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writingformymentalhealth · 3 years

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Chapter 5

The Black Brothers

Josephine Fawley or as her brother liked to call her the tomboy Princess had a striking romance with Hogwarts very own Pureblood rebel Sirius Black.

Sadly her parents deemed his Brother the so called Slytherin Prince as a better fit and arranged a marriage with the younger Black.

Tw: Arranged marriage, possible smut, swear words, lots of fluff, angst, mentions of abuse and depression,

Part 1

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Masterlist

The Newts went by in the blink of an eye and before any of them knew they were back at the platform 9 3/4.

“I will miss you so bad,” Isa said and Joey’s insides felt warm. Isa wasn’t one for sentimentalities usually and having her openly talk about missing her made her happier than she would ever admit.

“I’ll miss you too, Isa.” She said, pulling the girl in a quick hug.

“Hey Isa, don’t steal away my girl,” Sirius’ voice said from behind, earning him a playful shove from Joey.

Isa waved a last time before going to look for her parents, leaving the couple to bid their goodbyes.

“Farewell Princess.”

“We’ll see each other at the next boring pureblood ball.”

“I’ll still miss you like crazy.” His hand cupped her cheek, making a blush creep up on her. How could he make her feel this way, even after all these years?

And then kissed her. He kissed her like it was the last kiss they ever shared.

After pulling back, both teens were slightly panting.

“I’ll miss you too, Black”

“Write to me, love.”

“Every day.”

And with a last playful wink the boy disappeared between the people, going to find his parents - or hiding from them.

Just seconds later, Quentin appeared next to the girl.

“Let’s go, mum and dad will be waiting.” He said, nudging her.

It only took the twins minutes to find their parents chatting with the Malfoys, and even though Quentin’s expression remained rather neutral, Joey could practically feel her brother’s blood boil at the sight of Lucius.

Their Mother was the first one to see the twins hugging them both and mumbling something about having missed them. Their father just nodded at the scene, bidding his goodbyes to the Malfoys.

“We have something to tell you when we come home.” Cordelia whispered to her children before grabbing Joey’s hand.

Joey and Quentin exchanged a look.

With a plop the family landed back at the Fawley residence and Joey inhaled the familiar scent of Lavender and Moth balls that always seemed to linger in the old house and didn’t pay much attention to her mother asking for a teatime with the family to discuss ‘important matters’. At least until Quentin took her hand, and she felt just how clammy and sweaty his hand was.

“It will be alright Quen.”

He shook his head. And Joey prayed they weren’t going to tell her that his depression got worse.

With a weird feeling in her stomach, she made her way to the sitting corner in which the Fawley family always drunk their tea, carefully pulling Quentin behind, who seemed almost frozen into place.

Their parents sat opposite to them, both seeming suspiciously smiley.

“What’s up?” Joey asked, not able to take the tension anymore.

Her mother inhaled sharply before letting her catlike green eyes meet her daughters. “We arranged a marriage for you, Josephine.”

“You what?” The siblings asked simultaneously.

“We arranged for you to marry a respectable pure blood gentleman.” Her father explained, not looking his children in the eyes.

“Absolutely not.”

Her mother pursed her lips. “I fear you don’t have a choice, Darling.”

“You were always against that bullshit,” her brother spat, his voice being louder than ever.

“Things change, circumstances change.” Their father said, just earning a scoff from his son.

“It is the best for all of us.”

“Not for me.”

Her mother looked at her sadly, “You don’t have a choice.”

“Oh hell, yes I do.” Joey screamed, standing up, running into her room, still faintly hearing her brother argue with her parents.

In her room she pulled out her trunk, chaotically throwing clothes, pictures and other prized possessions in it. She didn’t know where she was going to go, but she knew she needed to go. Hot tears streamed down her face, she always thought her parents were different, sure most pure blood families had some weird beliefs about keeping their blood pure therefore arranged marriage looked like the best thing to do, but her parents always seemed to accept that their children would go their own way.

A faint knock on the door alerted the girl of her mother’s presence.

“Can I come in?”

“In your words, I don’t have a choice, do I?”

“We made a deal with the family years ago,” her mother sighed suddenly looking decades older, “we promised them you would marry their son in exchange for safety from the dark Lord.”

“What has Voldemort to do with all this?” her Mother flinched by the mention of his name.

“The family is very close to him. They inform him about blood traitors, eventual followers and all that.”

“So I don’t have a choice?”

“Not if you want your loved ones to live.” Her Mother said simply giving her daughter a reassuring squeeze before going out of the room leaving Joey at a complete loss.

After the initial shock, there was only one thing on her mind: Sirius.

She fidgeted with the silver ring on her left hand, knowing that she always wanted to marry him, spend her life with the boy she loved above everything else, and now she would have to face a relationship like Narcissa had with Lucius.

The lump in her throat grew bigger and bigger, and she barely noticed the tears streaming down her face mercilessly.

Perhaps the worst heartbreak isn’t getting broken up with, perhaps the worst heartbreak is knowing you have to break up with someone who you still love with every fiber of your body.

Two days had gone by, but Joey didn’t even seem to notice. Everything went on in a blur and no words from Isabella, who she wrote to immediately nor her brother, could pull her out of her misery.

“You know you need to break up with him, don’t you?” Her brother just asked, while soothingly drawing circles on her back.

“Isabella said I should break his heart really bad to make it easier for him,” Joey scoffed, tears still rolling down her cheeks.

“That’s a terrible idea, even for Isabella.”

“You just say that because you hate her. She said, I should just tell him I am in love with someone else.”

“Josephine, don’t do it, please. People will know about the arranged marriage just like they know about Lucius and Narcissa.”

“I could still love him though.”

“Sirius isn’t stupid - not that stupid at least.”

“If I tell him the truth he would try to fight the bloke in some deathly duel or something,” she laughed humorlessly, “he’d do anything for me.”

“You don’t need to tell him a reason to break up with him.”

“Don’t you think I owe him one?”

Her brother stayed silent, engulfing her in a hug, while her tears left a wet patch on his shirt. Quentin knew better than to argue with his sister. She already made up her mind.

Joey had asked Sirius to meet her at the park bench he once gave her the promise ring at. Her face was stoic, almost unreadable. She knew she couldn’t show weakness in front of him. She couldn’t make him question her decision. She needed to be confident and cold.

She already saw him from afar, his long hair hanging in his eyes while he comfortably sat in the grass even though a perfectly intact bench was right next to him.

As soon as the boy saw her his eyes lit up and he stood up to hug her, but she took a step back making his eyebrows snap together in confusion.

“We need to talk.” She said instead of a greeting slowly making her way to the bench.

“What’s wrong, love?”

She forced herself to look into his concerned eyes that were so full of love for her and she knew Isabella was right. She would have to break him so he could let her go.

“I am breaking up with you.”

Sirius’ eyes widened in disbelief, his hands fidgeting with each other like they always did when he got overwhelmed, and Joey had to resist the urge to hold them.

“Why? Joey we can fix this I-“

“I made my decision.”

He swallowed hard, and she saw tears starting to pool in his eyes.

“Why?” He asked again, his voice cracking.

“I found somebody else.” She said simply, not daring to look into the stormy grey eyes she was still very much in love with, “and I am in love with him.”

“I love you.” Sirius said, his voice barely above a whisper and it took everything in Joey not to say it back.

“I should go.” She said, not waiting for an answer before standing up and taking fast steps towards the point she knew she could Apparate away in safety. A small part of her hoped he would run after her, tell her he saw through her act, tell her he knew how to get out of it but he didn’t so she let the tears that she was holding in since the moment she saw him sitting next to the bench fall but to her surprise she didn’t feel the hurt anymore. Instead, her heart felt cold, as if it was made of ice or as if someone had just burst through her rib cage and taken it out, leaving only an empty space.

Sirius Black felt like he was having a heart attack, and for a short second he thought about admitting himself into St mangos hospital but he came to the conclusion that maybe having a heart attack right now wouldn’t be too bad because the one person he trusted and treasured over anyone else made his worst fears come true. He knew he was always jealous, but that was just because he knew deep inside that a guy like him could never keep a girl like her. That a girl like Josephine didn’t settle for family disappointments with lots of baggage, but he still tried and for a brief moment he thought he could be happy. Now he knew that some people just aren’t meant to be happy.

For the first time since the couple started dating, Sirius lit up a cigarette, inhaling the deathly smoke deeply, hoping that it would kill the sadness in him.

Sirius Black’s world became dull that day.

Unbeknownst to both they had the same essential question running through their head, ‘who is this other guy’ but while Sirius would have to wait some time till his question got answered, Joey had the option to confront her parents.

Of course she could have done this earlier, but she had to admit she was scared of the answer. She knew most pureblood families and couldn’t say she particularly liked them. Additionally a family that was close to the Dark Lord was bound to be involved in the dark arts and at least to some extent evil.

She shuddered at that thought; she heard all the stories about arranged marriages - the regular rape, the abuse and the fear and she wasn’t keen on joining that club. So when she saw her Mother that day ready to confront her - she couldn’t.

She couldn’t bring herself to ask.

Actually, she couldn’t bring herself to do anything besides lay in bed and sleep, she didn’t even have it in her to cry anymore. Even after her Mother informed her she was going to meet her future husband for dinner, she didn’t have it in herself to react.

In the end it was her brother who brought back the girl’s spirits on the day of the dinner.

“Oh no, you are not meeting your future husband looking like that.”

“Why? He has to marry me, anyway.” Joey said, rolling over.

“Go shower. Now. You smell, and if you don’t shower, I will conjure a bucket of ice water and shower you myself.” He said while rummaging through her closet.

Joey frowned, not being used to her brother being so authoritarian, but she did as he said, too tired to argue with him.

Even though she would never admit it, the shower did make her feel better, and the dress her brother chose made her feel like a real life princess.

“You have to do your clown paint on your own, I have no idea what that stuff is.” He said gesturing to her makeup and for the first time in eleven days Joey chuckled.

She was just doing her eye makeup as her mother came in, a sad smile decorating her face. “You never asked who.”

“Does it matter?” Joey asked, applying mascara.

“It’s Regulus Black.”

Joey almost poked her eye out as she heard that. Her heart hammered desperately against her chest.

“Why not Sirius?” Quentin asked the question Joey wanted to ask so desperately. “Isn’t he the oldest?”

Her mother made a sound with her mouth, “We discussed this matter but Sirius and his family have a complicated relationship, they want regulus to make the proud.”

And Joey felt like her heart broke all over again. She was so close to getting what she wanted, yet destiny had ripped it away from her again. If this was a story, the Author had to be downright cruel to put her through this.

At the Black Mansion Sirius - for the first time in his life felt completely and utterly broken. Hot tears ran down his face, and he couldn’t contain the sobs coming out of his mouth.

He almost didn’t notice his Mother coming in hitting him with the stupid Black family ring she was so proud of turning it outward so it would leave deep cuts on his cheeks.

“Crying is something for muggles and weaklings. Not for Blacks.” She screeched, but he didn’t care, he never cared for anything his parents wanted or said, he only cared for her and his friends and maybe Regulus even though his loyalty to their parents could be infuriating sometimes.

“We have guests this evening. If you aren’t on your best behavior, I will crucio you right in front of them.” His mother sneered, and Sirius knew from experience that she meant what she said.

“Yes.”

“Yes, what?” His Mother grabbed her wand and Sirius bit his lip till it started bleeding.

“Yes, ma’am.” he grumbled quietly, just hoping that she would disappear soon so he could be sad in peace.

Walburga strutted out of the room, locking the door behind her, making Sirius sigh.

He looked around his room trying to ground himself, the red gryffindor flags, the muggle band posters from bands he didn’t know just to spite his mother, the pictures of the Marauders and of course the pictures of Joey that he didn’t yet have the heart to take down, her smile illuminating the whole room even through a picture. Tears filled his eyes again, yet he didn’t dare to cry. Instead, he got out his wand, muttering some spells to heal the wounds.

A few hours later Sirius was well aware of how horrible he looked, skin pale, deep rings under the eyes and his usually shiny hair hanging matted over his eyes, this look being further enhanced while standing next to his brother who looked more and more like Sirius every day, sharing his aristocratic features. But other than Sirius;, Regulus looked amazing, his tie in place, his hair combed and his shoes cleaned.

Sirius saw the disgusted face his mother gave him before gushing about Regulus and he couldn’t help but feel accomplished at his disheveled appearance that hopefully would disgust any weird poor blood family her mother invited for today.

“Adrian, Cordelia! How nice to see you.” Walburga greeted, making Sirius’ blood run cold at the mention of Joey’s parents’ names; and really just behind the two middle-aged wizards and next to Quentin, the girl of his dreams, stood. Her usually wavy hair was curled and neatly pinned up, leaving just a few strands to frame her beautiful face.

Sirius stood there frozen as the other people greeted each other. Joey stiffly shook his hand. Her eyes looking cold and disinterested, just like the first time Sirius saw her at the pureblood ball.

Joey, on the other hand, felt immensely grateful for her brother standing beside her, as she didn’t know where she should look. She was scared to look in Regulus eyes seeing the familiar cold and steely gaze of her future husband and even though she wanted to, she knew looking in Sirius’ eyes would just open up a Pandora’s box of feelings.

The dinner went over like a blur, Walburga asking lots of questions that were being answered politely, mostly by Cordelia.

As dessert came - crème brûlée, finally the point of the entire dinner was made clear.

“Josephine, Regulus, as you both know we arranged a marriage between you two, binding two of the most pureblood families together by law.” Orion said, his voice cold and calculated just like Regulus’ voice was. Sirius started coughing uncontrollably, choking on the water he just tried to drink, earning himself dirty looks from the pureblood parents, Orion especially looking at Sirius like Walburga looked at discounter clothes. “Don’t mind my son, he doesn’t take news like a gentleman, another reason why we chose regulus over him.”

Joey looked up from her plate - the first time this evening and her mask broke for a short second and Sirius saw how deeply horrified she looked before she went back to smiling politely with the same cold disinterested eyes every pureblood kid learned to have at a young age.

“We expect you to be a pleasant couple till you marry, no drama or other nonsense.” Orion continued.

“Josephine, darling, I suspect your parents already informed you about the risks of acting out?” Walburga asked, and Joey’s stomach turned at her sickly sweet voice. Her eyes automatically found Sirius’ for comfort, but his eyes were clouded with shock and something Joey could only interpret as realization.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Very well, how about you two go up to Regulus’ room to get to know each other better, while we discuss the details of the engagement party?”

Regulus nodded wordlessly, taking his future fiancée’s hand leading her up the stairs so familiar of the noble house of black, into his room.

It was the first time that Joey saw a room except the ball room and Sirius’ room and she was impressed at how unimpressive the room looked. The walls were empty except a Slytherin flag over his bed; the room was almost hauntingly neat, and she didn’t see even one personal item.

“I apologize for all of this.” Regulus said, looking at the stoic girl in front of him.

“No need to apologize.” She whispered, her voice sounding hoarse as she took in the room, looking anywhere but into the boys’ eyes.

“I’m sure no girl wants to have that kind of proposal.”

She chuckled at the absurdity of his words, sitting down on his bed, surprised at the softness of the mattress, yet shuddering at the thought of her having to have sex with him on that mattress - or anywhere, for that matter.

“We are practically engaged and you don’t even know my favorite color.” She said, looking into his eyes for the first time this evening.

There was a deep breath, and then Regulus sat beside her.

“Josephine-“

“Why are you marrying me?”

He looked shocked at the question and Joey wished she could take the words back, knowing that she crossed a line and being basically the property of Regulus now, she should maybe at least try to keep the comments to herself.

“Josephine, it’s what our parents want from us.”

“Nobody calls me Josephine, except my parents.” Joey whispered, her voice restrained from the fear pulsing through her body.

“I know, but I didn’t know if you wanted me to call you that.”

Joey looked into his steely eyes, and they looked surprisingly soft and understanding. And a small glimmer of hope tugged at her heartstrings.

“Why do you care what I want? Am I now not your property?” The words came out harder than she intended, and Regulus flinched slightly.

“I’m not a monster.”

Joey stayed silent.

She was glad, as Walburga called them downstairs, looking at them as if she just won the lottery.

“Splendid news, we will hold the engagement party in one week.”, Joey forced a smile but by the falling face of Walburga she could already tell that it came out more like a grimace, “and the even better news is that you will spend all summer with us so you and Regulus can bond and have some appearances as a couple before you marry.”

Joey’s stomach turned. Spending all summer with the guy they forced her to marry, her ex boyfriend who still gave her butterflies and their psychopathic parents sounded like a nightmare.

“We will have a guest room ready.” Orion added coldly, and from the corner of her eye she saw Sirius exhaling in something that looked like relief.

“Oh no, we aren’t in the eighties anymore. She can sleep in Regulus room, they can practice for their wedding night.” Walburga grinned wolfishly, and Joey felt so sick she was sure she would throw up all over the carpet.

Masterlist

Part 6

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chayacat · 3 years

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Devil’s Sweet Star (41)

Fandom: Dead by Daylight

Ghostface x Female Reader

Rated M for Violence, Language and Smut

***

My kingdom for something. It is a fairly well-known and old sentence that is used very little today. But... for you it would be: My kingdom for something that relaxes me. What for? Let's say your awakening was... Disturbed. Jed was still sleeping for once; it was quite surprising considering that he is always the first awake to go to work. But you have to believe that his evening was... Exhausting. So, you are the first one standing. And on your nightstand, you found a piece of paper. What is written on it leaves you in no doubt about the identity of the author.

*Hoggins is dead. We see each other tonight, Honey. Be ready. *

That's it. It's done. And now it's up to you to honor your share of the deal. An entire evening with Ghostface. But it is far too early. You wish you had a little more time, just to find an excuse for Jed to not be there. What can you do? How are you going to do? If Jed sees Ghostface... And if Ghostface sees Jed... God only knows what could happen. This is why you are stressed today. But you found the excuse of the festival and the journalists to not worry everyone. Although in itself this is not really an excuse, because you also tense for this reason.

What do journalists in other cities think of you? of your pastries? of the festival in general? Were they satisfied? or disappointed? What will they write about you? So many unanswered questions... For now. Several options are jostling in your head: The first is that they loved everything. They will write a very good review about you, about the festival, about the city. People from other cities would come, even tourists, to visit the city and take the opportunity to go to your café. And if they also appreciate... they could come and live there! So, the city would get a little bigger, and your coffee would be better and better known throughout Ohio.

The second option? It’s that they are... neutral. They didn't hate it but didn't like it either. As a result, they will write a fairly neutral article, which will not change much. Or it will attract a few tourists, who will make Roseville a city where spend your holidays quietly... but nothing more.

And the last... it's that they hated it. After all, and without wanting to offend Jed, journalists are quite particular. They are quite snobby; they have tastes...how to say... Let's say they enjoy luxurious places at poor little country festivals. So, when you send them to this kind of place, they're not necessarily cheerful. So just to annoy everyone, and especially the city, they write negative articles, where they criticize everything, invent fake stories and fake anecdotes just to get revenge. And so, they could do the same with the Roseville festival. They could write an article in which they would criticize everything, tell anything. It wouldn't really benefit the city, just like it would be for your coffee. Because if you want to expand, you need good reviews. But also, good reviews of the city. And unfortunately, it’s not with the Roseville Gazette that this can be done. It has to come from the outside world.

But let's remain optimistic! there's no reason they hated it, right? You were working in the back of the shop. At least you try because with all this stress in you... it’s difficult to concentrate. Amy who saw you from the counter, because she turned to you from time to time, brought you a cup of tea, a smile on her lips.

“I thought it would relax you. Do not worry! I'm sure that everything went well and that we will read good returns in the days!” she said cheerfully.

“Thanks Amy, I guess you’re right. I should relax and hope for the best. How is it in the café? we have a lot of customers?” you respond with a smile.

“Oh yeah! As usual I want to say. Corey runs everywhere but hey, I feel like it doesn't mind him more than that... quite the contrary.”

“Hahaha It's true. You know, there are people who can't stay in place. They have to move, do something all the time otherwise they get bored and find everything boring. Corey is surely that kind of person who doesn't like to stand by and do nothing, just like me.”

“AMY! New orders are here! Hurry up!” Shouts Corey from the counter.

“I'M COMING! I have to go back to work! Don't forget boss, breathe and relax. Everything's fine. We had the hardest time. Everything will be fine now.” said Amy before going back to the counter.

You smile as you watch Amy go back to work. She’s right, you have to relax. But... unfortunately for you, the hardest part has not yet passed. The hardest part is coming tonight. And you don't know what to do with Jed. How to convince him to not be at the apartment tonight? Without offending him? Unless there is a miracle, unless he has to leave on his own to find another scoop or go to the scene of a murder, it’s impossible. But hey... so far, you've been lucky. You could have been killed by Ghostface, and he decided to leave you alive. You could have been the victim of an assassination, and Jed protected you. You could have been there when this guy ransacked your coffee, and yet you were already at home when it happened. So, what could go wrong tonight?

It's better to not think about it anymore. It will happen... what will happen. For now, you need to focus on your job and nothing else. Tonight... it will be a different story. The day went off without a hitch. Customers came and went, some with a smile, others a little grumpy, some were stressed, others confident. There was everything, and everything was needed in this world.

Melina and Mattew arrived laughing, and sat down at a table. Amy took their order and Melina asked her if you were there. Amy told them you were in the back of the shop baking March cakes. You gave them a small greeting with your hand, which they returned to you with a smile. You put down your tea towel and leave the room to go see them. And as usual, they were making fun of each other.

“Only 3 slices of cake? I don't believe you. You are a little glutton, OUR little glutton Mattew. 3 parts is only the aperitif for you.” Said Melina laughing.

“Hey! I swear to you that I am telling the truth! I didn't want the boss to give me an eternal sermon! You know how he is when you don't respect his instructions... I have often been paying the price...” responds Mattew.

“That’s true.”

“My poor Mattew... I hope at least you were able to enjoy it when you got back.” you said smiling.

“Nah, I left my shares to Chris. He must also take advantage of it. With work it's hard right now." responds Mattew

“Awn it’s too cute. He's really lucky to have you.”

“Oh! I almost forgot! Jed asked us to warn you that tonight he will be coming home very late. He must apparently go to the scene of a new murder committed by Ghostface. Another innocent inhabitant who died by his cold and heartless blade.” Said Melina.

“Oh. O-okay. Poor guy...or girl.” You simply respond.

When I was talking about miracles... here is one. It saddens you to learn that Ghostface is being killed again, but it suits you for tonight. Jed will return very late, until he comes back, Ghostface will surely be gone. Luck is still on your side for now. You talk for a little while with Mattew and Melina before they go back to work, and so do you. The rest of the day was quiet, although towards the end you received the call from Mr. Parkson and your Aunt Marnie.

The first one informed you that everything was finally settled for the succession and that the inheritance had been divided at your request between your uncles and aunts. Nevertheless, they have asked that you receive a share of this inheritance as well, so you should expect an upcoming transfer to your bank account. Mr. Parkson greeted you and wished you good luck for the future, hoping that time will heal your wounds. He also informed you that if he learns something about your parents' death, you will be the first to know.

As for your discussion with Aunt Marnie, it was simple. She was taking news, knowing how you were doing, if you needed anything and if everything was okay with Jed. You couldn't help but laugh at her mother hen attitude, it was so adorable coming from her. Your uncle Joey had finally decided to talk to you on the phone. And just by his voice, you felt that it made him feel better to hear you and chat with you. He was fine, some back problems, but nothing very bad according to him. You still tell him to pay attention to him and to not force too much if he does not want to end up stuck in bed for days. He laughed, saying that you reminded him of his sister, your mother, when she was still of this world. He hung up saying that he loved you and hoped to see you soon. You answer him the same thing before hanging up in your turn.

You walk home, without a hitch, and once in the apartment, you sigh with relief. It feels good to finally be at home. And you'll get even better after a good shower. In any case, you will have to prepare. Ghostface is coming. And welcome him in work clothes... is not really a good idea. So, you take clean things, go to the bathroom and take a shower. You leave the room after a few minutes and decide to prepare food. Since you are not very hungry, because of the stress of Ghostface, a simple salad of tomatoes and cucumbers will be enough. You were doing the dishes, when you heard footsteps that you would recognize between a thousand.

“Well... I really hoped you weren't going to come tonight. I thought maybe you'd be lenient and give me an evening off.” you said without turning your back, hearing HIM chuckling.

“Sorry Honey, but unfortunately, a deal is a deal. And then... spend an entire evening by your side... I will certainly not refuse.” said Ghostface.

“Is he really dead? Are you sure?”

“Given the state in which I left him, I can tell you that he is indeed dead. He ended up... like his creator. On a nice wooden cross, crucify by me. If you could have been there... you would have been amazed by my art.”

“You’re a twisted devil.”

“And you’re guardian angel. I am both. Then... Where do we start?” Ghostface replied.

“What if you finally told me who you are? Remember? it was part of the deal. A whole evening with you in exchange for your true identity.” you respond, facing him.

He sneered before approaching you slowly, but with a determined step. He gently pressed you against the worktop and you could guess through his mask that he was devouring you with his eyes.

“Do you REALLY want to start with that? This is just a small detail... we can deal with that... later in the evening.” he said with a softly voice.

“Deal is a deal. That’s what you said. No true identity, no evening with me. And anyway... Jed will return sooner or later.” You respond with a provocative look.

“... Fine. As you wish. But regarding Jed... I don't think... that he will bother us tonight. In fact, he will no longer bother us.”

“What do you mean? What did you do to him??? ANSWER ME!”

Ghostface sneered before exploding with laughter before backing up and closing the curtains properly so that no one outside could see what was going to happen. He went back in front of you, now standing in the center of the room and gently removing his mask. And the face that was underneath... No... That's impossible... you didn't want to believe it.

“J... Jed?” you said shocked.

“Hi...Honey. I’m home.” He responds with a sneaky smile.

You couldn't believe it... you didn't want to believe it. Since all this time... he lied to you. Since all this time... the man you loved, was the one who at night came to see you under this mask.

Since all this time... your guardian angel... was also the devil you are trying to drive away.

***

(My right arm finally doesn't make me suffer anymore! what a pleasure! Gone is the horrible feeling of being hit in the arm! I will be able to write fully! But I also can't wait to go back to bars, restaurants and more... but for that I have to have the sanitary pass. And it won't be until September. What a hell! The next chapter will be the continuation of this one, but from the point of view of our dear Danny! I hope you’ll like this chapter like the others ones! Well, it's time for my brain to rest! Have a great weekend to you all! See ya!)

#dbd fanfic #dbd #dead by daylight #ghostface #danny johnson #jed olsen

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steve0discusses · 3 years

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S4 Ep38: Awkward Hugs Episode

Remember how excited I was about the good storyboarder? Well this episode has the opposite of that. It looks a lot like they hit some sort of crunch and this entire episode got shipped to Singapore so that some other animation studio could deal with their problems. It’s got some jank.

And like listen, animation is hard, there’s a billion moving plates, there’s a lot of office politics and deadlines, this season in particular is very long and complicated, and I don’t know exactly what happened this episode, but it just...wow it’s a lot funny poorly animated moments and I was here for it.

So first off, Dartz died! I didn’t even cap it because it happened so quickly. He was standing there, a portal opened up, and then the Great Leviathan kind of munched him up in 3 frames of animation, and then dissolved away back into the portal. It was card shenanigans anyway, and I don’t go over card games here--just trust me he played cards, he lost, he died.

Once Dartz died, this happened, in the one place Roland thought he was safe.

Roland has spent a good amount of this time debating whether or not to go inside and now he’s got a situation. Is it safer in Soul Hut than...whatever this is?

I wouldn’t know either.

So he just decides to uh...look directly at it while everyone else deals with orb hell.

The three knights of Atlantis decide to revive the respective owners of their cards.

So Pegasus just has to sit back, relax, and find some other unsuspecting orb person to share his fanfiction deep cuts with.

PS, that was not an exaggeration on the lazy PowerPoint spiral-in transition--this episode was a marvel of “Oh crap we ran out of time!” last-ditch effort animation and I approve.

(read more under the cut)

And if you thought they were done being orbs now that we’re on a physical mortal plane--nah.

This is the closest Pharoah and Yugi have ever gotten to a physical hug. Just throwing it out there that this is the only time they’ve touched in any way as two separate entities. Also--I like that this is the same way Yugi holds his necklace when he’s talking to Pharaoh. Cute little parallel there.

And as I mentioned, there were a lot of people just hugging it out as if it’s the last episode of the season. First off, one of the most huggy people on this show, which I’m still surprised is the Kaibas.

(he did legitimately pretend to be asleep by the way, because as he was spiraling out of hell he was like “whaoooahahhh”)

So I guess if Mokuba, Tristan, and Tea woke up without being orbs first, then that really does mean they never died 2 episodes ago.

Fine. This is fine. I’ll append my headcanon.

...so Dartz really was just so tired of them that he decided to make them take a nap, huh? That Mokuba was so annoying he was just like “I’m turning them off ok? Not like OFF off, not killing them or anything, that would be rude--I just don’t like small one.”

Meanwhile Tea has a Yugi appreciation moment where she’s reunited with her very confusing relationship. Which is how she likes it best. Undefined in nearly every sort of way. A relationship made entirely out of subtext.

(and honestly, relationships made entirely out of subtext is like 75% of the teen dating experience, which I may have mentioned before, but I do not remember if I have because 2020 has wiped my memory of just so many things.)

I vocally, out-loud, went “Ahhhh!” at the screen because I FORGOT how big his eyes are. They are so wild usually, but with the animation B-team at the helm, I was just not ready for the eyes to return. Yugi’s eyes are just...an abomination in every way and I forget when I see them consistently. I get used to them, I get over it...But when I go an entire season without these hell eyes staring directly at me every five seconds, then it’s like I’ve seen them for the first time.

I’m glad he’s back but man his eyes.

Those eyes.

Anyway, on for some more awkward hugs. First off, Yugi’s visceral reaction to his pretty-much-a-wife-at-this-point giving him a...hug?

(she’s kneeling, by the way. Bro mentioned that it looks like she picked him up and held him entirely by the neck--that would have been great, and I would never doubt Tea’s strength, but she had the decency not to do that.)

And then to Yugi’s just overall confusion to whatever Joey Wheeler defines as a hug.

I am 5 feet 0 inches tall, much like Yugi, and can confirm that yes, some people do hug me like this.

This type of hug should be illegal, it’s very disorienting.

Then, Yugi got to do what he does best.

The FIRST THING he does from coming back from death is immediately hold back information. Mm. Yugi at his finest.

At the point that you’d assume that someone in this room would indicate that maybe this hell vortex is like...a situation...Roland comes in the room screaming for Kaiba to come outside and tell him what the hell to do with his life.

So they go outside and the city of Atlantis is popping out of the sea and flying directly into the air--which...sure, it doesn’t really go in the air usually...but I’ll take it.

And in case you’re like...wait, I thought Atlantis was in California, not in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, don’t worry, it’ll get even more confusing later on.

Also, this happened.

Most of the human race freakin died so like...not sure what we should be concerned about here. Gotta get that one last guy in Florida to board up his house, I guess.

I like that Tea is contractually obligated to beg Yugi to stay behind so she doesn’t have to live without him when...it’s like...Tea, your relationship is already a big ass question mark, and Yugi actually dying did not even mean you were living without him. He’s been around this whole season as Pharaoh, my dude. You have the only boyfriend who will not only never officially date you but will also officially never go away.

So like...earlier in the season it was mentioned that Florida had the pieces of Atlantis shoved in a museum so like...is Atlantis off of Florida now? Because the Battle of Atlantis was in the Bay Area, and Dartz lives in San Francisco, and they went on a helicopter and flew out to the sea so...

We GOTTA be in the Pacific, right?

Anyway, it could be that they’re worried it’ll hit the East Coast of Japan--which, yes--it would. That would also be way more pertinent to our cast of people who live in Japan, it’s just that if you’re doing a show in English that takes place in the USA and you say the “East Coast” it only means New York.

I don’t think the translation team got the memo, it was a very weird line.

Tea wishes Yugi luck instead of Pharaoh for once, and Yugi was like “I don’t know why you want to talk to me instead of the version of me with the fine ass.” and his confusion was kind of cute, but they didn’t actually go into any more deets than this.

Valon and Mai were almost making out with each other’s dead body like ten episodes ago, so maybe the team felt like they had enough practice to maybe almost approach something happening with their flagship couple? Almost.

But also...Yugi just has no idea that a few days ago Tea was trying to get Pharaoh to talk to her on a Caltrain by talking about wearing little swimsuits on a Florida beach date, and then Pharaoh got so upset he went to the tiny area between trains and started sobbing while punching a wall. Yugi doesn’t know this. I don’t think anyone will ever tell him.

And like...will anyone tell Yugi that Pharaoh woke up in Tea’s bed? Like no one, right? Like no one even knows that happened? The irony of how cautious Yugi is with this relationship after Pharaoh was just slicing and dicing for this entire season is great. It’s also probably unintentional, but I can still laugh at it.

Anyway, inside soul hut, Yugi got a little lost, and then his puzzle started glowing and brought him to the Macguffins from last season. Would have been really inconvenient if these got doused in the sea, honestly, and I don’t think the Ishtars would have appreciated it.

Also, this puzzle sensor would have been really, really useful in S2.

Meanwhile, I think Seto and Joey just stared at this glowy gate of hell thing being all “Do you know what this is, Kaiba? I was dead” and Kaiba being all “Hell if I know, I was also dead, I don’t know what this thing is.” And Joey being like “Well Yugi doesn’t know what it is, he was also dead.” and Kaiba being like “The only one of us alive was the dead guy who lives in Yugi’s imagination?”

And then Joey being like “Also, where the hell are we?”

So, frustrated that this obvious trap was simply too confounding, Dartz decides to explain to our dumb as hell cast what a “door” is.

Where we can then admire the sights of Atlantis! Which is mostly brick buildings and giant gates with snakes on them.

Also it would just be COVERED in dead fish but we’re gonna skip that and save it for what would be an extremely ill-fated Netflix live-action series that they will probably eventually make of Season 4. Netflix can’t help itself, you know it can’t. This is a spicy series. It would be terrible in gritty live action. Make it happen, Netflix.

I feel like the artist was trying desperately to fix Joey’s bangs and I feel that on an emotional level. We all want to fix Joey’s bangs. Why did they stop at Joey?

They find Dartz in some weird Gazebo which...OK. It was a whole lot of weird concept art that I didn’t cap because it’s like...nothing is terrifying about a Gazebo...

I straight up don’t understand Atlantis culture.

So, Dartz decided that he could just...use himself to raise the Great Leviathan. He had only one more soul he needed, and he was just as powerful as Yami--so lets just do it, lets just raise the snake!

MAN I just realized what a euphemism this season is.

Good job, Dartz.

Course this is how he spun his story to us, but he seemed pretty surprised when the Great Leviathan gobbled him up in the first 10 minutes of the episode.

But this is the story Dartz is sticking to. He, himself, will raise the Leviathan, himself, and he is very happy with his decision that he made all by himself. I mean, Dartz has been alive for 10,000 years, and maybe he got bored of immortality.

Dartz could have done this from day 1.

What’s up, Sephiroth? Nice little uh final fantasy thing we’re doing with this lizard’s face. I really can’t unsee these uneven man boobs (like what is that angle?) but it’s fine. Dartz doesn’t need hands or...legs...he’s a dragon now, like he can just bite stuff and fly around and stuff. Can’t be that bad.

But for reals, what is the dragon’s angle here?

what is it gonna DO?

Like after everyone’s dead. Is it just gonna...float around? Fly around outer space? Enjoy the sunrise?

Like what do dragons...DO?

Anyway, I’m sure we’ll never get the answer on why the Leviathan wanted to leave the core of the Earth so stinkin bad, but maybe--just maybe--this season might actually end next episode? Maybe?

Will I actually finish this season in 2020! I might! Y’all I MIGHT!

And for anyone reading these for the first time, here’s a link to read these in chrono order

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borhap-au · 3 years

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Joe Mazzello: the fluffy chronicles.

Surprises.

You’ve been going through some stressful times. The amount of work you had to do was overwhelming, you were busy at work and at home, you didn’t have much time for your boyfriend, and when you could find a moment for him, he was out, filming. You saw each other at home, of course, but you usually had to tell him to be quiet, because you had to read and revise all of the paperwork. He usually just smiled at you and left you alone, not to disturb you, because he knew how much you’ve done to get this job and he didn’t want you to lose it. But you noticed that deep inside it made him sad that he couldn’t spend more time with you. The amount of work was overwhelming both of you, and Joey was simply worried that you overwork yourself.

So, on what you thought will be just another boring day, Joey left earlier for work, and you actually could sleep a little longer, so he didn’t wake you up to say goodbye. When you got out of bed, you went to the bathroom. Still tired (after all, even your dream had to do with your work) you yawned as you walked up to the mirror and then you saw a little yellow piece of paper stuck to the mirror, with a sentence on it, reading “smile! you’re beautiful.”

You felt like shit, and you were a total mess, but nevertheless you smiled seeing that note. Joey really was considerate and put much effort into making you feel better. You couldn’t think of a better boyfriend, and you were sure nobody you knew could be better than him.

Then you went to the kitchen, not sure if there was even anything left in the fridge for you to eat. You were pretty sure you will have to either find some old chocolate bar, or grab something quickly on your way to work. You opened the fridge and saw a pile of sandwiches and another little piece of paper with a caption “I hope you’ll enjoy it.” Yet again, he made you smile. This way you were not only able to eat an actual breakfast, but there were even some sandwiches left for you to take to work, which was very important, because you had to give a presentation at work, for which you were preparing for the past week.

When you went to the bedroom, you opened your wardrobe to take your suit, but you couldn’t find it anywhere. You looked around, but it was gone. Completely panicked and stressed out, you grabbed your phone to call Joey, and then you saw a message from him saying “in the living room. Was ironing some of my shirts yesterday, thought it wouldn’t hurt to iron your suit too.” And when you walked into the living room, there it was. Hanging on the door, your suit, freshly ironed. You couldn’t even believe this man was real. A real treasure, that he was for sure.

By the door, next to the keys he found for your yesterday, so you didn’t have to worry in the morning, there was a note saying “you’re going to nail it! I believe in you.” You smiled and walked out of the house. And then you came back, because you forgot your notes for the presentation. But then you left your home for real and headed to work.

On the way to work, you found your favorite chocolate in your purse, and you were sure you weren’t the one who put it there. But eating chocolate always calmed you down and made you happy, and Joey knew about it.

An hour before your presentation, he texted you: “stop with all the revising. You know all of it already. Give yourself a break. Breathe, relax. You got this, honey. I know you do. I love you!” He knew you’ll be revising. You always were. You were shaking because of all the stress, and always revise ‘till the very last moment, but at least Joey reminded you to breathe deeply, trying to calm yourself down. You went for a tea, to listen to his advice, but when you got the tea you came back to revise some more.

You did get your point across and the presentation went rather smoothly. Nobody had any doubts that you did your homework and found out everything you could about the subject. You were your own harshest critic, but your boss actually said you did a great job and can take the weekend off as a reward. After all, you impressed the guests and persuaded them to make the deal with your company.

You were so incredibly happy, mostly because you knew you will finally have some time to spend with your absolutely perfect boyfriend. You texted him the great news immediately after you got them, not waiting until you finish the work. Joey got home before you, so you told him you’re going to grab some pizza on the way back home, so you can eat it and watch some movie. But he told you not to buy any food.

When you got back home, you called his name, but nobody answered. Instead, you saw a trail of dried flowers on the floor. You decided to follow them. They led you to the bathroom, where you saw Joe, in the bathtub full of bubbles. Lit scented candles were standing all around. He smiled at you. Then you noticed he was holding a glass of champagne in his hand.

“Hey, honey. How was your day at work?” he asked and smiled at you.

“Stressful as hell. But at least it’s all over now,” you smiled in return.

“Jump right in,” he encouraged you, and you quickly dropped your clothes, with Joey smirking at the view he missed so much during the last few weeks. Then you joined him in the bathtub, leaning on him, and finally relaxing after so many stressful days. He moved his hand on the side of your body, petting it. “How do you feel?” he muttered in your hair. Your eyes were closed, and your head was tilted back, resting on his shoulder.

“Right now? Just perfect. All the tension is leaving my body, and the water is so nicely warm. I’m in heaven,” you muttered without opening your eyes.

“Want to make a toast? For a nice weekend for example,” you opened your eyes and smiled at him, nodding.

“But of course that I do,” you took a glass from his hand. He took the other one. “Cheers, honey,” you clinked his glass with yours and drank a bit of the champagne.

“Cheers, babe,” he drank some as well, and then you put your glasses on the shelf, so you were both able to enjoy the bath. You leaned on him again, resting your head on his shoulder and closing your eyes. You just wanted to relax for a bit, and his lips certainly helped to make you feel better. He kissed your jawline, neck and shoulder with his warm, soft lips, and that moment sure felt like heaven to you.

He didn’t tire you with more talking, especially not about work. He knew how overworked you were and didn’t want to bring that back on your free weekend. So instead he just focused on kissing your skin, while his hands slowly caressed your body. That was until your stomach started growling, remembering the pizza you were supposed to eat, but Joey didn’t want you to buy.

You then left the bath, and when you were making sure the bathroom isn’t going to burn down, Joe went to the kitchen. You knew he’s had something planned and you were pretty excited to see what was waiting for you. When you went to the kitchen, he was heating up the dinner he’s made earlier. You had time to change into more comfortable clothes.

He took one of the candles from the bathroom and lit it on the table as well, making it a real romantic dinner. He made chicken with vegetables, and you had the unfinished champagne to drink.

“I’m proud of you, darling,” he said, while you were eating. “I’m proud of the woman you are, of how you handle everything. You’re amazing. A real role model,” he smiled and took a sip of the champagne.

“Thanks, Joey. I’m just sorry for neglecting you and our relationship. It was just something very important to me, a way to show my skills…” you started the long apology you had prepared in your head, but you didn’t finish it, because he didn’t let you.

“Don’t worry about me, girly. I’m a big boy. I managed to be on my own for the few days, you know?” he smiled at you. “I was happy to help you however I could, even by making a simple dinner. I knew it’s important to you. I would never make you choose between your goals and our relationship, honey. It’s your career, your future, and as much as I would like to be a part of it, I know I’m not all of it, and you need those things outside of this house, like a job for example. You never complained about my busy schedule, and I would never complain about yours,” he assured you.

After the dinner, you went to the bedroom to watch something. You chuckled quietly when upon entrance you saw a teddy bear holding a piece of paper with a big “CONGRATULATIONS! YOU DID IT!” on it. There were lots of your favorite sweets all over the bed. You looked at Joe in disbelief, shaking your head.

“What? I wasn’t sure whether I’ll manage to get home on time, before you did. I had to go out to visit a few places before you came from work and do the shopping. And I wanted you to have a nice surprise when you come back,” he explained, and you kissed him, moving your arms around him. He truly was a blessing.

You put the sweets away and went to bed. You started your favorite movie, but it wasn’t long before you fell asleep, finally being able to rest after weeks of stress and constant work. He smiled seeing you finally being able to rest and kissed your head, as if to say “sleep well.” Then he continued to watch the movie and pet your arm, hoping you’ll have sweet dreams and dream of him. He already had the entire weekend planned for the two of you to catch up on the time you missed because of work.

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atemgirl94 · 3 years

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Pharaoh and reincarnated Queen’s adventures pt. 6

When they were back in Domino City, Britt stayed mostly in her room at the Motou's house. She went to school walking with Yugi but she did her best to ignore 'his' voice. For the most it seemed she was doing a good job at it but then things were getting to her. Tristan and Joey noticed during school Britt was a bit distant like something was bugging her.

"Hey, the girls stay at your place. Is everything ok over there?" Joey asked Yugi

"Yeah, for the most. Britt spends most of her time in her guest room." Yugi said

"Huh? I wonder why." Joey said

After school she walked with them home, she smiled a bit seeming to have things under control. When they made it home she heard Yugi calling her name.

"Britt, is everything alright?" Yugi asked

Britt turned around "Yeah Yugi. Everything is fine, I just need some space ok." She said

She went to take a shower after that because she didn't want to deal with many more questions. It felt good to let the water run on her skin as she closed her eyes.

"My Queen, why do you avoid it. Stop fighting it." She heard his voice

'why? Why do I want to stop fighting...I don't buy that I'm really this Queen.' She thought

While she was thinking about it all her thoughts went back to the almost kiss in the puzzle. A blush formed on her face knowing he could of kissed her right then but he didn't.

'it wouldn't of counted. It would have been in the puzzle not in the real world..but did I want him to kiss me?' She thought

Hathor was sitting in her own guest room thinking about the whole thing. How strange Britt had been since they'd returned. Just thinking of that guy holding her cousin like she was his made her mad. Hathor had always protected Britt from people who wanted to harm her and now it felt like someone was trying to take her place in Britt's protection.

"he won't take my cousin from me." She said under her breath.

Hathor, Bre, Nana and Britt had always known that a pharaoh would return. They'd known for years Britt was this reincarnated Queen and now it seemed as if the time had come for the Pharaoh to meet her again. Hathor knew Britt was stubborn she'd always said she didn't feel as if she was a Queen, especially not a reincarnated one. Now things seemed to be different, Hathor noticed Britt pulling her space away from Yugi.

Britt finished her shower then she went to her guest room after getting dressed. She layed down as she closed her eyes taking a brief nap, it may of only lasted thirty minutes to the hour as she had her usual dream about being called to come to him. She woke up when she heard a lot of commotion in the living room.

Going out to the room she seen the gang with Mokuba.

"What happened?" She asked

Mokuba gave them the load down about the Big 5 that worked for his brother how they changed his pod to capture him in the game.

"Please help save my brother." Mokuba asked Yugi

"Of course, lead the way." Yugi said

Britt mentally and internally figured it out but she set herself to go with the gang to help save Kaiba. Sure he wasn't her favorite person in the world and it seemed danger was going to come whether she wanted it to or not so saving Kaiba would be in best interest.

As they followed Mokuba and he led them to Kaiba's lab that had four pods. As they looked at the pods.

"So, whose going in?" Tristan asked

"I will." Britt, Joey and Yugi said

"I'm going too." Mokuba said

After that was decided each of them got in as they got their duel decks situated inside. Tristan did the work of uploading them to the virtual world and after that happened Tea and Tristan looked at all of them.

"looks like it worked." Tristan said

As the group looked around and then looked at each other, they noticed they were in some kind of forest. Britt and Yugi were looking at their dueling deck and the duel point counter.

"I'm glad I've got my dueling deck with me, but this duel point count makes me nervous." Yugi said

"Yeah me too." She said

Each of them knew what normally happened in a game when you lost a life but this wasn't that kind of game. As they kept walking they noticed they came across a graveyard.

"eh, do we have to go down there?" Britt asked

"Yes, so we can find my brother." Mokuba said

Britt was pretty freaked out the whole time knowing it was a graveyard then suddenly zombie duel monsters came from the ground.

Mokuba took the lead showing how to do the summoning and Yugi took the same motion.

"I summon the rude Kaiser!" Mokuba said

"And I summon the dark magician." Yugi said

"Attack" They said in unison

The zombies were destroyed but they came back and Britt feaked out but she was impressed by Yugi and Mokuba then Joey said he got them as she watched seeing him summon the flame swordsman. Joey was first to lose life points when he called an attack by using his flame swordsman.

After the Zombies were taken care of Joey looked at his life points seeing that they didn't go back up. This little bit of information made all of them realize they needed to be very careful.

As they made their way it wasn't long before they found a sprite, like they put in other games to help players so the four followed it coming across a village.

Once they went around the village, they were looking over different cards that had. They noticed cards in the village were worth points. As they looked at the points they earned they only got 5 points.

Yugi and Mokuba came up with ideas to ask people about Seto Kaiba. Searching every street and asking every virtual person they could find. Later they found out that kaiba was brought through to a mountain.

They tried crossing the desert and they went through a sandstorm. Only a sandtwister came in and took them back to the village making them back where they started.

A virtual villager started laughing "that ain't no way to be crossin' no desert." He said

"Wait you say you know how to cross it then?" Joey asked

The man made a referece to the Niwatori card that it was a desert crossing chicken.

"Thanks Mister, can you tell us where we can go to get a card?" Yugi asked

"I wish I could. But they can't be got they can only be won." He answered

'so a duel card we need to win?' Britt thought,

Virtual world or real world she felt someone watching her knowing too well who it was. Joey made a remark and the man answered.

"You said prized Bird? It sure is, especially around here." He said

Mokuba came up with the idea of looking at the card stands to see if they had it. After so many times of looking they came across a poster that said that the Niwatori card could be won in a fight against the champ.

The four went to the collseum to take a chance at going against the champ. Though the man in charge didn't seem too much interested and then he ate a fly by catching it with his tongue freaking them all out. Joey decided he was the one that was going to go up against the champ but as soon as they made it to the dueling arena and watched him, it wasn't long before they realized the champ was Mai.

Joey took his mask off "Mai." He said

When she recognized him she took her mask off and the others came over.

"Britt, Yugi, Mokuba? What are you doing here?" She asked

Yugi explained about the mission asked her about why she was there and she told them she was testing out this game for the big 5. So she used her Harpie ladie to get the niwatori card for them as they escaped.

Getting to the outskirt of the village, one of them summoned the card and three chickens appeared. Five Niwatori's appeared as they got on and rode them across the desert. There was a sand monster and not long after Joey used his red eyes to destroy it clearing the way and getting them to where they needed a temple.

Mokuba was first to run in and then Britt got off following with Yugi, Joey and Mai behind them. It was after that they came across a labyrinth that they made their way through but they heard a female scream.they were led by the sprite towards the women and then out of maze.

Later they were in a carriage, all of them were listening to her story hearing she was a princess, named Princess Adena. As they arrived at the palace

They were invited back to the palace with a lovely dinner made and it was during that dinner that Mokuba asked about his brother.

"well around this time each kingdom gives an offering. The far kingdom has gave theirs, a stranger that appeared." the princess said

"That's seto" Mokuba said.

The princess told them she was going to be the offering for her kingdom. It was later told to them that they could very well be the heros of legend. It wasn't very long that they each were given outfits to wear in traditional hero style.

Joey was given an outfit that seemed to be of a cavemans. Yugi was given one that seemed more of a knight while Mai was gave one of an amazon. The three of them waited to see what Britt would be wearing, at first she didn't want to come out due to everything happening in the real world.

"Come on Britt, it can't be bad." Mai said

Britt gave a sigh before removing the curtain and they seen her walk out, they had expected something like Mai's but they noticed the Princess had gave her something more of a royal attire that could be fought in.

Yugi smiled "You look great." Yugi said

Britt gave him a smile before she heard his voice. "Yes, My Queen, you do look great." She heard but ignored it.

They all ran outside to be ready to go. Joey used time wizard knowing it was a fifty fifty chance that it would send the ship they needed to get to the castle back in time or cost him his life points.

"let's hope this works" He said.

They watched as it did seem to work. After that everyone got on and it started to go to the floating castle. Eru tagged along to help them. Joey looked back at Britt

"Ain't that kinda royal? Didn't they have anything else?" He said.

"it's what they gave me. I didn't ask any questions.." Britt said

Joey said nothing more to her as he knew it wasn't his place.

Duel monsters came from the castle and went to attack. Each of them called out duel monsters to use. One of the duel monsters attacked Yugi but Eru got in the way.

"No Eru!" Yugi said and held the little pixie in his hands as it became digitized.

Tears fell and he had enough, Britt watched as Yugi turned into Yami. She tried her best not to stare knowing that they had bigger fish to fry over all this. Yami had good skill to help them out to get through.

When they had to let their ride go and get the rest of the way by using the duel monster. Yami grabbed a hold of Britt's arm and pulled her to him as the dark magician helped to the castle.

"hey, I have my Goddess. I could of used her." Britt said in trying to protest.

"I know." Yami said to her.

She looked at him for a second then looked away. She wasn't still buying the whole Queen stuff and she was resisting even now but she let it go knowing they had a mission to finish.

They fought their way until they reached the last level. They had to go up against the big five and their most powerful dragon. Each of them had dragons but Mokuba was the only one without a deck after he gave Seto his deck back.

When the big five tried to attack Mokuba Joey blocked it and it cost him all his life points.

"win this one for us." He said to his friends giving them a thumbs up.

The next one to be attacked was Mai making her life points drop down to zero then she was digitized. They tried to get rid of Seto Kaiba next but Mokuba pushed him out of the way.

It was now down to the three of them, but the big five didn't want to allow that for if any of them could win there'd be consequences. Debating who was next to be attacked wasn't no brainer as they knew Yami had a non-dragon type out but they wanted to get rid of another friend.

Britt looked at Yami "what do we do? Alone our monsters can't take it on." She said.

Yami nod as he tried to devise a plan, but with all the delay the big five took that chance to take out Britt's Goddess's pet Dragon with her life points. She fell to her knees seeing her dragon destroyed.

Yami rushed over to her seeing her be digitized. "It's over for me, it's up to you now. I'm So-" She didn't get to finish as her eyes widened, Yami had cut her off by doing exactly what he had wanted within the puzzle, which was kiss her.

"I'll get you back." Yami said as she disappeared and he was angry by then ready to defeat this to get everyone back.

Now it was up to Yami and Seto Kaiba, they fought strong and hard. By combining monsters they were able to defeat the dragon once and for all. With beating the game they were able to have all their friends back but also be able to return to their world. So when they six of them awoke from their pods they were able to all regroup. Mokuba was once again happy to have his brother back.

"thank you" He said to Yugi and the others.

After parting ways each of them went home, Britt questioned everything. She didn't understand why she'd let it happen when she had been trying to avoid him. Maybe it was because deep down she knew the truth. She knew she couldn't fight destiny or take control of it.

#Yu-Gi-Oh #yami yugi x oc #yugioh #ygo ocs #ygo #pharaoh atem #Adventure #reincarnated queen #fanfic

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missnxthingg · 4 years

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𝕗𝕝𝕒𝕨𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤 • 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕖

SUMMARY: There’s only one subject in school, Noel Kaim’s party. Tom and Harrison think it will be cool to show up, but (Y/N) has other plans.

Based on my one-shot, Flawless.

PAIRING: Rich!Tom Holland x Rich!Reader (Best Friends to Lovers AU)

WORDS: 7.8K

WARNINGS: Underage drink, a little smut.

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𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕖 • 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣

Being in school was almost torture if you didn’t like Noel Kaim because everyone around seemed to be talking about one thing and one thing only, Noel’s party. They were excited about it because every year it got plenty of good gossips to feed everyone for a full month. Couples were made along with fights, drunk friendships and one night stands that everyone ended up knowing about, no matter how secretive they wanted to be about it.

(Y/N) saw those parties in a very different way. Guys were always trying to talk to her so maybe they could hit that and they were never the ones she wanted to be with, disrespectful most of the times. People were trying to befriend her so they could take advantage of it, with she only wanting to drink something and spend the whole night on the dancefloor, maybe flirting with a few guys when she felt like it. And to be honest, she was kind of sick of it, wanting nothing more to skip this year’s party.

Noel wasn’t thrilled with her decision and followed her around the whole week so he could convince her of tagging along, but she was still mad about him not talking to her during vacations and about him being aggressive with her the other day. And he was everywhere she went, on her apartment, the café before classes, her mother’s office when she was over for a photoshoot, even on Saks when she went out with Courtney and Stacy for shopping. It was pissing her off.

Also, he wasn’t happy about (Y/N)’s proximity to the new London boys, the ones that everyone in school were talking about along with his party. People were wondering how it would be like to party with them, who would they hook up with or if they were even going to show up. Noel was even afraid of them dethroning him as the most popular guy in school, not that they wanted such thing. Tom hated being the centre of attention, Harrison kind of liked the attention, but there’s no way he would do anything crazy to earn it. And seeing the boys with his precious little (Y/N) infuriated him.

(Y/N), on the other hand, was loving to hang out with the boys. The night out with Tom at Vertigo was surprisingly good, and she didn’t have to worry about whether it was a date or not, because it while she was facing him, it didn’t matter anymore. And after that night, they got to hang out even more. He’d meet her at the café before class to have some pastries and a tea, she’d hang out with him and Harrison in front of the St. Jude’s entrance, he’d drive her home after class. They got so close in so little time that it was weird for both of them, but they weren’t complaining, they kind of liked it.

Harrison and (Y/N) became friends too. Of course, nothing could beat his long time friendship with Tom and her instant connection with the boy, but they liked each other’s presence. They grew into a small friendship with Tom as a bridge to connect them, and they were hanging a lot together, but (Y/N) wasn’t as opened with Harrison as she was with Tom. Maybe they didn’t have the same kind of instant connection as she had with Tom, even though she adored Haz.

“Morning, my boys.” (Y/N) approached them sitting at the café and enjoying some tea. “You’re very early today. Did you fall out of bed?”

“Tom made me wake up earlier so we could all have breakfast together.” Harrison admitted, showing how moody he was as he hid his face behind the cup of tea. Tom smirked at his behaviour and shrugged.

“He stood up late because the girl that lives in his building had the parents out on a date and he spent the whole night awake with her.”

“How did you manage to get to her apartment?” She asked as she sat in front of the boys, hanging her bag on the chair she was about to sit.

“We live on the same side of the building, so I used the fire escape. Mom didn’t even notice.” He winked with a smirk and (Y/N) giggled as she signed Joey behind the counter to bring her order. He nodded and went back to his work. “Although, I think Charlotte heard something, but she doesn’t care.” Harrison shrugged and rested his cup back on the table.

“Did you sleep well, darling?” Tom asked her because he noticed that she was a little distracted.

“Yes! Best beauty sleep I had in a long time. I prepared the mood and everything. It was very romantic, except for the fact that I was alone.” She smirked and drank a little of her latte. “But I don’t care about that one detail, more space on the bed, right? I’m still trying to find something to do on the weekend, though.”

“Why don’t we go to Noel Kaim’s party?” Harrison suggested and (Y/N) groaned.

Why not go to Noel’s party? Well, she was still pretty mad about everything he did to her on the previous week and wasn’t ready to cave yet. But also, she was planning on spending the weekend at her dad’s. Last night, she ran into Garold wearing nothing but his underwear and his mother robe in the kitchen, which led her into a big fight with Josephine about boundaries and a decision to ask her dad to stay him on the weekend because she missed him. Also, she didn’t want to run into Garold and her mother having loud sex again after the Louis Vuitton Collection Release Party.

“I don’t know. I’m still mad at Noel.” She admitted.

“Come on. How do you even plan on spending your weekend?”

“I’ll call my dad, so maybe we could have brunch together and go to the movies.”

“Boring,” Tom said and received a death glare from her. “Sorry.”

“It’s the first party of the year, (Y/N). And we’re new. We could use it to make more friendships.” Harrison started, and Tom agreed with a nod. “Plus, we’re going rather you are or not. But it would be nice to have you with us.”

“Are you actually agreeing on going to this party?” She asked Tom, and he opened an embarrassing smile on his face.

“I mean, I don’t like Noel, but I love parties. I would love to get to know how this new school works with parties.” (Y/N) nodded and glanced down to her waffles. Spending time with the boys would be nice after all. Maybe she should consider going. But then again, she really wanted to visit her father.

“Yeah, I don’t know. I want to visit my dad because it’s been two months since we last saw each other and I miss him so much.”

“I get it. Don’t worry, darling. We won’t pressure you to go.” Tom rubbed his hand on her back, and she smiled at him.

“But Long Island. I have a few suggestions for you. Go there by train because by car is not worth it. And if you wanna crash there, sleep at this bed and breakfast close to Noel’s house. You won’t regret it.”

“Do you usually sleep there when he hosts parties in Long Island?” Harrison asked, and she smirked.

“I sleep in his bed, sweetie.” She winked, and the boys laughed. “But my friends do, and the first time I did too. It’s very nice and comfy.”

“Thanks for the tip, boss.” Tom said, and finally finished his tea. Harrison started to gather his things and some money to pay for his drink.

“I’m gonna go because I promised a girl I would meet her before class.” Harrison winked at (Y/N), who giggled with how pathetic that was. Tow different girls in a row. “I’ll see you in class, and I’ll see you after class.” He pointed at Tom and (Y/N) respectively. They waved at Harrison and watched him walk away.

“That’s a bummer. I wanted to know how it is to party with you.” Tom returned the conversation, and she pinched his stomach before getting back to her waffles.

“You’ll know it soon. I promise to take you to a better party.”

“I’ll be waiting for that.” Tom smiled and leaned back on his seat. “Oh, would you mind helping me pick something to wear for the party?”

“Are you kidding me? I would love it! And I already have the perfect outfit for you!” Tom frowned at her words. “My mom has this new collection that will look amazing on you. I’m going to bring something so you can try on.”

“Okay.” He giggled without even questioning her taste.

Picking outfits was (Y/N)’s favourite thing to do ever since she was a kid. She remembers when Courtney would come over for a play date, sleepover or a dinner party with their parents and they would spend the whole time dressing each other, testing makeups and reading fashion magazines. (Y/N) even learned and practised her reading with those magazines. That’s why she had a lot of fun at her mother’s office to pick some outfit for Tom and maybe find something nice for Harrison.

Luckily, Josephine had just launched a new collection that would be perfect for the boys. As (Y/N) walked through the many clothes in their archives, she pulled some beautiful outfits for both of them. They would look so hot on those, and she would love to see them all dressed up for once. But she talked to her dad, and they planned the perfect weekend over the phone.

“Are you sure you don’t wanna stay at home?” Josie asked in one of those rare nights where she would come home for dinner. “We could all go to the party and have a good time.”

“No, I miss dad. And we already arranged something nice for tomorrow night.” She stopped to eat some of her food before continuing. “Plus, if I stay here, that means I’ll have to go to Noel’s party, and I’m not in the mood.”

“You used to love his parties. You would gush about his big Long Island house for days after them.” (Y/N) giggled to remember how stupid she was to put Noel in a high place, maybe higher than hers. “Yeah, but you’re right. If you don’t spend some time with Vincent, he will start calling me a bitch that doesn’t let you see him.”

“Yeah, I wish it was something to blame you, but I can only blame him.”

“What’s that supposed to be? Blame me?” Josie frowned and (Y/N) rolled her eyes.

“Mom, we’re having a nice dinner, and I don’t wanna ruin that by starting an argument. I already said that is the wrong guy in this situation.”

“Okay. You’re right. Let’s just eat the freaking dinner.”

(Y/N) woke up on Friday with her spirits up. She was genuinely looking forward to spending the best weekend with her father. He promised her many things, dinner, movies, a walk around the park. She was all packed up and waiting for the night where he would pick her up, and they would go out on a fancy dinner. She even bought a pretty and sexy black dress so they could go out together and maybe use it on another occasion.

“Hello, boys.” (Y/N) greeted Tom and Harrison when she met them after class.

“Hey. Someone looks excited today.” She smiled at Harrison and fixed her skirt.

“I’m just excited for tonight.” She admitted and sat between Tom and Harrison. “Are my boys excited about their party?”

“Yeah. By the way, I looked so hot on that outfit you picked me.” Tom said as he pulled his phone out to show her a picture. “The striped pants? Genius!”

“Oh, that looks so good. I’m pretty fucking great.” (Y/N) praised as she analysed the photo in the smallest details. “You are so getting laid tonight.”

“I loved mine too.” Harrison said and showed her the pictures, just like Tom. “It looks fancy, but it’s… fresh, I don’t know how to explain.”

“Oh Harrison, this looks so good!” She commented again. “You’ll have to thank me for all the girls you get tonight.”

“They will fall for us, not for our outfits.” Tom said, and (Y/N) rolled her eyes. “Stop rolling your fucking eyes.”

“I know they will fall for you, silly.” She pinched his stomach again. It was becoming a habit between them, and Tom wasn’t complaining at all. He actually liked it because it felt intimate and would always send different sensations through his body. “We have to hang out on Monday so you can tell me all that happened at the party.”

“We could go to Vertigo’s.” Tom suggested, and she nodded excitedly, turning to Harrison, who had a frown on his face.

“What is Vertigo?”

“This awesome pub (Y/N) found that has amazing beer.” Tom threw his arms around (Y/N)’s shoulder, pulling her next to his body.

“Okay, I’m in.” Harrison said without questioning anything. “You said it has amazing beer and I haven’t had beer ever since we sat food in America.” Harrison said as he rushed to the car. (Y/N) giggled and rested her head on Tom’s shoulder.

“We have to go home, but I wish you the best weekend with your dad.” He kept his voice low, so only she could hear. “Because you deserve it. And you’re also going to tell me everything about it after.”

“Thank you, baby.” She looked up to him, and he kissed her forehead. It felt weirdly intimate, but they didn’t care at all.

“Come on. Let me take you home.” He pulled her to the car, and she stepped into the back seat.

It didn’t take long until Tom dropped her at home since she lived so close to school and she thanked the ride with a smack on their cheeks and rushed inside the apartment to get ready for her day. She did a beautiful makeup with orange tones and a lot of gloss on her lips. Her dress fit her so perfectly that she could spend the whole day looking at herself in the mirror. Just as the time for her dad to pick her up was arriving, he called her.

“Hey, daddy. Are you already downstairs?” She asked excitedly with a big smile on her face as she checked herself in her dress again.

“Sweetie. I got called for a last-minute trip to Boston.” He started, making her smile died instantly. “I’m sorry, but I have an important meeting with the Harvard people, and I can’t postpone it.”

“Oh.” She couldn’t find other words to say anything, too upset to do so. He was bailing on her, again. She shouldn’t be so surprised.

“But I promise to make it up to you soon.” He said, and by now, she wasn’t listening. She only concentrated on not letting the tears roll. “I gotta get the flight, but I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Okay.” She forced out, and he soon hung up. Instead of letting everything go once she was alone, (Y/N) didn’t waste time before calling the one she wanted to talk the most. “Tom?”

“Hey, is everything okay?” His voice sounded concerned on the other side of the phone.

“Have you left Manhattan yet?” She asked, her voice slightly cracking in the end.

“No, we’re about to leave the house. My brother is driving us to the train station.”

“Can you pick me up? I wanna go to the party.” She said and cleaned some stubborn tears daring to fall.

“Of course. We’re going to grab something to eat before we go if you’re okay with that.”

“Yeah, whatever. I’ll wait in the lobby.” She finished, and they said their brief goodbyes. (Y/N) packed a small overnight bag so she could take to the party like everyone else along with some other essential things. Luckily, while she did it, she managed to stop crying and fix her makeup quickly. She didn’t wait long in the lobby until Tom came through those doors rushing to her sitting on a couch right next to her bag.

“Hey, are you okay?” He sat next to her, and she shrugged.

“Yeah. My dad bailed on me, but I’m okay.” She lied right to his face. What she wanted to do the most in cry right there and tell the world she was not fine, but she wouldn’t cave. “I’m starving, though. Can we go somewhere to eat?”

“Sure.” He frowned and helped her get up by taking her bag. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes, Tom. Now stop bothering me.” She tried not to make eye contact with him as she walked away because eyes can always speak more than words.

She kept pretending to be alright for the next minutes. Greeted Harry with a big smile on her face, made jokes with Harrison along the way, but Tom wasn’t buying it. He could feel that there was something wrong with her because she was so excited earlier and now that everything fell apart, there was no way she would still be fine under all circumstances, even though she seemed fine, there was something hidden behind the words she was saying.

By the time they got to the train, Tom was sure that he needed to confront her and he got even luckier when Harrison decided to sit somewhere else to talk to someone on the phone. It was the perfect opportunity to talk about what happened without interruptions. Just the two of them, like all the times she opened up to him.

“Can you please tell me what’s going on?” Tom asked as they walked the aisle to find somewhere to sit.

“Tom, nothing is going on. I’m fine.” She whined, still not trusting herself to look him in the eyes, just kept looking ahead and twirling her tongue inside the mouth to prevent it from saying something stupid.

“You don’t seem fine.”

“But I am!” She suddenly stopped and turned to face him. “I’m sorry if you don’t believe me, but I’m telling you the truth.”

“You talked about your dad all week, and suddenly it all fell apart. I don’t believe that you’re fine.”

“But I am, okay? You don’t get to tell me how I’m feeling.” They stared at each other for some seconds before he pulled her into a hug. It took her a couple of seconds to cave and melt into his embrace, throwing her arms over his shoulder and letting him comfort her.

“Fine. You don’t wanna talk about it, but I’m still gonna give you this to show you my support.” He whispered in her ear, and she nodded.

“Thank you.” She whispered back, forgetting about the fact that they needed to sit before the train started to move. “It really means so much to me.”

“I got you, okay? Now let’s sit down.” He pulled her to sit by the window so they could watch the outside world and not talk about anything for some minutes, just be there for each other while Harrison didn’t join them to engage another conversation.

Long Island was utterly different from New York. Anyone could say such a thing about the suburbs. It was a calm and pleasant environment, no surprise for those who choose to spend their summer there. But Noel’s house wasn’t a lovely and peaceful place when he was hosting parties. Of course, (Y/N) saw it differently over the times she spent there. When it was just the two of them, the house seemed so luxurious that it was almost unreal, looking like a freaking castle on the inside. But there’s a funny thing about big fancy houses that people never notice; it’s always empty. Not empty of objects, but lifeless. It happens to (Y/N)’s expensive apartment on the Upper East Side, and it happens to Noel’s mansion.

But they couldn’t deny it was absolutely gorgeous. The big white house that glowed in yellow lights during the night was almost cinematographic. All the fancy cars parked in front of it, the perfect front garden, the water fountain was glowing in different colours. It could take anyone’s breath away if it weren’t taken by drunk teenagers and loud music echoing from the house. Tom and Harrison were impressed, but (Y/N) was tired of gushing all over Noel’s shit.

“Noel’s that rich?” Harrison asked as he pointed the house, eyebrows arched and mouth slightly opened.

“His father owns a great part of Brooklyn buildings.”

“Yeah, he’s that rich.” Tom finished and (Y/N) giggled with a shrug.

“The house is pretty impressive, yeah.” She pulled the boys to start walking and come inside before she gave up on her decision to come.

The party was being hosted on the back garden, but there were a lot of people inside the house making a mess of the fancy decoration Cordelia and George Kaim spent millions of dollars. The big marble stair on the centre of the living room was full of teenagers talking and sitting with cups on their hands. Alcoholic bottles almost hid the old and expensive furniture. But everything was drowned to the exterior, where everything was happening. (Y/N) pulled the boys to the stairs on the back that gave them a full view of the enormous backyard where the big party was happening.

People were taking full advantage of everything the house had. Pooling and ping pong tables, the big couches around the gas fireplace, the giant pool full of people jumping and splashing water all around, the tables settled on the garden and the place reserved for dancing, where the DJ was making his set to entertain. Tom and Harrison quickly got themselves a bottle of beer out of a cooler settled by the door, making (Y/N) giggle.

“You’re very fast.” She laughed, and Tom shrugged.

“We’ll find you a gin tonic.” He winked with a grin on his face.

“I’m up for a Cosmo tonight.”

She started to walk ahead of the boys, direction to one of the mini bars to get something to drink. She said hi to some people on her way and quickly had a pink drink on her hands. People seemed to be very fond of Tom and Harrison, which made (Y/N) very impressed with the number of people talking to them. The boys were already famous; maybe their good looks helped a lot.

“(Y/N)! I didn’t think you would come.” Courtney hugged the girl once she saw her from afar. She was wearing only an orange bikini set and no makeup, never more beautiful, even though she always says she doesn’t like herself without any makeup. Anyone could get hypnotised by her glowing skin, pretty deep eyes and voluminous curly hair.

“My dad cancelled, so I decided to come with Tom.”

“Oh, so you two are a thing now? I’ve seen you with him plenty of times for the past week.” She smirked and (Y/N) rolled her eyes as she sipped her drink.

“We’re just friends, Court. I swear to you.”

“I’ll pretend that I believe you.” Courtney tapped her friend’s shoulder and glanced back to the pool. “Lamar invited me to join him in the pool.”

“Dude, that’s amazing!” (Y/N) cheered.

“I know! I think I’ll try to make a move in there.” She fixed her hair and glanced down to her body. “How do I look?”

“Beautiful, as always.”

“I’m not wearing makeup, so I’m nervous.” She admitted with a nervous giggle. “I like him so much; I wanted this to be perfect.”

“Court, you’re gorgeous. Even more gorgeous with your natural looks. And Lamar…” (Y/N) glanced back to the boy playing with some friends by the pool. “He likes you too.”

“You think so?” She asked, hopeful. (Y/N) nodded with a big smile on her face. “Okay, I’ll go for it.”

“By the way, where’s Stacy?”

“Oh, there she is.” Courtney pointed behind (Y/N), and she turned around to find Stacy with her mouth too busy with another guy’s one. They were making out at the couch as she did her best not to drop her drink. The guy was wrinkling her yellow dress as he tried to reach her ass.

“Maybe I’ll talk to her later.”

“Yeah, probably not a good time.” Courtney winked before waving goodbye to meet Lamar by the pool. She searched for the boys again and found them by the pooling table with some other guys. Before she could even make her way to them, someone pulled her by the waist.

“Hey, gorgeous.” Noel said when (Y/N) turned to face him. He was dangerously close. So close that she could smell the whisky in his breath. She rested her hands on his chest as he folded his arms around her waist, not letting go of his cup.

“Hi, Noel. Pleased to see me?” She teased, and he smirked.

“Very pleased.” He kissed her jaw and trailed kisses down her neck. “What took you too long?”

“My wish to not be here tonight. I also took the train.”

“I thought you were going to spend the weekend with your dad.” He whispered in her ear, and she shrugged.

“Change of plans. It seems like Harvard is more important than his baby girl.”

“Uhm, wrong decision.” He pecked her lips, and she smiled.

“If you excuse me, I have to go back to my friends. They are waiting at the pooling table.” She walked away from him, and Noel rolled his eyes.

“Are you seriously trading me for those British twats?” He pointed at the boys with his cup, and it was (Y/N)’s turn to roll her eyes.

“They are my friends, and they’re much better than you, Noel.” She defended, and he did a bored face. “Fucking idiot.”

“If you go for them, I’m done with you.”

“Good.” She sent him the middle finger and marched back to where the boys were. Harrison was already playing pool with the boys, and Tom was watching from a stool. As she approached him, he involved her waist with his arm.

“Hey, you good?” He asked, and she shrugged.

“I’m gonna blow his face someday.” She was furious, but something about Tom’s touch on her waist eased her.

“You’re not gonna do anything, darling.” He sipped his drink before continuing. “Just stick with us, have a good time and forget about him.”

And that’s what she did. Harrison dared her to beat him at pool, which she found out later that was almost impossible. Tom pulled her to dance at some point. They gathered with a bunch of people to talk about some fun stuff and got extraordinarily drunk with the number of alcoholic choices they had. It was enough to make (Y/N) forget about everything that she was upset with, although it was still hanging on the back of her mind. That kind of stuff doesn’t simply go away with a few drinks.

Right now, they were all scattered on a couch by the pool, enjoying the lovely hot weather and a funny drunk conversation with a small group of people. By where (Y/N) was sitting, she could see Lamar and Courtney passionately kissing on the pool, which made her smile. But soon they broke the kiss, and Courtney rushed out of the pool to join the group.

“(Y/N). I was looking for you.” Courtney said as she sat on the floor right in front of her friend. “One of Lamar’s friends said that Noel is telling everyone that you’ll give in to his spell.”

Noel had been a tease all night. Every time their eyes met, he would send her a look, or a kiss, or a wink. Sometimes he’d make sure to bump on her to make her notice him. It was already pissing her off. But knowing he was saying such thing about her only made her even more pissed. It wasn’t a great night, and with those things getting on her way was making her even more upset.

“He what?” (Y/N) frowned and Courtney reassured her with a nod. “I’m going to deal with him later because right now, I think I can make Taylor and Minnie get with Tom and Haz.”

“Are you sure you want some other girl hooking up with Tom?” Court asked with some concern in her eyes.

“Why wouldn’t I?” (Y/N) frowned and Courtney shrugged.

“You seem very close. I thought you might want to hit that.”

“Me and Tom? I told you, we’re just friends.”

“But he’s really hot.”

“But no, okay?” She finished the subject, and Courtney threw her hands in the air before jumping back into the pool. (Y/N) took a couple of seconds to breath before asking Taylor and Minnie to join them by the couch. “Hey girls, long time no see.”

“Hey, (Y/N).” Taylor said as she sat with her on the couch, joined by her friend Minnie. Taylor was this pretty blonde tiny girl that was the impersonation of a rich spoiled kid, but guys and girls are always falling for her.

“I loved your dress.” Minnie commented. She was Taylor’s best friend, although she was much sweeter and shy, in the end, they were pretty much the same.

“Thank you; I loved yours too.” She sipped her Cosmo before continuing. “So, have you two met my friends Tom and Harrison?”

“No. We were hoping that maybe you could introduce us.” Taylor said, and Minnie nodded with a grin.

“Well, boys.” (Y/N) raised her boys to get their attention. They quickly made their way to where they were sitting and opened a smile to see the pretty girls, already flirting with them. God, they were quick. She got up to throw her hands around their shoulders to introduce them. “These are my friends Taylor and Minnie. Girls, my pretty boys here are going to take excellent care of you.” The boys glanced to each other and had a small conversation with their eyes.

“I’m Tom.” He said, directly looking at Taylor. Someone already knows who he wants.

“And I’m Harrison.”

“And I’m gone.” (Y/N) chuckled. “I need to take care of something. But you’re both in good hands.”

The girls giggled and (Y/N) walked away, not before throwing a victorious smile at them and catching a last glance of Tom watching her walk away before returning to his conversation with Taylor. It was all going well, although Harrison was quicker than his mate, soon pulling his girl to a private corner, leaving Taylor alone with Tom as they talked closely and he got even drunker with a mixture of alcohol he made during the whole party.

“So, it’s a pretty impressive house.” Tom started after the small talk they had for a couple of minutes, and Taylor shrugged.

“Yeah, not that impressive after the thousandth time you’ve been here.” She shrugged.

“You come here that much?”

“I’m Noel’s cousin.”

“Of course you are.” Tom giggled and threw his arm around her shoulder to get her even closer and comfortable with him. She started to play with some fingers on his jaw, talking very close to him. He wasn’t thinking much because of the alcohol, and she took advantage of that, starting to kiss his neck to start him.

“The perks of being part of the family is that I have a whole room for myself.” She said against his neck, and Tom moaned softly with her touches, already feeling some pressure on his pants. He was getting hard, and she noticed it, subtly rubbing her hands on his bulge, careful so no one could catch it. “I can show you.”

“You can?” He whispered against to her lips, and she nodded before sealing the kiss. “I’d like that.”

“Come on.” She pulled him up, and they swan through the sea of people to get to the second floor of the house.

Taylor took Tom to a beautiful bedroom that looked almost like a princess room, with every detail thought to look like it was pure royalty. But right now, Tom wasn’t concentrated on how beautiful the room looked; he only focused on the girl that was wrapped around his neck ever since they hit the second floor. When he got turned on, the world around him disappeared, and he turned into a completely different person filled with lust.

So right now the only thing that mattered was how sexy Taylor looked in her red lace underwear and the movements she did with her hips against his as he kissed down her chest, trying to find the place to open her bra to give him full access to her beautiful tits. As he finally found his way to her nipples, she moaned loudly, fully giving in to what he was doing to her body.

“Oh, Tom. Please.” She moaned as he worked on her left nipple and used his free hand to pinch the one left.

“What is it, angel?”

“I need you.” Tom started to train some kisses south and teased her a little with kisses on her tighs, not daring to get close to where she needed him the most. “Oh, just fuck me already, will you?”

“If you insist…”

While wonders were happening on the second floor between Tom and Taylor, (Y/N) marched through the house looking for Noel, her blood boiling under her skin. He had no right to go around, saying she would be his eventually and the alcohol in her head wasn’t helping her judgment. She found him by the dancefloor with his stupid whisky glass in hands, lonely dancing to a stupidly loud song. Noel smirked as he saw her approaching him, too drunk even to notice her pretty mad face.

“Noel, I swear to God that I’ll break your fucking face if you keep telling people that I’ll give in to your spells.” She said furiously, and he chuckled, pulling her by the waist to the dancefloor.

“Chill, baby.” He said in her ear, swaying her side to side to the sexy song that started to play. “I didn’t say any of that.”

“So now Courtney is a liar?”

“I just said you were going to make up with all the fighting that has been happening between us. I never said anything about spells.” He used his hands to softly brush her hair aside and start kissing her neck softly, making her chill and pretty much lose part of the control of her body.

“So why are you kissing my neck?”

“Because I know you like it.” He said close to her ear. The music was fast, but they were moving so slowly it almost didn’t make sense. He kept trailing his kisses on her neck, down to her collarbone, making her moan softly. “What was that you were mad about, again?”

“You being a fucking prick.” She hissed, and he giggled.

“There’s something wrong with you tonight. I’ve noticed it before.” He mentioned before turning her around, pressing her back on his stomach. “Something’s bothering you. Tell me.”

“My something wrong has a name.”

“Is it Tom?” He asked, and she shook her head no.

“It’s Vincent (Y/L/N).” She confessed as she sighed. “So you need to stop messing around with me because I’m so fucking upset tonight.”

“Baby, I swear to you that I didn’t say anything about you tonight.” She turned to face him and rested her hands on his chest. “Well, except for the fact that I gushed about how pretty you look tonight. As always.”

“Noel, stop flirting.” She smirked, and he shrugged with a grin.

“I can’t help it.” He leaned down and pecked her lips. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”

“Noel…” She mumbled against his lips, trying to break it, but giving up seconds later when he pulled her even closer by the waist as if it was even possible. Noel was taller than her, so she stepped on her tiptoes to reach him. Her being upset and drunk wasn’t helping her judgment at all, since she was going against everything she just said. Noel got what he wanted; (Y/N) wrapped around his finger. “Do you think we could use your room? I want to forget about my dad.”

“I’ll help you forget.” He said as he pulled away from the kiss. She nodded and followed him, linked by the hands, to the second floor where his room was located.

Noel’s bedroom in his Long Island house was very different from the whole house decoration at all, distancing from the fancy royal and approaching a modern look. He was just glad that at least it didn’t look like a princess decorated it. (Y/N) already spent plenty of time there over the years she has known him, and she knows it like the palm of her hand. Noel even has a robe waiting for her to come over during vacations, parties and weekends when they needed to get away from the city. There wasn’t anything new about it.

As soon as the door crashed close, Noel pressed her against the door and kissed her feverously, trailing his fingers to lock the door behind them so they wouldn’t be disturbed. She buried her fingers on his neck and pulled him down. He used his hands to unbutton her dress, revealing her sexy black lingerie that was probably more expensive than the dress itself.

“My God, your beautiful.” Noel moaned as he looked down to her body and she smiled before reinitiating the kiss, pulling him to bed. She tore his shirt off before lying down with him.

(Y/N) was familiar with everything. The bed, the boy and the lips. Probably, that’s why she let him help her forget. She knew the kind of effect he had on her after so many times she came looking after him when she was upset. Noel knew about that and always took advantage of her vulnerability, although she never noticed it, that’s why she kept coming back.

After a little makeout session, Noel started to go down on her, knowing all the right things to make her see stars and feel good. Where to kiss, where to suck, where to bite. As he licked long stripes in her pussy, she moaned loudly, muffled by the sound of the loud music outside. No one would ever know they were there even if she was screaming his name. Every movement was crucial, and she got wetter every time his lips and tongue moved against her, building up a big orgasm, making loud moans escape her mouth.

The tiredness, the worries, the angst built up during the last two months were now on the back of her mind, not mattering right now. That’s what sex did to her. That’s what Noel did to her. And the more he gave her, the more she wanted to release everything out. After the guy under her did something write, she yelled out one last moan before letting it all go, cumming on his mouth.

“Was it alright, baby?” She simply nodded, still coming down from her high and too sensitive to say anything. Noel smirked and started to kiss her belly again. “Wanna feel something more?”

“Please.”

“Okay. Let me make you feel good.”

(...)

One of (Y/N)’s favourite things to do on weekends was sit down at the street table in her favourite brunch restaurant and watch New York’s early walk of shame, especially after big holiday dates like Halloween. She would watch many people walking home to their apartments with messed up clothes, some smudge makeup and sometimes crying. It was funny when it wasn’t herself doing the walk of shame.

It was early in the morning when she woke up with sun rays in her face. Noel was sleeping on his stomach on the contrary edge of the bed, the sheets only covering his naked butt. (Y/N) glanced down to herself and found her naked body as well. She carefully took a good look around the room, finding her clothes scattered across the floor along with Noel’s. She groaned internally and slipped out of bed to put them on so she could go out of the bedroom.

Luckily, she brought a change of clothes along with her, which allowed her to go into a bathroom and take a long shower and put on clean clothes. Maybe her walk of shame wouldn’t be so shameful after this. Still, she couldn’t help but think how stupid she was for sleeping with Noel again. She was mad at him, and they had some stuff to talk about. But she was madder at the whole world and whenever that happened, she would go looking for him.

As she walked down those beautiful marble stair, she could see the effect the party had. People were sleeping on the floor and the couch, some of them were missing a part of their clothes. There were dirty glasses and empty bottles all over the place. Some parts of the floor were wet because of the pool party and there was dirt everywhere. If Cordelia saw it, Noel would be dead in seconds. But again, he had the money to pay and clean the whole thing up before she even found out about the party.

She walked through the sea of sleeping people to the kitchen. Well, it was even messier than the rest of the house, with empty pizza boxes, opened bags of chips and more bottles. But something even stranger was found making tea over the counter. Tom was wearing different clothes from yesterday, something similar to gym clothes, but didn’t look as sloppy. He had a tired face on, but still looked clean and fresh, judging by his wet hair, he had a shower recently.

“What are you doing here?” She whispered, and he chuckled.

“Morning to you too.” He said and extended her a mug of tea. “I slept over with Taylor.”

“Of course, she’s…” She nodded, and she sat on a stool by the counter.

“Noel’s cousin.” Tom finished, and they fell into silence. “The question is, what are you doing here?”

“I slept with Noel.” She admitted quickly, almost in a whisper, but Tom heard and widened his eyes.

“You slept with Noel?” He pointed, and she nodded, taking almost half of her tea in one sip. “Great.”

“Can we please just drink this really fast and head back to the city? I need my bed to cry on, and I don’t wanna face Noel right now.”

“Of course.”

They drank the rest of the tea silently and rushed out of the house to get a cab to the train station. (Y/N) didn’t dare to say a word during the whole ride but Tom noticed that she was bothered, tired and ashamed. Maybe something happened, something serious, and just by imagining the possibilities, Tom got angry. Like so mad that his jaw clenched and he was tensed only by the thought of Noel touching one small finger on (Y/N) to hurt her.

“By the way, where’s Harrison?” That’s the only thing she dared to say after the ride.

“He’s at the B&B with Minnie. Said he was going to head back to the city later, that we should go ahead.” She nodded and crossed her arms to prevent herself from the chilly early morning wind. Tom noticed it and quickly slipped his striped jumper out of his backpack to give her. “Here, take my jumper.”

“There’s no need.”

"Come on, don't be silly." He took her bag out of her hand so he could hold it while she was busy.

"Thank you, Tom." She smiled weakly. "So, how was your night with Taylor?"

"It was alright, yeah." He smirked. "She didn't last long, though."

"So you're that good?" She frowned, and he giggled again.

"Maybe." He shrugged, leaning forward to see that train stopping at the station. "How was yours with Noel?"

"Can't say it was bad." She arched her eyebrows as they walked inside the train, searching for a place to sit. It was almost empty considering it was so early on a Saturday morning. Tom sat by the window, and she cuddled on his side.

"Why do you look so upset?" He asked, and she sighed and fixed the jumper she was wearing. It smelled like Tom and was very nice.

"I didn't want to do what I did last night."

"Did he force you to do something?" Tom stiffened, and she shook her head no.

"No. I did because I was upset and wanted to forget about everything. I tend to do that."

"You know we could have missed the party to go somewhere to vent and chill."

"But if we didn't come, you would miss all the fun with Taylor." She grinned as she unwrinkled his shirt with the tip of her fingers.

"I wouldn't mind. There would be other girls and other times to do that." She hugged his arm and rested her head on his shoulder. Her hands looked for his fingers, and she played with them before starting to speak again.

“You’re the sweetest, Tom.” She smiled and pulled her legs up to rest over his to get even comfier. “I only regret it because I’m upset with Noel too. We clearly have some stuff to talk about, and I caved and went to bed with him. I kinda hate myself right now.”

“Hey, don’t say that.” He entwined their fingers and started to rub circles of the back of her hand. “Uhm, but if you feel upset, you don’t have to go to him, okay? I’m here for you.”

“I know, thank you, Tom.” She pressed a kiss on his shoulder before cuddling even more into him. She yawned and rubbed her eyes.

“You’re tired.” He noticed, and she giggled.

“Very tired.”

“C’mere.”

He got out of her grip in his arm and invited her to rest on his chest by opening his arms, which she accepted in a matter of seconds. Tom involved her in a comfortable and warm hug and (Y/N) rested her head on his chest. His heartbeats were lulling her to sleep. He rested his chin on top of her head and just held her tightly as he watched the landscape outside the window. Soon he heard soft snores coming from (Y/N). She looked so peaceful and calm, and for Tom, that was better than watching her crying and upset.

“Much better.”

❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁

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musedblues · 4 years

Text

Always Something There To Remind Me [Part: 4]

summary: Home is where the heart is. You’re working on finding yours. After a handful of misfortunes, your old friend Joe helps to unravel life’s greatest mystery while adding a bit of extra grief to the mix.

warnings: Some fun, a little angst, and a whole lot of mixed feeling!

w/c: 6k

a/n: We’ve reached the halfway mark of this story! I hope you enjoy this update. Let me know what you think, lovies!

taglist: @im-an-adult-ish @mrsmazzello @lettinggosthehardestpart @the-moving-finger-writes @imtheinvisiblequeen

Part 5

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

The spring was blossoming to life and after your fair share of sulking, you went on the hunt for a job. Funeral expenses and travel had cleaned out your account, and you needed income. In the local mall, you scored part-time at a tiny flower shop. A lovely couple of old men owned the place and handled deliveries, insisting your only job was to sit behind the register and wait for customers to buy something.

There were plenty of shoppers, but even more spare time to listen to podcasts and text Tegan. You were in the middle of sending your friend photos of the floral arrangement one of your bosses let you mess around with over lunch break, when a familiar voice floated past your counter.

“Oh my God!”

Lacy Duval was standing in front of you with a strangely excitable grin and a perfect ponytail flowing from underneath a Yankees ballcap. Oh my God was right.

“Hello, Lacy.” You gave her a cagey smile. There was no reason not to be polite, but something about the girl really got under your skin.

“I saw you here on my way to Urban Outfitters and I couldn’t not say hello.” The girl was pretty. It almost blinded you to look right at her. But she’d taken to leaning against the counter to shove her smile in your face.

“Well, hello.” You offered once more. “Please, don’t let me get in the way of your shopping.” You nearly plead, glancing past her, willing another customer to show up.

“Oh, no I work at Urban. I totally don’t mind clocking in a few minutes late.” Lacy giggled like this was some kind of big, secret, inside joke. You only let out a very nervous chuckle, afraid if you opened your mouth again you would be a little too rude. Lacy leaned against your register for five solid minutes, gabbing on about the mall and the people she worked with and how she’d never see you here before. All while looking over her shoulder and around yours, like she had somewhere better to be. That’s what stopped you from dropping your guard and actually listening to what Lacy had to drone on about.

She left with a reluctant sigh and you wondered how she justified talking to you for so long with absolutely nothing to say. You shook it off in a hurry, going back to your texts with Tegan and selling a few promposal bouquets near the end of your shift.

Except after then, something horrific happened. For the next two weeks, Lacy kept coming in to say hello. Every. Single. Day. She even learned your schedule and made a habit of stopping in to greet you before her shifts across the mall started. And for a while, you didn’t totally mind the tradition. She kept it up so long, with a pleasant smile. She must have really wanted to talk to you, right? But by her fifth visit, her all too obvious intentions were finally brought to light.

“So how’s Joe, then?” Lacy kept her smile wide and her eyes glued on yours.

“Oh, you know, some kind of superstar.” You half-joked, almost through your teeth. Joe was off with his castmates, winning awards and attending red carpet parties. You couldn’t have been happier for him. He deserved a bit of fun after the winter was so cruel. You just didn’t like that Lacy was asking.

“He’s always been popular but he’s properly famous now, isn’t he?” Lacy pointed out, giddy. “Every time I post a photo with him I swear I gain at least a hundred more followers!” She practically swooned.

It took every ounce of your strength not to throw your head back and groan out loud. Yeah, he was an actor. Yeah, he was good- and recognized for it. You’d had this conversation more times with more people than you ever really realized was possible. And if ever he dared mention your old pal, Kris always referred to Joe as “that famous friend of yours.” Was Joe’s celebrity really all that mattered to anyone? What about his favorite Chinese food, or his theory about the end of Easy Rider? He was a motherfucking person.

And just when you thought it couldn’t get much worse, it got so much worse.

You had just closed up shop, paying no mind to the last-minute mall rats who still bustled around the other open storefronts. Before you could make your way too far past the flower shop, someone tapped you on the shoulder.

It was Joe, who proceeded to wrap you in a big hug the moment you registered his surprise presence.

He was gone for what felt like longer than ever before, but he looked way more happy to see you now, than the last time you reunited. You threw your arms around his shoulders and he lifted you off the ground for a moment, exchanging merry hello’s.

“Alright, alright! We have a guest.” Joe set you back on your feet, gesturing to a very tall and happy looking fellow you recognized from many photos.

“Gwilym.” You proudly smiled up to him, confirming you knew of him well enough to be happy to see him here now.

“Y/n!” He pointed at you, as if this meeting were a long time coming.

Joe went on to explain how Gwilym had been staying with him the past couple of days after all the press tours and premiers were over. And how they drove all the way back here to Joe’s measly hometown because his mother insisted they both stop over for brunch, so she could get the chance to see Joe’s friend. Apparently, she adored Gwilym. You could see why, even just having met the guy, he oozed a certain gentle charm.

Joe knew to find you here at the mall, because you’d kept up your promise of sending the occasional text message update when something more than mundane happened in each of your lives. You listened to him and Gwilym yammer on about how exciting the past couple of months had been for them, taking a beat to notice how good Joe looked. There was a light in his eyes you hadn’t seen since you’d been back in the states.

And then you saw her. Lacy was leaving her shift down the way. You watched her realize just exactly who was talking to you, stop, and turn in a very big hurry in your direction.

“Joey!” She shrieked, rushing up to your best friend. Gwilym was practically shoved aside by the girl on her mission to invade Joe’s personal space. What was even more unsettling was how Joe seemed glad to see her. He pulled her into a friendly embrace that she squealed during. Even though you and Gwilym had just met, the two of you shared a befuddled expression trying to reason why you’d both been left on the sidelines all of a sudden.

Even when Joe pointed to Gwilym, introducing the strangers to each other, Lacey didn’t dare turn her gaze from Joe. She didn’t miss a beat as she went on saying;

“I’m so glad you’re here! So listen, my sisters are throwing this big party and I promised them I’d get you to come. I wanna show you off!” Lacy swayed in place, looking up to Joe through her fake lashes.

“Oh, wow uh sure, when is it?” Joe smiled, pulling his phone from his pocket as you crossed your arms, realizing you were invisible to her now. Lacy gave Joe the details and had the nerve to sweep her eyes over you as she skipped away. What the fuck? She’d spent all month popping in to “say hello” to little old you, but now that Joe was around you’d become irrelevant. She was only trying to get to Joe and you knew it all along, but you were still fuming at her disregard for you during the past couple minutes.

“That was weird.” Joe realized with a shrug, watching Lacy walk away. You knew if you responded you’d only blow a gasket, and luckily Joe was interested in moving on. Gwilym stood watching on in near comical horror as Joe snapped everyone back to business.

“Alright, listen this is very important.” Joe grabbed your shoulders, wearing another hopeful grin. “I want you to come back and stay with us, this weekend. But the thing is you need to say yes right now, cause we’ve got to leave right now.” Joe nodded. You realized he was serious or he wouldn’t have tracked you down at the mall, with the excitable, dashing Gwilym in tow.

///

Gwilym was put to work charming the socks off your mother as Joe raced you up the stairs to help pack your bags. He was desperate to make it to some very specific pizza place before it closed for the night. You just laughed as he threw your clothes into an old JanSport, before stealing it from his grasp to finish packing your thing; full of mostly new clothes you splurged on with your first big paycheck. As you packed them to wear, you felt strangely like life was finally taking a turn for the better.

When you scurried back down the stairs, Gwilym had managed to make a cup of tea and was busy trading some recipe with your mother who was sad to see him go. Joe rushed the pair of you out the door and off onto an adventure.

Gwilym insisted you take the passenger seat on the way to the city and begged you to expose the depths of your Spotify playlist, from the back. The car ride was spent laughing about the musical phases you’d all gone through, and rocking out to the classics everyone loved.

“Hey, this is fun.” It hit you as you gazed at the cars zooming past the speed limit on either side of the freeway, and you didn’t feel usually dreadful. You let the comment slip out without thinking about it, without thinking of Gwilym in the back who might have wondered why you’d be shocked to find a road trip suddenly appealing.

But Joe knew, and he smiled as if to disguise a frown. He seemed to get this same strange look on his face when you even slightly alluded to your recent past.

“John told me what happened, why didn’t you?” Joe asked, quietly, worriedly.

Oh, yeah. Your car slid off the road last month.

“I didn’t want to make a big deal about it.” You shrugged, almost too much like a little kid. But you caught a glimpse of Gwilym in the back, pretending not to notice the shift in conversation. So you reached to turn the music up, and Joe reached for your hand.

Then you all declared this weekend was to be dedicated to nothing but having fun.

///

You made it to the city in time to hurry into Joe’s favorite pizza place an hour before closing, where you and Gwilym played the basic twenty questions of getting to know each other. And there was no stopping the way you each roasted Joe into oblivion, making him laugh all the while.

Joe’s apartment looked different than it had in all the photos you’d seen. The walls were decorated in old family photos and there were plenty of knickknacks you recognized from the years gone by, and some you didn’t. Stepping foot into his home felt strangely invasive, and you felt funny for wishing you’d been here more times than just this once.

You thought it was only natural that Gwilym took the only guest bedroom. The guy was one hundred feet tall, and you had no business taking up Joes spare California King. But Gwilym insisted the couch was just fine by him, and it was a big sofa after all. All of his bags seemed to be resting in an armchair nearby, anyhow. You couldn’t justify arguing, and soon you were shutting yourself into the spare room with sleep on your mind.

That was until rain pelted against the sealed window next to you, and you swore you saw a draft blew the blinds back. You cursed your hasty packing. You’d only grabbed an oversized tshirt instead of a sweater. After a moment of bringing your bare knees to your chest to get warm, desperate times called for desperate measures.

The apartment was dark, and Gwilym was peacefully sleeping on the L shaped sofa, borrowed knitted throw blankets decorated across his form. The glow from the streetlamp outside the kitchen window provided enough light for you to tiptoe toward Joe’s room, where soft yellow light seeped through the bottom of the door. Was he still up, too?

You knocked softly, in case he was asleep and your silly request wasn’t meant to matter. But you heard a shuffled from close beyond the door, and soon it creaked open.

“What’s up?” Joe asked, seemingly a little surprised to see you, but it was hard to read his face in the dim doorway.

“I just forgot a sweatshirt. Could I borrow one?” You asked sheepishly, folding your arms out of shyness and a bit of a chill.

“Yeah of course.” Joe breathed in sharply, turning on his feet toward his closet. The door creaked open further and you noticed Joe rub his eyes, before reaching to grab an old college sweatshirt. What was up with him tonight?

“Hey…” You cautiously began, slipping into the room and clicking the door shut. “Are you alright?” You padded toward your friend as he barely turned toward the sound of your voice.

“Uh,” Joe seemed to decide as he gently shoved his sweatshirt toward your grasp. You instinctively held it to your chest but dropped it the moment Joe turned away and started drifting toward his bed. Before he could totally answer your question he started to cry. The second you registered his snivels you darted toward where Joe stood quickly falling to piece. Then he began to explain himself.

“We said our goodbyes and everything, I shouldn’t still be so sad.” Joe croaked, covering his face with his hands so you couldn’t see his broken expression. But you felt the weight of his sadness stomp your heart out.

“You just miss him, Joe. It’s okay to miss him.” You missed his dad too, but saying so seemed selfish. Joe was still catching his breath under his hands as you pulled him toward his bed where the covers were already turned down.

You laid him down and wasted no time curling up next to him, pulling his head toward your shoulder. Joe sheepishly latched onto you while he steadied his breathing, and neither of you spoke. You just smoothed down his hair while he grabbed onto you. Joe was stronger than before.

“You are cold.” Joe noticed, chucking a little into your hair. But you sort of forgot your reason for coming in his room or the goosebumps that decorated your bare legs. You were completely comfortable in his arms. His embrace made you warmer than any sweatshirt ever could. You felt attached to him, but simultaneously cautious of the affection, you didn’t deserve this kind of all-encompassing comfort. Why was Joe’s embrace so much more multiplexed than it had been some odd years ago?

Joe was quiet, but the silence was heavy with whatever was on his mind. You could tell he wanted to say something more, but he never did. You lay together in understanding silence, trying to unravel your tangled thoughts about it all. But the effort made you tired and you drifted off there with Joe.

You woke up later, completely unsure of the time, but noticing the sun had yet to rise. Joe was still lying against you, now in peaceful sleep. You almost felt bad for squirming out from under him. You would hate to disrupt him, and his body was warm against yours. But you knew you couldn’t stay. Tiptoeing toward his door, you scooped up the previously abandoned college sweatshirt, squeezed through the door and back down the hall to the guest room. It was still cold, maybe even colder now.

///

Later that morning you awoke to a clattering from the kitchen. You slid some short on under Joe’s sweatshirt and ran your fingers through your hair before padding out of the guest room to discover what was happening.

Joe and Gwil were dressed for the day, drifting around the kitchen, arguing over something like an old married couple.

“Good morning mom and dad.” You snickered, grabbing your bottle of water from the night before, and watching Joe and his friend point to the oven. Joe shot you a look but turned his gaze back to Gwilym to finish the argument.

“If the fork comes out clean, it’s ready!” Joe pointed to the oven.

“Yeah, but you stuck it in the side, not the middle! You gotta go for the middle!” Gwilym argued. You took a sip of water and watched on in amusement. Had they really woken up and headed straight into baking something?

Joe turned to you, making some kind of whine as if pleading for you to help him prove his point. But Gwilym was right.

“He’s right.” You pointed your bottle toward Gwil who proudly sauntered behind the island to join you there.

“Ha!” Gwilym boasted.

“Ha? That’s the best you’ve got?” Joe playfully jabbed.

“It’s Welsh for ‘fuck off I’m right.’” Gwilym falsely reported, trying to save his comeback. Hey, that was good. You might steal that one. Joe laughed but looked at you with that same funny little micro-expression like he couldn’t choose between horror or sadness. But you couldn’t help go on smiling.

“You’re from there, right? Wales?” You moved your eyes toward Gwilym, who leaned against the counter toward you.

“Well no. Me mum is. I’m a fraud.” Gwil rose a brow and made you chuckle.

“Well, that’s a shame. We could have had our own secret language.” You gently admitted. Gwil kept a curious eye on you as he moved to sit next to you.

“You speak Welsh?” He asked, reaching for his cup of coffee across the island.

“I lived there for a while.” You shrugged.

“What the hell! Joe’s talked for ages about you but never mentioned that.” Gwilym cast a befuddled glance to Joe across the room. Joe talked about you back when you weren’t talking to each other? He was occupying himself with putting a couple of dishes away. You couldn’t read his face when he stepped closer toward the opposite side of the island. Joe responded by lifting his phone in the air and snapping a photo of you and Gwilym in the middle of the morning lit kitchen.

“What was that for?” Gwilym laughed.

“Something to remember you by when the oven catches on fire because we left this damn dessert in too long.” Joe fanned his hands around. You laughed out loud, utterly delighted to be amidst the chaos. You’d missed this side of Joe. His wit and spunk had sort of all but fizzled out through the winter. It was nice to see he hadn’t lost his touch.

The photo he took was accidentally wonderful. The bright kitchen looked like heaven around you and Gwilym, sleepily leaning on the counter.

“I’ve got to post this! Or do you want too?” Gwilym asked, pointing to the picture on your phone. You had an Instagram but scarcely used the platform outside of admiring other people’s posts. Something about how excited Gwilym became and how pretty the picture was made you excited to open the old dusty application. You sent the photo to yourself and posted it to your Instagram without hesitation. It looked like the start of something new. The bright white photo stood out among the rest of your grainy theme, mostly filled with photos of you and Tegan from the pub in Wales. You tagged Gwilym and Joe.

///

That day became a game of sneaking candid photos of each other. You snuck up on each other as you strolled through the city streets and snapped shots of one another buying ice creams and looking in storefronts. But the game got out of hand. Gwilym took one photo of Joe when he was least expecting it, as he was standing on his tiptoes to reach for something in a candy store you’d fallen into the trap of. Gwilym decided it was blackmail, and then the game was on. You got a photo of Gwilym taking a massive bite of lunch and Joe got one of you making some dumb face as you had to wait in line to use the restroom.

All the while, you felt hyper aware of your surroundings and started to take more photos of stickers on light poles and titles of books that were far too expensive but probably cheaper on resale somewhere. You watched Joe open a picture book of old school baseball players. You couldn’t help but snap a shot of the way he held the book open upon the stack of others. His long fingers ghosting over the pages like a treasure. The sun casting patterns across the scene.

“What is happening to you?” Joe laughed at your newfound hobby.

“We’re having fun, remember? I am anyway.” You chuckled, raising your camera inches from his face to snap a photo and giving him a mischievous grin before you scurried away. Joe’s laughter followed you out of the shop and all around the city.

That night Joe hyped you and Gwilym up into getting a little dressed up and going to a bar after dinner. Luckily the newer purchases you packed included a nice enough dress. Then you ended up at a piano bar. Something stuttered in your heart when you noticed the excitement in Joe’s eye’s as they peered into yours. You hadn’t played the piano since you sold your keyboard a couple of years ago. You barely even thought of playing, actually. But Joe clearly had picked this place for a reason, with the knowledge that it had always been your dream.

The piano bar was complete with green naugahyde and mahogany wood, totally stuck out of time but still classy somehow. The crowd varied in age, and you were charmed to find a girl younger than you playing the baby grand on the risen velvet stage.

You, Joe and Gwil sat in the middle of the room, at a cozy table. You ordered dark drinks and listened to each other’s stories while other peoples chatter blurred into the background. Joe ordered something fruity with a straw and held it in front of you, insisting you try it. You took a sip and looked to your friend with wide eyes to confirm it was super good. Gwilym snapped a photo of the two of you then.

“Awe, see, that’s the opposite of blackmail!” You chuckled.

“Or is it?” Gwilym shot you a menacing grin as he stood to order a new drink at the bar. Before you could decode his secret message, a voice caught your attention.

A nice looking gentleman with a German accent tapped on the microphone at the front of the stage as your friend walked away.

“Tonight we are inviting you lovely crowd to come up and play if you know how, or even just want to. Don’t be shy, but do take turns!” The man encouraged, slinking off stage while waving for the crowd to get up and muck about.

“You should.” Joe leaned forward, speaking quietly just to you. His soft gaze made your heart crack a little. You weren’t about to do that. But you almost wanted to, just because of how excited he looked. Had he known this was going to happen? Or was he just dazzled by the hands of fate opening this random door?

“Oh, I don’t know.” You shrugged sitting up a little. Joe did the same, following your gaze. “I haven’t played uh… for a while.”

“Oh, really?” Joe frowned. You didn’t want to disappoint him. You knew he chose this place just for you. But you couldn’t lie.

“I sold my keyboard years ago.” You sorrily shrugged, recalling the time you had no other choice to pay rent. And realizing now that you never told Joe out of some kind of shame. You’d moved overseas with big plans to play, and they all crumbled around you.

“Oh…” Joe bit his lip and got that look in his eye that you realized he always got at the mention of Wales.

“Okay listen.” You turned to Joe, gently demanding his attention. You’d had enough wine to delve into this conversation. And you had finally become fed up with how Joe always seemed more upset that you at the mention of your past.

“Kris and I were like… broken up or something for like, months near the end. Things weren’t good. All I’m saying is that things with him were over before they ended for real. And I don’t miss him. I don’t. I know I should. That’s what keeps me up at night. But I don’t miss him. So please don’t look at me like I’ve lost everything.” You spoke, reaching out touch Joe’s arm. He uncrossed them and turned to face you then with an answer.

“What happened to your 'it’s okay to be sad’ speech from last night?” Joe furrowed his brow, speaking a little louder than you had been to get his point across. But you didn’t feel better for talking about this, like you thought you might.

“This-” You sighed a groan, wanting to suddenly move far away from this topic. “This is different. My life in Wales died when Kris did, okay?” You decided, getting a little angry at the end of your sentence. You wanted to move on. That’s when Gwilym reappeared, a new drink in hand.

“Should we… maybe call it a night?” The lean Brit suggested, glancing between you and Joe. Your friend looked like he had more to say, but you couldn’t go on talking about it all tonight.

“No!” You demanded. “Sit down right now so we can have fun!” You’d gotten your first taste of good times after fearing they’d never come again, and you weren’t ready to give them up.

“This place is beautiful and I’m glad you picked it out, Joe.” You looked to him sincerely and his once-troubled expression softened. You hadn’t realized you left your hand on his knee until his fingers rested on top of yours.

///

After a few rounds of drinks and jokes about things you missed laughing about, you found yourself locked away in Joe’s guest room for the second night in a row; comfy in the sweatshirt you once asked to borrow (now sort of taken hostage.) Your phone rang as you turned down the bed, and you answered right away.

“Helllooo!” Tegan chirped from the other line right away, like she’d been waiting on to hear from you for weeks on end.

“What have I missed this time?” You laughed, snuggling against a heap of pillows.

“Me! You’ve missed me. Actually, I suddenly feel like I’m the one missing out.” Tegan playfully scoffed on the other line.

“Well, of course, I miss you but what are you talking about?” You wondered. Tegan knew the only activities that filled your days were sleeping, working and occasionally seeing Joe.

“I’m talking about the dreamboat in your Instagram post! What kind of bender are you on? Does he have a hot brother or would he be interested in-”

“Oh, God.” You cut her off with a laugh, afraid of what she might say next. “He’s Joe’s friend from the movie. And that’s all.”

“So he’s single and ready to dial my number then?”

“Well, he is Welsh.” You chided.

“I know, I stalked his profile long before this interrogation.”

“So then what’s with the twenty questions?” You laughed. Tegan never failed to keep you guessing.

“I was trying to get you to admit you miss me and this place so much that you’d found a tall handsome fellow to bring you back round.”

“No, no I’ll come back on my own someday, dear.”

“I know.” Tegan lowered her voice as if someone else might have been listening.

“I’ve got to find my sea legs though, yeah? I haven’t had a nightmare in a couple of weeks.” You proudly state, tossing the covers over your legs.

“That’s because you’re living the dream, honey,” Tegan stated, as if she really meant it, as if it wasn’t a joke.

After chatting a while longer about how she’d been managing the pub without you and filling you in on the happenings about the quaint little Welsh town, you had to call it a night when your eyes could hardly stay open.

After you hung up, your phone buzzed a few times in a row. Who could possibly try to be getting ahold of you now? You checked to find a notification from Instagram, about a new follower. Assuming Gwilym had just finally got around to liking the photo you posted featuring him, you went to go admire it one last time. But before your eyes focused on the photo in question, a shocking number arose from your notification button.

You had hundreds more followers and more than a thousand likes on your newest photograph. below hundreds of comments.

y'all are so CUTE!

Why is Joe tagged?

Is that his sister?

Where is Joe?

Oh shit, you thought. These boys really mattered to people who didn’t know them. They found you all because you’d tagged Gwilym and Joe. They wanted to know why Joe was tagged. They cared. The astounding influx of followers and likes alarmed you for a few seconds, as you stared at your profile, wondering if you should delete everything. But why? You were proud to finally have something to post about that wasn’t old a grey.

Just as you thought of closing out the app, another notification popped up, unlike all the rest. Joe had tagged you in a photo. He’d just posted the picture of the two of you that Gwilym had taken at the piano bar. The one of you drinking from the glass Joe is holding while you’re looking at each other. In his caption, only a couple of music note emojis.

///

Gwilym left the next afternoon, with a long face and a suitcase full of New York souvenirs. You hugged him for a long time at the loading gates of the airport and laughed when he lifted Joe off the ground for a hug of his own. You weren’t sure if you’d ever see Gwil again, because that’s how life worked. But instead of worrying over it, you felt happy to have gotten to know him.

Joe started the long drive back to your hometown. He blabbered on about how he needed to help his mom with something anyway so he was glad you came along in the first place, just so he could drop you back off again. But you started to feel bad about how long you’d spent mucking about Joe’s flat and wasting his newly valuable time.

“I can drive a little, if you want.” You nervously offered to spare him a little while of responsibility.

“Do you want to?” Joe shot a curious glance your way as he drove out of the city.

“I don’t mind.” Because, no you didn’t really want to. But you would.

“It’s okay,” Joe assured, settling back against his seat, both hands on the wheel.

“Well, then I can give you gas money, yeah?” You thought. You were suddenly desperate to pay him back somehow for the weekend.

“No,” Joe laughed unbelievably. “Why are you being weird?” He was still chuckling.

“Because! This weekend you’ve been absolutely way too generous. So let me do something for you! Are you hungry? I’ll get us dinner.” You waved your hands to make your point and turned to face Joe from the passenger seat.

“I guess I could eat, yeah.” Joe smiled, nodding his head toward the road as he drove. You were a couple of hours away from home, and thirty minutes from a few good stops.

“Alright! Cheesecake Factory. No buts! Step on it!”

“Do you have Stockholm Syndrome?” Joe outlandishly quizzed. You laughed. “Do I have Stockholm Syndrome?”

Joe continued to imagine insane scenarios all the way to the Cheesecake Factory. You skipped inside together and put your name in at the desk. There were three other families ahead of you in line, and a big party that had followed in just behind you and Joe. You didn’t mind the wait, and leaned against the wall next to Joe, clutching the restaurant buzzer in your fist.

“We’re going to tell them it’s your birthday, so get ready.” You smiled as if you were kidding, but you weren’t. There was a deep desperation in you that demanded you shower Joe with the kind of attention he’d shown you this weekend, and always now that you thought about it. You were tired of sulking. You were ready to get back to the way things should have always been.

“Why can’t we tell them it’s yours?” Joe jabbed your side, his sparkling eyes looking into yours with a question.

“Because tonight is very special all about you night.” You reminded as if this had always been clear.

“Alright well, I want to tell them it’s your birthday.” Joe decided, imitating a snotty brat, sticking his nose in the air as if to make his decision final. Just as you started to laugh and curse at him, someone snaked their way through the waiting area packed with people and stopped in front of you.

“You two!” A voice rang. You were looking at Joe when you heard it, and watched his eyes turn in recognition. A girl with mousy brown hair dyed blue at the tips stood in front of you, and she looked the same as she had in high school.

“Keeley!” You practically shrieked, pushing yourself from the wall to wrap her in a hug. Keeley was one of your closest friends from high school. She would invite you over to play guitar hero and help you cheat on homework. When you weren’t riding bikes around town with Keeley, you were usually with Joe, but on many treasured occasions you could be found at the baseball diamond as a trio, when her little brother was on the same team as Joe’s brother.

“I didn’t realize you were back in town.” Joe hugged the girl after you had your turn. She went to Chicago after graduating and you slowly stopped texting each other long-winded updates over the years, even forgoing checking in on social media. But there didn’t seem to be any hard feelings.

“I didn’t realize either of you were back in the country!” Keeley laughed, looking between you and Joe.

“Oh, God I’m sorry, babe-” Keeley turned around and wrapped her fingers around someone’s wrist. “This is my fiance Rebeca.” Keeley beamed a smile at a woman with big brown eyes and a timid smile.

“This is Y/N, who I will always be indebted to for getting kicked off the volleyball team when she took the blame for the time I slashed the principal’s tires.” Keeley fawned over you as you shook your head in remembrance.

“And this is Joe, our resident movie star and the only person who has ever beaten me at Scrabble.” Keeley gestured to Joe as her fiance cocked her head. You knew that look. Joe did too.

“Hey- weren’t you in that Queen movie?” Rebeca pointed up to Joe with a smirk. He let himself smile and started to give a coy nod as he turned his eyes toward you, for some reason.

“That’s why you were so excited to see it, huh?” Rebeca turned to Keeley and your old high school friend started to laugh.

“I’ll always go see your movies, Maz. I’ll even sit through shitty cop shows just to see that cute face of yours. You’re really good, ya know that?” Keeley gave Joe a playful punch in the arm when your buzzer started to go off.

“I’m still much better at Scrabble than anything else.” He smiled.

“Man, we’re being summoned.” You frowned, holding the timer in view.

“Call next time you’re in town!” Joe demanded toward the girls, preparing to follow you toward the desk. You reached out to give Keeley a quick hug. You waved to Rebeca and assured it was nice to meet her as the ladies turned to leave.

“Come on, birthday boy.” You grinned, looping your arm through Joes and foiling his plans to foil yours.

“It’s your birthday? Happy birthday!” Rebeca called over her shoulder.

“Thank you.” Joe sighed through his teeth, dragged you away giving you a look that made you laugh out loud. You totally won whatever game you were playing tonight.

But just nanoseconds before Keeley and Rebeca were out of earshot, you heard your friend’s fiance gush “They were so cute together!”

But you were too distracted by a friendly hostess to let the distant comment sink in.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

#joe mazzello #joe mazello x reader #joe mazzello fanfic #joe mazzello imagine

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fashournalist · 4 years

Text

Thank you, Isentia Content Hub: An open letter to my colleagues.

Eleven days ago, it has exactly been two years since I first started working at Isentia. I remember feeling scared whether I’d belong, and what kind of people I’ll be working with. I remember I kept telling myself “Bawal maattach, Grace, as some alumni have said, when you enter the real world, you’re there to work. Just do your job well and be a team player, but don’t invest your emotions.” But here I am, after two years, with so many beautiful memories with amazing people. I did get attached after all, and it’s worth it. Because I did not only have colleagues, I met a new family.

This was my open letter to Content Hub, which I hesitated to send at first after writing, because it’s too long. But thankfully, two of my teammates encouraged me to send it because they said what matters is I wrote it from my heart and it’s my farewell message to my friends. (I was one of the employees who got laid off.) It was here that I learned tears are really contagious, because after sending this letter, I received texts saying they shed a tear, too. Perhaps that’s because when I wrote it, I was shedding tears myself. Why do I feel like graduating from high school? Haha! I guess this is how close we have been. So here goes my letter, and pictures of some of the memories we have made. :)

Dear Content Hub,

This August 20, it has been exactly two years since I started working at Isentia. And now, 731 days and 41,283 summaries later, I just finished my last working day as a Broadcast Monitor. Permit me to be cheesy, I just want to thank the amazing people who made the past two years a memorable journey. I apologize in advance for the length of this email, but please know this letter came from my heart.

I'm really blessed that I got to work with you. I did not only have colleagues, I had a family. That is why whenever I reached the office, my update to my parents has always been "Happy place". It meant I arrived safely, I'm at OSMA already. And I know there have been hardships, times heartbreaking news crushed me, or times I went home way past my shift. Yet whenever I was on my home, no matter how tired I got, I just looked forward to facing the next day and working again. If world news were a play, we all get front row seats, binge-watching current events for at least 40 hours a week. It genuinely excited me that our job allows us to literally learn something new every day. But, I don't feel that way all the time; sometimes I just have burnouts and frustrations. So I think the real major reason that kept me going through it all is I had colleagues as supportive as you guys are. Allow me to thank you.

To Sydney Swans, my first team.

Working with helpful teammates like you added to my motivation as I traveled from LB to Ortigas every day for five months (when I was not yet able to find an apartment in Manila). Thank you for your devotion to Qld Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. It showed me what client-obsessed looks like, and I committed to following that example. Your compere inside jokes and reactions to news added a lot of fun to our job. Until now, I enjoy backreading the group chat just to see your new musings or memes. Thanks a lot especially to John, Julianne, Zennon, Marco, and Kuya Ronnie.

To Fremantle Dockers, my afternoon shift team for more than a year,

Thank you for everything; for being supportive colleagues, helping me whenever I struggled, and celebrating with me whenever I improved.

Kuya Coily’s last day at our team.

How we help one another, especially during the Christmas dinner just so everyone can go to Sambokojin on time, inspires me. This was our post-Sambo bonding at Greenfield. I am also relieved that you never judged me as “walang pakisama” even though I only drank iced tea or milkshake haha. Others tend to force me to drink, but my friends at Isentia just let me finish all the food. HAHA. I appreciate people who can respect our preferences and differences. And you are witnesses that I don’t need to drink to be drunk. Based on my energy, I am drunk by default. Haha I will miss all these sessions with you and my batchmates!

I will miss our movie nights and billiard sessions (tho I'm just watching you haha) at the lounge. I wish we played more board games, too.

Isentia Outing 2019

Thank you so much also for being there for me when I lost my mother, you had my back and that will always mean a lot to me. When my Momi was still alive, she always knew I was working with great people. Thank you to every single one of you especially AJ, Morris, Evann, Aly and Kuya Mel.

I look forward to a Dockers reunion when this pandemic is over!

And my favorite teammate, Czesar. The best meetings are the ones you participated in. Thank you for all the laughter you gave us.

I also want to thank my friends outside my team, including Tomie, Zendee, LA and Nico from Collingwood Magpies.

Thank you for the dinner sessions and conversations on life and dreams!

This was LA’s birthday salubong at Kanto Breakfast :) While the next photo is a “panel discussion” at Goto Believe haha! We talked about the news we monitored, and boi, we went home at almost 5am.

Tomie, thank you for our never-ending laughter on our way home. Normally, I just want to be quiet and regain energy while traveling, but with you, it's okay to chat all the way to Quiapo.

To my favourite comperes, who will not read this but I feel like thanking anyway because some of you might share love for them: Marc Fennell, Jan Fran, Kanoa Lloyd, Jules Schiller, Sonya Feldhoff, Anna Vidot, Dave Sutherland, Tamara Oudyn, Sammy J, Paul Barry, Jeremy Corbett, David Speers, Leigh Sales and my inspiration Jesse Mulligan. Thank you because I learned so much about the world and about life from you. I will miss blogging about your stories and reacting to your insights.

To the leaders who managed me and/or accommodated my concerns,

This is my former TL, Kuya Coily :)

TL Coily, TL Angel, TL Rem, TL Nico, TL Nic, TL Jonna, TL Geoff, TL Alni, and Sup Mitch. Thank you for all your help! Thank you for the times you inspired me and my colleagues to grow as well as the times you coached me, gave constructive feedback, and helped me overcome my weaknesses so I can continuously improve.

To our Trainer Rachel, who we can consider as Content Hub's matriarch,

thank you so much because you patiently equipped every single one of us before we transitioned to live operations. To OM Dean, thank you for your feedback and praise during my regularisation.

And most of all, to Western Borlogs fam, my home for two years, I don't even know how to thank you enough.

I'm grateful you've been my batchmates at our training--and for everything after that.

Isentia Outing 2019

Sibyullee, farewell samgyup party for Jai (her last day in the company)

Seoulgyupsal, farewell samgyup party for Aiona (before she flew to Spain to teach)

office memories :)

Pantry catch-ups. I usually eat at my desk because of all the work but I’m grateful for the times I was able to join their dinner breaks hehe.

Sambokojin, Christmas dinner 2019

Dear Borlogs, thank you for all the memories, endless laughter, samgyup sessions (a regular segment haha), Friday nights, and times we comforted each other when some of us are facing a hard time. Thank you also for comforting me and my family when you and B visited the wake of my Momi. She has always heard about you (and I'm happy she met some of you) when she was still alive. Thank you for being such a great sounding board, a safe space where we can be vulnerable and strong at the same time. Also, I've never been a milk tea person until I met you guys, so thanks for that, too. My BM experience would not be the same without you. Naz, Janelle, Joey, Patty, Billie, Lou, Aiona, Jai, Nee, Mau, C, Ady, Sarah. Thank you, sists!!

If you've read until here, thank you for bearing with my lengthy cheesy, farewell note to Content Hub. I attached some photos that captured a few of the memories I spent with you, as well as some jokes I've randomly thought about while monitoring. I was reserving them for Christmas Party or something, but anyway, here they are. I am confident they will make you cringe.

So there, I will miss you and I appreciate you always. I will not forget the memories we've made along the way. Thank you for everything, Isentia Content Hub! God bless you all and stay safe.

Arrivederci :)

Always,

Grace / Mariel

(this was me when I graduated from training and was so excited to be part of Content Hub haha)

PS. Thank you to Janelle, Jai, Joey, Jai, Kuya Coily, LA, Zendee, Dots and Troy for the photos!

PPS. Thank you so much for your heartwarming replies!!! And the food/gifts some of you sent!! I love you guys. (There, I said it. Haha! I was too shy to put that sentence in the email I sent. But this is my blog, I can write what my heart says without holding back)

^letter from AJ with a Bebi plant. She sent me oatmeal cookies and three novels too huehue she knows my weaknesses well haha thankuu ajj

^Matchaaaa from Patty thank you sist! <33

^Carbonaraaaa from Tomiee thank you siz!!!

Thank you to every single one of you. I was emotional when I wrote the open letter, but I got more nostalgic when I read your responses. I will always be thankful for the privilege of working with you and being your friend. Keep in touch, okay? We’ll still meet again. :)

Love,

Grace

#memories #grateful #work #job #Isentia #happy place #journey #personal #life #blog post #open letter #letter #colleagues #article #photojournal #thank you

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vcg73 · 4 years

Text

Witch!Kurt #42: The Calm Before the Storm

As promised, I got back to work on this. :)

~*~*~*~*~*~

Adam hummed as he moved through the kitchen, fetching plates, cups, and cutlery from their cabinets and drawers before dishing up the two servings of eggs and sausage links he’d just finished cooking.

He pulled a large orange from the refrigerator and cut it into halves, placing one on each plate. He really preferred grapefruit, but Kurt hated even the scent of them, so he compromised by purchasing a large bag of Mandarins on his last shopping trip. It made him feel better, since Kurt had ceased purchasing his own former staple of strawberries once he had discovered that Adam was allergic. Adam had insisted that there was no need for Kurt to give up a favorite food, and Kurt had made a noise of agreement but Adam had noticed soon afterward that their grocery list never had that particular fruit on it anymore. The bottle of strawberry pancake syrup that had formerly graced their little condiment shelf had also mysteriously vanished. It was the sort of sweet gesture that his husband tended to make without thought, and Adam was determined to show that he appreciated it in just as subtle a fashion. He refused to be another one of those people in Kurt’s life who took his generous nature for granted.

Pouring a steaming cup of tea for himself and coffee for Kurt, he smiled at how delightfully domestic this was. Other than company, the thing he had missed most during his seemingly endless span in the emptiness of the Void was simply having something to do. Getting his hands on some small chore and keeping busy with it. Adam had never been an idler, never one to just sit quietly with his hands folded and wait for something to come along. From earliest childhood, he had been a doer, taking satisfaction from playing games, cooking meals, scribbling notes, inventing choreography, learning some new skill, or sorting out an activity for others. He and Kurt had that in common, along with having work and living spaces that tended to stay tidy and well organized, though neither took it to neat-freak levels. Adam had missed being able to set his hand to a thing and see it completed, and a small part of him thrilled at the mundane little task.

It bothered him more than he liked to admit that he was still slightly off his game when it came to getting his nerve up for comings and goings beyond the loft, even after six months back in the real world, but having a full time stay-at-home job now helped immensely. Most of his daylight hours were kept busy making calls, booking online appointments, and sorting out talent for various casting calls about town. It made him feel useful again, and after only two months on the job, he was already earning praise from his employers and glowing reviews from their clients. That little boost to his self-esteem was making him bolder about going outdoors and meeting people again. Now that winter was over, greenery was beginning to pop up everywhere and the days were becoming mild and pleasant, beckoning him to take a nice walk through the park, or down to Bui’s for a spot of tea on his lunch hour. He no longer worked for Mrs. Bui, having given up his position as stock-boy to an eager young high schooler once his schedule with H&B had been set, but he still liked to pop round for a hot cup, two or three delicious chocolate biccies, and a nice gossip.

And then there was Kurt. How lucky he felt each day to wake up to the sight of that beautiful face on the pillow next to his, to phone him at lunchtime to say ‘how are you’, ‘what would you like for dinner’, and ‘I love you’. Such simple words, but so full of delight to them both. And he liked to be here, finishing up his work for the day, or bustling about getting the evening meal when it was his turn to cook, having it ready when Kurt came home from work or school, and seeing his face light up with joy at the sight of him.

“Hello, husband,” Kurt would say, with that loving look in his beautiful eyes as he came forward for a kiss and a fond embrace. “How was your day?”

Kurt took positive delight in that greeting, and Adam enjoyed hearing it just as much. He supposed over time the shiny newness of being married would wear off, but for now it was still great fun.

Adam buttered four newly popped slices of toast and once again divided them between the waiting plates, adding a quick smear of marmalade to his own half and a dribble of honey to Kurt’s. He added a bit of honey to his tea as well, then used the spoon he’d stirred it with to mix a helping of nonfat creamer and a packet of sweetener into the coffee. He took a small sip of the latter to test the level of sweetness, and then grimaced, wondering what he’d been thinking as he took a quick swig of tea to banish the taste. Kurt had grown up drinking Burt Hummel’s noxious brew, and he still preferred his coffee strong enough to degrease an engine or melt the spines off a cactus.

“Breakfast is ready, husband of mine,” he said, setting a plate and the coffee on Kurt’s side of the breakfast table just in time to greet him with a kiss as he wandered out from the bathroom, wearing a towel about his waist, skin fresh and still ever so slightly damp after showering.

Kurt kissed him back with a smile and immediately went for the cup, taking an experimental sip followed by a large happy slurp. “Mmm, this is great!” he said. “You used hazelnut creamer, didn’t you?”

Vaguely amused at his enthusiasm, Adam said, “I did. I used that cocoa infused espresso you bought last trip, and I thought hazelnut would be a nice complement to it.”

“Nutella in a cup,” he sighed blissfully, belting back another swallow. He kissed Adam again, on the cheek this time and said, “Be right back.”

Kurt disappeared into the bedroom, and Adam had just enough time to top up his cup and add another good dollop of creamer before Kurt emerged again wearing a smart new outfit of gray checked trousers, black shoes and belt, and a shimmery green, patterned button down. Now that he had truly got the hang of using his assorted magics, Kurt could get himself dressed for the day in the literal blink of an eye. The only delay would be in choosing which outfit to wear. It was the one power that Adam envied him, though he doubted that even being able to instantly don and discard clothing would give him the impeccably chic and polished look that Kurt always had.

After all, even his own power to whisk his hair into order with a thought did not give him the ability to look sexily tumbled when rising from his pillow of a morning the way Kurt typically did. Adam usually looked as though he’d received electric shock until he got himself under a hot shower, and he knew he could potter around in his closet for a good half hour trying on assorted items and still look like he’d just escaped from a harrowing ride through a clothes dryer. Lucky for him that Kurt found the rumpled look attractive.

“What’s funny?” Kurt asked, sitting down to breakfast. He hadn’t been gone long enough for the food to grow cold and he tucked in with an appreciative appetite.

Adam just waved a hand. “Oh nothing. Just musing about how unfairly gorgeous you are for first thing in the morning.”

Flattered, he blushed a bit, his eyes sparkling at the compliment. “You look nice too.”

And he did. Adam had a video call with a producer this morning, someone his agency had landed for casting of a big-budget film. Adam’s job was simply to take down the particulars of cast size, shooting schedule, and what sort of roles they were looking to fill, and then he would take down their availability and set up a second meeting with one of H&B’s more senior casting agents. But even that required a bit more spit and polish than usual.

He told Kurt as much. “I must let them see that Hanover & Bradley is a posh firm, even down to the lowliest of booking clerks.” He straightened his black and gold striped tie before lifting his nose in the air and sticking his pinky out with extreme dignity as he took a sip from his teacup.

As he had expected, Kurt laughed. “Well, I’m sure they’ll appreciate it. I wish it wasn’t considered unprofessional to suggest casting yourself. I glanced at the script spec you were reading last night and that movie sounds right up your alley.”

Adam smiled. “Appreciated, but I don’t think I’m quite ready for the chaos of a film set yet. Though I must admit that I have been growing bolder of late. I’ve been considering scraping the rust off of my acting skills and joining the Lightning Circle for one or two evenings a week.”

For a moment Kurt looked blank, but then he brightened as the name clicked. “That’s the Improv group that your friend Joey runs, isn’t it?” At Adam’s nod, he clasped his hands. “Adam, that would be amazing! It’s a perfect way to stick a toe in the water and find out whether or not you’d be comfortable on stage again. Joey was an Apple, so he’ll totally get it if you’re not quite ready to get out in public yet. You two were really close during my freshman year, so I imagine it would be like slipping into a favorite pair of shoes to work with him again. It won’t even matter if you’re rusty, because figuring your way around an awkward moment is the whole idea of Improv.”

Adam beamed at his support. “Exactly right. I had a talk with Janice during my last session about wanting to take baby steps back toward my aborted career. She suggested testing the waters in some small way, then reporting back on how it went. I was thinking Community Theater, or joining the Lexington retirees for one of their in-house productions, or a sketch comedy night somewhere. Then I recalled Joe telling us at the last Apples get-together that he’s renting a space in the Village. His troupe rehearses a few nights a week and performs on Sunday evenings. They write sketches, work out the framing, and then sort of fill in the blanks before an audience. I know for certain that I’m welcome to join.”

Kurt was grinning. “Then you should totally do it. Maybe we could start by attending a performance on the weekend, just to see what it’s like. That way you can make an informed decision about whether or not it’s something you want to do. I think it would be so good for you, honey. I know how refreshing it can be to put your problems aside and just be someone else for a little while. Plus it sounds like a lot of fun!”

Pleased at how easily Kurt had not only accepted the plan but dove straight in with his support, Adam said, “So, it’s a date then?”

Privately he was thinking that if this worked out, it might be a bit of fun they could do together. The others always asked after Kurt, and seemed quite interested in his progress at NYADA, so they would be glad to have him.

“It’s a date,” Kurt confirmed. Munching the last bite of his breakfast, he glanced at his phone on the table beside him and made a startled sound. “Oh, gosh! Is that the time already? Isabelle asked me to help choose the summer dress selections for the website today and I don’t want to be late.”

Adam nodded. He needed to get himself ready for the meeting soon as well. “Have fun and I’ll see you this afternoon. Is it your turn for dinner tonight?”

“It was, but I’ll do it tomorrow. Brittany called earlier and asked if she, Santana, and Tubbington could join us. They’ll pick up something from the Golden Lotus on the way here.”

He was used to this. Members of their witch family dropped by at odd hours all the time and usually brought food with them, so Adam nodded. “I’ll text and ask them for an order of sweet and sour, or maybe some General Tso. That pineapple and green pepper concoction they picked out the last time was revolting. I was belching peppers for two days straight.”

Kurt laughed. “I already asked. Santana likes that stuff, but Brittany agrees with you, and of course Tubbington would probably stage a revolt if they didn’t get his beloved Kung Pao Chicken, so nobody balked at my request to add Pork Fried Rice and General Tsao.”

Taking one last swig of coffee, Kurt took his dishes to the kitchen, then hurried to the bathroom to quickly brush his teeth. Giving his husband a minty kiss goodbye, Kurt grabbed his bag and a light jacket and was out the door.

Adam stared fondly after him for a moment, then willed the magical ward back into place and went to his own work.

~*~*~*~*~

“What’s happened?” Adam asked when Kurt came through the door without his usual cheerful greeting.

The buoyant mood Kurt had left home with this morning had transformed throughout the day into a feeling of tense foreboding that had been palpable the moment he walked in the door. Before that, actually. A more tamped-down version had been singing along their emotional bond for the past couple of hours.

Adam found himself wondering if their idyllic breakfast this morning had just been the calm before some great storm. Whatever it was, he suspected that their Sunday theater plans had just been cancelled. “Is something wrong in Ohio?”

“No,” Kurt said, speaking the word with a hint of hesitation. He made an impatient gesture with his hands as he amended it to, “Not exactly. Nothing’s really wrong, but I had a text from Sue Sylvester today and I suspect it’s no coincidence that she sent it to me on the same day Brittany and Santana suddenly decided to drop by for dinner.”

Adam agreed that this was unlikely. Sue had kept her promise to keep tabs on the Blaine situation for them, but she wasn’t the ‘just dropping a friendly line’ sort of person. “What did it say?”

Pulling out his phone, Kurt showed him the message. ‘Red Alert. Paddington has taken a flea dip.’ “What on earth?”

“Sue always codes her messages,” Kurt explained. “She thinks satellites are sharing them with the C.I.A. or something. Paddington is the nickname she gave to Dave Karofsky after he came out as gay. Y’know, as in a baby bear.”

Adam snorted, picturing the hulking young man he had briefly glimpsed on his aborted surveillance trip to Lima dressed in a duffel coat, red hat and wellies. “So in her own peculiar way, she’s telling you that Dave has rid himself of a certain pest?”

“That’s how I read it,” Kurt agreed. “He must have broken up with Blaine. Either he shook off Blaine’s persuasive influence somehow, or he just wasn’t as taken in by it as we assumed. I’d be interested to find out what happened. The important thing for now is that if Dave is gone, then Blaine doesn’t have anyone handy to power-dump his stolen magic into. That might make Blaine vulnerable.”

“Or it might make him more of a problem,” Adam reminded him, willing away the shiver of apprehension that skittered down his spine at Kurt’s words. “If Blaine has suddenly found himself alone and forced to return to what Santana colorfully calls the ‘snatch and splooge’ technique of transferring power, he could be extremely dangerous.”

Kurt shook his head. “That’s assuming he hasn’t stored power in half the innocent Standards in Lima. He was always unnaturally good at swaying a crowd to his side, long before the soul-polluting began. He’s a lot easier to deal with one on one than with a pack of supporters behind him. Especially ones who are convinced against all logic and evidence that he can do no wrong.”

Reading his meaning in that, Adam said flatly, “You are not going to face him alone, Kurt.”

“Well, I’m not sending you to spy on him again,” Kurt countered with a trace of heat. “I don’t want you going anywhere near him.”

“Nor I you, so if you think I’m going to just sit here safely on the sidelines while that nasty blighter attacks you, then …”

“Adam, I’ll be at twice as much risk if I’m worrying about what might happen to you,” Kurt interrupted. “I’m not an idiot. I know how dangerous he can be, and that you both want and deserve to be with me when I face him, but he nearly killed you once, and then just seeing him for an instant all but paralyzed you! The last time you two were face to face, you were at full strength and he still nearly destroyed you. What if he finds out that you’re not only still alive, but that I’ve married you, and once and for all torpedoed his plans for me? He’ll go berserk and I don’t want to risk him taking that out on you. If I put you in his line of sight, I might as well be pulling the trigger on you myself.”

Adam wanted to argue back that he would be equally devastated if Kurt were to face their enemy alone and be killed or sent to the Void. Which might well be the same thing, since none of their group might be able to find and rescue him if he were to be banished to that place without an anchor. But Kurt would resist such reasoning. For all his instinctive mother-henning of loved ones, he could be remarkably blind when it came to his own well-being.

“Darling, what with all the Lima people who came to our reception, I highly doubt that Blaine has remained oblivious to my miraculous return from the great beyond. I’m safer with you, and the members of our coven, than I ever would be alone.” He struggled to keep his voice calm, even though he suspected that his emotions were broadcasting loud and clear anyway. “I may not be as physically strong as I was the first time I encountered him, but magically I’ve grown stronger. One of the upsides to being part of a good coven. Since Joining with you, I’ve gained new levels of control. But what you’re forgetting is that neither one of us is in this alone. We have a group of excellent witches and Familiars at our back, as well as friends and family. It may turn out that Blaine has put together an army of brain-washed sycophants, but if the Intelligence we’ve received thus far is true, then we also have Coach Sylvester’s magically-inclined Cheerio squad to counter them.”

As he had hoped, Kurt responded to the logic of this statement. “That’s true,” he said slowly. “I hate the idea of putting kids at risk, but I’d put my money on the Cheerios over Blaine’s personal Fight Club any day of the week.”

“I wouldn’t discount Sebastian’s influence over his former prep-school peers either,” Adam pressed. “Or for that matter Finn and Sam’s influence over your old Glee Club, which might even have countered Blaine’s a bit. Just because you’ve been left with that self-enamored tosser as your sole responsibility in the past, doesn’t mean you still are. You were a lone ship on a stormy ocean once upon a time, Kurt, but now you’re the captain of a veritable armada, and the rest of us are just waiting for an order to fire a shot across Blaine’s bow.”

Kurt’s mouth, which had fallen open during Adam’s impassioned speech, clicked shut and he gave him a wan smile. “I’m not sure you aren’t being just a little too optimistic here, but you have a good point.” The smile widened. “You like to claim that you’re not much of an orator, but you give a darned good rallying speech.”

“I think so too,” Santana said by way of greeting, making the two of them jump in surprise as she opened the door and walked casually into their discussion. Kurt had dropped the ward as he came inside, and left it down knowing his friends would be arriving right on his heels. “And he’s right, oh Captain my Captain. If you go back to Lima and cut us out of all the fun after keeping us waiting for months to kick Anderson’s bubble butt, we’ll disown you and elect a new coven leader. I hear Drumsticks has his eye on the spot.”

“Johnny? But he never…oh,” Kurt said in chagrin, laughing a little when he realized she was teasing. “I guess I’m being kind of stupid.”

“Never bothered us before,” she replied, a wicked twinkle in her eye. “I take it you heard from Sue?”

Brittany and Tubbington, who had come in behind her, put their sacks of food down on the kitchen island and Brittany said, “She sent us a message this morning before I called. I wasn’t sure if I should say anything then.”

“Paddington?” Adam queried, wondering if they’d got the same text Kurt had.

Tubbington gave him a frown and said, “Dawn Patrol”.

Not as familiar with Coach Sylvester’s unique personal code as the rest of them, Adam said, “What does that mean?”

“Be on alert because it might be time to come to Lima and get Blaine out of everybody’s way,” Santana translated casually.

Seeing his confusion, Kurt said, “Dawn. You know, as in the dish-washing soap that’s supposed to be extra good at clearing away greasy messes? It … never mind. The point is that Blaine has been dumped, and Coach thinks it might have him off balance enough for us to make our move.” He looked at their guests and said, “Adam was reminding me that we’re a team and that Blaine is no longer just my problem.”

“He’s right, Junior,” Tubbington garbled as he pulled a steaming box and a pair of chopsticks out of the nearest bag and stuffed a large bite of food into his mouth while he spoke. “I been keeping tabs on your family through Sebastian and he tells me that Blaine has already started sniffing around your house now that Sam is living there again.”

“What?” Kurt said in alarm, jumping up from the chair he had just taken.

Brittany patted his arm. “Don’t worry, nobody is in danger. That’s part of what we wanted to tell you tonight. Your dad has Fam, that’s what Sam and Finn call themselves when they’re not being individuals, did you know that? Anyway, Burt has made them wear that cologne Adam made for him at Christmas, just to be safe. He offered some to Sebastian too, but a Familiar can’t be influenced by Wild Magics so he didn’t need it.”

“I should mix them up a fresh batch if Burt is sharing,” Adam mused, already considering ways he might beef up the recipe while still keeping the cologne smelling pleasant. Having been victim to Blaine’s venomous influence once, Sam and Finn might be more than usually vulnerable, and that wasn’t a risk he wanted to take. “Perhaps I could mix it into a deodorant, so there would be no danger of anyone forgetting to wear the potion. ‘Magical Musk for Men’, or some such.”

“You should do it,” Santana agreed, shrugging when she saw that nobody was bothering with food except for the always voracious Lord Tubbington, and going for plates and forks, which she spread around the table before helping herself to a serving of fried rice. “The old stuff does its job, though. Sebastian reported to L.T. that Blaine showed up at the house last night, God only knows why, and Burt met him at the door with a wicked set of hedge-clippers in hand.”

She cackled at the thought and everyone else had to grin at the picture it painted when Brittany added, “Your dad told him he’d had a feeling that it was time to prune away the obnoxious weeds that were in his yard. Then he clacked the blades just a couple of inches from Blaine’s crotch and stared him down until he ran off.”

“Didn’t stop moving until he hit the Lima Bean, from what I hear,” L.T. said with satisfaction, treating them all to a window-shaking belch as he picked a stray vegetable from his beard and popped it into his mouth. “Damn, that’s great. The Lotus must have a new chef.”

Kurt, no longer surprised that his father hadn’t reported the visit, sighed and sad down, taking a spoonful of rice and another of steaming beef & broccoli. Adam and Brittany likewise sat down and helped themselves to a serving of mouthwatering entrees. Adam happily sailed into the box of spicy chicken, also accepting a spoonful of beef & broccoli when Kurt shook the box with an inquiring look. Santana pulled out a second container of Kung Pao, having known from experience that nobody else would have a chance at the initial serving of Tubbington’s favorite, and passed it around.

“If Blaine is already trying to get in good with Sam again,” Kurt mused after a moment, “then it really does support the idea that losing Dave must have come as an unpleasant shock. To his ego if not his magic-stealing. There’s no way he could know that Sam isn’t alone anymore, right?”

“No,” Adam said, “I’m sure he doesn’t know. After all, he believes that he murdered Finn, just as he thinks he did to me. But if he’s seen him around Lima, then even without Sight he must realize that Sam is suddenly a good bit healthier than he was when their friendship was broken off. I could see so clearly, and I don’t even know the poor fellow well.”

Brittany nodded. “We went to visit my folks a couple of weeks ago and I looked in on Fam. Sam’s almost back to his old self again. You did a really good thing for him when you joined him with Finn.”

“Technically that was Sebastian’s idea,” Kurt said, giving credit where it was due. “And all of you helped.”

“Yeah, but you’re the one who actually did the heavy lifting,” Santana countered, having no patience for self-effacement. Not when it came to an act of combined delicacy and power, not to mention personal risk, that had left even her cynical self in awe. Sounding baffled by her next words, she added, “And Finn is happy riding around in the back of Sam’s brain. I thought sure he’d be going crazy by now, given how much he liked being the center of attention back in high school. Instead he seems to think he’s some kind of secret agent. As long as Sam lets him take the wheel and do what he wants a couple of times a day, he doesn’t seem to give a flying fuck that nobody else knows they’re taking to Finn Hudson, ex Lima superstar.”

“I suspect without the influence of power-hungry girlfriends, he’s actually happier out of the spotlight,” Kurt said dryly. “He liked being part of the Quarterback-Head Cheerleader power couple, until it became more pressure than fun. Then he hooked up with Rachel and she was a cattle prod in the backside as far as the craving for fame and popularity went. It wasn’t until they went long-distance and Finn didn’t have anyone to give him orders, or any independent direction of his own, that he kind of crashed.”

Brittany nodded. “And Sam always felt more comfortable having an image to hide behind, so he probably likes being able to sit back and let Finn take over some of the time.” She smiled gently. “I think the people who used to know them both are a little confused, though. People never seem to see things clearly without a map.”

Remembering some of the mind-bending leaps of logic this woman had taken in the years he had known her, Kurt had to agree. Brittany always saw things clearly, it was one reason she had the most powerful gifts of Sight and magical intuition he had yet encountered, but unfortunately her idea of clarity rarely matched up with anyone else’s. At least not without a lot of practice in translating her thoughts. He had become far better at ‘speaking Brit’ over this past year than he had ever done when they were schoolmates.

“Makes sense,” he said. “Okay, so assuming my family is safe, Fam’s secret is still intact, and Blaine is beginning to lose control, how much time do you think we have to deal with this?”

“Not long, I would say,” Adam said, brow furrowing in thought. “When I confronted him two years ago, he panicked and went into immediate attack mode. Same with your brother. If he’s reeling from the insult of being dumped, and possibly from the withdrawal of whatever power he’d stored up in your friend Dave … well, I fear we’ve left this kettle boiling too long as it is.”

Tubbington cut in, “Oh, he’ll be feeling it, I’m sure of that. I don’t know if that other kid is still in town or not, but if he broke off their relationship it’s a cinch Dave’s not willing to let Blaine cozy up for a nice easy power withdrawal. Whatever magic had been stored in him would have started draining away almost immediately once he was at a safe distance.”

At Kurt’s querying noise, Adam said, “As you know, magic has a shelf-life. We can only do so much before we’re either starving or exhausted from having used up our reserves. Storing magic in a prepared object allows it to stay viable for a while, like storing perishables in the freezer. But storing it in a person would mean using their physical reserves. Like storing those perishables in a hot garage. The power would begin to ‘go bad’ in a very short amount of time, and while the vessel could be damaged in the long term, they could also be helped by it in the short.”

“In what way?” Kurt asked, resting his elbows on the table and pressing his lips to steepled fingers as he unconsciously adopted a studying pose.

Santana answered, “Like, if Sam had been critically injured and Blaine had siphoned a portion of his own power, his own life-force, into him to keep him alive until they could get medical help, that would be okay. Noble, even. Not that something that selfless would ever occur to him.”

Tubbington agreed, “I’ve been around long enough to see that happen a couple of times, but before the human litter-box came along, I’d never even heard of a witch, regular or Wild, stealing magic from other witches without their knowledge and power-dumping it into some poor unwitting Standard. Only to steal that power back for their own personal use with no thought as to how much damage they were causing. That he did it to supposed loved ones?” He made a sound that suggested he was about to reject the box of Chinese food he had just inhaled.

“The sorts of things we can do as witches gives us an advantage over the majority of society,” Adam resumed. “And it is widely accepted throughout the community that that sort of privilege gives us a firm ethical responsibility to not misuse our power, nor go mucking about in the lives of Standards. I have wondered from time to time if the general bias against the weak, uncontrolled power of most Wild witches hasn’t led to the rest of us dropping the ball there. After all, if one never knows they’re a witch, how is one to develop the ethical foundation that is, quite frankly, expected of us? Blaine Anderson is an extreme case of self-aggrandizing moral decay, but I doubt he’s alone in it.”

“Well, there’s a cheerful thought,” Santana said sourly. “You’re saying all this is somehow our fault?”

Surprising them all, Kurt who said, “No. I spent months, years even, blaming myself for all the crap Blaine pulled when we were together. I’ve finally accepted that I wasn’t responsible for his actions or responses, only for my own. I’m not going back to thinking otherwise. Blaine was hypocritical, oblivious to other people’s feelings, and painfully self-absorbed long before he and I first started having problems. I was just too infatuated at first, and too emotionally beaten down later, to actually see it. I suspect from certain things he’s told me about his childhood that he always has been that way.”

Adam nodded. “True, and we’re speaking of Blaine as though he were a child, with no ability to recognize how destructive his behavior has been. He’s not.”

Brittany nodded. “There are a lot of bad people out in the world who got there without any help from magic. People who commit terrible crimes every day. Blaine is just doing his the easy way.”

Making a frustrated motion with his hands, Kurt said, “If the magical community is at fault in any way, it’s in not actually behaving as a community. NYADA is as much a school for witches as a school for performing artists, but you’d never know it until something goes wrong.”

“Do you know they actually had the nerve to send us a sternly worded letter after our wedding, admonishing us for performing a Major Working without a senior coven official present?” Adam said to Santana, Brittany, and Tubbington in response to his husband’s disgusted tone. “Basically they scolded us for not asking permission. Kurt was ready to go down to NYADA on the spot, likely leaving a few scorch marks in his wake, but I convinced him to not ruin a promising academic career, and to take a different approach.”

Smiling slightly, having come to appreciate Adam’s occasionally twisted sense of humor, Santana said, “What did you do to them?”

He blinked at her with calculated innocence in his too-wide blue eyes. “I merely passed the letter over to Gran, with a gentle hint that she wasn’t being properly respected for her status as a Senior level witch, and reminding her that Carmen and her crew never did apologize for their laxity in my own rescue.”

She laughed, “Oh, you are evil!”

Kurt laughed as well. “We got another letter that same week advising us to ‘please disregard the former missive’ and congratulating us on our wedding and a ‘difficult job well done’.”

“Honestly it was as close to groveling as I ever expect to see from the Almighty Carmen,” Adam chuckled. “Gran must have given them a tongue-lashing they’ll never forget.”

A sigh came from Kurt. “That’s what’s so frustrating, though! If powerful coven leaders like Madame Tibideaux, whose business is supposed to be education, would only make it their mission to trade information, help those who need it and make sure nobody falls through the cracks the way Finn and I almost did, and assessing and training those with power without treating those with unusual types of magic as second-class or unimportant, the world would be a much better place. They have the power, and they could make sure that cases like Blaine’s wouldn’t happen, because someone would always have their eyes open to step in and redirect someone who’s going the wrong way before they turn into a complete disaster.”

A swift interested chain reaction of glances and nods passed between his companions. Every good coven eventually developed a higher purpose, something beyond mere friendship and the occasional Major Working. Kurt had, without quite realizing it, just hit upon theirs. Their peculiar mixture of powers and creative problem-solving, Adam’s interest in the history of witchcraft, Johnny’s fascination with the mechanics of spell crafting, the unexpected co-mingling of Animagus and Purebred Familiars, Kurt’s own seeming magnetism toward all manner of people, both magical and Standard, drawing even Wild witches and the extremely rare Magic Dampers into his sphere; all spoke to the blending of a wider, more open overall community.

Oblivious to their silent communication, Kurt went on, “I guess that’s why I still feel like confronting Blaine is up to me. Or rather, to us.”

“Well, you know you can count me in,” Lord Tubbington said. “I’ve wanted to flex my claws on that ugly little scratching post since the first time I saw him.”

“Mine too,” Brittany said with no trace of irony. “I knew he was up to something bad the first time he came to Glee Club dressed like male Rachel.”

Still smirking a bit, Santana said, “I’ve been waiting to kick his ass since last Thanksgiving. What do you say, Kurt?”

He nodded. "Let’s get Dani, Johnny, Monica, and Elliott over here. I think it’s time we put together a plan.”

THE END

#Witch!Kurt #Kadam fic #One Three Hill Coven #Kurt Hummel/Adam Crawford #not Blaine or klaine friendly

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fc5holidayexchange · 4 years

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Far Cry 5 Holiday Exchange 2019 Fic

“it’s just a matter of time until we’re all found out” Female Deputy/John Seed @unclefungusthegoat Here’s my gift for the exchange! I had a ton of fun working on it- especially in trying to keep the Deputy generic while writing her as a person. I hope the formatting’s okay- tumblr has a tendency to wreck my posts. Deputy/John Seed, enemies to friends to lovers, alcohol use, mentions of abuse, secret love affair

John Seed’s grave is a simple one. There are no flowers or adornments, just his name crookedly scratched into a wooden cross. The Deputy thinks she might be the only one who visits, thinks she might be the only one who understands that John Seed was more than the monster they wanted to make him out to be. Knows that the Resistance, or what was left of it, would never forgive her if they’d know how carefully she’d crafted the simple grave or how often her feet kept coming back, let alone the other things she’d done after she’d stepped into this strange, new world.

Even now. Even years after the Collapse, when Joseph was holed up with his New Eden and she’d stopped being known as Deputy and started being known as Judge before she abandoned even that.

She’s never admitted that she wears the Judge’s mask even now to keep from having to look them in the eye. Pastor Jerome, the Rye family…she knows none of them would understand. It just makes it all the more bitter, really. They had been friends, once. Some of them still thought they were.

She doesn’t even think Joseph knows where the grave is. She’d never told him, down in the bunker, and he’d never asked to see it. —

Their first meeting, off the record as it was, had been an accident. There was a spot, in the woods of the Holland Valley, with an old two-room cabin. It was shabby and old, falling apart even then. The Deputy hadn’t had the faintest clue about fixing one up so all she’d managed to do was patch the roof to keep the rain off of her when she went there to hide.

And hide she did, with all the whiskey bottles she could carry. There was something especially soothing about sitting in that rickety old rocker on the porch, watching it rain a few feet away from her, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and a bottle of whiskey or vodka or scotch or whatever else she could find cradled in her hands.

She hadn’t realized she wasn’t the only one who visited the cabin. She’d been sitting there one day, watching the rain. The whiskey bottle had been mostly forgotten- she wasn’t even tipsy yet. And then, out of the woods, came John Seed, his jacket pulled over his head to try to keep the rain off.

He didn’t notice her until he was standing on that rickety old porch, shrugging out of that coat of his. She just stared at him, fingers curled loosely around the neck of the bottle she was holding. And he’d just stared at her, like he couldn’t quite believe who he was looking at.

And then, instead of a white flag, she’d held out the bottle of whiskey, and he’d taken it, wordlessly. He’d sat down in the other rickety old rocker, pulled it closer so they could pass the drink back and forth between them, and they’d sat in silence until it stopped raining.

Neither of them really drank much, though.

—

Their second meeting had also been accidental. This time, John had already been there when the Deputy arrived, half out of breath from the hike there. He’d given her a nod of acknowledgement and after a moment she seated herself in her usual rocker.

She didn’t remember falling asleep, but she remembers waking up with a blanket draped across her and John Seed’s jacket folded under her head like a pillow.

—

They don’t speak until their fourth meeting together. It is far too cold, that night, for them to sit outside, and so when John had arrived at the cabin, she was inside, putting wood into the old fireplace. Wordlessly, John had knelt down beside her and started helping.

Half an hour later, they are sitting on the blankets in front of the roaring fire. The Deputy had given up the alcohol she used to carry, had turned it all into molotovs to burn the shrines littered around. Instead, she’s picked up smoking. It gives her something to do with her hands when the silence is overwhelming and when she mindlessly offers the cigarette to John he takes a drag before passing it back.

And just like that they’re sharing a cigarette and watching the fire dance. It is quiet and peaceful and they have both forgotten, for the moment, that there is a veritable war waging in Hope County.

“Why?” John asks, after the cigarette has burned down and she’d snuffed it out on the old wood floor.

He doesn’t specify, but she doesn’t need him to.

“I give so much to the Resistance. I understand why they need it- Joseph…look, I know he’s your brother, but he doesn’t give people a choice and I can’t let him get away with it. Everyone deserves a choice on their own terms. But…there’s only so much I can give before there’s nothing left,” she says, and from the way John shifts and pulls his blanket tighter around him, she knows he understands.

“It’s why I come here,” he says, and then they’re silent until the fire burns out and she gets up to leave.

—

Days pass before they see each other again. After a particularly difficult outpost that she finally liberated, she retreats to the little cabin to lick her wounds.

She didn’t want the Resistance or the Peggies to see her hurt. To see her weak. She doesn’t think about why she comes here, to this particular little cabin where she knows John Seed comes.

Instead, she starts to methodically start a fire and put an old dented bucket full of water over it to boil. She doesn’t think- and desperately hopes she won’t- need stitches. The bullets had only grazed her side and while it hurt like a bitch it wouldn’t kill her. Probably.

Hopefully.

She’s in the middle of cleaning it when she hears the front porch creak. She tenses, for a moment, but her hands keep cleaning the wound as best as she can. She can’t reach it very well and it hurts badly enough that she wants to give up and throw the gauze away. Her hands are shaking, too, maybe from shock.

And then, just when she thinks she can’t do it for another second, there’s another set of hands on hers, coaxing her into letting go. She hisses through her teeth at the sting as John slowly and carefully cleans her side.

Wordlessly, he picks up the bandages from the open med-kit in front of her and starts to wrap them around her. He never wavers, his eyes not leaving the wound.

She wishes, for a moment, that he was being awful. That he was deliberately hurting her or staring at her as she sits in nothing but a bra or even trying to cop a feel. But he wasn’t. He was being kind and careful and gentle and it made it incredibly hard to hate him as he taped the bandages in place.

He looks up, meeting her eyes. Wordlessly, he takes her blanket and wraps it around her shoulders.

Later, she’ll wonder what it meant.

—

The next time they meet, it is raining. It’s a warm rain, gently pattering against the rusty tin roof. She sits quietly in her blanket, a warm cup of tea held loosely in her hands. John sits in the other rocker, as silent as she is.

It is a welcome moment of quiet after a week or more of constant, exhausting struggles. Arguments with Dutch and the Resistance when they didn’t agree with her desire to help the cultists overcome their indoctrination, small but grating comments on her tactics that she heard until she felt like she was going to explode.

For once, it is easy to let her mind slip away and wander. She thinks about the world outside Hope County and how distant it feels now. Thinks about the gun she saw in the shop in Fall’s End that she wants and starts planning how she’s going to modify it. Thinks about Boomer and wonders how soon she’ll need to get more dog food for him or if she should just bite the bullet and start cooking meat for him. Thinks about how she might go about making a new collar for Boomer and other small tasks that she just wants to do.

She only stirs when the rain stops, glancing at the watch she always wears for the time. It’s getting late enough that somebody will start to wonder about her sooner or later and she doesn’t want to risk them finding the small little cabin.

She rises from the chair, putting the tea that had grown cold on the porch rail, she hears a quiet snore from John. She freezes in place, half out of the chair, and her eyes dart to him.

He’s peaceful, in his sleep. She hadn’t realized how much he worried until she saw him relaxed. His blanket had ridden down to his lap, piled up. Before she can stop herself, she reaches over, pulling it up to his shoulder. John doesn’t move, save for the soft rise and fall of his chest.

She wonders what he would think if he knew she was standing here, watching him sleep. Was it creepy? She would probably think it was if she wasn’t doing the watching.

But then…this was reminding her, more than anything, that John Seed was a man instead of a monster. Mary May and Nick Rye and everybody else could talk about how evil and sadistic he was all they wanted.

She didn’t have to believe them. Carefully, she folds her blanket up, sliding it under his head like a pillow. She leaves him there after a long moment spent looking at him and marveling at what she saw.

She’ll think about it long after she’s left the cabin.

—

The next time she sees him, it is in his bunker. Joey Hudson sits across from her, eyes angry and pleading and sad and sorry all at once.

She can’t quite bring herself to look at John, so she keeps her eyes on Joey. What would her fellow deputy think if she knew?

When John asks who will go first, she answers immediately. If Joey went first, if she found out…she couldn’t let John hurt her, either. Couldn’t bear to sit alone in the dark and think about what might be happening to her. So, selfishly, she says yes.

And she tries not to think about the slow smile that spreads across his face when she does.

—

She escapes, because that’s what she’s good at. As much as she wanted to say yes, she knows the Resistance needs her. Knows that, despite their shared and stolen moments, she and John are on opposite sides.

She doesn’t know why the cabin is the first place she goes. She isn’t surprised, either, when John stalks in a few hours later. The look he gives her is scathing. She braces herself.

“You could have killed yourself!” John hisses, and she’s left blinking at him. She had expected anger at her escape, not concern for her safety.

“The Resistance needs me, John. I- I can’t,” she says, voice weak, because she has to convince herself before she can convince him.

“The Collapse is coming, Deputy. I just- I want you to come out on the other side of it,” he says with, a long and slow exhale.

Cautiously, carefully, she reaches out and puts her hand on his shoulder. She feels like she’s on the edge of a cliff. She feels like she is about to fall.

She thinks she might jump instead.

—

They start talking more, after that. At first, she had cautiously asked John to tell her more.

About the cult. About the Collapse. About what he believed in and what he didn’t and why. And then he’d told her about his childhood.

She only knew John Seed, had never known John Duncan, but there was something scared and vulnerable in his eyes when he told her. She reaches out, a hand on his shoulder.

“You didn’t deserve that,” she says, and means it.

She thinks something changes between them, that night.

—

The weather forecast calls for a week of freezing rain. It is fall, in Hope County, and everyone knows she can’t fight a cult in the rain. She tells her friends not to worry and heads up into the woods. When the weather clears, she promises, she’ll be back.

John’s already waiting in the cabin when she gets there. He’s got a fire going and wood stockpiled by the door. He’s sitting in front of the fire- he’d brought a pile of blankets and pillows and spread them out into a comfortable looking nest.

She kicks her shoes off, dropping her backpack by the door. Quietly, she pads over to John and drops down next to him.

He has a cup of tea waiting for her. She takes it, gratefully and wordlessly. The warmth from the fire suffuses her and for the first time since the helicopter crash, she can relax.

She’s asleep before her head hits his shoulder.

—

He only wakes her up to lay her down on the blankets, a pillow under her head. He lays down next to her and she’s only aware of the warmth she curls into.

—

Eventually, the rain stops. They both know they cannot hide from the world forever- John has his family and she has the Resistance.

They don’t speak as they pack their things. John leaves the blankets and pillows in the cabin- they both know they’ll be back soon enough.

It’s bittersweet. They both know that outside the cabin they will go back to what they were. To enemies. To opposite sides of a war neither of them wanted to fight.

How she wishes she could just say yes. Could just give in. Could just go home and run away from Hope County and let it be someone else’s problem, but she’s never been the type to run when people needed her and if anyone had ever needed her it was now.

She doesn’t look at him, either, as she packs. Until, right before she heads for the door, he grabs her by the arm. There’s a long moment where they stare at each other, silently. A thousand unsaid things lay between them.

“Be careful,” he says, eventually, his voice gruff. When he lets go of her it is reluctantly and she forces herself through the door without looking back.

She knows if she did she wouldn’t ever leave.

—

A cold spell hits and the Resistance and the cult both slow down. Neither of them are needed that much and so it is easy for them to disappear. The first day, they gather firewood together. Enough to last them the duration of the cold spell, until it warms up in a week or so. Enough that they can just stay together until they can’t anymore.

She brought more whiskey and this time they drink it. She has a hold on it more than he does, doesn’t want to give him the option of slipping back into old habits. He’d told her about his old addictions when he’d told her about the Duncan family and she didn’t want him to fall back into it. She knew how easy it was, to slip into old habits like that.

“You know what I miss,” she announces, unceremoniously, once the whiskey is warm in her stomach and the fire is warm next to her and John is sitting across from her.

“What do you miss?” he asks, a faintly amused smile on his face.

“I miss movies. I can’t find any good ones in Hope County and I just…I miss being able to curl up with a blanket and a hot cup of tea and just…watch a movie,” she says. She doesn’t say that she wants to watch movies with him, curled up against his side, head on his chest.

“Joseph wanted them confiscated,” he admits. She groans, rolling her eyes.

“Older brothers are no fun,” she says, and John can’t help but laugh.

—

Too soon, the cold snap breaks and the air warms back up. They leave the cabin, reluctantly. Neither one of them want to.

Soon enough, though, they’re back. They always come back. To the cabin, to each other. To this small, sheltered place, where the rest of the world ceases to exist as soon as they cross the threshold.

This time, John has a big bag he holds out to her. When she opens it, she finds it is full of movies. Old VHS tapes and DVDs alike.

“There’s more, if you make your way through those,” he starts to say, but she cuts him off. She launches herself at him, arms wrapping around him in a hug with a small squeal of delight.

He laughs, his arms coming down to wrap around her.

That’s when she realizes she’s in too deep, that she will never be able to stop caring about John Seed. That she will never see him as the monster the Resistance does.

—

Days after John gave her the movies, the Deputy finds herself laid up in bed. Nick Rye is kind enough to give her a spare bed in their house- he drags a tiny television in and sets it up at the foot of the bed, shifting the crib around. She tries to come up with an excuse to stay somewhere else, but the baby isn’t born yet and Nick and Kim won’t hear it.

So that’s how she finds herself watching through the movies John gave her, bandages wrapped around her stomach and her right thigh and her left arm. The gunfight she’d gotten in had been a bad one and she’d ended up taking more than one bullet for a civilian the cult had captured.

It takes weeks to recover. She does most of it on her own- fumbles to change her bandages, struggles up and down the stairs in the Rye house to the bathroom. Kim just thought she was going stir-crazy, gave her small sympathetic smiles whenever she caught her eye. But she wanted to be back at the cabin. Wanted it to be John coming to check on her every couple of hours instead of Nick.

And so, as soon as the Resistance doctor assigned to her gives her permission to go, she’s gone. The hike to the cabin takes longer than it used to. Takes more out of her, too, because by the time she arrives and sinks down into the rickety old rocker she’s out of breath.

She’s only just barely sat down when the door opens and John steps onto the porch. She heaves herself out of the chair, wavering unsteadily. She stares at him for a moment just as he stares at her.

And then he’s kissing her. She didn’t remember either of them crossing the distance, but suddenly her hands are curled in the loose fabric of his shirt and he’s supporting her weight with one arm while his other hand cards through her hair.

She kisses him like he’s air and she’s drowning, her fingers bunching tighter and tighter into his shirt, trying to pull him impossibly closer.

When they break apart, they’re both breathless.

“I was worried,” he manages, voice thick.

All she does is kiss him again.

—

When she wakes up in the church with John leaning over her, the sharp sting of the tattoo needle on her chest throbbing, her first thought is one of panic. She never considered herself a good actress and here, surrounded by Nick and Pastor Jerome and the others, she is sure they’ll be found out. Sure that they’ll figure out she’s nothing more than a backstabbing fraud who fraternizes with the enemy.

When Pastor Jerome offers her the false book, she knows what it is. She knows that, inside, under the cover, there is a hidden gun.

She has never been more afraid to take something in her entire life. But Jerome is staring pleadingly at her and she can’t look over at John to warn him because if she does she knows they’ll find out.

So she takes the gun and hopes nobody will notice she never once aims it at John.

—

The Deputy is good at what she does, but she is only human. When Nick shoots his plane down she thinks she can feel her heart stop. She’s fumbling with the parachute before Nick even finishes crowing about the victory, fingers at the ready as she braces herself at the door.

“Fly home,” she tells him, before taking off the headphones. The wind steals anything he might say in response as she opens the door and then she’s falling and she’d be worried if she hadn’t already fallen for the youngest Seed.

The only difference now is that the parachute catches her before she hits the ground and then she’s pulling it off, shrugging her shoulders out of it as she runs forward.

She finds him on the ground, bleeding and broken but still alive.

She doesn’t need to say anything. John reaches for her, pulls her down to him. She doesn’t realize she’s crying until she sees the tears falling into his hair as she cradles him against her chest. His hand presses the key into her hand.

“No, no, no, no,” is all she can say and John is too injured to say anything in response.

—

When she finally stands up to make the trip to his bunker, she knows the Resistance will not recognize her.

She had been pulling her punches for far too long because of John. Now that she doesn’t have to worry about him, she finds it would be terrifyingly easy to burn the valley to the ground.

—

“Rook,” comes a voice, tearing her away from the memories. Footsteps crunch on the leaves surrounding the grave and then there’s a warm hand on her shoulder.

“Coming here isn’t good for you,” the voice says again. She sighs, tearing her eyes away from the stupid, simple grave that she’d worked so damn hard on.

“I like to remember,” she answers stubbornly. He chuckles, before pulling her against his side. She can’t help but melt into his warmth.

“Focus on what we have now,” he says, softly, insistently. She huffs, turning one last time to look at the grave.

“We don’t have much,” she says, because they live on their own in a little cabin with a rickety front porch and blankets that were old before the Collapse. Because they can’t live in Prosperity or New Eden. Even though they both have people they miss.

“We have each other, Rook,” he reminds her, voice gentle. And she knows. She knew it would be like this when she’d hidden John away in a small bunker she’d found near the cabin. Knew it even as she brought him preserved foods and water and clothes and anything else she thought he might need if the world suddenly ended. Knew it even as she sat in the bunker with Joseph, waiting for the radiation to clear out of the air so she could go check on him. As she worried that he ran out of supplies or that he’d begun to hate her during those long, long years apart.

“You know, you don’t have to use my last name,” she says, because he’s right. Because it’s better to focus on the now, on the old little cabin they’ve turned into a home, on how she likes the way he looks with the salt-and-pepper hair as the grey creeps in. On how, after everything, they finally have each other.

“You hate it when I use your first name,” he reminds her, a teasing little smile curling the corners of his mouth up. She scoffs, but when he tugs her back in the direction of the house, she goes easily.

After all, the ending they’ve earned is bittersweet, but it’s theirs.

#john seed/deputy #deputy oc #john seed #enemies to friends to lovers #tw: alcohol use #mentions of abuse #secret love affair #gift: fic #fc5holidayexchange #unclefungusthegoat #submission

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rogerina-yee-haw · 5 years

Text

"Oranges"

Joe Mazzello x Reader One shot

summary: your elder brother has a best friend and you've been in love with this guy since you were five. But this guy is Joe Mazzello and he doesn't love you back. Or this is just what you think.

word count: 2,4K+

a/n: I wrote this some time ago for my baby @starfleet-wannabe 💓 since my girl received some amazing news this week, I decided to finally post this fic, because Erin deserves a lot of Joe and good stuff in her life ily bby ❤💕💝💞💖

tagging my love @chicagoblackhawkslover96 cause she asked and cause i love her very dearly!💖💕🖤❤✨

warnings: fluff!! fluff!! fluff!! some angst (just a tiny bit), implied smut and typos (as usual lmao)

Oranges.

When you were five, Joe gave you two oranges, because you were crying over a broken toy. He was fifteen, tall and very sweet, while asking you what happened and smiling at you softly. He had been your brother’s best friend since forever, and you grew up having him around; so Joe, hanging out in your house on the regular basis, wasn't an unusual thing.

When he gave you those two oranges - your favorite fruit - your heart skipped a bit for the first time in your life. You didn’t know what happened and why it happened, but you certainly liked the feeling. It made you feel sweet and nice, and you stopped crying immediately. You shared the oranges with Joe as you two were sitting on the grass in your backyard; he kept on smiling and asking about your day - just to distract you from the broken toy.

“Joe!” your brother ran out, panting as he spoke. “Come on, the boys are waiting!”

“I’m having a very serious conversation with your sister, Chris!”

Your brother huffed and winced. “This can wait. Besides, if we don’t go now, Chloe will leave the party”.

You saw the way Joe’s eyes sparked when your brother mentioned the girl’s name, and he got up and left with Chris, telling you to be careful at last. You still remember how your little heart ached when he left.

You accidentally threw an orange at his head when you were fifteen yourself. You aspired to be a juggler and Joe was laughing at you as you were telling him about it.

“You can’t be a juggler,” he said, sitting down at the kitchen table. “Your mom won’t simply let you”.

You rolled your eyes. “I bet your ass, Mazzello. When she sees my skills, she’ll understand that there’s no other choice for me. I’m a great juggler”.

“No, you’re not”.

“You wanna bet?”

He let out a deep sigh and then looked at you; his hazel eyes were scamming you, trying to burn you down - or you would state it like that. You were lost in his gaze. Lost and found only in him. “I’ve never understood your terrible desire to bet on everything, Y/N”.

You huffed and crossed your arms over your chest. “You know I’m good. You’re just a pussy, Mazzello”.

He rolled his eyes at your remark. “We both know that Chris is the biggest pussy in this household. But alright. Show me your skills”.

You took three oranges from the bowl, two in your left hand and one in the right, and took a deep breath. “Goddamn it, Y/L/N, it’s not like your life depends on it or something”.

“Shut up, Joe”.

You started juggling the oranges and it was really bad. They were falling from your hands right on the floor or on the kitchen table; you were picking them up, starting juggling again, and Joe was just wheezing. He was holding his hands on his stomach, cackling and tilting his head back, as he was laughing loudly. He didn’t even notice that you stopped juggling and just kept on laughing. You clenched your jaw and started breathing heavily, as you felt anger rising from your stomach to your chest. You took one orange and threw it right into his forehead, making him jump from his seat and look at you shockingly.

“The fuck are you doing, Y/L/N?”

Your answer was simple. “Juggling”.

As Joe was plotting his revenge, your mom walked into the kitchen, ruining the moment. “Joey! I didn’t know you were back!”

“Yeah, Mrs. Y/L/N, I’m here for a couple of weeks. Life in Los Angeles is very-”

“Boring”, you finished for him. He glared at you and sighed heavily.

“No, Y/N. It is very stressful”.

“Of course it is. Especially with you and Chris working yourselves off there”.

Despite being rather angry with each other, you and Joe involuntary shared glances. Your brother wasn’t the hard-working one, in contrast to Joe.

"So, your mom told me you have a girlfriend. As your god-mother, I would be very happy to see her and approve of your choice”, your mother smiled lightly and you rolled your eyes. Of course, Joe had a girlfriend. Of course. He was twenty-five years old, he should have had someone. At this age, your parents were already married with a child. Of course.

“Oh, trust me, you won’t regret meeting her”.

He smiled so widely and happily that your heart sank, making you believe that you and he would never happen. He was ten years older than you, an actor and your brother’s best friend, who never considered you to be more than a little girl, crying over a broken toy.

Even three years later, when he practically stumbled upon you on your prom night, he still didn’t see you as an adult. You were eighteen then, already legal, wearing a short pink dress, that was giving easy access for observing your long legs - even then Joe didn’t see you as a possible romantic interest.

“Wow, sorry, Y/N”, he said after you hit each other accidentally with your shoulders. He looked you up and down and gave you a cheeky grin. “Going out?”

“Prom night. Waiting for my date”.

He hummed in response. “Got it. Have a nice night. But don’t drink too much. Well, you should drink as it is your senior prom, but don’t get agitated like-”

“Joe”, you interrupted his rambling. “I got it. You can stop giving me a lecture, Chris has already done that today. Twice”.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m just…” he sighed as he looked you straight in the eyes. “You just grew up so fast. I still remember you crying over that broken Barbie”. He smiled and your heart melted. Maybe it was the first time you realized that you loved him - desperately and infinitely. You loved his hazel eyes, that were looking right into your soul, his soft ginger hair, his sweet smile and him.

You felt your breath hitching, and your eyes started looking everywhere but at Joe - and it was a straight sign of you being nervous and flustered. So you tried to hide it, by chucking and turning your head away. “Yeah, I guess. That Barbie was pretty important to me, you know”. He laughed and scratched the back of his head.

“Yeah, I remember. Good luck tonight, Y/N”.

He remembered. Your heart pounded crazily in your chest throughout the whole night; and not because your date was a hot guy who wanted to get in your pants the entire time, but because Joe remembered. You came back home in the morning, with messy hair and your lipstick smudged all over your face from kissing with your date; only to find a glass of water, an orange, and a note on your bedside table.

“Oranges help with the hungover. Trust me. Joe.”

Now you were twenty-five, the same age Joe was when you threw an orange at his head. You couldn't call yourself a juggler, because the only thing you juggled with were your emotions as you were on the edge of mental breakdown while working with kids. Teaching maths in middle-school made you go crazy, as your students didn’t always listen to what you said. You saw your family rarely and, instead, you saw Joe almost every day. You couldn’t get enough of each other when you stumbled upon one another in February.

He just got back from filming “Bohemian Rhapsody” and you were coming home after a long day of dealing with middle-schoolers. You met in Starbucks and hearing him say, “Sugar honey iced tea, Y/N!” made your day much better. It also brought back all the feelings you had for him, all the love you tried to get rid of your entire life. You lived in a small flat with your cat Nancy and had a failed engagement behind your shoulders. And Joe was the sun that shined through the darkness and brought you back to life. He had breakups, heartbreaks and a lot of pain in his life, but still remained happy and excited about everything. At that moment you hadn’t seen each other for a year - and it seemed that it would take you the same amount of time to catch up on. You had talked for three hours, looking at each other and slightly touching one another. His gaze was constantly fixed on you, as he was looking at your face, into your eyes and staring quite obviously at your lips. You were giggling like crazy at every joke he told, tucking your hair behind your ears and biting your lips. You were all grown and legal, you thought, he should do something with it.

You were by Joe’s side through his darkest and saddest moments, holding his hand and hugging him tightly, while he was crying, clinging onto you as if his life depended on it. You spent more time with him rather than with your family, and your mother noticed it but didn’t say anything. She just silently watched Joe finally falling in love with you.

Summer was nearing its end, and you and Joe were even closer now. You spent too much time together for it just to be called “friendship”. You used to hang out at his place much more, as it was bigger and you liked it more than your own. He said yours was much cozier and he couldn't stop gushing about Nancy who seemed to love him even more than her rightful owner.

In August your childhood friend invited you to her wedding, and Joe was your “+1”, as you just couldn't show up alone to the wedding where you ex-fiance should have been with his new girlfriend. Your ex didn’t even bother you that much, you just wanted to be with Joe. As you have always wanted.

He held your hand and had his arm over your shoulder the entire time, and you kept smiling non-stop. At one point, when you were standing outside, shaking under the cool summer wind, he wrapped his jacket around your shoulders and kissed you. He tasted the way you always imagined - like oranges and summer. You answered to his kiss, leaning in closer, trying to get as much of him as possible. When he pulled away, you both were breathing heavily and grinning.

“Wanted to do it since February”, he whispered, and it sent shivers down your spine. You smiled softly and took his face in your hands, and kissed him again. You couldn't get enough of him. He couldn't get enough of you. That led to you two going to his apartment.

You ripped each other’s clothes off and you squeaked - you didn’t have anything else to wear to go home in the morning. “Don’t think I’ll let you go that easily”, Joe said in between kisses and you smiled, taking his blazer off.

Since you were introduced to the world of sex, you had been dreaming of this moment. You spent hours, thinking of Joe - while masturbating or regularly daydreaming or even when having sex with any of your partners. You imagined him like this, between your legs, fucking you into oblivion, too many times; but in reality, everything was much better. Joe kissed you feverishly, hungrily, like he had been starving for eternity. You both were sweaty, out of breath and happy.

"That's a weird thing to do", he noticed when the two of you were having breakfast at eleven in the morning, too fucked out to wake up earlier after hours of devouring each other.

"What exactly?" you furrowed your brows and looked at him.

“Eating oranges with coffee for breakfast", he shrugged his shoulders.

"Your fucking fridge is empty! Oranges are the only eatable thing in there. Or do you expect me to eat that old sandwich?"

"It's not old! It's been there just for a week."

"It's rotten, Mazzello."

"No, it's not! You don't understand how a refrigerator works apparently!"

"Well, enlighten me then, you fucking smartass!"

And the way he spoke about the work of the fridge - telling you his one was the most special on the planet - made you fall into him deeper and deeper. You realized that you hadn't ever even loved before Joe - and was it, ever, a-before-Joe phase? It seemed to be non-existent. You had spent your whole life, trying to run away from these feelings, trying to fall for someone else, just to forget him. But it wasn't possible. Ever.

So when he kept on ranting about fridges and how his sandwich was not rotten - you felt in love with him more than at any time before. It was something magical about this moment: the sun was piercing through the window, Joe's eyes glued to yours and - oh god - you didn't know it was possible to love someone that much.

"So when you say it's rotten, it's really-"

"I've been in love with you since I was five", you blurted out, being completely unable to control your emotions. Joe stopped talking and stared at you, without even blinking.

"W-What?"

"It's stupid", you gulped; why on Earth would you even say that out loud? "I shouldn't have said it. I don't want to put any pressure on you, it's idiotic, we just fucked for once and I'm already saying this type of shit-"

"Me too".

Your brows drew together. "What?"

"I've been in love with you too", he said firmly, and you let out a breath you didn't even know you were holding. "Not since I was five or something, you weren't even born then", Joe started babbling like a little kid and it made you chuckle; but you could already feel the tears forming in your eyes. "Maybe for a year. Maybe when I saw you with that piece of shit you were going to marry - maybe then I realized that I've been hopelessly and stupidly in love with you, Y/N".

Joe's eyes sparkled in the soft sun that was gleaming throughout the kitchen and you felt like crying just because of a loving look you saw in them. It was this pure bliss you had been dreaming about. It was everything you could have ever asked for.

And it was Joe. The man you fell in love with too long ago. And you couldn't be happier.

#joe mazzello #joe mazzelo imagine #joe mazzello fanfiction #joe mazzello fic #joe mazzello x reader #joe mazzello x you #joe mazzello fluff #imagine #fic #fanfiction #my writing

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inkabelledesigns · 5 years

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So the time has finally come to unveil one of my favorite prompts from Demon-th, Crossover! I hope you enjoy part one of my short fic, Too Many Eyes, now with 20% more cinnamon. Here’s the A03 link, but under the cut, I’ll have the story here for the rest of you to enjoy. (Don’t be fooled on A03 though, it says one chapter, but there’s another coming before the end of the year)

Summary: When one Joey Drew finds another, it can be a joyous occasion, but not every Joey is made of sunshine and rainbows, especially when power is at stake. What will become of a fusion when a dastardly old coot tries to pry at their secrets?

Credits at the beginning because darn it these peeps deserve recognition!

Characters Included:

Briefly Alluded to:

Edward @metallicartist

Magenta (Chestnut) @halfusek

Algernon @wolfheart7snow

Joy @obscurelog

Snowy, Ana, and Joy, (Frosty) @aceofintuition

Gingie and Baby Linda, (Cinnamon and Frosty) @pipesflowforeverandever

Hyde, Mary Jane, and Ivy, (Cinnamon, Chestnut, and Frosty) @startistdoodles

Giuseppe, Bella, Eliza Stein, and Belphene me, @inkabelledesigns

Sammy Lawrence, Henry Stein, Bertrum Piedmont, and Joey Drew all belong to Kindly Beast as part of the Bendy and the Ink Machine property. I do not own these characters, but this fiction does include them and my interpretations of them.

Joey Drew was a name shared by many universes. Some were kind and made honest mistakes, while others had hearts darker than the blackest of ink. But then you had cases that fell between the extremes, painted in shades of gray, and those were the cases that often found each other. For where there is a Joey Drew, there will always be a cat-like curiosity, an interest that often spirals into obsession. Such is the case with our fellow here today.

It started as an innocent slip of the tongue. The demon known as Belphene has been chatting with her contractor, just casual talk after a long business meeting, when she said “I’m grateful that you’re my Joey.” Never once had she considered that he would inquire about the realms beyond his own. He had everything he could ever want in this one, what more could he desire? That was the day Giuseppe Drew learned just what kinds of worlds existed outside of the reality he crafted.

It turned out there was a plethora of worlds to explore, all equipped with a chap that shared his proud name. And stranger still was just how aware they were! Some crossed into each other’s realms all the time, for silly things as well as serious ones. And stranger than that: they were friends. It sounded awfully narcissistic to be friends with yourself, but they were all so different, so colorful and inspired, that maybe it wasn’t so self-involved. Giuseppe had many reasons to fear and admire them. From the raw intensity of Edward’s aura to the soft and gentle joy in Polaris' smile, there was something beautiful in all of them. But one trio caught his attention, one that seemingly feared no consequences when it came to the untapped potential of magic.

Yes, of course it had to start with a spirit as bright as Gingie’s. Giuseppe had always been attracted to bright lights. Like a moth drawn to flames, he set his sights on the elder, curious. Where did his childlike wonder come from, how was it that he was so magical, so mystifying? Many a time, he considered inviting his apprentice to watch with him, sharing such visage with a young mind ought to be good for them. But he had never been good at sharing. Of course, he had a rationale, saying he’d let Bella taste true magic soon enough, once they were out of his hellscape of a studio. But alas, would it ever be true? From his ancient office, he pondered such possibilities, watching lives much happier than his own. He saw so much love and spirit in the pumpkin haired fellow, so much happiness that it threatened to burst right through his heart. If a man like Gingie could be happy, surely so could he. Surely so could his family, couldn’t they?

Giuseppe took great pleasure in watching him, especially when Snowy or Hyde were around. A very strange family they were, but between loving spouses, lovely sons and daughters, and their hearty circle of friends, it was better than anything a television station could hope to air. Through the looking glass on his desk, a stolen monocle from the great Bertrum Piedmont, he spied on everyone’s antics without making so much as a peep, no different than when he watched his prisoners. It was as though he were reading a book by a genius author, he felt a connection, like he was beginning to understand them as people, even though he’d never uttered so much as a word to them. From Magenta’s dark duality to Hyde’s grieving heart over his sick sunshines, from Snowy’s bravery and style to Algernon’s frozen soul, all the way to Joy’s ever-shifting emotions. He saw their tears, their hope, their pain, and yet something was missing. Something intimate he had not earned. For while Giuseppe thought he knew them, he could only see the surface. No different than within his studio, he couldn’t search the depths, he couldn’t see what they did not reveal.

And as to be expected from a man named Joey Drew, the more he saw happiness, the more envious he became, the more he wanted to make it his. He was jealous of just how deep their ties were. Never in his years had he felt such comradery, such a sense of family, not since his childhood days climbing trees with little Henry Stein. Some days he yearned to reveal himself, but how could he? A first impression was difficult to form, how could he make a good one when there was so much resting on his conscience? No, they’d never want him, they couldn’t understand why he’d done what he’d done, and there was no way he could hide it from them. If his own family couldn’t love him, then how could they? He’d tried so desperately to get Eliza and Bella back by his side, away from the monsters he made, but they wouldn’t return, they ran away. They were so dead set on freeing his former staff from the curse he’d placed on them. Foolish children, why wouldn’t they listen? Why didn’t they understand that there were sins for the monsters to atone for?

Then, just like a cartoon’s script, a glimmer of hope was found. It wasn’t until he saw Minty that he knew what must be done. It was him that helped him to theorize how to truly understand another. At first he’d only heard the strange name in passing, spying on the ginger-haired grandfather as he recalled such events in his journal. But eventually, he witnessed fusion for himself. And boy was it a secret to be in on! So many possibilities filled his mind the more he saw, from the bumbling Chestnut to Frosty and his overzealous amount of limbs. But no matter his watching, he couldn’t decipher the spells that merged these men together. Fate seemed to block them from view. Of course he wanted to know how it was done, fusion seemed to be the ultimate partnership. Perhaps it could be the key to getting back his legacy, his progeny. Lawrence and the others caused his daughters’ trust to slip, their view of him to change. He had to stop it before he lost his chance for good, or else he’d never be able to take back what had rightfully been his. So like any good storyteller, he hatched himself a plan, a devious, ethically questionable plan. His watching shifted, as did his empathy, from entertainment to observation. And like any good scientist, he recorded every detail that mattered, until he deduced the best candidate to give him the answers: Cinnamon.

Gingie and Hyde were an unlikely pair. What made them merge together was still unclear, but on the rare occasion they did, it was dreamlike. Gingie had even gone to the trouble of starting a small garden just for them, a quiet place to talk and bond as they tended to the blooms and spices. Sometimes, Giuseppe caught Cinnamon babysitting for Snowy and Ana, always a relaxing experience. Cinnamon brought the best out of both men and put it together like a nicely decorated cake, or maybe snickerdoodles in this case. They had tenderness, a side Hyde wasn’t usually quick to reveal. The fusion was so gentle, acting as if the world was glass, and one misstep would break it. It was like he feared what he was capable of. In some ways, it brought out the heavy heart in both of them, fears of repeating past mistakes. No one would dare call them insecure, but uncomfortable seemed to be accurate. For beneath their frilly bows and ruffles, they danced with demons, demons who knew all too well how to lead a tango. Giuseppe could relate. He didn’t feel remorse often, but when he did, it hit like a brick to the face.

It was this shared vulnerability that made Cinnamon perfect for his needs. Joey kept an eye out, always waiting for a time to get them alone. After all, he wouldn’t dare drag anyone else into this. There was no way he would let Snowy come to their rescue, nor would he let harm come to the children they cared for. As heartless as he may have seemed, even Giuseppe had standards. Though since children were clearly the key to a father’s heart, then perhaps they could help him. After all, the other path to someone’s heart is through their stomach.

It was a peaceful evening in the Drew household. Snowy and Ana had gone out for the night, while Hyde and Gingie had volunteered to babysit. After all, Mary Jane and Ivy would never pass up on a sleepover with Joy. Even baby Linda had fun when they were together. The girls could be trouble though, especially with the mischief Ivy liked to cause. So naturally, it took a super parent to keep things under control, certainly a good reason to join together. Cinnamon was the perfect guest for dress-up and tea parties, and he was equally loved by all the daughters. They had a grand old time playing and baking as he helped them to make a tollhouse pie that night.

But as all good things must come to an end, the girls eventually had to go to bed. After reading stories and singing lullabies, four little heads were tucked in tightly, a tender kiss left upon each brow. Cinnamon made his way back down the stairs, cotton candy swirls of sparkles trailed behind him to keep their dreams sweet. Like a sorcerer, he conducted with his hands and cleaned up the mess from all their fun, sweeping away spilled flour and loose chocolate chips. He crossed over to the kitchen’s kettle and smiled to himself as he brewed his favorite tea. So many lovely thoughts filled his head, his three eyes threatened to burst with joyful tears. How grateful he was, to have so much love in his life. He stood there lost in thought until the whistle of the kettle pulled him back to reality. He poured the hot water into his favorite teacup and proceeded to cut himself another piece of pie. Content, he walked over to the living room and laid back in the cozy recliner, much too small to accommodate his height. He sighed dreamily, content with their evening and ready to enjoy the fruits of their labor. He savored every last bite of that scrumptious pie. The girls had doubled the sugar when he wasn’t looking, which made it terribly grainy, but oh so sweet on the fusion’s tongue.

Though speaking of not looking, there was something amiss that failed to catch his attention. The earlier chaos in the kitchen had too many cooks around, making it difficult to notice the appearance of another. Belphene had invaded undetected to share a little extra in their recipe. It wasn’t a bad ingredient by any means, just a few drops of sleep elixir. Nothing lethal, she wouldn’t dare, just enough to make sure no one woke up before the time was right.

Clearly, the time had come. No sooner had he finished dessert, poor Cinnamon fell into a deep slumber. While visions of sugarplums danced in his head, a dark curtain hung itself over the room. An inky void slowly opened in the corner, letting a smog slip above the carpet. The demoness manifested as quietly as a mouse, mindful not to disturb any of Snowy’s interior decorating. She set her sights on the three-eyed man, her own eyes glowing softly in the darkness. Even in her regret, she was graceful, gliding soundlessly across the floor she picked them up and carried them off like a bride to a happily ever after.

If only that were their destination.

On the other side of the void, an old man tapped his foot to the ticking of the Bendy clock on his wall. His grin shone brightly under the low lights, anticipating his lovely Belphene’s return. Sure enough, she was prompt to arrive, her precious cargo snoozing away as she entered. Belphene wore a smile for Mr. Drew, carrying Cinnamon to the secret room within the office: the prison cell. Usually, it was reserved for the worst outliers in his twisted little world, but he was happy to relocate them in favor of his most treasured guest. Yes, Mr. Cinnamon would get the V.I.P. treatment, Mr. Drew was sure of that.

Once his limbs were secured to the wall, Cinnamon was left to rest for a little while longer. That part of the task was in Joey’s hands now. Belphene scurried off. She had other things to attend to. After all, it would be awfully irresponsible to leave the children without a babysitter.

Cinnamon didn’t know where they were when they awoke. Two minds were groggy and troubled as they gained consciousness in their predicament. But the minute they felt the chains that held them back, the fight for freedom began.

Thank you for reading all the way through! So glad you made it to the end. I hope you enjoyed it, and if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please let me know! It always brightens my day to hear your thoughts! Hope you have a wonderful day!

#demonth #the ink demonth #bendy crossover #Joey Drew #joey gingie drew #snowy drew #joey hyde drew #giuseppe drew #cinnamon #fusion #joeyverse #violence #please tell me if there's any warnings I should tag this with #I've never been good at that and could really use your help!

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hearts-hunger · 5 years

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Funny How Love Is || bxjxg

Summary: After a long day of failed auditions, Joe can’t stop thinking how he’s never quite good enough. Funny how love is always there to drown out doubt and remind him of how loved he is, especially by his two boyfriends.

Pairings: Ben Hardy x Joe Mazzello x Gwilym Lee || poly!borhap boys

Genre: Fluff, slight angst

Word Count: 4k

Warnings: None!

A/N: Hello lovelies!! I promised I’d give you some fluffy bxjxg by the end of the day, so here it is! That pic of Ben and Gwil on Gwil’s insta got me so soft that it actually kickstarted my dumb brain into writing for them again, and of course I had to write Joe in too. I hope you like it! ♡

Joe didn’t know exactly what it was that had made his day so horrible. Maybe it was the traffic, which he despised but usually tuned out of by calling one of his boyfriends. Maybe it was the fact that his phone had died just as he tried to call, leaving him stuck in the motionless car with no distractions. Maybe it was the same five songs that every radio station seemed to play, those top hits that he liked to dance to when he was tipsy but really would be happy never to hear while sober. Maybe it was the words of the casting director that kept echoing in his head without anything to drown it out, repeating over and over choice phrases that he’d been no stranger to in his acting career. We just don’t think you’re right for the part. You’ve got some good ideas but we’re going in a different direction. Sorry, Mr. Mazzello. We’ll give you a call when we decide.

Yeah, he knew what that meant. He’d get no such call, he could guarantee. Maybe it was arrogant on his part, but he’d thought that after landing Bohemian Rhapsody, casting directors everywhere would be begging for him to come audition for them. He’d found it was kind of the opposite; no matter how much money Borhap had made, Joseph Mazzello still wasn’t a big name in Hollywood, and people were looking for big names. Names that had made it onto more than one A-list movie in the past two decades.

He gripped the steering wheel a little tighter than necessary - really, traffic was crawling, so he could have put the car in park - and took a steadying breath. One rejected audition didn’t mean his whole career was coming to an end. He needed to be patient. He needed to keep trying.

He needed to stop hearing that damn casting director’s voice on repeat, is what he needed.

He fiddled with the radio again, tuning it to the station that played oldies and actually played Queen pretty consistently. No such luck this time, though - David Byrne’s voice crooned out through the speakers in its clipped way, oddly grating to Joe at the moment.

He turned the radio off with a huff. “Yeah, I’m about to be a psycho killer if this traffic doesn’t start moving.”

He was ready to be home. It had been a long and disheartening day, and he was just ready to be home and lay on the couch in sweatpants and watch reruns of X-Files on Fox. Maybe have some wine, possibly take a long and boiling hot shower. Anything to self-soothe from having to submit to the mortifying ordeal of giving his all to an audition only to be rejected, yet again.

“Finally,” he muttered to himself as traffic began to move. He eased the car up to the speed limit after inching forward for nearly half an hour and felt some of the tension in his shoulders ease.

He got home over an hour after he said he’d be back, night starting to fall over Belgravia and easing the temperature down with a cool breeze through the darkening sky. Looking up at the second floor windows of the brownstone, he couldn’t help but feel comforted at the warm light spilling between the sheer curtains and onto the street below. Double checking the car was locked, he headed up the steps to the front door, straightening his shoulders so as not to immediately give away how tired he felt.

The sound of “Funny How Love Is” greeted him as he closed the front door behind him, drifting in from where it was playing softly in the living room. He put his keys and his wallet on the little catch-all table in the foyer as he closed the door behind him.

“Honey, I’m home,” he called.

“Oh, fuck you!” came Ben’s voice from the living room.

Joe gave a surprised laugh at the reply, a smile crossing his face for the first time all day as kicked off his shoes. He made his way into the living room and found Ben on the couch, intently playing Mario Kart.

“That’s one hell of a way to greet your boyfriend,” Joe teased.

Ben gestured hopelessly to the screen. “I was in first place and Toad ran me right off.”

Joe saw Ben was playing Rainbow Road, and he could understand his boyfriend’s frustration. “So, that wasn’t directed at me?”

Ben looked mildly panicked. “God, no, sorry.” He gave Joe a smile. “Hi, honey. I’m glad you’re home. Come here.”

Joe sat next to Ben on the couch as he paused the game, tossing the controller aside in favor of taking Joe’s face in his hands and giving him a few gentle kisses.

“There,” he said. “Better?”

Joe couldn’t help but smile. “Much better, thank you.”

He propped his feet on the coffee table and leaned his head on Ben’s shoulder, enjoying the closeness. “You can keep playing if you want. Gotta show Toad who’s boss.”

Ben laughed, a warm and comforting sound, taking the controller in hand again as he started another race.

“And if you can’t beat Toad on Peach Beach, I’m officially disowning you,” Joe added.

Ben snorted. “Okay, dad, thanks.”

Joe was content to sit in silence and watch Ben play, listening as he sang along with Queen in his warm voice.

“Funny how love is everywhere, just look and see,” he sang almost out of habit. “Funny how love is anywhere you’re bound to be.”

Joe closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief, sinking into the sound of Ben’s voice and the feel of his warmth. Ben was practically a furnace; he usually wore his dozens of soft hoodies not because he was cold but because he was a very tactile person, enjoying physical touch and substituting with sweatshirts when he couldn’t have any.

“So… how did your audition go?” Ben asked as the track switched to “Seven Seas of Rhye”, distracted by the video game but still wanting to engage with him.

Joe started to say that he didn’t want to talk about it, but he was saved from answering Ben as Gwil appeared on the stairs. Gwil smiled as he came down to the living room with a hoodie in hand, the corners of his eyes crinkling behind his round glasses.

“Thought I heard you come in,” he said. “How was your day, love?”

“Fine,” Joe said, trying for nonchalance. “Do you have a headache?”

While Gwil usually wore his glasses closer to bedtime and both Ben and Joe adored it, thinking it made Gwil’s sharp-featured beauty look a bit softer, they’d also learned that he wore them when he got headaches.

“No, thankfully,” Gwil said. “But my contacts were bothering me a bit.” He tossed the hoodie to Ben, who paused his game to pull it on.

“I couldn’t find the one you asked for,” Gwil said. “So I just grabbed one of mine.”

Ben gave him a smile. “‘S perfect, love, thanks.”

Gwil watched Ben go back to the game with a gentle smile on his face. That was Joe’s favorite part of being in a relationship with the two of them, seeing how they looked at each other like they hung the moon.

Joe warmed as that same gentle affection was turned on him, Gwil studying his face with a shadow of concern in his own before holding his hand out to Joe.

“Come on into the kitchen with me, Joey.”

Joe sighed and took Gwil’s hand, standing from his spot next to Ben on the couch. He almost wanted to stay with the blonde, knowing that Ben wouldn’t ask him questions about his day while he was focusing on the game. Gwil, though, had no such distractions, and Joe felt the weight of his admittedly vague answer between them.

“Tea?” Gwil asked, filling the kettle at the sink.

Joe took a seat at the bar. “Sure. Thanks.”

“There’s dinner leftover if you want some,” Gwil said, setting the kettle to heat on the stove. “I wasn’t sure if you’d eaten, since you came home later than you said. I tried to call but it went straight to voicemail.”

Joe ran a hand over his face. “Yeah, my phone died right as I left and I got caught in traffic. What’d you make?”

“It was Ben, actually,” Gwil said with a smile. “Chicken parmesan. I can heat some up for you if you want.”

“That’s ok,” Joe said. “I might have some later.”

In all honesty he felt kind of queasy at the thought of admitting that he hadn’t gotten the job. He stared blankly at the kettle on the stove, the casting director’s voice kept ringing in his ears. You’re just not what we’re looking for.

“Joe,” Gwil said.

He looked up to see Gwil taking three mugs down from the cabinet. “Hm?”

Gwil’s smile was colored with a bit of sadness. “I asked you what kind of tea you wanted.”

“Oh, sorry. Um, whatever you’re having. I don’t care.”

That wasn’t necessarily true; Ben and Gwil both knew Joe’s favorite tea was Darjeeling, and Gwil fixed it for him despite his answer. Joe felt a strange kind of ache as he watched Gwil make tea for the three of them, humming softly to himself, wiping up a spilled drop of water with the sleeve of his cozy black sweater. It was the same kind of ache he’d felt before they were together, when he’d found himself wanting to be held and comforted by the tall Welshman but not knowing how to ask.

“Where’d you go?” Gwil asked, giving him his tea.

Joe drew his mug close. “What do you mean?”

“You were miles away just then,” Gwil said. He smiled. “Just wanted to see where you’d got off to.”

“Nowhere,” he lied, running a hand over his face. “Just tired, that’s all.”

Gwil looked like he was about to say something, probably pushing back on the “just tired” excuse, but Ben’s voice cut him off from the living room.

“Did you make tea?” he asked.

“Yes, love,” Gwil called back. “Yours is ready if you want it.”

A moment later, Ben came into the kitchen; he took a seat next to Joe at the bar, pulling the sleeves of Gwil’s hoodie over his hands.

“Thanks,” he said as Gwil handed him a mug.

“My pleasure,” Gwil said, leaning on his elbows on the counter close to them. He bobbed his tea bag a few times, the water turning a honey color as the herbal tea he always drank seeped in.

“Say, you didn’t ever tell me how your audition went,” Ben said, nudging his shoulder lightly against Joe’s.

“You were a little distracted,” Joe said, trying for a joke and also trying to avoid the question again.

Ben smiled. “Yeah, but now I’m all yours. How was it?”

Joe wrapped his hands around the mug, feeling the warmth of it against the sudden chill of anxiety that made its way through him. “Um...” He felt a vague fight-or-flight feeling kick in, and searched for a way to get out from under the question without it being woefully obvious.

“Yeah, I’ll tell you all about it in a minute,” he said, standing. “I’m just gonna… go to the bathroom real quick.”

Oh, good job, Joe. He mentally kicked himself as his boyfriends gave him looks that mixed confusion and concern.

“Is everything ok?” Gwil asked.

Joe rubbed the back of his neck like he did when he was nervous, immediately making himself stop as soon as he noticed he was doing it. It was his biggest tell when he was lying or upset, and if they hadn’t already seen right through him like he was sure they had, his hand on the back of his neck was a dead giveaway.

“Yeah, fine.” Again, he tried for a joke. “I had to pee before I left, and sitting in traffic didn’t do me any favors. I’ll be right back.”

Before either of them could say anything or he could embarrass himself further, he made his escape up the stairs to the master bathroom. He could have gone to the guest bathroom downstairs, but he wanted a whole floor’s difference between him and his boyfriends who were surely talking about him now that they were alone. He splashed cool water on his face, glancing up at his reflection; he was red-cheeked with embarrassment, and he only flushed deeper when he thought of going back downstairs again. They’d probably take the hint and not ask him about it again - doubtless they’d guessed he didn’t get the part - but he’d still made such a huge deal about it that they were sure to walk on eggshells around him.

As he turned off the faucet and buried his face in a towel, he heard quiet bickering coming from the other side of the bathroom door.

“He obviously doesn’t want to talk about it,” Gwil was saying in a hushed voice. “Maybe we should just let it drop.”

“Maybe something’s really wrong,” Ben insisted, his tone matching his boyfriend’s. “Maybe it hasn’t got to do with the audition at all.”

Gwil was quiet for a moment. “You don’t think he’d hide something important, do you?”

Joe could picture Ben shrugging in response.

“He’s been like this since he walked through the door,” Ben said. “I’m worried, Gwil. This seems like a lot of fuss for one silly audition.”

“I agree,” Gwil said. “But maybe you’re right. Maybe it’s something different.”

Joe sighed. Why couldn’t he have just admitted he didn’t get the part and gotten it over with? He felt bad that he’d whipped his boyfriends up into a state of panic with his behavior; he knew it was childish. To have to go and tell them that it was indeed just the failed audition that had gotten him this upset, and not some life-threatening news worthy of a whole charade like the one he’d put on, was nearly too much to bear. He couldn’t hide in the bathroom forever, though, and after a few steadying breaths he went out into their bedroom.

Ben and Gwil broke apart from where they’d been talking closely together on the foot of the bed, trying to act as if they hadn’t just been in intent conversation about him. He almost smiled as he shrugged off his jacket and went to hang it in the closet; it was a small comfort that they were as bad as he was at acting like everything was fine. He stayed in the closet longer than he needed to, trying to buy himself some time or wait for them to say something.

Their hushed voices started up again, and Joe heard Ben say he was going to ask.

Gwil took Ben’s hand as he stood, trying to get him to sit back down. “Wait, Ben, just - ”

“Joey,” Ben said in his regular speaking voice, the baritone colored with concern. He gave Gwil’s hand a reassuring squeeze before letting it go and coming over to the closet.

“Please tell us what’s wrong,” he said.

Joe brushed past him and went to take off his watch, setting it on top of the dresser. “Nothing’s wrong,” he said, feeling a flare of frustration. Why couldn’t they have just let it go?

“Come on, sweetheart, you’ve been acting out of sorts since you came in the door,” Ben said. “We’re just worried about you.”

Joe huffed and carded his hand through his hair. “Fine,” he said. “I didn’t get the part, but you already knew that. That’s what’s wrong. Now can we please not talk about it any more?”

The words tasted bitter on his mouth, and now that he’d said them instead of just implied them, they couldn't be taken back.

“So…” Gwil ventured, “it is just the audition?”

“What, that’s not enough?” Joe snapped. He didn’t like that he was talking to his boyfriends like this, but he couldn’t seem to get a hold of his frustration and shame.

“No,” Gwil said, a bit surprised at Joe’s tone. “I mean, not getting a part is never fun, sure. But you’re not usually like this about it.”

Joe gave a derisive laugh. “Yeah, because I’ve had so many failed auditions that we know how I’m going to react to them.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Gwil said, pained that he’d wounded his boyfriend further. “We’ve all had plenty of failed auditions before. What I meant was that even out of the three of us, you’re usually the one who takes it best.”

That was true, and it was probably most of the reason why they were pressing him so hard about it this time. Gwil would brood and mull over his audition for hours on end if he didn’t get one, trying to see what he’d done wrong; Ben could get downright sulky if he got turned down. Joe, though, was always the one to crack a joke, to say that he hadn’t wanted the part anyways, to say they were probably going to go with someone else because the industry had a thing against redheads. He’d rarely taken a loss like he had this one, and he didn’t blame his boyfriends for being overly concerned.

Joe ran a hand over his face, annoyed at the sting of tears he felt.

“What was it about this one that made it so hard, Joe?” Gwil asked. “I don’t remember you saying you wanted it that badly, but I’m sorry if you did and I forgot.”

“No, it’s ok,” Joe said tiredly. Truth be told he hadn’t been very excited about this part, but at this point he figured he’d take what he could get.

He almost laughed. Of course, he’d been scraping the bottom of the barrel and had still come up empty. That was par for the course, wasn’t it?

“I just…” He shook his head. “Maybe it’s time to throw in the towel, you know?”

Ben and Gwil both frowned, surprise and confusion warring for dominance in their expressions. Ben sat at the foot of the bed again next to Gwil, both of them waiting patiently to hear what Joe meant even as they worried over him. Gwil put his hand over Ben’s to let the younger man know that it had been good to get Joe talking about this.

Joe sighed. “It’s been months since awards season, and I haven’t gotten any jobs.”

“That’s nothing to worry about, though,” Gwil said. He gave a wry smile. “You don’t get jobs lined up like that unless you work for Marvel or something.”

“You did,” Joe protested. “Both of you got jobs as soon as you got off Borhap.”

“Not big ones, though,” Gwil said. “Top End’s only playing in Australia, for god’s sake.”

“And I’ll only be in Six Underground for ten minutes, tops,” Ben agreed. “It’s not like I’m headlining my own box-office hit.”

“Still,” Joe said, unconsoled. “They’re still jobs. You’re still actors that people want to cast. I’m just…”

You’re just not what we’re looking for, the casting director’s voice filled in for him. That had been the constant, through all of it - everybody else could get a job, but Joe was never what anybody was looking for.

He hung his head. “Maybe I’m just not good enough.”

If he’d expected wild protest from his boyfriends, he didn’t get it. For a split second he had the dreadful feeling their silence was agreement, but no sooner had the thought crossed his mind than he felt Ben’s arms around him, pulling him close. He let himself be held, burying his face in Ben’s hoodie.

“Oh, Joey,” Gwil said, running a hand over his back and gently kissing the parts of his face that weren’t hidden against Ben’s chest. “That’s not true and you know it.”

“Why can’t I get a part, then?” he asked, his voice muffled by the fabric of Ben’s hoodie.

Gwil sighed. “I dunno, love. All I know is that every one of those movies would have been lucky to have you. You’re incredibly talented, Joe. You just haven’t found the right part yet.”

“And everybody who said no to you has no idea what they’re missing,” Ben agreed. He pulled back to look at Joe’s face, brushing away the few tears that Joe hadn’t managed to keep at bay. “Okay?”

Joe nodded. “Okay.” He knew he wouldn’t be fully convinced until he landed another job, but for now it was enough to lean on his boyfriends’ confidence in him.

“Sorry about…” He sighed. “Everything. I should have just told you.”

“That’s ok, love,” Gwil said. He brushed back Joe’s slightly mussed hair. “Why don’t you have a bath, hm? Wind down a bit before bed, how does that sound?”

“Only if you two join me,” he said.

Smiles surfaced on both of their faces.

“I think that can be arranged,” Gwil said, at the same time Ben said “do you even have to ask?”

Ben and Joe got comfy pajamas laid out for the three of them while Gwil drew the bath, leaving the bathroom lights off. They came into the bathroom greeted by the scent of rose bath salts and the warm glow of the candles they’d bought for just this purpose. Joe wasn’t even in the bath before he felt the tension leave his tired body, his boyfriend’s gentle hands helping him out of his clothes and into the warm water enough to erase a lifetime’s worth of worry. Gwil got in behind him and Ben across from them, their legs tangled together in the middle. Joe leaned back against Gwil’s chest as Gwil comfortably wrapped his arms around him. Ben traced up and down Joe’s thigh with a gentle touch.

“Okay, Benny?” Gwil asked.

Ben smiled. “Perfect. Though you both owe me lots of cuddles when we get in bed.”

Both Gwil and Joe gave a soft laugh.

“Come here, you,” Joe said, leaning forward to kiss Ben. The feel of Ben’s mouth on his and Gwil’s warm hand on his back made Joe almost lightheaded with happiness. He rested his forehead against Ben’s for a minute, drinking in the closeness of the two people he loved most in the world, the two people who showed him tirelessly that he was good enough, even when everything else was telling him he wasn’t.

He leaned back against Gwil and kissed his scruffy jaw, feeling Gwil’s smile.

“Thank you,” Joe said. “Both of you. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Gwil twined his fingers with Joe’s. “Lucky for you, you’re stuck with us.”

Ben took their entwined fingers in his hands and brought them to his lips, peppering them with gentle kisses and tracing circles over their knuckles with the pad of his thumb.

“Gwil and I love you so much, Joey,” Ben said against their hands. “You’re perfect, you know? Absolutely perfect.”

Joe’s cheeks pinked and he turned his face to hide against Gwil. Gwil chuckled and kissed his temple.

“It’s true, love,” Gwil said. “You are perfect. And pretty soon some casting director’s going to see that as plainly as we do, I promise.”

“I love you,” Joe said. That one was just for Gwil, and he knew it; he drew Joe closer and gave a sigh of contentment.

“I love you too, sweetheart.”

Joe lightly nudged Ben in the ribs with his heel, drawing a giggle from the blonde as Joe had hoped it would. Ben was very ticklish, and his innocent laughter was one of the most beautiful sounds Joe had ever heard.

“I love you,” Joe told him. He couldn’t help but smile at Ben’s grin.

“I love you too, Joey,” he said. “Even more than Mario Kart.”

Gwil gave a huff of a laugh. “Charming.”

“It’s okay, Gwil,” Ben said. “I love you more than Mario Kart too.”

“Did I ever mention how irresistible your skills for romance were?” Gwil asked.

They all laughed and settled closer to each other, limbs tangled in the warm water, Ben’s skin fairly shimmering in the gold light, Gwil’s big hands belying their true softness as they traced over whichever parts of his boyfriends he could reach. Ben hummed “Funny How Love Is” in the companionable stillness, and Joe felt it was rather appropriate. Funny how love is everywhere, just look and see. Funny how love is anywhere you’re bound to be.

Even if he never got cast again in his life, he’d still gotten Borhap, and that was the only that mattered because it was what brought him to Ben and Gwil. Tomorrow brings love in the shape of things. Even if tomorrow brought audition after failed audition, it would still bring him another day with the two loves of his life. It would still bring him to loving and being loved in a hundred different ways by the two people who made everything right in the world, no matter what.

story taglist: @sunflower-borhap-boys @mimibarnes

forever taglist: @tv-saved-the-teenage-girl @dashlilymark @hazah

#me delivering on a fic promise in a timely manner?#less likely than you think but wow i did it today!!#i hope you guys like this one!!#ben x joe x gwilym #bxjxg #ben hardy x joe mazzello x gwilym lee #ben hardy x gwilym lee x joe mazzello #poly!borhap boys #borhap boys fluff #borhap boys fanfiction #polyamory #ben x joe #ben x gwilym #gwilym x joe #hardzellee #harlee #hardzello #maddie writes stuff!

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sohannabarberaesque · 4 years

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Underwater America with Peter Potamus (episode 25: Tying up some loose ends, and maybe a few surprises)

To quote the old maxim, “all good things must end,” and Underwater America with Peter Potamus, at least this first series, is no exception. Hence, this being the final production episode for the time being (as in the 1970-71 season imagined for the sake of this arc), it was felt best to give same over to patching up a few loose ends, by and large.

PETER POTAMUS, narrating while sitting in an Adirondack chair with, perhaps, a tall glass of iced tea on the side: I have to admit, folks, that this has been a rather interesting series to produce all along ... and as if having quite an interesting group of divers along for the ride wasn’t good enough, not to mention encountering some close friends along the way, it was simply my way of showing how SCUBA can be something of a tool of friendship.

BREEZLY BRUIN, mixing in his share of final thoughts: Now take it from someone who probably has some underwater experience in his own way: This travelling SCUBA party, believe you me, has been rather interesting, not just in the places we’ve dived at and the discoveries we made ... but also finding out that going SCUBA can be a rather wonderful experience in its own right.

WALLY GATOR: And being a Florida boy myself, don’t you know, you just can’t help but realise how fun diving could get. Especially when you mix in a sense of adventurous discovery ... be it in some Spanish wreck off the Florida coast or even a hidden-away spring down in the Florida backcountry. Believe you me, divng just seems like another world!

Whereupon we cut away to some rather otherworldly underwater wreck scenes such as Squiddly Diddly was filming during the Outer Banks dive episode as involved the City of Atlanta and Hesperides wrecks ... and note just how especially stunning the detail could get, the colours even (and oh, yes, the usual cheesy background music) ...

PETER POTAMUS, narrating over: What’s especially interesting about these scenes is that Squiddly Diddly, my main underwater cameraman (which is not to say where yours truly had his fair share of camera work), captured such while we were in the Outer Banks, and some distance from the wrecks we had a particular interest in. But what you may not know was that Squiddly Diddly was filming these to test out as much a rehabbed underwater camera housing as some newish motion picture film to see if such would do well for underwater photography ... especially in capturing the different levels of colour at different depths.

SQUIDDLY DIDDLY, narrating over himself: It was about the time we were processing the film of the Florida Keys episode when Eastman Kodak approached us with a modest suggestion that maybe some test footage underwater might want to be taken of this particular type of colour movie film ... and who better to rise to the challenge than--SQUIDDLY DIDDLY, to the rescue!!! And what an interesting place to try this new film out than in the legendary “Graveyard of the Atlantic,” the Outer Banks?!

Some more of the test footage over some more of the cheesy background music, then--

PETER POTAMUS, back in narrator mode: Admittedly, filming underwater can be much different than filming on land; even Jacques Cousteau can tell you as much. But believe you me, with the right equipment, and just a few tweaks--not to mention some improvisation--it can be rather interesting to not only film underwater, but also sense how other-worldly it can turn out! (We can see him holding up the camera housing and also the camera used for filming much of the series as he elaborates:) Soon after we were approached about the concept for this series, I browsed around the camera shops looking for a decent second-hand underwater camera housing which, with a little rebuilding, could do the task of filming just as well as newer housings which were twice as costly ... and following some tests with the rebuilt equipment off La Jolla, such worked rather flawlessly, serving us equally well in salt water as in fresh such. As for the camera ... such was originally used by my late father, Perry Potamus, for producing some home movies, you might say, of his travels ... especially such in parts of Polynesia otherwise unknown to civilisation, shown mainly to a close circle of friends and acquaintenances ... and yet, with some rebuilding (which didn’t come easy, I have to admit), such also performed the task heroically.

Meanwhile, some “behind the scenes” footage showing Peter Potamus as much as Squiddly Diddly at the underwater cameras, as taken by each other. You can discern much in the way of getting the cameras to filming speed as much as getting the shot “just right,” especially when some particularly interesting sight underwater comes into the viewfinder and you don’t want to get things all confused....

And talk about such underwater photographic prowess!

As a sort of “ice breaker,” we cue up some of the more amusing underwater hijinks to be had among the divers during filming ... as well as during practice sessions between dives, much of it without mask or fins, and as usual, with campy industrial-film background music. Narrating again, Peter Potamus:

And who says diving has to always be serious and sober-minded? Sometimes, even our troupe of divers has to have some fun underwater, as these outtakes can demonstrate.

The foci shifts to the dive gear:

Any successful dive experience requires the right sort of gear--masks, air tanks, regulators, harnesses ... and especially the fins (holding up an example to make the point): These particular fins used by our divers are based on the Churchill Swim Fins, the first successful diving fins marketed. Note the angle on the outer edge of the fin ... which, as our own experience has demonstrated, translated into a faster, deeper--and more satisfying--dive experience (witness some film showing the fins in action, as one of the divers kicks away towards the bottom) ... isn’t that proof positive?

Some still photos of Peter Potamus “himself” and/or his crew in various dive shops along the way, posing alongside the management and/or salesmen or even displays of diver’s requisites follows, along with this narration:

If there’s some people we need to thank as well, it would have to be those who operate dive gear shops wherever we had our diving experiences. There’s no doubt they were of great help and cooperation in helping us discover interesting dive spots at our destinations, as well as check out and maintain our equipment in the interest of safety--which is always an important part of any dive. That, and getting some professional instruction, which I would most definitely recommend before starting out with the SCUBA experience. Your local YMCA should have some information, or even your local dive shop, which can be had in the Yellow Pages under “Diver’s Equipment and Supplies.”

Some more “behind-the-scenes” footage of the individual divers themselves, Peter Potamus included, offering some diving instruction themselves, notably to some underprivileged schoolchildren.

And I do acknowledge many of our own divers, as well as myself, also offer up our share of time teaching the mechanics of snorkelling and SCUBA ...

The scene shifts to a beach-house colony along the Pacific coast in SoCal, somewhere between La Jolla and Oceanside, where Peter Potamus and his diving company have quarters--as well as a practice pool for refresher diving instruction and equipment trials.

... and also heading back to what you might call a beachhouse colony. And perhaps the highlight of all this is this salt water practice pool, whose water temperature can be adjusted to reflect various diving venues ... as well as being the place where our fellow divers can keep in practice from time to time.

And now, the finale--done in the shallows of the practice pool

In this, the final moments of this particular episode of this particular series, I myself would like to say “thank you” for enjoying our diving party and the diving experiences we had coast to coast. Speaking for myself, Peter Potamus ... (followed by the individual members themselves, giving their names as the camera goes for their facials; viz., Loopy De Loop, Hokey Wolf, Wally Gator, Lippy the Lion, Hardy Har Har, Magilla Gorilla, Breezly Bruin, Squiddly Diddly and Mildew Wolf) ... we just want to say “thanks for diving along ... and we hope you’ll enjoy the dive!”

Whereupon the camera pans over and above the beachhouse colony, out over the Pacific, and then ...

@warnerarchive @hanna-barbera-land @warnerbrosentertainment @hanna-barberians @joey-gatorman @hanna-barbera-blog

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