had the night before and sit up, throwing one of the mans larger shirts over your soft body and stepping into some lounging pants.

“I don’t care if i die! at least i do it doing something useful like actually KILLING the fucking things, not just standing around barking orders, like SOME Bitch i hapen to live with!” His words echo through your mind, causing you to stare out into the distance while you prepare your morning coffee. You remember you only stared at him, your heart hurt, you knew he had just faced many titans and made it out barely alive, the stress was overwhelming on him. Little did you know, he was in pain, he thought about giving up, letting them take him but he fought for you. And then he came home and hurt you. 

Levi laid on his side, staring at where your plush form once was on your bed. He watched you walk to the kitchen, his mind begging him to say something, anything, only to let his body win and pretend to be asleep. You were quiet that morning, he could see your stoic features, you didn’t give him your usual forehead kiss or greet him by asking how he would want his coffee. He knew what he said hurt, and he hated himself for saying it.

“I’m sorry i’m not what you wanted.” He wanted to argue with your response, tell you that he didn’t mean it like that, but he let you walk away, he fed into you both sleeping back to back. He fed into you both drifting to what felt like thousands of miles away. 

Levi’s thoughts were interrupted as he heard a crash and a very audible ‘Shit!” come from you. You look up and see levi enter the kitchen and look back down at the mug that’s in shatters and the blood on your palm. You decide to ignore him standing in front of you as you careful put the large shards in your uncut hand and let him sweep up the smaller ones.

“Are you ok?” He’s faced with cold silence as a response when you look him in the eye and turn away, trying your best to leave any room that he’s in. Tears fill your eyes as you look for the first aid kit, both the seriousness of the situation and the pain of the cut bring a sting to your eyes. Unable to find the bandages you eventually break down, sitting on the bathroom floor and letting the tears flow. Levi slowly walks in careful not to upset you anymore.

Your disoriented mind yells, “Where the FUCK are our FUCKING BANDAGES.” At him instead of what you really wanted to say. With tears in your eyes you watch him grab the first aid kit and cautiously grab your injured hand, and tend to it. Levi’s heart hurts as he watches you break down, he debates comforting you before deciding ‘fuck it’ and holding your plush form close. Your struggle against his arms was short lived when he pulled you into his chest, letting you cry it out before having a conversation.

“I- i just dont want to lose you, i can’t lose you, i’ve lost too many people i loved and i CHOSE you to love, do you know how much that hurts? To choose someone and have them not care if they die? Even almost losing you hurt, it hurt so fucking much, i can’t do that again. Yo-You can’t be so reckless levi..” Your eyes look panicked as you replay in your mind, watching him run straight into a cluster of titans with not a single regard for his own safety. 

Your body ached, levi guided you to your bed, giving you some aspirin and a glass of water. He sat next to you and kissed your hand, from fingertips to wrist, spewing admiration for you. “I’ll be more careful, i promise.” You pulled your hand away from his and moved it to his face, giving him a lopsided smile when he rested his hand on top of yours and turned his head to kiss your palm. His need for touch reminded you of your shared days as a cadet, dealing with the judgemental boys and the bed-ready girls. Levi was the only person you ever felt like you could talk to, his presence calming you from the trying times those three years brought you.

Levi was the only person to truly be intimate with you, of course you’ve had other partners, but none of them loved you as much as he did. Your thoughts were suddenly brought back to your first time with the boy, how a sparring match suddenly became much more lustful than both of you accounted for.

“Remember our first time?” Levi’s head perked up, processing the information suddenly given to him. His flush died down as he chuckled and met your eyes. “If course i do, why are you thinking about that right now though?” 

You lean forward and peck his lips, pulling away before he can react.”I just wanted you to think about the first time you fucked me so hard i couldn’t think.” A furious blush rises to his face as he looks at your smug smile. Shaking his head he goes along with the changing atmosphere, moving to get on his hands and knees, crawling a short distance towards you with a lustful look in his eyes.

You shiver as you look him in his eyes, relishing in this feeling, wishing he was always this attentive to your needs and feelings. You quickly dismiss the thought, giving your full attention to the man kissing all over your face, drawing out the process of kissing your forehead, cheeks, and nose, finally meeting your long awaiting lips.

 You feel electricity as Levi kisses you with love that quickly turns to unbridled passion, his slender hands feeling your plush body, making sure that no part of your body isn’t mapped in his mind. Levi pulls away and sits up, pulling his shirt off his thin body and signaling for you to shed your clothes as well. Doubt briefly fills your mind before you take your shirt and pants off despite it. Levi can only stare at your body, amazed at your curves, stretch marks, and scars. He adores your body, he adores how soft you are and how only he gets to see you in your most vulnerable state. 

His hands wander your body vigorously while your own hands move to the hair at the nape of his neck. Levi’s lips attach themselves to your neck as he gently cups your breasts, his thumbs rubbing your nipples over the fabric of your bra while he nips at the pressure point of your neck. You let out a small moan before he parts your legs with his knee and places himself between your thighs.

You reach behind yourself and unsnap your bra, hearing a groan erupt from his lips before he marks your chest up with lovebites, leaving you squirming under his touch. His mouth moves down, kissing down your navel to  reach the top of your panties. Levi squeezes the soft expanse of your stomach while he pulls your underwear off of your body. His calloused hands holding your soft thighs down while he begins to lick your folds. You buck your hips, attempting to grind down onto his tongue, but his grip prevents you from moving with ease. He teases your clit with his fingers before he inserts one into your wet cavern. “Oh fuck- levi, please, i need more.” He smirks and obliges, stretching you out with two fingers, thrusting and shucking at your plump clit. 

He feels you squeeze around him, knowing that familiar tight band like pull in your stomach was about to break, he pulls out, preparing himself to fill you up. He pulls off his pants and underwear in one go, letting his penis hit his stomach. Mind flooded with lust, you dont have time to admire his body fully, you just impatient waited for him to fill the growing ache, that was longing to be filled inside you. His dick twitched as he took in the sight before him, his beautiful y/n sprailed out in front out him, ready for him to take you.

“Are you ready beautiful?” You simply nod and moan as he suddenly enters you, pushing him to quickly develop a rhythm. You grip at the sheets while he pounds into you, the sounds of skin against skin echoing in the room, the thick smell of sex fuling levi to go on, having you a whining mess underneath him. 

He lifts your legs up, moving you to fuck you at a deeper angle. Your moans increase as he continues to thrust into you, causing friction against your clit. You feel the familiar band in your stomach begin to wind up once again, you know your climax is about to come and you could feel levi lose his rhythm you knew he was about to finish too.

“Levi, i’m so close, baby, please.” His larger frame works at your soft body, unraveling the tight band in your stomach. You cum on his dick before he pulls out and releases his load on your soft stomach. You both relish in the afterglow before levi pulls you both out of your serene state with a single sentence.

“I was a dick, i wasn’t thinking, i’m sorry. You’re perfect and i didn’t mean anything i said….. I promise ill be more careful.”

“I love you levi, don’t pull that shit again, ok?”

“I love you too brat.”

No you guys weren’t perfect, but at least this is a start.

Sorry it’s so bad!!!! this was just a brain farttt

#levi ackerman #levi x y/n #attack on titan #attot #plus size reader #chubby reader #ns/fw imagine #nsft #chubby reader smut #Smut

[jaegercentral]

⠀⠀⠀ “PROLOGUE”

© sakusadist, 2021, DO NOT copy or repost

selene set her phone down on the bathroom sink, rubbing her face (hands washed ofc). this is really happening, huh? she thought. walking out of the bathroom, she cleared her throat which was previously worn out from crying. selene, with her test in hand, sat on the couch, waiting and waiting and waiting for haru to come home from work. the time was 8:28PM and she had nearly fallen asleep until she heard the quiet unlocking of the front door. selene sat up and saw her boyfriend walk in, paper grocery bags in hand. “little help here?” he chuckled, seeing her focused gaze.

he snapped in front of her face to get her attention and she shuddered, nodding harshly. “yeah, of course.”

he rolled his eyes at her in a teasing way. she was always a little dazed. he found it cute.

he then looked down at the coffee table, seeing a little rectangle box wrapped in pink wrapping paper. “what’s this?” he reached to pick it up but she got to it faster. haru looked up at his beloved girlfriend and frowned. “hey? what is it?”

“it’s nothing!” selene pressed her lips together. “okay fine it’s a pregnancy test.” haru’s eyes widened to the size of an american quarter and he smiled softly.

“are you pregnant?” she nodded and he set down the groceries, pulling her into a hug, stroking her long black hair.

“what are we going to do, haru? aren’t we too young to start a family?” she sobbed into his shoulder and he patted her back.

“well, we can talk about that after i make dinner. is that good with you?” selene sniffled and mumbled a quiet ‘yes’. haru grinned and ruffled her hair. selene sat down at their small dinner table. soon they would have to add another chair. “okay. how about..i make your favorite dish?” he made jazz hands, waiting for her reaction—at least a smile.

selene looked up at him and tears filled her eyes again. the smaller man rushed over to her, pulling her into his embrace. “no no no, don’t cry. you’re okay, baby.”

haru helped her stand up, leading her over to the couch. “i’m scared, haru.” she curled up into a ball, feeling comfort in the way his arms were wrapped around her. he was her home.

“i know, i know.” he caressed her hair, kissing the crown of her head. the young couple sat still for a while, holding each other. selene stopped crying but only because haru started.

“no, you can’t start crying too! that’s my thing!” she huffed, wiping his tears.

the boy suddenly started laughing, which shocked selene. “and laughing is my thing.” she giggled and kissed the tip of his nose.

selene pressed down on her thighs and finally stood up. reaching for his hand, she sighed. “okay, let’s do this.”

haru took the girl’s hand and stood up with her. “what? make dinner?” she punched his shoulder and he feigned hurt.

“you know what i meant.” the girl rolled her eyes and yanked him towards the kitchen where they spent the next 45 minutes fixing a meal.

*six months later*

“i don’t know, tora. he’s just been pretty distant lately.” selene rested her hand on her stomach, where her bump had grown even larger.

“do you think he could be planning something? that’s why he’s been extra busy?”

“i guess? there isn’t much that kindergartners do so i don’t think he’s too busy with work.” her best friend snorted, finding her retort kinda hilarious.

“oh, well i have to go, selene. kou just texted me, asking where his phone was. ttyl!”

“yeah, thanks! bye.” she hung up, sighing heavily. selene looked down at her bump. “you’re a real pain, y’know.” she poked at it like it was some kind of jelly.

the front door of their apartment opened harshly, and selene flinched. their apartment doors were always so loud. we should probably get that fixed, she reminded herself. there stood her boyfriend, arms full of bags of candy. halloween was always his favorite holiday. selene smiled at the dorky boy who was still struggling to reach the marble island.

“i’ll get it.” she spoke, arms stretched out to reach for a bag. haru turned away from her, trying to keep her from doing any heavy lifting. “hey! let me help you!” haru thought she looked like an angry penguin when she stomped towards him.

“no! the doctor said you can’t do any heavy lifting until after you give birth!” he had set the bags on the island and selene looked at him like he was prey. her hands gripped onto the counter; she was ready to lunge at him. haru’s face as she chased him was priceless. it was a weird mixture of worry, fear, and joy. “oh shit!” he exclaimed, losing his balance as he tripped over one of the shoes she threw at him.

“i don’t care what the doctor said. i’m helping. besides, from the looks of it, the candy can’t be THAT heavy.” she tried reasoning, but when she lifted the variety bag, it tore open and spilled all over the kitchen floor. “well i guess it can, huh?”

haru, with a hand on his hip, gave selene an ‘i told you so’ look.

“you look a lot like your mother right now.” selene pointed out, painfully bending over to pick up a hershey bar that fell seconds ago.

“now that’s just sad. and wrong. she’s all old and wrinkly now.”

selene’s face went 😟 as she saw the small figure behind her boyfriend. with a mouth full of chocolate, she spoke, “babe you should shut up right about now.”

“no! i still have more to say.” selene glared him down, nearly making the poor man pee his pants. like his mother once said, if you value your life, never make a pregnant woman mad.

“who’s old and wrinkly, haruto?” his face suddenly lost all color as he heard the familiar, sickly, sweet voice from behind him. “and do tell me what else you had to say. we’ll be around for dinner so you have time.”

“oh it’s nothing.” the boy rubbed the back of his nape, a scare smile painting his face.

“right, mhm.” haru’s parents practically adopted selene after they started dating since hers were absent for most of her life. for people who are supposed to be parents, they sure stopped caring about selene after the wife finally got pregnant. “selene, darling, how are you? is the baby healthy? how many months along are you?” the aforementioned girl blinked harshly, trying to process what she asked.

“um, i’m good, so is the baby. and as of three weeks ago, i’m six months.” haru’s mom walked up to her, tucking her hair being her ears.

“poor girl. you must be in so much pain. plus, my little dweeb of a son must be making it worse.”

“oh, so much.” selene exaggerated, watching as haru frowned. he knew she was joking, but it still hurt him. he could be doing so much more for his girlfriend, but no. he’s been spending so much time trying to plan the perfect day to propose to her that he didn’t take the time to understand how she must’ve been feeling. horrible and lonely, he would’ve guessed.

“anyway, are you guys ready to go? i think it’s almost an hour until the reservation is actually valid.”

“i am, but i don’t know about haru.”

haru feigned an offended look, his hand pressed against his chest. “are you kidding me? i went to the grocery store in this suit.”

“well, haruto, don’t you know that that can cause creases and wrinkles?” his father asked, checking his watch.

her boyfriend shrugged, running his hands through his hair. “i do, but i just wanted to be extra prepared.”

“now that that’s settled, why don’t we head out?” selene offered, haru handing her her shoulder purse.

they all agreed, following after selene while haru locked up.

*45 minutes later*

as the clock hit 6:47, the group pulled into the restaurant’s parking lot, exiting the car. they were seated at a small round table, with a waitress named harlowe.

minutes passed by, they ordered, they ate, and then they left. it was now 8PM and fatigue was starting to take over selene. they waited by the entrance for their car to be driven back to them. while waiting, haru’s anxiety was kicking in. right now. do it. right. now. haru kneeled down and selene raised a brow. “are you tricking me again?”

haru shushed the girl and looked down, rethinking his words. “selene, i’ve known you for six years now and i think this has been long overdue. i’ve known you were the one for me since the moment you walked into the gym, bumping into the door, announcing your role as a new manager. and i’ve loved you ever since.” people were starting to crowd around the couple and normally, selene would’ve been scared out of her mind, but now she didn’t care because she was finally having her main character moment. “now here’s the scary part,” her boyfriend whispered. “miyasaki selene, will you be the roxanne to my max? my forever and always? will you marry me?” selene giggled at his “a goofy movie” reference and eagerly nodded, grinning like a child at disney world.

haru smiled with her, pulling her into a bear hug. he wiped her tears that were unbeknownst to her and declared his love to her as he slipped the peridot ring on her finger. “you remembered?”

“i remembered.” back when they were in high school, selene begged him that when, not if, they got engaged, he would give her a peridot ring instead of a diamond ring. she always believed that worth was subjective and haru knew how much she loved her birthstone, so he got the ring custom made.

“you’re perfect.” she exclaimed, basking in the attention they were receiving from the bystanders.

*three months later*

“haru, you asshole! if you don’t show up within the next 10 minutes, i’m divorcing you.”

“don’t worry, babe. i’m right around the corner!”

“don’t ‘babe’ me, just show up!” she violently screamed into her phone. the bloodlust was practically oozing out of her and if her fiancé didn’t walk faster than 2mph, she would make sure that he would never see the child that she was on the verge of giving birth to.

the door slammed open, and there stood her fiancé. it felt like déjà vù but selene was NOT in the mood. she just wanted the pain of being in labor to end.

after around 27 minutes of pushing, screaming, and selene cursing her fiancé in her head, the baby popped out of her. “it’s a boy!” the overly cheerful doctor exclaimed.

“well no shit, we saw in the ultrasound.” selene retorted, finally able to breathe again.

“i apologize for her.” haru smiled at the doctor who looked like she was about to start crying. as soon as they cut the umbilical cord and did whatever they do to newborns, they gave selene her baby, afraid she was going to snap at them again.

selene and her boys slept on that very hospital bed for the night, relieved. her baby was healthy and the love of her life was there to see. he was definitely happy that selene wouldn’t divorce him. they weren’t even married yet!

*two months later*

“bye, haru!”

selene kissed him on the cheek and haru kissed her and hikaru back. “bye, selene! bye, hikaru!” he waved and closed the door, going off to the school.

“why don’t we go on a walk to the park? well, i’ll be walking and hauling your cute little ass around, but it’ll be fun!” she claimed, clapping her hands together.

selene gathered all of hikaru’s baby food, diapers, clothing etc. and put it in the baby bag in his fancy, new stroller that his grandparents bought him. changing into some leggings and a graphic tee, selene and hikaru left the apartment, and went off to the park.

it was half way into their walk that selene received a call from an unknown number. “hello?”

“hi, we are here to inform you that your fiancé has been involved in a car accident, caused by a drunk driver.” selene covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face like a waterfall. seeing his mother cry, hikaru started wailing loudly. “ma’am? are you there?”

the, now, widowed mother regained her composure. “may i ask which hospital he’s at?”

“highland hospital, miss.”

“thank you, have a nice day.” selene placed her phone back in her pocket and sprinted in the direction of her car.

[at the hospital]

selene, holding hikaru on her hip, paced back and forth around the room, waiting for news.

suddenly the door opened, revealing the man’s parents. their eyes watered at the sight and his mother ran over to embrace the poor girl. his father took a seat at the bench and sobbed quietly into his hands.

haru’s right arm and leg were severely broken and he would’ve definitely been required to have surgery. across his face and shoulder were extremely long wounds that were still bleeding. he didn’t look like your fiancé anymore.

hikaru was still confused about what was going on, for he was looking around the room, watery eyed, for his father. he couldn’t recognize the man on the bed, which added to the sadness.

within a fraction of a second, the machine that was taking and recording his vitals started beeping and doctors started rushing in, pushing everyone else out. now, there she was. sitting outside of the icu room, she hugged hikaru tightly and prayed to whichever god was present to save her fiancé. she couldn’t lose him. not yet.

but death is natural. and although it takes some too early or too late, for the right or wrong reasons, it’s still natural and destined to happen some day.

and that’s when she received the news. “miss, we’re sorry to inform you that the patient has unfortunately passed away. we give our condolences.” suddenly, every single noise in the hospital drowned out and everything went black.

“hey! we need a doctor over here. my daughter-in-law has collapsed!” was the last thing she heard before losing consciousness.

*a day later*

the light was blinding and coming back way too fast for selene’s liking. she searched the room for her family. not even hikaru was present. only the doctor. “w-what happened?”

“oh, good. you’re awake. apparently, you went into shock and collapsed in the middle of the hallway after hearing the news of your fiancé dying.” she was suddenly reminded of the news as her eyes glossed over. she let out a small ‘oh’ at the thought and cleared her throat. another doctor burst in and yanked the man aside.

“gee, aaron, who kicked your dog today?”

“aaron?” selene looked at the man again and looked for any familiar features.

“that’s dr. aaron to you.” she fiddled with the blanket which was uncomfortably thin. the female doctor ordered him to leave the room and sat by her side.

“sorry about him. he’s not good at interacting with anything but his body pillow of ariana grande.” selene grimaced at the thought and she laughed.

“it's fine. everyone has their flaws, i guess. do you happen to know where my son is?”

“oh, hikaru? what an adorable little boy. he’s in the waiting room with his grandparents.” she caressed selene’s arm. “my name is zoey, in case you were wondering.”

“thank you, zoey—i-sorry, dr. zoey.” zoey shook her head and laughed.

“don’t worry, i’m not like that uptight little shit named aaron. you can just call me zoey.” she beamed at selene, showing her gummy smile. she was about to leave, but quickly turned around and snapped and pointed at her. “right! i came in here to tell you that you’re okay to be discharged right about now.”

“thank you, again, zoey. you’ve been a great help!” she nodded as a ‘thanks’ and left the room. selene went back to fiddling with her blanket. he can’t really be gone, can he? i mean, it all happened so fast.

it took her a while to finally come to terms with the harsh truth that her fiancé was dead and she would never see him again. the next couple months would be the hardest, despite what she thought.

prev | masterlist | next

A/N: ngl, i kinda sobbed when i wrote this. and OMG :0 this chapter is 2,578 words long- that’s like the longest thing i’ve ever written without any guidance or prompt. so congrats to me! and i promise that this is the longest the actual word by word text will be in this fic. i’m too tired to write any more stuff so 👍

#haikyuu smau masterlist #hq sakusa #sakusa smau #hq x reader #sakusa kiyoomi x reader #sakusa x reader #pure angst #pls cry with me #i hate myself #haikyuu smau

[atlafan]

Take it Slow - Part Seventy-Eight

a/n: okay this is my first shot at a harry:y/n fic, and it will be multiple parts. y/n had a bad experience with an ex over a year ago, and finally accepts her coworker and good friend Niall’s invitation to go on a blind date with his friend Harry.

Warnings: Fluff and smut.

Masterpost (all previous parts can be found in the masterpost)

“I don’t care what time it is when you land, call me and let know when you get to your mum’s.”

“I will.”

“You’re sleepin’ there, and then you’re goin’ home tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. And then you’ll FaceTime me so I can see you and Buster?”

“Mhm.”

You were being short because you were trying not to cry. Harry’s eyes were already glossy. You had an amazing week in London with him. You got to spend some more time with Anne. You got to see Mitch and Sarah again. You did a few touristy things. He drove you out to the countryside and you made love in a field. It was all so wonderful. You really didn’t want to leave.

“I wish I could walk you all the way to the gate.”

“Me too.”

You hug for a long time and look up at him.

“I love you.” He says.

“I love you too. See you in a week.” You bite the inside of your cheek.

“Yeah, see you in a week.”

You kiss for a while until a police officer blows his whistle. You jump back and grab the handle of your luggage.

“Bye baby.” He says. You wave and try to smile.

Harry sighs and gets into the car. He bursts into years.

“Please, god, it was bad enough watching you two say goodbye, please don’t tell me you’re goin’ t’cry the entire ride back to your flat.”

“Shut up Gem!” He wipes his eyes.

“It’s a week, Harry! Calm down.”

“I can barely fuckin’ sleep without her, a week is a long time.”

“Do you know how co-dependent that sounds?”

“We’re not co-dependent.” He takes a deep breath. “I’m allowed to miss her. We had a really nice week.”

“Okay, okay, sorry.” She laughs. “Let’s go get that ring.”

Harry and Gemma pull up to the jewelry store where he had ordered your engagement ring…that you still knew nothing about. They go inside and speak to one of the salespeople. A man comes back with the ring a little blue velvet box.

“Blue’s her favorite color.” Harry says to Gemma and she nods.

“Open it up, I’m dyin’ over here.”

Harry slowly opens it and Gemma gasps. It was perfect, and he knew you were going to love it.

“Oh my god, Harry. It’s beautiful, well done.”

It was a thick, white-gold band with a decent size square diamond in the middle. There were two smaller diamonds on either side of the larger one. Harry picks it up to look at the engraving.

“What’s it say?”

“My everything.” He squints at, then smiles at his sister who has tears in her eyes.

“Mum is gonna flip when she sees this.”

“I’ve shown her a picture.”

“I know, but to see it in person…she’s gonna cry for sure.”

Harry puts the ring back in the box and sticks it in his pocket. The two go back to the car and drive to his flat.

“So, when are yeh askin’ her? That thing is gonna burn a whole in your pocket until you do.”

“I was thinkin’ end of September.”

“Harry.” She groans. “Why wait any longer. This whole waiting a year thing is stupid.”

“Our first date was at the beginning of September, so technically I’m not waitin’ til it’s been a year. I didn’t become her boyfriend until October.”

“What if she finds it? Where could hide it? She does all your laundry.”

“I’m gonna leave it locked in my desk at work.”

“Alright, I suppose that’s a good plan. What else do yeh have planned?”

“I’m not tellin’.”

“What? Why not? S’not like I’m gonna tell her.”

“People keep givin’ me suggestions, but I’ve finally figured it out. And I’d like to keep it to myself for as long as I can.”

“You won’t even give me a hint?”

“Nope.”

“You really suck.”

He stings his tongue out at her and she sticks out hers back at him.

“In all seriousness, I’m really happy for you. Mum and I love her, and you two are a great match. I’ve truly never seen yeh so happy, Harry.”

“I’ve never been this happy. I’m glad you and mum love her, it means a lot.” Harry tears up again.

“Oh, Jesus, what now?”

“I just thought of how she might look when she’s walkin’ down the aisle.” Harry sniffles and his voice cracks. “She’ll make a beautiful bride.”

//

“Buster!” You exclaim as you burst through your mom’s door. He comes running towards you and you practically sob. “Mumma missed you so much! Come on let’s call daddy.” You take him into the spare bedroom and get settled. “This’ll be a treat for you to sleep with me tonight, huh?”

You take your phone out and FaceTime Harry. You felt bad because it would be around 4AM there, but he told you to call, so here you were.

“Hello?” He groans. It was dark in his room.

“Turn your light on baby, so we can see you.” You hear him shift and turn the side table light on. “Look, Buster, it’s daddy!” He yips and it makes Harry laugh.

“Hey buddy! Daddy misses you. Daddy misses mummy too.” He winks.

“Ew…don’t do that.” You laugh.

“How was your flight, angel?”

“It was good, I slept for most of it, thank god. Happy to be here with out little boy now.”

“Yeah, I’m glad he’s with his mummy.” You look at each other for a moment.

“Well, you’re one sleep down.”

“Mhm, six more to go.”

“What do you have planned for the rest of the week?”

“More family stuff, hangin’ with friends. Gonna take some pictures for people.”

“You’re working?”

“Only a little, don’t worry.”

“I just want you to enjoy your time away.”

“I will, honey.”

“Okay.” You yawn. “Well, I’ll let you get back to sleep. I just wanted to call like you said.”

“Thank you.” He smiles. “I love you, sweet dreams.”

“Love you too.” You blow him a kiss and hang up. “Okay, Buster, time for bed.”

//

The next morning you have breakfast with your mom and tell her all about your trip. You get Buster in the car and head home. You missed your apartment. You go grocery shopping and meal prep what you’ll need for the rest of the week.

Just as you’re settling on the sofa with some pizza, your phone goes off.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Y/N!”

“What’s up, Seth?”

“Nothing, I was just thinking of you and thought I’d call.”

“You were thinking of me?” Your heart drops into your stomach.

“Yeah…well…not to seem like a creep, but I saw you post your pictures from your trip on Facebook, and saw that you were home. Weather looked great!

“Yeah, it was an amazing trip. Um…why were you thinking of me?”

“You and I were friends once, really good friends. I feel bad that we lost touch after we graduated. I’ve loved seeing you and the girls this summer…it would be nice to hang out without a party and booze though, don’t you think?”

It was true, Seth was one of your best guy friends. You’d be lying if you hadn’t thought of him from time to time. But you’ve rarely thought of another man while being with Harry.

“I suppose that would be nice.”

“Do you think we could meet up for coffee or something sometime?”

“Coffee?”

“Yeah…just as friends, obviously. I’m not trying to cause any issues with your boyfriend.”

“Um…not that I need his permission, but I’d have to ask how he’d feel about that.”

“Really, why? He knows we’re friends.”

“But he also knows that we’ve been more than friends…”

“He does?!”

“Yeah, it sort of came up after your Memorial Day party…”

“He just seemed so chill on the fourth, I didn’t think he knew.”

“He was on his best behavior that day. I just don’t know if he’d appreciate it…but I’ll ask.”

“I really don’t wan to cause any problems.”

“That’s sweet of you to say. I think coffee would be fine, I just don’t want to say yes until I talk to him.”

“Okay, that’s fair. Just text me and let me know.”

“Sounds good…thanks for calling.”

“Sure.”

You hang up and take a deep breath.

//

“I’m way too tired and drunk to walk you across campus.” Seth says, turning the TV off. “Wanna just crash in my room?”

“Yeah, that could work.” You smile as he helps you up off the floor. You tried not to sound too eager.

You follow him upstairs to his room, a room you had been in many times before, but had never slept in it. He closes the door behind you. Seth had the best room in the house because it had a bathroom attached to it.

“Want something to change into?”

“Sure!”

“Here.”

He tosses you a clean pair of plaid boxers and a t-shirt. You go into his bathroom to change. When you come back out your eyes trail up and down his body. He turns around and smiles.

“You don’t mind if I don’t wear a shirt do you?”

“Nope, your room, your rules.” He laughs and gets on the bed. You join him, not feeling nervous at all. You and Seth had cuddled before, it wasn’t weird that you were with him on his bed. “I’ll turn the TV on for a bit.”

“Thanks”

He throws an arm around you as you settle in. Eventually you both fall asleep. He woke up in the middle of the night to the TV and turns it off. You were fast asleep. He smiles and wraps himself around you, holding you close. Seth adored you, not that he would ever say that out loud.

When the sunlight of the room hit your face, you woke up. You turned over and saw Seth on his side facing you, scrolling through his phone. He looks up at you and smiles.

“Hey.” He says.

“Hi.”

“Sleep alright?”

“Mhm. Comfy bed.”

He puts his phone on his night table and moves a little closer to you. He brushes some hair out of your face.

“You’re…really pretty.” Your cheeks flush. “Have I ever told you that?”

“Don’t think so, but thanks.” You smile. “Can I tell you a secret?”

“Always.”

“I stayed late here on purpose last night so you’d invite me upstairs.”

“Can I tell you secret?” You nod. “I know.”

“What?” You giggle. “How?”

“I’ve seen you do it before, very clever.”

“Seth, I have a huge crush on you, and I have for a while.”

“I have a crush on you too.” His hand moves to rub your arm. “But Sarah…”

“Is with Ben, and said it was okay.”

“Really, you’ve spoken with her?”

“We talk about everything.”

“So what you’re saying is if I kissed you right now it would be alright?”

“More than alright.” You lick your lips and move closer so your noses were touching.

He cups your cheek and leans in. Your lips brush and he kisses you. You both smile against each other giggle. You roll onto your back and he moves tot hover over you. He kisses you again, neither of you really caring about the morning breath, and his tongue swipes over your bottom lip. You wrap your legs around him to pull him closer to you, his morning wood pressing into you. You moan against him.

“I want you.” You whisper.

You were insanely attracted to Seth. From his nail polish, to his tattoos, to his piercings.He had so many things that just turned you on. Not to mention that he was just straight up handsome and sweet.

“I want you, too.” He smiles. “So bad.”

He kisses down your neck and tugs at the hem of the shirt he let you borrow. He lifts it up over your head and grins when he sees your nipple piercings.

“I remember when you guys got these.” He tweaks them a little and you groan. “Nice of you to finally show me.”

Just as he wraps his lips around one of them his door flies open, and you cling to him to cover yourself.

“Max! Get the fuck out of here!”

“Sorry! I needed my…Y/N?!”

“Hey.” You say. “Could you, uh, leave?”

“Sorry!”

He leaves quickly and you both start laughing.

“That door lock?”

“Yeah.”

“Go lock it.”

He gets up and locks the door and practically jumps back on the bed.

“You sure this how you want it to go down?” He asks as he kisses down your chest, dipping his hand inside the boxers he let you borrow.

“Yes, want you so bad. Please, fuck me.”

Seth tugs down his own boxers and your eyes nearly pop out of your head.

“Holy shit.” You say under your breath, but he hears you and smirks.

He gets your boxers off and tosses them to the floor. You spread your legs apart for him and he bites his lip. You reach for him and line him up with your center.

“Please, we can do all the fun foreplay stuff another time. I want you, this, right now.”

“Okay, let me just, uh, grab a condom, yeah?”

“Mhm.”

He reaches into his bedside table and retrieves the foil packet.

“Can I put it on you?”

“Yeah.” He smiles and hands it to you. “Just when I didn’t think you could get any cooler.”

“Shut up.” You laugh and roll the condom on his long, thick length.

He presses his tip against you and slowly starts to push in. A tear rolls down your cheek as he stretches you out.

“Alright?”

“Yeah, just, you’re really big.” You both giggle. “I just need a second to adjust.”

He leans in to kiss you and nips at your jaw to your ear.

“Take your time.” He whispers. “I’ve got all day.”

//

“Shit.” You say to yourself. “Daddy’s not gonna be happy, Buster. But what can I do? Coffee can’t hurt right?” He yips at you. You call Harry and he answers on the second ring.

“Hey, lovie.” You giggle at the term.

“Hi dolly.”

“What’s up?” He was in such a good mood, you didn’t want to sour it.

“Um, well, I have a question.”

“Okay.”

“Seth called me today…”

“Go on.”

“He wants to get coffee with me sometime soon, but…I told him I had to ask you first before I said yes or no.”

“That makes me sound a little psycho, doesn’t it?”

“He even said he didn’t want to cause trouble, I just…I…didn’t want to say yes or no before I spoke with you.”

“Do you want to have coffee with him? I mean, what’s the point?”

“Well, we used to be really good friends, and you know how it is after you graduate, you can’t stay in touch with everyone. I’d like to catch up with him one on one, without any alcohol…”

“Can you go to a place that’s dog friendly?”

“Sure! Plenty of places have outdoor seating right now.”

“Will you call me right after?”

“I don’t even know if it’s happening this week, but if it does, then yes.”

“I’m fine with it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah…I really appreciate you calling and asking first. It means a lot to me.”

“I just didn’t want to keep something from you.”

“Thanks, babe.”

You and Harry talk more about how his day is going before you hang up to text Seth.

//

“You’re havin’ coffee after work with your ex, and Harry’s okay with it?” Niall asks you the next day at work.

“First of all, he’s not my ex, and second of all, yes, Harry’s fine with it.”

“He’s an ex lover, Y/N.”

“Don’t you have to be in love for someone to be your lover? I mean Harry’s my lover if anything. Seth…I was never in love with.”

“Well, I don’t like it.”

“Buster’s coming with me, so I’ll have a chaperone. I’m going to be in my work clothes, so it’s not like I look sexy.” Niall crosses his arms and looks at you. “How is this sexy?! My chest is covered and this comes to my knees.”

“You’re a cute girl wearin’ a tight dress. It’s sexy.” You swat an arm at him.

“It’s just coffee.”

“I think you’re playin’ with fire.”

“I haven’t thought about him like that in years. If I really wanted him I would’ve been his girlfriend.”

“But you’re both grown now. You could-“

“Niall, please. I called my boyfriend and essentially asked his permission to see an old friend. It’s no big deal. It’s just coffee. It’s not like we’re having dinner and drinks.”

“Will you please text me when you get home?”

“Sure.”

//

You laid there with a huge smile on your face after you were done. It was the best sex you ever had. You were cuddled up with him. He was smiling too.

“That was fun.” He says. “You’re fun.”

“I’ve always been fun.”

“But that was like extra fun.” He kisses the top of your head. “What happens next?”

“You become my number one booty call, and you drop everything for me every time I wanna hook up.”

“You know what? That seams really fair.” You both laugh.

“In all seriousness, what do you want to have happen next?”

“I don’t know, I know I definitely wanna fuck you again.”

“Mm, me too.”

“I also know I don’t really want a girlfriend right now…is that mean to say?”

“No, it’s not mean.” You sigh. “In all honesty I don’t want a boyfriend. I really like being friends with you, I’m just really attracted to you.”

“So what we’re talking about his friends with benefits.”

“I guess so. Are you good with that?”

“I’m very good with that.”

“Good.”

//

You meet Seth outside a local coffee shop with Buster at your side after work. You two hug lightly, and go inside to order your drinks. You decide to split a scone, and find a table outside to sit at.

“You look so…professional.” He laughs.

“So do you! A button up and a tie? I’m shocked.”

“Hey, tablets don’t sell themselves.”

“Let me ask you something. Do your clients get thrown off at all when they see the lip piercing?” You giggle.

“Actually, it works in my favor quite a bit. It really shows that I’m comfortable with myself. As do the knuckle tattoos. Turns out my parents were wrong.” He laughs. “It also helps that I’m incredibly charming.”

“And a little narcissistic.” You sip on your iced decaf and break off a piece of scone to pop into your mouth.

“So, how long have you been with Harry, spill all the tea.”

“I gave you plenty to sip on at Memorial Day.”

“You showed me a picture of him and that was about it. Then you bring him to the fourth, and just happens to share a shocking resemblance to me.” He smirks and your jaw drops as you scoff.

“He looks nothing like you! First of all, his skin is tan, his eyes are green not hazel, big fucking difference-“

“His nails are painted, he has a ton of tattoos-“

“His tongue’s not pierced.” You cross your arms and smirk. “He doesn’t need the extra help.”

“Really, we’re just diving right into that, huh? I’ll have you know I took that out years ago.” He sticks his tongue out at you. “And as I recall you didn’t have much to say about it back then. Well you did, but they were mostly you moaning my name so…” He smiles at you and you shake your head.

“Is this why you wanted to get coffee with me? To go down memory lane?”

“No.” He scoffs. “I genuinely miss my friend.”

“And you just realized this because?”

“What do you mean?”

“Seth…”

“Okay, okay. You guys come to my parties every year, and I’ve either been dating someone or you have…”

“And I’m still dating someone.”

“That’s not what I meant. I think it’s stupid to not be friends with someone just because they have a significant other. I miss you, I’ve missed you for a long time.”

“Just me?”

“No, Rachel and Sarah too…but you and I were always closer and you know it.”

“That’s true.”

“Do you miss me?”

“In all honesty…I feel like I blocked you out of my mind. I’ve gone through a lot since graduation Seth.” He nods. “I know that sounds harsh.”

“It’s okay.” He takes a sip of his drink. “So, how did you and Harry meet?” He smiles.

“My friend Niall…Sarah’s now boyfriend, set us up.”

“Love at first sight?”

“Essentially…I mean we had one date one weekend and the next weekend we had like three more dates. He swept me off my feet.” Seth takes a bite of the scone. “He really loves me.”

“I could tell, just from the way he was looking at you. I’m really happy for you.”

“Thanks.” You smile. “No girls trying to scoop you up?”

“I’m in between girls at the moment…I, uh, sometimes date men.” He looks down and blushes. You grab his hand and squeeze it. He looks back up at you. “I’m bi.”

“Oh, Seth. Thank you for telling me. When did you realize?”

“After we graduated. I think I’ve always sort of known, but just never put two and two together. There was this guy I talked to at a bar one night, and one things led to another…”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. So I’ve dated some women, and some men. I can’t really figure out what I want.”

“Well, you’re only twenty-four…you have a lot of time. Do your parents know?”

“Yeah, my whole family does. There was a guy I dated for a while so I eventually brought him home to meet them. They were cool with it. My parents are from Vermont, they’re traditional but love the gays.” You burst out laughing and so does he. “I’m just sort fluid, you know? I like who I like, and I’ve just learned to go with the flow.”

“That’s really cool, Seth. I’m happy you’ve discovered these things about yourself. Not be pushy, but I do know a very nice young man that works for Harry who happens to be single and a confirmed gay.”

“Wouldn’t that be weird? You setting me up?”

“I don’t know.” You shrug. “It’s not like we have feelings for each other…right?”

“I mean to be honest if you were single I’d totally jump your bones, but I don’t think that feeling will ever go away.” He chuckles. “We had some pretty hot sex back in the day. But, no, there’s no feelings.”

“I forgot how blunt you can be, Jesus.” You take a sip of your drink. “Harry owns his own studio, you could come by some time and I can introduce you to Isaac.”

“Isaac, aw, that’s a cute name.”

“I have a picture from him, do you wanna see?”

“Sure, why not?”

You pull up a picture of Isaac on your phone from the studio opening and show Seth. His eyes grow wide.

“Oh wow…he’s adorable.”

“So adorable! And I know he thinks Harry’s cute, so he’d think you’re cute too.”

“Oh, so this is you admitting that we’re the same person?”

“You have very similar qualities, but you are not the same.”

“Relax, I’m just teasing. You know what? Fuck it. I trust you. Oh! Then we could go on double dates!”

“Oh my god, you read my mind!” You squeal. “I can’t wait to tell Harry.”

“I’m sure he’ll be relieved I’m not a threat.”

“You weren’t before.”

“Mhm, sure.” He sips his drink. “I’m really glad we did this.”

“Me too.”

Seth walks you to your car and hugs you goodbye. You text Niall when you get home and immediately call Harry.

“Hey! Weird question, but Isaac is confirmed single right?”

“Uh, yeah, why?”

“I wanna set him up with Seth.”

“I’m…gonna need a little bit of context here.”

#take it slow #harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles fluff #harry styles fluff fic #harry styles smut #harry styles smut fic #harry styles fic #smut #fluff #idk why but loved this part #i stan seth sorry

[inkribbon796]

Like a House of Cards Ch. 6: A Family of Eggshells

Summary: There’s precious little time remaining, and the city is set to change forever.

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

It had all happened so fast for them. One moment they were all enjoying their time on the ship, and then the Host had come in to whisk them away because one of the Suits was coming to attack them. Of course, he hadn’t said that to Dark, but as they were waiting in the hallway the person that came around the corner wasn’t a hitman in a dark suit. It was Chase Brody, without a mask,

“Look Average, get out of the way, one of the Suits is coming down here,” King called out.

“The Host’s brothers and sister are mistaken, that is Clubs,” the Host corrected.

“Nah, can’t be right, he doesn’t actually use real guns, an’ Clubs’s killed like, a lot ‘a people,”[1] Yancy argued.

Illinois moved to start placing magical barriers, because if the Host said that was a Suit, Illinois was going to believe him.

“Illinois,” Brody called out, “did the Host tell yeh[2] why I’m here? I bet he didn’t.”

“Illinois should not listen to Brody,” the Host ordered.

“Why, ‘cause[3] we’re on the same side?” Brody sounded pissed. “Cause yeh’ve been lyin’ to him fer weeks? ‘Cause yeh ne’er cared about Dark.”[4]

“Brody has spoken a bold-faced lie!” the Host shouted. “Brody wants to kill the Madman and the Host is trying to prevent it.”

“He can’t die,” Brody dismissed. “All I’m gonna do is shoot him once an’ let him just fook off. I don’t know why yeh put us through this shite when yeh could’a just left us alone.”[5]

Just then the dome was shaken by the first hit from Logan’s robot. The walls flicked in and out of existence for a second and in that brief moment, Brody slipped through the wall.

He raced through the dining area and pulled a gun on Wilford and pulled the trigger, the magical round strike exactly where the very angry sniper had meant to hit: the left temple. Wil’s magic counteracting most of the blow, a light bruise and some blood from gazed skin would be all he would suffer from this wound.

But the dome cracked one final time and Brody raced for Dark who was braced with magic to attack. The dome snapped back to a smaller size and trapped Dark and the Suit inside.

Illinois took a second to realize what had happened, and raced over. He spared a glance to Wil who was grumbling as he picked himself up and motioned for Illinois to go on. So Illinois raced to the barrier and threw as much magic and physical force at the dome but it held much stronger than when the dome was larger.

“No!” Illinois screamed, trying to force a way in. “Come on, open.”

“Here, let me,” Wil tried to pick himself up and try to break down the dome but it refused to give. “Fiesty little bugger, ain’tcha[6]?”

“There is little point when the Anomaly isn’t done yet,” the Host walked up. “Clubs isn’t going to kill or hurt the Entity. They’re in fact in the single most protected spot in the city, at the moment.”

“Yeah, but we need to get him out,” Illinois told the Host.

The Host frowned, “Of course the Host and his family do but they need enough aura and the Host will have to get Marvin and Nate to help with that. If he could find a couple of the Sides that would help.”

“That was Clubs, what does he actually want?” Illinois demanded. “Bullshit time is over.”

“Clubs . . . he . . . Brody,” the Host began, trying to find a way to calm Illinois without making the situation worse.

“Host, this isn’t the time to be cryptic,” Illinois demanded. “What does he want?”

“Clubs wants Dark to be safe and to have vengeance for the Entity’s sake in equal measure,” Host forced himself to say.

“Well then this seems to be a bit of a misunderstanding then,” Wil huffed out. “Maybe we could talk to him then.”

“Brody is not interested in talking anymore,” the Host said.

Wil shrugged, and pulled out a gun out of thin air, “Oh well, we tried.”

“What does he want with the Ol’[7] Man then?” Yancy asked, and he looked around and saw the beanstalk shooting up into the sky. “The fook[8] is that?”

“Not our concern right now,” Illinois dismissed. “What does he want with Dark?”

“The Host already told Illinois,” the Host tried to evade.

“You’re being vague,” Illinois grumbled. “What does Clubs want and why does he look like Bro Average?”

“Because it is him,” the Host answered quietly.

Illinois glared at the Host in suspicion before looking at the dome, “Why is he so interested in him then?”

“Because in fifteen minutes Illinois and his siblings will lose one father and the other will grow distant in grief, and the Host has been desperately trying to prevent it. After the Madman dies, Brody and the Entity will—”

Illinois stormed off, wanting to get away from the situation, mostly because his mind couldn’t wrap itself around what the Host had told him.

Eric followed him over, Bim close on his heels. The rest of their family followed much slower, at least trying to pretend to give Illinois some privacy of thought.

When Eric and Bim finally caught up to him, Illinois was sitting on a pile of rubble. Eric came to sit down next to him, looking nervous. “Want to talk?”

“I just,” Illinois faltered, taking a deep breath. “I never thought about the possibility of there being another man in his life. They’ve always been together.”

“Maybe the old man got sick of Dad, he’s such a fucking hardass,” Bim thought out loud.

The adventurer turned to glare at his adopted brother, getting back on his feet, “Maybe it had less to do with the fact that Dark somehow betrayed Wil, and more to do with the fact that your dad is a cheating bastard who fucks everything that moves.”

“My dad?” Bim huffed in a rage.

“Now boys, there’s no need to—” Wil tried to cut in, but he was promptly ignored as he was walking up.

“Yes, your dad,” Illinois spat back, starting to get angrier. “Because maybe that fucker’s wrong, or maybe the rest of you actually don’t care because I spent fifteen damn, fucking years reversing whatever shit you managed to do in your first five.”

“Ex-fucking-cuse you?” Bim spat, his eyes going wild with anger, aura curling around him. “I didn’t do anything.”

“He never wanted any of us calling him dad, after five years of spending time with you. I kinda get it.” Illinois accused. “You had to have done something!”

“Guys, stop it,” Yan begged.

“Come on, we’s shouldn’t be fightin’,”[9] Yancy pushed his way in-between them.

“Get out of the way, Yanc,” Illinois shouted, pulling his lucky coin out of his pocket.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be placing the blame on me, I was never good enough!” Bim argued back. “He had to replace me with you!”

“I shouldn’t have had to replace you if you were a better fucking person!” Illinois shouted.

“Fuck,” King was just watching, trying to stay quiet before his brothers turned on him.

“Enough!” The Host shouted, his aura yanking Bim and Illinois apart.

“Boys, boys,” Wil moved in. “There’s no need for this, your father and I love all of you the same.”

“Not true, Illinois is the favorite,” Bim spat.

“I’m not the favorite, you are,” Illinois spat back.

“The Host said STOP!” The Host demanded, concentrating. “Now if Bim and Illinois are done airing their family’s dirty laundry where anyone can hear, there’s precious time and the hunters are closing in.”

“Fuck,” Illinois growled and most of the group headed back to the dome while King and Host went to go and find Marvin and Nate to help pop the barrier.

Dark woke up slowly, like being roused from a deep sleep. Groaning, Dark looked around to see he was in a bedroom, in a bed that wasn’t his and a home that wasn’t the Manor. Quickly Dark got out of bed and found he was still in his white suit. Which he found he appreciated a lot more the more he thought about it.

When he got to the door he opened it easily with his aura. There was no lock or barrier of any kind. And there was the sharp smell of bacon coming down from the hallway.

The only other doors he found were off to the side of the bedroom he’d been in that lead to a full walk in closest that contained all types of suits and clothes. In the hallway that was a bedroom with a bunk bed and a mass of clothes and toys strewn about inside. There was a hallway closet, an immaculately kept office that Dark found that he wouldn’t have designed the placement and decorations of any better if he had tried, and a hallway bathroom.

Following the scent of home cooked breakfast and bacon, Dark saw Brody standing in the kitchen. The hitman turned around and smiled at the Entity.

“Finally awake?” Brody smiled. “Good, I was a little worried.”

He separated out food and coffee onto two spots of the table, seated for four. As Dark watched from a cautious distance.

“I figured yeh didn’t trust me enough ta eat anythin’ I made, but I made some fer yeh anyways,”[10] Brody offered. “I got yer[11] coffee, just the way yeh[2] like it.”

“You’re right,” Dark scoffed, looking around. “I’m not going to take or eat anything you give me.”

Chase gave a wry, amused chuckle, sipping on his coffee. “I figured.”

Dark looked at the three shoes by the door, one pair of adult sized boots, and two pairs of black and white child-sized shoes. They were such small shoes, judging by the size the children who wore them couldn’t be any older than three or four. A nostalgic pang hit Dark as he remembered when Bim had been that small. It had been an incredibly difficult time in his life, but he didn’t regret a second of it.

“What do you want?” Dark demanded.

“I already have what I want,” Brody smiled as he sat back in his chair. “Yer in here safe, an’ in about fifteen minutes the barrier will dissipate on its own an’ yeh’ll be free ta go. In fact, I’m not e’en keepin’ yeh here. Host just turned on the Anomaly an’ we’re stuck here until it pops again. So I figured we should kick back an’ relax until it does.”[12]

Dark shielded himself in his aura and looked around the place. It seemed like a cozy home. There was a box full of toys in the living room, more evidence that the children who lived here were on the young and small side. “Who’s house is this?”

“Legally my name’s on all the papers,” Brody told him. “I live here with my family. It’s a nice place, not too big, not too small. The boys love it.”

“Yes, I saw the toys,” Dark tried stalling for time as he spread what aura he could spare from shielding himself to investigate the place. The front door wouldn’t budge, it was like it was a painting on a wall rather than functional . . . as were the windows and the back door. “And the shoes.”

“Oh yeah,” Brody hummed, he was staring at Dark.

Which was weird because there was no malice in the state and he’d taken great pains to make himself as comfortable in the kitchen chair as possible, so if he struck then Dark would have more than enough time to counter.

“Just tell me what you actually want,” Dark huffed out, unused to such singular attention. “Is it information?”

“I just want ta[13] spend time with yeh[2],” Brody frowned, “an’ I already told yeh, I don’t want any money or anythin’ like that.”[14]

Then his smile came back, “Besides, there’s nothin’ about yeh that I don’t already know. I know about Marc an’ about the fact that he an’ his whole family stole e’erythin’ from yeh. I know about what a shitebag yer ex was. I e’en know that there’s this lovely spot behind yer ear that yeh—”[15]

“Enough,” Dark spat, a dark grey-purple blush spreading across his face. “I do not appreciate being made fun of. Why keep me here if you didn’t want something? Everyone wants something.”

Brody waved his hand in dismissal, “That right there is our problem, but soon it won’t be a problem. The barrier will collapse an’ yeh’ll be free ta go about yer day. An’ I’ll be here, waitin’ fer yeh if yeh need anythin’ from me.”[16]

The house seemed to shake as an incessant pounding attacked the door. The protective dome around them shaking. With a couple shakes, the coffee mug intended for Dark rattled and fell off the table, shattering on the floor in a mess of lukewarm coffee and broken ceramic.

“Fook,”[8] Chase grumbled and ran to the door to throw his weight and aura at it to try and keep it closed. “Fook[8] off, Host.”

The house flickered twice and the tentative magic snapped. Brody saw four sources of magic pointed right at him: Nate, Marvin, the Host, and Illinois.

Their combined magic knocked Brody to the side.

“Darky!” Wilford rushed over as Dark saw in the distance the hunters start to converge on their location, finally getting through the destroyed parts of the city.

The Guildmaster and Dark took one look at each other in the chaos of the commotion around them. She took as much magic as she could collect, having saved up as much strength and aid from the myriad of magical items and trinkets she had collected over the weeks and months while the Suits — Spade in particular — had attacked her hunters and fired it at Clubs first but as he was removed Dark was still in the path of destruction. Which wasn’t a trade off she was lamenting.

And then Wilford cut right in front of Dark, trying to see if he was okay.

In an act of panic, born from the months he’d been on edge with the Suits, Dark threw a portal in front of him and Wilford unwittingly stepped through it. The portal took him several feet to the right and the Entity was hit by the full might of the single strongest attack he had ever felt in the hundreds of years of the demon’s existence.

The strike cut through the aura that he tried to gather up to shield himself, it hit Damien first whose soul was in the front. Celine screamed inside their shared mind . . . and the body flickered briefly to the much smaller and weaker being that had once inhabited it before the combined force of the Entity had pushed them out.

Toppling backwards, Dark blacked out and fell to the ground. The body’s form flicking dangerously between all of their appearances as Dark’s souls were starting to crack and break at the seams.

And Dark’s souls weren’t the only ones screaming.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Accessibility Translations

1. Nah, can’t be right, he doesn’t actually use real guns, and Clubs has killed like, a lot of people,

2. you

3. because

4. Because you’ve been lying to him for weeks? Because you never cared about Dark.

5. All I’m going to do is shoot him once and let him just fuck off. I don’t know why you put us through this shit when you could have just left us alone.

6. aren’t you?

7. Old

8. fuck

9. Come on, we shouldn’t be fighting

10. I figured you didn’t trust me enough to eat anything I made, but I made some for you anyways

11. your

12. You’re in here safe, and in about fifteen minutes the barrier will dissipate on its own and you’ll be free to go. In fact, I’m not even keeping you here. Host just turned on the Anomaly and we’re stuck here until it pops again. So I figured we should kick back and relax until it does.

13. to

14. and I already told you, I don’t want any money or anything like that.

15. Besides, there’s nothing about you that I don’t already know. I know about Marc and about the fact that he and his whole family stole everything from you. I know about what a shitbag your ex was. I even know that there’s this lovely spot behind your ear that you—

16. That right there is our problem, but soon it won’t be a problem. The barrier will collapse and you will be free to go about your day. And I’ll be here, waiting for you if you need anything from me.

#Superhero AU #Masks and Maladies #Darkiplier #Wilford Warfstache #ahwm illinois #Illinois the Adventurer #Bim Trimmer #King of the Squirrels #ahwm Yancy #Yancy the Prisoner #Yandereplier #the Host #Chase Brody #Darkstache #DarkAverage #family grievances #sibling rivalry #Bim and Illinois have a fight in broad daylight #Dark is not used to flirting #this is what happens when no one talks about their problems!

[ask-rp-devra]

The professor flicked around the map a bit, looking closely at the local weather too. “The Giants Bed sounds interesting, weathers clear over there too, looks more green, sound good to you?” The group turned one final corner down to a ramp leading to the town, clearly now were people coming and going, some farmed the land, others chattered amongst themselves. Looked quaint from where they all entered.

She nodded, hand resting on Aliza’s back as they walked. “Sounds like a plan. I was actually reading a book on the train about that area. Apparently a lot of the nido lines live there. I’ve never seen them in Galar before.” She held up her camera and grinned. “I’ve got to get some good pictures of them! Maybe I’ll get good ones of a nidoqueen or nidoking!”

A perfect Pokemon set for any budding herd trainer, peach had seen a fair few in her time, so they’d lost their immediate excitement, but for sure seeing if they had cold weather adaptions here would be interesting.

“I don’t doubt you’ll find one or two that are close enough to take a picture of, they’re not always as aggressive as folks like to assume, they’re just a bit big.” The trainers moved through the town, getting to a large field with crops growing in half and a sort of welcome fate around the edges of the half that stayed clear of planting. Peach recognises a lot of the sprouting things, but some caught her eye, unusual and different because of the weather this little hamlet got, lots of snow from the looks of it. Nestled amongst the fields were a couple of stalls, one with hot soup and bread for sale, the other drinks and snacks, the sweet smell of hot coffee wafting over to the two and their Pokemon. As peach joined a short waiting line, her eye landed on a weird statue, depicting what looked like two different Pokemon working in cahoots. “hey, check that out, is there an info board on it or something? Wonder what Pokemon that is...” it was right next to where the stall with hot drinks had set up, easy to see, but worn down by time.

Devra looked over at the statue as she joined Peach in line. She then thought for a minute before digging out a small book from her bag. “I feel like I’ve seen something like that before.” She spent a few minutes flipping through the pages before she held the book out to peach. “Here. It doesn’t give a name for the Pokémon, but it calls it the King of Bountiful Harvest. Hm....” she took another look at the book than at the statue. “Something is off with that statue. Or maybe the book? The size of the head doesn’t match.”

She squinted at the picture of the Pokemon in question, it seemed kind of like the statue. “you’re right though, this one in the book has a fat head, maybe the statues broken? Looks pretty old, they might have lost the top bit years ago for all we know.” The woman was now at the counter, ordering coffee and snacks for everyone, pocketing things for later, just in case she came face to face with a hungry Pokemon.

“‘bountiful harvest king...sounds like a grass Pokemon to me. What else could it be?”

She thought for a moment as she sipped her coffee. “Maybe.....ice type? Based on the area it lives in I mean. But grass is a solid option too. Do you think it might be dual type? A lot of legendaries are from what I’ve read.” She kept a close eye of Aliza and coal as they raced a little ways ahead, calling them back when a shady looking man started eyeing them. “Why do people have to be so weird? Pokémon are so much easier.”

“Could be ice, this place is pretty cold, seemingly a lot of the time too. A dual type is pretty common, regardless of rarity it’s a really good chance that whatever it was, it had another typing. Maybe there’s a library or something with some information, sounds like an interesting old tale to investigate.” Val was as per usual keeping watch, leaving Peach to relax for five and not be on sentry duty. Hearing the comment on people and how they behave made the woman laugh a bit, almost involuntarily.

“pokemon ARE way easier. Think I’d rather front up a raging Tauros than a displeased human, least you know what’s coming most of the time.” Spotting the odd looking guy in the distance, the woman checked her bag, Dreepy safe, getting a little chin scratch, enjoying the view. The youngsters were in sight, Val has her eyes on him too.

“c’mon, let’s ditch this place, we can camp tonight, find some lodgings some other time, gotta check this Giants bed out anyway.”

She grinned, hand back on Aliza’s back as the two young ones came to her side. “Sounds like a plan to me. I want to try and get some good sunset shots of Pokémon.” She finished her coffee and threw the cup in a trash can. “There’s just so much here to see, I can’t wait to get to all the areas here.”

With a swift pace the pair began their way past the buildings that lined the quiet streets, their partners sticking close for now, before the road led out of town, through more heavy snow, though you could see an end to it far away in the distance, the first signs of fresh green plant life since arriving, out side of those heavily grafted, very densely fruiting trees that the public seemed to care for with diligence. Despite the bitter cold there was a lot to see on the way though, and both couldn’t help but enjoy seeing the wild delibird flock together, and you could see tracks from Amaura, a once extinct species that now thrives in certain areas.

Devra would stop from time to time to take a quick picture, grinning as she checked each one. “I’ve never seen an amaura before. Think we’ll get to see some up close?” She threw a stick for Coal that he brought her, laughing as Aliza took off with the little pup to find the stick.

“‘for sure, the tracks are fresh, got some droppings too from them, must be a herd around, they’re rather friendly even when wild too so I don’t doubt they’ll come over to investigate us if we find them.” The green grass ahead got closer and closer, snow subsiding, and a touch of sunshine peeking out from behind the clouds, it could even be classed as good weather now, despite the bitter cold wind that didn’t ease up. “‘keep your eyes peeled for trees leaning at weird angles, The bigger Nido’s use them to scratch and it can uproot them a bit, missing bark and skin or fur will also let us know what’s out here.”

She nodded as she started to keep more of a lookout. She spent some time looking for more sings for the amaura, but soon spotted something even more impressive. She gasped slightly as she knelt down, waving to Peach to get her attention. Two massive Pokémon, a nidoqueen and nidoking simply basking in the sun together.

the pair seemed pretty alert despite their basking, despite their eyes being closed both of them had their ears picked up, swivelling to face the humans as they entered the Pokemon’s area. “watch them, they do suddenly just bolt at you if you’re not ready.” Peach had seen plenty and let Devra do her thing, keeping her back covered, noticing a few poliswine to watch in the distance. “we could probably find a big group if they’re this easy to come across here, might get some shots of all the evolutions together if you’re lucky.”

She snapped a few quick pictures and nodded, grabbing hold of the curious pony as she sniffed the air. “I’d love a picture like that. Where do you think we should start?”

With a look around, there was a good 20 minutes of sighting nothing, but as they moved deeper into the Giants Bed area, trampled foliage became more apparent, they dove deeper, into more wooded areas, coming to openings from time to time, even stumbling across some old looking ruins of buildings. “ah there look!” Tracks, peach showed her several that crossed and travelled north, some from the smaller evolutions, explaining how to distinguish them from other big species by their singular digging claw on the foot and little differences in how the weight distributed to show how big or old the Pokemon may be. All handy when hunting for wild ones.

“follow them and you should get to a larger group.” She pointed to a wall of bushes and trees, where the tracks led off too. “‘alternatively, see if Cole can pick up the scent, they’re usually quite good for this kind of work.”

She nodded, bringing him over to look at the tracks. After working with him for a while Coal finally understood what Devra wanted from him, and started to sniff around the area for a stronger trail. After some time he found what they were looking for, yipping softly at the humans to follow him. “I think he’s got it!” She started to follow slowly, not wanting to make too much noise.

[sunarintoes]

Synopsis: Yn Ln is an environmentalist - Miyagi University’s very own campus ‘Green Thumb.’ One day Hinata Shōyō who happens to be a close friend of Yn, invites them to come to one of his races. The only problem is that this race of his, is illegal. Read the journey of Yn who has been sucked into the world of illegal street racing with the one goal: to create an eco-friendly race car.

WC: 1.8K

Note: is this character development I smell? 👀

Vanilla Bean Frappe

You slowly make your way down to the Karasuno club room, Sugawara had run off to the bathroom which left you alone; not that you minded of course. Sometimes a little bit of peace and quiet while you wander past various different crews is nice. It allows you to have the freedom of walking from place to place and being able to let your eyes roam around your surroundings. Normally with Sugawara you had only kept your eyes on him and the road ahead, not wanting to seem disinterested in the many things he talked about. You notice how the clubrooms are closely packed together, the smaller teams sit in one area while the bigger teams are only a few metres apart - and that the more… successful crews have more members and a larger room. Shiratorizawa was slightly larger than Dateko’s, Seijoh and Karasuno’s. You guess it's simply because they are the champions and need the extra room to store their trophies. Dateko and Karasuno are on the same side, Seijoh and Shiratorizwa mirror them which forms a square between them. You let a small smile ease it’s way onto your face, it was freezing but you were excited to speak with Shouyou and congratulate him on his race. 

You freeze when you hear a quiet sob, you narrow your eyes as you look around you but no one seems to be crying - there’s no one outside either. Just when you get ready to move again you hear another sob, and against your brain’s desire, you make your way to the sound. You can't help yourself, you hate it when someone is in pain.

There is a figure hunched over behind a tree and from where you’re standing they look like a guy. You slowly walk up to them and put your hand on their shoulder before crouching down next to them; ‘hey are you alright-- Oikawa! What are you doing here?’

Oikawa wipes the tears off of his face and looks away from you, his body shrinking into itself as if he was trying to protect himself. ‘Listen up, brat, I don't care about you nor do I know you. Why are you here? What did I do to deserve being plagued by you? Why can't you just leave me alone huh?’

You retract your hand and let out a long sigh. He was obviously upset and didn't mean the things he said; or maybe he did, but it didn't matter, all that mattered was that you knew he was alright - even if you despised him to some degree. ‘Oikawa… I’m sorry, I'm not sure what’s made you so distraught but I want to help… is there anything I can do-’

‘No! Just leave! I don't want nor do I need you here.’

The kind smile you put up to comfort him shakes a little before it regains its composure. ‘Should I get Hajime?’

The atmosphere becomes deafeningly silent and stays that way for a minute, ‘no,’ he whispers as more tears roll down his crimson cheeks, ‘I know we have this strange relationship where we both dislike each other but do me a solid, don’t tell anyone you saw me like this.’

You have to lean in close to hear him and you find yourself shivering at his voice, it was smooth and sweet like chocolate and you think it suits him completely. ‘I promise, and I know we don't like each other, but I have an idea to make you feel better… let's be friends for the night,’ you say as you place your hand back on his shoulder.

He flinches like last time while he looks at you - shock written all over his face, ‘I'm sorry what?’

You lose your balance which results into you falling onto your behind and you feel your face heat up; ‘I- well, it's just that I thought maybe we could just head over to some fast food restaurant and get you a drink to cheer you up and get your mind off of whatever and, and I uh thought maybe it was best to go with me because um I don't know maybe a stranger’s company is what you need?’

He scowls at you before sighing and getting up, ‘yeah… maybe you’re right. Let's be friends for the night.’

✄.

You find yourself in the passenger seat of Oikawa’s car and despite your initial thoughts, the car doesn't smell half bad - in fact it smells good, it reminds you of hot cocoa on a winter’s day. You look out the window and see the street lamps fly by and soon enough, you arrive at an all day Starbucks located at a seemingly abandoned gas station. 

Oikawa gets out of the car first and walks around to open the door for you; ‘you didn't have to do that…’

‘I didn't but I did anyway so you should be saying thank you.’

You resist the urge to scoff and instead, opt to roll your eyes in a semi playful manner, ‘yeah you're right, thank you my King,’ you fake courtesy after you get out.

You look up to see him scowling down at you but still doing his best to bite down a smile, ‘come on, let's just get a drink and never speak again.’ You laugh at that.

✄.

‘I'll get one vanilla bean frappe, thank you, oh uh… medium size thank you!’

‘Your orders will be ready shortly!’ says the cashier.

Oikawa leads you over to an empty table that was seated towards the back of the food court. ‘So you have a sweet tooth huh?’

‘Yeah I guess… could say the same for you? An iced coffee with caramel.’

His lips twitch up into a smile, ‘yeah I guess.’

You sigh as you lean back into the chair, ‘we totally got off on the wrong foot, didn't we?’

Oikawa looks out the window, ‘yeah we totally did… I guess I'm partly to blame.’

You make a sound of agreement, ‘yep. I know you said that this would be a one time thing, but I think so far it’s been nice to be with someone who doesn't really know you. I'm not sure… I'm tired so I'm really just rambling.’

‘No, I understand perfectly. Being with a stranger, someone who doesn’t know you, feels free I guess. They don't know what's going on in your head and they are entitled to know how you're feeling or whatever.’

Silence takes over as you both continue to drink. ‘Maybe… maybe we could become friends or something?’

Oikawa sighs and looks at you with an unreadable expression, ‘no. That's the deal we made, we aren't going to become friends. But… you did help me feel a bit better I guess, I'm not crying anymore so that's a plus…’

You bite your lip and look away, contemplating on what to say next. Oikawa’s gaze is still focused on you, making you feel small. You look him in the eyes, ‘let's stay as strangers.’

He lets out an amused scoff, ‘stay as strangers? What's the supposed to mean?

Suddenly you feel nervous, naked and exposed. ‘Well I just thought that uh maybe, maybe you and I could, umm, we could y'know do this every so often? But stay as strangers… we just meet up get a drink and stay in each other’s presence but we don't get to know each other-’

‘I like it. But let's set some rules as well, yeah?’ your eyes widen in shock, you didn't think he would actually agree. ‘First off, no interacting with each other away from this, and if we do we continue to be rude to each other? We stay as far away as possible - mentally that is.’

‘Second rule, no falling in love.’

‘Shouldn't that be obvious?’

‘I- yes, yes it should but you seem to have a thick skull so I have to make sure you know.’

He smirks, ‘well, looks like you can be mean.’

‘What's that supposed mean!?’

‘Oh? Absolutely nothing darling,’ oh, there it is; that irritating pet name, ‘let's continue with our rules. I say for rule three we tell nobody.’

‘Agreed, so far we have, one - stay as strangers, two - don't fall in love slash become friends and three, tell nobody. How about one more, we can confide in our problems with each other but not get to know each other on a personal level?’

‘I like that.’ he smiles, and God it is so beautiful. I think that’s about right. How about I take you home?’

You look up at him and smile, ‘that’d be helpful.’

✄.

You watch as Oikawa’s car speeds off into the night before you make your way to your apartment which is regrettably on the third floor. Trudging up the stairs you curse at yourself for making a deal with the devil - no, not Oikawa, but with the landlord who told you that the ‘three flights of stairs was short and easy to walk up.’ What utter bullshit. 

You pull out your apartment keys and go to open the door but something is blocking your way. Looking up from the floor you find this something to be someone, and this very someone is the very ex-lover who shattered your heart. ‘Kiyoko,’ your voice is breathy and shaky, it sounds as though you are trying to convince yourself that what you see before you is real and not an illusion.

She looks down, ‘hey Yn,’ she starts off softly, ‘I thought maybe we could talk… you weren't at The Garage tonight with everyone else and I assumed you still lived in the same apartment.’

You glare at her, ‘I'm sorry what? How do you know about The Garage?’

Kiyoko looks taken aback, ‘I'm the other manager. You didn't know that?’

Now it's your turn to be confused, ‘no, no I did not. I just assumed that someone had the same name as you…’ you felt like an idiot because what you are telling her is the honest truth. 

She quietly giggles, ‘I see. Well I haven't been there the past two weeks… I've been out of town-’

‘Please just get to the point,’ you beg.

‘I think it’s fate. I want to give it another go- I want to give us another go. I still have your number and I know you still have mine…’

You scowl at her as you walk past into your apartment, ‘and get my heartbroken? Again! No thanks.’ And with that, the conversation is over and the door is slammed on Kiyoko’s face.

You walk into your room and sit besides the bed. Kiyoko’s offer is tempting, you really do want nothing more than to climb back into her arms and inhale her scent, you want nothing more than for her to run her hands through your hair as she places delicate kisses to your forehead. ‘Fuck!’ you yell out.

✄.

Kiyoko walks down the stairs to Sugawara’s car, ‘How’d it go?’ he asks. She looks away and he takes it as a sign that she doesn't want to speak about it. ‘Still, I really had no idea you and Yn had a history like that… Why did you two break up?’ She stays silent and Sugawara knows he should drop the subject.

Taglist: @dadchi-oya @cutepet09

#kiyoko x reader #oikawa x reader #iwaizumi x reader #various x reader #various!haikyuu x reader #adkor #street racer au #haikyuu street racer au #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu angst #haikyuu x yn #haikyuu x you

[farelian]

Galactic Quarrels: Contact

First of all i want to mention that the flag shown in the first post of this series is not mine, and originated from the original story of Templin Institute with their series Stellaris Invicta. I recommend you to watch it, the worldbuilding and storytelling is glorious and amazing.

The flag's design will soon be changed to something original made by me, for now use it as a reference, thank you

~~~~~~~~~~~~

With the launch of the first human intergalactic spacecraft in the year 2125, humanity cheered with the success of the Hyperdrive and the mass-production of ships fitted with the faster than light technology is already underway. transport, cargo, tourism, and military ships are retrofitted with the Hyperdrive and the biggest shift in human society happened. Trips to planets and mining sectors in the solar system that previously would take months to complete now can be achieved in seconds.

Food and resource shortages on Mars and the lack of rare minerals on Earth are no longer a problem due to the fast delivery time made possible by the Hyperdrive, and shipyards that are building UTF warships that have undergone so many delays with the lack of spare parts, components, and electronics will be completing the next Terran Battlegroup in the coming months.

The hyperdrive is a massive success, not only by bringing Humanity to other distant solar systems but also easing transit costs between planets, and also stopped the ever-growing problem of shortages due to miscalculated arrival dates or the depletion resource reserves.

With these problems reduced to ash, the UTF’s economy is now growing at a fast rate and it’s people living in conditions near to a utopia. But living under these conditions came at a cost, resources and commercial goods do not simply come out from thin air, so the civilian population is put to work in mines, factories, plantations, and other hard-working environments to meet the ever-increasing need of commercial goods and demands.

The term hard-working is greatly exaggerated, these workers still living in good conditions, enough food and water and shelter, and treated equally like any other.

In some cases, people are forcibly resettled from their homes either on Earth, Luna, or Mars, to work on mining ships that are headed for the asteroid belt to gather resources and minerals. Unmanned automated mining drones are the ones used to collect minerals, but human labor must be done to reach the deeper resources inside an asteroid, and achieve maximum efficiency. The families of the resettlement victims are horrified, but the UTF assured them that their husbands or children will come back home safely after their three-month working period.

Some see these resettlements as a good solution to unemployment and/or laziness in the population. But others see it as another form of forced labor imposed on the population, and with the secretive nature of the resettlement, fear spreads of whether who is going to be taken next against their will. But the paranoia soon subsided as the first batch of workers resettled three months ago returned to their homes and family, and tell the story of good living conditions and their safety was guaranteed. The UTF wished that the problem ended right there, but skeptics among the population doubted the words of the workers.

Theories of the UTF forcing the workers to say that to their families and passings is to protect the government from the possible civil outcry that could happen or the brainwashing of these workers to become loyal laborers. Through the screens and holographic projections across human cities, the UTF reassured the populace that these rumors are false, and the workers are treated equally and humanely with no brainwashing or the beating of freedom of speech.

The statement appeared to have calmed the populace for now, just in time for the newly built Terran battlegroup of two battleships, four cruisers, and eleven frigates, with five destroyers coming out of the production line in the coming days. The UTF military power is growing at a rapid pace with the invention of the hyperdrive.

On the frontier, UTF exploratory vessels are exploring solar systems near Sol, with Sirius and Alpha Centauri being absorbed into the UTFs borders by the construction of a frontier outpost in the star systems, and the most shocking of all, a planet lush and vibrant with plants and alien wildlife the size of Earth in Sirius. Sustainable calm oceans, and no tectonic plates with similar rotation time, it makes the perfect natural home for humans. Devoid of earthquakes made by shifts in the tectonic plates, meaning buildings doesn’t need a strong foundation to withstand earthquakes, meaning less material needed for construction of a colony.

And in 2132, in the colonization of Sirius 3, now known as New Haven, the discovery of another habitable planet in the Trappist System, the majority of the planet’s surface is water but stable landmasses. Seeing how common habitable planets are in their part of the galaxy, the UTF launched a colonization campaign where people are encouraged to volunteer as colonists for the colonization of another world to be added into the UTF. The campaign was a success with over one million volunteers signing up in the first month. Equally distributed to New Haven and Trappist 4, now renamed to Spes, the UTF now have five celestial bodies under its rule in seven years.

With many systems being absorbed into its borders, and many more planets being colonized, the UTF is growing, its economy growing faster and faster with a seemingly endless source of materials and millions of factories under its belt, more ships are built, shipyards and stations are completed, more Unions under its banner and development never ceased.  Determined and patriotic citizens work hard, their minds filled with years of propaganda and luxurious living lifestyle with security in mind, with many more job opportunities to come, everything is stable. And inventions after inventions made things even better, the creation of the Antimatter Reactor brought even more power into ships, being able to be fitted with more systems and components. Battleships became increasingly larger with bigger weaponry, army equipment reached new heights with the introduction of a Nerve-Cancelling drug and Combat suits offering better protection, while Mech Suits offering more firepower into the battlefield.

Tanks increased in weaponry while becoming more elegant and heavily armored. It’s also worth mentioning that all of these mining stations, starbases and outposts are state-owned assets. No civilian or private corporation is to ever build mining outposts, research stations, or trade centers in space. But that doesn’t stop the economic growth of all Unions under the UTF, and if not working for the government, the population worked for these corporations adding a line of employment into human society.

Violence and crime is still an aspect of everyday life, it's impossible to fully eradicate crime without being a hive mind. Police forces are given more and more advanced equipment each month, unmanned combat and scanning drones, full-faced helmets and exoskeletons for riot police, shock batons, expandable riot shield and so much more. All of this is an effort to reduce crime in the Unions, although successful, criminal minds will find a way around some of the measures taken to prevent their operations, a large crime organization has never been truly formed in the UTF.

Not like previous expectations of the future, instead of white, open and wide green fields, UTF cities and Unions are tightly packed with towering thin skyscrapers, and a black but non-figuratively toxic atmosphere of factories working around the clock. These specifications are only seen in industrial heavy cities though, with other cities like Al-Jabari in the new green Sahara shows great leisure opportunities and wide living spaces, the perfect vacation spot.

~~~~~~~~~

The year is 2136, the year where everything changed. UTF Battlegroup 7 is out on its patrol on the Northern outer rim of UTF territory where future constructions have been planned, it's smooth sailing until their sensors detected a strange unknown object in the next solar system previous scans have never picked up. It’s small and giving off a signal, like a beacon.

The Commander of the Battlegroup split their fleet and sent one cruiser with three destroyers and seven frigate escorts to investigate the object on the neighboring system. While the Interception Flotilla is on their way to investigate, the rest of Battlegroup 7 went back to their designated patrol route.

The Captain on the cruiser and its escorts went to the edge of the system and initiated a jump over to the next system, nicknamed “The Rodina” By many with no particular reason, when asked they replied with “It just sounds cool” The fleet jumped into the Rodina system only to arrive right on top of the object, it’s smaller than expected... there are lights on it... and thrusters.

The Captain spilled his coffee after realizing what it is, an alien spacecraft, and they just jumped on top of it and probably startled the crew with the size of the cruiser. UTF Captains or Commanders don’t receive first-contact training, no one does. The Marshals doesn’t see it as necessary due to the speculation that this early into the space age Humanity won’t be meeting any aliens

With no training on how to handle sudden first-contact situations, the crew is confused about what to do. The Captain does what’s logical and ordered comms to hail the alien vessel. The vessel itself is strange in design, harboring the color blue with a sleek design and curves around its thrusters, it looked similar to a squid.

Comms attempts on hailing the spacecraft succeeded, but what came through is unintelligible garbling, chirping, and hisses that terrified the entire crew, it sounds horrifying. The captain immediately ordered the Linguist masters on the ship and the ship’s AI to translate the words being spoken, silence fell across the bridge as the Linguists and the AI worked to translate the language.

Many of the crew feared a hostile confrontation, and many feared being fired upon. The Captain yelled into the comms, on the line with the other human ships to not open fire in a panic. The linguists and AI succeded on translating the Alien language, although it's only a rough translation, it's enough. The language is then uploaded into the crew’s microchips.

The message conveyed through the transmission will change humanity, forever.

“By order of the Galactic Assembly identify yourself!”

#humans are awesome #humans are crazy #humans are strange #HUMANS ARE WEIRD #humans are space australians #humans are insane #earth is space australia #galactic quarrels #galactic quarrels series #space orcs #space orks #humans are space orcs

[wordsnstuff]

Guide To Writing Found Family

This is also available on wordsnstuffblog.com!

– Found family is a very popular trope that I don’t often see explored in technical writing resources, and as a person who is currently in the middle of developing one for my own series, I decided to make a resource for those who were also confused when approaching this character dynamic. If you have anything to add to the topic, feel free to comment down below for the other writers out there. Hopefully this is helpful to those who need a place to start. Happy writing!

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Avoiding Romantic Subtext

This is one of the hardest obstacles to sidestep when writing an unusual dynamic, and for certain genres it can be ten times worse. For example, in fiction written specifically for young adults, there’s a baseline expectation for a hefty amount of romantic tension, and readers will often insert it no matter what the text and subtext suggests. In order to prevent this automatic insertion of romance in the reader’s interpretation, it’s wise to establish a clear and reasonable explanation for why the relationships are platonic and will never develop into something more. 

It’s not a good idea to go for the “person a nor person b has ever considered this relationship blossoming romantically” because that’s often the basis for romantic stories, and will leave that wiggle room for the reader to run with. Show in the way they interact and perhaps in the narration/first person that each party has thought of that scenario and ultimately come to the conclusion that there’s just no romantic potential.

Showing Familial Relationships

Families rely on each other and in diverse ways. The way these individuals interact and build a familial bond is determined (often) by the way in which they form a dependence on the other, and this is more often than not in found family stories, a healthy dependence. It shows the other person’s reliability, care, and compassion, and the way this develops is different for family than it is for friends. 

Certain family members also have specific types of humor when it comes to each other. A father and a daughter will have a different sense of humor or understanding with each other than maybe the daughter and her brother do, and this all adds to form a vivid dynamic in your reader’s head that will alter the way they perceive relationships. Found family will be exactly the same, but they’ll have different backstories and different reasons why that sense of humor or understanding has developed that way.

Friendship vs. Family

Found family is unique in the way that readers can very easily perceive a relationship as close friendship rather than a familial one. However, friendship lacks a certain vulnerability and dependence that found family can use to its advantage, because family sees each other at their highs and lows and conflict usually carries different implications. 

Family also implies a different attitude and motivation behind the relationship. Conflicts between family members are less severe in the long-run because there’s a ground-level understanding that no matter what happens, arguments will end in forgiveness and closure, whereas that is not necessarily guaranteed with friendships or romances. The motivation, also, is different in the sense that found family is more often meant to last a lifetime, and therefore is less fragile and opens the door for more open communication and vulnerability.

Converting Tension to Intimacy

When you’re tasked with turning a tense, unfriendly relationship into a close and familial one, it’s daunting to even begin thinking about how to go about it.  First, it’s important to understand the function of this stage of their relationship as a starting point for growth in both of the characters rather than merely a device to create drama for the reader to munch on. Intimacy of any kind develops out of mutual growth, vulnerability, and understanding, and in order to convey these things to the reader, you need to take your time letting this stage simmer. If you extinguish the tension too fast, it will read as shallow and futile, and it will throw a wrench in the natural pacing.

Now, the transition from tension to intimacy is a several step process and does not happen in one chapter. Mindsets, perceptions, and attitudes change over time as both the reader and the characters learn more information and experience more genuine interaction. The relationship, as I mentioned earlier, will change as the characters see each other in increasingly vulnerable situations and in periods of growth, and as they witness this their understanding of the other and ultimate acceptance will change the way they treat each other and their mutual perceptions of one another’s place in their lives. This usually happens in the subtextual area of the story, excluding events that are formulated specifically to depict this evolution.

Different Sizes of Families

The size of the invented family very much impacts the way that the group relationship develops. For example, two or three people who develop a family-like connection will be much more intimate and dependent than a created family that includes ten. Larger groups imply more diverse, but also more shallow representations of what relationships between family members can be, but they often leave more room for relatability and comedy. Smaller families work well for more serious struggles, and make more sense with characters that deal with serious issues that a real person wouldn’t be comfortable giving all the details about to ten other people. 

There’s definitely a spectrum and it fluctuates wildly for different types of stories, genres, character archetypes, and themes. Deciding how large to make this found family really depends on the fine details and requires some time and thought.

Common Struggles

~ Bringing people together when there’s an age gap… Age gaps can serve really well in the area of establishing a familial relationship without suggesting romance because most readers will assume that a close relationship between a younger woman and an older (say, 65 year old) man is more of a father-daughter relationship than a romantic one. The way you an bring together two people with an age gap and establishing a familial relationship is by playing on the aspect of guidance and support that a parent or typically older figure would provide to a younger, more naive person. This can come off trope-y but, like any other aspect of a story, putting an original twist on it can make it more original and interesting to the reader. 

~ Starting with tension… This is very common in the case of a sibling-type relationship or a guardianship situation. Usually, there’s some resistance from the party that does not hold the upper hand, and this can create tension in both of them. I suggest that if you’re going to develop a tense relationship into a close one that resembles family, then avoid tropes. There are so many ways that you can twist these ideas and situations based on your world and characters’ traits, so don’t go straight for the “I hate you because you’re trying to control me even though you’re not my real dad” thing.

Other Resources

Useful Writing Resources

Useful Writing Resources II

Resources For Describing Characters

Resources For Describing Emotions

Resources For Creating Characters

Resources For World Building

Resources For Plot Development

Resources For Writing Science Fiction

Resources For Writing Dystopian/Apocalypse

Resources For Fantasy & Mythology Writers

Giving Characters Bad Traits

Writing Children

Having Trouble Connecting To Your Characters?

On Making Scenes/Characters Unpredictable

Keeping Characters From Sounding Identical

Writing About Uncomfortable Topics

How To Foreshadow

Commentary On Social Issues In Writing

Tackling Subplots

How To Make A Scene More Heartfelt

How To Develop A Distinct Voice In Your Writing

How To Perfect The Tone In A Piece Of Writing

A Guide To Tension & Suspense In Your Writing

Writing Arguments Between Characters

Ways To Fit Character Development Into your Story

Tips On Writing Intense Scenes

Showing vs. Telling

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[notyetneedcoffee]

Old Fashion Way Pt. 2

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Warnings: This chapter is pretty PG

Steve Rogers held the door open for you, waiting for you to go first. You smiled, relishing in the little gestures of his old fashion upbringing. On some men it may have come off as condescending, but the effort just felt polite and caring coming from him. At the sidewalk he stopped, catching your hand in his.

He carefully examined your smaller fingers entwined with his own. A soft smile touched his lips. “Would it be alright if I held your hand on our way there?”

Squeezing his hand a bit tighter, you actually felt yourself blushing. What the hell? There had been a fair share of previous lovers in your life. Prudish didn’t apply to you. Yet here you stood in front of Steve as he asked you the most innocent of questions, and it warmed you to your toes.

“I would love that.” A smile brightened your face. “You can hold my hand whenever you want.”

With a barely suppressed giddiness, your journey towards the diner and your promised breakfast continued. He chuckled to himself. When you arched an eyebrow his way, he stopped and pulled you closer. A large hand rested on your hip, the other cupped your face. Steve soft lips fell upon yours for a brief kiss.  

“You know,” He blue eyes took on mischievous glint. "Now that it’s okay to touch you, I’m going to want to do it all the time.”

“Mmm, I like the sound of that.”  

Steve’s stomach audibly growled.  

A laugh exploded from your chest and you playfully rubbed his belly. “And that sounds like we need to feed you.”  

He looked sheepish, taking your hand again. “I should warn you, I always need to be fed.”

The diner turned out to be more of a café, eight tables in a simple homey setting. Half full, a few people glanced your way when the little bell over the front door rang. An older woman with a pleasant smile and wink called out, “pick any table, sweetheart.”

Steve led you to a spot and held out a chair for you. Absently you wondered if he put himself in the corner on purpose, just so the whole dining room and front door remained in full view. He leaned across the small table, capturing your hand.

The waitress wondered over with two coffees and two waters. “Morning, Captain.” She smiled brightly. For a woman in her seventies, she was beautiful. “I see you brought a friend.”

“Thanks, Barb.” Steve grinned. “Yeah, this is Y/N. This is Barb. She makes the best pies in the city. I’m telling you, they’re fantastic.”

“You keep saying that just so I cut you extra large slices.” She playfully swatted him with her order pad. “Do you want anything other than coffee?”

“I’m good. Thank you.” You smiled.

“I know what you want,” Barb winked at Steve before asking you. “Should I give you a minute?”

“Predictable, huh?”

“Oh yes, dear. When the Captain comes in for breakfast it’s always a stack of pancakes, three eggs medium, crispy hashbrowns, bacon and side bowl of fruit.”  

Steve shrugged. “She’s right.”

“Could I please get the short stack and the fruit?”

“That’s all?” Steve looked incredulous.  

“That’s it. Not all of us just ran a marathon.” You teased.

“Sure thing, Sweetie.” Barb smiled. “I’ll bring it right out.”

“What time is your first appointment?” Steve doctored up his coffee with cream.

As you were about to say something an early twenty-something woman stepped up to the table cradling her cell phone to her chest. “You’re Captain America, aren’t you?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Steve smiled, however it did not make it to his eyes.

“I knew it!” She practically squealed, looking over her shoulder at another girl. “Lacey it is him!”

Your thumb rubbed over his, recognizing the look in his eyes. Steve wanted to crawl under the table. Unfortunately, Lacey’s friend didn’t notice. In fact, she held her phone out to you. She looked confused when you didn’t move.  

“Take our picture with him.” She insisted. Lacey stepped up a little more cautiously.  

“Don’t you think asking would be appropriate? We’re here to have breakfast, too.”  

She actually rolled her eyes, causing your teeth to grind. “Please take our picture.”

“I didn’t mean for you to ask me.” Your nose flared and brow furrow.  

“Y/N, it’s okay.” Steve soothed. “Listen, Miss?”

“Ashley.”

“Ashley, I appreciate you’re a fan, but I’m here to have a meal with a friend. I’m sure you understand that we’d just like to be left to our own company.”

“Okay,” She still waved her phone. “But it’s just a picture.”

“None of that nonsense in here.” Barb returned to the table with a full pot of coffee and sharp wave of her hand. “You don’t have to put up with people interrupting your meal, young lady, don’t you go interrupting other people’s. Go on back to your table.”

The girls retreated reluctantly. Steve gave them a less than convincing smile. Commenting, “It was nice to meet you.”

“Does that happen often?” You whispered after they left.  

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I guess so. They’re usually not so, um, impolite. Although it’s weird when I realize someone is taking a picture or something without my permission.”

Privacy, anonymity, never came to mind when you thought about what it would be like to be involved with Steve Rogers. It should have. There were many news clippings with sightings or tidbits about Captain America showing up at this event or that. It just never registered that anyone on his arm would be subjected to the same.  

“What’s wrong?”

“Hm?” You weren’t sure how to broach the topic without seeming rude. “Oh, I guess I never really considered how much... attention... you get, away from your missions, I mean.”

“I try not think about it too much.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I suppose if I did, it would bother me a lot more.” Steve studied the look on your face. “You know, I don’t want to drag you into all of it. I’ll understand if it’s not... If I’m not...”

“Steve,” You reached for his hand again. “If it becomes an issue, we’ll talk about it. Let just try going out and see where it leads. Could be fun.”

He laughed.  

The high ceiling made the modest sized bedroom feel larger than it was. It may be an older building, but the owners did a great job of restoration. Steve leaned out of the bathroom, grinning broadly. “You should see this, Y/N.”

Following him, a delighted little yip escaping your lips. A huge claw foot tub sat along the wall in the bathroom. It was deep, and big enough for two. “Wow.” You leaned into Steve’s side. “I really like this place.”

His fingers ran through your hair, touched your face. “It’s only a couple blocks from my place, too.”

“I know.” Wet tongue moistened your lips.  

Steve watched the motion, unconsciously mirroring it. His head tipped low, lips grazing over your own. Your fingers caught his belt loops and pulled him closer. The kiss deepened, wet and heated. A deep rumble erupted from his chest as he pulled you tighter against him.  

“Damn, sweetheart. I could kiss that mouth of yours all day.”  

His large hands cupped your ass, pulled you off your feet and onto the bathroom counter. Your legs wrapped around his narrow waist. Steve breathed heavy against your lips. Your response came as another kiss. His full, soft lips worked over yours. Tasting and licking, Steve took his time thoroughly devouring your mouth.  

“Uh, excuse me.” A voice called out.  

Steve pushed away, still keeping his hands on your hips.  

“We’ll be there in a moment!” You called to the property manager.

“You going to get it?” Steve bit his lip.

“I think I will. You gonna help me move my stuff up those stairs?”

“I’ll carry every bit of it.” He grinned into your neck, planting kisses along your sensitive flesh. “Especially if it means we get to spend some time in that tub.”

Wow. Steve Rogers wants to get naked. Just this morning you didn’t think you were even on his radar. “Mmm. I’ll bring the bubbles.”

He laughed, lifting you off the counter. “Come on.”  

It took another hour for you to complete the lease paperwork. Steve looked adorably uncomfortable when the property manager asked if your boyfriend would be on the lease as well. You were told the check would take a couple days, and as long as everything cleared, you could have the keys on the first of the month.

“I have an idea, if you want to spend a little more time together today.” Seeing your car down the street, you pulled at Steve’s hand. “You bought me breakfast... and lunch. Want to come by my place? I could make dinner. We could watch a movie.”

“You’re going to cook for me?” Steve beamed.

“Just wait until you taste my pot roast.” You giggled.  

Steve leaned in close, rubbing his nose along yours. His voice rumbled low, words only for you. “That’s not the only thing I'd like to taste.”

Holy crap. Coming from him, that’s one of the sexiest things you’d ever heard.  

With a grin, you placed your car keys in his hand. 

#steve rogers x reader #steve rogers fanfiction

[fightevilandthengetblownup]

FIC: Something Borrowed, Something Blue ii

---

PART ONE

Wednesday morning started dark and early for her. Sleepy kisses as she bid good morning to the other in the bed, not due to get up for another three hours, and checked in on the youngest of the household to ensure he was still fast asleep before showering and preparing for the day.

Usually Jo would sleep for another thirty minutes, but given today was due to be a long one filled with photos as she baked and decorated the demonstration trial cake from scratch, she figured an extra thirty minutes to ensure her hair and make up looked nice for the day (though inevitably she’d be flour covered by the end of the day and tendrils would fall out of the nice high pony tail before lunch). Usually she would get to wake up and luxuriate in bed for a while before getting up, showering and then waking Billy to get prepared for pre-school. Today, Jack would get the pleasure of preparing the boy for the day, making him breakfast and hearing him babble about whatever strange dream he had the night before.

Dressing for the day in a pair of denim shorts and one of the oversized shirts that still remained in her wardrobe after five years, Jo smacked her lips together and blotted the excess from her red lips as she gathered her recipe-slash-sketch book and headed out to the bakery as the sun barely made it’s creeping way into the sky. Overhead the clouds were still the dark inky blue of night time, just slightly tinged golden to the edge and purples slowly building their way through the rolling masses. The perfect inspiration for her work that day, quickly snapped a few times as she walked on her way to the bakery.

As she reached the front door, she could see the exhausted looking journalist outside already, hands clutching as if to a lifeline to the Starbucks cup. At least she knew she looked more prepared for the day than him even if it was only just past five in the morning.

“Good morning Chuck.”

The grumbled sound she got in response made Jo laugh as she unlocked the front door of the bakery. Moving inside and flicking the lights on, she noticed the man slip in behind her before sinking into one of the closest chairs as she got the space prepared for the morning. The smell of baking bread was already filling the air, her favourite part of having automatically timed ovens that she could avoid the two am starts that other places had to endure. Flicking the coffee machine on, refilling the front displays with prepared trays of cookies, cakes, slices, pastries and other goodies, Jo hummed to herself practically forgetting the other was there aside from the odd groan.

There were breads to be pulled from the ovens, trays of prepared cupcakes and brownies to go back in, a pot of caramel to be placed on the stove while the shortbread bases baked; there were muffins to be loaded into the cake displays and covered with their glass dome, glass cookie jars to be refilled and brownies to be stacked high on plates within the display case. There was milk to be checked on, fruit tarts to be glazed and mixers to be started up with bases for the rest of the days work. And finally there was a section of the kitchen to be set up in preparation for making the wedding cake base later in the morning, butter to be set out to come up to room temperature and ingredients to be laid out in decorative bowls and artfully positioned.

As the clock approached six am, the first few customers began appearing - mostly other cafes for their daily pick ups that Jo moved through easily with a laugh and a smile, and the exchange of a bunch of mint with one of the herbal stores a few blocks away that always ordered raisin and oat cookies, an entire crate full of lemons and beetroots from Mrs. Mills who ran a tea shop just out of the city who grew her own produce but was a failure baking them into anything herself but would trade ingredients for discounted trays of pastries to go along with the tea and best homemade lemonade and hard cider in the area, and the constant flirting that even now Jo never could stop partaking in when Andy came by blushing and stammering for his special brownies for the medicinal store he ran across town. Others breezed in and out smoothly, and Jo had already poured Chuck his third coffee before the hour was out by the time her long-haired barista-lawyer arrived to start up the morning as the first of the commuters would begin to arrive.

“C’mon Chuck, lets get this shoot set up for today, huh?”

There was an almost awake nod before Jo lead the way back into the kitchen where she began to lend a hand setting up a selection of cameras to capture time-lapse as well as real time footage of her working through the preparations for a demonstration cake with all the elements she’d discussed. The cupcakes had been selling well and she thought that the blueberry icing was the way to go underneath the fondant for today’s trial in preparation of Friday’s mock-up. Usually Jo mocked up cake after cake once every few weeks for a wedding, but with the amount she’d be making these flavors this week she felt comforted that she’d be fine until a few weeks before the wedding itself this time around.

“Alrighty, fondant time.” Jo chirped to herself quietly two hours later, an ongoing stream of conversation from her having filled the morning where mostly she talked to herself or sang along with the radio while Chuck seemed to either work on typing up his notes from the last two days or try to wake up still. The fondant work was always her favorite thing when she got the chance to do it, for one important reason. Slapping the large white block of fondant down and cutting it into pieces with a dough scraper, Jo let out a laugh as she started working a quarter out with her rolling pin. “Who needs a gym when you can bake instead?”

“Who indeed?” Chuck’s answer was just as vacant and distracted as her own question had been, and Jo felt a laugh pop right back up at how relaxed and unobtrusive the other was to her work. He’d barely looked up from his laptop as she’d made the batter for each tier of the much downsized trial cake for the development today; and Jo liked it that way.

Working the white fondant out until it was a thin enough sheet to go through her larger scaled roller, she called him over to move a camera to catch the process as she fed the fondant through one end over and over until it was paper thin. Slicing out little shapes of various sizes and laying them out on a baking sheet dusted with potato starch and layer separated by a tea towel, Jo spent the next hour slowly making those white petals and then various petals of lilac and deep aubergine as well in smaller amounts. As she did that, there were cakes and brownies removed from ovens, loaves of bread traded out and cupcakes and pastries a plenty made and prepared all over again like her Monday in anticipation of the day off tomorrow to keep the bakery ticking over.

By lunch time, Jo had three full trays, six layers deep of petal and leaf shapes, and long flouncy ruffles to do an ombred ruffled layer, as well as the white fondant ready to be marbleised with the different purple shades after a lunch break.

“So,” The journalist’s voice caught her as Jo finally sat down for the first time in some seven hours as the clock hit just after one in the afternoon as she cut herself a slice of salmon quiche after dishing up the same for the other man. Perched on her stool and pulled up close to the central island, Jo raised a brow across at the finally awake voice and her eyes spotted the running silver dictaphone in the middle of the bench as they started her lunch break. Sam had been in the hour before for a quick bite while Jo’d worked the coffee machine for the quick lunch rush, and the amount of cocoa on her cheeks was less than normal considering. “I got my rough draft from a lot of stuff yesterday-”

“Was that helpful for you? Thinking about getting into INKED and leaving Rolling Stone?”

“Eye opening, yes, but I’m stuck here until this sham of a wedding is complete.” Chuck grumbled the words out quietly, eyes focused on the trashy magazine pile he’d brought with him that day that held stories that Jo suspected were about the bride and her ‘whirlwind’ romance - the fake stories that didn’t have a lick of truth to them.

Her back when rigid and Jo found herself snarling sharply at the accusation against her friend, lips curled into a sneer. “Now listen here, buddy. Absolutely nothing about this wedding is a sham.” Jo’s brown eyes flashed dangerously for a second as she caught his eye finally, and found herself shaking her head and holding up a hand as the other’s mouth opened to speak. “No no. No talking until I’m done. I get that you might have an image of what Shada is like, what she does for a living, how she presents herself to the world, and the way the show she’s on has given her whole... storyline. But absolutely none of that is accurate to the woman I know. Nor to the man that loves her, and the depth of their romance.”

“Oh?” Chuck’s brow raised in return before he set his magazines back down and picked up his notepad and pen instead even though his laptop was open beside him. An analog guy it seemed. “Well, I’ve got to say - I’d love to be able to write the most genuine series of articles I can about this wedding compared to this-”

“Trash.” Jo supplied the word at the gesture of his pen towards the stack of magazines, and the bemused smile she got for it made her hackles drop from how they had been risen.

“Exactly.” The other nodded for a moment before gesturing his hand at her. “Well, tell me the real story again then - I know we covered some yesterday but that’s just broad strokes. Give me fine details, huh?”

Jo found herself sighing, and then launching into the many, many positive and wonderfully genuine parts to her friend throughout the rest of the afternoon. For the next four hours as she layered the small cakes together with buttercream, crumb coated and then fondant wrapped one in the ombre ruffles, one into the beautiful purple marble coated and then sparkling with carefully placed gold-leaf, and the lilac purple buttercream cake which was then covered in the delicate roses made out of the petals - each with tiny edging of silver-leaf and shimmering with a light layer of lustre dust. And as she assembled the small practice cakes, she talked of her friend.

Shada’s genuine smiles, her love of her brother, how she’d always be kind to anyone and everyone she met. The way the dark haired woman never once ordered anyone directly to do something, unless it was followed by an apology for being pushy. How the girl had grown so much in the two years Jo had known her, and the maturity and wisdom that she spoke with on a regular basis. How Shada was so kind to her son, and the way the girl truly wanted to get married and have a family. That Shada had been unsure about the wedding being a part of the show and covered as much as it was, even if she’d daydreamed as a teenager of being rich and famous and a star-studded wedding to one of the Jonas Brothers - that now she was marrying the love of her life, that the brunette would be truly happy marrying in a potato sack (”one that she would obviously make purple and look beautiful in though!”) and still be happy. How the starlet had planned originally to have a quiet, intimate wedding at Ian’s family manor in France during the break in filming, before the couple had talked about the opportunity and agreed after being approached that they could do this for Shada’s career and have the smaller, intimate celebration for their anniversary the following year.

It was as Jo continued to place tiny edible pearls around the roses, that she found herself being guided into reminiscing about her own wedding in comparison. The quick court house event that she’d worn a lacey, white shift dress she’d bought for $2.50 at a secondhand store while her Marine wore his dress uniform. The posey of baby’s breath in her hand and the way the ceremony was completed in no time in front of her mom, Bobby the other couples getting married right before and after them. How the only photograph was taken by Ellen on the courthouse steps as she’d been lifted in her husband’s arms and one of her shoes had fallen off as she’d laughed. That her wedding dinner was pizza in bed as they watched some old black and white movie that he loved, and Jo’d fallen asleep in no time. That he’d been shipped out two months later, and dead within four from then.

And she spoke softly, as she wrapped the fourth option in a layer of plain white fondant before collecting her airbrush kit and the array of purples, blacks and golds to start covering the blank canvas in her own form of art, of how much she wished the couple far more than half a year of happiness. The gentle whistle of the airbrush as she delicately mottled the colors together and as she smiled thinking to herself that she was absolutely certain the pair would have that.

The noise from the front of the bakery was quieting down as Jo finished the last flourish and grinned across at the journalist as he continued to look up and down between her and his notepad. It was closing time, and she had four examples to show her friend on Friday when her and her fiance arrived originally for the final design choices, and she’d have enough cake prepared to do a full size mock up of the design they chose that day as the journalist would talk to the couple and snap photos beside her and her work. But for today, she was done and began putting away the demonstrations and the baked goods and doughs she’d prepared for Sam to utilise tomorrow while she was out with the bride and her entourage.

“Jojo, mamacita, your boyfriend is bothering me again!” The called voice that bounced through the door to the front as Ash pushed it open and followed in the grinning professor with his own laugh. “He was bothering me about someone’s photoshoot and when those photos would be coming in.”

“I wasn’t-” Jack’s blushed furiously as he moved towards her at the fridge, his hands reaching out to go around her waist before stopping short noticing the scruffy journalist packing away his laptop and notepad though the dictaphone stayed out in the middle of the bench. In an instant, his arms dropped to his side and Jo found herself frowning to see the smile drop just as quickly from his face and whatever he’d been saying disappear along with it. “... Jo.”

“Hunny.”

“How was your day?”

Arching a blonde brow, Jo let out a bit of a laugh to herself as she noticed the focus of Jack’s eyes on the silver recording device until Chuck’s hand wrapped about it and tucked it away in his messenger bag.

“It was fine,” Jack’s voice was still tight and quiet, brushing against the curve of her ear as she moved in closer, before he spoke a little louder and clearer. “Have a good evening, Mr Shurley. Big day tomorrow, right?”

“Oh, absolutely. Seven beautiful women and an array of gowns?” Chuck grinned widely as he moved about the kitchen towards the door and Ash’s equally appreciative grin. Raising a hand in a wave, he pressed it against his chest, mocking a wound. “How did I get this job, huh? Luckiest bastard-”

“Your week just keeps gettin’ better and better!” Ash laughed along with him and he followed the reporter out of the bakery with a wave behind him at the couple, closing the swinging door behind him. “See ya later, lovebirds.”

“Tell Sam I’ll close up!” Jo called out loudly to the others back as the door swung back and forth and finally closed, before she found two hands wrapped around her waist and then let out a squeal as she was lifted up onto her still floury work surface. “Hun!”

“Yes?” Jack’s lips spread into a wicked smile as he leaned in to catch her own for a moment before pulling back. Jo could feel her cheeks heating up as his fingers brushed over her flour and sugar covered hair to tuck a few strands back before he kissed her again, thoroughly and hard, fingers tangled in her messy hair. There were a long, heated moment before he pulled back again leaving her breathless as he let out his own sigh. “What a day.”

“Yeah? What happened?” Jo ran her own fingers through his hair gently in return as the slightly stressed look she’d remembered from the last years exam time started up again. He always ran himself ragged during them, and if nothing else, she could ease some of his stress with her kisses and touch. “Tell me all about it over dinner?”

“I’d much rather hear about your day.” He replied gently, leaning into her touch for a moment before they both smiled at one another.

Jo recalled the discussion of the day as they packed up the kitchen and closed up the front of the bakery too, with Jack’s hands carefully wiping the flour from her jeans and then helping her to pack each thing away as needed. They took no time at all to close up and walked hand in hand on their way back to Jack’s house. As he’d wrapped his fingers around hers, Jo couldn’t help but think as she talked about how happy she was for his little sister finding the love of her life, that perhaps she’d been lucky enough to find another one.

Dinner was quieter that night - Bobby and Ellen taking care of Billy for the next two nights as a fun sleep over as well as to keep him from getting Jo to run late the next morning - than usual with just the two of them, but at the same time it meant that Jo could relax on the sofa with her feet up and a glass of wine while she could hear the quiet humming of a song and the sizzle of bacon and the bubbling of pasta from the kitchen without lifting a finger.

“Carbonara?” Jo sniffed the coated pasta happily as the bowl was offered out to her and she swung her legs around to sit upright as the dark haired man took the seat beside her. “You spoil me.”

“Not nearly enough for what you’re going to be dealing with tomorrow for me.” Jack’s voice was gentle and teasing in equal measure as he slumped beside her and kicked his own feet up on the coffee table. The baker curled up beside him and tucked her feet under his legs as they both dug into their dinner together.

Jo shook her head, smiling. “Nah, I’m doing it for your sister, you idjit.”

“How am I an ...idjit?!”

“Because, hun,” She giggled quietly, slurping up one of the noodles with a loud noise before smiling widely. “Not everything is about you. And I love your sister all on her own.”

“You do, do you?” His voice was softer than before then, the teasing tone bleeding out and replaced with something gentler and that made her stomach flip a little as he chewed on his own mouthful thoughtfully before swallowing. Jack turned his head to catch her eyes with those piercing blue ones of his, staring straight at her and if Jo could she would have melted right then under his look as he quirked one side of his lips up. “And why’s that?”

Jo’s tongue felt ten times too big while her mouth felt parched of any kind of moisture before she blinked a few times out of that look. Her cheeks a bright red, she smiled back simply. “Because, she’s more like family now.”

“Aunty Shayday and all?”

“Exactly.”

If she was red before, it was nothing on the flaming feeling of her whole face and neck as Jack’s eyes had searched hers for something she wasn’t sure of as they spoke, before he finally seemed to reach a conclusion and turn back towards the television with a small, secretive smile. “Well, that’s good that you’re not going to be tortured for me.” There was a beat as Jo recovered herself and the other chewed another mouthful of pasta, before he added cheekily, “Now I don’t need to spoil you tomorrow night too.”

“Hey! No fair!” Jo laughed and giggled then, cuddling into his side as they settled in to watch a movie and then head up to bed later. It would be a relaxing night before the inevitable stresses of the next day, and she was going to savour every moment of calm she could fit in before the morning came.

But come it did.

Rolling over onto her back as she climbed off of her love with a quiet, happy moan as his hands followed her path to continue running across the bright colors of her sides, Jo wished she didn’t have to get out of the bed at all. Her skin was marked all over between her tattoos and the signs of their lovemaking, but if she had it her way they’d both stay there until there wasn’t a piece of skin without the ghost of his lips on it. Stretching her back and letting out a giggle at the slight tickle to her side, she finally sat up after the other rolled out his side of the bed to grab a shower and rush out to work. She’d made him late for his 8am class, but as Jack threw a glance in the mirror from the ensuite over his shoulder back at her with his toothbrush dangling from his lips and sudsy teeth flashing a grin at her, Jo knew she wasn’t in trouble for keeping him in bed.

Rolling her hips back and forth and tossing about languidly like a cat waking from a long nap, boneless and pleased, she finally pushed herself upright  before going to wrap an arm around the dark haired man’s shoulder to press a kiss on his back before heading to the shower.

She used to argue about staying the night here in his lavish townhouse - about his giving her a drawer in the ensuite and another in the wardrobe, and then more wardrobe space, and then how he got a cot-attachment added to the spare bed so that Billy could stay sleeping when he’d go down after dinner. And then it seemed pointless when her yearly lease came up and instead of renewing she found herself moving every bit of her life into a new house. Even the box of the clothes and books she’d still not thrown away, though she’d forgotten she still had it before the move. The spare, spare, spare room was reconfigured into Billy’s room, and Jack had even added another desk to the study and cleared shelves for Jo to add her cook books to the lounge and dining room spaces. Her cupcake cushions replaced his modernist blue ones, and there was a toy box brought in and added to each and every room in the house. Her tattoo designs went up on the wall beside a large oil painting of some beautiful woman with her face hidden behind shadow that held a dripping book out - Jo had not been surprised to learn that was one of the last of Jack’s work before he quit, the sheer mania, depression and confusion in the brush strokes hit her hard every time she stopped to stare up into the dark void where the woman’s eyes should be but weren’t yet felt like she was screaming out from. And in the kitchen her trinkets and gadgets and utensils had filled the drawers that before had the spartan one knife-fork-spoon combination.

The rainfall shower head was a luxury, and Jo waved goodbye through the fogged up glass as Jack left, leaving her to spend a good amount of time lathering and rinsing her hair. The whole room smelled like the bakery as she stepped out from the mists and set about doing her hair and make up nicely, but not too nicely as to upstage the stars of what was going on today. A little wave, a messy bun and just enough concealer to cover the darkest spots that littered her neck and her under eyes for different reasons was all that she needed to do to look suitable - if she needed anything more, Jo figured since it was actually being filmed but not scripted, she’d have access to an actually talented make up artist. Besides, she was known as the bubbly, cute baker girl so it made sense she looked a little rougher around the edges. At least this time she’d not have flour in her hair or cocoa on her nose.

Jeans and a black knit sweater, followed by a green hoodie borrowed from Jack’s wardrobe was her choice for the day. What she wore on the outside mattered less than wearing the nude colored strapless bra and nude toned underwear, but she drew the line at wearing heels for the whole day. Tossing her keys, phone and a few paper bags of snacks into her bag and her travel mug of coffee in hand before dashing out the door, the blonde flagged down the first taxi she saw and spent the trip chewing on her nails.

She hadn’t had to deal with bridesmaids for her own wedding - there hadn’t been time, and besides she hadn’t had female friends back when she was twenty-one and flunking out of her history major - and the few bridal parties that had come through the bakery had scared her immensely that a group of women with one goal in mind was a terrifying thing. To be part of said group felt entirely alien for her, and Jo half wished she could be on the grooms side of the aisle in a suit and without any drama instead.

Far quicker than she had wished, the taxi pulled up out front of the nondescript building with the small black sign and Jo handed over a twenty to cover the trip and tip as she clambered out ungracefully onto the pavement before steeling her nerves. She could spot that one camera guy she always spotted winking at everyone and who she had enjoyed flirting shamelessly and harmlessly with every time they filmed at the bakery leaning against the brickwork by the building’s door.

“Hey Gabey, what’s cracking?”

“Well now, gorgeous, that’d be spoiling the surprise wouldn’t it?”

“Like you care about spoilers!”

Gabriel, the previous camera man turned B-director, shook his head with a laugh and a smirk as she needled him for answers. “Come now, you know I need to get genuine reactions from you all.”

The blonde laughed in return, quirking a brow up at him. “Are you suggesting that I, Jo Harvelle, might not give a genuine reaction?”

“I plead the fifth.” The dark haired director laughed back, shouldering his camera bag on his shoulder with a sigh as a trio of black cars arrived and began unpacking with the rest of the small camera and other crew members poured out and then quickly into the building. “Ugh, I know Shada wished this could have been skipped-”

“But that would miss out so much potential drama, right?” Jo smiled back at him for a moment, before digging about in her bag to pull out one of the paper bags. Waving it at him, she raised a brow. “I’ll trade you these for confirmation that there isn’t any scripted drama today and that I don’t have to fake anything other than that I don’t think Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee are vicious conniving bitches.”

The bag was exchanged in a flash, and the wide, toothy grin she got back in response when the other saw the selection of chocolate chip cookies that were also made using her burnt butter base and shards of salted toffee inside made her smile back at the cheeky salute before Gabe moved off with a shout for some hair stylist ‘Balthy’ to get his ass inside quickly.

Jo found herself leaning up against the wall herself instead, the warmth from the other’s back still in the brick, as she pulled her phone out to start getting ahead on orders and emails while she had the time. She dipped a hand into her bag to fetch out the bannana bread, oat muffin with peanut butter she’d packed for her breakfast that she started nibbling at between coffee sips as she waited. It was just before nine, but the girls were known to be late.

Over the next thirty minutes others slowly trickled into arriving - first was the taller blonde girl with a big, wide smile and the cutest habit of always covering her hair in little lace bows that was Ian’s little sister; followed by the brunette Bela who’s sunglasses hid almost all of her face except for her pout, and then the newly black haired Ruby with a snappy greeting for everyone before disappearing off at the wave of greeting from the director of the day. Jo was talking at length with Ombre about the different cake designs she had been working on and was showing her the photos of the trials from the day before when the next two women arrived.

“Oh lookie, the baker is here too.” The clipped tone pulled Jo out of explaining to the excited Ombre just how to make the ruffled cake that matched her name, and looking over her shoulder at the new arrivals, the blonde didn’t even bother to keep the sneer off her lips as she looked at the redhead. Anna smirked back, smugly, raising a brow at her. “I suppose you’re here to make our dear Shada seem more grounded right?”

“No, no, Anna, it’s cause she’s trying to fuck her way into society the same way Shada did.” Lilith’s snide comment rolled out from her with an equally vicious grin on her lips at getting to throw a few comments in before she would need to play nice-r to the cameras. “Tell me, Jojo, did you give her pointers for how to do that with your step-daddy or-”

“Lilith, you better shut your goddamn fucking mouth before I shut it for you.” There wasn’t even a beat before Jo had the other blonde pushed back against the brickwork with a hand around her neck, pressure tight but not dangerous as she glared up at the other woman. She held the position for a count of five in her head, before stepping back and leaning down to pick her coffee up from where she’d left it earlier. “Today is about Shada, and I will not have a single person say a negative thing about her, her life, her choices or anything to do with her and this wedding or anything else, okay?”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself!” The deeper than usual tone cut through the small crowd of women as Ruby arrived back with their director in tow right then. Gabriel’s eyes caught Jo’s for a split second longer than the others as he stared each woman down - and all she could think was that this poor man had to herd this crowd of women day in and day out without anyone unconnected enough to lay down the law, and how much harder that must be dealing with five grown women than one almost-five year old. “Anyway, ladies, if you could head inside for the last touch ups and then Shada should be here and we’ll reconvene outside for the outside shots, right?”

Jo wasn’t at all surprised by the warm clasp of the dark haired Ruby’s arm around her shoulders leading her and Ombre inside into the ridiculous process of last minute checks and confirmations from the miniature hair and make up team preparing for the day. The younger blonde almost cried when the hair stylist Balthazar suggested taking out some of her bows, and then the fact both Anna and Bela were made to change their dresses to something different due to ‘looking too alike’ in the camera was insane. Jo watched on in a mixture of shock, awe and disdain as the make up, hair and wardrobe stylists did their work, and was only a little relieved when she was left alone as ‘good enough’ since she doubted she’d be filmed much that day. If she was, she’d have to bring out her back up bribery too. Ruby likewise was left alone, and the make up artist glared daggers at Jo when Lilith complained her neck looked ‘a little too red’. But everyone was touched up and finalised within half an hour, and Shada too had arrived and was barely containing her nerves.

She wasn’t sure when he arrived, but Jo noticed Chuck walking about behind other cameras and ducking under wardrobe racks at one point with his camera out and dictaphone hanging from a cord on his neck. Jo smiled when she caught his eye, but thankfully today wasn’t actually about her. Today was his content for the month after her cake special - all about the bridesmaids - and she would barely be spoken to today. This was his first chance to interview and speak with the other five bridesmaids, so really Jo would get to spend most of the day talking to Shada and keeping her company instead.

As the group were guided out to the black trio of cars again and slid into various seats to represent the way they would arrive to the studio, Jo laughed when Gabe grabbed her arm and had her lean up against the building instead.

“Really?”

“What can I say? The lighting looks great on you like that. Besides,” Gabe grinned conspiratorially at her as they waited for Shada and Ombre to climb into the third car, with Ruby and Lilith into the second and Anna and Bela in the first, “It means you didn’t have to go into one of the cars with those conniving bitches.”

“My hero.” Jo replied with a flourish of eyelash batting and laughter alike as she picked up her coffee mug, refilled by Shada’s PA Kevin, and began checking her phone as instructed and felt natural to her as she waited for this intro shooting to finish.

Soon enough the group were ushered back into the salon - now looking like a proper boutique rather than the explosion of wardrobe and styling that it had looked before - and Shada was greeted enthusiastically by the extremely smug fashion designer Meg Masters from Mastersara Bridal.

“Welcome, ladies, to my boutique.” The brown waves around the woman’s face were so well quaffed, like the other starlets that surrounded Jo as they moved into the space and were guided by the designer towards the luxurious white sofas with the golden accents. The whole group looked mostly put together, and Jo could tell as she made sure not to look directly down the lens of the camera walking backwards before them as they moved that there was a clear line between the reality stars, and herself and Ombre. If she hadn’t already been sure, then the look of distaste that swept the designers face as Jo slumped down on one end of the couch beside the perky blonde was enough to confirm it. “Our sophisticated designs are here for your review, and I am certain that you will find the perfect design for your vision in our collection.” The glance towards Shada and the rest of the stars as the B-camera came to pan across each womans’ reactions was enough to make Jo fight not to snort. “Mastersara Bridal is for not only the modern bride, but the modern bridal party - and we are so touched-” Jo found herself frowning at the tone as the dark haired woman said that word, the tiny curl to her lip and slight sardonic element to it as Meg’s eyes forcefully stayed staring straight, “-that you are here to select your gowns.”

Glancing to her right at the bride herself, Jo could see the glimmer of excitement and the wet sheen in the brunette’s eyes as she smiled that beautiful way that lit up the whole room. The family trait that Jo knew so well, and found herself smiling in return about it as Shada clapped her hands excitedly.

“I love shopping!” The excited giggle that came from the bride was perfectly timed, and the laughter that rippled out was almost entirely genuine from the group that were there, before Shada bounced back up to her feet. “I’m so excited!”

“I’m sure you are,” Meg smiled back, a tiny slice of danger behind white teeth, but waved a hand towards one side of the room. “Let’s see what we can find, shall we ladies?”

Jo actually flinched at the loud squealed exclamations from all the other women, before the group dispersed quickly in a rush in all different directions. Blinking in surprise, she caught the bemused look on their director’s face for the day as he bit into one of his cookies with a wink as he waved a hand for the three other camera men to start following the rest of the group.

Taking a deep breath as the noise slowly quieted down and instead each small group of women began talking amongst themselves, the blonde leaned over her knees as she breathed in and out. This was a lot. She was used to having this level of excitement and such around her, but as she finally got to her feet and approached where Shada was talking animatedly about only wanting purple shades regardless of if certain people’s hair would clash horribly and wash them out, Jo was surprised to realise that it was overwhelming for her in a way she’d never experienced before.

“Oh Bela, I know you’re not a fan, but green just is so not my color wheel.” Shada giggled loudly at the seductive green silk dress the other brunette was holding up to her frame. “Besides, you’re a bridesmaid - you’re not there to be sexy.”

“Says you.” Bela tossed her head back with a smile, eyes flashing and Jo was sure that the camera was eating every second of that wicked look. “You know weddings are the perfect place to meet men, and I know that Ian has some equally rich and handsome cousins-”

“No!” The chirp came from the blonde that stuck her head with a very exaggerated scowl through the nearest clothing rack. Ombre eyed the actress with a frown for a moment before adding sharply, “My cousins are all gay. Or married. Or-”

“Or you’re lying to disuade me.”

“Maybe.”

“Girls, lets not fight - we’ve got to find dresses.” Jo found herself speaking up as the bickering back and forth began and all she could envision was how frustrating it was to deal with Billy’s squabbling with his friends and put her foot in before it could get going. “Shada, how about you get everyone to grab a dress or two - so long as they can be made in a purple tone - and we can get started?”

There was a second before her friend’s arms went around her waist and Jo found herself laughing along with Shada as she grinned back at her. “See? This is why we need a mom around here! Someone who knows what they’re doing!” Looking over Jo’s shoulder, Shada flapped her hand at those around the room. “Let’s get trying!”

The god awful squeal happened again, and biting down on a wince, Jo let Shada link their arms together and herself be towed about the room as the brunette reviewed dress after dress with the designer pointing out features left and right. It took forever, but perhaps that was just how it felt to Jo, before the six bridesmaids were each sent off to their own dressing rooms with a large array of dresses in each to match one another - guided to start from the left to the right.

Letting out a sigh, Jo stripped off and quickly pulled on the first dress with little struggle. At least this one, compared to some of the others, looked a lot less intimidating. Tugging the chiffon straps carefully, Jo frowned when they wouldn’t stay up and instead hung off her shoulder. It must have been intentional, she thought as she readjusted her bra and settled everything where it should be before there was a called out direction by the directing man for the bridesmaids to emerge on the count of three.

Sighing to herself, Jo followed instructions and moved out of her changing room towards the central space in line with the other bridesmaids to scrutiny.

Looking down the line, the blonde found herself smiling to see Ombre swishing the skirt of the soft lilac dress happily, while both Anna was trying not to scowl on camera while trying to pull her dress down enough to show more cleavage than should be necessary or was acceptable in such a simple and classic dress. The color looked beautiful on a few of the other women’s skin tones, but washed out others like Bela and Ombre.

Jo jerked at the sound of a laugh near her, and looked over to see Chuck with his camera pointed directly at her while Gabe was directing his own the cameras away from her. Frowning, she raised a brow at the men in confusion.

“Have a good night, Jo?” Chuck asked, tone full of implication, as Shada and Lilith bickered about whether the color of the dress was dramatic enough or not. Jo frowned further in confusion until the reporter gestured at her neck. “Should have remembered you were doing things today.”

Turning her head towards the mirror, Jo let out a loud laugh noticing the dark patch under her ear that was visible now she’d switched her borrowed hoodie out for a dress. Giggling, she looked about for an option before a tall, lanky blond came over with a compact and whispered at her in an accent that would have once upon a time been dreamy about “got mauled by an octopus did you, dearie?”

Thankfully the rest of the women were busy squabbling or enjoying their dresses that by the time all turned towards Jo she was covered sufficiently and could simply say she thought the dress was ‘nice’ and ‘a good start’ without any further questions other than to turn the topic back to the bride.

“I agree, Jo, it’s a good start. I love the color - its so lovely and reminds me of spring! It would match the wisteria arches perfectly...” Shada frowned slightly in the sweetest looking frown Jo had seen in a while, tapping at her lip with a finger as her brows furrowed and a camera came in for a close up. “But something about the strap bothers me. Onto the next!”

The clap that followed that was order enough for the bridesmaids and director alike for them all to return to the dressing rooms for the next dress.

Jo emerged before being called this time - half to check that she didn’t have anything extra to be hidden and half to check on the bride herself - and found herself blushing at the loud exclamations of how beautiful she looked from her friend.

“Oh Jo, you have to get a dress like this some day. My brother would eat you up!” Shada leaped off of the sofa to run up to her, all smiles and grins as the camera crew focused on taking b-roll of the store itself while the other women struggled to get dressed. The brunette took her hands in a second before tugging for Jo to spin so the soft, tulle swirled about in a beautiful arch while Jo could hear in the background the shutter of the reporter’s ever observant camera going off. “Look at your figure, wow. Wow. You’d totally steal the show from me!”

Jo laughed along with the other at that, aware that the warm tone and the way the other pulled her in for a hug that that would in no way be true but the sentiment felt so strongly. She did look nice, she supposed, catching a glimpse in the mirror. She was just lucky her breasts had shrunk back to almost the same level after having weaned Billy onto a bottle all those years ago, because with much more cleavage and she’d look very different in this dress.

The rest of the bridesmaids slowly emerged, and Jo bit down on a smirk at the decreasingly excited or pleased reaction each woman got as more appeared in the beautiful design. The deep-v that looked lovely on Jo, Lilith and Ombre, looked borderline tacky on the two dark haired women when Bela and Ruby emerged even if the dark purple color of the bodice looked beautiful on their complexions. And on the redhead when Anna eventually emerged, it looked downright tawdry.

“Oh no.” Shada shook her head, eyes fixed on the ample curve of bossom visible in the deep-v of the redhead’s dress before she swept a glance over the rest of them with a wistful look. “No, no, this one won’t do. You all look far too sultry and amazing. Though perhaps I should buy one of these for my hen’s night?”

The round of laughter and eye rolls that came from that, as well as the extreme pout from the redhead were amusing, and Jo made her way over in a swish of fabric as the rest moved back to the dressing room to catch the bride’s arm.

“Hey, Shada sweetheart, it’s absolutely okay if we don’t find something today, okay?”

“But-”

“No,” Jo shook her head at the somewhat deflated look on the other’s face as Jo guided her to sit down. “I know all those girls have their own expectations of what they want to look like, but you should know that this is about what you want and what will make you happiest.”

The glance the dark haired woman gave to the cameras that were now focused on the pair was concerning, though Jo reached out to grip her chin firmly but gently and caught her eye again. “No. This is about you Shada, not any of that. This is all about you, and your love and your happiness - not the dresses, not the cameras or the opinions or the whims of everyone else. You tell me which dress you want, when you see it, and I will make sure you get exactly what you want.” Jo could feel the prickle of tears at the corner of her eyes as she said it - remembering the voice that was becoming less clear growling to her that 'whatever makes you happy’ when she’d said she just wanted her own wedding over with - before smiling widely. “You are the bride, Shada, and this is about your big day. Not everything else happening around it.”

There was a beat before the younger girl nodded her head a few times and Jo wrapped her up in a tight, bone-crushing hug for a moment regardless of the cameras on them and the shutter sound of the smaller ones. After a moment, she pulled back and knocked her fist gently against the other’s chin before rushing back to her dressing room to get into the next dress.

Jo barely refrained from jerking away when she noticed the next dress, scowling to herself as she pulled it on and tugged at the turtleneck of it as it scratched at her skin. Turning in the mirror, she pulled a face all over again at the figure hugging nature of the dress and just how much of a Mom-ass she looked to have already in that dress.

Heading to her spot in the line up, Jo found herself biting back a laugh at the vehement fight breaking out between Shada and Lilith over the dress itself.

“No way! They’re too sparkly-”

“I happen to think these are better than those trashy, boring dresses from before.”

“You all look trashy now!”

“You would know!”

“Get the Hell out of those things!” Shada shrieked, gesturing along the line of women as the smirking blonde continued to tug her dress to show of every single curve of her body in the dress in a way Jo was trying to conceal for herself. “My wedding is not in Las Vegas! No way, no how, get out of them now!”

Jo was glad to turn tail without even being out in that one for even a minute, before catching sight of the next dress with a sense of dread. Sparkles and sequins weren’t exactly Jo’s dream idea, but as she struggled to work out the straps to the open sides and back of the next dress and had to call a store girl in to help, she couldn’t help but find her breaths rushing realising that perhaps if this dress was chosen she’d definitely stand out.

Emerging to the floor to see Shada, Ombre and Bela gushing about the dresses in the centre of the room and how pretty the color was on each woman, Jo tugged a little at the side of her dress. Glancing towards the large mirrors before them, she could see three quarters of each of her ribcage tattoos on display under the straps - dark lines and bright colors standing out against her skin and the deep eggplant color. Frowning to herself, she moved up towards the other women and blushed brightly when all three turned to look at her with matching frowns at the distracting ink from the design of the dresses.

“What do you think? Too much?” Ruby’s voice cut over them as she moved up as well, and Jo’s eyes went straight to her chest and the limited coverage in this dress compared to the other deep-v.  “Not enough?” The additional comment seemed to be addressed over the women’s heads towards the camera crew, and Jo bit down a smile at the smirk and thumbs up sent back to the dark haired beauty from the directing chair. “Shada, me thinks this might not work-” There was a pause as Ruby glanced behind her to see Lilith and Anna emerging too with their own problems of either not filling out or over filling the dresses respectively, before looking around and at the tattoos visible on Jo’s sides. “For multiple reasons.”

Shada’s own face slowly shifted from a smile about how lovely Ombre and Bela had looked in the gowns to taking in the rest with a growing frown before nodding. “Yeah, I love the color though-”

“It’s definitely lovely!” Ombre chirped up from beside Shada with a wide smile, and Jo couldn’t help but feel glad that at least there were two of them on Shada’s side.

“But perhaps the design isn’t quite... accommodating enough?”

“We can expand the cups.” There was a sniffing sound as Meg moved forward to gesture towards the redhead’s chest with a sneer. “For those who need a little more coverage.”

Shada’s eyes darted about between the dresses and the designers frowning disapproval uncertainly, and as she blushed brightly, Jo could tell where this was going. She was such a people pleaser and so lovely a person, but that just meant sometimes she could be trampled too much. Not on Jo’s watch though.

“Oh, but you’d have to change the whole bodice of the dress to cover my tattoos though.” She quickly snapped out, tugging surreptitiously on the dress in the middle to show even more of her ink as she turned to the side, drawing everyone’s eyes over to her and away from Shada. Jo locked eyes with the designer fiercely, lips twitching to go into a smirk at the way the other woman’s own curled up into a sneer. “And then it’s jut a whole different dress. We might as well keep looking.”

“Exactly right, Jo. Thank you.” Shada spoke up then, stepping up to point and tap disapprovingly at the side of her dress as she looked back at the designer and then made a flapping, shoo-hand towards the rest of the bridesmaids. “Next dress, ladies!” As the group dispersed back to their own dressing rooms, the bride reached to hold Jo’s wrist with a smile. “Thank you,” She whispered quietly then, the intent and gratitude clearly pouring out that Jo could do little but smile back before shuffling back to the next dresses.

The fifth dresses resulted in a shouting match about just why was no one in the color purple and why would Shada want to look at silver dresses when none of those designs came in her chosen color; and the sixth was in another pale lavendar color but looked a little too sweet and girly on everyone except Ombre. Jo half thought that girl should be treated as a junior bridesmaid, given she wasn’t even nineteen yet, and could wear the flowy, laced halter dress to be different from the rest - but that idea brought tears to the other blonde at being treated differently and was quickly shut down. The brown bag of elephant ear cookies was quickly brought out and the younger woman calmed down with sugar before they moved onto the next dress.  The seventh dress was widely agreed to be Nice But Wrong in a way that nobody could put a finger on and was after about five minutes of dissection to get to the bottom of it called off with a shout of “NEXT!” from the bride that sent them all scurrying away.

Jo had noticed between dresses that Chuck had been making the rounds talking to each of the other bridesmaids for a few minutes before they changed to discuss the wedding, Shada, their involvement and connection, and whatever else he seemed to want to draw out of these women thrown together by a job or through the groom in Ombre’s case. Jo was just glad to avoid talking today until she noticed him hovering by her dressing room as she emerged in the eighth dress.

“So, how is this compared to shopping for your own dress?” Chuck’s voice was quiet, thankfully, in the space as he held the dictaphone between them with a warm smile. “You said it was at an op shop, but did you have much to choose from?”

“Not really. There’s only so many white dresses about the place that aren’t stained, if you feel me.”

“That makes sense. Did you get that feeling though?” Jo found herself raising a brow at the question, which brought out a chuckle from the reporter. “Oh I know, odd for me to ask. But all the other ladies keep talking about some magical feeling or experience, figured you’d be the one to know the truth maybe.”

Jo laughed a little at that, shrugging a bare shoulder as she tilted her head to the side considering. “Hmmm... I don’t think I did. I just picked the dress that fit and looked the nicest.”

“If you were to get married again, what do you think you’d be after this time around? That magical feeling?”

She shook her head as she moved out towards the group, smiling sadly to herself as she glanced back over her shoulder at the man. “Sorry Chuck, I’m a bit too much of a realist these days about marriage and weddings,” Jo felt that prickle again and blinked rapidly for a moment before sighing gently. “Once you’ve experienced that young love feeling, you know that fades. Real love is about the real world, and facing that together. I don’t think you need a magical feeling - just to feel like you’re home and safe together.”

The reporter nodded repeatedly and Jo watched as he pulled out his notepad to make a few more notes as he moved off distractedly out of shot from the other cameras as Jo stepped up on the podium beside the other bridesmaids in this dress.

She had felt a little self concious of her hips and butt in the dress in the dressing room, but standing in line with the other women she couldn’t help but think they’d stumbled upon something that flattered each woman individually without drawing too much attention. Sure, she definitely looked curvy in the dress beside the others, but Anna and Ruby’s chests looked equally full, while Lilith and Ombre’s hair color and svelte figures looked statuesque and beautiful. And Bela just looked gorgeous in any and every dress she’d worn that she blended in with the rest just as lovely in the deep plum dress beside the rest of them.

“Oh. Oh these...” The bride’s eyes had lit up as soon as the six of them has assembled along beside one another, taking in the elegant drop sleeves and gentle curve of the silhouette that flattered each of them together. “I think, maybe...”

As each woman took turns to speak how much they liked the dress - with the sole exclusion of Anna who pouted repeatedly and played up to camera that it was too form fitting while clearly meaning the complete opposite as she continued to perk her chest up higher and twist to make her butt stick out more as she glanced between her own behind and Jo’s own - or at least appreciated the design for various reason, followed by the designer to talk incessantly about how lovely and flattering it was, Jo kept her eyes on Shada’s own wide, glossy ones.

“Well, we still have two more to try!” Ombre interjected when no one seemed to be making a move either way, and watching Shada shake herself out of her thoughts, Jo smiled that perhaps they’d found the one that would make the other happy already.

Stripping out of the dress, Jo let out a yelp at the sound of her curtain being pulled open before scowling in the small mirror in the room back towards the blonde and redhead that were in her doorway, delayed in changing from their interviews with the reporter.

“Excuse fucking you?” Jo snarled the words out, turning to sneer back at them as she lifted the dress back up from the floor to cover her front as she raised a brow at their own nasty looks. “Your rooms are further down.”

“Oh, are they?” Anna’s question sounded innocent, but the way her eyes raked over her disapprovingly made Jo question just how good an actress she thought the other actually was. “Our mistake. Hmm, Jo, what on earth happened to you?”

“What?”

“Those marks. You’re absolutely riddled in such horrible stretchmarks!”

“You’re right, Anna!” Lilith jumped right onto the line of picking as her own eyes ran across Jo’s skin in a way that made her want to throw punches - bra and panties be damned. “Were you a fat little kid? Or is that all from that little bastard you’ve whelped?”

Everything seemed to flash red in that moment, and if it hadn’t been the slight movement of something silver out the corner of her eye, Jo would have grabbed the other blonde by the hair and shut her up one way or another. Instead she glared hatefully at the recorder that stopped her from breaking the sneering bitch’s nose then and there and instead snarled back harshly. “Lilith, grow the fuck up.”

“What?”

“And you too Anna,” Jo hissed the words out, holding the dress tighter against herself as she tried not to let her rage boil over as she glared hatefully between the two of them. “I get you’re pissed that your boob job last year was fucking lopsided, and that you, Lilith, only got released last month for that little coke habit of yours - but I won’t have either of you talking shit about my son or trying to ruin this for Shada. So shut the fuck up, grow the fuck up, and don’t make me force the issue after we’re done here.”

There was a pause as the other two women exchanged a look, and Jo felt a small amount of pleasure as the redhead hiked up her dress on one side self-consciously in a way that Jo had felt before her mind got flooded with anger, before they turned about on their heels to go back to their change rooms. As she slid the curtain back in place she could hear them continue to whispering viciously about her ‘dumptruck ass’ and stretch marks, and one comment that as Jo turned back to the mirror, dropping the dress to the floor, stuck harder. ‘What makes her think she’s so special to be included here? Just cause she tricked Shada’s rich older brother into thinking she’s someone worth anything.’

Staring back into the mirror for a moment, Jo struggled to keep her face straight even to herself as she ran an eye over each of the imperfections they’d named as well as every other problem she saw in herself - each cut and mark and the less taunt skin around her stomach that had never gone back as tight as it used to be and the way her arms were too muscular from all the kneading and her hair was getting the odd silver strand amongst the blonde between running a business with such early hours, having a child and trying to restart her romantic life - before she spotted the dark bruising starting in the tops of her thighs and the curve of her breasts and the spots covered faintly still by make up on her neck. The proof that all those little bits, those little flaws and problem areas, and pieces that showed the history of her life in them, weren’t anything to be ashamed of.

Shaking her head, Jo quickly pulled on the next dress with a scowl of disgust at how washed out the color was compared to the deep jewel tone of the previous one, and the flacid ruffle along one side that made her want to tear it off. Some how this was almost as bad as the sparkly one.

When Jo got out onto the platform with the rest of the bridesmaids, she was not surprised to see both Anna and Lilith refusing to meet her eye before the redhead said loudly to the other, “Oh it’s such a shame some people look like old mothers rather than young bridesmaids.”

“It’s a shame some of us look like an episode of Botched,” Snapped Ruby with a smirk as she lifted her nails pretending to inspect them as a few of the other women frowned uncertainly. “But as I believe Jo said earlier, it’s about the bride right? So if someone’s tits are pointing in opposite directions then it’s probably very helpful for us all that we’re supposed to blend into the background, right?”

Jo bit down on a snort of laughter at that as she could spot a few of the crew trying to hold in their own noises. The fact there was no script today meant absolutely nothing to the ability for Gabe and his crew to get enough soundbites and drama for an episode. Glancing towards the reporter who was fiddling with his voice recorder, she could see the bemused look on his own face as well.

“Shada?” The uncertain question cut through the tension, and Ombre blinked sweetly a few times at her future sister-in-law before everyone turned back towards the dark haired bride. “What do you think?”

“Get rid of the tapeworm dresses, please, immediately!”

Jo found herself laughing hard at that description, and louder still when she shimmied the excess frill towards the bride and got a horrified squeal in return.

This time she wasn’t disturbed as she changed into the last dress. The sequined monstrosity that it was.

Shada didn’t even let half the women emerge from the change rooms before the call was made for everyone to put back on the deep purple mermaid dress with the off the shoulder cut. The one dress that made everyone look gorgeous and equally beautiful, though the way Jo could see the dark haired woman’s eyes cutting towards the redhead she could tell she wished it looked worse on her.

As they stood in line as they would on the day, Shada let out a loud and excited squeal - clapping her hands and bouncing happily on the sofa as she looked at the line of bridesmaids with joy. “We found it you guys!” The woman practically buzzed with excitement as they looked them all over and then got swamped by a giant hug from the youngest blonde who launched herself over for a hug. “We did it! Oh I have such pretty bridesmaids!”

“She using the right term? For you I mean.” Jo startled at the question from beside her as the other women milled about to try on accessories, looking out the corner of her eye at the reporter. His dictaphone was away at this point, as was his notepad, and Jo felt her cheeks heating up at the implication of the words before she got called away by Bela to try a necklace.

The rest of the day was a quick blur, and as soon as she was back in her normal clothes and wrapped up in the faint smell of aftershave, Jo felt much more comfortable as she got talked through how to do a brief interview for the show itself rather than the reporter, and then got to take Shada and Ombre for a late lunch at the sushi restaurant that the brunette never got to go to often any more. It was a relaxing time, with all three talking happily and confirming that Shada had chosen a beautiful dress that would compliment her own wedding dress when it was finally chosen too.

After lunch, Jo stopped by the bakery but was shooed straight out by Sam with the end of his broomstick and a lot of laughter. Instead of heading home, she swung past the college instead to check on Jack. That led to her sitting in on his last two lectures, staring moonily at him as she watched the passion with which he talked about his work and whipped his classes up into a frenzy of enthusiasm and appreciation for whatever topic he talked about. Then it was dinner, a movie on the couch and kisses in bed before sleep caught up with her.

The next day was equally calm in the morning, with the opening of the bakery as standard and her morning breezing by as if it was any regular day. It felt kind of strange to be back to her regular routine without her reporter shadow or anything out of the ordinary planned like shopping or photo shoots. It was quiet even as she bopped around to her tunes and worked on her usual catalogue of treats and baked goods. It felt good to be back to normal.

That changed as the clock hit one, and Jack arrived alongside his sister and Shada’s fiance Ian. Just after Jo had served up lunch of pithiviers, the door swung open to let in Chuck as well as Ash for their own lunches and bringing in a tray of coffees for the others. Jack’s attitude dipped slightly at the reporter’s arrival, but as the questions bounced about simply interviewing Ian and Shada about their feelings about Jo’s baking and why they had chosen to have Jo make their cake, he calmed some and slowly relaxed next to her as Jo rubbed her thigh against his under the bench.

As soon as lunch was finished, Jo fetched out the four different cake styles as well as the base crumb coated tiers to make a three tier mock-up of the cake itself based upon whichever design the couple chose.

It was a quick blur discussing what elements they each liked of all the cakes, and what they didn’t, but the silver dictaphone was out and Jo found herself talking more professionally than she usually would between friends but taking the time to really discuss at length the different elements. That Ian really liked the demonstrated fondant flowers but they both would be so intruiged to see some pulled sugar demonstrations as well. That Shada loved the understated, modern elegance of the airbrushed cake. That neither liked the ruffle effect of the ombre cake, even though Ian softened at hearing the name of the style and both thought it was a sweet connection to Ian’s sister but not quite their style. That they trusted Jack’s opinion on every single element.

As they finally settled on wanting to see a three tiered airbrushed cake, Jo set the fondant rolling for each cake and after wrapping and stacking the bottom two tiers - she held her airbrush out to the dark haired artist with a smile.

“You want to do the first spray?” She asked with a smile as she started wrapping the last of the cakes. “Or do you have any suggestions for the patterning?”

“Jo, I’d never suggest I could paint a cake near as good as you could.” Jack’s smile was blinding as he turned back to her as she started putting the last tier to the top with a steadying hand from him to help her when it was above her head. There was a pause before a sudden gust of air and edible dye splattered onto her cheek as Jack sprayed at her lightly on accident with a laugh. “See? I’m all thumbs!”

“That you are!” Giggling herself, she set about starting to do the same mottled effect of blacks, greys, golds and definite purples across the side of the cake - spinning it carefully left and right on the cake stand so she could create a gentle gradation that worked on both sides of the cake at once. So that no matter where you stood, you could see a gentle flow of color spreading along the while surface and swirling together. “Whatcha think, hun?”

There was a pause before Jo felt the other’s hand wrap around her fingers and lift the gun to point at one last spot. “A tiny bit there, and I think it’s good.” Jack’s lips were brushing against the shell of her ear as he talked, and she almost forgot hot to breathe when his finger pressed down on top of hers to pull the trigger for a moment before releasing again as the final, perfect brush stroke finished off the cake. The noise of the whole room had dropped away as she took a minute step back into his arms, her back to his chest and his other hand spreading across her waist, before a loud squeal broke the spell wrapped around her like her love’s arms.

“Oh my gosh, Jo! It’s absolutely perfect!”

The happy exclamation from the dark haired girl felt so good after the week of worry and stress trying to perfect the design and flavors and options for the other, and as Jo turned to look across the bench top from between the beautiful mocked up cake and the warmth of her lover’s embrace, she found herself grinning widely to see the same amount of love and excitement that she felt on the young couple’s faces as they looked between her cake and each other. Tilting her head back to catch Jack’s eye, she couldn’t help but think Shada had it utterly right.

Letting out a laugh, Jo smiled back and after a loud cough from the reporter, quickly moved to pose with both the bride and groom and the cake alone, before Chuck announced he had more than enough content for his cake article.

“I’ll see you all in a few weeks for - what was it, florals and bridal showers?” Chuck looked equally as confused as the other men in the room, shrugging his messenger bag with all his gadgets up onto his shoulder. “This article should be out by then, I think, depending on what date exactly you’re doing those parts Shada.”

“Not until after, I don’t think.” The brunette smiled gently from her perch on one of the stools, holding hands with her fiance and barely glancing away from him even as Ian was answering some email on his phone. “I loved the first article!”

“Oh yeah, that one was good.” The reporter nodded a few times, and shook hands with the distracted groom before extending a hand towards Jack as well. It took a second before the men shook hands, and Jo quickly jumped to her feet as Chuck went to leave.

“Wait! Take one of these with you, won’t you? I’ve got more cake than I’ll need for ages!” Jo flapped a hand and quickly fetched out a large cake box to slide the cake covered in the edible flowers into it for him. The ombre ruffled cake was boxed up already to be dropped off by Ian to his sister as a surprise, and Jo knew she’d use the other two as cake specials for the rest of the weekend. “I hope you like lemon.”

“You better believe it.” He looked surprised and a little uncertain to be receiving the full cake, and Jo was confused by the almost guilty look that crossed his face as Chuck took it from her with a sigh. There was a pause before he smiled again and waved goodbye with his free hand and headed back out to the main part of the bakery.

Frowning to herself, Jo moved back over to the three tier cake and grabbed a knife, holding it out to Shada and Ian. Looking between them and her own love, the blonde grinned with a wicked smile before asking cheekily, “You two need to get some practice in before the big night?”

---

#jopov #au stories #bakery AU

[thisisthepartwhereyou]

BEASTARS MINI-STORY #3: “The Pitfalls of Thin Walls pt. 3” by JCL

We're back in Sebun's apartment. Raika looks surprised and bewildered. RAIKA: "Wow, I didn't see that coming!" Ebisu on the other hand looks a little shocked. EBISU: "How can they talk about having kids? They're basically kids themselves!" ZAGUAN: "You think Haru is pregnant with his baby?" Eugen shakes his head at this notion. EUGEN: "The way young people carry on these days, I wouldn't be surprised." Bogue on the other hand nods and looks intrigued as he continues to take notes. BOGUE: "I can see it right now: The hidden condo full of playful little wolf-rabbits. Little... I dunno, what would be the therm, 'wunnies?'" -- Haru begins to cheerfully rant while Legosi looks weirded out. HARU: "There's so many pretty flower names for girls you know. *HIC!*" LEGOSI: (She's not poisoned.. She's DEAD-DRUNK!) HARU: "Rose, Hyacinth, Violet, Daisy, Jasmine, Lily... The list goes on!" Legosi tries to inernally calculate how this could've happened. LEGOSI: (But HOW?! I mean I had some sake in the soba, the way grandad always makes it, but...) Haru begins to pout and begins to scratch her chin in a pondering manner. HARU: "Not a lot of names for boys though, that might be a problem... Hazel? Nah, that's such a typical rabbit name..." LEGOSI: (Wait a minute...!) He grabs Haru by the shoulders in order to gain her full attention. LEGOSI: "Haru, focus. If I poured 1,5 dl of sake into the kind of small cups you have at your family's house, how many cups would I fill?" Haru looks confused; warped scribbles of matemathical equations and numbers holding martiniglasses dance around her head. HARU: "... How many?" She then laughs and gives Legosi a playful slap on the arm. HARU: "SILLY! I can't drink that much! I get tipsy from just one cup, six would just slay me!" Legosi looks horrified. -- Fina facepalms. FINA: "Ooooooh now I see what is going on. You can have liquor in yakisoba right?" The rest of the guys look confused. MUGI: "Yeah?" FINA: "I think that Legosi has made a classic mistake that can sometimes happen when you cook a meal for a smaller animal: He didn't take their different size proportions into consideration." The other guys still look confused. EBISU: "I don't get it." FINA: "It's simple: Lets say he made a meal with proportions adapted for a larger animal like himself, with alcohol." Explanatory illustrations pop up behind Fina as she details what she means. We see a chibi-version of Legosi standing next to a stove, pouring the contents of a flask of sake into a wok containing yakisoba. FINA: "Within those proportions, that amount would have virtually no effect on him." Chibi-Legosi proceeds to eat from a bowl of the same yakisoba. He seems completely unaffected. FINA: "But give it to an animal who has a smaller body to process it, that amount might just be much more potent, and make-" We then go over to a Chibi-Haru who eats from the same kind of bowl. She seems unaffected at first. BOGUE: "That poor little bunny more drunk than a skunk on junk outta some trunk!" Chibi-Haru turns red, puts the bowl on her head and starts to dance drunkedly back and forth. We cut back from this illustration and return to the gang in Sebun's apartment. Zaguan shakes his head sympathetically. ZAGUAN: "Poor Haru, poor Legosi. What bad luck!" -- We're back in Legosi's apartment. Legosi looks incredibly guilty, while Haru looks a little stunned. LEGOSI: "I am so sorry Haru! I didn't mean for this to happen!" HARU: "Oh... So that's why I feel strange..." Then she points and laughs at Legosi. HARU: "Haha, you idiot!" Legosi doesn't seem offended though; just sort of relieved that Haru seems to take this in stride for now. LEGOSI: "Don't worry about it, I'll fix this somehow...!" He gets up in a panic, unsure of what to do. He freezes though as he suddenly hears a voice coming through the wall. EBISU: "Make her some coffee!" -- The gang in Sebun's apartment stares daggers at Ebisu, who is holding down his beak, having realized that he thought WAY too loud just now. Fina hisses at him under her breath. FINA: "Idiot...!" Ebisu looks panicked, but then he suddenly spots a coffee jar on a nearby table with the brand Walker's Instant Coffe printed on the side and gets an idea. EBISU: "W-Walker's Instant Coffee, the brew for every couple!" He then proceeds to sing like it's all part of a commercial jingle, set to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round". EBISU: "Dun-dun-dun, just make her some! Dun-dun-dun, just make her some... He gives the others an imploring look. They get what he's trying to do and joins up in his singing. EVERYONE: "Dun-dun-dun, JUST MAKE HER SOME!" -- Legosi hits his fist in his open hand, completely buying into that it was just a commercial playing next door. LEGOSI: "Coffee, that's a good idea!" He turns around and goes over to the sink, where he grabs a percolator. He opens it and proceeds to fill it with water from the tap. LEGOSI: (And I who thought this kind of stuff only happened in mangas or bad fanfics...!) He suddenly gets a shocked expression though. He turns his head back and looks down to see that Haru has walked over and grabbed his tail. She is proceeding to snuggle with it like it was a stuffed animal. HARU: "I've wanted to touch your tail for the longest time! Heeee it's so warm and fluffy! It's like a steering wheel cover in the winter!" Legosi gives Haru an imploring look. LEGOSI: "Haru... Could you please not touch my tail?" Haru looks up at Legosi in drunken confusion. HARU: "Why? Is there poop on it?" LEGOSI: "NO... Because it is making me a little uncomfortable." HARU: "Oh... Okay." Haru lets go of his tail, looking a bit dissapointed, while Legosi breathes out in relief. LEGOSI: "Phew... HUA!" Legosi looks shocked yet again. It turns out that Haru's attention has moved away from his tail and onto the second best THING. Though we don't see exactly what she grabs, as she is off screen. HARU: "I've wanted have my hands on THIS for the longest time too...!" Legosi looks like he wants to die. LEGOSI: (I AM IN A HELL OF MY OWN MAKING) -- Fina has a little blush on her face. FINA: "I suspect her hands found something else to fondle..!" Zaguan looks a little uncomfortable. ZAGUAN: "Maybe this is getting a little too private?" Bogue on the other hand seem to writing things down in a notebook. BOGUE: "Maybe, but you can't deny it's total gold!" -- Legosi is now carrying Haru in his arms towards his mattress, while she sings a tonedead rendition of Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You". HARU: "And aaaaah-ah-ha-ha *HIC!* Will alwaaaaays love uuuuuu-" Legosi looks anything but enthused by Haru's musical aspirations. LEGOSI: "Haru please... My neighbors will hear you...!" At this, a text bubble with a large sweatdrop spawns from the wall behind them, illustrating the neighbor's sense of irony. Legosi proceeds to put Haru down as carefully as possible. He leans down and gives her an assuring smile. LEGOSI: "Just lie down here for a while. You'll be back to normal in no time." He's about to rise up, but Haru grabs him by his t-shirt. HARU: "Hey... " LEGOSI: "Hm?" She has a come-hither sort look in her eyes. HARU: "... You're not gonna leave just yet, are you?" LEGOSI: "I, um, well...!" HARU: "There's a pretty girl lying underneath you, intoxicated and vulnerable... It hasn't crossed your mind, has it? *HIC!*" LEGOSI: "Wha-wha-what are we talking about?" Haru raises her other hand and proceeds to caress Legosi's cheek. HARU: "To take advantage of the situation. Full and complete, ADVANTAGE." Haru speaks the last of this line with such a low voice, that it is obvious to everyone except the completely stone-deaf that it is an invite. -- Most of the gang in Sebun's apartment has gone red in the face, the exception being Raika and Zaguan, who looks relatively calm. Fina begins to speak in a nervous and high-pitched voice. FINA: "Oo-ho-ho-ho-kay, maybe we should stop listening now!" Raika waves this away though. RAIKA: "It'll be fine, we all know Legosi. He's too much of a gentleman." Zaguan nods at this. ZAGUAN: "Agreed. He would never do something so clearly amoral." -- Legosi grabs Haru's hand and gently (but firmly) removes it from his cheek. LEGOSI: "You´re drunk Haru, of course I wouldn't!" -- Raika smiles and points at the wall. RAIKA: "See? He's a regular Gregory Peck!" The others look a bit relieved. -- Haru suddenly sits up and looks Legosi straight in the eye, a sudden sharpness appearing in her gaze. HARU: "What if I said I'm not as drunk as you think, and I'd like you to?" RAIKA: "OH HOT DIGGEDY DAMN!" Both Legosi and Haru turn their heads to look at the wall. The sudden outcry is then followed by a loud acapella-styled jingle. EVERYONE: "DUN-DUN-DUN! JUST MAKE HER SOME!" HARU: "What the hell?" Legosi's large, muscular arm moves past Haru's face. She looks up, and Legosi appears to be leaning in to kiss her. Haru swallows, thinking that Legosi is about to accept her invitation. But then we see that Legosi was merely reaching for the pillow next to his mattress, which he places behind Haru. He sits back and gives her mature look. LEGOSI: "I'd say you're still drunk, and it would still be wrong." He then grabs her with both hands and pulls her back, putting her head down against the pillow with a gentle, yet strict, care.   LEGOSI: "Now lie back, while I make you some coffee." He stands up and walks back to the sink. Haru looks a bit annoyed, kind of like a kid that has been sent to bed early because she wouldn't eat hear vegetables. HARU: "... Fine." -- The gang in Sebun's apartment looks relieved beyond belief, almost collapsing from the whole ordeal. RAIKA: "The force is strong in that one..." -- TEXT: LATER, AND ABOUT 5 MINUTES BEFORE SEBUN COMES HOME. Haru and Legosi are now sitting next to each other on the mattress, both holding a cup of coffee in their hands. Haru is much more sober now and looks ashamed. HARU: "I am sorry." LEGOSI: "Don't be. It was my fault to begin with." HARU: "But I acted like a complete idiot... I fondled your naughty bits and asked you to take advantage of me...! God I must be so screwed up!" LEGOSI: "I... Think everyone does something they normally wouldn't do when they've had too much to drink. Or in your case, eat food filled with booze." Haru gives Legosi a sad look. HARU: "But I made you uncomfortable. I don't want to make you uncomfortable. Not when you're so nice to me... It's frustrating you know, cause it seems like I can't do anything for you. I just want to do something for you in return and I don't know what..." Legosi blinks. He puts a hand on Haru's shoulder. LEGOSI: "Haru... You know why we can't go too fast. Our instincts tell us one thing, and that is either to eat or get eaten, and we don't want either to happen." HARU: "I know... But our heads and hearts, they want us to do nice things to each other, because that's what people do when they care about each other. I mean, you work so hard to make this work, and now you're making me dinner too? It just doesn't feel fair somehow... It's kind of like Christmas when you exchange gifts; you feel guilty when you don't have anything to give back." Legosi stares at Haru. She sighs, gets up and proceeds to pace back and forth. HARU: "I know it's stupid, but I just feel bad about not having given or sacrificed enough compared to you. I mean you dropped out of school, you're covered in scars, you work your butt off in a restuarant and get involved in all kinds of shady stuff, all for me. Meanwhile, I just keep going to school, I have a good relationship with my family, I don't have any problem with money and I'm not even bullied anymore! I mean be honest with me, doesn't any of that bother you?!" As she turns to Legosi with a frustrated expression, she suddenly trips over the carpet and almost falls over. Legosi reacts with lighting-fast reflexes and catches her. She looks up at him, and he gives her a serious look.   LEGOSI: "It doesn't bother me a bit. What kind of person would I be if I wished my girlfriend's life sucked? You make me feel good, just being you. Coming to visit me, letting me come to visit you and your family, talking to me, looking at me with no fear... You don't have to feel oblidged to sleep with me because I cooked you a meal. This isn't a third world country you know." Haru blinks, then gets a shy expression on her face. She looks away with a wobbly smile and begins to run her finger across Legosi's forearm. HARU: "Hey... Since when did you start to act so adult?" Legosi smiles in response. LEGOSI: "I'd say you're rubbing off on me, and I like it." -- We're back in Sebun's apartment, where the whole gang seems to be nearly moved to tears. Ebisu is rubbing some away as he speaks. EBISU: "That guy is my fricking hero...!" Bogue on the other hand is biting into his notebook with tears running down his cheeks. BOGUE: "I'll have to dedicate my next book to them. They are so inspirational!" Fina smiles with a proud look on her face. FINA: "Gregory Peck can throw something old over himself." All of them look up though as they hear the door opening. TEXT: SEBUN IS HOME -- Haru's ears suddenly flickers. She appears to have noticed something, and she moves her hand up to her nose. She sniffs it and then gives off an amused little giggle. HARU: "Nope, it's still here." LEGOSI: "What is?" HARU: "The smell. I think I was mistaken earlier. It wasn't the apartment. It's probably coming from you." Legosi looks embarassed. LEGOSI: "Oh..." Haru grabs his big hand with her two small ones, takes it to her face and presses her nose against his fingers. HARU: "Don't worry about it." She looks up, and her eyes meets with his. They got more tenderness in them than the entirety of "Love me tender." HARU: "I like your smell..." Legosi blushes heavily and swallows. LEGOSI: "..." (Her touch, her eyes, they're so full of warmth) He grabs both of her hands in his, and begins to lean down closer. Haru looks up. LEGOSI: "Haru..." HARU: "Hm?" She sees in his eyes that there's something Legosi wants; coincidentally, the same thing that she wants. Her eyes begin to glitter with anticipation. HARU: (Really? Now? Is he finally ready, so that we can... we can... finally ki-) She raises her head, he lowers his, they both ready their lips and are about to proceed when: SEBUN: "LIKE HELL YOU CAN!" The sudden, loud voice coming from next door startles them both. Especially Haru, who jumps up and grabs Legosi around the throat. Legosi on the other hand gets so surprised that he trips backwards to the kotetsu, which he violently crashes into.   -- Their screams and the violent crash is heard next door, turning into the exact same scene at the end of part 1. SEBUN: “… Did you say.. That Legosi was making her dinner?” -- We see the disastrous result of the crash in Legosi's apartment. He is sitting in the wok atop the collapsed kotatsu. Both he and Haru, who is lying atop of him, are covered head to toe in yakisoba. Legosi looks tired. LEGOSI: "You know what, maybe we'll just go out and eat next time." Haru looks like she's in a murderous state of mind. HARU: (I am gonna kill that woman next door...!) TO BE CONTINUED...

#the pitfalls of thin walls #legosi x haru #beastars #fanfiction #script style #sebun #zaguan #bogue #raika #fina #mugi #eugen #ebisu #part 3 #jcl

[etherealwaifgoddess]

To Give Him The World, Chpt.5

Main Characters: Thor x Ellie (original female character)

Summary: Ellie takes Thor on a walk into town for coffee and a little sightseeing. If you haven’t read the first four chapters you can catch up HERE!

Warnings/ Content: as usual- fluff and Thor getting frustrated with himself but Ellie helps him through it. Brief mention of PTSD and depression. Personal head cannon - I like to think that Bruce would have pulled Thor aside after Endgame and been like “Buddy, this isn’t just about being sad. You can get help. PTSD is real. Depression is real. Gods aren’t excluded from suffering.”  #brucebannerisagoodbro

Word Count: 2.9k

Author’s Note: Hello lovelies! It’s been a loooong week. I’m so happy it’s Friday because I’m planning on scrubbing through the rest of this fic tomorrow morning while sipping my coffee and pretending the outside world doesn’t exist. For now, enjoy chapter five. We’re over halfway through ya’ll!  XOXO - Ash

To Give Him The World, Chapter Five

Ellie led the way to New Asgard’s only coffee shop. It was situated at the edge of the main shopping street with patio seating outside under the blue and white awning. It was bright and cheery inside with walls of books and a whole section of teas and coffees to buy and make at home. Thor looked around eagerly, having never been inside before. Ellie let him look around a minute while she headed for the counter, desperately ready for her morning coffee. 

A young man with short cropped hair and rich brown skin stood behind the counter. He waved as she approached, “Morning Ellie! Your usual?”

“Hey Marcus. Yes, a big one today, I need it.” Ellie told him.

“I bet you do…. I see that guy you brought in with you. Hel-lo tall, chubby, and handsome. So is the dry spell over then?” Marcus quirked an eyebrow at her suggestively and she couldn’t suppress a giggle. She had befriended the overly dramatic barista when the shop opened four years ago and she started coming in daily for her coffee fix. Marcus had the morning shift on the weekdays, and sometimes on weekends they would find time to hang out. He was always up for some girl talk and his own dating life was much more exciting than Ellie’s so she got to live vicariously through him and his escapades to find his very own prince charming. 

Ellie blushed and couldn’t bring herself to possibly embarrass Thor by talking about him. “Be nice, he’s an old friend. I’m not sure about anything more just yet.”

Marcus shrugged, “Says the girl in yesterday’s clothes.”

“Marcus!” Ellie picked up a biscotti out of the counter top bin and threw it at him. 

Marcus laughed as he dodged it and walked over to the espresso bar to start on Ellie’s vanilla latte.

Thor had heard the commotion and walked over to join Ellie at the counter. He stared intently at the board reading through the options. “There are so many things.” he said almost to himself. Thor was starting to fluster, not knowing what most of the items on the menu were and becoming frustrated that he was inept at something as simple as finding the right type of coffee. He wished for a beer, he wouldn’t have to worry about anything if he just had a few beers. 

“Why don’t you get what I’m having and if you want to try something new next time, Marcus can go through the different types with us. I don’t know what half of this crap is.” Ellie offered.

“Okay, whatever you’re having is fine.”

“Marcus,” Ellie called over to him, “Make that two.”

“Not a problem, doll face. Gimme one sec.” 

Thor looked from Marcus to Ellie curiously.

“He’s a good friend. I come in daily for my caffeine fix and his dating life gossip.” 

Thor nodded, “Hello, Ellie’s friend.” He called out.

“Hello Ellie’s other friend.” Marcus called back cheerily. He took a minute to glance over and get a good look at the new man in his friend’s life, but his jaw dropped when he saw it was Thor. Marcus fumbled with the frothing milk pitcher, splashing a little on his hand with a curse. “I’m so sorry. I meant no disrespect your majesty.” Marcus tried to back peddle. 

Thor shook his head, “None taken. Any friend of Ellie’s is a friend of mine. It’s great to meet you. Please, call me Thor.” Thor extended his hand warmly which Marcus scrambled over to shake. Thor shook the smaller man’s hand heartily and Ellie had to bite her lip from laughing as Marcus’ whole body was swayed by the shake. 

Marcus was still wide eyed but managed to speak, “I’m Marcus. Can I get you something to drink?”

Thor nodded, ”Well, Marcus, I’m going to have whatever Ellie ordered.”

“Oh, right. Sorry. It should be almost done.” Marcus scrambled back to the espresso bar to finish the drink. He shot Ellie a quick text while he waited for the last two shots of espresso to pour. “Details girl. You owe me details.” He typed. 

Ellie’s phone chimed in her pocket and she pulled it out to check. She laughed when she read the message. “Later. Promise.” She sent back. 

Thor looked inquisitively at Ellie’s phone. “Everyone seems to be obsessed with those mobile devices. I don’t understand it.”

“They keep people connected.” Ellie explained, “It’s much easier to send a quick morning hello, or just something you found funny by text than call and have a whole conversation. Think about it, if you wanted to talk to Valkyrie to catch up, what would you do?”

“Hit myself in the face. It’s what she’d end up doing anyway.”

“Thor!” Ellie giggled and smacked his arm, “Be serious.”

“Alright. I would call her from my house phone. Or I would walk down to find her in town.”

“Okay, perfect. So, you would only walk to town once a day, right? You wouldn’t make trips down and back just because you thought of something else. You wouldn’t call her several times a day with small things.”

“No, I’d wait.”

“Exactly. With cell phones we stay connected all the time. You could tell her right away when you think of something instead of waiting until your next trip into town and possibly forgetting it.” 

“Hmm.” Thor took a minute to ponder her words, “It could be useful. But I don’t know if anyone needs me interrupting their day that much.” he says with a self depreciating chuckle. 

“I go back to work on Monday and I wouldn’t mind having my day interrupted by hearing from you.” 

Thor felt a blush spreading across his cheeks and ducked his head to look at the floor. He was saved by the return of Marcus with two lattes in hand. “Here you go. It was good seeing you Ellie, and nice meeting you, your magis…. Thor.” Marcus feels weird calling their king by his first name but doesn’t want to make an even larger faux paux by refusing to respect his wishes. 

Thor shoots Marcus a grateful smile for catching himself and pulls Ellie’s hand into his as they exit the shop. The streets are busy for a Friday morning and Thor’s hand squeezes Ellie’s a little tighter when people recognize him and say hello. He’s anxious but holding on and Ellie is so proud he’s managing. One overeager older gentleman stops them and begins giving Thor a piece of his mind for abdicating the throne to a non royal woman. Thor shifts uncomfortably, trying to come up with a polite response and squeezing Ellie’s hand for dear life. 

Ellie decides she’s heard enough chauvinistic rambling and steps in. “Wouldn’t you say being present is extremely important to governing a community?”

The old man’s eyes narrowed in on Ellie, unsure where she was going, “Well yes, of course.” he conceded.

“Good, we agree then. You can’t lead people if you’re not there and Thor has been part of the Avengers for almost a decade. He could be called away at a moment’s notice. He has been called away so much within that time that he’s been away more than he’s been here. Valkyrie hasn’t left since she returned and has no other obligations to pull her away. Clearly Thor made the right choice in leaving Asgard under her care.” 

The old man stared at Ellie like he wanted to argue but needed to restrategize first. Ellie didn’t give him a chance. “But thank you so much for stopping to say hello. We must be off. I hope you have a lovely weekend.” Ellie pulled Thor along with her, refusing to look back and enjoy what was probably a hilarious expression on the man’s face. 

Thor was stunned at how easily Ellie shut the man down and was staring at her, baffled, as they moved briskly down the sidewalk. Ellie looked up to see Thor’s face and gave him a little shrug, “Sorry if I overstepped. That guy was relentless and you seemed to be really uncomfortable.”

“You didn’t.” he assured her, “And I was. That man is exactly why I stay home.”

“Oh darling, no. Don’t let him get to you. We’re going to have a lovely morning out. I’m with you and nobody is going to upset you as long as I’m here.” Ellie promised him. 

Thor smiled down at her, amused by her determination. Remembering the cup in his hand, he asked, “I rather like this drink. What was it called?”

“Vanilla latte. I get one every morning from there.” 

“I might have to start. It’s like coffee but better.”

Ellie chuckled at his description. “It’s mostly milk and sugar but it has espresso which is kind of like really strong coffee.”

Thor nods, thinking for a moment, “And the cafe is open every day?”

“Yes, every day. Though Marcus is only there on weekday mornings. The weekend morning girl is Rachel.” 

“You really do go everyday.” 

“Of course! I can’t make this at home and it’s typically my breakfast.” 

“This is your breakfast?”

“Yeah, mostly. I never seem to remember to prep anything or bring it along even when I do.” 

Thor frowns, “You need more than that for a morning meal.” 

“I survive just fine, Thor. And look, we’re here.” Ellie pointed to the gates of the community garden. 

It was a beautiful area dedicated to nature and fenced off from the town surrounding it. The paths throughout the space were lined with smooth river rocks in varying sizes and low lying flowering plants. It managed to be whimsical and elegant all at the same time. You wouldn’t be surprised to stumble across either a wedding event or a faery tea party while you walked the paths. It was one of Ellie’s favorite places in New Asgard, she loved the smell of the green earth there and the calmness it brought her. Thor watched her face as she stopped every so often to admire the plants, sometimes bending down to lovingly run her fingers across soft leaves. Thor thought it was very well done and was impressed with Valkyrie’s planning. 

“Have you been here before?” Ellie asked him as she noticed he wasn’t as engrossed as she was. 

Thor shook his head, “No, but Valkyrie had talked to me about her plans years ago. It’s lovely.” 

“It really is. I come here a lot, especially if I’m stressed. There’s something soothing about being here.” 

“That’s nice you have a place to go. That’s how I feel about my rock.”

“Your rock?”

“Yes, the rock on the cliff at the edge of my backyard. You can sit on it to watch the sea. There’s nothing more relaxing than sitting there.” 

“Huh. I’d like to see that. Maybe we can do that next. I’ve shown you my favorite peaceful place, it’s only fair I get to see yours.” 

Thor was pleased he’d been able to contribute to their day and he grinned at Ellie who was already off, rubbing her fingers through a stretch of tall grasses. They walked through the labyrinth-like trails hand in hand, exploring each new turn as they came to it. Thor found a bench to park himself on for a bit and a trash can for their paper cups in the area around the large decorative fountain. He was happy to sit and people watch as Ellie backtracked a bit to try and see where the one narrow offshoot led to. She had a feeling it was a shortcut to the new children’s garden but wanted to explore. Ellie hadn’t wanted to try and have Thor navigate through the small area but when he announced he was ready to sit a moment she took the opportunity to go back. 

Thor sat happily people watching for almost fifteen minutes while Ellie explored. He loved sitting outside in the sun and realized he hadn’t done it in quite some time. As much as he enjoyed being outside in his yard, and especially sitting on his rock, it had been increasingly harder to get out of bed to the living room, let alone go outside. Thor knew it was depression and PTSD but it didn’t make him feel any better about it. He’d talked with Banner about it at length before he returned to New Asgard. There were medications he could try but being Aesir it was unlikely they would work so they ruled them out. Bruce had sent him emails on things he could do to help manage both issues but after a little while things started landsliding back to the way they were before Bruce and Rocket had found him in the cottage with Korg and Miek. 

Ellie found Thor right where she’d left him, deep in thought. “Hey,” she said sitting down next to him, “I was right, it was the children’s garden. It has a Very Hungry Caterpillar theme. Look.” Ellie held her phone out to him and flipped through the photos she’d taken of the area.

Thor was starting to like the idea of cell phones. “Thank you for taking those. It’s a charming little area.” 

“It is. So how was your rest? Ready to keep moving?” 

“Yes, I think we should. We’re almost done, right?” 

Ellie nodded, “Yeah, we’re about three quarters of the way through. Or we can take a quick route right out if you’re ready. We’ve already been here over an hour.”

“You love it here, we can keep going. But I will pay for a ride to get us home afterwards.”

“No, it’s okay. I come here so much, I don’t mind. Let’s call a car now and get you home. I need to pop over to my apartment at some point today though. My clothes are pretty gross at this point.”

Thor hadn’t even realized Ellie was still wearing yesterday’s clothes. The same clothes she had spent the whole day cleaning in. “Ellie, how inconsiderate of me. I didn’t even think of it. Is your place on the way back?  We can stop there first.”

“No, it’s okay. It’s a few more minutes in the opposite direction. Don’t worry about it, I’ll go later” 

“We can still go. You shouldn’t have to be uncomfortable any longer than you have been.”

“You sure you’re up to it?” 

“Absolutely. I’d like to see where you live.”

“Okay, thank you. And don’t get too excited. My place is pretty boring, just a little apartment over on Oak Street. Let me call for a car so we can head out.” Ellie pulled out her phone and made the call. They had ten minutes which was plenty for them to get back to the entrance. She took Thor’s hand again and showed him the most direct route out from where they were. There was a straight route out from almost anywhere in the gardens if you knew where to look. It was a safety measure but one that was most often used by frazzled parents with overtired children who were ready to be done with their outing. 

The car was early and they were walking out of the gates as it pulled up. Thor opened and closed Ellie’s door for her before dashing around to his side. Ellie gave the driver her address and they arrived at her little apartment barely five minutes later. It was an old stone house that had been subdivided into three apartments, one on each floor. Ellie had the bottom floor and she loved having the large backyard right outside her kitchen door. The car agreed to wait while they ran inside for a few minutes to gather her things and Thor followed Ellie into her home. It was nothing special, just a basic collection of rooms with cream colored walls and pale oak wood floors. Thor would have expected it to be more homey and wondered why Ellie hadn’t decorated. It could have been a show home for all the blandness. 

“Did you just move in?” Thor called to Ellie who was in the bedroom changing. 

“No, I’ve been here since we arrived. It was a great catch getting a bottom floor apartment.” she called back.

Thor was even more perplexed and was about to ask about the lack of personal items when Ellie popped out in her new outfit. “Oh, wow.” Thor had to consciously keep his jaw up when he saw her. Ellie had changed into a pair of soft looking leggings and a long cable knit sweater with a neckline large enough that it exposed her left shoulder. Thor thought she looked absolutely edible and fought the urge to go kiss her senseless.

Ellie laughed at his reaction. “So I’m all set. Unless you think I should pack a bag.” 

“Pack a bag?” Thor parroted back confused, his mind distracted by how soft her pale, creamy skin looked against the dark green of her sweater.

“Yes, Thor, if I’m staying over again I need to bring a few things. I didn’t want to pressure you or presume anything but you said you slept better with me there and I don’t have any plans this weekend.” 

That caught Thor’s attention. “Yes! Please do. Pack a bag. Several bags. I’d love it if you stayed the weekend.” 

Ellie laughed again, “Okay, give me one more minute to pack.” She raced back to her bedroom to gather up two sets of clothes, her toiletries, and set of lace underwear just in case. She was hurrying back to Thor in the living room before he’d gotten a chance to get his wits about him. 

“Come on, let’s go.” she herded him out the door and back into the waiting car. 

Tag list lovelies: @thorfanficwriter @lancsnerd @avengers-fixation

#thor #Thor Odinson #thor x reader #Thor x original character #Thor x Original Female Character #original female character #plus size original female character #thor fanfic #thor fanfiction #fat thor #chubby thor #thicc thor #marvel #Marvel Avengers #post avengers endgame #cannon divergent #marvel fanfic #marvel fanfiction #MARVEL FANDOM #marvel fangirl #To Give Him The World

[corescorner]

Charmberry Cove Chapter One.

Chapter Title: New Places, New Faces.

Wordcount: 3,517

AO3

Yay, chapter one! 

Virgil moves into The Cove and meets a friend.

Taglist: @unsocialchapeau, @aularei

He was being shaken awake from his impromptu nap, he didn’t even realise that he fell asleep, but he supposes it was a long car ride.

 “Hey there Pumpkin King, wake up kiddo.”

 That would be his dad talking, well one of two of them anyway.

 Emile Picani, therapist and cartoon enthusiast. And like, one of the best dads ever, the other being his other dad, obviously.

 Virgil blinks slowly awake, staring at his dad, “how long have I been sleeping for?” he asks, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

 “Not long, just under an hour I'd say, ya didn't miss much” he smiles at Virgil, patting his head. “Now go put Hex in your room, I'm sure she's restless after being cooped up in that carrier most of the ride down.”

 Virgil shuffles grabbing the cat carrier and climbing out of the moving truck.

 He goes to open the front door, but of course, it's locked. He looks back to Pops, who is opening the back of the truck to assess their belongings with a hand on his mouth his finger tapping his lips, the other on his hip and a thoughtful expression on his face. Virgil walks up to the truck to stare with him for a moment; they have a lot of stuff.

 “Hey, Pops. The door is locked” he mumbles out. Emile startles then looks disgruntled.

 “Oh darn it, I don't know if I have the keys” he looks thoughtful, then snaps his fingers. “I'm gonna have to text your father and see what he did with those keys of ours.”

 Virgil watches as his dad climbs back into the drivers seat of the truck to get his phone, sitting there texting Remy.

 He stands there for all of thirty seconds before Dad pulls up on the street in front of the house in their car.

 That was fast, but Dad always has weirdly great timing.

 “Anybody order some keys?” He says, getting out of the car and taking a sip from his travel mug of coffee. He hands Virgil a purple key with the handle in the shape of a cloud and the number 618 etched into it, there was also a lightning bolt going down into the keys teeth. Clearly he got the keys personalized; he wouldn't be surprised if Remy himself had a key handle shaped like a coffee mug. Dad hands Pops his key, Virgil notices that it's shaped like Finns sword, he smiles at his pops’ unabashed squeal of delight at this fact.

 Virgil walks up to his new home, the 618 on the side of the front door in bold black and gold.

 Well here it goes. He unlocks the door and steps into his new house, taking it all in. It's nice, is his first thought, his second thought is on how big it actually is, it looks smaller from the outside and considering that it's a townhouse, which is to say it's connected to other houses made it seem like it might be smaller than it really is.

 Being at the front door he can practically see the whole first floor, it being very open spaced and bright from the large windows.

 The front door leads straight into the living room, and separating that in the back is a half wall and a breakfast bar that goes into the kitchen, with a sliding door into the back yard.

 The kitchen itself is a nice size, no doubt that Dad is going to have a good time experimenting in it.

 The stairs off to the side of the living room and close to the front door lead upwards, with a door set on the side of the staircase itself and Virgil hopes that it leads to a basement.

 Shifting Hex's carrier to be more comfortable, he steps towards the door intent on opening it, and he's not disappointed when he does, cause it does in fact open up to a staircase leading down.

 Descending the stairs and flicking on the light at the bottom reveals the basement in a low glow, off to the right side is an area for a washer and dryer to be hooked up and at the far end in the right corner looks to be a small bathroom and in the left corner he's met with a larger looking room with a closed door.

 A door that Virgil learns is unlocked and ready for exploration, it turns out that this door leads to a cozy sized room that’s probably for storage and the like, noting the high ceiling with rafters, the stone floor and lack of windows.

 He immediately claims this as his bedroom.

 Closing the door he lets Hex out of her cage and sits on the floor to look around more. There are a couple outlets to plug stuff in and there’s a single light that swings from the rafters that throws shadows around.

 Definitely not made to be a bedroom.

 He likes it even more.

 He sets out all of Hex's amenities and petting her before leaving to go help with the boxes and such; closing the rooms door so she doesn't get underfoot while they move about.

 When he gets back upstairs he blinks in confusion at the living room that now has a large amount of furniture and boxes scattered around, he didn't think that he was downstairs that long, but apparently he was.

 “Hey bud, find your room alright?” Remy asks, lounging on the couch his shades perched on top of his head nestling in the waves of his hair his piercing eyes on rare display; the shining turquoise is almost hypnotizing.

 “Uh yea, the um, the basement has a room in it, I like that one” he replies while picking at his hoodie sleeves.

 Dad chuckles “of course you'd choose the dungeon for a room.”

 He heaves himself off of the couch, ruffling Virgil's hair as he instructs his son “alright then, Phantom of the Opera, go bring your things into your room, that's all you need to help with.” He heads up the stairs yelling out to his husband “hey Babes, it seems like you've acquired that office, Virge wants the basement room.”

 He hears a knowing muffled laugh of 'of course he does', it seems like they had this conversation already.

 He goes to the truck to check on what to do first and decides on bringing all the large garbage bags filled with clothes and bedding to leave the boxes and heavier things for last.

 ~

 He huffs and wipes his hands together, the bags were easy enough, though there were quite a few of them so he takes a short break on the front steps, letting his mind wander to other things, like how his new school is going to be. This town doesn't have a large population to begin with, so he can't really imagine the student body population to be much either (not nearly as much as his old school does.) He thinks that this whole town wouldn't fill his old school.

 He gets distracted from his thoughts as another teen, about his age bounces towards him with a dog following by his side.

 “I didn't know someone new was moving in!” He happily chirps at Virgil. Virgil just stares at him, not exactly knowing what to say in this situation. “Oh”- the kid laughs out, face palming -“where are my manners?” He thrusts his arm towards Virgil for a handshake. “I'm Patton” he brightly announces “Patton Sanders, I live two doors down that way,” he points to the right of himself.

 Virgil nods, taking the outstretched hand and Patton beams at him.

 Giving his own smile, though shy and not as open as Patton's he mumbles out his own name. He doesn't think Patton heard what he said, but looking up at the other boy he sees that Patton doesn't have any annoyance in his features, only a calm encouraging smile that trails into his eyes, the warmth he sees behind the thick black glasses puts him at ease.

 It feels almost like Patton himself is pushing all the comforting feelings towards Virgil on purpose, and he finds he's not as anxious as he usually would be around someone new.

 So he clears his throat to introduce himself properly, in an octave the other can actually hear him in.

 “Virgil, um... Virgil Tempest.”

 Patton's eyes widen and he claps his hands together.

 “Oh! Like Tempest Coffee? Ms. Tempest is so nice and she makes the best cookies! I've always wanted to know what she does to make them that good!” He excitedly gushes it makes Virgil smile at the enthusiasm.

 “Yea, exactly like Tempest Coffee, though I'm pretty sure Dad is going to change the name” he offhandedly mentions.

 Patton tilts his head to the side he looks confused but quickly jolts like he was shocked; his eyes shine with sadness and guilt.

 “Oh my gosh! That was so insensitive of me” he gasps out his hands flying to cover his mouth. “I am so sorry Virgil, I completely forgot, I guess my brain hasn't caught up to the fact that she's gone yet.”

 And now Virgil made Patton sad with just being, cause of course he did.

 Great, off to a good start with the neighbours then.

 “It-it's okay, I didn't really know her. If that makes you feel better” he mumbles out that last part, shrugging.

 Patton looks uncertain for a second and then plasters a smile onto his face, exuding that same calming feeling from before.

 “She used to send me birthday gifts and weirdly enough, Halloween gifts too. That was as far as our relationship went” he looks confusedly back at Patton's own confused look “what?” he asks, enunciating the whole word.

 “You don't celebrate Halloween?” His nose scrunches up with his confusion; it's adorable.

 “I do” Virgil says slowly. “But, it's kinda weird to get presents for it no?”

 Patton shakes his head.

 Well then. Just him he supposes.

 “It's not at all weird around here, Halloween is kinda a big deal in these parts” Patton says then asks: “what do you usually do then?”

 “Well, you know. The usual, trick or treating” he ticks off his fingers as he goes down the list. “Dressing up, going to strangers houses to beg for candy, horror movie marathons, eating too much candy and then ditching school the next day cause, honestly, it was just Halloween.” He has a lopsided smirk as he says: “I love it, it's my favourite holiday.”

 Patton nods along to all of his points.

 “Well, we do all that stuff here too. Just more” he starts bouncing in place clapping. “Oh, you're gonna love it here if it's your favourite! The whole town goes up in lights and we have fireworks! Fireworks at the beach! And and and everyone participates in this amazing barbeque! And there's fun activities to do all 'round town, it's a spectacular event! Oh oh oh and and! There's a couple days off of school for all the festivities! And it's just so much fun!” Patton's excitement radiates out that his dog joins in on his bouncing. “I am so glad that I can show you all the cool stuff for the first time! This is so exciting!” He claps a couple more times.

 Virgil can feel the excitement smash over him like a tidal wave and he can't help the large smile that spreads across his face as he watches Patton clap.

 With a new sense of adrenaline Virgil decides that his break should be over and that he needs to get back to work on these boxes, he says as much to Patton.

 “You want some help?” The other asks so genuinely it throws Virgil through a loop. “I'm sure you'll get so much more done with some help” his offer is so honest and pure all Virgil can do is nod.

 Patton bounces in place once more “Oh, I need to bring Foster home but I'll be back to help you lickity split!”

 Virgil watches as Patton practically skips home with Foster bounding at his heels, he opens his front door Foster goes in with one word. Patton waves at Virgil as he closes his door again, then skips right back to Virgil's side.

 Well, it seems like moving his stuff isn't going to be as gruelling as he thought it was going to be.

 Virgil gets up off of the steps as Patton reaches him, both turning towards the truck.

 “Alright tell me what I'm bringing and where to put it” Patton exclaims, Virgil motions towards the boxes off to the side of the truck, some inside of it some outside so he instructs Patton farther than his hand wave gave.

 “All the ones to the left are mine, if you don't know what to grab all my boxes have my name on them. And you can bring them... Um.” Is Patton going to think he's weird if he tells him his room is in the basement, willingly, in a room that's not meant to be a room? He looks to Patton from where he was focusing on boxes only to see curiosity and kindness on the others face. “Um, the basement. That's where my room is.” Patton just nods and walks with Virgil inside his house, and then down the stairs.

 He's pretty trusting of new people huh?

 Patton goes to open the door to the room but Virgil stops him just before he can turn the handle.

 “Wait don't open it yet!”

 Patton freezes in place at Virgil's panicked tone.

 “Sorry” Virgil winces, “I can't let the cat out yet though.”

 Patton's eyes go wide and excitement bubbles up in him once again.

 “You have a cat!?” He breathes out with a slight high pitched noise following.

 Virgil nods amusement colouring his face. He puts the boxes he was carrying down and goes to open the door while Patton puts his own box down.

 The boys scurry into the bedroom, closing the door hurriedly behind them.

 “You like cats I'm guessing?” He asks as Patton gets on his knees in front of the small black cat, and he nods frantically as she climbs on to his lap.

 “I love them” he says as he cradles her to his chest, “I'm super duper kinda allergic to them though” he says lightly and Virgil startles at that.

 “Stop rubbing your face on her then!” he shrieks, waving his hands around as Patton giggles.

 “But she's just too cuuuuuuute Virgil!” He whines as he hugs the cat to his face.

 Virgil splutters with a pained look on his face.

 “But, your allergies...” he says lamely.

 Patton giggles once more “worth it. She's too cute.”

 Sigh.

 “Yes, yes she is.”

 Patton looks up, “what's her name?” He asks innocently, like he's not going to regret this whole situation.

 “Hex” he answers, Patton smiles down at the cat.

 “Well, she's gonna fit right in with that name.”

 “I suppose so,” Virgil agrees. “Now stop killing yourself with my cat” he opens the door to enunciate his statement.

 “Fiiine, bye bye Hex” he coos to the cat.

 ~

 They get a couple more boxes downstairs before Dad stops them on their way to go get more.

 “Who's your new friendo there Virge?” He asks his shades are back on his face sheltering his eyes from the outside world he’s sipping on an iced coffee; eyebrow raised.

 “Uh, this is Patton he lives two doors down. That way” he adds pointing to his left. “Patton this is one of my dads.”

 “You can call me Remy hon” he addresses Patton, then addresses them both “you boys hungry? I've got lunch sorted out, and Patton you are so welcome to join in on this sweet-pea.”

 “That sounds great Dad” Virgil sits at the breakfast bar, Patton following suit.

 “That sounds super, thank you Mr. Remy.”

 “Oh God none of that 'Mr' crap around here kid, just Remy is fine and dandy” he finishes his sentence with a long drag from his straw.

 Dad sets a sandwich in front of both of them and a plate of cookies in between them and then hands them both a soda before leaving to go upstairs.

 They eat in silence for the most part, until Patton takes a bite from a cookie and gasps out loud.

 Oh no, Virgil panics. Did his dad somehow mess up on this recipe that he knows by heart and accidentally poisoned his only friend?

Tears, there are tears coming from Patton's eyes, and Virgil has no idea what to do about this, his panic sky rockets and Patton immediately stops his stray tears and seems to force a lighter aura around his being.

 Virgil would define this as 'emotional whiplash' on how that happened so fast.

 “Are, are you okay?” He asks in concern (and maybe a little confusion.)

 “Yea, it's- it's just these taste exactly like how Ms. Tempest makes them an it threw me off guard, I didn't think I'd ever get to eat them again is all” he softly says as he stares sadly at the baked good.

 “Well,” Virgil starts “my dad is her son, so he knows all her baking secrets and tricks so you'll definitely be able to eat them” he smiles at Patton's soft expression.

 “So, she's your Grandma then?” Patton asks.

 “Yea, did... did you know her well?”

 Patton smiles “yea, I went over to the cafe a lot to help her out.”

 “Oh, that's nice.”

 “Mmhm. It was fun.”

 “Woah, what's with the mood in here?” Pops asks as he walks into the room, “It's like you just found out Bambi’s mum gets shot” he says brightly while grabbing a soda from the fridge.

 Virgil's eyebrows shoot up to his forehead in surprise.

 “Woah Pops, a little dark there.”

 Emile stops, stares into nothingness and turns to Virgil with a serious look on his face and a tone to match.

 “I've been spending too much time with your father.”

 And then promptly walks out.

 “How long have they been together?” Patton asks.

 “Um, since like, collage...”

 Neither of them can contain the loud laughter that comes.

  ~0~

 Patton is genuinely happy in this moment, helping Virgil out with his boxes.

 They just delivered the last one to Virgil's room.

 Remy had already carried and put in the bed, shelving, dresser and desk while they ate lunch.

 Well, that's what he said he did. But Patton didn't notice anything being moved, it's not like the staircase is out of their line of vision.

 Remy is an odd character, just like his mother.

 Patton can't get a read on him, just like with Ms. Tempest.

 Nothing came from her, and nothing from him now too!

 And come to think of it, he couldn't feel anything from Virgil's other dad either.

 It was confusing.

 If he can't read the person then it's harder to decide what emotion to put out there.

 Virgil on the other hand, was more of an open book, if only slightly more.

 Roman would probably call him 'dark and mysterious' and if Patton didn't know better, so would he.

 “Hey” Patton pipes up while they're walking upstairs so he can go home “what grade are you going into?” He asks hoping that he'd finally get a friend in his class.

 “Seventh grade” Virgil responds, dashing Patton's hopes.

 “Cool, you'll be in Roman and Remus' classes then! And maybe some of Logan’s too, his classes are probably going to be sporadic cause he's so smart that he skipped a grade! So he probably will be in most of your classes if not all, although he's so smart that he might have some eighth grade classes too, hopefully cause that'd be super duper neat!” He realizes that he’s been rambling when he gets a look from Virgil. “I'm sorry, I blab too much sometimes.”

 Virgil waves off is worries “it's alright, it just means that I don't have to” he smiles at Patton and his heart soars at the emotion that smile sends him.

 His ranting doesn't bother Virgil. He finds it endearing if Patton's reading it right.

 “Anyway” he says as he steps out of the house “I'll see you soon yea?”

 Virgil nods “the next time you see my room, it's going to be awesome.”

 Patton smiles he waves goodbye to his new friend and bounces all the way to his front door then yells out to Virgil: “I can't wait!”

 And he can't.

 He can't wait to tell Roman about the 'dark and mysterious' boy who he will most undoubtedly get along with.

 He couldn't wait to tell Logan about his new friend that has a quick wit and silver tongue when he's not all tied up in his own thoughts, oh the debates that they'll probably get into.

 He can't wait to tell Remus about the darker parts of this boy and watch their friendship bloom from that simple shared fascination.

 He couldn't wait.

#thomas sanders #sanders sides #virgil sanders #patton sanders #remy sanders #Emile Picani #roman sanders #logan sanders #deceit sanders #remus sanders #Dice Sanders #ts logan #ts virgil #ts sleep #ts patton #ts roman #ts remus #ts deceit #ts emile #ts remy #remile #sanders sides fic #charmberry au #coresfic