#that skull makeup was the last time i did anything before this stuff today actually | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

purpleyellow · 3 years

Text

The audacity

Seventeen 14th member

Hayun’s masterlist

“Seventeen won’t take bs when it comes to Hayun”

Requested by: two (2) anons

cw: offensive language

a/n: Feel free to share your thoughts with me. Requests are open! 💙

(to my brazilians around, this gif is svt’s version of ninguem solta a mão de ninguem)

The arrival of dancers made the practice room even more crowded and noisy than usual. It was one of the few times Seventeen worked with an outside dance team, and they happened to have a lot of new faces around, who needed time to figure out the staging and how things were working so far.

After they ran through the choreography a couple of times, the choreographer called in a break, allowing the huge group to instantly clear the middle space and separate themselves into small circles of conversations.

Seungcheol, Jeonghan, and Joshua instantly met each other and began chatting about dinner plans and whatnot. Slowly approaching Jun and Wonwoo, the oldest filled them in on what they're deciding until he starts searching for someone.

“So, we could order it on the next break and have someone grab it for us. Anyway, did anyone see Hayun?”

“Making friends, as usual,” Wonwoo comments, pointing at the other corner of the room where the girl was surrounded by four dancers.

“Hayun-ah” The leader waves her over and waits as she jogs to his side “We're talking about dinner, what do you think about-”

“Oh, those guys were talking about this new restaurant that opened downtown, I was thinking of tagging along with them” She points back at the group and watches as her members nod “But I can cancel, of course”

“No, go ahead. It's just a meal” Joshua goes to wave her off when Seungkwan approaches them with crossed arms.

“Yeah. Just a meal. Until she's suddenly ditching us during the holidays and moving out with her new friends” The boy pouts, turning his face away from the group. Hayun reaches up to ruffle his hair before landing a soft slap.

“Says the dude who is friends with half of the entertainment industry” Ignoring his eye roll, she turns back to the rest of their little huddle “Well, if nobody else will feel betrayed”

“I was kidding” Seungkwan whines and Scoups pushes her away from them “Stop being dramatic and go do your mingling”

Going back to the group of dancers, Hayun resumes chatting with them for a couple of minutes before the break is over.

After more hours of running over every tiny detail for the stage, the rehearsal finally ends and the scattering of people begins. Hayun takes a couple of minutes talking about minor adjustments with the members and just checking up on them before searching for the four friends she had made that evening.

“Hey, how do you guys plan on heading there?” She asks, taking a sip from her water bottle and missing the glances between the two boys and two girls.

“Actually, we might have to do it another day,” The girl closest to her says and flips a hair strand off of Hayun's shoulder. “We got pretty tired from this last session”

“And work tomorrow it's going to start pretty early, you know. It's best to let this go for today,” The boy nods to her before pulling out his phone from his pocket and slightly turning away from the idol.

“Yeah, I get it. That's okay, we'll reschedule it then” Hayun smiles and gives them a thumbs up “I'll head to the dorms, then. Have a good rest, and tomorrow we'll talk more”.

Sending her some quick waves and small smiles, the four dancers waited for Hayun to turn around before sharing an annoyed look and sighing.

The practice room slowly grows empty, only leaving Wonwoo and Vernon who lost an incredible game of rock, paper, scissors, and had to stay behind to clean up everything. Finally turning off the lights, the two boys head out into the hallway and spot a group of four people standing by the entrance.

“Aren't those the people Hayun was talking to earlier,” Vernon asks quietly before a voice from the group reaches them.

“Why is this damn cab taking so long? We should have let that airhead tag along”.

“Agreed. She would have talked our ears off, but at least we would have made it to the club already”.

Sharing a look, the two idols stop walking and listen closely to understand if the dancers are talking about what the boys think they're talking about.

“That was so stupid. Why would you invite her in the first place? She's so annoying”.

“I mean, having an idol considering you a friend would be fun, right? Especially with the Christmas season coming up. Can you imagine the gifts she would buy us?”

“Yeah, dude. We wouldn't even need to worry about paying for stuff anymore. Just have Hayun tag along anywhere and, boom, no more tabs to pay.”

“But also, no more functioning eardrums”

“No, you have a point. She seems like she'd give us her credit card password on the third time we hung out. Not to mention, looking at her position in contrast with ours. You don't even have to befriend her, but be on her good side, and she'll make sure to give us more gigs within Pledis”.

Standing frozen, Wonwoo and Vernon listened to everything they were saying and shared looks of disbelief. Having enough of it, the oldest cleared his throat and slung his bag, making it hit his own back with enough force to make a thumping sound.

“Let's go, Vernon,” He ignored the four people standing before them with wide eyes and resumed walking. Once shoulder to shoulder with one of the dancers, Wonwoo stopped again and said while looking ahead, “Next time, be careful of whom you're talking about”.

Vernon, on the other hand, made eye contact with each dancer before raising one eyebrow and following the oldest. After closing the car door, he groaned annoyed, “Can you believe they had… ”

“… the fucking audacity” Jeonghan places his cup on the table, face showcasing utter disgust after Wonwoo told him what they had listened before leaving the Pledis building.

“Show me who those people are again tomorrow. I'll make sure they never step inside our practice room, ever again,” Hoshi points out.

“Is there a way of not having them tomorrow? I'm afraid Scoups Hyung might commit murder” Dokyeom brought attention to the leader standing on the corner of the kitchen.

Looking like he was plotting an illegal act, Seungcheol scoffs and pushed himself away from the cabinets. “The bare minimum you would expect from someone is that they can be professional. I swear, those people are getting an earful for talking about Hayun within a billion-meter ratio from where I work”.

“It's best to let it rest until tomorrow's performance is done. After we'll probably never see them again, so there's not much point causing any visible disturbance.” Laying a hand on the leader's arm, Woozi tried to make some sort of sense, but all it did was cause Scoups to roll his eyes.

“We can't just act like nothing happened”

“We also can't change anything about the choreography until then” Hoshi butts in and takes a breath trying not to jump in the 'let's hunt them down' train.

“They already know Wonwoo and Vernon heard them trash-talking her, so I'm not letting them have it easy tomorrow.” Jeonghan rolls his eyes and pointed to both Woozi and Hoshi, “I'm speaking my mind the first moment I see those sons of bitches, you're free to wait until the show's over”.

“About that, I don't think we should tell Hayun what happened” Joshua, who had been quiet the entire time, speaks, drawing attention to him. “Not until, as you said, the show is over, and we won't see them again. You know that she's probably going to get disappointed about it”.

“And you expect her to not go running to meet her new 'friends' once we arrive at the venue?” Wonwoo raises an eyebrow, but Mingyu shakes his head and backs the older up.

“We just have to keep her entertained around us. Fill in Dino, Seungkwan, and Myungho later, and have them help with making sure the group doesn't run into her”.

Raising his hand, Vernon casually mumbles “Maybe don't tell Seungkwan, he won't be able to hide his feelings about the whole thing”

“Myungho won't either” Jun comments and the room falls silent at the sound of the remaining members chatting and approaching the kitchen.

“Wow, you make a meeting and forget to call in the main characters” Hayun laughs walking through the room and opening the fridge for a beer “So, when's the food arriving?”

Hayun is sitting on the makeup chair, casually watching Scoups and Jeonghan whispering to each other from the mirror's reflection, when a hand lands on her shoulder and another holds out a smoothie for her.

“Whatcha thinking about?” Joshua sits on the chair next to her while Mingyu punctures the drink's lid with a straw.

Without taking her eyes off the mirror, she nods with her head to it. “Those two are up to something”

“Scoups and Jeonghan Hyung? Nah, they're always like that. Sharing secrets and stuff,” Mingyu giggles, shoving the straw inside her mouth and shifting to stand in front of the mirror. “Cute nail polish, when did you have time to get it done?”

“Oh, these are acrylics. This lady was just putting them on” Hayun falls into his trap and began analyzing the design with some occasional comments from the boys.

Peace has seemingly set inside the dressing room, yet it doesn't last long until Dino's loud “Uh?” caught the attention of the members, who turned to see what he and Vernon were doing.

Trying to shut the youngest up, Vernon makes it very obvious to the guys that he had just filled Dino in with the “frenemies” situation. Most of them try to brush it off and not bring more attention to it. Seungkwan, however, approaches them by, very loudly, asking what's up.

“What are you talking about?” He boringly fixes up his outfit. Vernon can feel the burning eyes of Jeonghan on his skull as he tries to deviate the conversation to another topic.

“Did you go see catering already? I heard they had a coffee machine”.

“Wait. Does he not know what happened?” Dino fails to read the room properly and instigates the older boy.

“What happened? Why is everyone sharing secrets all of a sudden? Is the thing you're discussing why Scoups Hyung seems ready to jump someone”.

The timing of events can't be worse, as the makeup artist taps Hayun's shoulder to let her know they were done. Within seconds, the girl gets up and turns to where the three youngest were standing.

“What's with the gossiping? Did Vernon lose his airpods again?” She brushes away from Joshua as he tried to hold her in place and waves off Mingyu when, in a panic, he suggests they should check out the pigeons outside.

“What? No! I mean, yeah! How unfortunate, isn't it?” Vernon jumps around his answers and tries looking for anyone willing to help him out.

“Just tell her about it” Approaching them from the door, Jeonghan, now without the leader's company, shrugs his shoulders, making Hayun raise an eyebrow.

“Jeonghan, at least wait until the day is over,” Joshua speaks through his teeth and the boy rolls his eyes.

“Well, she already knows something is up, and to be fair I don't know what good hiding this will bring. At least, if she feels like doing something about it, she'll have the chance right now”.

“Do something about it? Hadn't we agreed that the best is to wait until the performance is over and just never see them again?”

“What even are you talking about?” Hayun shuts them both up and Jeonghan and Joshua turned to her with annoyed expressions, “Don't even look at me like that. You're the ones mentioning me as if I'm not in the room”.

Placing a hand on her shoulder, Joshua tilts his head a little and speaks softly, “Trust me for a moment here, it's best if you brush it aside. Until later at least, and then we can settle it as you wish”.

“Wha- Just spill it out for fucks sake. I'm going to combust if you don't tell me right now whatever this all means,” Hayun puffs, punching his shoulder. Just as Joshua opens his mouth to say the same thing again, Jeonghan beats him and shoves himself in front of the girl.

“Do you recall those dancers you were planning to go out with yesterday? Yeah, well, turns out they're all little shits who were trash-talking you, and just overall talking crap, yesterday”

“Jeonghan” Joshua repressed the older who does nothing but wave him off.

“Doesn't matter what they said because you're nothing of it, and-” Adverting his eyes for a second, Jeonghan stares to the side, where half of Scoups' body is waving for him through the door. “And, and, you're amazing and all of that. So now go rest your awesome self while I go teach those punks a lesson”.

Zooming past her, Jeonghan runs to the door, where the leader is already back outside. Hoshi, Jun, Woozi, and DK, scream for him before also going out of the door. A very lost, Seungkwan, simultaneously tries to get Vernon to tell him what exactly the dancer said before while shouting for the older to wait for him to also speak his mind.

“I didn't want you to know about this before the performance, but-”

“Whatever, let's make sure nobody dies today” Hayun rolls her eyes and turns around, Wonwoo running from where he was watching everything and holding her by the shoulder.

“Do you want us to go fix that up? It's okay to give them the cold shoulder or just go off if you want to” Nodding, she keeps silent and walks out, bringing the rest of the guys behind her.

The8, who also had just found out about the situation, whispers to Vernon, “Can you believe they had the audacity?”

“I know, right?” The youngest whisper-yelled at him as they made it to the hallway and assessed the situation.

“The next time you even think about opening your mouth to talk about her-” Scoups had his finger pointing at the tallest dancer -who ironically had a few centimeters on him-, while the rest of the members stood next to him nodding and calmly listening to what the leader was saying.

“Oppa, just drop it,” Hayun shouts, walking past them and holding his shoulder.

Annoyingly, Scoups rolled his eyes and turned to her, “What do you mean, drop it?” Thinking for a second, he blinked and turned even more bothered, “Who even told you about this?”

The leader looked around until he found Mingyu, offending the tall guy who made an X in front of his body.

“Doesn't matter who told me. Let's just not lose time doing this” Brushing past him, Hayun now faced the dancers “Look, I'll teach you something right now, so grab it or drop it okay? I don't give a shit that you don't like me, or whatever, but at least be professional because all this situation did was teach me that none of you care about your careers. It's pretty clear by the angry puppy beside me that you just lost any chance of growing inside our brand, so keep this as a lesson and respect the artists you're working with. Also, once we're on stage put on a smile, so my fans won't be able to sense your shit”

“It should be pretty clear by what she said but you definitely don't have a chance to work with any Pledis artist again” Hoshi came from the end of the hallway alongside their manager and choreographer. The latter nodded and added.

“For the sake of the performance, you should all go back to your dressing rooms. You all said whatever was on your mind, so try to refocus during the last few minutes you have”.

“I didn't get to say what was on my mind” While the group was dispersing, DK mumbles on the side and Jun snorts.

“You had a chance, but all you did was stare at them and scowl until Scoups Hyung took the lead”

“I don't care about who said and who didn't say what they wanted” Hayun rolled her eyes, turning to the boys as they arrived in the room. Clasping her hands together, she brings them to her face and smiles, “You all care about me”.

“The fact you still doubted about it after years hurts me” Dokyeom held his chest and frowned, the girl laughs and goes to hug him.

“Group hug?” Seungkwan says uncertainly and Hoshi nods, dragging Woozi with him, “Group hug!”

#Hayun #seventeen 14th member #seventeen au #Seventeen Additional Member #seventeen addition #seventeen female addition #seventeen female member #seventeen female oc #seventeen extra member #svt 14th member #svt oc #svt addition #kpop addition #kpop female addition #14th member of seventeen #seventeen x 14th member #seventeen x oc

288 notes · View notes

astringofmadhousefloozies · 3 years

Text

Horse Friends

Yuu runs into Epel and gets an offer worth taking. Contains coarse language, discussions of masculinity/femininity and a fierce case of foot-in-mouth disease. Check my Twisted Wonderland Fanfiction tag for more, let me know if you enjoyed it, and if you ever want to let me know what you liked? Please do.

~*~*~*~

You like most creatures. Anything that deserves a pet should get one if they want it. So, you'd thought to yourself, let's go pet something you don't get to see every day. That's how you found yourself kicking around the edge of the horse pasture, watching majestic beasts eat and fart and amiably ignore your existence.

"You like them?"

You turned, and saw Epel had come up beside you.

"They're pretty cool. Not something I'm around much."

He nodded. "Wanna see a really big one?"

~*~*~*~

Did the barn smell bad or just like a barn? You couldn't tell, you didn't get to spend time in them and had no frame of reference. Where did they put the waste? You were thinking of asking where they buried the dead ones so you could go hunting with a shovel later when Epel came through the door, with the most fuckoff huge animal you've ever seen in your life. It was so tall you wondered if you could stand under it; a soft dapple grey, with long feathered fetlocks and a mane that reached past it's knees. It had to duck to get through the doorway, and stood, blinking, when Epel stopped, nevermind that this thing could probably swallow him whole if it had half a mind to.

"Are you sure it's not a kelpie?"

He laughed. "Ain't drowned anyone! 's nothing but a big guy. He's friendly! He's the one we use to teach riding."

You tentatively walked over and offered a hand. You did like horses - you really did! But they were very big, this one especially, and were deeply antsy despite being able to trample things easily. The last think you wanted was it to smell your nervousness and freak out.

It simply bypassed your hand, and instead nosed at your face with it's snout.

"He likes you!"

"I like him too." You prrbted his nose while he sniffed at you. "He got a name?"

"Beans."

"No!"

"Yes! Really."

"I can't believe Vil would let that slide."

"Yeah well, Beans was here first." Epel looked back and forth between you. "You want to try riding him? He's very gentle."

"Not today. But I'll take you up on that."

~*~*~*~

"Pull back to stop!"

You pulled back on the reins, and Beans stopped, and then started to back up.

"Nope, too much!"

You eased your grip and he stopped, flicking his ear an an errant fly.

This was the third time Epel had you up on the horse, and the first time he actually let you have the reins instead of simply leading you around. You weren't in a state of panic whenever the beast under you did something unexpected (though you jumped every time he or another horse whinnied; the sound drilled through your ears into the back if your skull in the worst way). The whole thing was pretty fun! Even if your legs got sore from straddling something as big around as you were tall.

Epel moved easily around on his own horse, a delicate-looking white stallion with murder in his heart, clearly a perfect pair. In the little bit of hanging out you'd done, you'd learned a few things about him:

- He hated being called cute. He was, which made it worse, but being treated as something precious drove him nuts.

- He was, by natural inclination, a rough and tumble farm boy. You knew more about motorbi- no, magical wheels than you ever had in your life, and now knew some truly vile curses that sounded wonderful coming out of his mouth.

- He really liked hanging out with someone he didn't have to pretend elegance around; which you had a feeling was part of why he started giving you private lessons. You were many things, but paragon of grace and propriety you were not.

Remembering what he told you, you lightly flicked the reins, and Beans started forward at a sedate pace.

"There you go!" Epel beamed at you, and you reflected your own smile back at him.

~*~*~*~

Today, he seemed sour, and you could not understand why, so instead of gong in to greet the horses, you stopped and asked what crawled up his ass and died.

"Nothin' you'd know 'bout."

"Try me."

He stood there glowering, until he finally said, "Am I girlier than you?"

You had to stop and really consider that. "Who started on that one?"

"Some asshole. They said you're manlier than I'll ever be."

You snorted. "That's like, a matter of opinion. I'm kinda butch, sure, but what it is is that femininity is... it requires effort." You moved your hands, in an effort to grasp the words. "It takes effort to put on makeup, or shave your legs. Stuff like that is required to be seen as feminine if you're a girl. Neither of which you do? You're not feminine, really. You're young and pretty. And pretty was never exclusive to girls."

This did not seem to help, so you continued digging. "And you're real pretty, Epel. Combine that with being real young, it makes you cute to others, but like... give it a few years. Yeah. You get a little older and lose the young babyface. You'll still be pretty, but you won't be read as cute, not the way everyone reads you now."

All of his sullen fury was now clearly at you.

"I'm sorry dude. I don't know how to use my words right. But I sure as hell ain't more of a dude than you. Because you actually are one."

He still stood there, and you thought of something to lighten the mood. "Did you kick his ass?"

He finally cracked a smile. "Thoroughly."

"Good. You want to do this today, or do you wanna just vent at me over people being assholes?"

He thought for a moment. "The second one, but don't say anything 'til I say so. You suck at making me feel better."

You nod and give an okay sign, which got a snicker out of him.

~*~*~*~

"And he says I shouldn't lift weights! 'oooh Epel, it'll ruin the lines', Vil can fuck right off and choke on mangey pig cock, he hasn't missed a day of lifting for eight years unless he was too sick to get out of bed."

You nodded, petting Lucius. He'd seen the both of you out on the grass and wandered over to play with people who were friendly, but not desperate.

"He's all Pomefiore ideals this and that and AUUUGH. I wanna stick a fork up his ass and beat down the doors of Savannahclaw until they let me change dorms."

You raised a finger, and he nodded. "But they don't do dorm changes."

"They do not and I hate it so fucking much." He flopped onto the grass, and you offered a hand that he high-fived. "It sucks. They wouldn't even move me when I went to beat Vil's ass when I first got sorted."

"You what."

"I did! Only got a swing in before he beat me down, but I tried."

"Please say there's a recording of this."

"He cursed every electronic in a hundred-foot radius just to make sure no one had footage."

"Boo."

He nodded. "That could have made all the money."

You nodded, until Lucius caught your eye and you swatted at Epel to get him to watch. Lucius, crawling through the grass, crept, sprung... and walked back over with a headless lizard, the missing piece long down his gullet.

"Finish it up, Lucius."

Lucius, his play done, walked away, leaving you both with the corpse.

"Gross. Should we bury it?"

"Maybe." The gears are turning, and you instead fetch back a grumbling Lucius. "Epel. What is this?"

He raised an eyebrow. "A fat old cat?"

You held up the irritated cat with a smile. "This is, pound for pound, the most efficient land predator on the planet. I know of cats that have single handedly eradicated entire species. Cats are eight pounds of asskicking. They will fu-OW" You dropped Lucius and checked the welling scratches on your arm. "Cats will fuck you up. But cats are also fluffy and cute and like to be cuddled. They're elegant and lovely, silly and playful. The murder and the cute is inherent to the cat."

He frowned. "Where are you going with this."

"I'm saying you're basically a cat."

He was silent for a beat. "Thanks, I hate it."

"How much?"

"Enh." He wiggled his hand. "I get what you're trying to say, at least. As long as you don't run around calling me that I’m good."

"A cat?"

"No, other C word."

Your brain drew the only conclusion you could think of. "A cunt?"

He let out the ugliest laugh you'd ever heard, and things were good.

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland fanfiction #epel felmier

35 notes · View notes

annab-nana · 4 years

Text

Flowers Of Forgiveness - Colby Brock

You and Colby had known each other for five years, dated for two, and you’d think he would remember your birthday, right? Wrong and with birthdays being such a big deal to you, it hurt like hell. He messed up big time and it might be the last straw before your relationship crumbles unless he can manage to save it.

Requested by an amazing anon 💙

Warnings: some curse words; mentions of alcoholic parents

Word Count: 2.1k+

--------------------------------------------------

You look around the table to see who all is there. Tara is to your right, then it's Jake, Kevin, Reggie, Cassie, Devyn, Xepher, Griffin, Sam, Katrina, Corey, Mike, Aryia, and then there was an empty seat to the left of you. Colby's seat. You don't know why he isn't here yet. He couldn't have forgotten, could he? No, because last week he told you he cleared up his schedule for your birthday. So, where the hell was he?

"Excuse me for a second, guys. I am going to call Colby really quick to see where he is," You say as you stand up and walk out the front door of the restaurant.

"Hey babe!" you hear his chipper greeting flow out of the phone.

"Hey Colbs! Where are you?" you question. He must have got in some bad traffic and is just being held up a bit.

"I'm at my apartment, catching up on some Unus Annus videos." Your heart dropped to the pit of your stomach. He forgot your birthday. You had originally thought he was just being annoying or was trying to hide a surprise or something when he didn’t text you about it and avoided saying 'happy birthday' all day long. But he wasn't. He had forgotten it completely.

"Oh." The only response that came to mind spills out of your mouth.

"Yeah, what are you up to, babe?" He asks so nonchalantly.

"Um, I'm just out with the girls and wanted to check up on you. But I will let you get back to your videos," you say as tears brim your eyes. Your boyfriend of two years forgot your birthday.

"Okay, I'll talk to you later." You blink the tears that threaten to spill over away.

"Yeah, I might swing by your place before I go home. Talk to you later. Bye." Ending the call, you take a deep breath to calm yourself before heading back in.

"Okay, so Colby is just running late. He got caught up with some work stuff, but he'll be here soon," you lie as you sit down. You don't want to make the dinner awkward by saying that Colby forgot. You just want to enjoy the last bit of your birthday with the people who actually care enough about you to remember your birthday. You all order your food and talk and have a good time.

"I have to go to the bathroom. Y/n, wanna come with?" Tara asks. You nod before standing with her and following her to the restroom.

"Colby isn't coming, is he?" She asks as soon as the door shuts.

"No," you tell her the truth as the tears come back. "We've been together for two years. Friends for three before that and he just forgets. He has never forgotten before and he knows how much it hurts me when someone close and important to me does. My parents didn’t care enough to celebrate my birthday when I was younger which is fine, but Colby told me he would never do that to me. But here we are. He forgot."

"Oh y/n," Tara whispers as she pulls you into her tiny frame. "I am sure there is some reason for this, and you know better than I do that he is an idiot most of the time."

"Yeah," you laugh before going to the mirror to make sure that the few tears that did manage to escape did not mess up anything.

"I lied so that I wouldn't make anything awkward," you inform her as the two of you head back to the table and she nods understandingly. When y’all get back, the food had arrived, so you all eat. You thank everyone for coming as you leave the restaurant.

"Happy birthday y/n. I hate that Colby couldn't make it," Aryia tells you as he pulls you in for a goodbye hug.

"Yeah, traffic got the better of him, but we'll be doing something tomorrow," you lie again as you pull away from the embrace. After receiving many hugs and happy birthdays, you get in your car to go to Colby's.

Knocking his door, the anger and sadness in you boil. He swings the door open and lays his eyes on you, noticing how angry and upset you are.

"What happened babe?" He says as he opens the door wider to let you in. You walk in and turn to face him.

"What do you think happened?" you question him. His face drains of color as he thinks back on everything he has done to figure out what has set you off.

"Sweetie, I really don't know. Just tell me what I did," he pleads, completely oblivious to what was wrong.

"Did you forget something?" Again, he goes through everything he can think of and is stumped.

"I don't think so. I-"

"You aren't forgetting anything special. Like a holiday or someone's birthday..." you trail off, trying to get it through his thick skull.

"No, your birthday is tomorrow, and Kevin's is next week-"

"Oh sorry. I didn't realize my birthday was tomorrow. I thought it was on June 17th like it always has been for the past twenty or so years, but I must be mistaken," you sarcastically spit out. At this point, you were fuming.

"No, your birthday is on Thursday which is tomorrow," he retorts as you roll your eyes.

"Where is your phone? Have you been on that thing at all today? Normally your eyes are glued to it," you ask him. You can tell he is getting angrier with you, but at this point, you don't seem to care.

"No, I was taking a day away from my phone. I only answered important calls or texts but that was it," he informs you as he walks to where his phone was in his room.

"Tell me what today's date is, Colby."

"It's June 16th, I know it is because..." His voice fades out. He comes out of his room with his eyes on his phone. "It's the 17th," he states bluntly before looking up to meet your sad and angry eyes.

"Y/n, I'm so sorry. I-"

"No Colby. You know how much birthdays mean to me. You know that. Do you know how embarrassing it was tonight when I was at dinner with all of our friends and the person who means the absolute most to me doesn't show? I hated being there and I couldn't even enjoy it because you weren't there."

"Did you tell them I forgot?" He asks me as he sits down on the couch, all ashamed.

"No, I didn't. Instead, I lied to all of them, but it was not to protect you and your feelings. It was for them so that they didn't have to feel awkward or feel bad for the girl that they were supposed to be celebrating. I told them you were caught up with work stuff and then got caught in traffic and couldn't make it. But Tara still figured it out. She was right. You are a damn idiot."

"No, I'm not!" He fights back as he rises to his feet in anger.

"Yes, you are," you laugh at him. "My parents even told me happy birthday this year Colby. They haven't done that since I was five. I guess they weren't drunk off their asses enough to forget it this morning." You take a breath before continuing.

"You must've not checked the group chat. They were all going off about my birthday and the dinner tonight. And you weren't on Twitter or Instagram either because then you would have seen your fans wishing me a happy birthday as well. People who don't even fucking know me knew my birthday was today."

"Y/n, I'm sorry. I don't know what to do."

"There's nothing you can do. You can't replace the feeling I have of not feeling good enough. You of all people know that when my parents forgot my sixth birthday, I was crushed. Then they forgot year after year after year. Then I met you and all of your amazing friends and you guys have made me feel so special and loved, especially on my birthday. You know that on anyone else's birthday, I make sure that they feel so loved and cared about because I know what it feels like to not be."

"I'm sorry, babe. I didn't mean to forget. It just happened."

"Wow Colby, that makes me feel so much better. You know what? I am sorry. I probably sound like such a diva for getting upset about this, so I'm gonna go-"

"No y/n, please don't go."

"I'm going to leave and go back home. Probably cry myself to sleep? I don't know. We'll see." You place your hand on the doorknob.

"I've noticed how you never miss a beat when it comes to work stuff. But this isn't the first time you've forgotten something with me. It's just the first time it was something important. Get your priorities straight Colby if you want to keep me around." And with that, you leave his apartment, get in your car, and head home.

After walking in, you do exactly what you didn't want and start crying. You slip out of the clothes you were wearing and wipe off all your makeup. Throwing your hair into a messy bun, you walk to your phone to see the many messages and missed calls from Colby which you choose to ignore. The constant buzzing gets on your nerves so much that you turn the damn thing completely off before falling asleep.

…

"Oh, I'm so sorry, y/n," Devyn says as she walks into the living room with a bowl of popcorn. She had texted you last night when you had your phone turned off because of Colby and was asking if you were okay. She knew you were lying about the work and traffic stuff too. You called her this morning and asked her to come over because you were in need of some girl time, especially with your Dev, and she happily obliged. You told her all about it, providing the details of your past and all, and then you two decided a movie would make you feel better, specifically your favorite Moana.

"Yeah it sucks, but I'm going to give him a few days. I'll still like text him and stuff. I just don't want to see him for a bit," you tell her as the movie begins. The two of you sit back and enjoy the movie and popcorn until a knock at the door interrupts you.

"I'll get it," you huff as you make your way to the door before looking through the peephole to see the last person you wanted to at the moment.

"Colby," you mouth to Devyn. She nods, pausing the movie and skipping into your room. You open the door just enough for him to see you but that's it.

"Hey," you speak softly. You know you probably look like shit, but you honestly do not care. He should see how he made you feel.

"Hey, umm, y/n, I am really sorry and I-" you couldn't help but notice him steadily trying to peek behind you. Does he actually think you have some guy over or something? Is he really that jealous and think that low of you?

"Forgetful and jealous? Man, you really have changed Colby."

"No, I'm... never mind. I am here to apologize. I was a shitty boyfriend yesterday. I still am one today and I'll probably never be the best boyfriend in the world, but I will continue to try to be the best I can be for you. I know this isn't much at all, but it is something. It shows I pay attention to some details," he says as he pulls a bouquet of flowers out from behind his back.

After getting a better look at them, you notice that they are daffodils, your grandmother's favorite flower which became your favorite flower. You might have mentioned that once, maybe twice, but it was a long time ago. The fact that he remembered it warmed your heart. You smiled at him before taking the flowers from his grasp.

"You aren't completely off the hook, but I forgive you. Come here," you say as you pull the blue-eyed boy into your arms, wrapping them around his neck. His arms snake around your waist and lift you off the ground slightly.

"So, I haven't lost you yet?" He questions in your ear and you giggle into his before he sets you down. You bring the hand that wasn’t holding flowers to cup his face.

"Nope, but I suggest you don't forget my birthday again," you whisper as you place a small kiss on his nose.

"I won't. I promise. Your birthday will forever be engrained in here," he tells you as he taps on the side of his head.

"Oh yeah, what day is it?"

"June 23rd?" He jokes and you roll your eyes.

"That's Kevin's birthday sweetheart."

211 notes · View notes

sodamvelvets · 4 years

Text

“ilysb”

park sooyoung x fem idol reader

warnings: intense make out at the start?

word count: 2,790

a/n: this one is inspired by LANY’s ILYSB, it’s my favorite song at the moment :) As promised, Yeri will be next! I really like how this one turned out, so I hope you guys like it too!

Sooyoung wakes up with her arms wrapped tightly around you, your head buried in the crook of her neck. Your soft breaths tickle her skin, causing Sooyoung to smile broadly as she presses a feather-light kiss onto the top of your skull, breathing in the scent of your shampoo.

“I love you,” She whispers, not caring that in your sleeping state you won’t hear her.

Gently, she tucks a strand of your unkempt hair behind your ear, careful not to wake you, stopping for a moment to admire your delicate features. As she takes in your peaceful expression Sooyoung is certain that no one has ever made her feel the way she feels about you before. No one has ever been able to make her heartbeat quicken to the point where she thinks it will jump from her chest, with just the smallest smile. No one has ever been able to leave her wordless, struggling to even form a single sentence. And most importantly, no one has ever been able to make Sooyoung feel as if she’d move mountains just to hear your elegant laugh.

Before you, Sooyoung occasionally found herself regretting her decision to become an idol. Despite the fact that she loved singing, and even more so her fans, but sometimes she wished she could have a normal life, where her every move wasn’t stalked and critiqued. Her life often felt like she was walking a thin and endless tightrope, where a single misstep would cause her to fall to her doom. It was difficult, finding a balance of her private life and her public one, and while her members also struggled with the same thing, she felt they didn’t truly understand her, none of them ever seemed to be unhappy with their choice to be an idol in the way Sooyoung was, and not wanting to appear ungrateful, she kept it to herself. But then she met you and all doubts about her career disappeared because she realized if she hadn’t become a singer, she would never have met you.

It was backstage at one of Red Velvet’s promotional Inkigayo stages when she first saw you, waiting silently to perform with your bandmates and listening intently to your leader’s encouraging words. All of you were part of a still relatively new rookie group under YG Entertainment. At the time, Sooyoung had only briefly heard of you before, having heard short clips of your newest title track on the radio, but until then, she had never actually seen you and your members. But when her eyes landed on your group, more specifically you, her jaw dropped.

Like many idols under YG, you had a striking beauty, and you held yourself with a certain cold confidence that left an icy feeling in your wake, something your makeup artists definitely played up to, making sure to paint your face in a mature and intimidating way that left Sooyoung staring. Sooyoung was only further smitten as she watched your performance, a bad girl concept that you and your bandmates nailed, your body rolls and intense moves leaving Sooyoung gaping, which Yerim had, of course, made sure to tease her for, the troublesome maknae even going as far to approach your group, and give you Sooyoung’s personal number with a smirk, all while Sooyoung watched with reddened cheeks.

That had been almost a year and a half ago though, and now the two of you were in a fairly open relationship, both of your companies surprisingly having agreed to let the two of you go public, with a few restrictions of course.

“Hey Sooyoung,” A smile spreads across Sooyoung’s face as she hears your husking voice.

“Hi Y/N,” Sooyoung says, shifting her body so your noses are touching, appreciating the way the golden flecks of your brown eyes sparkle in the morning sun. “How did you sleep?”

“Good,” You murmur, snaking a hand under Sooyoung’s shirt and beginning to draw circles on her abdomen. “Last night was very tiring.”

Sooyoung chuckles, moving to kiss you, but you shove her away. “Ew, morning breath.” You whine, opening your mouth to continue before Sooyoung quickly cuts you off by flipping you on your back and straddling your waist, wearing a dangerous expression that makes you swallow thickly as the words die in your throat, no longer testifying as she captures your lips with her own in a bruising kiss, nipping at your bottom lip as her tongue tangles with yours, moaning into your mouth. Her palms press you deeper into the mattress causing you to whimper as her kiss becomes rougher, her fingers moving to tangle themselves amongst your already messy hair as she presses her knee in between your legs causing you to let out a surprised gasp.

At the sound, Sooyoung instantly pulls herself away, wearing a knowing grin. “So, I was thinking we could drive out to the Gwangjang Market,” Sooyoung says casually, still hovering over you as your body squirms slightly, trying to escape her grasp.

“Isn’t that a little far away?” You huff breathlessly as Sooyoung begins to teasingly kiss down your jaw.

“Yeah,” She says, groaning as you finally manage to push her off, and by the annoyed look in your eyes, she gets the sense that you’ve figured out she was simply trying to work you up without actually finishing anything. “But the bindaetteok is worth it.”

You laugh, and Sooyoung pulls your body so your head is resting on her chest. “Fine,” You say. “But you better keep your hands to yourself, Park Sooyoung.”

///

“You look good,” Sooyoung comments with a lopsided smile as you step out of your shared walk-in closet, wearing a pair of ripped jeans and a Lie Collection T-shirt, coupled with one of Sooyoung’s leather jackets. It’s a much better outfit, Sooyoung thinks, than her plain black slacks and white blouse.

You raise a brow. “You’re only saying that because this jacket is yours.” You respond, a teasing lilt in your voice.

Sooyoung stands, her taller form towering over you as she wraps her arms around your waist. “Maybe.”

You giggle and poke her side, causing her to let out a melodramatic yelp. “Sooyoung,” You say, rolling your eyes. “We should get going, it takes an hour to get there.”

Sooyoung holds your hand throughout the car ride, the two of you making comfortable small talk as Sooyoung drives through the already busy roads of Seoul. Occasionally, she steals glances at you, admiring your serene expression as you watch the colorful billboards pass by, quickly directing her attention forwards when you look over at Sooyoung, knowing if you caught her staring you’d chide her and tell Sooyoung to keep her eyes on the road.

“We’re here,” Sooyoung says as she pulls to stop in a public parking garage a couple miles away from the market. “Well kind of, we have to walk the rest of the way, if that’s alright?”

“That’s fine Sooyoung,” You say, moving to get out, but Sooyoung grabs your wrist.

“Wait, don’t move.”

Sooyoung hears you chuckle as she gets out of the car, walking around to open the passenger side door and offering you her hand, which you take. “I see Seungwan is starting to rub off on you,” You joke.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sooyoung asks as the two of you head for the garage exit.

You shrug. “The both of you are unbelievably greasy Sooyoung.”

Sooyoung lightly shoves you, feigning offense, before reaching into her bag and producing two pairs of sunglasses. Even though the two of you are out to the public, Sooyoung would still prefer if neither of your fans were to recognize you and interrupt your date today. “Put these on.”

You nod, taking them from Sooyoung and slipping them on just before the two of you step into the bustling street.

“It’s a nice day,” Sooyoung notes, glancing up at the clear blue skies. “Jongmyo Park is just behind us, we should go later.”

“Sure, it’s been a while since we last went there.” You say, reaching to interlace your fingers with Sooyoung’s but she dodges your grasp, instead slipping her hand into your back pocket, and pulling you into her side.

Sooyoung laughs as your cheeks redden, enjoying your flustered state as well as the feeling of your smaller body fitting perfectly into hers.

It takes you and Sooyoung about thirty minutes to reach the market, Sooyoung complaining it would’ve taken less time if you hadn’t insisted on stopping to take photos for your social media along the way, which only earns her a slap to the back of her head.

As usual, Gwangjang is crowded with people, tourists and locals alike, and Sooyoung holds you close as you weave through the masses, pointing out stalls here and there that she notices are selling your favorite dishes, before eventually settling on a vendor.

“I’m not all that hungry,” You murmur into Sooyoung’s ear. “I’ll just have some of whatever you get.”

Sooyoung raises a brow, and orders two plates of bindaetteok and a side of japchae, knowing you’d want your own once you started eating some of Sooyoung’s.

“Sooyoung,” You whine as she passes the shop owner twenty thousand won. “I have a comeback soon, I can’t be eating this type of stuff!”

Sooyoung frowns, in her opinion, you’ve always been too harsh on yourself during your dieting periods. “Y/N, you’re going to need your energy for your practice from somewhere.” She scolds, pushing the food into your hands. “Plus it’s only one dish, and knowing you, you’ll burn it off in seconds.”

Hesitantly you nod, sitting down next to Sooyoung at the stall’s table, Sooyoung watching as you begin to eat and laughing at the way your eyes light up at the taste.

“Thank you, Sooyoung,” You say, kissing her cheek as both of you finish your breakfasts, and stand to leave, Sooyoung once again wrapping an arm around your waist.

She hums contentedly in response, giving you a warm smile that you gladly return. Sooyoung’s gaze flicks from store to store as you and her walk towards one of the many market exits, quietly admiring the delicately crafted silk hanboks that are displayed in some of the shop entrances.

As the two of you step outside, Sooyoung notices the sun is slightly lower in the sky than when you first entered Gwangjang, and the air feels a few degrees colder.

“Still want to go to Jongmyo?” Sooyoung questions.

You nod. “Mm-hmm.”

A comfortable silence settles between you and Sooyoung as you walk, your footsteps falling into a synchronized pace, Sooyoung adoringly watching as you excitedly point out stores that interest you, squealing when you spot a poster featuring you and your group in your latest partnership with a popular makeup brand and she chuckles as you delightedly take a picture of the ad to send to your members, beginning to text back and forth with them.

Sooyoung appreciates the new outlook you’ve brought to her life that makes her so much more grateful for moments like these. She loves the youthfulness you’ve given her but also the wisdom, and in a way you remind her of Joohyun, both of you sharing a seemingly icy personality, that once melted reveals a gentle and caring person who while sometimes childish, can also be mature and professional.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” You ask as you look up from your phone.

Sooyoung blinks, not realizing she had been staring. “What?”

You smirk. “You were staring like a creep.”

Sooyoung rolls her eyes, pulling you into her arms. “Is it so wrong for me to want to admire my beautiful girlfriend?” She mumbles into your hair.

“I suppose not,” You say, reaching up to pinch Sooyoung’s cheek, Sooyoung surprising even herself, when she doesn’t swat your hand away. “You know,” You whisper teasingly. “If your members saw this, they’d say you’re getting soft.”

“I am not,” Sooyoung pouts, lightly pushing you away from her, causing you to laugh boisterously, and Sooyoung can’t help but let her scowl turn to a smile at the sound, interlacing her fingers with yours, and wordlessly letting you know you’re already forgiven as the two of you walk the rest of the way to Jongmyo, only stopping once you reach the park’s small pond where a tiny island sits with a large bonsai growing from its center.

Sooyoung sighs happily as you lean into her side, resting your head on her shoulder.

“I really missed this, Sooyoung,” You say suddenly.

Sooyoung glances at you curiously, biting her lip. “Missed what?”

“Just being with you,” You sigh. “Our schedules haven’t been lining up recently, with my group’s upcoming comeback and your sponsorships,” A sad chuckle escapes your lips. “So I guess it’s just nice to be with you finally.”

It’s true, Sooyoung realizes, you’ve both been so busy lately that this is the first time in weeks you’ve been able to have a day to yourself. Despite living together, Sooyoung barely sees you around, unless it’s dead asleep in your bed, exhausted from a long day of practice.

“Y/N,” Sooyoung says, turning your body so she can cup your face. “You don’t know how much I wish I could always be with you, but right now we only have this time together, so we have to make do with what we have. Plus,” Sooyoung adds, stroking your cheek. “Once you nail your comeback and finish promotions we’ll have even more time to be with each other.”

“Why do you always have to be right Sooyoung?” You murmur, hugging Sooyoung tightly.

“It’s a talent,” Sooyoung jokes, frowning as she feels your body tense in her grasp.

“Someone’s watching us,” You whisper into Sooyoung’s neck.

Sooyoung glances over your head, and sure enough, she spots a tall form standing across the pond in the shade of a tree. She squints, unable to make out any distinguishing features except the camera in their hands that is clearly angled at the two of you. “Let them,” She growls, capturing your lips in a rough and possessive kiss, her fingers digging into your hips as she holds you impossibly close, the world around her fading, becoming one about only you and the feeling of your body against hers.

///

The photos of your date are already circulating the web by the time you and Sooyoung get home, and Sooyoung can’t help but laugh at you as you sit at the kitchen table scrolling through Dispatch’s latest article dubbing you ‘Korea’s Favorite Couple’, a blush clearly evident on your face.

“I can’t believe they managed to follow us,” You mutter, closing your laptop and leaning back in your chair wearing a face of disbelief. “They even have pictures of us at Gwangjang, and that place is so crowded it’s nearly impossible to follow anyone.”

“Nothing is impossible for Dispatch,” Sooyoung jokes, leaning against the counter as she scrolls through her music playlists, before eventually selecting Somethin’ Kinda Crazy with a smirk, setting her phone down as the first verses begin to play.

“Seriously?” You ask, making an unimpressed expression, immediately recognizing Seulgi and Seungwan’s distinct voices. “You’re playing your own song?”

Sooyoung shrugs, choosing to ignore your words as she walks behind you, wrapping her arms around you and starting to pepper your neck with kisses. “Dance with me,” She says quietly.

You giggle, clearly surprised by the request. “What?”

“Dance with me,” Sooyoung repeats, a begging look in her eyes. “Please?” She quickly adds, noticing your raised brow.

“Fine,” You say, swatting Sooyoung away and standing from your seat.

With a smile, Sooyoung gently places her hands on your hips, beginning to sway your bodies back and forth in sync as your head rests on her shoulder. Sooyoung hums along to the music, twirling you around occasionally and Sooyoung doesn’t think she’s ever been happier.

A long time ago, Sooyoung regretted becoming an idol, wishing she could have a sense of normalcy. But as she holds you, she realizes she doesn’t regret anything anymore, not only has she found someone that can give her that simple life she’s always craved, but she’s also found someone who can understand her struggles as a celebrity. She’s found her soulmate.

“I like this song,” You murmur as the track shifts to the familiar beat of LANY’s ILYSB, and Sooyoung presses a gentle kiss to your lips, letting the music warp the two of you into your own personal universe.

“I love you, babe, so bad,” Sooyoung sings softly, and despite it being a part of the song, Sooyoung means every word of it, she does love you, so very bad.

#girl group scenarios #girl group imagines #red velvet x reader #red velvet imagines #joy x reader #red velvet scenario #red velvet fluff #red velvet #joy #joy imagines #joy scenarios #park sooyoung x reader #park sooyoung

281 notes · View notes

x1musings · 4 years

Text

“has anyone ever told you that you have really nice hands?”

☆pairing: wooseok x reader

☆request: #13 from 101 prompts by anon

☆genre: fluff (with a bit of angst, sorry!)

☆word count: 2.3k

☆a/n: anon, i’m so sorry, i know you requested fluff but this turned out more angsty than i intended. if you want me to redo it, let me know.

you had no intention to get drunk last night, but when has anything ever gone the way you expect it to? you groan as the light streams through your curtains, straight into your eyes, making you curse yourself for the 100th time since you woke up. why did i agree to go to a party on a school night? you think to yourself as you hear your alarm blare. you switch your alarm off quickly, as you feel the throbbing in your skull worsen. you had less than an hour until your lecture started but you couldn’t bring yourself to get out of bed. you consider calling your best friend to get him to write notes for you, but you decide against it, remembering the last time you had asked him to do it. you love wooseok, but his handwriting was so hard to read that it made studying his notes a nightmare.

with a groan, you push yourself out of bed and walk to the bathroom. you look up into the mirror and wince at the sight of your hungover self. the ever-prominent dark circles under your eyes seemed bigger today than it had this entire semester, and your makeup was a mess, lipstick smudged around your lips and mascara streaks down your cheeks. what the hell happened last night? you couldn’t remember a thing, but the way you looked made you think the worst. as your mind came up with the possible scenarios, you will the earth to open up and swallowed you whole.

you splash water on your face, hoping it would wake you up a bit or at the very least get rid of the terrible thoughts swirling around in your head. you quickly cleanse your skin of yesterday’s makeup and brush your teeth, before taking a quick shower. you pull on the first clean clothes that you could find, not caring about how your outfit looked. even in your worst outfit, you would blend right in with the rest of the stressed-out, barely coping students at your university. you put the bare minimum amount of makeup you need, trying to get rid of any visual evidence of your lack of sleep and hangover.

you glance at the clock, and curse as you realise you only have 10 minutes to get to the bus stop. you quickly grab your bag, phone and books, before running into the kitchen to get a bottle of water. you yell a goodbye over your shoulder to your parents, as you hurriedly pull on your sneakers. you run out of the house, towards the bus stop. you heave a sigh as you see the bus arrive at the bus stop just as you get there. you take a seat back of the bus, trying to hide how out of breath you are. you hate running with a passion (why should anyone run, unless it’s for survival, you think to yourself), but with your lack of organisation skills and your inability to get out of bed, you find yourself rushing every morning, barely getting to the bus stop before the bus arrives.

as you walk to you class, you take the time to scroll through the unread messages you have from last night. most of the messages were from your friends, asking if you had gotten home safely, which you quickly respond to. as you were looking at your phone, you bump into someone.

“y/n!” yohan says, as he grabs your shoulders to stop you from falling. “you look like hell.”

you roll your eyes, “gee, thanks pal. that’s what everyone likes to hear first thing in the morning.”

he scratches the back of his neck, “i’m just shocked that you’re even standing right now. you partied hard last night. i kinda feel sorry for wooseok. he probably had a hard time taking you home.”

your eyes widen at the new information. “wooseok took me home?”

“yeah… you don’t remember anything from last night, do you?”

you nod your head. “complete blackout.”

the half-smile on yohan’s face is scaring you. he looks like he is debating to tell you something that he knew would upset you, or at the very least embarrass you.

“yohan tell me. what did i do last night?”

he smiles at you, but it doesn’t calm your nerves at all. “i’ll let wooseok fill you in. sorry y/n i have to get to class.”

“yohan-” you try to grab his hoodie to pull him back, but he manages to duck out of your reach. you curse your friend as you watch him run away from you.

you couldn’t decide whether you wanted to know what you did last night. on one hand, if you didn’t know, you would always wonder, and you knew your anxious mind would come up with the scariest situations. but on the other hand, if you knew exactly what stupid thing you did, you would have to deal with the consequences and embarrassment of your actions.

you glance at the time on your phone, cursing as you realise that you have 5 minutes before your lecture started. you start running towards your classroom, hoping that you get there in time.

by some miracle, you arrive at the lecture hall minutes before your lecturer. you scan the hall, looking for your friend. when you find him, you can’t help but grimace at the sight in front of you. wooseok sits in his usual seat at the back row, but there’s no empty seats near him. he is surrounded by his fangirls and fanboys, all staring at him with awestruck expression. you knew he was attractive (anyone with eyes can tell you that), but sometimes you hated how much attention he got from the other students.

you sink into the first empty seat you find in the middle row, thinking about your friendship with wooseok. you two had first met in primary school, and you had been attached by the hip since. he is your closest friend, the person who knew everything about you and still stuck around. well, actually, he didn’t know everything. at some point, your platonic feelings for him had turned into a crush, and you never wanted him to find out about that. you couldn’t pin-point the exact point when you realised your feelings, but ever since you realised, you did everything to hide it from him. you knew that telling him about it could ruin your friendship, and your friendship with him was more important to you than the possibility of a relationship.

your phone vibrates against the desk, pulling you out of your thoughts.

[txt] are you ok? how’s your hangover?

speak of the devil, you think to yourself. you don’t turn to look at him, but you feel his gaze on you. you send a quick response before putting your phone down, taking your laptop out of your bag to prepare for the lecture.

[txt] i feel like shit. how much did i drink last night?

it wasn’t long before you got a response from wooseok.

[txt] i stopped counting after the 4th drink.

[txt] do you remember anything from last night?

you sigh quietly. you consider lying to get out of the lecture he will definitely give you if he knew the truth, but you decide against it knowing you could rarely get away with lying to him. he knew you too well, which made it hard for you to lie to him successfully. how you had been able to keep your feelings for him a secret from him was a damn mystery.

[txt] no… did i do something stupid?

the minutes that passed as you waited for the response painstakingly stretched out. you gnawed at your nails, a nervous habit that you desperately wanted to get rid of. you had to use all of your self-control to stop yourself from shaking your leg. when you finally get the response, your heart sinks to your stomach.

[txt] can we meet after class? we need to talk

you couldn’t tell if the nausea you felt in your stomach was because of your hangover or the text. you send a quick ok and put your phone down, turning your attention back to your lecturer. but you couldn’t concentrate.

you search your memory, trying to remember anything from last night. you remember taking a drink from hangyul, which might have been your 3rd or 4th drink that night. you had taken it, even though you knew you were past your limit, but for some reason you couldn’t bring yourself to care. something had made you want to get crazy drunk, but you couldn’t for the life of you remember what it was. the more you try to remember, the more frustrated you get as you continually hit mental blocks. by the time the lecture ended, you had a raging headache, and a sick feeling in your stomach.

it wasn’t long before wooseok stood next to you, patiently waiting for you to pack up your stuff.

“where do you want to go? have you eaten yet?”

you smile, despite yourself. “no, but i’m not sure i’ll be able to keep anything down right now.”

you could see the concern in his eyes, and your heart warms at the sight. “still, you need to eat. let’s go to the cafeteria.”

you nod, gathering your belongings and following him out of the lecture hall. as you walked to the cafeteria, there’s a somewhat awkward silence between you two.

“what did you want to talk about?” you ask as you fall into step with him.

he looks at you with a small smile. “let’s talk after we get some food in you.”

before you could respond, wooseok suddenly wraps his fingers around your upper arm and pulls you closer to him, as a cyclist zips past you, dangerously close to where you had been standing. you barely notice him yell at the cyclist, as a memory flashes in your mind.

wooseok grabs your arm, trying to stabilise you as you stagger through the park towards your house. you stop when you get outside your house and turn to him. you could see the humour in his eyes, as he tries to stop himself from laughing at your drunk antics, and your heart melts at the sight. the words ‘i like you’ are at the tip of your tongue, but you can’t bring yourself to force them out of your mouth. so, you turn your attention to his hand that was still wrapped around your arm. you could feel the warmth radiating from his hand on your bare arm, and you stare at his long fingers, loving the way they looked on your skin.

“has anyone ever told you that you have really nice hands?”

“wow does little y/n have a hand kink?” wooseok teased, laughing as you feel your cheeks getting warm. “and here i thought i knew everything about you.”

“you don’t know everything about me,” you whisper under your breath.

unfortunately, wooseok was close enough that he caught what you said.

“hmm, what else don’t i know about you?”

“a lot,” you lie through your teeth.

wooseok scoffed, not believing a word you say. “ok, prove it. name one thing i don’t know about you.”

you stare at him. would it really be that bad if you confessed? it’s your best friend, he wouldn’t do anything that would hurt you.

before you could talk yourself out of it, you let the three little words fall out of your lips. “i like you.” you pause, knowing you had to clarify. “as more than just a friend.”

wooseok froze, not even blinking. he opens and closes his mouth, clearly not knowing what to say.

you pull away from him, watching as his hand falls to his side. you push a smile on your lips as you feel tears prick your eyes. “see, you don’t know everything about me.”

you turn towards your house, pushing the heartbreak down. you walk away from him, or rather stagger away, not wanting him to see the tears falling from your eyes. he hadn’t said anything, but the look on his face told you everything you needed to know.

“earth to y/n,” wooseok says, waving a hand in front of your face. you blink as you focus on him. “from the look on your face, i guess you remember what happened last night.”

“i-” you didn’t know what to say. how could you have confessed to him? why did you do it? what do you say now? should you backtrack, and play it off as a joke? the thoughts swirl so loudly in your head that nearly miss what wooseok says.

“i like you too.”

“what?” the shock radiates from you as you try to comprehend what he said. am i still drunk, you think to yourself.

wooseok smiles, “i said i like you too. yesterday i was just in shock. i wasn’t expecting you to confess. and then you walked away before i could say anything.”

“yeah, well you looked like you were about to throw up, so i took the hint.”

“it was just shock. i didn’t think you felt the same way.”

you laugh in shock. wooseok, the boy that had his own fanclub and could have anyone in the world, has feelings for you?

wooseok smirks, “and, now you look like you’re going to throw up.”

“but, why me of all people? ”

wooseok smiles brightly, as he cups your face, bringing you closer to him. “i like you because it’s you. i like everything about you, even the weird and dorky parts of you.” he laughs as you glare at him. “go on a date with me, y/n.”

you can’t hide the smile that plays at your lips. “ok. let’s go on a date.”

#x1 #x1net #x1 scenarios #x1 imagines #x1 fluff #kim wooseok #101 prompts #mine: x1 #mine: fluff

73 notes · View notes

nicole-lynne · 4 years

Text

All The Love Songs - Chapter 2

Summary: Thea has a few strange interactions with Jake and she goes to the Greta Van Fleet concert.

Pairings: Jake Kiszka x OFC (eventually) and Thea x Mason (OMC)

Notes: I changed Thea’s nickname to Teddy so there is one change! I hope you guys all love the story! Please like, comment, reblog, and follow ^_^

If there was a higher power in the world, they would strike her down with a very contagious flu that would require her to stay in bed for an undetermined amount of time. They would cause a blackout, an alien invasion, or a zombie outbreak. Any possible thing that would make it impossible for her to go to this show.

Instead, Thea was trying on her twelfth outfit of the night, which was actually the first outfit she’d tried on. Her favorite black leather skirt paired with a maroon shirt with an embroidered rose on it for the band, adding her thigh high boots to the outfit for good measure. With her dark hair curled loosely down her back and her smokey makeup, the look was absolutely killer.

So why did she feel completely self-conscious and nervous? During the most difficult time of her life, New York had become her safe haven. Her friends had become a harbor in a dark night. That feeling had been washed away with a single ten minute conversation with her ex boyfriend and the fear of having him step into her new world.

There was a quick rap at the door and Sam popped his head in. He had his black leather pants on with a bright teal button up hanging open revealing his muscular chest.

“Hey squirt, I was thinking it was almost time to head out.” Looking you up and down, his eyes bugged out of his sockets. “Wow, you look stunning.”

“Thanks, Sammy.” She looked down sheepishly. “Very classic look for a rockin’ show. It’s going to be a great night.”

“I hope so. Josh said he thinks an agent might come so it would be great if something could come from that. I really want this to work...”

Thea sank down onto her bed and pulled her feet under her, motioning for Sam to follow. It wasn’t very often that she had to give Sam a pep talk. Most days, he was a high-energy, optimistic person who could make her feel like nothing else in the world mattered.

Today, she could see the doubt behind his brown eyes.

“You’ve got amazing things in your future, Sammy. That agent would be an idiot if he passed you guys because Greta Van Fleet is the hot ticket. And just know that I’ll be there cheering you on every minute.”

He patted her knee and shot her a thankful look, “I’m glad I’ve got you, squirt. Our shows wouldn’t be the same without your face in the front row.”

Since the first show, Thea had always been front and center, cheering the loudest or being the only person in the crowd dancing. At first, people made fun of the spastic girl, but once Greta became a regular, more people started to see their potential. Pretty soon, the whole place was packed for their shows. But Sam still saved her a spot right at the front of the stage.

“I would never miss a show, at least until you get rockstar famous and are playing like five shows a week. You might have to give me a break then.”

“Nope, you have to be there. You’re my good luck charm.”

“Sam!” Gina screeched from the kitchen. “Danny just called, we’re gonna be late!”

Sam hissed through his teeth. “Oops, okay we better get down there before Danny shits a brick. That’s when you know it’s bad. You coming, tiny?”

“I’m not sure if Gina is ready or not, can you wait for us?”

“Sam!”

“Uh, can you catch up to us? You know how particular Danny is about his pre-show meal.” Thea gave him an understanding smile and Sam jumped forward, kissing the top of her head before bounding out of the room like a golden retriever. The front door slammed and then it was dead quiet in the apartment.

Gina appeared at the door, a dark purple tank top contrasting with her brown skin. In the darkness, she looked like a sunset on a winter day.

“Babe, you look fabulous! I love that purple color on you.” Thea gushed. “How did I manage to get such a snack for a bestie?”

“Pure luck, I would guess.” Gina flipped her curls off shoulder theatrically then gestured for Thea to follow her to her room. “I need your help, I can’t decide on the black skinny jeans and boots or the matching purple skirt.”

Thea circled Gina a few times, evaluating the options. “What about that black skirt you have with the zipper up the front? Then you add your grey booties and your crop leather jacket.”

“This is why I keep you around.” Gina dropped to her knees and started digging through the bottom of her closet. “So are you ready for tonight?”

“Ehh...”

“You’re definitely going to turn some heads tonight, you little firecracker. I guess the question is, whose head do you want to turn?”

Thea fell backwards onto Gina’s bed and stared up at the ceiling. “Can we just skip tonight and order take out?”

“No, you’re avoiding the question. And besides, I do not look this good just to sit on the couch with you.” She lifted her head somewhat to see Gina putting the finishing touches on her outfit. “Now, let’s go before you chicken out like a pussy. All your men are going to be waiting on you.”

It was now or never. Run and hide from an uncomfortable situation or walk straight into it like the boss that she knew she was.

~~~

The girls entered the hole-in-the-wall italian restaurant and looked around for the group, finally spotting them at a table in the corner. Jake and Danny were yelling over each other while McKenzi, Danny’s girlfriend, tried to play referee to their argument. No one had noticed them yet.

“All I’m saying is that you don’t have to practice your set at 3 in the morning, it’s ridiculous.” Jake’s hands were flailing around while Danny was shaking his head furiously.

“If you can blast your music when you’ve got a girl back, then I can play the damn drums. Fair is fair.” Danny retorted, crossing his arms firmly.

Beside her, Gina nudged her in the ribs but Thea just pretended she hadn’t heard that last part and cleared her throat, all eyes falling on her.

“My bodacious babes, you both look dazzling!” Josh pronounced, knocking his chair back and motioned to the empty chairs.

Her first instinct was to sit in the chair next to Jake, but his attention was diverted to the glass in front of him, avoiding making eye contact at all costs. Rolling her eyes, Thea slid into the seat between Josh and Sam, across from Danny and McKenzi, letting Gina across from Jake.

“So are you guys pumped for tonight? Tyler said it’s supposed to be the biggest crowd you’ve ever had.”

“When did you talk to Tyler?” Sam asked quietly, only so Thea could hear.

She raised an eyebrow, “Hmm, on Wednesday I think it was. I went by the bar after work and he was there. Why?”

“I don’t like that guy. He hits on every girl who walks in there, it’s annoying-”

McKenzi tapped on the table, stopping whatever Sam was going to say next. “And why shouldn’t he hit on her? She looks hot! You’ll have to beat the guys off with a stick tonight.”

A few seats down, Gina choked back a laugh into her water. Thea shot her a murderous glare and smiled at the girl. “Thanks, Kenz, you look amazing too. That fringe jacket is to die for.” McKenzi excitedly ran her fingers through the strings, making them dance in the air. The rest of the comment vanished into thin air.

“Can we please get back to the matter at hand?” Josh’s voice boomed over everyone else. Thea shrunk her seat, unprepared for them to go back to discussing Jake’s love life being interrupted by drums. “The setlist for tonight is still undecided.”

Oh thank god.

The boys all launched into a discussion about which songs would be best in which order. It gave her the chance for her mind to wander. To think about if Mason and Declan had gotten the apartment, why Jake was avoiding eye-contact, what Mason might wear tonight, how drunk she wanted to get.

A light tap on her shoulder brought her back to reality. “Hey, are you alright, tiny?”

“Yeah, I’m great. Just have some stuff on my mind, I guess I spaced out.” Her eyes flashed over to Jake, who was in the middle of a passionate discussion with Gina on the effects of music on mental and emotional health, before looking back down to the table.

“Anything I can help with?”

She patted his knee appreciatively, “not really, Sammy, but thank you.”

The best thing and worst thing about Sam was that he was an observer. In an instant, he could zero in on the smallest dip in someone’s mood. Most times, it was the thing she looked forward to at the end of a long day. However, when she was trying to keep a secret, it made things a lot more difficult.

Thea nervously picked at a loose thread on the table cloth, praying that something would grab Sam’s attention, and thanking the lord when the waitress walked up to the table. The girl moved out of the aisle and squeezed in the small space by Jake’s chair, flashing him a flirty smile.

“Hi, I’m Sienna. Have you guys decided what you’re in the mood for today?” She asked enthusiastically. The group all nodded at each other, agreeing that they were ready to order. “Well let’s start with you cutie.” Her hand was a feather on Jake’s shoulder and she leaned in close to him.

A giant pile of jealousy slammed onto Thea’s chest as she watched Jake return the waitresses smile from across the table. A vision played in her mind of sweeping her hand off his shoulder and then pulling him in for a kiss, making it clear that he was hers.

“Ahem, T, it’s your turn.” Sam jostled her shoulder, startingly her.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” frantically, she grabbed for the menu and scanned it, ignoring the feeling of Jake’s dark eyes boring a hole in her skull. At this very moment, she wished that a hole would open up and swallow her for eternity.

“She’ll have the chicken fettuccine with no mushrooms and mix in little marinara sauce please.”

Thea’s head snapped up to see Jake ordering for her. The waitress looked back at her and Thea slowly nodded her head indicating that was really what she wanted. Sienna gathered the menus in her arms and trudged off to the kitchen. All eyes at the table moved to look at Jake in complete confusion.

Jake sat still for a second before shifting in his seat uneasily. “What?” He croaked out.

“Uh how did you know her order, dude?” Danny’s forehead crinkled.

Jake stared at him blankly, “because it’s her favorite dish here? Even though she acts like she’s gonna get something new, she orders it every time.”

On the inside, butterflies were flying around in Thea’s stomach at the thought that Jake had noticed her. He had noticed her in a way that wasn’t only meant to be physical. There was something that made him remember the things she ordered and her behaviors. She wanted to squeal and dance and jump around like a crazy person.

On the outside, she was cool as a cucumber, instead just giving him a thankful smile and putting her attention on Josh, who had already begun telling his next dramatic story.

This didn’t change anything. They were still just two people in the same friend group, nothing more. Nothing more to the public eye.

~~~

“I’m gonna need a round of shots to make it through tonight.” Gina chuckled at Thea’s whiny tone. “And gin. Lots of gin.”

“Alright, this round’s on me.”

Elbowing her way past groups of people to the bar, Gina already looked completely done with the crowd. The entire place was packed wall-to-wall with people, all mingling with each other, creating a single hum of mixed voices. It was dimly lit, the only light coming from the few fixtures scattered on the walls.

She’d spotted a few Greta Van Fleet shirts floating around, and for a second, she wondered if it would be possible to spot the agent or if they would blend right in with the sea of faces.

“I swear to god, I will murder someone by the end of the night. It took so long for Tyler to even get to me. All those stupid girls were flocking around him like seagulls.” Gina huffed as she slammed the tray of drinks down on the table.

Thea snatched a shot and downed it in one swift motion. The alcohol burned the back of her throat and sat warmly in her stomach. She reached for one more and shot it down quickly too, grabbing the gin and tonic to chase it down.

“Dude, I need you to slow your roll.” Gina looked baffled.

“Sorry, G, that was just a weird dinner.” Her throat was on fire from the alcohol.

Gina took a shot of her own. “Yeah, what the hell was up with that? First he acted like you didn’t even exist and then he’s quoting your food order like it was a sonnet. Aren’t you guys supposed to be acting normal or something?”

“I have no clue what’s going on. I’m not usually in this type of position. I don’t know how to be friends with benefits with someone that I like-like but that someone doesn’t like-like me back.”

“No one does. Because you’re not supposed to get in these situations when you like someone. It only leads to heartbreak.”

Thea pouted, “I didn’t intend on getting in this situation, jerk-”

“Teddy! Gina!” Mason’s voice called from behind them and they turned in their chairs to see Mason and Declan weaving between the bodies. Impulsively, Thea grabbed another shot and slammed it down. Gina grumbled under her breath and moved to stand up, pulling Thea out of her seat too.

She hugged Declan casually and stepped towards Mason, gulping as she looked up at him. Instead of his usual jean jacket, Mason had a red sports jacket on over his black hoodie. Damn he looked good, like always. He held out his arms and she stepped into them on instinct, her heart fluttering as he wrapped her in a strong hug. She inhaled the sweet scent of bergamot and cedarwood, the smell of the cologne he’d worn since she’d bought it for him in freshman year, and a slight hint of his favorite gum, winter mint. It was invigorating.

“Well, I had gotten us all shots, but T took yours, I’m sorry.”

Mason laughed at Gina’s sour face, “it’s all good, G, I’ll just grab a couple beers. You guys want anything while I’m up there?”

They all shook their heads no and sat back down while Mason disappeared into the crowd. Declan started joking about why they’d been late and the girls both started cackling at them getting lost.

“How do you get lost? It’s a grid system, Dec!” Thea exclaimed zealously.

From the side of the stage, Sam watched as Gina and Thea greeted two random guys with hugs. One guy headed towards the bar, but the other one planted himself right in between them.

“What the fuck?” He muttered to himself.

“What’s wrong?” Sam jumped at Jake’s voice behind him.

Looking away, he tried to pretend he hadn’t just been staring at the girls. “Uh, it’s nothing...”

“Samuel, just fucking tell me.”

“I just didn’t realize that Gina and Thea had invited some friends to the show. It’s not a big deal.”

Jake peeked around the corner, his eyes instantly finding Thea at her usual table just as a guy walked up behind her and squeezed her shoulder. She beamed as he sat down in the chair beside her and laid his arm across the back of her chair.

Keeping his face neutral, he looked back at Sam. “The more the merrier, huh?”

“Yeah, I just don’t recognize them...”

“They’re probably just friends from work.”

Sam sulked. “Do you think they could have boyfriends? They haven’t mentioned any guys to me, but you know girls, they’re weird as hell. All four of them look pretty chummy.”

“I doubt it, dude. You live with them, I think you’d know if they were hooking up with people.” Jake shook Sam’s shoulder roughly, “don’t focus on that. Focus on melting these people’s faces off.”

“Gentleman, the time is now!” Josh flourished his arms into the air and stepped out onto the stage.

The crowd roared loudly as the rest of the lights dimmed, only the stage lit up. One by one, the guys followed after Josh. They were all dressed to the nines. Josh lit up the stage in his paper white jumpsuit, a little white feather earring dangling on the side of his head. Danny was wearing his favorite leather vest without a shirt. And Jake, he looked like a god tonight. He had a black jacket with beautiful gold emblems open over his bare chest.

Without hesitation, Thea jumped up from her seat and walked toward the stage. She glanced back and saw the rest of them still sitting. “Aren’t you guys coming?”

“I’m gonna sit back here for a bit, babe. I like being able to see the whole stage.” Gina called, clapping loudly. Mason’s eyes darted between Gina and then Declan before following after Thea.

“Somehow, you still have me chasing after you.” He joked, nuding her shoulder.

She looked back at him and winked, “this will be worth it, trust me.”

She rushed up to the center stage and waved at Sam excitedly. He nodded back at her just as Jake ripped into the first riff of Highway Tune. They shredded through the song and immediately went right into Edge of Darkness. This was her favorite song because Jake had a remarkable solo for almost five minutes.

Once in a while, she would make a silly face at Sam but he ignored her every time. Her heart sank at the thought that maybe Jake had told him their secret. Her eyes drifted to watch Jake, his head was thrown back and his eyes were scrunched closed while he played the notes.

“These guys are awesome! How did you say you know them?” Mason’s voice was right in her ear causing goosebumps to prickle across her skin.

She leaned in a little bit and tilted her chin so he could hear her over the music. “They’re my best friends. Sam, the bass player, is me and Gina’s roommate.”

Mason moved his head back and blinked in surprise. “They’re really good, that guitar player is fantastic.”

“Yeah, he’s on fire tonight!” Thea bounced up and down just as Josh stepped back in to finish up the song.

~~~

After an hour, the band finished their set and disappeared off to the side of the stage. Thea let out a deep breath, the adrenaline making her heart pound, and grinned up at Mason. She had forgotten that he was there after a while, being so focused on Greta playing a flawless set.

Her eyes had constantly been changing from Sam, who had barely glanced at her the whole time, and Jake, who had been so focused on the songs that he had barely even looked up.

“Come on, let’s head back to the table.” She stepped backwards towards the back of the bar. “What did you think?”

“They’re great, they all seem to have real talent with their instruments. The singer-”

“Josh.”

“Yeah, Josh, he’s amazing. His voice is so old school rock n’ roll. I love it.”

They returned to the table just in time to hear Declan raving about how good the show had been. There was a small feeling of pride in Thea’s chest to know that her friends enjoyed the band. These were her guys and it felt good to see the reactions from newcomers.

“Oh my gosh, they did amazing!” McKenzi shouted over the rest of the voices as she plopped down in an empty chair, looking completely dazed and her hair was flying all over the place. Gina leaned across the table and tried to tame some of her flyaways but it was a lost cause and they both started giggling.

From across the room, Thea could see the boys breaking down their equipment. Every one of them was completely in sync, moving one way while someone else moved the other way. It was clear they were one unit and that’s why everything worked as well as it did.

Danny finished putting away his bass drum and the group jumped down from the stage and crossed the room. Josh swept around the group and placed a kiss on top of Gina’s, McKenzi’s, and Thea’s heads lovingly - something he did after every show as part of his ritual as a way to thank all the positive spirits.

Slipping into the chair next to McKenzi, Danny pulled her into a tight embrace, leaving splotches of sweat on her shirt. Behind them, Sam and Jake hovered back, both of them watching Mason and Declan with blank stares. Thea squirmed uncomfortably at the tension she felt was being directed right at her.

“Ahem, guys, this is Declan and Mason, some friends from high school.” Gina finally spoke up. “Dec, Mas, this is Josh, Sam, Jake, Danny, and Danny’s girlfriend, McKenzi. Sam is mine and Thea’s other roommate.”

Mason shook everyone’s hands as Gina introduced them and Thea cringed at the intensity that Sam squeezed his hand when it was his turn, but Mason just grinned like it hadn’t even phased him. He had never been one to back down from an awkward situation.

Now that everyone had officially met, maybe the rest of the night could go off without a hitch, Thea prayed. She couldn’t keep herself from wondering what Jake might be thinking, he hadn’t looked at her once since the restaurant.

“Are you guys gonna sit down?” Thea asked curiously.

“I’ll be at the bar.” Jake replied tersely before bee-lining it away from the table. Thea’s lips parted in surprise before her eyes moved to look at Sam sadly.

“Sammy?”

“Ya know, I think I’m gonna get a drink too.” He replied bluntly.

Thea glimpsed over at Gina desperately who gave her a half-hearted shrug in response. Both boys stood side-by-side at the bar, their shoulders filled with tension, and she so badly wanted to follow after them but it was clear they wanted some space.

Her heart dropped slightly as she saw a girl saunter up to Jake and start flirting with him. Instantly, he had his charming smile on and was leaning in so he could hear her better. Thea could feel the tears burn her eyes but she blinked them away as quick as possible.

“So,” Josh clapped his hands together loudly, “Mason and Declan, you guys went to highschool with our girls?”

“Yep, since sixth grade. We were attached at the hip for most of it.” Declan said before taking a sip of his beer. “Mason and Teddy dated for like four years too.” He said and everyone’s eyes went wide.

“Who’s Teddy?” McKenzi asked, her brows crinkled deeply.

“Um, Thea? Ya know, short for Theadora.” Mason sounded a bit baffled.

Danny chortled, “T, your name is Theadora?”

“What of it, Wagner?” Thea hissed and Danny’s face went pale as he shrunk behind McKenzi’s shoulder, but she pushed him away from her. “Anyways, can we please move on from my hideous name, please?”

“So, Mason, what kind of job do you have?” McKenzi intervened, clearly seeing how embarrassed Thea was feeling at the whole situation. One reason that Thea hoped Danny would never let that amazing woman walk out of his life.

Mason gave her appreciative smile for trying to divert the conversation. “Oh, I just started working for Atlantic Records Group as a talent agent.”

#Jake kiszka #jake kiszka gvf #greta van fleet #gvf #jake kiszka x oc #jake kiszka fanfic #jake kiszka fanfiction #greta van fleet story #fanfiction #original female character #nicole-lynnefics #all the love songs chapter two

25 notes · View notes

ohblackdiamond · 4 years

Text

little t&a (paul/gene, nc-17) (part 10 of 29)

part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6 part 7 part 8 part 9 part 10 part 11 part 12 part 13 part 14 part 15 part 16 part 17 part 18 part 19 part 20 part 21 part 22 part 23 part 24 part 25 part 26 part 27 part 28 part 29

Four weeks before KISS gets back on tour, Gene discovers that Paul’s been cursed by a groupie. For the sake of KISS’ finances, Paul’s comfort levels, and Gene’s libido, this crisis must be resolved. Sexswap fic. In this chapter: More shopping, more problems, and Ace and Peter enact their plan.

The call to Steve Rubell (or rather, his secretary—Steve, apparently, didn't get up any earlier than two in the afternoon) wasn't the only one Gene made that morning. At Paul's urging, Gene called to have clothes sent over from his house, and a handful of standard accessories. He felt a little bare wearing only his skull ring. Paul kept attempting to advise him as he tried to piece together an image- and Studio 54-suitable outfit from memory of what was in his closets. In the end he just settled on an outfit comprised almost entirely out of black leather. A vague step up from his CBGB outfit, at least.

"You think I should go to another boutique?" Paul asked as soon as he'd hung up. He'd changed into jeans and a low-cut, frilly purple blouse, more of yesterday's purchases. He kept fiddling with the floppy bow in the front, untying and retying it as he spoke, moving it to the side, then the middle. Sitting beside him on the edge of the bed, he looked like a nervous kid, tapping one bare foot against the floor.

"Not unless you want to."

"I dunno. Nothing I have is going to pass muster."

"Didn't you buy a dress?"

Paul grimaced.

"It wasn't anything special. Do you know how many people they don't let in to Studio 54, just because of the outfit?"

"Paul, you know we'll get in."

"Yeah, we'll get in, but the press is out there every night. There's gonna be pictures, Gene."

Gene hesitated. Except for when they'd found Carol's old apartment, Paul's mood seemed to improve, at least a little, whenever they'd ventured out. He hadn't seemed to mind getting clothes that much—sure, he'd taken forever about it, but that wasn't abnormal—and he hadn't picked out sackcloth and ashes for himself, either. Minus the bow, the blouse was something Paul probably would've worn in his regular body, even, except Gene would've been greeted with a hell of a lot of chest hair instead of cleavage.

"I think what you've got on is probably fine."

"You haven't been over there. It's picky as hell."

"We're in KISS, we'll get in."

"I don't want to just get in! I—" Paul shook his head. "God, you don't understand."

"What's there to understand?"

"There's getting in and then there's looking good, Gene. Looking like you belong."

Gene tilted his head.

"Do you really want to belong at Studio 54?" Gene had heard, from admittedly irreputable sources, that Rubell would hand out coke at the VIP entrance like it was balloons at the carnival. The basement was supposed to hold nothing but orgies. Yeah, Paul liked to dance, and he liked to rub elbows with people outside of KISS' questionable echelon, but he wasn't a drug addict, and he wasn't a heavy sex fiend. Two things that were practically prerequisites for that place.

"I wanna belong somewhere," Paul said abruptly, and then shook his head, as though he hadn't really realized he was speaking out loud. "I—what I mean is, I don't wanna come off like I'm some chick you yanked off the front row 'cause she showed you her tits."

"You don't come that cheap, Paul."

"Oh, shut up. You get it, right? You get it."

Gene kind of got it. The closest he could come was envisioning going onstage without the makeup. The one protective shield between fantasy and reality. A funhouse mirror it'd be suicide to step away from. It wasn't that they were shittier musicians without a bunch of paint and leather on, any more than Clark Kent stopped being faster than a speeding bullet once he put on his glasses—but it ruined the magic. Flattened the ego.

He'd known Paul long enough to realize Paul's ego had been flattened since he'd started grammar school, if not before. Album sales and Billboard climbing never seemed to boost it for long. Being stuck in the wrong body for a week had to have killed whatever was left.

"If you wanna get another outfit, then we'll get you another outfit."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Three hours later, Paul had another outfit. Gene had half-hoped Paul would let him into the dressing room—why the hell he'd hoped that when Paul kept changing clothes in the bathroom even at home, he didn't know, but he was still disappointed. Paul had stopped at a slightly more upscale place than yesterday, to Gene's distress, and sorted through the dresses with an almost disturbing intenseness. In the end, he'd only picked out a flowy, light blue one that probably hung to about mid-calf (Paul hadn't let him see it on), with draped short sleeves, another bra, and another pair of heels. He hadn't gotten any accessories to go along with it.

But what surprised Gene was that he didn't immediately head for the checkout counter. Instead, he kept lingering in the lingerie and nightwear section. Gene would have tried not to comment, except he'd had nothing to do but follow Paul around the boutique like the beleaguered boyfriend he wasn't.

"Do you want a nightie?" He picked a gauzy, lacey pink number off the rack. Paul's face contorted.

"That's a teddy."

"A what?"

"A teddy. It snaps up at the crotch. See?" Paul pointed. Gene was more distracted by the garters dangling off the sides, flicking at them.

"I thought they were all nighties."

Paul shook his head. He took a short lavender babydoll-style nightgown off the rack, running a hand down the silky material, mouth pursed like he was actually considering it.

"Do you like this stuff?"

"Me?" Gene looked up, evasively, from where he'd been tugging at the garters. Too loaded a question for a completely honest response. "I like what's underneath it."

Paul bit his lip and hung the lingerie back up.

"You wanna get it?" Not that Gene was against it, but Paul had seemed like he was dead-set on wearing t-shirts and boxers to bed for the entire duration of the curse, or at least as long as Gene shared a bed with him. Last night couldn't have made that much of an impression on him. "Go ahead, if you want."

"I owe you over a hundred bucks as it is."

"Pay me back with a peepshow."

"Oh, screw you." But he picked the nightgown up again anyway. "It's just insurance."

"Insurance for what?"

"For you sticking around in case we don't find Carol tonight."

"You don't need insurance for that. I'm not going anywhere." Gene reached over, tugging at a lock of Paul's hair on impulse. "Not that I'm talking you out of it."

Paul snorted and pushed his hand away, but he was smiling. Just a little. It shouldn't have been distracting—it shouldn't have been more distracting than the thought of Paul as he was right now, in nothing but a short, spaghetti-strap nightgown—but in an odd way, it was. Paul wasn't much of a crier, and he wasn't much of a smiler, not even for magazines and interviews. But when he did, it gave a warm, almost sweet cast to his features. Gene tried to dismiss the thought; he knew he'd been with prettier women, easier, prettier women, but the fact remained. Paul's smile had edged into a less innocent territory in the half-second Gene had spent musing, anyway.

"I knew there had to be some way to keep you from looking at the price tags," he said, handing Gene his whole stack of purchases.

Last night, when Ace had said he had a plan, he had cocaine and booze bubbling around in his strangely-resilient system. When Peter had believed him, he'd been drunk or close to it.

Now, parked in front of Paul's place after over an hour of driving, Peter had to admit Ace's plan would've been great for getting answers—if anyone had actually been there. Unfortunately, that didn't appear to be the case once they got in the driveway.

"His car's gone. I don't think anyone's over." Despite himself, Peter got out of the car. Ace reached for the drink holder, like he'd forgotten he hadn't brought a beer for the road, before he cut off the engine and followed him out. They stepped up to Paul's front porch together, ringing the doorbell and knocking on the door.

The first time Peter had headed over there, the girl had been really quick to open up. Gene, too. Peter let out a frustrated breath, waiting a few more seconds before knocking harder. Nothing. He could see through the glass on the door that a couple of the lights were on in the house, but that didn't mean much. Paul would leave a light on all day, even in his hotel room.

No, nobody was here. The cardboard box resting just by the door proved it. Paul's mail, evidently. Peter picked it up, frowning at the lack of address or postage. Hopefully none of the neighbors had found out who he was and dropped off weird fan crap. He set the box down before turning to Ace.

"Why the hell did I let you talk me into this? It's not getting us anywhere!"

Ace just shrugged.

"He's gotta come home sometime."

"Sometime could be six hours from now! At least I get paid for waiting around on tour!"

"Petey…"

Ace's idle nonchalance was something Peter appreciated most of the time, as stark a contrast as it was to Paul and Gene's control freak tendencies. Ace seemed like he coasted through life, with nothing but alcohol, his Les Paul, and weird stories about aliens propelling him. Peter had let himself get dragged into Ace's weird, wild hairs sometimes, but usually they were at least exciting. Standing in front of Paul's house and hoping he'd show back up was about as thrilling as three KISS board meetings in a row.

"You know what the smart thing would've been, Ace?"

"Calling Paul today? I tried."

"No."

"Calling Bill?"

"No."

"Calling Hilsen?"

"Fuck, no. Calling the cops."

Ace blinked, resting an elbow and a hand against the door as he leaned against it.

"The cops? That's pretty fucking extreme."

"For one of those—I don't know. They come to the house and check on you if your husband's a wife-beater."

Ace tilted his head.

"Social workers? You wanna get a social worker for Paul?"

"No! No, that's not it!"

"I bet they'd find joints in there. No good. It'd be like what's happening to Keith Richards. One big fucking disaster." Ace ran a hand through his hair. Looking at him, Peter wasn't sure if he'd showered after last night. Not that Ace was fantastic about hygiene, but… shit, come to think of it, he'd even missed a few spots shaving. He and Ace both would try and ease into pieces of the tour routine before it swallowed them up. All the annoying shit, like shaving everything. Like getting haircuts (the hair dye was reserved for a couple days before) and wandering around in heels again for awhile, like some bizarre version of a wrestler's training regimen. But Ace looked a bit unkempt. Had Gene's behavior affected Ace that badly? Strange.

"Doubt it. Paul doesn't toke up by himself." Peter groaned. "Y'know what? Forget it. Forget it. If no one shows up in another ten minutes, we're just going home."

"You gotta be patient."

"I've been patient! I've been over twice! You're the one that hasn't done anything until now! You said you had a plan—"

"You ain't gonna like the rest of the plan."

"C'mon, there is no rest of the plan! We're staking out his house and wasting our time, that's all this is!"

Ace shifted from where he was leaning against the door, standing up fully, and dug a hand in his back pocket, pulling out his wallet. Peter watched, expecting him to—what, did he have a key to Paul's?—show him something important, but instead all he did was pull out a credit card and hold it out in front of Peter.

"What's this for?"

"Don't leave home without it. Right, Pete?" Ace laughed a little, then leaned over, wedging the card between the space between the door and the lock. Peter stared.

"Come the fuck on, that's breaking and entering! We can't pull this shit!"

Ace slid the card back out, frowning, and reangled it. He kept talking, as affably as ever, as he pushed it back in, bending the thin plastic as he worked it into the gap.

"We've gotta find out what's going on somehow, right? A P.I. would do the same thing."

"Yeah, but you're not a fucking P.I.!"

"Nope." He seemed like he was making headway. The door was actually starting to yield a bit. Christ. "But if you're right about Gene, he's screwed up everything for everybody."

"You and your ifs. I know I'm right about him! Why do you keep defending—"

"'Cause it's weird, Peter! Gene wouldn't hurt him like that. There's something we're missing!"

Peter opened his mouth to answer, stopped only by the sound of a car pulling up to the driveway. A car he recognized as Paul's. The driver cut off the engine, and as soon as she got out, he recognized her, too—the girl from before. Paul's girl, the one Gene had stolen—and then Gene got out of the passenger's side. Peter jerked at Ace's sleeve, and Ace turned around, not bothering to pull the card out from between the door and the slat, expression as bland and mild as ever at the sight, as the girl scrambled out to the front porch like a bat straight out of hell, shouting something very, very strange.

"You bastards! You're breaking into my fucking house!"

#kiss the band #kiss fanfiction #gene simmons #paul stanley #gene simmons x paul stanley #ace frehley #peter criss

5 notes · View notes

nightwving · 4 years

Text

i was tagged by @mollyweasly to answer these questions, tysm!! i did most of them the other night but got distracted and am posting them now lmao

1. on a scale of 1-10, how excited are you about life right now? idk, i’ll say maybe a 7 or so? honestly i’m feeling pretty decent for the first time in a while

2. describe yourself in a hashtag? #ohfuck

3. if you could do a love scene with anyone, who would it be? that’s tough... i would never want to actually subject anyone to the horror or doing that with me, but i guess either tom holland or sebastian stan??

4. if your life was a musical, what would the marquee say? “a juxtaposed comedic disaster”

5. what’s one thing people don’t know about you? shit man i usually overshare pretty much everything, but i guess one thing would be that i got hit straight in the head by a golf ball while on a course with my parents when i was in middle school?? it came from way far out but miraculously didn’t seem to crack my skull or give me too bad of a concussion. my dad said it hit so hard that it sounded like it hit the pavement. now i have severe anxiety near golf courses and when things are flying near my head in general lmfao

6. what’s your wake up ritual? i check my phone real quick and then immediately go to pee and brush my teeth. depending on the day and whether or not i’d be late for class back when things were normal, i might shower lol. then either get dressed real quick and go to class or, these days, play video games or get on my computer

7. what’s your go to bed ritual? i’ll usually wrap up whatever i’m doing, make sure my fan is on, lock my door (when i’m at school), strip, take some melatonin, lay down, set my alarm, plug in and then get on my phone for a while until i (hopefully) get sleepy

8. what’s your favorite time of day? i love the evening around sunset or so but i also just love the night in general, especially when things get quiet in the am

9. your go to for having a good laugh? tiktok

10. dream country to visit? ummm... honestly canada 😂 or germany or something

11. what’s the biggest surprise you’ve ever had? last spring i spontaneously won an award in the department that i work for at school because my friends insisted that i get one for all the work i do on the newspaper and for my work study and stuff. they had to work some stuff around because i’m not actually a major and that’s who the awards are for, but they all agreed to give it to me at the ceremony and i was NOT expecting it whatsoever. it was one of the most amazing moments ever especially since i struggle with finding a niche and having faith in myself

12. heels or flats/sneakers? sneakers!!

13. vintage or new? i love vintage but that shit can be hard for me to find

14. who do you want to write your obituary? probably a friend idk i feel like my family would say some dumb corny shit lmao

15. style icon? i have quite a few but slash or duff mckagan from 80s GNR would be a couple ok don’t judge me. and john bender from the breakfast club

16. what are three things you cannot live without? internet, my ps4, and friends

17. what’s one ingredient you put in everything? chili or garlic powder

18. what 3 people living or dead would you want to make dinner for? i don’t even make dinner for myself lmao but if i really had the motivation, probs stan lee, carrie fisher, and my tiny son josh bassett

19. what’s your biggest fear in life? being institutionalized against my will and/or death before i’m ready/feel like i’ve done something worthwhile.

20. window or aisle seat? depends tbh

21. what’s your current tv obsession? i’m not really on a kick with it right now, but i’m slowly making my way through the clone wars in chronological order.

22. favorite app? tiktok

23. secret talent? uhh... i guess a lot of people would assume that i’m not athletic because of my weight but i’m actually naturally pretty sporty and can still be when i really feel like it

24. most adventurous thing you’ve ever done in your life? well i’ve tried to summon spirits in multiple different places, attempted to break into an asylum with my ex, done a pregnancy test with an old friend in a burger king bathroom... idk if those count as “adventurous” but that’s about all i got as of right now in my life

25. how would you define yourself in three words? eclectic, resilient, and real

26. favorite piece of clothing you own? my denim jacket

27. a must have clothing item that everyone should have? also denim jacket lol

28. a superpower you would want? i debate this often... i think shapeshifting would be cool but also telekinesis

29. what’s inspiring you in life right now? movies and stuff i guess

30. best piece of advice you’ve received? probably that it’s okay to do things at your own pace and to not be so hard on yourself when you aren’t doing things the same way as others

31. best advice you’d give your teenage self? wear some better fuckin clothes lmao

32. a book everyone should read? bruh idk i don’t really read anymore, harry potter i guess 😂

33. what would you like to be remembered for? being honest and real but also someone that would’ve been there for you, or to have a good laugh with

34. how do you define beauty? beauty is like something that fills you with wonder and a sense of life or something

35. what do you love most about your body? uh... i have nice legs i guess 😂

36. best way to take a rest/decompress? find something that distracts you and makes you forget about all the shit. get lost in another world in movies/music/etc or just laugh with someone about anything

37. favorite place to view art? i like seeing it in the studios at school when people are still working on it

38. if your life was a song, what would the title be? “somethin’ else”

39. if you could master one instrument, what would it be? ugh i would love to be a full blow pianist but i ain’t got the patience for that. i made it through a few periods of lessons throughout my life and three classes in college but i don’t have the capacity to do more than that. but i would also love to get even better with my voice. i’ve been taking classical lessons for the past couple of years but quit recently because of the anxiety that studio recitals and master classes give me. music major shit is rough

40. if you had a tattoo, where would it be? i have one janky one behind my right ear that i got when i was 16, it’s a bird. but if i wasn’t a fatass bitch, i’d like to get more in different places on my body

41. dolphins or koalas? dolphins

42. what’s your spirit animal? it used to be a coyote according to a quiz years ago lol but it’s probably something different now

43. best gift you’ve ever received? probs my shitty first car that my dad got me last summer. but it’s a hell of a lot better than nothing

44. best gift you’ve given? shit i can’t even remember. i love doing personal little gifts for my friends. ACTUALLY i’d probably say the playlist i made for my friend last christmas because listening to music late at night was our thing

45. what’s your favorite board game? secret hitler is the BOMB

46. what’s your favorite color? yellow

47. least favorite color? probs brown

48. diamond or pearls? diamonds

49. drugstore makeup or designer? drugstore bitch, i’m broke

50. blow-dry or air-dry? air dry preferably but i’ll blow dry if i need to

51. pilates or yoga? neither lmao

52. coffee or tea? coffee unless it’s sweet tea

53. what’s the weirdest word in the english language? all of them

54. dark chocolate or milk chocolate? dark

55. stairs or elevators? elevators bih i got bad knees

56. summer or winter? winter, FUCK the sun

57. you are stuck on an island, you can pick one food to eat forever without getting tired of it, what would you eat? potatoes

58. a dessert you don’t like? a lot of things, i eat like a picky five year old. but i don’t like anything minty

59. a skill you’re working on mastering? singing. but also design-y stuff and videography

60. best thing to happen to you today? i went on a short walk with my mom earlier and there’s always a man across the street from us who sits on his porch every evening and sings with his guitar. i love it

61. worst thing to happen to you today? sitting through my zoom class lmao

62. best compliment you’ve ever received? idk, just when someone has generally called me beautiful? that makes me feel really nice

63. favorite smell? i love the smell of cookies or brownies in the oven. i’m also weird af and love strange things like basement smell and gasoline. also sharpies

64. hugs or kisses? hugs probably

65. if you made a documentary, would it be about? idk probably something about a niche community/town or some cult-y shit

66. last piece of content you consumed that made you cry? avengers: endgame

67. lipstick or lipgloss? i don’t usually wear either very much but probably lipstick

68. sweet or savory? savory

69. girl crush? ana de armas or margot robbie

70. how do you know your in love? i feel like you’d do anything for that person even if it hurt you, and you think about them all the time and want to protect/be there for them

71. a song you can listen to on repeat? i usually avoid listening to things on repeat, but if i had to choose something... idk maybe africa by toto 😂

72. if you could switch lives with someone for a day, who would it be? probs someone like elon musk or bill gates to see what it’s like to be that fucking rich and successful

73. what are you most excited for about this time in your life? just enjoying it and maybe honing some skills with all this extra time. also watching some movies on my watchlist

i’m tagging @verafarmiga, @northuldrra, @tmhnks, @spaceoddly, @breaksfastclub, and anyone else who wants to do it!! but feel free to ignore or just laugh at my answers

#tag game #about

4 notes · View notes

jess-the-vampire · 5 years

Text

Sky And The Forces Of The Multiverse, Chapter 25

Previous / Next

- Landon never felt happier to see the three-headed dog in his entire life, all of her ears perking up as he walked in with celeste and she eagerly started giving him big kisses with her tongues. He felt himself lean into it, petting her much to her delight. He really hoped he wasn't heading in for a trap himself, cause that was the last thing he needed to deal with today. He just hoped wherever this girl was it wasn't too far away, it couldn't be right? He swore she looked familiar. It was hard to get a good look at her from where he sat but still. "So hows this gonna work, we going good cop and bad cop on this random demon girl? Isn't that maybe an abuse of power for you?", he gave what she considered an awkward look that told her well enough he wasn't entirely sure. "We'll just, find her and ask her some questions....that's fair right..? I mean, she's a kid....she can't be too tough". Actually that was a lie, he had no idea what to expect out of this kid, especially when she had hands on papers from the book of spells. He bit his lip, pulling out his compact to take a pictures of both sides of the paper, just in case he needed it.

"You don't think she's....", celeste drawled out as the dog came him to smooch her as well, forcing her to be wary of her wiped away her makeup on her cheeks. "Her? No, i kinda don't think so...but having a book of spells page, we should at least ask how she got a hold of it...it made it's way to the underworld somehow and we'd do better to see why.". He motioned for the dog to sit, he wasn't used to having her track down things for him, that was usually his parents. But he knew she could do it, so there had to be a way. "Yeah....and what if lucy here takes us somewhere else instead? to all the other people who've fingered that paper..". "Look, i'm trying ok? Could you at least sorta kinda help instead of making it worse on me right now?", she reluctantly held out the paper, frowning as she held it up to lucy, "Uh...hi? Sniff this, we need to find the demon girl who was holding it...can you find her?". Yeah, there was no way this was working at all, though the giant dog was sniffing with all of her heads, looking up at landon as he smiled awkwardly and shrugged. She moved back, panting before sniffing the air, landon taking this as a positive sign. "C'mon, let's open the door and get on her back.....", celeste couldn't even protest as landon flew and pulled her up, but just barely. Riding a dog was not something fairly common to the girl but she didn't have much of a choice as the doors were opened and lucy bounded out of the room and outside of the castle. Her noses high in he hair and smelling around as her companions gripped her collar fiercely. Celeste regretted going as she practically hugged the collar. This wasn't like riding a unicorn, this animal was much MUCH more unfitting for giving rides. She was bigger, and had a much higher risk of throwing them off her back, celeste was sure she'd be sick. Though much to her surprise, the dog soon stopped, scooting to a stop of course, and making Celeste feel more sick. She tried to catch her breath and get herself together as she tried to make light of where lucy had taken them and if it was even where they were supposed to be. Landon seemed to have held himself much better then her, probably because he was used to this to some degree. Thanking lucy before helping celeste off and telling his dog to stay. "The stables?". "It's where we keep the dead unicorns, dark horses, all that jazz... they run our carriages and are used by soldiers at times as well, my family doesn't really go down here all that much. The nice thing about skeleton horses though? You don't have to feed them, though the dark ones really enjoy demon fruit.". Celeste hummed in interest as she followed him along, "So....you think she's here? In the stables? I mean, don't tell me you have people living in here...". "Actually no, i think.....I think i get it...", landon headed inside the grand building housing most if not all of their equestrians, it was made of stone more then anything, dark stone, even their stables were covered in dark architecture. Skulls along the walls, and torches for light, as she checked out the snorting and even talking horses in their stables. The place even actually smelled like a stable, well, that and....burned toast? Well, it stuck, that was for sure. "Is every building in the underworld look gloomy and dead?", celeste asking, kicking some rocks inside that turned out to be alive and moving. Landon seemed to find her question ridiculous, snorting as he walked passed servants taking care of the horses and cleaning up any messes they could find, "Well, i mean, what did you expect down here? It's sorta our thing, have you even been to the underworld that much before you started staying...here?". "No...things.....were complicated...plus i never had a reason to come down here...", he shrugged and kept moving, looking around every corner before stopping, and motioning towards his sister. Celeste stood next to them and looked to where he was staring. He found her alright, a small girl sitting by herself in the stables, going through the brushes used to clean off the skeleton horses and said brushes falling out of her hands half the the time. This girl seemed clumsy overall, but it was very much the same one they saw. Now at a better distance, they could make out her features better. She was blue for one, blue skin, dark blue hair with a bit of a light blue streak in it, a tattered dress tied with rope and covered in good luck charms, long orange and black horns that stuck upright, and one big orange eyes that stuck out like a sore thumb thanks to her mostly blue color scheme. She had a lot of luck charms alright, from very dried up 4 leaf clovers, to a rabbit's foot, to even a horseshoe from one of the horses of the stables tied to her. Guess she was a little superstitious. No wonder Landon felt she was familiar, she was a servant, he'd probably seen her around the castle a few times even if he usually didn't pay that much mind to most servants considering his terrible social skills. Though he would admit seeing someone so young be a servant here bothered him just a little bit, his parents would never agree to letting kids as young as mason take on tough tasks so this was an odd revelation. He cleared his throat though, knowing he'd need to speak to the rather gloomy looking girl and ask her question. Though before he could think of what to say, Celeste had already taken the matter into her own hands, bumping past him and over to the girl. "hi, who are you?". Well, that was one way to do it. The girl looked up, and though landon was expecting a confused and maybe innocent reaction, the girl herself seemed rather unenthusiastic about their appearance, in fact she seemed like she didn't really care much at all about being called on. She glared over both of them with her one eye and her eye lingered on landon a bit more, she probably knew he was one of the princes, which would definitely make her one of the few who did notice him. "Prince lucitor? What are you doing down here?", seems the girl wasn't void of sass, looking him up and down and then Celeste once more. "Just so you know, i'm not the head of the stables so...maybe you want to talk to my superior?". Landon sighed and held out the paper instead, the girl's eye widening, "We saw you drop this.....why do you have a page from the book of spells?". So they were just going to come right out with it weren't they? No prep, no idea what to expect. Just lay it all out there . Landon was expecting denial, outrage, even maybe violence, but instead...he was met with relief. "Oh? So that's what that paper was? I wasn't entirely sure about it, plus the writing is in another language entirely, i almost thought it might've been from the lucitor archives since Relicor keeps the weirdest things down there...". Landon blinked at her, shaking his head, "Wait? What? You didn't even know what this paper was?". The small girl shrugged, "When i found it i assumed it was important but I've never seen that book before...well, then again i can't really see most books that aren't from a bookstore of library and don't accidentally burn up.". "It's from the butterfly kingdom", Celeste grumbled, the girl looking towards her, "Oh? Well that explains so much actually....well, you can keep it then...i was hoping to return it to wherever it came from but....seems i continued my streak of losing things.....that's 5 times this week". The two royals looked at each other, well, this was the last thing they expected, watching the girl trip and get back to sorting through her items. Landon coughed, "Uh...where'd you find this? It's kinda far from home...". "The woods...i went to the surface and found it, i think someone lost it out there....probably the princess or someone who really didn't keep track of their items". "The woods?". "There's a nice patch out there where i like to pick clovers for my collection...", she motioned to the dead clovers attached to her dress, "It was there, lying around....though i assume you two weren't the ones who lost it?". They shook their heads at her, "I see many things in those woods, not a safe place...full of creeps....i haven't been back since, but that's because knowing my luck, i'd run into the person who lost that paper out there and i probably don't want to know at all.". Landon looked the paper over and handed it to celeste, "Have you ever seen anything...creepy in there?, like a masked lady?". "Prince, why are you looking for masked ladies?", she was such a young girl and yet she asked rather good questions, "I thought you weren't into ladies?". Celeste snickered at that one and landon sighed, "Ok, who told you that one?". She finished gathering her stuff and started heading over to one of the skeleton horses, clearly prepared to clean him, "My family's been serving yours for years, everyone talks, word gets around...it's common knowledge in the underworld at this point, for the record i don't blame you for going after human boys, they probably smell better then the cold depths of the afterlife". Landon shook off his embarrassment to proceed with questioning as the weird girl started to dust the dead horse. "Look, she's a wanted criminal, or he, or they or...whatever they are....maybe you've seen where they're camping out...". "Oh Fae!" Fae? Odd name. The girl turned to another demon who bowed at the sight of the prince before acknowledging the small girl again, though she seemed rather anxious around fae, as if the small girl would attack her despite her small size "Please make certain you finish sweeping your part for today before heading out, and tell your family hello for me?", Fae nodded to her and she bowed to the prince before moving away rather quickly. The girl went back to work before looking at her companions, "Describe this masked lady...i'm just assuming you aren't going to leave until i spill the beans on whatever you need.". Did she actually know something or not? Landon wasn't sure of anything around this girl, she seemed rather moody and unhelpful but she was all they got right now. "Tall, i think? White doll mask with a crack, long flowing black dress, you can't seen any of her skin in her costume...". "She, they, he,whoever... has good taste...". "She scares the living daylights out of everyone in mewni because no one can find her, we need to know if you've seen anything peculiar.". "Nah, i'd remember her.....". "We think she broke into lucitor castle once, like, and kept lucy from even sniffing them out, do you think you have a reason as to how they could figure that out?". "She sounds fun....well never saw her but....if you're looking for something weird I did receive...a note....ages ago it feels", she glanced to them oddly, "Asking me for information about the lucitor kingdom....in exchange for helping me with....things, but it burned before i could really do anything with it...so if you're looking for something odd, well....yeah...some person was desperate for help with the castle....but then again, there are many demons who'd do anything to enter.". Landon snorted, "Burned? How?", but that seemed to make the girl more embarrassed, "Things tend to get destroyed around me, i was probably the last person they should've asked for help...people who're around me, tend to end up dissapointed". Landon was already sure he knew where this was going, "Well.....you know, we believe this person....broke into the castle....at one point...so...". The girl didn't seem amused, "Prince, i'm sorta obliged to be as truthful to you as possible, I had nothing to do with anything like that....i got a note and it burned.....don't even know who sent it, i'm only 13 here.". She was quiet for a moment, pausing in her work, "I rarely go anywhere outside of the stables, truthfully i wouldn't have been any use...". "But this person thought you'd be useful?". "If they thought i was useful, then they must've been desperate to find anyone....because they didn't know me..."., she closed her one eye, thinking, "Also probably a bad burglar in the first place considering i might've just went to the king and queen with the note....they really didn't think things through..". Didn't think things through? That didn't sound like the type of villain they were going after? They seemed so much more cunning, and powerful to do something as dumb as that. Must've been someone else then, right? False lead, dammit. "Geez if you were gonna be this helpful why didn't you come to anyone about any of this?", Celeste stepped forward, making the young demon's pointed ears twitch, "I'm 13, if a 13 year old girl went up to you and told you this stuff without any proof how would you think you'd react?" She turned around, leaning against the skeleton horse and sighing, "being a peasant is not the same thing as prince pink over there living in his castle, the crimes that happen, the rumors, The small oddities? We know about them...". "You're kinda young to be well...a servant?". "Family's been serving yours for years, we need the money and this was the only job i couldn't screw up....because technically I can't accidentally kill things that are already dead", she shrugged, " Don't worry, your parents never assigned me anything better for adults,they knew we needed the money so they gave me this opportunity, i take care of the horses...even you could do that.". Geez, the last thing landon expected when looking for this demon, was to get so many more questions then answers, such a strange little girl. "You think i'm weird, don't you?". "What?". "i can see it with my one eye......", she pointed to her large orange eye, for emphasis, "It's fine, i know i'm strange....you've only just met me and i'm spouting out nonsense about my family and problems and weird junk, but you asked for it...". The horse behind her laughed, reminding landon that, oh yeah, their horses could speak English. She rolled her eye, "I went out to find a place to read to myself and take a break but...i didn't expect it'd lead me to meet Prince Landon of the lucitor kingdom...". "Well i didn't think it'd lead me to someone who had so much to talk about...". "I have....a habit of getting into bad situations....just my luck..". She looked around, keeping a eye on the other servants, "Well, you can take that paper with you, i don't need it for anything. But whoever had it might come looking for it, and if it's some giant creepy lady thing then maybe you should watch out prince...". They exchanged looks and fae paused, looking between them, "What else do you want? You wanted more info, i told you everything i know!". Celeste coughed into her hand, "I was kinda like..attacked....by something in those woods, and now you're kinda saying you found this paper in these woods....are you sure you've never seen...anything else out there?". "Those woods have always been creepy, tales of bogbeasts and evil plants that drag you under and mysterious figures, if you're so sure they're out there...you're better off looking, but.....yeah wandering in the woods tends to be a bad idea.", she started cleaning her section and the two followed her,"Didn't you admit to going into those woods at your age? You're younger then both of us!". They both did kinda have a point as Fae put her cleaning supplied away. "I'm a servant girl, it's much worse if the prince goes missing out there then me...". There was silence. "Hey uh....thanks, for being helpful, and uh......talking to us about all this", landon mumbled, hands in his pockets, "Uh......if there's kinda like, anything I can do to help I-". But the girl cut him off, "Don't die, cause if i cause a prince to die....well....yeah...". She was a strange girl, but considering what landon thought she'd be, this was very much an upgrade. "Hey, if that paper is from the butterfly castle, and there's some freak wandering around...uh...does that mean....everyone is in danger?". To be honest, everyone seemed so concerned about the royals and other kingdoms, he hadn't even considered the citizens were in just as much potential danger. He felt a lump in his throat trying to answer, "Well, yeah....uh....I was unaware....you all knew so little about everything...I'm sorry...". Fae nodded, "Just be careful out there.....and um....i wish you luck on your mission Prince Landon, though....here...". She grabbed one of her clovers from her dress and handed it to him, "You might need some luck....we all do..". He clutched it before looking her over, thinking about something before spitting it out, "hey um....fae....". "Hm?". "We need to check out that spot, what if.....i paid you to take us there?". - Judas was still on edge. Still no word from Nora and now he was expected to just....do what with luna? Hang out? He was unsure about her but he didn't have much of a choice at this point, waiting for her just overall made him nervous and sky's texts weren't entirely helping. They needed luna to be in the best of moods if they ever planned to get something out of her and here sky was, making her more mad. I guess if it did anything it seemed to finally put a crack in her that no one seemed to manage to do before, and even though judas rightfully told sky she went too far as he looked through his texts. Having Luna mention anyone by name from where she came from was quite impressive. He waited outside the training room of course, hearing kelly wave out the knights as they finished up and left. Some even bowing to the prince on their way out, and he knew that blonde when he saw her, bun up and still rough looking. She paused at the sight of him, sighing to herself as she looked him over, judging him. "You told me you wanted to talk to me after training, I'm assuming this is meant to be important?". She eyed around them, watching for any listeners peeking around. "We need to talk, about some of the recent things going on, so....you got some free time?", she huffed but seemed a little more content now that judas was actually seemingly listening to her for once, it'd been awhile since just the two of them spoke, and usually when they did it resulted in slight tension. "Sky with you? Or are you really here alone to talk to me? Knowing her she already told me she had a spat with me earlier i'd rather not speak of.". "It's just me, i figure that would make you the most comfortable....I was thinking we could talk over a game of ping pong? I believe we haven't finished our match?". She scoffed but she also seemed to actually smile at that, "Cute, but we're here to talk about serious matters, not go out and play....last time it was because we butted heads, i'd rather not be angered any more then I already am from earlier and if you ask a single question about whatever sky told you...I swear..". "How about this, i tell you the info if you beat me?", he was being so smug about it, even though honestly he was sure luna had other ways at her disposal to get information out of him. And just as he expected, luna tapped on her disguised wand, unimpressed, "I would rather not have to get info from you from more.....controversial matters....no more games jude. You should spill the beans on whatever it is you want to talk about, you know full well calling me about info you don't intend to tell me is just asking for trouble...". "Gee luna, if you were so worried about losing you could've just told me.". She was competitive, he knew this would make her bend. Sky told him despite how sweet and caring he usually was, he also could be a major jerk if he wanted to be when he was teasing his friends and family. Something about that smile he had and his tone of voice, Judas described himself usually more of a nerd at heart, but then again he did seem to look almost like a mix between a prep or jock from one of those cliche high school movies he'd seen with sky and his family. The kinda guy you'd want to challenge and beat at his game. And Luna hated being bested or not seen as the top dog if anything. "I don't like that you have the ability to both make people love you, but also make people want to punch you in your perfect teeth...", she grabbed his arm, "Very well, let's go to the underworld, we'll talk there...but don't waste my time please...". She seemed rather thankful to find out they weren't going back to the safe room to play this time around, as the underworld had a clear game room, which was where the lucitor family always went to challenge each other to games. "I'm assuming what you have to say has nothing to do with any word from my mother or....well, the Spiderbites right?". He picked up a paddle and looked up at her, "No, it's neither of those things, i'm left in the dark for both those things as well at the moment....i hope they're ok though, i'm kinda worried about all of them.". She hummed, picking up a paddle, "Hearing some Intel about the ponyhead kingdom, their son escaping last night....not very reassuring to hear with everything else happening. But honestly the likelyhood a ponyhead can work that costume is very small.". "Not unless there's several in there working everything...", he mentioned, grabbing a ping pong ball and preparing to serve. "Well considering they have confirmed hands, I'll take that as a no.". He served and the ball bounced towards her, the two smacking it back and forth over the spider-weaved net. "Your Magic high commission seems rather.....well....they seem to do very little...", she gave a rather hard smack of the ball back towards him, "Doesn't bode well when even they can't find the things they should be able to find on a whim...if magic is going fuzzy in this reality...sheesh i don't want to imagine that...". The ball flew past her on the next turn and she sighed, going to pick it up, "Mewni is falling apart, do you have any idea what happens when mewmans start panicking?". "I...got some idea...",he said, swinging back and forth, "You should see some of them around me, snarking about my arm and sometimes terrified about me attacking them.....loki claims it's not true, people love me and i'm just not seeing it....but...I dunno, being born or er...created kinda imperfect....and having that constantly beating down your door, telling you everyone secretly hates you....it's a voice that's hard to get entirely rid of, no matter what you do...". She hit another rough shot, judas almost missing it but managing with a quick save, "You're probably heard all the speeches huh? The ones where you're told to ignore it, to scare them to teach them a lesson, that when you'll be king you won't have to worry about it, that you'll prove them wrong.". Judas said nothing, letting her talk and continue with her train of thought, he was surprised though, she was entirely right about all of those things. "You both duely want to keep them happy and oppose them instead of taking one direction or the other, it's a hard bargain because you don't know if it's better to be accepted by everyone or stay true to yourself. Is that correct?". Judas looked rather stern, catching the ball with his hands to look up at her, directly in the eyes from his side of the table, "If you're reading my mind, just so you know, it's not really cool to pry into other people's personal issues..". "No mind reading needed, i can just tell....", she replied simply, "For the record though, if you ask me what to do in your situation....don't let those people win, tradition might make people happy, but....well, it can be old fashioned and...i can't say our ancestors always made the right choices in the long run. I say you exceed expectations, strive to be the best and they'll learn to put up with it. You're being coronated soon right? I suggest whatever party you have, it's both elegant, and fitting for you...". "Why do you care?". She hummed, leaning against the table, "I just do, you'll never be a good king if you let everyone push you around like that and feed into what they want...". "Look, didn't we want to talk about info, the reason you're here?". She silenced herself before nodding, looking over the boy's face with a certain fascination. "Ok, spill the beans, why'd you really drag me here....?", Judas was about to answer when luna held out a hand, "I can tell i'm no one's favorite person around here, so the fact you wanted to hang out with me, tells me i'm missing something...". Oh shoot, she was on to them already? He needed to think of something fast to keep her distracted, even if he didn't know why eclipsa wanted him to do this, the last thing he wanted was to be on luna's bad side. "I don't hate you", he practically blabbed out. "Hmm?". "I don't hate you...", he repeated, "You're.....not easy to deal with, but....i don't really believe you're a bad person.", he sighed and headed to the far side of the wall, leaning against it. "Look, i have a younger brother, he's difficult to deal with sometimes, but when he's mad with me....i don't believe he really hates me....I don't believe you really think that you think the mind-wiping thing is entirely moral or that you think people who don't make progress are some kind of waste." "You don't know me judas..."., she smirked, "Things are just different for me...". "Look, you're kinda hard-edged, not great at making friends, and everyone is kinda intimidated by you...but....you clearly do care about people, i don't think you're so concerned over your mother for no reason. She means something to you back home? You have people back home you're desperate to see again aren't you?", the blonde snorting, shaking her head, "You're really trying to figure me out judas, i give you props, you're way better at it then celeste or sky are...you pay attention to things." "Do you not open up because you don't want us to know, or don't want anyone to miss you when you're gone?". "Is there actual info you wanted to tell me or is this an interrogation?", she walked over next to him, leaning against the wall as well, "For the record, i can't say you're very good at it, but it's a solid attempt.". They stood in silence, luna's shoulders sinking and looking around the game room, "Honestly keeping myself mad and stern all the time is tiring....but it's also necessary, between pretending to be a knight and trying my best to find what i need...you just have to keep up apperances..". "Why?", he mumbled. "Why?". "You're not home anymore, maybe you're like this at home....but....you don't have to be this way around everyone here...". "Says the guy trying to keep up appearances for people who hate him...", she laughed to herself, sending him a look that sent chills, "No wonder I enjoy your company more then the others, we have more in common then I thought....". She moved away from the wall, hand running along the pinpong table, "I have to admit, you're fun to challenge, but if you came out here to find out some secrets, you're going to have to keep guessing it seems.". "Luna look, i don't wanna pry into whatever is going on back in your universe, but i also don't want us to be enemies....we're clearly not communicating well and we don't seem to really trust each other. We should talk luna, we're going to have better chances if we're on the same team and working together here and if you truly respect me, then i think we both need to work out whatever's the matter so we can get things back on track and get this mission to get you back done....". She paused for a moment, thinking something over before taking a deep breath and looking judas in the eyes, "I've been doing my own research, but knowing you that was one of your many guesses into my mind, mind you, not very successful research, but still research.". She seemed relaxed, "I've been trying to find celeste all day so she would actually speak to me on everything happening but at this point this mission is falling apart so badly i'm not sure it would've lasted another day...". Judas's eyes widened. "Oh don't give me that look, you've been hiding things from me as well, i can tell...". He closed his gaping mouth, "Has she told you anything....personal?", only to be met with the relief of a shaking head. "Apparently i'm not nearly as good as commanding people as i am back home, your brother and Celeste? they fight back, they don't listen....they go long stretches to ignore and hide from me, they clearly weren't as up to the task as i expected them to be...i supposed that's what i get for hiring random teens rather then experienced solders...". Wait...landon was working with you?", he sounded surprised, not only that, but also a little dissapointed , luna picked up on that as well, "Purely out of spite for you, though considering how little he's done i'm not sure if he really meant it or it was from a spur of the moment thing to spite you..". Judas froze in place and looked genuinely heartbroken as his shoulders sank and his ears seemed to point downwards, "I....didn't know it was that bad...". "I wouldn't let it ruin your life, i've seen his type, void of attention for so long that it takes a hold on them, till they reach their breaking point and are so starved for attention they are willing to do anything to get it. You blame yourself too much and it won't make anything any better...", she was right, and judas nodded, "I know, i know it's not my fault.....i guess it just....hurts? to know your brother....feels this way...about you. I'm supposed to set a good example after all...". "Aren't we all? we're royals judas, our job is to be an example for our kingdoms, to be an example to others...it's....a lot of pressure to put siblings on top of that", she had a point, eyes wandering to the door, "I'll be honest, i don't agree with you sometimes and i think you need to take some things more seriously, but.....i can't say i enjoy watching you feel miserable.". She picked up one of the paddles again, "Another round? I still haven't beaten you yet...". "Didn't you say you never had fun, aren't your duties more important to you?". "Well, yes....they are, however....right now....". She practically leaped over the table with the grace of a gazelle and got into position, "After you dragged me down here and interrogated me and tried to pry into my inner thoughts, i now consider it my duty to crush you to pieces using my paddle...". Judas snapped out of his sadness to see her slam her hand on the table, scaring him as he grabbed his own paddle, "You're just doing this to make me feel better aren't you? You know you don't reallly-". "I'm not void of compassion, or do you really think that little of me?". His brows firmed, clutching his paddle tighter. "You're on...". He held back less then before, and luna was pretty good, not as good as him, but sill good. Maybe this was what eclipsa meant, getting luna to trust them again and open up with them, or maybe she just wanted luna to stop looking like a snobby mother, one or the other. Though as they kept playing, their playtime was ended as luna put it to a stop, catching the ball in her hand instead of using the paddle. Making Judas stop, almost worried something had come over her. and it did. an idea, in fact. "Luna...what's wrong?". "Judas....I have... a proposal for you....". - "Not the best day for a lesson...is it?". "What gave you that idea?". Eclipsa laughed into her teacup, "Well, judging by the fact guards are scattered all around my tower like little beetles sure helps, look at this poor boy, he looks as bad as I did when i ate some bad chocolate.". She was pointing to angel, on his usual side from sky, who was a nervous wreck this time around. His hair, thought still tied up, was messy as all heck. He was clearly sweating, and he wasn't even looking at anyone with any of his eyes. Sky had noticed this when he walked in for today's lesson of course, but she almost didn't even want to ask what was the cause considering everything about angel's background that could contribute. She wasn't good at the whole "Comforting thing" exactly, yeah sure, angel broke down in front of her and sought comfort once before but still....she wasn't used to it. Plus Eclipsa being in front of them, knowing her, only made it kinda worse in general. If Judas was handling luna, she should handle angel. Worse case scenario, they swap , though sky's last encounter with the tall and bossy blonde probably would make talking to her again.....less favorable. Judas was clearly better with both of them then she was still, but that was probably because the guy was normally a very friendly person and the only reason people didn't like him in her eyes, was that they judged him for his arm. Angel and Luna both seemed to hold some type of respect for him, regardless of how they felt about his opinions on them. Not to say there was no respect between her and them but....yeah. "I'm fine...", angel said in a 'not so very fine' voice, in his defense though, everyone seemed a little on edge. Angel's father dropped him off as he usually did, but this time he preferred the boy was on watch by someone, forcing angel to be picked up by eclipsa herself this time around. Much to his embarrassment it seemed, and much to his father's pleasure as it seemed he was still very much a Eclipsa fanboy, Sky may not have witnessed it herself but, judging by eclipsa's reaction and angel's after, it was mortifying. Though she doubted it was the reason he seemed so sickly. "Aww dear, I know right now times are stressful and scary, especially with star's plan to enchant the kingdoms.....but i promise, you'll be safe here....at least in the meantime. Honestly, we're lucky lessons weren't cancelled, but don't worry, things should hopefully only get easier from here." Angel didn't seem so sure but he silently kept to himself, his four eyes wandering around the room, as if expecting something to pop up and kidnapp him from the corner somewhere. "What's the lesson for today?", he muttered, still not looking anyone in the face. "I was thinking more....magic related?". This got the kid's attentions alright, even angel, who gave the woman a skeptic look. "I'm weak at magic, you know that...". "Well so was sky, so i see this as a great learning opportunity!". The teens exchanged looks before angel went back to ignoring everyone around him, "Sky is not weak...you saw how well she does, with or without her wand. She's kicked me from the kingdom 173 times.....whether her wand works or not...". His dark haired companion only raised her eyebrow at him and gaped at his statement, "Wait? Don't tell you you counted every single time that happened? Seriously? Did you make marks in a book or something about this? Please tell me that was a random number you picked out...". "I have a day planner that has all my visits to the castle for....well that, so....yeah...", he looked embarrassed, but then he shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest, "I don't have a compact, what do you think i do when i'm not at butterfly castle?". She sighed, fair enough, she'd normally guess prince stuff but even that was kinda out of the question since angel's idea of prince stuff was different from actual prince stuff that judas took care of. "Regardless, I think at a time like this...maybe it's better we move on to spells, don't worry it's going to be perfectly safe and not involve any fighting this time. Especially since there are guards out there who would probably add another mark to my record if i did, on the plus side though, Queen Janna's pranks are hitting more then ever since there are guards everywhere she can mess with, can't deny the one who fell into her bucket trap made me laugh.". She stood up, heading over to her bookshelf, "Now, sky may own the magic book of spells now, but that never stopped me from making my own collection of spells......sky....any spells you're currently working on for now?". Angel even turned to sky as she felt herself be put on the spot, "I-I uh....I've been a little busy to really come up with any....i mean, Fireskull Frenzy is a fun one, but uh....last time i used that i burned a tower and i'm not trying it anytime soon...". "Don't you have more...?", Angel popped up yet again, "Your bubble charm? Shard hearts? Of course your licorice rope counts as well....i also believe you made your own cloudy recently as well since you were always conjuring your mother's before...". Alright, now angel was starting to enter weird territory again, and it must've shown clear on her face since it made eclipsa laugh, sitting down with a dark book in her hands. "Oh c'mon sky, he's fought you so much, no doubt he'd know you quite well in that field", she wasn't wrong but it was still odd. "Uh......do arachmen really even have spells? Did you guys...like....ever....have spells?". Angel looked personally offended, "All monsters can use your wand sky.....which means all monsters can make spells, just because my species could do magic without a wand doesn't mean we never invented spells outside of making silk.". Then his face grew sad, "But, most of those recorded in our history...were burned, by queen solaria....even if we couldn't do magic much after the mewmans took over....losing those records....only made things worse...we stopped magic altogether and only knew the one spell...our weakest...honestly our ultimate is considered so unpredictable because we were never given the magical practice to control it, that war completely destroyed us...". Eclipsa's sad expression was enough for Sky to realize maybe that question was a bad idea. "Uh.....moving on...". "Don't worry sky, magic actually can be different depending on species, prince lucitor after all has different magic then you, and so do the ponyheads...it's not a weird assumption to make, i personally....i believe it's more of an in between, correct angel?". He grumbled for a bit before nodding, "Yeah, it's half our own magic, and partially theirs because we can't conjure it without magic that's not personal to us internally. We can do spells you can't....I think..". "Have you ever....tried using them?". "There's no point in trying things you can't do, servants do silk and outside of that...it's just the one web spell....that's it for me. Not like i'm in a position to create spells either, not skilled enough, too busy on other matters..." He trailed off, clearly thinking about other things, "Anyways, don't focus on that, you're the family that focuses on magic, you're the one who can go practice your spells.". Geez, he had no trouble at all trying to built trip her about her family history did he? He was so blunt about, but he also wasn't wrong. With her mother going out of her way to keep angel out of the castle aside from these lessons, sky really lacked an opportunity to hang out with him and question some of the things she wanted to ask , yeah globgor was out there doing his own investigating but there was something that told her angel was more of the person to put her focus on. Besides. leaving from this point on will no doubt be harder then it used to be, so going to angel's own castle wouldn't work out for her. She needed a way to keep him here, just a bit longer. "Sky?", Eclipsa tilted her head and smirked, "How about showing us some of your more innocent spells? You have been using your wand and practicing right?". Well, sky had to admit that she really hadn't been, she'd been falling behind a bit ever since the physical teaching stopped and mostly because she was now surrounded by more competent magic users who could do these things without her. Even as she took out her wand now her expression was enough indication for eclipsa. "It's ok dear, but honestly....use that wand more often.....don't be afraid of doing magic if you need to..". Sky looked over to angel, who simply blinked at her as she stood up. "I dunno, what if i try and my wand malfunctions and...", then she heard angel shush her and she turned in annoyance, "It only malfunctions because of your conflicting emotions, when your really god for it, it works just fine". She almost felt like rolling her eyes, Like yeah maybe, but that didn't entirely explain how or if she was responsible for bringing her sisters here....did it? Man that was so long ago, she really had no idea how she felt during that time. She knew she was still kinda upset, but she also was determined to do something, anything? It was a thing with her family, they had a problem? Use magic to fix it! Find a spell and make it work! Practice and keep up with said practice so you're ready to be a good queen. She looked at her wand, it's shiny heart shaped gem-stone glistened at her. There was still no telling how that had happened that night and who was entirely responsible, for all they know the masked person was just some rouge causing mayhem that had nothing to do with anything. But they'd never know unless they caught him, her, it. And there was a high chance she might be under suspicion or worse if she did nothing. "Princess Butterfly?" Angel got her attention, and sky looked at her wand again, thoughts and idea running through her head. With luna not being here, or any of the girls for that matter, she was finally on her own to make these choices when it comes to magic. Do her own thing, do things her sisters couldn't. Sure, Sunny seemed to share a care for Angel because she was rather empathetic and had a sweet spot for monsters in need, but Sky had the history, it was almost bizarre to think just all the memories she had stored about fighting this pest of as prince actually meant something to a degree. Angel sorta seemed to treat her with some kind of respect, she knew that, but it's not like throughout their childhood they were close with each other or anything, she mainly ignored him and she and judas had rarely hung out with anyone but each other. And yet, Angel seemed to know things she didn't think he'd pay attention to, geez now she almost wished she had paid nearly as much attention to him instead of being annoyed all the time so she had something to use against him. But regardless, if anyone was gonna get this from him, it'd be her. It better be. "Yeah yeah.....uh....is this really a good place to be doing magic? If i break anything in here we're so dead...", in which eclipsa snapped her fingers and everything cleared out, including the couches as angel fell down and landed on his back with a small whine. Eclipsa moved off the side of the room, ushering the fallen prince to join her as he lifted himself up with his extended legs and moved away, grumpy about his tea being gone as well until eclipsa magicked it up for him. "Honestly I've been waiting for you to do magic for a very long time...ever since i heard you were improving, angelus, name one of sky's spells....something that won't severely ruin my room please? I want Globgor to come by later and watch the stars.". Angel sighed and thought for a moment, going through his head, " Lazer Bat Blast?". Sky giving him a look before attempting to do the spell herself, jumping up and airming up before a measly purple bat came out and landed don the floor. Welp. "Look, it's a lot easier to do this stuff when i'm not being watched or....under pressure...", well, it wasn't too bad when bernard and melaine had been watching her but bernard was more focused on his card tricks and melaine well...she would like what sky did no matter what, sky kinda wished she was here right now. She'd had so many crazy ideas she was bound to know what to do in this situation, even if it was something from an insane earth movie. What would melaine do? Or Judas for that matter? Well, if melaine were in the process of thinking about how they'd question angel, well...actually she'd just do it, outright, pad and all without needing to worry about keeping angel here longer. If Judas were doing it he'd pull angel aside, talk to him in private, work a way around to discover what was happening, he was firm but also somewhat gentle. Those options kinda were out of luck considering how little they had in common with sky herself. "Sky?". "Look, i'm thinking ok!". "Dear.....don't think so hard about this, it's your wand, you're in control, don't focus so much on us, do it your way...". Her way? Duh. "Ok, well.......let's uh.....let's try that thing again ok? ", She grumbled at the flopping bat on the wooden floor, flapping about and just barely being able to get off the air. Not her best work, and the looks on her guests faces really weren't helping her already low self esteem. She hadn't used this spell THAT recently so she might be out of practice, but if she was ever going to manage it she needed to focus and do what she did before when fighting angel. Just get through the class, and then she could focus on what to do about angel later. "LAZER BAT BLAST!!!", she went for it again, this time trying to focus her wand a little better, luna talked to her about that didn't she? Wands and how best to grip and position them for her spells? The information was coming back to her again, and in a final blow the spell actually came out almost successfully. Not completely, but the 3 bats that did come out, were flying, and still had lazers that were actually working. A better attempt then her first one alright. Even eclipsa smiled, impressed, butting angel next to her to clap and lose his usual downer tone. He was reluctant, but still did so, he wasn't exactly heartless. Sky still wasn't fond of them watching there but at the very least she was a little more confident then how she started out , motioning for them to shoot her another spell to try. Not that she expected this to work full time, but as long as she avoided their gaze and kept her focus, she should relatively be fine right? Right. Angel asked her to summon her darker cloudy because of course he would, which unfortunately led to a few poofs before a successful first attempt was made. She kinda felt bad this "Lesson" was more for her then Angel though, it wasn't particularly kind of eclipsa to set up a class she could do but angel couldn't, unless...she was expecting sky to do something . She glanced over to angel, "Uh....you wanna come here and I mean.....we could at least...". She was inviting him to join? And do what exactly? "Uh.....at least...what now?". "I mean, do your web spell! It's the one you know right?". He blinked at her, "You....want me to use my magic? it doesn't do much! You know that! It's just a simple sticky web spell". But she still motioned for him to join still, and awkwardly and very un-prince like, he shuffled over. Smoothing out his fancy clothes and standing next to sky. His hands glowed only a little bit before sky saw webbing form, she really wasn't used to seeing it like this, well....not being shot at her from far distance and as he played target practice with it. She found he was better at it then she thought, webbing up her bats to the walls. Guess when you only have one spell the learn, you learn to easily master it. He wasn't even being smug about it, but then again, it wasn't typical for him, Loki maybe, but not Angel. If this is what he could do with weak magic, sky'd hate to see him at full power, pinches out, eyes glowing, and vemon prepared for attack. Geez, and people thought their butterfly forms were scary, no wonder even solaria was anxious about his species to reduce them to decay and hiding. Angel stopped when he finished his practice, huffing and reaching up to fix his hair, as some had got lose and had blown in his face from it's normally organized ponytail. "Go again....produce some spells...", Sky's nervousness at being watched by her frienemy and strange sorta grandmother was washed away, it was almost like doing magic alongside judas and her usual friends, where embarrassing herself usually didn't matter. She seemed to do more accurately after that, to the point she was actually enjoying herself, even eclipsa was enjoying the show of the two teens having fun together as more of sky's spells go stuck to the stony walls before eventually retreating into her wand. "That was kinda fun actually...", she mumbled, "i guess there's less pressure when it's more of a game then my mom asking me to do something over and over again cause I kept failing....or where she got weird about me not being perfect during my presentation in front of literally everyone". The older woman shrugged, "Well with your mother, it was either that, or mostly winging it....though i suppose i'm not one to talk, I had a habit of winging it sometimes as well...probably because me and Star both were looking for trouble most of the time, when trouble normally found you...". "Is it bad...i'm not..", she waved her hands around, "Winging it?". "Honestly if you were able to "Wing It" every time you got yourself in a jam, i don't think you'd be nearly as cool. You get through things with ingenuity and support, i say that makes you rather impressive in your own way.".She was probably saying it to make her feel better but Sky accepted it. Man why did the positive reinforcement she received slip away so easily, it was almost like she wanted to look down on herself way too much then keep eclipsa and judas's positive words of encouragement with her. "Well....", she eyed her monster companion and awkwardly patted his shoulder, much to both their discomfort still. This was still taking some getting used to and neither seemed entirely sure where they were at this point in their strange relationship, "You did...a good job.....with the whole.....webbing thing, well honestly i shouldn't be surprised considering how good you are with it when we had to fight and stuff but...yeah....there you go". She wasn't good at giving him compliments either, "She might as well be complimenting the drying of paint.". "Thanks?", he said, eyes looking to her hand as she pulled it away rather fast, "For the record i'm still mad at your mother....don't think...I'm not still mad...". She sighing, rubbing the top of her wand against her cheek, " Well, that's something we share in common....i'm kinda peeved at her too....". Eclipsa looked around the room, hands on her hips," i'm going to put things back in place, would you two be dears and grab some snacks from the kitchens? there's still time left in our lesson so we might as well eat together and i'm sure the guards can escort you there and back...oh and...watch where you step, you know the queen likes her pranks". She sent sky a wink as furniture started to reaper back into the room once again. Angel blinked at her before sky grabbed his arm and moved him out, good, eclipsa actually was giving her an opportunity to talk to him and ask him questions, whether on purpose or not, well...who can tell with eclipsa? Regardless she dragged him to leave, thankful, the guards taking note and one following them along because of course. Sky let go of angel's arm, and made a cough, the boy's pointed ears pricking upwards and he huffed as he lifted himself on a bit with his legs to walk instead, almost giving him the impression of floating next to her . "Spit it out, what is it this time....? If this is about us hanging out like we talked about....it's become more complicated now...especially in regards to what happened last night ". "Well yes, we wanna do it...but actually...I kinda wanted to ask you....something". He looked down at her from his current position, though something told sky he was anxious sky was about to ask him something rather.....weird. Though i guess when she thought about it, asking him about breaking into the castle and about the silk thing were not normal questions, it almost took her a minute to figure out how she should even ask him. "Look hey....it's been awhile...like...some time...but....that sleepover....why were you...like....in the caste?", ok, that probably was the worst way to phrase that but now she had to roll with it. And Angel's bewildered expression fit as he seemed to be wondering if the princess was serious or not, "If you're asking If i was up to anything...I was not, i was in bed and found myself there....in front of prince lucitor...". His ears dropped and he seemed utterly embarrassed, "He believed i was truly responsible...and....i can't entirely blame him either...". He shook his head, "Look, i'm not entirely proud of everything I did in my attempts to help my people who were wronged, but it's fairly embarrassing to be looked down upon by a fellow monster prince..". "Wait, what? Judas doesn't look down on you. I mean, he doesn't always agree with you and kinda thinks you should sorta know better but then again he acts like a mom to everyone, but yeah, like...he's the guy who kept telling me we should try and get along and stuff for the betterment of the future. I mean, you've seen him......he kinda does his best to not hate anyone, even when he's mad at someone....he doesn't think you're a bad person....I can promise you that."., she was sorta stumbling over her words but it seemed to be working judging by the boy's rising ears. "He doesn't?", angel seemed surprised, before coughing, "He's....a respectable individual, he's one of the few people who ever understood....well, he treated me like a person more then...an obstacle at least...". He paused and looked to sky, "Tell him i'm sorry....". This got sky's attention as she looked him over, "For what? Is this about stealing his compact or something?". Angel's eyes shifted around and he held his shoulders, "Sure, something along those lines...". They made it to the kitchens and sky realized angle had never been here before, getting back on his normal feet and awkwardly trying not to hit anything in the kitchens. The staff seemed happy to see Sky, angel seemed more of a mixed bag, no doubt that he had probably made their jobs harder from past protests in the past. He avoided eye contact with all of them as sky asked one of the staff for something they could eat, receiving some fresh rolls, a whole bag of them to bring back. Sky grabbed one to eat, the smell of fresh baked rolls reminded her of when she and judas were still kids sneaking food from the kitchens to make a fort and hung out in her room together, spending time under a nice pillow fort and fussing about their parents. Usually they'd grab a dozen or so cookies, some rolls, maybe even some fruits, though honestly the reason they probably stopped sneaking food out was judas's arm liked to pop out at inconvenient times and boy did it give them away easily. Angel it seemed, had never really had food....like this before, since truthfully, he was still a poor prince after all regardless of improvements. Though his reluctance to eat warm buttery rolls seemed to surprise sky, angel had a good sense of smell after all, he almost seemed entranced by the food as sky urged him to try it. He took a bite, chewing before immediately going in for another, considering his diet back home mostly was insects and whatever berries and creatures they managed to grab in those woods, this was brand new to him. And yet, he called a pizza place with jude's compact. Huh. "You seem....to really like these rolls...". "It's warm and buttery and.....reminds me of....spending time with my mom...", his mind wandered and he sounded sad again before wiping away his tears, "It's good, we don't get food as good as this stuff back home, guess we never had the freshest ingredients or anything....this isn't made with magic right?". his eyes seem to bug out with every flavored bite, and the princess watched him finish with extreme delight, "No, mom says food made from magic never tastes as good as food without it, it probably tastes funny to be honest anyway...". "Well, i wish we had more back home....". Sky had to take the basket away from him just to make sure he didn't eat the rest, "Nope, don't....we're bringing this back...c'mon.". She pulled him along she she found him actually smiling, a rare thing for him in her presence. But she needed to continue with her line of questions, even if globgor would look into the silk thing himself, hearing it from angel might at least help with her role on this wired team and make her seem more capable instead of putting her things aside. "Hey...so...the silk thing....you said you can do that again right?". "Not me exactly but-". "How'd your people get the magic for it?'. His eyes widened, "Oh? Um.....it was a rather kind gesture from a family member of yours...we didn't exactly need to "Get" magic, we're only so weak magically because of our lack of practice on much magic and exposure to the stuff is rare to come by. But, we were given a scroll on that spell again...and with some practice....the spell had finally been revised after so long. Our people stopped doing it and passing it along because they were afraid of solaria, who burned away everything, my people thought it best to avoid magic to avoid her gaze....but this act of kindness, might mean we can profit once again...". "Wait wait wait....who did this? Describe them?". Angel avoided her question though, moving forward and on his way back to eclipsa's only to find a bucket falling from above the doors as soon as they were opened in his quick attempt to get away from the princess. Sky moved faster to catch up with him, wondering if there was a reason he refused to actually answer that question and noticed the bucket as soon as the double doors were forced open. One of her mother's pranks no doubt, typical they'd run into one now of all time. And what happened next was in seconds as sky cast a spell, her licorice spell to rope around the boy and pull him out of harms way, only for him to be pulled back into her. He caught the rolls rather well surprisingly enough, but it seemed the impact of him hitting sky didn't leave her without injury. Sky rubbing her forehead and mumbling as angel panicked, the guard who was protecting them ran over in worry as sky felt herself close her eyes and pass out. "Sky? Princess? Skyler!?". Angel's panicked voice was the last thing she heard when she blacked out. - Sky saw only green, doors and voices, some calling out her names, she seemed to have no idea what was happening or where to go, though what she did know was that she was alone, and kinda terrified. Whoever was chasing her seemed to come from anywhere and everywhere and she both wanted to move and not move at the same time. She wanted to call out but couldn't speak, she wanted to hide but had nowhere to go, the light was getting brighter and her heart was beating faster. Where was she? Where was everyone else? Who was out there? She was panicking, the voices were getting louder, chanting her name over and over and- "Sky?!". Her eyes opened, making out the blurry images in front of her, she knew she was on something soft at the very least, and after a few minutes of readjustment she could fully comprehend that she was in eclipsa's tower, on the couch. Judas was here, with Luna, Eclipsa, and Angel, and surpisingly.....both her moms were here as well, looking over her and making sure she wasn't too injured. Sky tried to recall what happened and realized she must've passed out during the whole thing. "Oh thank goodness....", Star sighed, scolding Janna for her bucket pranks as Sky's other mom laughed and simultaneously showed an expression of guilt, a rarity for her. Judas smiled, typical for him, and luna seemed thankful but unamused, typical for her. Angel on the other hand looked more sickly then when he arrived earlier that day, awkwardly handing her one of the rolls they received from the kitchen. Sky took it awkwardly from him as the adults talked among themselves. Star seemed to thank angel, if you counted a nod as a way of saying "Thank you". Clearly star wasn't still sure about the boy but was in no position to really act scoffy about him, especially since he presumably was the one who had brought sky here. Star then started talking to eclipsa, pulling on her hair, "I'm glad sky's ok but....please, keep a closer eye on her next time....I REALLY don't wanna find out she drank something dangerous or got burned or anything...". Geez, did her mom think she was stupid or something? Thankfully classes were still going, but Janna's pranks were going to be reduced from now on, at least, if that were even possible. Star was still unfortunately incredibly busy, only checking on sky carefully before being forced to head out, janna on her heels and sending sky a jokey apology smile. Everyone else though, remained, Eclipsa making Sky some tea to help comfort her as Judas and Luna took their seats. "Don't worry about your mothers, they'll be ok, but you should thank personal angel over there for immediately bringing you here to get you help, bless his soul, he didn't know where your infirmary was..". Angel blushed in embarrassment, crossing his arms and tuning away as sky mumbled out a "Thanks towards him", he took another roll from their basket, eating it to help comfort him a little more as Judas grabbed his teacup. "You feeling ok? We were coming to find you and talk but this....really wasn't how we expected to find you in the slightest....", judas, being too sweet as ever, as per usual. Sky rubbed her forehead and adjusted her hat, " Apparently Angel slamming into you hurts more then I thought it would...". "You imagined angel slamming into you?", luna asked, "What kinda fights do you two normally get into?". Now angel looked like he wanted to hide in his clothes, embarrassed and probably guilty for being the reason sky got hurt in the first place, ears folding against his skull and curdling up into a little ball on his seat. And Sky gave luna a look, actually kinda annoyed at luna for probably making him feel worse about the situation. Yeah she got injured, but she'd been injured plenty of times before and she kinda saved angel from a much worse fate, thankfully. "Look, what are you here for....either of you?", honestly the sooner they moved the conversation along to something else the better at this point. She knew Judas had plans to talk to luna in private, to get her to speak, but wow he worked fast, she was at least expecting him to do something later tonight. But him and luna very much seemed on the same page, well if luna looking more determined then annoyed was some kind of giveaway since she rarely would go off to something like this unless it was important. "We're here for you.....we.....", he looked to angel, "Me and Luna need to speak with you, we've talked and we're on better terms.....but....there's something more we need to speak about.". He stood up and coughed, getting Eclipsa's attention, "Eclipsa? May me and luna go get some ice for sky from the infirmary? She might need some just to be safe...". Eclipsa looked over from her teapot to nod, "Of course, Angel, here....come help me till they get back, I want you to try some of this new tea i got from the monster village...". Angel walked over to her, his eyes briefly looking at the three other teens in curiosity as he headed over, sky getting off the comfy couch to be dragged away and out the door. Sky didn't have much time after to react as they headed to the courtyard and pulled her behind a rose bush to move away from the guards around the place. Sky brushed some leaves from her nice hat as she looked over the two in front of her with their stern faces, like parents ready to scold their child. Sky didn't like the look of this already. "Guys? What's going on?". They exchanged a look, and spit the news out fast. "We're going to the spiderbite kingdom, the three of us....we're going to find nora and miss Jackie...".

#star vs the forces of evil #svstfoe #svtfoe #sky and the forces of the multiverse #janstar bby #tomco bby #starkie bby #starco bby #eclipsa #star butterfly #janna ordonia #janstar #my art #fanfiction #fanfic

19 notes · View notes

ghostheadcanons · 5 years

Text

Papas + Copia: Saying “I Love You”

@just-here-for-copia said:

Okay, I swear I'm not sending a sad ask this time! I know in your HC's about the Papas/Copia wooing their s/o, you had brief mentions of them saying "I love you". Would we be able to get a little bit more in terms of how/ they said "I love you" for the first time?

They say it on their deathbeds to you and you cry really hard. It’s very, very sad.

OKAY, NOT REALLY.

It’s always so wonderful to think of our favorites confessing to us, isn’t it? Especially the grumpy ones....hee....

Let’s get started!

Papa Nihil:

You had come to see him.

Papa Nihil always looks forward to your visits (he always enthuses about them to Sister Imperator), so of course he smiles at you when you walk through the doors to his office. “Ah, cara mia! It’s so good to see you. In fact, I believe I have something for--”

“Ah, actually,” you cut him off, walking closer with your hands behind your back. “Before you give me anything, I...I wanted to bring you something!”

He blinks. Normally he has a gift for you every time he sees you. “What’s this?” he murmurs. “You brought me something, cara mia?”

“Close your eyes for me, Papa?”

He chuckles. “Such a silly thing you are, caramellino...” But he obliges. Something warm and fuzzy is placed in his hands.

“Okay! Open them!”

Papa Nihil does, and sees the dark red scarf, made from woven yarn. His eyes widen.

“Tada!” You grin. “You’re always giving me presents, so I decided to make you something nice! I remember you complaining about how cold it’s gotten...”

“Cara mia....!” He looks over your fine handiwork. “You...made this, for me?”

“I did!” You lean in slightly, eyes sparkling. “...do you like it?”

“Like it?”

Papa Nihil is known for spoiling his lovers with gifts; he never expects anything in return for them. Yet you had decided--not only to get him a present--but to make him one. You had taken a lot of your personal time to do something nice for him, and you had remembered something he’d said when deciding what to make.

He was a man who could have anything in the world--foods, jewels, wines...he had enough money to get them with a snap of his fingers. And many gave him these sorts of things as gifts, or offerings to win his favor.

Somehow, this scarf topped them all.

“I love it.” Now the old man is beaming, slipping on the scarf as neat as you please. “I love it, cara mia.”

Your eyes meet.

“...I love you,” he whispers. You blink twice, cheeks reddening considerably.

“P-Papa... I’ve been waiting to hear you say that...”

“Have you? Then let me make it up to you for taking so long.” He pulls your hands into his, and the two of you kiss.

Papa I:

Papa I has homemade tea and biscuits ready when you walk into his bedroom. “Ah--there you are, lamb.”

“I came just as soon as I got your message, Papa.” You nod respectfully. “You wanted to speak to me about something?”

“Indeed I did. Please, sit down. Sit down.” He gestures to the opposite chair, to which you do. He proceeds to pour you a full cup of tea.

“What have you brewed today, Papa?” you prompt him.

“Rose hip and chamomile,” he responds, expression softening. “Your favorite.”

The touched look on your face makes his heart flutter. “....thank you, Papa. Ahem. What did you want to tell me?”

“Ah, yes.” He finishes pouring his own cup of tea before clearing his throat. “I’ve been meaning to speak to you about something...personal.”

“Yes?” You sip at your cup, eyes never leaving him. He can see you drinking in his words along with his tea.

“My child, I am not one for mincing words, so I am just going to say it.” Papa I takes a deep breath. “I have feelings for you.”

You choke on the tea, sputtering slightly and making a bit of a mess. Papa passes you a napkin, patting you on the back. “Are you alright?”

“I’m--I’m fine,” you wheeze, coughing a bit. “What...what was that?”

“I have feelings for you,” he repeats. “I have never met someone I have felt so in tune with, spiritually and mentally. And I would be honored if you would join my side in my worship of the Olde One. ...if you do not feel the same way, I completely understand,” he adds, his face falling a bit. “And I won’t bring it up aga-”

You cut him off with a kiss. You’re leaning across the table and pressing your lips against his, gentle and sweet. Papa I is taken aback by you being so forward, but he doesn’t mind one bit.

After all, it’s just one of the many things he loves about you.

Papa II:

He is not happy with you.

“I can’t believe you,” he growls. “Going out in the rain like that, without even a coat? What were you thinking?”

You sniffle in reply from your bed, blowing your nose. “You...you needed the ingredients by the end of the night....full moon....had to hurry..”

“I could have waited another month!” snaps Papa II. “Or sent the ghouls out to get them. Why would you do something so foolish, getting yourself sick like this? You had me w--you had my ghouls worried to death!”

You hadn’t noticed his slip-up. Thank Satan.

You’re avoiding his eyes like a scolded child. “...you’re...always doing such nice things for me...”

As you sink further into your pillows and blanket, you trail off. Papa II raises an eyebrow, leaning in a bit. “Yes?”

“...wanted...wanted to help you, for once.” Your eyes slide closed. “Wanted to make you smile.”

Your answer knocks him off-guard. “...you what?”

“You’re so handsome when you smile...hee....like a king, all regal and stuff...”

You let out a weak giggle, one that turns into coughing before long. He sighs; you were obviously addled by the fever you’d caught.

He turns his back on you. “Sleep. I’ll send you up something to eat in a little while.”

“Stay with me?”

Your words are quiet. Weak. Pleading.

“....you’re lucky I love you, caro.” he murmurs, so quietly it’s almost inaudible.

“Huh....?” You open one eye, staring blearily up at him. “You...you gotta speak up, Papa...can’t hear so great....”

“I said you’re lucky I have the night off.” Turning back to face you, Papa II sits at your bedside.

And even after you’ve drifted off to sleep, he’s still there with you.

Papa III:

“Figlio di puttana!”

The youngest Emeritus brother slammed his fist into the dressing room table, knocking off all of the bottles and brushes there. He was furious--Sister Imperator had spent the evening arguing with him, and to make things worse, his brother wasn’t there for him to vent about it.

And, he was more than a little drunk.

“Papa...?”

He whirls around to face the door. Oh, no--now you were poking your head in, looking Concerned for him. The look makes him even angrier; the last thing he needs right now is anybody’s pity.

“Go away. Leave me alone!” he snarls.

You don’t heed him. Instead, you come into the room, closing the door behind you. “Papa, tell me what happened.”

“I said get out!” He attempts to shove you back out the way you came. But his feet get tangled, and he ends up hitting the ground hard.

“Papa--!” you gasp.

“Fuck...cazzo...” he mutters. As he stares up at the ceiling, the full reality of his situation dawns on him. His hair is a mess, his makeup is smeared to hell and back, he’s so drunk he can barely remember his name, and one of the people he likes the most has seen him at his lowest.

He bursts into tears.

“It��s not enough,” he hiccups. “I’m not enough. Fucking....can’t do anything right....Imperator, that bitch...with her standards...can’t preach right, can’t walk right, can’t talk right...” He jabs a thumb to his chest. “I’m supposed to be Papa. If I can’t be Papa...then who in the hell am I?” He closes his eyes, tears rolling freely.

“You’re Dante.”

His eyes fly open at the use of his first name. You’re kneeling beside him, your tone and expression kind. “You like cheesy horror movies and playing kazoo. You have a wild and wonderful imagination. And you always have a joke ready if you see your friends sad.”

You smile. “You’re Dante Emeritus, and you’re my closest friend.”

He’s speechless.

You help sit him up, dabbing away the smeared skull makeup with plenty of kleenax. It’s when you move to help him to his feet that he blurts it out. “I love you.”

Your face goes a little red. “You’re drunk. Come on--let’s get you cleaned up.”

“I love you. More than anything,” he insists, as you lead him out of the dressing room to get him to the bathroom.

He will not remember his confession the next morning. But he will remember that you were there for him when he needed someone with him. At some point in the future, he will make a grand, romantic gesture and confess his feelings to you that way. But he won’t quite understand just why you’re smiling so wide the whole time.

Cardinal Copia:

(Continuing from Copia’s part, here!)

His heart is hammering wildly in his chest. One minute to the arranged meeting time, and then you would finally see the man behind the pen.

And you would reject him. He’s sure of it

Cardinal Copia is hidden slightly out of sight--you would be able to hear him speak, but not see him. It was his final line of defense.

Footsteps! That had to be you. He peeks out from his hiding place and immediately recoils. It is you. And you’re looking more beautiful than ever. Had he underdressed? He looks down at his red cossack. Oh, Lucifer, had he overdressed?!

Your voice pulls him out of his thoughts. “Hello?”

“Gah--!” Copia pulls back even further into his hiding spot. You hadn’t gotten a good look at him, thank Satan, but now you knew for sure he was there.

“...’Cyrano?’ Is that you?” you prompt his pen-name, leaning in, but he holds up a gloved hand.

“Not any closer,” he chokes out. “Please. I. Give me a minute...”

You oblige him, waiting patiently for him to catch his breath.

“I....got your letter,” you say quietly. “With the meeting time. Are you alright?”

“No. I am not alright.” Copia stares up at the ceiling, feeling his heart sink. “Because I am not worthy of your time.”

“If you weren’t worthy, then I would not be here.” You cross your arms. “...will you come out, at least? The entire point of meeting was to finally see one another, face to face.”

He says nothing.

“It’s hardly fair, don’t you think?” you add. “You know everything about who I am, and yet I know next to nothing about you. Please. Show me your face.”

Slowly, ready to bolt at any second, Copia comes into the light.

Your eyes widen. “....Your Eminence?”

“I really must be going--”

“Wait! Don’t go. Your last letter moved me to tears, Copia. May I call you Copia?”

He blinks, looking over at you. You had not reacted in revulsion...in fact, you were staring at him in awe. “...you may.”

“I never would have imagined that you were so talented,” you say breathlessly, smiling at him. “You’re so good with words, has anyone ever told you that? Sheer poetry.”

You weren’t laughing at him. The Cardinal watches you carefully, not quite able to find the right words. How ironic, for a man who could write such wonderful letters.

“I saved them all, you know. Every single one.” You’re walking closer. “I like to read them before I go to sleep at night.”

“...do you really?” is all Copia can say. You nod, smiling wider.

“They make me feel at ease. I...I know this is forward of me...but I can’t keep this hidden any longer. I love you, Cardinal Copia. And I want nothing more than to spend my days with you. Even if you can only confess in your letters, then I will confess here, in conversation.”

It’s everything he’s ever wanted.

You stand there with your arms outstretched. “....will you accept me?”

Copia is hugging you close to him before you can even finish the sentence.

“I love you, too, topolino.”

#ghost #ghost bc #papa nihil #papa i #papa ii #papa iii #copia #cardinal copia #love #relationships #romance #fluff #normally the arguments with imperator aren't AS bad #especially compared to ii's fights with her #but it was a rough night #ghost headcanons #ghost bc headcanons #headcanons

158 notes · View notes

theartificialdane · 5 years

Text

Andromeda: Maybe this year

A Melati focused Andromeda about not doing as well in high school as she had expected. Originally inspired by “Anybody have a map” from Dear Evan Hansen.

A million thanks to @veronicasanders for not only being a fantastic beta and cowriter, but also forcing me to confront my angst for angst and do what is needed to make the story work!

{Melati...} Violet wanted to reach over the table, wanted to touch her daughters hand. {Is there something on your mind?}

Violet ran, her feet hitting the pavement, her heart beating rhythmically, her breath coming in and out, in and out. It was early morning in mid autumn, the air chilly.

Violet’s watch beeped, and she slowed down, finally stopping in front of the property she and Sutan had bought when they relocated back to America. It was a lovely three story house, a brownstone on the Upper West Side, their neighborhood one of the reasons they had picked this specific property, but the real reason was next door.

Violet could see a dim orange light from the second story window. A shadow moving around inside. Raja was already up, the woman without a doubt sitting in her study and getting some work done before everyone else woke up. Violet smiled to herself. She should have known that Raja and Sutan would find a way to buy houses right next to each other, though she suspected Jinkx had had a finger in the game since two almost identical properties had shown up at the exact same time. It was all worth it though, when she had heard her husband’s sigh of pure relief as he took his jacket off for the first time in their new house, the world finally right again for him since his twin was back where she belonged; only a single set of walls away.

Violet checked her watch, the slim fit bit on her wrist telling her that her time was a little slower than the day before. Violet had never cared about how fast she ran, she had never done it for the physical fitness, but instead the quiet that overtook her mind, the nagging voice in her head only a tiny presence at the very back of her skull, but now, she was training with an actual goal in mind. A half marathon she would be running with Shane, the watch on her wrist a gift from the man that had been consumed by the idea of doing it before he turned 45. Violet hadn’t planned on joining him, Shane having never ran before, but she had volunteered when she saw the look of pure terror on Betty’s face the moment her friend realised her husband was serious about it.

Violet opened the door to their garden, the sound of tiny paws and yiffs coming around the corner hitting her before she even had a chance to reclick the lock. Asta and Nora both looking up at with big eyes, the pugs’ small tongues out their mouth. “Don’t look like that, darlings.” Violet smiled, bending down to quickly pet each of her dogs. “You’ll get your breakfast.” Violet quickly waved to their security camera. She was unsure if it was ever watched, but she felt weird not acknowledging its presence. Fame had forced everyone to get security installed when a fan of the show had followed Sutan into the bathroom at a bar, and Violet was grateful that Fame had taken that step, the woman one no one spoke against, even when she was being paranoid or unfair since she wasn’t one to ever let anything go.

Violet opened the patio door, and Asta and Nora followed her inside as Violet finished the rest of her morning routine. Shower, hair and makeup, all before 6.30.

The next step was her least favorite part of her morning, but she knew she had to do it.

The walk to the third floor was an easy one, but the task facing her was not. Violet knocked on the door, carefully opening it, the light from the hallway shining in and hitting her sleeping daughter in her bed. Melati was burrowed under the covers, the only thing visible her dark curls. She had inherited her father’s heart for sleep and late nights, Violet sometimes waking from the sounds of Melati working away in her room. Violet turned on the lights, the light dimmers they had installed in there on Juju’s recommendation a true lifesaver.

The soft jade green walls were filled with trinkets, the curtains were closed, the door to her walk in closet opened and her clothes spread everywhere, canvases lining the wall. Melati had a craft room, the space freeing up in the house when Violet had relocated what had turned into an ever growing workshop to an actual studio space, but Melati still prefered to keep much of her stuff in her room. Her computer was still open on her desk, the screen dark.

Violet took one final deep breath, stepping into the room to wake the most terrifying creature known to man. A cranky teenager.

///

{Melati, you have to wake up.}

Melati could feel her mother's presence looming by her bed. She cracked an eye open, her phone still in hand from when she had fallen asleep texting her dad last night as he had been making his way home, promising that he’d be there by evening.

He and been gone for over two weeks, helping the Indonesian producers shoot the first edition of Asia’s Next Top Model.

{It’s 6.45..}. Melati knew why she had been woken up, but she still wished her mom would get off her back a little. She didn’t know anyone else who’s mom was as overbearing as hers. Not that she had many American friends to ask, but she was certain that no one else was still woken by their parents at 14.

{You’re riding with Auntie Raja today.}

{Do I have to?} Melati turned, looking up at her mom, standing by her bed. She had only been in high school for a little over two months, and she still hated every single second of it, none of it made better by the fact that she more often than not had to ride to school with her demonic cousins. Normally she’d go with her dad, Sutan going downtown anyway because of work, but he was an entire world away. {I’d rather ride the subway with Maggie.}

Violet cringed. She’d always hated the subway, and the fact that her daughter was so independent should have made her proud, but instead it just consumed her with worry.

{Please? I’ll text you when we get to school.}

{Fine,} Violet sighed. {10 minutes, or you’re gonna be late.}

///

Melati opened the patio, Nora and Asta shaking their feet. Melati could hear her mother in the kitchen, walking the dogs one of her responsibilities in the morning. She was just about to leave the living room to change her socks, the damp grass soaking her sneakers, when their home system dinged. Someone was calling them. Melati turned around, the caller ID a familiar bright and smiling face. Melati quickly accepted, and Courtney Act showed up on the screen. Both Asta and Nora perked up, the pugs yipping happily.

“Courtney!” Melati smiled brightly, a blush creeping into her cheeks. “Hi!” Melati wasn’t proud of it, but no matter how many times she met her, she always felt a little starstruck around Courtney. She had seen her movies almost as many times as she had seen Moana, and she had performed her songs for every school talent show when they still lived in Paris.

“Hi lovebug! How are you doing?”

“I’m good.” Melati pulled a lock of hair behind her ear. “Another day of school.” Melati laughed, the English feeling like wool in her mouth.

“Awww, hang in there, babe. It won’t last forever.”

“Thanks.” Melati felt a rush of relief. She had spent some time with Courtney and the kids in LA during the summer while Bianca and Sutan had been filming last season’s Top Model, and the whole thing had felt like a dream. One day, Courtney had taken her out for sorbet, just the two of them, and actually listened to her. Courtney was her favorite adult to talk to, the blonde always understanding.

“Is your mom around, sweet pea?”

“Uh, she’s making breakfast...”

“Oh, bummer. I was hoping to ambush her with a little project,” Courtney said, eyes twinkling with glee.

“I can tell her you called,” Mel said, smiling. “So… I read that you’re leaving your talk show? Is that true?”

“It’s true. I’m stepping down at the end of the year.”

“Really? Why! I love your show,” Mel told her.

A smile pulled at the corner of Courtney’s mouth as she said, “Well...let’s just say that I’m trying to be a supportive wife.”

“A supportive wife?” Mel’s brow furrowed, confused. What did that have to do with her show?

“No no,” Courtney said with a giggle. “I’ve already revealed too much! But you’ll find out soon eno- Violet!” Melati saw Courtney wave, a grin on her face. “Good morning!”

Melati turned, her mother coming out from the kitchen.

“You’re awfully chipper.” Violet walked over, a note of mild irritation in her voice. “Is this about your email?” Melati knew her mother hated having her routine interrupted, but she was still being overly hostile.

“I’m great, thanks, and how you you?” Courtney said.

“Is it so important that you can’t wait? You have kids yourself, you know how mornings are-”

Melati bristeled. She was 14, that meant she was only two years away from getting a driver's license, and four years away from college. {I’m not a kid.}

Violet turned to Melati. {I didn’t mean-}

“I’m sorry for interrupting,” Courtney smiled, holding up her hands. “But I just couldn’t wait.”

“For what?” Violet had crossed her arms, her eyes narrow as she watched the screen. “I think my reply to your request was perfectly clear.”

“Listen. I know you don’t want to design kids’ clothes.”

“That is one way to phrase my direct decline.”

“Right, but that’s not what I’m asking for. I was just hoping that you’d do some low key consulting. It could even be anonymous. You know how much I value your input-”

“I’m not a children’s designer, Courtney.”

Melati rolled her eyes, falling back on the couch. Sometimes she felt like her mom spent so much more time telling people what she didn’t want to do compared to what she actually did. Melati knew Violet designed couture, that almost everything her mother made was sold and designed directly for her clients. She knew the waiting list for Violet Chachki's time was miles long and that the chance of getting an appointment almost non-existent, but that didn’t excuse being so rude to someone Melati cared about.

“Okay, I hear you, but please, Vi, just take a quick peek before you give me a final answer! I mean I got to Amsterdam this morning and they showed me some of the samples and they are just so cute! Like look at this, you think it’s just a little gender neutral pea coat but then look closer and THE BUTTONS ARE DISCO BALLS!! And then there’s-”

Without even looking, Violet grabbed the remote and hung up, cutting Courtney off mid sentence.

{You just hung up on Courtney Act!} Melati knew her mouth was hanging open, her jaw slack with surprise.

{I did.}

{You can’t do that!}

{Actually, I can.} Violet looked at her watch. {You have to get going. Are you sure about the sub-}

Melati crossed her arms. {You were really rude. She’s supposed to be your friend.}

{Go brush your teeth.}

////

Violet had just finished making breakfast when Melati came down the stairs, this time dressed for the day in a soft cream sweater and jeans, her curly hair collected in a half bun. She was wearing pearl earrings, a thin gold bracelet and a ring Violet had given her.

Melati grabbed a bottle of juice from the fridge, dumping her backpack on the floor as she sat down at the table, her teenager still prickly from the mornings conversation. Violet liked Courtney, had maybe even come to love her, but the blonde was still much like the devil. Give her a finger, and she’d take your entire arm and Violet did not have time for Courtney’s project, not when Melati acted like a porcupine ready to fight whenever Violet dared say anything to her.

{Do you have to throw your things?}

{What?} Melati barely even looked up, her eyes occupied with checking the French news on the kitchen screen. Violet sighed as she sat down, Melati obviously ignoring her. Violet hated how much tech that had made its way into their house, Sutan always hopping on whatever the latest trend was with enthusiasm while Violet would happily have prefered a home with no electronics at all. At least she had managed to keep their bedroom a screen free zone, though keeping Sutan away from his work email often turned into an uphill battle. Violet placed her hand in Melati’s field of vision, the teen finally looking up before she repeated her words.

{Do you have to throw your things?}

{Does it matter?}

Violet looked at the bag. It was a designer backpack, the thing a gorgeous black with thick rims and leather that had clearly been cared for and crafted lovingly.Violet hated the look of how her daughter was mistreating it, Melatis laptop and her books distorting the shape. It had been given to Melati by Raven, a ‘welcome to american high school’ gift. When Violet protested at the extravagance of it, Raven informed her that it was very important - Heaven forbid Melati get bullied at school for having the wrong school bag. Violet relented, although she suspected that Raven’s idea of high school bullies was a little out of touch.

{It does.}

Melati rolled her eyes, but then picked up her bag, putting it on the chair next to her. Violet desperately wished Sutan was home, her husband a master at navigating Melati’s moods. Her daughter as prickly as a cactus most days when Violet only wanted to soothe and understand, though Juju had insisted that was just how teenagers were. But although Violet could begrudgingly accept a certain degree of surliness, it seemed like this week had been especially unpleasant. Her kind, loving, enthusiastic daughter was suddenly slamming doors, refusing dinner and not answering direct questions. Something was wrong.

{Melati...} Violet wanted to reach over the table, wanted to touch her daughters hand. {Is there something on your mind?}

{No.} Mel snatched her hand back.

{Okay...} Violet retreated.

Melati finished her juice, the clock nearing 7.30, which meant they had to get going. Melati picked up her bowl and took it to the sink while Violet did the same, her own breakfast almost untouched. She’d text her assistant later and ask for some breakfast, though she wasn’t sure the hunger would come, her stomach turning into a knot. Violet missed Sutan more than she wanted to say, but she was also happy her husband was traveling the world and chasing his dreams, though it kind of beat the purpose of why they had moved continents in the first place.

{Do you want me to send a car to pick you up after school? I have to stay late at work.} Violet had never planned on running a studio of her own, to have people that depended on her and wanted to have meetings and hear her opinion on things she genuinely didn’t care about, but it had become her life, and her team did give her the opportunity to do things she never would have accomplished on her own.

{I’m going to Maggie’s.}

{Again?} {What's wrong with Maggie?} {Nothing.} Violet tightened her robe. {It's just, maybe you should try making more friends in your class, someone you haven’t grown up with-} {I wish /Dad/ was here...}

Violet barely heard it, the words whispered under Melati’s breath. She reached for her daughter, attempting to give her a hug, but Mel ducked away, picking up her backpack and heading to the door, barely glancing over her shoulder as she grunted out a goodbye.

////

Melati descended into the subway, scanning the platform for Maggie’s tiny body and sparkly blue backpack.

“MelMel! Over here!” Maggie waved excitedly, a ball of energy as always. Her brown bob, orange sweater, matching miniskirt and huge glasses making her stand out amongst all the other uptown commuters. Maggie jumping up and down as if they hadn’t seen each other in years was so cute that it was /almost/ not embarassing.

“Hey Mags.” Mel leaned in to give her friend - or rather, her ‘almost cousin,’ as they called each other - a hug.

Maggie adjusted her glasses, asking, “Sooo… How was your night?”

“Okay.” Melati bit her lip. VIolet hadn’t been home because of a fitting until after dinner, so she had spent the afternoon in her room with Asta and Nora, working away. “I almost finished my collage, but then I accidentally fell into a black hole on Youtube. Did you know that the world's biggest species of bumble bees come from South Africa and is called Bombus Dahlbomii?”

“Cool. Weird, but cool,” Maggie said.

Mel smiled and closed her eyes, enjoying the whoosh of air as their train approached.

“Aaaand…” Maggie said, linking arms with Mel as they entered the subway car. “... did you talk to your mom about that English test yet?”

“Ugh, no way.” Melati knew the question would come, but that didn’t make it any better. “Are you kidding?” Maggie had been bugging her about it all week, but there was no way Melati would willingly walk into the lion’s den.

“It probably won’t be as bad as you think. I know I was really freaked last year when I got a B in Spanish, but my moms were so sweet about it. Alaska ended up taking me to the spa to de-stress.”

“Yeah, well, that’s your family.” Melati crossed her legs, the sense that everyone around them could listen to their conversation extremely uncomfortable. “Your moms aren’t uptight like mine. And I didn’t get a B. I got a D. A /D/, Maggie!” Melati sighed. “She’s going to /murder/ me.”

Maggie took a deep breath and stood in front of Melati’s chair. She placed both hands on her shoulders, singing sweetly and earnestly, “/Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens… bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens-/”

“Maggie…” Mel hissed, glancing around at the subway car self-consciously. It was great that Maggie was so confident and unconcerned with what everyone else thought, but Mel didn’t mind blending in. In fact, she preferred it.

“/..Brown paper packages tied up with strings. These are a few of my favorite things!/...Did that help? A little Julie Andrews magic?”

“No.” Maggie kept staring at her, her brown eyes expecting and filled with mischief. “Besides.. That movie is only.. I don’t understand why you love it so much? It’s not that good.”

Maggie gasped dramatically, and then made the sign of the cross, clasping her hands together. “She didn’t mean it, Julie!”

Melati blushed and pulled Maggie back into her seat. “Why are you making a cross? Aren’t you Jewish?”

“Jinkx says that the Church of Julie is non denominational.”

“Ugh, I wish my dad were here,” Mel sighed, hugging her backpack to her chest, her exam inside it almost burning. Melati hated keeping secrets, and this was growing bigger each day.

“Like, back in New York, or here with us on this Subway car?” Maggie joked.

“My mom is just so impossible!” Melati exclaimed. “And, she said that I’m hanging out with you too much.”

“... She said what? But I thought your mom loved me? Remember that time she almost smiled in my general direction?” Maggie did a little shimmy, making Mel chuckle.

“Okay, she’s not that bad. She just wants me to make new friends.” The train lurched forward and Mel nearly fell out of her seat, grabbing a pole nearby. “But how am I supposed to make new friends when my cousins have already told everyone I’m a weirdo?” Tanya and Isolde Amrull were seniors. Seniors in the way Melati had only seen on movies. They were ever popular, dressed every day as if school was their personal runway, a group of people always around them to get their approval or to hope they rubbed off on them. Melati had only been in the school a few months, but she had already seen hoop earrings disappear from one day to the next, since Isolde had said they were over during a lunch period.

“Well, first of all, you are a weirdo, but in the very, very best way. And second, Tanya and Isolde are the /worst/, so only total assholes would believe them. And you don’t want to be friends with assholes, right?”

“I guess not.”

“So, when’s your dad getting home anyway?” Maggie asked, leaning a head on her shoulder.

“Tonight… I really didn’t want to deal with this on his first night back, but...I think I have to.”

“Or you could just like… Never tell them?”

Melati smiled, the train stopping. “That’s good… Let’s call that Plan A.”

///

Violet sighed, looking over the printouts she had made her assistant do of the several emails Courtney had sent her. The collection was...Violet didn’t know what it was, except hideous, but Violet also didn’t know anything about children’s clothes. Melati had thankfully never requested glitter slippers or bunny shirts. Violet had no idea why Courtney had requested her advice. The only thing she really knew anything about was fabrics, and as she was running through the different suggestions from the Dutch company, her brows shot higher and higher since most of it would be terrible for toddlers. Cotton in colors that would stain horribly, nylon so close to the skin it would irritate, and shoes so narrow it could impact the shape of a baby foot. Violet was two pages into an email, detailing everything that was wrong, when her phone rang.

“Hi.”

“Hi.” Violet put the phone under her chin, her private phone only for family members and the very few people Violet considered friends.

“What are you working on?”

“What?”

“I can hear the pencil.”

Violet looked down, a small laugh leaving her as she had not even realised she had been sketching away on her notepad, creating a new version of the jackets for Courtney’s line.

“I’m sorry.” Violet put it down, quickly flipping over the paper and turning her chair around so she was looking out on the street instead of her computer. She could hear Sutan chuckle, but also the bone deep tired of her husband's voice. “How far are you?”

“Made it to LA. Boarding in 30.”

Violet felt a hot surge in her stomach, her cheeks blushing instantly at how stupid she felt. They had been married for almost 15 years, and she still didn’t feel right when Sutan wasn’t with her, her excitement to have him home after two long weeks prickling in her fingertips.

“God I hate this fucking airport.”

Violet laughed, knowing exactly how much Sutan hated LAX.

“I’m in the worst mood, I’m sorry.”

“We can get pizza tonight? If you want?” Violet knew Sutan would most likely be dead to the world the moment he touched down in New York, her husband never sleeping well on planes because of his height. If she was lucky, he’d be up and about when she got home that night, and the promise of pizza even if sober Violet didn’t enjoy it much, was a certain way to get Sutan to do pretty much anything.

Sutan groaned, and Violet could almost hear how he sunk a little deeper into his seat. “I love you. You know how much I like traditional Indonesian, but nothing beats a double pepperoni”

Violet smiled, her fingers tapping against her chair. “Love you too.”

“So.. I read your texts.”

“Ah.” Violet could hear the change in Sutan’s voice instantly, and she knew she only really had herself to blame. She had messaged him from her closet, her body almost shaking when Melati had left the house that morning, her daughters words still ringing in her ears.

“I know you’re worried.”

“I-”

“But Violet, I promise you. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“There is.” Violet said. “There has to be something wrong Sutan, you haven’t spent time with her, she’s.. She’s never been like this before. She talks back /every/ chance she gets.”

“Like every other teenager in history?”

Violet bristled, the smile in Sutan’s voice not helping her mood at all.

“This isn’t normal.” Violet knew she hadn’t exactly had the normal experience of being a teenager, the ballet academies indisputable hierarchy and the pure time it took to not only manage a fulltime job but also keep her physical fitness up had meant she had never had anyone to argue with where she could win, no skipping school or drinking in the parking lot, but there was something called basic respect, and even if Melati was a teenager, she was still her child, their child, their sweet and kind girl. “Something is bothering her, something extra, I just... I know it.”

“A mother's intuition?”

“Don’t make fun of me.” Violet sighed. She knew Sutan was only trying to make things better, but most of the time Melati was a completely different girl around him, her father never making mistakes in her eyes, even though Sutan’s job was the true reason they relocated back to America.

“Do you want me to talk to her?”

“Thank you.”

///

Melati unlocked the front door, dropping her key in the bowl by the door. The house was quiet, just as she had expected, her mom rarely showing up until after it was dark outside when she said she was working late, but Melati had still hoped someone would be home, since she had gone to Maggie's after school. Alaska had been there, the tall blonde chatting away in her slow drawl while Maggie had happily reenacted everything that had happened at drama club and Melati had sipped her tea.

Melati was just about to take her shoes off, when she bumped into something. It was her dad's suitcases, the four bags taking up the entire hallway. A surge of happiness rushed through her, and Melati bolted for the stairs, her shoes still on.

[DAD!]

She threw open the door to her parents bedroom, fully expecting to see her father underneath the covers. The room was small, heavy curtains keeping out the sunlight, and dominated by a king sized bed, a set of double doors leading to her parents closets and their bathroom, but the bed was empty though also unmade, which meant he had to be somewhere in the house. Melati took another set of stairs, her dads office on the other end of the floor from her bedroom. Melati stopped in front of the door, the muffled sound of music coming from inside. Melati knocked three times, waiting for a reply.

[Come in puppet!]

Melati opened the door, looking inside her father’s office. [How did you know it was me?] Melati stepped inside, feels calm. A bookshelf lining one wall filled with Batman memorabilia, heavy oak dominating the room, small bar, stacks of magazines and things Sutan’s current and former models have worked on.

[Mama never knocks like that.] Sutan turned in his chair, and pushing his glasses up, and opened his arms.

Mel rushed over for a hug. Sutan laughed, kissing the top of her head and pulling her into his lap. He turned the chair back around, facing his computer.

[I’m just ordering pizza for tonight.]

[Really?]

[Mmh. Which one do you want?]

[Spinach please.] They sat together for a while, Sutan absentmindedly asking Melati how her day had been, the two just enjoying each others company when Melati realized that she was still wearing her backpack and stood up. [Actually... Dad?]

[Changed your mind?]

[No. I... I got back my grade from that test last week. You know, the English exam?]

[You did? Anything fun to share?] Sutan smiled. [Shall I call the framers?] Melati sighed. Normally her dad’s teasing and enthusiasm would make her happy, but today it just grated on her nerves.

[Just read it. Please.] Melati handed the blue book to Sutan, watching nervously as he grabbed his glasses and flipped to the back, reading the first grade she had ever gotten that was below a B+. Melati had no idea how her mom would react, but she was counting on her dad to be the calm one, and hopefully help her break the news to her mom. Maybe even offer to do it for her if she was really lucky.

[Well, that’s disappointing.] Sutan looked up. [Is this grade correct?]

[What?] Melati hadn’t even realised how small her voice sounded. [Umh... Yes. Yes it is.]

[Did you study? Or did you expect to skate by without any work? Because that’s not going to cut it at this school.]

[Yes! Yes I studied! I tried my best. I...I guess I just didn’t understand the book and-]

[Well, you’ll have to do better. When I was your age, I had two jobs, and I still managed to get straight As. There’s no reason for anyone as smart as you to get grades like this.] Sutan shook the pages of the blue book for emphasis.

Melati stared at her dad. Her laid back dad, who had always told her to just try and try again, who walked through life as if everything always worked out for him. Melati had never been asked to take a job, had never even considered it since she used so much of her time on her art. Melati had expected her mother to be the one to tell her these things, to be the one who ignored how she had tried, telling her it wasn’t good enough, but here her dad was, looking at her as if she had somehow done this on purpose.

[And if you need help, you tell us. We’re not paying for one of the best schools in the country so that you can just-]

[I didn’t know I needed help!] Melati yelled, Sutan growing quiet instantly. [It’s not my fault, I tried! I really tried!] Melati had had been to every class, taken diligent notes, read the texts multiple times, had even discussed them with Maggie - but somehow, in the classroom, with the seconds ticking down, it was like everything had slipped from her mind. Her thoughts were a confusing jumble of three languages and twisted phrases, and none of it came out right on the page. [It’s - it’s this stupid language and not enough time and I don’t understand why we’re even living here!]

[Melati-]

[I hate this country! I hate it, I HATE it!]

Sutan stood up, holding up his hands in surrender. [Calm down, and we can talk about this-] His voice was calm, even, like everything she had said didn’t matter to him at all.

[Calm down?! Do you even understand anything?!] Melati’s voice had reached a shrill, fevered pitch. She felt like an animal in a cage. Trapped against her will. [Of course not! Of course you don’t because no one cares about me!]

[Melati.]

[Why don’t you just leave again like you always do?!]

Sutan swallowed. He had never seen his daughter like this, fat tears streaming down Melati’s cheeks. Before he could attempt a response, Violet appeared in the doorway, her coat still on, her keys still in hand like she had run upstairs the moment she got home.

{What’s going on?} Violet asked, {I heard yelling, is everyone okay?}

“We’re only talking, lovely eyes, just give us-”

{No! No! It’s not fair, it’s not- it’s not!} Melati whirled around, her fists clenched in anger.

{Little darling, I-} Violet didn’t know what she had expected, but Melati flinging herself into her arms, sobbing like she had as a kid when she was consumed with worry and missing her dad, was not anywhere on the list. Violet grabbed Melati, pressing her cheek to the top of her head, rocking her back and forth, holding her closer than she had in years. {What’s going on?}

“It appears we’re fighting.”

“‘A mother's intuition’ huh? What about a father’s?” Violet shot Sutan a dirty look, her husband visibly cringing, though she couldn’t entirely blame him. She couldn’t remember the last time Melati had yelled, and least of all at Sutan. Mel said something, the sounds of it muffled in Violet’s coat.

Sutan cleared his throat. “We were just discussing her grade.”

“And that leads to my daughter crying?”

“She got a D, and I was just telling her she needs to take school seriously if she ever wants to-”

“She’s a child, a teenager, not a robot. I know you got into UCLA but-”

“She needs to work hard if she wants to-”

“Sutan, just- Melati.” Violet gently took Melati’s face, turning it up. {Why didn’t you tell me, puppet?}

{You’re… not mad?} Mel gulped, breath hitching. {I thought you’d be mad..}

{Over this?} Violet wrapped her arms more tightly around her daughter. {It’s just a test.} Her whole body felt lighter, the relief that Mel’s problem was a simple academic one flowing through her, filling her with gratitude. {I know you’ve worked so hard.}

{I did... I promise I did} Melati wiped her face, clearly both ashamed and embarrassed over the yelling Violet had heard from downstairs though she had no idea what had been said. {Everything is so different from the other school and I can’t... I don’t know...}

Melati felt a touch on her shoulder, Sutan’s hand closing around it. [I’m sorry I’m an idiot.] Melati turned, looking up at her dad. [You’re right. I’m not around a whole bunch. You didn’t chose this move and you didn’t chose an American high school, but we’re not leaving, and I just want you do to do well.]

Melati nodded. [I know...] She pushed a piece of her hair behind her ear, very aware at how both her parents were looking at her. [I think...a tutor might be a good idea...]

[I’m sorry for going all...tiger mom on you.] Sutan smiled, still looking extremely apologetic.

[It wasn’t your shining moment.] Melati told him.

[Yeah..] Sutan hugged her tightly. [Sorry.]

///

{What are we watching?} Violet sat down, Melati and Sutan both grabbing their pizza boxes and opening them at the exact same time.

{Glimmer!}

Violet looked at her daughter, Sutan pressing play on the ever familiar movie. {You get to pick any movie you want, and you pick Courtney’s Disney debut?}

{With the English audio. It’s educational, Mama}

{Yes Violet. It’s educational.}

Sutan laughed, and Violet couldn’t help but smile. Violet grabbed her plate, picking a piece of Sutan’s pizza out of his box, her husband and daughter back to being two peas in a pod. As she settled in, Sutan’s arm behind her back, she felt a sense of peace fall over her. Nothing was perfect, but Melati was okay, and her problem was fixable. Everything would be okay, and they would get through it together, Melati getting everything she never had.

#galactica #andromeda #paris au #my fics

25 notes · View notes

just-absolutely-super · 5 years

Text

Notice

Happy Valentine’s Day, here’s an Edwin fanfic I wrote!

Title: Notice

Pairing: Edwin

Rating: K+

Summary: During maintenance, Ed takes the time to study his mechanic. Realizations are made.

FF.net / AO3

Ed has the distinct feeling he will never like automail maintenance.

It's not like he hasn't tried. Those first few months of traveling he would look over the notes Winry wrote him and try to follow her instructions. And he was doing well…until he just stopped maintaining his automail.

Hey, he gets busy okay? Sometimes he just doesn't have time to fiddle with his stupid, metal appendages.

Besides, Winry does a better job anyway. With the way she's ranting and nagging at him and the shape of his arm, he bet she'd disprove of his attempts at maintaining the automail himself.

Which brings him back to the situation at hand, where he is currently lying down on the Rockbell's exam table while Winry fiddles, pokes, and prods his metal appendage.

"Honestly, you can be so unbelievable at times…" she mutters under her breath. She's been saying other stuff, but Ed tuned her out a long time ago. Once she starts fussing about the more intricate mechanics of automail, it all becomes gibberish to him.

Instead of listening to her scolding, he allows his eyes to wander around. He skims over the different tools, shrapnel, and parts that he's sure the Rockbells are using for future installments for other customers. In the corner are crutches and canes Granny would let clients use if they didn't have a temporary prosthetic leg to stand on like Ed does. Cobwebs decorate the corners of the ceiling (he should mention them to Winry when he gets the chance, she's always hated spiders infesting the workshop).

Honestly, there's so much junk down in the workshop, Ed doesn't know how Winry and Granny function down here. But he's no mechanic so maybe it's just something Ed doesn't understand…

"Are you even listening to me?" Winry snaps.

Ed turns and nods, "Yeah, yeah, I should be more careful. Your automail is precious and you worked hard on it so I should take better care of it. Yada, yada, yada, nag, nag, nag—OW! WINRY!"

She pulls back her wrench from his skull and huffs out a "Jerk," before going back to her work. Ed grumbles as she does so.

"Crazy gearhead." He rubs his poor skull and decides to keep his eyes from searching the room in case Winry wants to perform another lecture.

That just leaves him to let his eyes wander over his childhood friend instead…

Due to his position, his eyes first see her attire—particularly the tube top she decides to wear under her coveralls. Ed immediate averts his eyes, face flushed hot. He definitely should not be focusing his eyes on his childhood friend's chest. Not only is it downright weird, but if Winry caught him in the act she'd bludgeon him to death with more than just her wrench.

So he focuses on something more north of that: her hair.

He absentmindedly thinks he likes her hair. It's blonde, like his and Al's, but a brighter shade. Kind of reminds him of lemons. It's longer than his too, but that makes sense given she's been growing it out since she was seven. She's got it tied back in a ponytail and her trademark bandana, except for those two long strands in the front.

He doesn't really understand that. Why would she pull it back like that but keep those two strands? Seems like an easy way to get her hair stuck in machinery—something he's heard Granny stress to Winry when the girl first started working in the shop. And sometimes the dangling hairs tickle as she bends over him to get a better look at his automail. It's kinda annoying if he's being honest.

Next, his eyes catch on her earrings—the ones he an Al bought her roughly a year ago.

He still couldn't believe she actually poked holes in her ears to fit them all. What an idiot, who does that?

Though, he has to admit they do look nice on her…

He shakes his head; not quite sure where that thought had come from. He decides to quit staring at her ears and go for the next thing, which are her eyes.

They're a nice color of blue, he thinks to himself. The blue eye color is common—especially in Amestris—but he thinks Winry's is unique.

He remembers Uncle Urey and Auntie Sara having blue eyes—obviously where Winry inherited hers from. Though Urey's reminded Ed more of the sky before a storm, while Sara's reminded him of a fresh body of water.

Winry's eyes remind him the summer sky and he can't describe it but they have a calming effect on him. Sometimes he thinks he could stare at her eyes all day.

In fact he's staring at her eyes right now and that quite literally freaks Ed out. To the point he actually jumps and screams out a yelp.

"Oh, sorry!" Winry quickly apologizes. "Did I pinch a nerve?"

Ed tries to hold down his blush as he says, "N-No, I'm fine. You're good. Continue."

He knows Winry is giving him a look (with those clear summer sky eyes that Ed is very much aware of now) that probably indicates she thinks he's insane, but he can't care now. Thankfully she doesn't ask further questions and continues with her work.

Ed lets out a calming breath and decides to stay far, far away from Winry's eyes. They do nothing but make him think weird, stupid thoughts. So all that leaves for him to examine are her lips.

They're in a thin line at the moment as she concentrates on her work. They're a pale pink color. In the big cities and even at the military headquarters he's seen women have lips of all different shades of pink or red. Ed is aware they're wearing makeup—his mother would put on some kind of lip-gloss if she were to go out to the market—but he doesn't think Winry ever uses the stuff. She's still a young girl, though, so it's not like she has to wear it... But still, Ed can't help but think she looks fine without it.

More than fine, actually. He'd never admit it out loud, but Winry is a very pretty girl.

In fact, Edward would go as far to say that once she gets older and matures, she would be quite beautiful.

Winry suddenly pokes her tongue out and licks her dry lips. Ed subconsciously licks his own. He wonders what her lips taste like…?

…

WHAT.

THE.

HELL?!

WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?!

Absolutely mortified by his own thoughts, Edward averts his eyes from his mechanic and stares wide-eyed and flabbergasted at the ceiling. His face feels like the colonel burned it with his flame alchemy.

'Shit, SHIT! Okay, okay just calm down. Think of something else! Anything else!'

It's futile though as many thoughts suddenly swarm Edward's head.

How could this happen?! How did he not notice before how attractive she is? Maybe he's always known, but these…these feelings that are accompanying this—this reaction he's having! This isn't good, not good at all…

"Ed?"

He can't deal with hormones! Not now, not with Alphonse stuck in a suit of armor and being unable to even feel the rain on his skin! What right does Ed have to find his mechanic pretty when there's a chance if they don't find a Philosopher's Stone, Al might never get a chance at love at all!

"Hey, Ed, you in there?"

This is the worst thing to happen! No, he won't let it happen! He'll just ignore these intrusive thoughts and feelings. Yeah, bury them deep, deep, DEEP underground where they will hopefully stay there until he DIES!

Or until he gets Alphonse's body back, whichever comes first…

"Edward Elric!"

He jumps and comes back into reality. He turns his head to Winry, who is glaring at him in annoyance, but he can also see there's concern in them as well.

"Y-yeah?" he gulps, hoping his face isn't red from the onslaught of emotions running through his mind.

Winry sighs, "I've been trying to get your attention, but you were majorly spaced out. What were you thinking about?"

'You.'

"Just…alchemy stuff," he says instead, avoiding eye contact. "Thinking about where Al and I will go next after here…"

He could tell she didn't believe him by the way her eyes narrow in suspicion. After a few seconds of contemplation, she gives a defeated sight and rolls her eyes.

"Fine, keep your secrets. Anyways," she gives his automail arm a few pats, "your maintenance is done. Try to take better care of it, you hear me?"

He gives her an eye roll of his own and sits up from the exam table, "Yeah, yeah, I'll try my best this time around."

As he reaches for his shirt that hangs on a nearby chair, Winry addresses him again, "It's almost supper. Granny will be making stew tonight."

Ed hums in response as he clothes his torso. His eyes are still focused on his mechanic whose back is turned to him as she cleans up her station. The realizations he made in the last few minutes are still fresh in his mind.

He's noticed his childhood friend is attractive. And if his reaction to it is any indication, he might have actual real feelings for her.

But he can't do anything about it. Not now at least…

But maybe someday…when he can rest easily knowing his little brother isn't just a soul bound to a suit of armor, when the military isn't an issue, and Ed isn't mostly metal himself.

Someday…

"Edward?"

Once again, Winry's voice forces him back to the present, "Yes?"

Winry regards him with worry, "Are you sure you're okay?"

He can't let her know. Not yet, anyway. It's too soon…

So he does what he does best: burry his emotions deep. He puts on a fake smile and hopes she doesn't ask further questions.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a lot on my mind."

She nods sadly and he makes his getaway up the stairs.

Maybe one day he'll acknowledge his feelings.

But he won't allow today to be that day.

#edwin #edward elric #winry rockbell #fma #fanfiction #my writing #saved this from wip hell

9 notes · View notes

surveys-at-your-service · 5 years

Text

Survey #197

“she wraps those hands around that pole, she licks those lips and off we go, she takes it off nice and slow ‘cuz that’s porn star dancin’.”

Do you wear something on your left hand/wrist/arm without fail? I have a ring on my left thumb. What is the latest you’ve stayed up for? Why? Oh idk, if you mean staying up waiting for something in particular and not just staying up all night for the hell of it. I think WoW's Warlords of Draenor expansion launch was the latest; it was sometime at night, between midnight and 3 A.M., and. Between me, Jason, Amanda, and Jacob, I by far stayed up the latest and pretty much died that day asleep. What is an article of clothing you would never ever wear? Rompers are just a no for me. What is something you lie to yourself about? I don't really do that anymore. If I know the truth deep down, lying would do me no good. Do you enjoy solving problems? NO. All problems do is stress me out. Are you more books smart, street smart, or random trivia smart? Oh, totally trivia. GMM taught me the most pointless shit. Are you a kinesthetic, an auditory or a visual learner? Kinesthetic. Would you ever take part in a TV quiz show? If so, which one? If not, why? No; I don't want my ugly ass on TV, the stress would murder me, plus I'd be really nervous and awkward. Does it take a lot for you to cry, or does it happen easily? It is VERY easy to make me cry. Do you have two of the same pair of pants? I believe I do. Who gives the best advice? Sara. She neeeeeds to do something in the psychological field. Do you have a lot of pictures of you and your friends? Old ones. I pretty much never take any now because 1.) I hate my face and 2.) what friends? What’s the hardest decision you’ve ever had to make? Truly and entirely letting Jason go. Who do you usually see in your dreams? Sara, my parents, sisters, and my theory is the lingering effects of PTSD keep Jason as a pretty regular fixture. HA HA OH YEAH MARK IS ALSO IN THEM SOMETIMES. Generally though, I don't remember my dreams. When was the last time you cleaned out a bathtub? Literally never. Never been a chore. Would you rather read poetry or write poetry? Write. Have you ever had any really infected injuries? Not really infected, I think. That cyst was, but that's not really an "injury." Is there any band out there that you like every song by them? No. Have you ever cussed/swore in front of younger children? If so, did they eventually imitate what you said? I'm sure I have with legit babies, but even then, I would try avoiding it. Now, I'm super careful around any aged child, and no. Do you have any friends that you almost always joke around with? Alex and Chelsea. Serious moments are almost non-existent, especially with Alex. Have you learned any new words today? No. If your hair never got greasy again, would you still wash it? Well yeah, it would still get dirty. When was the last time you played jump rope? Not since being a young teen... Talk about your first love. I think everyone in my online circle knows the story. High school sweethearts, strong and steady relationship that pretty much everyone thought was permanent, but ended very abruptly. Know now that it's for the better it ended; who the hell knows, maybe I'd still be an extremely depressed and hopeless mess. What’s the most beautiful songs you’ve ever heard in your opinion? "The Two Trees" and "Dante's Prayer," both by Loreena McKennitt, are unreal. "Obstacles" by Syd Matters? Goosebumps every single time. Okay really I could go on forever. What kind of self care is your favorite to do? I get the most satisfaction out of skin care. Are you affectionate? With s/os. I'm a hugger if I know you well enough. Who do you look up to? Mark, Steve Irwin, I look up to some parts of Otep Shamaya despite her mostly being a bitch, Sara, and there's so many more, but I'm blanking atm. Do you do art? Using what (pencil, watercolor, etc)? Usually a mechanical and colored pencils. Do you dance? What style of dance? Not anymore. Favorite old film? A lot. But probably Johnny Got His Gun. What weather is the most beautiful, in your opinion? Snowy. Do you have a lucky number? No. Have you ever wished on a star? What about on a fallen eyelash? No. What’s the most beautiful thing in life, In your opinion? People coming together for good, despite any differences or grudges. What instrumental sound is your favorite? Violin, electric guitar, or piano. What’s the best song a friend has ever introduced to you? Ohhhh idk. "Wolf In Sheep's Clothing" is high on the list, thanks Sara. Favorite shoe you own? Some converse with a skull design. Do you know any German words? Yeah, but I've forgotten quite a lot. Four semesters of German have definitely faded a bit. Do you have a passport? No. Do you say any words that are pretty specific to your area? Well, "y'all' for one. There's definitely sayings, though I'm not gonna sit here trying to remember 'em considering I don't use much, if any. Do you know anyone who everyone thinks is gay, but is not out? No. Vegetables: better raw or cooked? Are there any raw veggies I like??? Have you ever smoked? No. Would you mind dating someone significantly shorter than you? I've said it before and I'll say it again: I have a significantly negative opinion of you if h e i g h t fucking matters to you. Can you quote the movie Mean Girls? All I know off the top of my head is I think "On Wednesdays, we wear pink" or something like that. Do you live in the state you were born in? Yeah. Do your parents smoke? Dad does. Do you know anyone who has a ton of real fur clothes? No; at least I fucking hope not. If Britney Spears came to your town, would you go see her concert? In the hypothetical case of it being free, sure thing. I wouldn't actually go out of my way buying tickets. Have you ever worn a pair of leather (fake or real) pants? No. If the last person you kissed asked you to marry them, what would you do? She wouldn't ask that anytime soon. I'd only be comfortable being engaged if we were settled somewhere and the relationship was in a perfectly healthy place. When you believe in the Easter Bunny, what did you think it looked like? I don't remember. What about the tooth fairy? I think I imagined something like Tinker Bell? Do you/did you have a religion class in school? No. If your best friend got cancer, would you shave your head with them? If she was truly self-conscious of it, I probably would. Name someone you know who is Buddhist. No one, I think. Does your mom wear makeup? Very little for only special occasions. Do you kiss your boyfriends/girlfriends in front of your parents? Yes. Have you ever spent Christmas alone? No, thank Christ. Have you ever spent your birthday alone? Not all day or anything. Does your favorite uncle have any children? I only know one of my uncles well enough to have a confident opinion on him, but anyway, yes. Has anyone ever kissed you when you were so not expecting it? Possibly? Was it a good surprise kiss? Or bad? See above; I'm not sure if I was ever totally taken by surprise. Name all the members (first, middle and last names) from your favorite band. Man, I used to know this shit 100%, but I only know now Ozzy himself. Do you still have any Pokemon cards? I don't believe so. What would you do if your favorite artist came to town but your parents wouldn’t let you go? i'm???????? about to be 23????????? Do you know anyone who refuses to swear? Probably. Not anybody I know well. Have you ever heard a young child swear? Yes. Have you ever heard your grandparents swear? My grandma, yeah. But she does so seldom. What do you see when you turn your head to the right? My closet. The creepiest, most disgusting insect in the world is: Hissing cockroaches omfg no. What is your opinion on sex without emotional commitment? No. Where’s the best place to eat a romantic dinner? Olive Garden is the answer to everything. What will you dress up as for Halloween? Idk, but I reeeaaally wanna do something this year. Have you ever been in a lighthouse? No. Do you ever make your own surveys? Not exactly; I only combine them and usually delete the "no shit," boring, overused, or incredibly specific questions, like, "does the # 79 mean anything to you." What color is your shower? White. When is the last time you had a serious talk with someone? Yesterday about Bentley. I think Mom finally sees we need to get rid of him. How often do you take naps? Sometimes every day, every other, or just sporadically that week. I generally function better and am in a better mood with an afternoon nap. I know you don’t wanna talk about it, but when do you go back to school? Who the fuck even knows with my piece of shit past school. I was planning to this month. Do you find that you have a certain meal you eat every time you go to certain restaurants? In like... *every* restaurant. I don't want to order something I wind up hating. Have you ever had anything stolen from you? Maybe? When was the last time the power went out at your house and how long was it out for? Not too long ago I believe thanks to the wind. Just briefly. Ever had to get any stitches? Twice. How many times a year do you go out of state? Usually not even once a year, though now with Sara, it'll probably become a regular pattern of twice or so. About how many times during the night do you wake up from your sleep? Always, always, at least once. What kind of surveys do you wish there were more of? The deep, philosophical ones. When are you getting your next new phone? Ugh, probably not soon, though I need one desperately. Are you due for a haircut? No, got that done yesterday. Are you dealing with any health-related problems right now? Mental, we already know, but I've got some physical too currently. Do your parents like the music you listen to? Some of it, but I know Mom's not into the heavier stuff I like, and usually not the more indie stuff I'm into it. Do your parents approve of your beliefs? Dad, I don't think we agree on most, and Mom, she does some, while not others. She'd probably punch me if she learned I'm pro-choice now. Do you know anyone who’s racist? Very. What about a homophobe? Welcome to good 'ole North Carolina, my friend. What about a pedophile? They wouldn't be alive if I knew a pedophile. Who’s the most annoying person in your neighborhood? I dunno who, but there's one person on our street that has loud music playing almost constantly, even at night. You can't hear it indoors and it's not blaring outside, but I find it disrespectful to the few people who live here, especially at night. And mind you, the music sometimes isn't friendly to be playing where all of us can hear it. Name one of your psycho exes? No one. Why were they a psycho ex? N/A What’s the best revenge you ever got on someone? I don't see it as bitter "revenge" anymore, but it's chuckle-worthy every now and again to remember he broke up with me due to depression, and now I beat that shit and am working hard to stand on my own. How often do you shop at dollar stores? Only for candy for like, going to the movie theater. What’s your favorite part of a song? Usually riffs, choruses, or bridges... or guitar solos... lol idk it just depends on the song. I'd say maybe bridges the most. In school, do you/did you work better by yourself or in a group? BY MYSELF. When is the last time you ordered from a catalog? I personally never have. What’s the name of the gas station you last stopped at? Idr, it wasn't one we normally stop at 'cuz we were out of town. Is there a piece of jewelry that holds any sentimental value to you? Yeah. What was the first song you heard today? I think I listened to "Kreuzfeuer" by Powerwolf. What was the last video you watched on YouTube? Jonathan Young's cover of "Riot" by 3DG. Someone sign this man, please. Could you design an whole web page yourself? Ha, no. That stuff confuses the shit outta me. Have you ever cooked an entire dinner for your family? No. Who do you tend to get in fights with the most? My mom. Can you say today’s date in a different language? Took me a moment, but in German, yes. Does it bother you if the shower nozzle thing isn’t straight? Yes. Ours won't stay straight for anything. What is the reason you keep waking up every day? Do you have someone or something you particularly live for? Who or what is your inspiration? I want to build a future I'm proud of and enjoy each day more than ever. My history is my inspiration in the sense it's shown me what "low" truly can be and that I can climb out of that hole and to the top of the mountain one day. How would you spend your last night on earth? Would you be by yourself or with friends? Would you do something you never had the courage to do before? I'd want to be with all my loved ones that day, but just with Sara that night. I would tell her how much I love her through all words and actions I possibly could, and if that included something I hadn't had the courage for previously, yes. Do you honestly believe that your relationship (or a future relationship, if you don’t currently have one) will last until the end? How far would you be willing to go for that person? I genuinely think it will, very sincerely. I'd do a hell of a lot for her, but I'm smart enough now to know there has to be a limit. What do you think is the one thing about you that catches everyone’s attention? Are you naturally loud? Or do you make sure you have an eye-catching appearance? I'm very quiet. How would you show someone you loved them, without outright saying, “I love you?” How would you show it through actions? I mean, there's a whole lot you could do. I think the best way is just doing little things that show love. Go make that person their morning coffee, that kinda stuff. What would you do if someone cheated on you? Has that ever happened? Have you cheated on anyone? It's over; no; no. Are you outgoing or shy? I'm shy as hell. Who are you looking forward to seeing? Sara on the 4th. Are you easy to get along with? I think. What kind of people are you attracted to? The unorthodox but friendly ones. The "weirdos," so long it's not in a like, creepy way. People who are very open-minded. Do you still talk to your first crush? No. Do you like bubble baths? I don’t take baths. What are your bad habits? Procrastinating more than anything else, I peel my nails instead of trimming them oops, I weigh myself every single day, I jump to conclusions and catastrophize, I drink soda regularly, I'm very impulsive when incredibly upset, uh... HOW AM I BLANKING HERE ALREADY?????????????????? I have so many. Where would you like to travel? South Africa for the KMP, Tanzania for the Serengeti, Scotland, Japan, Germany, Canada would be cool... man, so many places. Favorite part of your daily routine? Mark video. What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with? My stomach. Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker? Idc. Have any of your ex’s told you they regret breaking up? No, but then again I've been the one broken up with only once. What do you say during awkward silences? Feel like puking and disappearing both. Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about? No. Ever won a competition? For what? Yeah. 4th/5th grade D.A.R.E. report, some online one for two rare Silent Hill: Revelation pieces, my clogging class when I was in high school won some high rank at a competition, and I believe I've won in one or two other writing things? Been suspended/expelled? For what? No. Been arrested? For what? No. Craving something? What? I have a mad craving for Hardee's chicken tenders, good Lord. Do you sleep with stuffed animals? A stuffed snake from Sara named Plum. :') How many stuffed animals do you think you have? I could not even TRY to guess. I was obsessed with stuffed animals as a kid (I even got teased now and again for occasionally bringing one to elementary school), and so many I have hold deep sentimental value. They're stored in bags in the attic. They're probably gonna end up going to my nieces and nephew, or by if some miraculous change of heart, I want kids. Favorite character from Mean Girls? I couldn't name a single one. Favorite character from Finding Nemo? Dory, always. I was obsessed. OBSESSED. With Dory. I'm not kidding when I say I wanted to change my real name to Dory. Now in adulthood, Gill is high on my list too, probably #2. In a fight with someone? No. Do you tan a lot? Never. Have you ever been on a horse? Yes. I want to legitimately ride one one day, not just at a carnival and such. Are you a vegetarian? I wish, but the juncture I was is over. I had to stop for nutrition's sake as well as easier weight loss. After you truly look into the process of killing the animal... it's nauseating, even with the "humane" methods, which are not exactly so. No, I do not shame meat-eaters; we're omnivores and our diet is designed to include meat. It's just I personally wish I wasn't participating in that process by consuming what has been killed so gruesomely. What goal are you aiming for this year? Improving my mental health further is #1. I at the very least want to make considerable progress on my anxiety. Are you currently reading any books at the moment? Not really. I'm like a few pages into The Fault In Our Stars, but I'm not reading it anywhere near regularly. Would you own a Siamese cat? The cat I have now appears to have Siamese heritage! I love the breed, so obviously yes. Have you ever had an ultimate adrenaline rush? Maybe? Idk. Do you like deviled eggs? I absolutely, positively loathe them. I hate yolk. What’s the farthest you’ve walked? Hm, I dunno. Maybe through Disney World as a kid or a trip to the zoo? What is your favorite horror movie? I like both The Blair Witch Projects. Have you ever seen a rooster? Yeah. When are you likely to hide your emotions? When I'm jealous, probably. Which is scarier: Dying of thirst or of starvation? I mean I don't know how either would feel, but probably thirst? I feel like it would be quicker. When you turn on the TV, what channel do you flip to? I don't watch TV. Have you ever tried to help someone quit smoking? I've told Dad especially and Chelsea I wish they'd quit, usually indirectly to avoid feeling mean or rude. I'm 99% convinced it's gonna be lung cancer that kills my dad, and Chels does it way too much, especially with her age. What was the last comment someone made on your music taste? Mom pointed out how I can jump to heavy metal to some random indie stuff in the blink of an eye. Have you ever had to talk anyone out of suicide? I've tried. One in particular was a very close online friend, but I'm pretty sure she went through with it. Who in your family do you act like the most? Mom, I guess? What was the last topic that you ranted about? RANTS WITH SARA ARE THE FUCKING BEST. Probably her, but idr what. Is there someone that makes you feel like you’re walking on eggshells? Not anymore. Have you ever been in a physical fight on school grounds? No. Have you written anything in a bathroom stall? What, if anything? No. Was there ever a time when you wished you’d never been born? Yup. Who is the most sensitive person that you know? Uh, me. Have you ever had a tooth (or teeth) pulled? No. You can have one famous person’s wardrobe; who do you choose, and why? Suzy Hanson is an i c o n. When was the last time you wrote someone a note? Oh idk. It may have been the end of '17 when I sent Jason that final/closure letter. Do you tell your parents before you go somewhere, or just leave? I tell Mom. What was the last thing you tried to get out of doing? Hm. I dunno. If someone makes fun of you, are you able to laugh it off? NOPE. HI AVPD I SEE YOU. When was the last time that you watched the sun come up? Not since that time my sis, her best friend, and I stayed up all night. We went on like two walks and went swimming; my mother woke up very confused lmao. Have you ever (purposely or accidentally) played with someone’s heart? Not to my recollection. Has anyone ever played with yours? I don't believe he did so deliberately as some game. When was the last time someone told you to turn your music down? During a car ride with my mom at some point. I always control the music and yeah, it's a bit too loud sometimes. Are you one to spend a lot of time in the bathroom? No. How many times a day, on average, do you look at the time? I dunno, frequently? It's not as if I'm ever away from the laptop long, and a clock's right there. Do you like the smell of cinnamon? Omg yes. Do you like frogs? Yeah! Are you afraid of dying? Not really. The older I've gotten the more I've become comfortable with it just being a part of life. I sure don't want death to come prematurely, but I still don't really worry about what's after death. I'm fearful of the process, but not it itself. Do you consider yourself politically intelligent? NO. I'm clueless. Hence why I'm neutral on a lot. Do you like pixie sticks? Ye. Do you like French toast? I would die for the perfect French toast probably. Are you good at doing math in your head? No; I can't do even simple math up there. Do you know a lot about history? Definitely not. Name a TV show that you absolutely can’t stand. Rooster Teeth was the first to come to mind. Do you look like your age? I guess. The past two times I've had alcohol at a restaurant I wasn't carded... though that makes me fear I look even older. x_x Do you feel confident in a bathing suit? Fuck no. Have you ever had a concussion? Once. Sucked major dick. Do you like hot tubs? For a little bit. Do you know anyone who is battling cancer? Not currently, at least I think. Have you ever donated money to a charity? Yeah. Do you like the color lime green? Sure. Do you wish you could change something about your hair? Can I dye it already please????? Have you ever gotten a makeover? No. Do you think the minions from Despicable Me are cute? They annoy the fuck outta me. Did you have a Gameboy as a child? Yes; still have it, actually. Have you ever auditioned for a talent competition? No. Do you like the Silent Hill movies? Seeing this question made me so happy asjfjfweowq. The first is good, though I had some complaints about the altering of the plot. I warmed up to it quite a bit with time, though; I was just biased towards the game, which I still do like more. The second is... objectively trash as a plot, all the hell over the place. I think the entire fandom agrees with that. The only things I really enjoyed about it were of course Red Pyramid/Pyramid Head and the carousel scene with Dark Alessa. Tell me something you’ve been made fun of for in the past. I'm always on some type of technology. I fucking hate it. Do you support war? I'm a pacifist. Guess. Do you send messages on Facebook a lot? Nope; if I do it's only ever to Girt, really. Do you use the word “hello” daily? No. Who’s the biggest hugger you know? Idk. Where did you get your worst scar from? I can't see it, but I'm assuming the one from my surgery. Do you like Coco Pebbles the cereal? I used to find them okay, but haven't had 'em in years. Do you stick your tongue out often in pictures? No. Honestly have you ever purchased something, wore it, and then returned it? Maybe? I don't think so, though... I'd feel too bad. At least me now would. Which one of your family members are you closest to? My mom. If chocolate was an illegal drug - would you be a drug addict? I assume you mean it became illegal just the way is/with no new risks to it? In that case, I wouldn't be an addict or go out of my way to get it, but if there was a piece of chocolate easily available to me, yeah, I'd eat it. Would you rather have name brand shoes or name brand clothes? Shoes, because they're obvs. gonna be of better quality and I care about walking comfortably more that "fancy" clothes. Which is worse: onion breath or garlic breath? Oh idk, both are. Ew. When was the last time you got a shot? When I was at the dentist a few months back and they had to fill a cavity, thus I had numbing shots. They had to give me way more than usual, though, which I thought was odd. I just wasn't getting numb enough until like, 6+ in. Are you proud of your parents? I'm very proud of how Dad has developed as a person, and I have immense respect for my mom for how she works her ASS off to keep her kids safe, healthy, and well-provided for. I could never do all she does. Do you say “soda” or “pop”? "Soda." Are you shy about singing in front of people? YES. Which is better: orange or grape soda? Orange; not a fan of grape soda. Who was the last person in your house who isn’t family? Good question.

#survey #quiz #questions #random

3 notes · View notes

god--baby · 6 years

Text

nice to meet you ch 6 (sfw ish)

belch huggins x ambiguously gendered reader

masterpost

previously on: you went to a house show, your ex showed up, belch saved the night. kissing happened

summary: you make belch a mix cd. you hang out with the guys. henry and patrick are forced to work something out. something slightly more than kissing happens. also, josh the weed guy.

word count: 3954

tag list: @heckstetter @cordysblog @sabertooth-potato @purplezebra68 @agespenst @daddywise-issues @tonguepopperr @nurserykryme @daeshaunex2 @a-bowers-gang-bitch @severebananaalmondfish @peachesandcreme-blr sorry if it wouldn’t let me tag you!

a/n: part of this was inspired by a request i got. the part with henry and patrick. yeah. hope you don’t mind i worked it in here

The next morning, you woke up bright and early. You set to burning the playlist you’d made for Belch to a CD, decorating the case with stickers of bats and skulls and tombstones.

You put lipstick on just to kiss a piece of paper that you’d slide into the case behind where the CD would sit, so he could take it out and see you there. You spent a good five minutes trying to get the kiss mark perfect — it had to be perfect, it just had to be.

You got dressed and started doing your hair up again.

Your dad knocked on your door, calling through it: “Hey, sweet bean. Can I come in?”

“Yeah,” you called back.

He opened the door and brought in your breakfast: egg and tofu scramble with spinach. He must have been feeling fancy when he got up, to make something like that. God, you loved his cooking.

He set the plate down at your desk, then picked up the CD case.

“Ooh, you made him a mixtape,” he said.

You laughed.

“Yeah. I figured now’s as good a time as any,” you said.

“How’d your date go?” he asked, sitting on your bed.

He’d helped you get ready the day before, tying your tie for you and lending you his singular tie tack, a little thing with a fake diamond set in it.

“Oh, really well. He kissed me.”

You sighed and put your head in your hands, a sweet smile on your face.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Actually, I kissed him. It was — it was really nice.”

“Good, bean. Good.”

You sighed again and went back to teasing your hair.

“Julian showed up.”

“Oh, that little asshole. What’d he do?”

“He — he tried to hit me again.”

Your dad took a deep breath. You could tell just by the sound that he was angry. You didn’t have to look at him.

“Bet Reggie loved that.”

“Oh, yeah. He took care of it for me.”

“Well, good. I knew he was worth his weight in salt.”

“Yeah.” You paused. “I can’t believe he showed up.”

“You can’t believe that absolute rat would drive all the way up from Portland to ruin your night? He knows you love Six Ravens. Of course he’d show up.”

“Good point. I just wish he’d let go.”

“I know, bean. Some guys just can’t take no for an answer.”

“And I had the luck of falling in love with one.”

You looked at him in your mirror and he smiled.

“I know. But you’ve got someone new. Best to look at the good of what you have, instead of what hurt you in the past.”

You took a deep breath, closing your eyes. He was right.

“I know. I’ve got a better guy, now.”

“You do. He liked my pancakes. I like him.”

You laughed.

“Dad, everyone likes your pancakes.”

“I know. But if he hadn’t, he’d have been on thin ice.”

You grinned at him, and he grinned back.

“Well, don’t let me interrupt you,” he said. “Get back to your routine. Your mom and I will be leaving soon.”

“Okay. I’ll be down to say hi to her.”

“Good.”

He left, letting you get back to your hair.

When you were done, you went down and said hi to your mom, getting a hug and giving a kiss to both of them before they left.

You went back upstairs, listening to your playlist for Belch one last time, making sure it transferred to CD correctly.

You got dressed and did your makeup, again putting on that coating that made sure your lipstick was kiss proof.

When you got to school, a little bit early, you searched the parking lot for Belch’s car. You found it, him and the guys standing around it. Belch leaned up against the passenger door, his arms crossed, laughing at something you’d missed.

“Hey,” you said.

“Hey there, you,” he said.

You leaned up and kissed his cheek. He put an arm around your waist, pulling you in.

“Missed you,” he said.

Then, he kissed you. You smiled into it and pulled back, grinning.

“Finally,” said Patrick.

“Shut it,” you said, not taking your eyes off Belch.

He laughed.

“I got something for you,” you said, pulling the CD out of your bag. You handed it to him, and he took it, surprised.

“You gotta be kidding me,” he said.

“Huh?”

“I made one for you, too,” he said. He reached into the open window behind him, then handed you a cd.

You took it from him, laughing as you turned it over, looking at the track listing. It was a lot of Metallica and Avenged Sevenfold, but you loved it. It was perfect.

“Cute,” said Henry, crossing his arms.

“Shut up,” you said. “I love it, Belch. Thank you.”

“Cool,” he said, smiling.

You split for classes, and every time you had to reach into your bag for something, you’d see the CD and smile, knowing he cared enough to make it.

In History, he sat in the usually empty desk next to yours. Neither of you said anything, but it was nice to have him there. He kept giving you those little smiles, those smiles that made his eyes crinkle.

Lunch time rolled around.

“Hey, there sweet thing,” purred a voice in your ear.

You whipped your head around, pulling away from your locker to look at who it was.

Patrick.

“Oh, it’s just you,” you sneered.

“Just me? Watch out, you might hurt my feelings.”

“Thank god. What do you want?”

“Just to escort you out to the boys,” he said, crossing his arms. “You gonna get your shit, or what?”

You grabbed your lunch and closed your locker.

He took you by the arm, pulling you out of the building. When Belch saw the both of you, he pushed off the hood of his car and quickly snatched Patrick’s hand from your arm.

“Patrick,” he said. “What did I say about touching?”

“Only myself, and when I’m thinking of you, baby?”

You’d been taking a drink of your water and almost spit it out, hearing that. Then, you laughed.

Patrick grinned at you like he’d won the lottery.

“I can see why you like this one, Belch,” he said. He looked at you like he wanted to take you apart. “It’s like winning a prize, making a goth smile.”

You scowled at him, just for fun, rolling your eyes.

Then you hopped up on the hood of the car, crossing your legs carefully under you.

“What’s for lunch?” asked Vic, wrinkling his nose when you opened up the plastic container that held the bulk of your food.

“Chinese chicken salad, except instead of chicken, it’s tofu,” you said.

“Tofu?” asked Henry, also wrinkling his nose. “Pussy shit.”

“Hey, my parents are vegetarians. I’m not, but you know.”

“You could always make them make meat for you,” he said.

“I wouldn’t do that to my dad. He’d puke.”

Belch was looking intently at your salad, so you held up a forkful.

“Want a bite?” you asked.

“Uh,” he said. “No, that’s okay.”

You laughed.

“It wouldn’t hurt you. But okay.”

Belch reached into the car and pulled out two sandwiches.

“Henry,” he said. “Mama made me two. You can have one.”

“Nice,” said Henry, taking one from him. “I love your mom.”

“Please don’t,” said Belch.

“Don’t what?” you asked, looking up from your food.

“Tell him I bet his mama’s lonely,” said Henry through a mouthful of sandwich. “Bet she wishes —”

“She doesn’t wish shit about your dick, Bowers,” Belch said, his voice hard.

It was your turn to wrinkle your nose.

“God,” you said. “I’m glad you’ve never met my parents, Henry.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What does it sound like?”

“Sounds like you don’t get yet that dating Belch means you have to put up with me,” he said.

“I don’t have to put up with anything, Henry.”

“You think that, now. You’ll see.”

“I think you’d be surprised.”

You both stared at each other, locking eyes.

Patrick whistled.

“Better watch out, Belch. Your baby’s eyefucking someone right in front of you.”

“Can it, Patrick,” you said, finally pulling your gaze away from Henry’s.

“Yeah, Patrick. Shut your face,” said Belch. “Take care of your business, and I’ll take care of mine.”

He put and arm around you and kissed your hair. You smiled up at him, going back to your food with his arm around you.

“What does that mean?” asked Patrick, beginning to fume.

“You know,” said Belch, “exactly what I mean.”

When you were done eating, you lit up a cigarette.

“Menthols? Really?” asked Patrick.

“Yeah. No one wants to steal them,” you said.

“Who’d even ask?” asked Henry.

He had a point. There was no one in your life to steal your smokes.

You shrugged, still smoking.

When lunch was over, you and Belch kissed goodbye and went to your separate classes.

After school, you wandered around, finding that guy named Josh. The weed guy.

“How much you need?” he asked, reaching into his bag.

“Enough for three joints. My parents want one,” you said, smiling.

They’d actually given you the money, as long as you promised to get them some. It’d been a while since either of them got high.

“Well,” he said, looking up at you. “Say hi to them for me.”

“I will,” you said, handing him the money.

He passed you the baggie, asking, “do you have rolling papers?”

You patted your bag. “Yup.”

“Good. On your way, now.”

You waved and walked to your car. Belch was waiting for you.

“Hey, you,” you said.

“Hey, yourself. Whatcha doing today?”

“I was gonna get high and work on this jacket I’m painting. Why?”

“Wanna meet up with the guys at my house? You can bring your paint stuff. And the weed.”

“You just want me to share,” you teased.

He laughed. “Maybe,” he said. “Maybe I just want to hang out with you.”

You grinned. “Okay. I’ll be there. Give me half an hour at most.”

“Okay.”

He gave you good directions from his house to yours — you were surprised, most people were shitty at giving directions — and sent you on your way.

You got to your house, emptying your bag and checking to make sure your jacket was completely dry before you shoved it inside, along with the paint and brushes you knew you’d need.

You took the time to roll a joint before you left. Then, you went.

You arrived at a small house. You wouldn’t have exactly believed it was his, except his car was in the driveway, bright and brash. God, you loved that car. Almost as much as you loved yours, which was saying a lot.

You knocked on the door, and he answered, letting you in with a smile.

Henry and Patrick were fighting in the kitchen. Vic and Belch shared a look, and then in a flash, were in motion. Belch picked up Henry and threw him over his shoulder, getting pummeled on the back for his troubles. Vic shoved Patrick into a room — you glanced in and saw an Anthrax poster, and guessed, correctly, that it was Belch’s room — and after Belch deposited Henry on the bed, both Belch and Vic ran for the door and locked it.

“Quick question,” you said. “Actually, a few. First, what the hell? Second, why does your room lock from the outside?”

“Dumb mistake someone made when they built the house,” said Belch.

“Also, those assholes have been flirting for weeks and we’re sick of it,” said Vic.

You just stood there, stunned.

“Really?” you asked. “Really? That’s… that’s what’s weird about them?”

“Really,” said Vic, shrugging. “Now show me this shit you’re painting.”

A loud bang came from inside the room, then pounding on the door.

“Open this fucking door,” yelled Henry.

“No,” said Belch. “You two figure your shit out, then I’ll let you out.”

“There’s nothing to figure out,” said Henry.

“Really? How ‘bout you ask Patrick.”

“Hockstetter,” snapped Henry. “What the fu —"

And then he let out a little squeak.

“C’mon,” said Vic. “Let’s leave them to it.”

You all went out to the back yard and got settled on the grass. Then you took out your jacket and paints, showing off the work you’d already done. Belch was appropriately impressed, if not just a little too impressed.

“What?” you asked, trailing a finger over one of the vultures you’d painted on it, circling over a bloody heart on the ground. Each vulture was wearing a tiny crown.

“It’s so fucking cool. You really did all this?” he asked.

“Yeah. I mean, it’s really not that good. I could point out every mistake I made, easily.”

“Don’t. It’s perfect.”

Vic handed the joint to Belch, who lit it up, passing it to you. You took it, taking a deep puff.

Ten minutes later, you were feeling great. Belch had gone inside and brought back a stereo to play the CD you’d made for him. You hummed along, painting swirls all up and down the arms of the jacket, and he kept pressing little kisses all over your face when you paused to clean a brush or get more paint.

“Should we check on those assholes?” asked Vic. “See if they’ve wrecked the room yet?”

“Sure,” said Belch. He got to his feet and helped you up.

You trailed after him, going inside. All of you were met with a loud moan — a loud moan that sounded distinctly like Henry — and immediately booked it back outside, laughing.

“Let’s give them fifteen more minutes or something,” said Vic, holding his side.

“Fine by me,” said Belch. Then he turned to you. “Can I paint something on it?”

“What’re you thinking?” you asked.

“I dunno. I like the swirls and stuff, but it needs something.”

You looked at Vic, who was nodding.

Then, you handed Belch a brush.

“Go for it,” you said.

With his tongue in between his teeth, he dipped the brush into some white paint and held the brush above one shoulder of the jacket. Then, he painted a tiny four-pointed star.

He looked at you, and you grinned.

“Perfect,” you said. “Do more of ‘em.”

For the next twenty minutes, you sat quietly painting together, Vic between you, playing with your hair. You made a face at him, and he made it back.

Then — out the back door came Patrick and Henry. Henry, looking pissed, and Patrick, looking pleased.

“Did you break my fucking door?” asked Belch, eyes narrow.

“No, this fucker picked the lock once he was done with me,” said Henry. Then, he seemed to realize what he said, and tried to backtrack. “I mean — fuck, you know —”

“Oh, we know. How was it?” teased Vic.

“Wait, hold on, you know how to pick locks?” asked Belch.

“You’re surprised?” asked Patrick, smug.

Belch shrugged.

“Also, it was fine. For a first time — and second time,” Patrick continued.

Henry’s ears turned red and he eagerly grabbed the joint out of Vic’s hand.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said, sitting down next to you.

“We don’t have to,” you said, surprised at him. It didn’t feel right for him to be so shy about anything.

“Too bad, I want to,” said Patrick, clapping Henry on the shoulder. “Henry here is a two-pump chump.”

Henry gave him a look that could’ve killed him.

“Patrick likes having his hair pulled,” he said.

“A slap on the ass goes a long way with you,” said Patrick.

“You bite too much,” spat Henry.

“Your dick didn’t think so, baby.”

“Call me that again, Hockstetter. I dare you.”

“Baby.”

Henry punched the backside of one of Patrick’s knees, taking him down quickly. Then, he was on top of him, Patrick absolutely roaring with laughter. Henry slapped a hand over Patrick’s mouth to shut him up, and Patrick licked it. When Henry started to pull away, a snarl beginning to screw up his face, Patrick took one of his fingers into his mouth and sucked.

Henry’s face turned bright red and he pushed away from Patrick, scrambling until he was sitting beside you.

Patrick propped himself up on his elbows, grinning at Henry.

“What, you ashamed of us, baby?” he asked.

“I’m — I’m not your baby, Patrick,” stammered Henry.

That struck a cord with you, hard.

You didn’t mean to look, but you did. He was getting hard.

There was also a dark hickey blooming on his neck, right next to his Adam’s apple.

You sighed, rolling your eyes.

“Can you two try and work out what you are to each other some other time?” you asked. “Let’s just get high.”

“Sure, hot stuff,” said Patrick, taking the joint from Vic, who had valiantly saved it from Henry’s attack on him.

“Patrick,” said Belch. “Save it for Henry.”

“You know what?” asked Patrick, blowing out a cloud of sweet smoke. “Don’t mind if I do. You want some, honey?”

Henry glared at him.

“Don’t call me that.”

“What can I call you?”

“I don’t care, asshole. Just not that.”

“How about fuckface?”

Henry, finally, laughed.

“Fine,” he said.

“C’mere, fuckface,” said Patrick, taking a long drag on the joint. He waved Henry in and grabbed his face until he opened his mouth, then he breathed the smoke into it.

It was such an intimate gesture that you looked away, focusing on your jacket.

It was looking really good. The stars Belch had added gave it something special — or maybe you just really, really liked him, and that’s all it was. Either way, you were pleased.

Vic rolled another joint, and by the end of it, all of you were laying in a pile on the grass, your playlist for Belch on repeat. Patrick was curled up to Henry, and Henry ran his hands through his hair. You were laying half on top of Belch, and he had his arm around you, humming along to the song playing on the stereo. You had a hand in Vic’s hair. Your jacket and paints laid five feet away, blissfully forgotten.

“There’s a party on Friday,” said Vic. “We should go.”

“Whose party?” you asked.

“I don’t fucking know,” he said. Then he started giggling.

You all started laughing, too, soon sounding like a pack of hyenas.

“Jesus,” gasped Henry, reaching out to thump you on the shoulder. “It’s so weird to see you laugh and shit.”

“Why?” you asked.

“You’re just so — you try to be all dark and spooky. But you’re not,” he said.

“What’s that thing your mom calls you?” Belch asked.

“Starchild,” you said.

“Starchild,” he repeated, soft. “My starchild.”

You snuggled into his chest, his chin on the top of your head.

“Why don’t you guys just like, get it over with?” said Vic.

“Hm?” you said. “Get what over with?”

“Just fuck. Do it. Fuck each other.”

You grinned up at Belch. He was already looking at you, a sparkle in his eye.

“Well,” you said. “What do you think?”

“I think I’m okay with whatever you want, baby.”

Your smile got bigger. Baby. He called you baby, and you wanted that, and it wasn’t uncomfortable.

“C’mon,” you said, getting to your feet and pulling him up with you, to a chorus of oohs from the other boys.

You pulled Belch, laughing, into the house, towards his room. When you got there, you pushed him down to sit on the bed. He took his hat off, throwing it across the room. Then, you crawled into his lap, straddling him, kissing him all over his face. He chuckled, his hands on your hips, holding you down on him.

“You wanna do this, baby?” he asked. “You want me to fuck you?”

“God, yeah,” you said.

You pulled him into a bruising kiss, the world floating around you. He broke the kiss, then kissed a line down your jaw, your neck.

“Can I take this off you?” he asked, pulling on your shirt.

You nodded, and he pulled it off over your head. He kept kissing you, until he got to one of your nipples and took it into his mouth, running his tongue over it again and again until you were squirming in his lap, feeling him, hard, underneath you.

“Fuck, Belch,” you groaned, running your hands through his hair.

“Call me Reggie?”

“Reggie. Oh, fuck, Reggie.”

“That’s it, baby. You feel good?”

You nodded, eyes drifting closed. He moved his mouth to your other nipple, working on it, gently sucking and nibbling on it. You ground down against him, feeling the effect you had on him. God, he felt big.

“Come on, baby, wake up,” he said, putting a hand on your face, rubbing your cheek with his thumb.

You jerked back, eyes snapping open.

“Sorry,” you said. “I — sometimes when I get high, I get sleepy.”

“You wanna take a nap?” he asked.

“We probably should. I don’t want to fall asleep on you,” you said. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay,” he said.

He easily picked you up off his lap and laid you on the bed behind him. Then, he laid down behind you, putting one arm around your stomach. You rolled over just a little bit so you could kiss him, your tongue darting out to lick at his lips.

“You’re gonna make me wish we hadn’t stopped,” he said.

“Sorry,” you said, not that sorry at all.

“No you’re not,” he said.

“You’re right.”

You curled into his chest and promptly fell asleep.

You woke to the sound of muffled music. You were still shirtless, laying in Belch’s bed, him right in front of you. You got up, pulling on your shirt.

You found the source of the music. Vic, Patrick, and Henry stood outside Belch’s bedroom window. Henry had lost his shirt somewhere. You glanced at the clock. It’d been only an hour.

You opened the window, finally hearing the music that was pouring out of the CD player Vic was holding above his head. Friday I’m In Love by the Cure. Presumably from the playlist you’d made for Belch.

“What are you guys doing?” you asked, peering out the window.

Vic turned the music off and put down the stereo.

“Fucking waiting on you. None of us are high anymore, and we’re hungry. Did you fuck, or not?”

You blushed.

“No.”

“Boo,” yelled Patrick. “I was cheering for you.”

“Shut up, Patrick,” said Henry.

“Make me, fuckface.”

“Do you want me to wake up Belch so we can go get some food?” you asked.

“Yeah,” said Vic.

“I’m up,” groaned Belch behind you.

“Good news,” you said. “He’s awake.”

That night, when you got home, you put the CD Belch made for you in your player, pressing play.

“Hey,” said his voice from the speakers. “Mama says that back in her day, when you made someone a mixtape, sometimes, you’d record yourself saying something before it. So, this is me, recording something. I just wanna say I like you a lot. I think you’re really cool, and cute, and I’m glad I know you.”

Then, the next song started.

You backtracked, listening to his voice again. He sounded shy and uncertain, like he didn’t know how the message was going to go over.

You picked up your phone.

11:34pm. To: Reggie

just listened to your message. I like you a lot too

You sent it, not waiting before you sent another.

11:35pm. To: Reggie

sorry we didn’t fuck today. soon?

He replied.

11:37pm. From: Reggie

soon :)

You went to bed with a smile on your face.

#this is loooooong but still in the Acceptable range #belch huggins x reader #belch huggins #belch x reader #The Bowers Gang #henry bowers x patrick hockstetter #mine

61 notes · View notes