#((Like seriously half of her photobombs have him in them))
Text
Ticking Photobomb, T, 1.6k
Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, Evan ‘Buck’ Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Evan ‘Buck’ Buckley & TK Strand
TK loves Carlos, and wants their relationship to work out. Before they can recapture even a semblance of the bliss they shared, Carlos needs to fix his mistake and properly introduce TK to his family. Until then... Carlos deserves at least some punishment. He only hopes Buck will forgive him, for involving him in his and Carlos's first big fight as a couple.
Only it's not Buck's forgiveness he'll need.
ao3 link
based off of this post
He’s wary. He and TK are supposed to be enjoying a delicious meal outside at a nearby park, sun high in the sky, bright but not too cruel, as they sit together on a thin, yellow blanket, and Carlos cannot enjoy any of this beautiful date because a tiny voice in the back of his mind warns him that TK’s silence is a cover for something more sinister. His boyfriend’s smile, aimed at his phone as it has been since they arrived, means trouble. The small, continuous giggles that eke free sound like alarms. Giggles offered with every bite, where he’d type a short message and then set his phone down; only to grab it halfway through its jingling ringtone – TK never usually keeps that on. Carlos remembered him complaining how he hates ringtones, prefers having his phone vibrate. Why is it on now? And why is he texting while they’re on a date? And why does his laughter make Carlos cringe?
“Who are you texting?” he asks, finally, Carlos pushing the plastic container with his half-finished sandwich to the side.
TK glances up from his phone. “No one.”
“No one?”
“Just a friend,” TK says, pinning Carlos with a strange expression that squeezes his heart. It makes the sweat pricking his temples relocate and journey down, rolling towards his chin. Carlos wipes at his face as TK adds, “seriously, you don’t have to worry.”
It’s the way he said ‘you’ that does Carlos in. That has him dredging up what he already considered resolved since before they sat down. Discussed, at length, over the phone, with Carlos apologizing repeatedly. TK assured him they were good. “I thought we were good?”
TK sighs, “We are good.” Then, he mumbles, “As good as any two friends can be.”
Carlos’s frown deepens, mouth resembling a severe gash carved into his face. “I knew it!” Carlos cries, pointing at him. “You’re still mad at me.”
“I never said I wasn’t!”
“You said it was settled –“
“Because it is,” TK insists, a heavy glare drawing all breath out of Carlos’s chest. The façade he wore for their date has been pulled away, and Carlos sees exactly how distressed TK remained after he introduced him to his parents as his ‘friend’. Even with Carlos promising that he would remedy the situation soon, gather his boyfriend and family together and explain the truth of his romantic life, TK clings tight to the pain Carlos caused by letting fear sway his choice, both at the farmer’s market and when he let TK walk out of his home, relationship dangling from a fraying cord. It frays ever closer to breaking. “It’s settled until you work up the nerve to have that dinner you were talking about.”
Carlos splutters, “That’s not – you know, with the pandemic how hard it’s…”
His excuses further irritate TK, who retreats into his phone. He texts someone else. Perhaps the same person he’s been texting this entire time. “Then it’s settled.”
“If it’s so settled,” Carlos asks, “why even bother agreeing to our date today?” He gestures at their unfinished meals, probably cold and stale. If they weren’t, it’s not like Carlos feels like eating anymore.
TK stops texting, smirking at Carlos. Usually, it riles Carlos up in that he wants to kiss it off of him. Right now, Carlos swallows the urge to shove his boyfriend onto his ass. “A date?” TK asks, words languid and breezy, spaced out by palpable sarcasm. “Why would you think this was a date,” he continues, phone tapping against his chin, “we are just friends after all…”
Anger and disappointment converge violently inside Carlos, fighting for release. Neither can, as his vibrating phone pulls his focus from TK. He opens the message on autopilot, confused since it’s from TK. Confusion then drops into the cesspool of his emotions, like Mentos in Coke, and Carlos explodes.
“Why did you send me this?” he demands, showing TK a picture he sent to Carlos of himself. A picture they took, together, when visiting a lake one weekend long ago during the summer. A picture taken after they spent the entire afternoon swimming, bathing suits forgotten on the pier. A picture where TK’s chiseled physique was on display, skin dazzling as fading sunlight turned water droplets into diamonds, and TK’s sunglasses rested low on his nose as he smiled to the side where Carlos was. Was. As in not anymore. Only his arm, slung around his boyfriend’s shoulder, remained. Saved by being impossible to crop out. “Well?” Carlos asks again.
TK sighs, “Oh, I must have sent that by mistake.”
“You wanted to send me something else?”
“No,” TK clarifies, “I sent that to you by mistake. It was supposed to go to Buck, see?” TK shows Carlos his message thread, with the picture he sent Carlos, timestamped, showing he forwarded it to Buck first, then Carlos.
“…Buck.”
“Yeah, Buck,” TK continues, leaving his texts and diving into his photo album. He selects a group shot of the 126, plus a few extra members. He zooms closer on one face, Buck’s, enough that Carlos can distinguish the two birthmark spots above his eyebrows. “I’m sure I told you about him.”
“You did,” Carlos nods. He tears his gaze from Buck’s smile, fuming. “The firefighter who flirted with you.”
“I mean, he also helped me save my dad,” TK says, “but, yeah… he also flirted with me.” TK lowers his phone, chuckling, “We’ve just been chatting back and forth – as friends do – when I realized… y’know, I told him I wasn’t interested, because I had this really awesome boyfriend who I love, but since that’s not the case anymore, we’re only friends apparetly, I figured I might as well shoot my shot. Find out if he’s still interested. Maybe once quarantine is done, I can take some time off and… see what Los Angeles has to offer.” The eyebrow wiggle was completely unnecessary. TK communicated exactly what of Los Angeles he intends to see, regardless of how his eyebrows moved.
He’s better than this. Carlos knows what TK is doing. What the picture, and its delivery, was supposed to accomplish. What it’s succeeding at. He can win this, simply by ignoring TK’s teasing.
Except.
“You are not going to Los Angeles.” Carlos scowls, “Not without me. And especially not if Buck is gonna be there.”
TK scoffs, “What are you, my boyfriend?”
“…Yes!”
“Says who?” he asks, “Your parents?”
They’re outside. In public, surrounded by people who keep their distance. Unfortunately, their voices carry wide enough they draw a sizeable crowd. Carlos doesn’t notice until TK storms off and leaves him with the blanket, the abandoned food, and their audience.
Carlos blushes, hiding behind his hands. He wishes he never fumbled back then, in the farmer’s market. He also, briefly, wishes he and Buck switched places. At least then TK would be treating him to risqué pictures. At least Carlos would be having a good time, if he were Buck. He’d be receiving sexy photos from a certified dreamboat instead of suffering because of his own mistakes.
---------------------------
Buck stumbles over his words, stuttering, rushing out his explanation to a stone-faced Eddie. “Seriously,” he says, “I don’t – I don’t know why TK sent me that picture of him! It’s not like I asked! One second we’re talking about movies and the next thing I know – shirtless TK!”
“Yeah, I know,” Eddie huffs, arms folded across his chest, “I saw.”
He shouldn’t have. If Buck hadn’t left his phone on the table to help Bobby in the kitchen. If he didn’t hear his phone beep with an arriving message, almost vibrating off the table from it. If Eddie, along with Hen and Chim, weren’t climbing the stairs at the moment, and if he ignored Buck’s plea to hand him his phone. To punch in the code – which he knew, of course Eddie knew – since Buck was wrist deep in a turkey’s hole.
Buck washed his hands immediately, drying them on his pants as he chased Eddie the few feet towards the couch.
“So,” Eddie continues, “you and TK…”
He and TK? “We’re friends,” he says, repeating himself after Eddie’s disbelieving stare. “Okay, I mean – he did turn me down once, when we were leaving Texas. But he said he had a boyfriend –“
“He turned you down?” Eddie asks, “You flirted with him?”
“No!” Buck shrugs, running his hand over his forehead, frowning at the sweat that pooled there. “Well, I didn’t think I was. But he did? And – and he left before I could say anything, but I didn’t think it mattered since he, y’know, had a boyfriend!” He stomps his foot, irritation bubbling from the pit of his stomach and out his mouth. “Besides! Why does it matter if he sends me pictures?” Nice pictures. Distracting pictures that made Buck question exactly why TK misunderstanding his friendliness was a problem. “Why are you so angry?”
“Because… because…” Eddie looks past Buck, at the peanut gallery assembled by the kitchen. Hen and Chimney watching with interest while Bobby pretends cooking a turkey involves his whole focus. None of the seem keen to jump in and help. “Because… you…” Suddenly, Eddie stands. Buck recoils, stepping backwards. “You know what,” Eddie says, digging into his pocket, “I’m telling Marjan to unfollow you on Instagram.”
“What?”
“And!” he yells, phone free and on, “I’m telling her to block you!”
“What? No – Eddie, no! Don’t!” Buck follows his friend, pleading, “C’mon, she hasn’t even liked any of my photos yet… Eddie… Eddie!”
Eddie ignores him, furiously typing the end of Buck’s most famous connection online. In his haste, Buck forgets his phone on the counter. Eddie takes precedence over his phone.
Later, Buck will return to it. He will respond to TK’s picture, sending a tidal wave of texts at the Texan firefighter ranging between the immense trouble that picture landed him in and how TK can repay him by convincing Marjan to follow him again.
But that’s later. Now Buck slams his fist against the firetruck, yelling for Eddie to unlock the door.
Eddie doesn’t.
#911 on fox#911 lone star#carlos reyes#tk strand#evan 'buck' buckley#eddie diaz#tarlos#buddie#tarlos fanfic#buddie fanfic
87 notes
·
View notes
Text
((Gentiana keeps popping up in pictures with Gladio and my friends and I can’t help but think she’s hinting.))
#I Can't Lift For Shit {OOC}#((In my game anyway))#((Like seriously half of her photobombs have him in them))#((Trying to say something there woman??))
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Under the Mistletoe
Ok, there are no Ethan Keppen GIFs but this is one with Mitch as your brother, so we’re gonna go with a Mitch GIF. ANYWAY, this was requested forever ago, but since I’ve been studying and also suck, I just finished it, so I hope you like it!
Also Merry Christmas in July, I saw @hockeylvr59 doing something with Christmas in July and it kinda inspired me to do it, too (if you hate that I’ll take it down 😶)
___________________________
Ethan insisted that you go to the party since it was the first one where everyone in his group of friends was home from school and hockey in the last few years. You tried to tell him you didn’t want to, especially since he and your brother had a lot of mutual friends from playing hockey growing up, but he thought it would be fine since Mitch wasn’t going to even be home for another day or two. Ethan was still afraid to tell Mitch that you two were dating, and honestly, you felt the same way. You loved Mitch, but as his younger sister, his protectiveness of you was absolutely terrifying.
You were sitting on the couch that was in the basement, one of the guys convinced his parents to let him have ‘a few friends over,’ which turned into the entire hockey team that he and Ethan were on, random kids from the school they went to, and anyone else that heard about it showing up and probably trashing the house. He had managed to decorate his basement with Christmas decorations, half the guys wearing Santa hats, the other half wearing an open Santa suit jacket with no shirt on underneath it. Why they did this, you didn’t know, but you had to admit, the thought of Ethan with just the suit jacket on was a nice one, even if he had opted for the Santa hat.
“But it’s your first Christmas together, you have to post some sort of picture on your Instas!” Jacklyn whines, throwing herself down on the couch next to you. Ethan jumps a little, not expecting his beer to spill on his leg, throwing his arm around you and pulling you in trying to ward off Jacklyn. “Or, ohh! Do that Tik Tok challenge where it’s like one person is like ‘this is my best friend, they don’t know I’m in love with them, why don’t I kiss them!’”
“There are so many things wrong with what just came out of you,” you say, laughing, Ethan not even paying attention to the conversation. “First, there is nothing anywhere that says we have to post a picture. Second, Mitch follows us on social media and would murder both of us if he found out we were dating by seeing a picture instead of telling him. Third, I don’t have a Tik Tok and don’t want to make a video. And, fourth, there are so many challenges out there, and you pick that one? We’re already dating.”
“It’s funny, it’s cute, and why not? Oh, come on! Ethan, you have a Tik Tok, don’t you?”
“What?” he says, snapping away from the conversation with the guy standing in front of him, who now was also paying attention to the conversation.
Jacklyn goes on to explain the challenge she was telling you about, Ethan raising his eyebrow and giving her a look that says, ‘you’ve got to be kidding.’ “That sounds like a better challenge for you and Aidan.” Your jaw drops as Jacklyn’s face goes white.
“I don’t like you. We’re not friends,” she deadpans, Ethan’s friend freaking out about it.
“No way, is this the girl Aidan was talking about?” his friend asks, plopping down at your feet. “Oh, I’m Trevor, by the way,” he says, reaching out his hand to you. Not really processing what was going on past Jacklyn and Aidan, you reach out and half-heartedly introduced yourself. Jacklyn and Aidan would be cute together, and that was what you were focused on more. “He’s been talking about this one girl who he’s like in love with, who he thought only liked as a friend. That’s got to be you, he said you two were like best friends.”
“Oh, come on. He’s close with a lot of girls, it could be anyone” Jacklyn tries to defend herself. You look over to Ethan who nods, mouthing ‘it’s her.’
“Nah, he said something about the ring this girl always wears; it’s extravagant and her dad gave it to her for her last birthday. It’s got the red birthstone on it,” Trevor goes on while Jacklyn looks at the ring on her middle finger, the one fitting Trevors description. While Trevor thinks more about the girl that had to be Jacklyn, he snags Ethan’s beer and downs what was left of it.
“I was drinking that!” he protests, removing his arm from around you to go get more, “And you’re talking about a ruby, dude.”
“He knows birthstones?” Jacklyn asks.
“His mom’s best friend owns the jewelry store downtown, remember? But that’s not what we’re talking about. Why don’t you go do that Tik Tok Challenge with Aidan since you two aren’t already dating like Ethan and I are?”
“There’s no way I could do that! He’s talking to people!” Jacklyn squeals, tucking her legs underneath her.
“Isn’t the point of the challenge to catch them off guard?” you ask her.
Ethan comes back, drinks in hand for you, him, and Trevor. “If he rejects you then you tell him we dared you to do it and that you never back down from a dare.”
“If I do this, then you have to post a picture of you and Y/N kissing under the mistletoe,” she tries to bargain with you.
She’s good enough friends with both you and Ethan to know that doing that would lead to Mitch finding out. You look at Ethan again, taking a drink of the beer. If this was something you had to do, it would be easier if weren’t completely sober for this. “I could put it on snap, Mitch doesn’t have me there,” he suggests.
“You actually have to kiss him first or we aren’t doing it,” you tell her.
Trevor from the floor, says, “I’ll film it,” as he’s watching the interaction unfold, Jacklyn’s face getting more and more red as time goes on. You all look over to the wall where Aidan was standing, talking to one of the guys from the team and what looked to be his girlfriend. “We can do that, ‘there’s my best friend part he doesn’t know I’m in love with him,’ while he’s talking to them.”
“I still don’t know what this whole thing entails but whatever,” you say, snuggling closer to Ethan as he kisses your head. “You’re sure you don’t follow my brother on Snapchat?”
“As far as I know,” he shrugs, pulling out his phone to check. No Mitch Marner anywhere on his friend’s list. “Nope, we’re good.”
Trevor starts filming Jacklyn with Aidan in the background, her looking more nervous than she wanted to show. There was no way she would actually do this. And that would mean no risk of your brother somehow seeing you kissing Ethan on social media. “Do you think she’ll actually go through with it?” you whisper in Ethan’s ear, reaching up to play with the end of his Santa hat.
“Can I still kiss you under the mistletoe if she doesn’t?” he whispers back, his eyes flicking between your own and your lips.
“That’s so cliche when you could just kiss me right now.” He does as you say, only to be interrupted by Jacklyn saying something about having to wait until she kisses Aidan. No way would she go through with this, right?
“Well, when are you going to actually do it?” you ask, finishing off the beer in your cup.
“Once he’s not with other people.”
“It’s a party. How likely is it that he’s going to be alone any time soon?” Trevor says, still holding the phone up to record what she’s about to do.
“Looks like it would be pretty likely,” Ethan says, motioning over to a now alone Aidan, standing there looking at his phone while nursing the drink in his hand.
Jacklyn looks at you, mortified, eyes wide and probably starting to shake. “You can’t be making me do this.”
“You were going to make us do this. If you really don’t want to do it, no one is forcing you. Trevor can just delete the videos you already took,” you point out, which seems to calm her a little bit. “Seriously, you don’t have to do this if you aren’t comfortable doing it.”
She looks over at Aidan, him still looking down at his phone. Ethan and Trevor look back and forth between you and Jacklyn, “Get the camera ready,” she says to Trevor.
She gets once Trevor has the video going, focusing on Aidan as Jacklyn goes up to him. They’re either far enough away that they’re out of earshot, or they’re just talking incredibly quietly so that you can’t hear them. You and Ethan are leaning forward, Ethan’s arm snaking around your waist and pulling him closer to you. If she does this, you would have to post the picture of you two under the mistletoe that’s hung at the bottom of the stairs, and even though Ethan knew he didn’t have your brother as a friend on Snapchat, something in him was convinced he would see it anyway.
You could feel your heart racing, actually getting excited to see her kiss Aidan when you heard a commotion upstairs. Ignoring it, you put your hand on Ethan’s thigh, squeezing it as Jacklyn actually kisses Adian, taking way longer than the challenge was probably meant to take. She gives him a quick peck, pulling away as Aidan looks shocked, not saying anything. She stands there for a second before starting to pull away. Aidan puts his cup on the floor, grabbing her by the arm and spinning her around to kiss her again.
“Oh, my god!” you hear yourself say, Ethan and Trevor also freaking out over what they were watching. They pull away, both of them beaming. “Looks like we’re posting a picture together,” you say to Ethan. Jacklyn comes back over, Trevor already starting to edit the video. “So that looked like fun!”
“We’re going out to dinner on Thursday, and then back to his place,” she says, her cheeks red with excitement, none of you actually believing what just happened.
“I wonder what all that noise was about upstairs,” Trevor finally says something.
You and Jacklyn shrug as Ethan lifts you off the couch. “Come on Trev, you’re still on camera duty.” He brings you over to the mistletoe at the bottom of the stairs, praying that no one comes down and photobombs the picture. Ethan pulls you close to him, his hand finding the small of your back.
“If we really wanted this to be more Christmas-y, you could take Trevor’s Santa jacket,” you suggest. He rolls his eyes, a smile on his face because it’s for you. He gets the jacket from Trevor, stripping his shirt off to get the full effect.
“We could caption it ‘I saw a Marner kissing Santa Claus,’ he says, you throwing your head back in laughter. “Ready?” he turns to Trevor who gives the thumbs up.
Ethan kisses you, short and sweet while Trevor takes the picture. You pull away, both of you beaming as Jacklyn starts getting all mushy about how cute the photo was, how she just wished you could post it everywhere for the world could see. You were about to say something about how the entire world was going to see her and Aidan’s first kiss while Ethan kisses your cheek again, when you hear someone yelling from the top of the stairs.
“What the hell are you doing?” You and Ethan snap your attention to the voice that seemingly fell down the stairs.
Your eyes go wide, turning to Ethan, “Oh, you should,”
“Run,” you say at the same time, Ethan trying to do as you say as Mitch comes flying down the stairs. You swear he looked like he was going to kill Ethan, your boyfriend getting away just in time for you you stop Mitch in his tracks.
“What the hell are you doing?” you say to him, trying to push him away from the corner Ethan was now trapped in.
“What does he think he’s doing?”
“The same thing he’s been doing for months! Giving me a kiss?”
“Months?” he looks at you, visibly hurt when he realizes this is something you’ve been keeping from him.
“Come on,” you say, dragging him up the stairs and out to the front of the house. “We’ve been dating since your last playoff run and we haven’t told you because you haven’t been home and we wanted to tell you in person,” you admit once you’re alone on the lawn.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“We were going to when you came home, which wasn’t supposed to be for a day or two, in my defense. Plus, every time I tell you about a new boyfriend you want to murder them.”
“That is not true!” he defends himself. You raise your eyebrows at him, not amused when he knows you’re right. “Ok, but it’s because you’re my sister. I have to protect you.”
“That means you murder him after he breaks my heart, not when I start to fall for him.”
“Wait, do you love him,” he asks, pulling you in for a hug.
“I think so.”
“Ugh,” he groans, dragging you back inside, “That means he’s going to be around for a while, doesn’t it?”
“Watch it, Marner.”
#Ethan keppen#ethan keppen imagine#mitch marner#mitch marner imagine#toronto maple leafs#toronto maple leafs imagines#maple leafs#maple leafs imagines#leafs#leafs imagines#vancouver canucks#vancouver canucks imagines#canucks#canucks imagines#nhl#nhl imagines#hockey#hockey imagines
54 notes
·
View notes
Note
Okay so I loved the proposal spin-off so much but would you maybe be able to do one following that about like telling the parents and all???
Okay okay so I probably got a little carried away with this but there are three parts, so I hope you enjoy!
I Need You
-----------------------------------------------------
“Is everything alright, honey?” Y/N’s mothers voice was tired when she picked up and Y/N winced.
“Sorry, did I wake you up?” She asked regretfully.
“Yes but it’s okay I need to be up in a little bit anyway, besides if you didn’t wake me up, Alan probably would have,” Y/N laughed at her mothers words.
“How is Alan?” Calum shouted from where he was making the two of them tea. It had started to rain on their walk home from the park though neither of them minded much that by the time they got home they were soaked through.
Neither of them could wait to tell their parents that they were officially engaged and the moment they had towelled themselves dry, Y/N had gotten out her phone while Calum made them both some tea, Duke settling himself contentedly by Y/N’s lap.
“He’s good,” Y/N’s mothered laughed. “Now what’s going on?” She sat up in her bed slightly, her mouth turned up in a wide smile.
“Wake dad up - we’re just waiting for Cal’s parents to pick up as well,” Y/N explained.
Joy and David soon joined the call and Y/N looked up at Calum.
“Should we try and get Mali on as well?” She asked and Calum frowned, checking his watch.
“It’ll be too late in London,” he murmured in response, pressing a kiss to the back of her head as their parents chatted together on the phone. “We actually have something to tell you guys,” Calum spoke up, getting the attention of the four adults.
“What’s going on?” Joy asked. Y/N looked over at Calum who shrugged, though a wide grin grew on his face.
“Calum asked me something today...” Y/N trailed off and watched their parents eyes widen, clearly already having cottoned onto their news.
“Oh my-”
Y/N held up her hand, engagement ring on display, leaning into Calum as she joined in with the laughter of their families. Calum chuckled into Y/N’s hair, holding her closer to him.
///
“Holy shit!” Sierra reached over and grabbed Y/N’s left hand, her eyes wide as she brought it up to eye level.
“When did that happen?” Crystal shrieked, rushing over to stand next to Sierra and get a closer look at the ring that Sierra had only just noticed.
The guys paused, turning around out of their conversations to watch their girlfriends in amusement, wanting to know what had happened to get them suddenly so excited.
“Wait - the fuck?” Michael asked, noticing the ring.
“You didn’t fucking tell us!” Ashton shoved Calum’s shoulder, though he was smiling so the couple knew that he wasn’t seriously upset that they hadn’t been informed.
“Congratulations!” Was Luke’s excited response, joining his girlfriend to look at Y/N’s ring.
“Did we not tell you?” Calum asked.
“I just assumed Calum told you,” Y/N admitted with a shrug of her shoulders.
“When did you do it?” Crystal asked, looking over at Calum inquisitively.
“The night I said I was going to,” Calum looked at Ashton who was still staring at him incredulously. “Hence why I figured you already knew.”
“That’s so exciting!”
“I’m your best man, right?” Michael butted in to ask. “I mean I basically got you two together.”
“Yeah but I’d make a much better best man than you,” Ashton scoffed, rolling his eyes.
“Hey, Luke,” Y/N called and the singer looked over at her. “Wanna be my maid of honour?”
///
“Did you put the post out?”
“What gave it away?” Calum responded, placing his phone down on his chest as he lay on their bed. Y/N made her way over, climbing onto the bed, placing her legs on either side of his body. Calum’s hands rested lightly on her hips, grinning up at her.
“Probably the fact that my phone just crashed because I got too many notifications saying congratulations,” Y/N mused, leaning down to peck his lips. “Can I look at it?” She asked.
“Hm?”
“Can I see the post?”
“Wait - has your phone genuinely crashed?” Calum began to laugh and Y/N nodded, giggles escaping her own lips at the question. She took his phone from where it lay on his chest, using her fingerprint to unlock it.
Calum’s post made Y/N’s smile grow exponentially wide.
A photo of the two of them when they were fourteen was the face of the photo - one from before they got together, Calum dressed in his football kit, mud trekked up his legs but the smile on his face was wide, though barely visible as he had Y/N in his arms, in the process of spinning her around. Y/N knew the day immediately, it was the day that Calum won the football match for their school team, Michael was in the back of the photo, laughing, two seconds after Joy had taken the photo of Y/N and Calum celebrating together, Michael had joined in with the to-be couple’s embrace, all three of them laughing.
The second photo was the two of them the day Calum had gotten the call about going to London to write songs with the guys. It was, again, taken by Joy though in this instance the two of them were aware of the photo being taken, Y/N kissing Calum’s cheek as he held a thumbs up to the camera with a wide smile on his face.
The third was of them after the first 5 Seconds of Summer gig that had been played on the Take Me Home Tour. Y/N had flown out with Calum’s family (along with the families of the other guys) to surprise him and he had spotted her standing side stage while he was playing. The moment they had finished playing and had left the stage, he had thrown Y/N over his shoulder as she laughed. The photo was taken by Ashton with Y/N half over Calum’s shoulder, both of their smiles on display for the camera as they celebrated the first official 5 Seconds of Summer gig.
The fourth was at the album release party for Sounds Good Feels Good. The two of them were holding glasses of champagne, clinking them in the centre of the photo. Ashton was intentionally photobombing in the back, pulling a face at the camera, and Luke and Michael could also be seen talking to one another at the edge of the scene.
The fifth had been taken at Y/N’s graduation, which Calum hadn’t initially thought he’d be able to make it to but had managed to move some things around and fly out just in time to make it. Y/N was dressed in her graduation gown, her eyes wide and tearful, having just seen that he had been able to make it. One hand covered her mouth, the other reaching for Calum. Moments after the photo had been taken she had almost fallen into his waiting arms, listening to him whisper about how proud he was of her.
The final photo was a selfie. The two of their faces pressed together, their clasped hands in front of them, Y/N’s engagement ring clearly on show for camera. While Calum was looking at the camera, Y/N was looking at him, a soft smile on her face contrasting with the unashamedly wide grin on Calum’s. The photo was the one they had sent to Mali and Y/N’s siblings after having gotten off the phone call with their parents.
‘We’ve had a lot of things to celebrate over the last near ten years but this is by far my favourite’
Spin-Off Blurbs for I Need You
#courts blurbs#blurbs#5 seconds of summer#I Need You#I Need You Spin-Off Blurbs#calum hood#calum hood fanfiction#calum hood imagine#calum hood x reader#calum hood blurbs#requested
225 notes
·
View notes
Text
Resolution
Tension hangs as heavy in the air as your breath. Neither you nor the stranger moves an inch, gray eyes staring into arrogant gold as the world seems to stop around the two of you, the only sound is the beat of your heart in your ears. Your magic gathers and the crystal itches as spreads across your skin, but you don’t care.
The stranger sneers, lips curling over teeth meant to rend throats. You two are kindred, members of the same fae species. He a wolf, and you a rabbit. Historically, battles between those two creatures have never ended favorably on the behalf of the rabbits but when has that ever stopped you? He moves first and he moves fast, you barely have time to register the sword tearing itself from the door before it nearly gives you a new haircut. You dodge, but not quickly enough and end up with a fresh cut on your cheek. The stranger catches his flying sword and makes a show of wiping the blade before he points it at you.
“Last chance Witch, who are you?” he snarls, exasperated. Your ears flick back as your own lips curl into a cocky grin,
“The kind of Witch you don’t fuck with.” as the crystal claims your eye you can feel the distant pride of two Umbra Witches above the panic and echoed fury of your soulbonds. You don’t give the stranger any time to respond, power spiraling out to draw roots from the ground and send them hurtling at your opponent like earthen spears. In a flash of metal they dissolve into millions of perfectly sliced cubes that rain to the mucky ground below. You aren’t given a moment to contemplate what kind of anime bullshit you just saw before he’s going after you with that sword, its all you can do to avoid him and keep your footing on the slick ground. His blade finds your shoulder, only to glance off the patch of crystal growing there. You stagger back under the force of the blow and parry with your own rapidly crystallizing limbs. Your powers are useless here, there is nothing for you to resurrect, and anything you can manage to grow is too sluggish to do anything and quickly becomes mulch beneath that awful blade. You’re running out of ideas and space to retreat, he seems hellbent on driving you away from the house, just when you need to see Mr Tepes the most.
You find yourself thankful for the sullen remoteness of this place, anywhere else and this kind of duel would have drawn unwanted attention. Especially now that you’re spinning webs of thorny vines around yourself in an attempt to give yourself an edge. You’re fading fast, the crystal quickly swallowing what little flash you have left, its getting harder and harder to move, to dodge, to survive. The stranger spots an opening in your defenses and spears you on his blade. You don’t register the crunch of shattering crystal at first, until the taste of blood fills your mouth and splatters your lips as you cough. You wait for the taste of butterscotch to accompany a wave of pain but it doesn’t come. You’re that far gone. You slip on a patch of mud exposed by the scuffle and fall to the ground. The blade is embedded in your torso, not quite to the hilt but then again you could have pushed some of it out but falling.
The stranger stands over you and draws the sword from your body, it rasps against the crystal like it would a sheath. He doesn’t wipe the blade off this time and instead tilts your chin up with the tip,
“Now then,” he says, he’s not even panting. Like all of this was just a Sunday stroll to him. You frown, too weak to do much else. He continues, “What was it you said that you were? Hmm… Oh I remember. ‘The kind of Witch you don’t fuck with.’ he chuckles as if that were the greatest joke in the world. You have no reply really, only a vague sense of disappointment and annoyance that pushes itself through the growing blackness crowding the edges of your being. He says something else, something you don’t catch as a blur of red knocks him off of you and you fall headlong into the darkness.
Standing over your unconscious form is another you. Same hair, same eyes, same ears, paws, tail and so on. But she’s red and she’s whole. No crystal on her skin, no antlers atop her head, her eyes are solid black to match the teeth she bares at the stranger. Blood slicks her fingers and circles her in floating, fat globules like amorphous planets around a vengeful sun. Her name is Diamour, last child of the Lifeblood, rightful Queen of Wonderland, She Who Kept the Hearts of Her Enemies. You call her Queenie, she calls you Hers. Beyond soulbound, you are her phylactery, her lifeforce given form. Should you expire, so would she, and she’s not about to let that happen. The blood around her becomes a battalion of ruby needles that shiver like a porcupine’s quills before diving at the stranger like the loosed arrows of a hundred archers.
He rolls, becoming a wolf as he dodges. She raises one royal hand palm out and the stranger stops against his will, sliding to a halt as he howls in an agony that can only come from having every blood vessel in your body pulled on like puppet strings. There is no remorse in her eyes as she slowly curls her fingers and listens to his screams grow ever louder, bruises blooming on his skin, under his thick coat of white fur. She watches his skin seethe in pain, rippling between one form and the next as blood runs from his mouth and eyes. After a moment she grows bored and leaves him there to bleed, carefully lifting you from the ground to carry you to the mansion. Mr Tepes stands on the porch, eyes wide and haunted as she approaches, he kills her before she has time to speak. She is wholly unbothered by his actions and will respawn in less than a week. Dracula drags you and the stranger inside, and tends to your wounds.
You are left to soak in a bathtub full of the same medicine he’s been giving you. It drains the magic from your body and dissolves the crystal until that’s left is your bruised and tired body. You wake up sometime later, strapped to an operating table, amidst the adrenaline fueled flashbacks of your childhood at the lab, Mr Tepes appears and places his large hand on your head. You are shushed, consoled and reassured until you go limp against the cold metal. Your chest plate is open and likely has been the entire time, you watch him reach in and feel his claw pierce your heart. It doesn’t hurt, but you don’t like the sensation. He draws something, a Glyph you don’t recognize, and suddenly all the magic in your body is drawn into your heart, condensing and spiraling like a tiny storm. It hurts, but you don’t complain. Mr Tepes draws another Glyph and the pain subsides, your magic easing back into where its supposed to be. You relax physically, eyes half-lidded. He closes you up, helps you off the table, and into the den.
The stranger is sitting in the great arm chair in front of the fire, unharmed by the looks of things. You freeze, magic trying to crackle down your spine. He offers you a wan smile,
"That won’t be necessary, Father has explained your… Little arrangement.” he stands, making his way over to you and extending his hand “I’d like to start over if you don’t mind and offer my sincerest apologies, I am Adrien Tepes, a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
You shake his hand because its polite, not because you want to. You tell him your name for the same reasons and do not accept his apology, nor do you give him your own. At the earliest opportunity you steal the chair from him and strap yourself in for a lecture, one that never comes due to Mr Tepes feeling as though this ordeal was punishment enough. You ask about your condition and he tells you that its been managed for the time being, and you don’t have it in you to ask any further questions. You pass out in the chair for hours, ignorant to the. .. Spirited conversation between father and son going on in the next room. You don’t want to wake up when you do but people are worried about you and its seriously interfering with the contents of your dreams so you are forced to go home and put them all at ease.
You send selfies first, proof of your current status of well-being. You’re surprised when they decide to photobomb you. You don’t want to leave really but you’ve likely overstayed your welcome ages ago. You wander home like nothing happened and apply yourself to the nearest witch for a much needed cuddle and scolding.
4 notes
·
View notes
Text
i have no visuals just some tips that worked well for myself and my successful groups for anyone who 1. wants to beat junkenstein because the achievement sprays are cute and/or 2. is too lazy to look up a full reddit guide or hasn’t gotten around to it. also this is not for legendary. finished that shit last year not bothering this year no fucking thanks
to preface: kinda like mvm (remember when i blogged about that?), ow pve is easier when you know the patterns of the mobs, positioning for yourself, timing abilities, roles of your desired class(es), and generally know what you’re doing. it’ll be easier with practice and repetition, if you’re willing to put in the time and effort.
or you can just have a reference that tells you when shit is coming.
overall ideal comp is zen, torb, mccree, s76
if you pick widow or genji while i’m trying to do an achievement and you aren’t 3.5k sr at the lowest i will leave during hero select. i’m sorry. but i’ve been wounded too much.
you can swap s76 for a good (GOOD) hanzo who can scatter tires and zen for a good (GOOD) ana. since her dmg was nerfed, zen’s better if you’re not a pro. still, do not underestimate the power of nanonoon. also sleep darts. mccree will likely be up left meaning you shouldn’t expect flash to bail you out in mid if you get hooked or whatever.
call for healing if you need it for fuck’s sake
imo best turret spots are on the right ledge or square post left of mid. i think it can also be placed on staircase, but i haven’t tried this.
turret left pulls boss aggro off teammates and is easier to repair, turret right ledge might take less dmg (i’m not 100% sure on that)
dps: best posi as mccree is top left. i can handle 90% of mobs and tires there myself, then i peck at mid when i have time. really either of the non-torb dps can be up there, the other dps should be around mid with torb and zen
aim for headshots or at least the neck. the bots move in a pretty linear fashion and slowly which makes headshotting easy.
imo torb & zen should be watching for any stray mobs going for door - important if you’re going for no dmg achievement. s76 is also good for cleanup, but don’t leave that job to mchanzoburstdamageduo
as mccree i generally focus on the non-bosses and leave bosses to my team unless i’m ulting, in harder modes the blue guys hit HARD and you want them down before they accumulate. you can probably get mccree ult for pretty much every boss wave but many teams suck ass at cleanup
torb: pick up scrap when it’s safe to do so (you’ll get a feel of when the waves are in between/more chill), i generally spread armour around the door area and -
torb: THIS IS CRUCIAL plz leave a pack or two on the left staircase if you can spare it (healer takes armour priority tho). the left dps can then pick up armour without having to go all the way back to mid, which is very helpful as mccree so you can just roll back the staircase and bam you get armour! those extra few seconds spent grabbing armour are better spent taking out at least like 3 bots, and torb can toss it onto staircase easily.
it’s also ez for torb to toss armour to the high left ledge (you might have a widow/hanzo up there) and the right ledge if anyone’s perched there
i prefer using mccree ult for mercy, junk, symm, reaper, then hog in that order. with ~70% accuracy you can charge it in maybe 30 secs. don’t be scared to use ult.
reaper isn’t too hard to handle bc he comes right into the thick mess of things and scatter/helix + cc (if available) + the other dmg should take care of him quickly.
for junk use mccree or hanzo ult. neither will ohko him (unless nanonoon), but both should take 80-90% of his hp. and mchanzo, don’t just let him live, he’ll destroy torb’s turret which is your fourth dps and pal.
hog takes some more 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈𝑒, mccree’s ult (don’t get hooked) takes a good chunk of his hp, you might want hanzo/s76 for other mob cleanup, ana should biobomb as soon as he heals. cc is helpful here too. if i’m in mid i save flash for when he hooks someone.
for mercy use mccree ult and don’t get hooked. when she comes out i usually take her along with most of junk’s hp then finish junk off before doing cleanup. you can nail them both in one go w/ nanonoon though. also if you don’t ohko mercy, prioritize her for obvious reasons, then get junk.
for the first symm (wave 6) mccree back up to mid and get on right ledge, wait for her shield to fuck off, then ult her. for the next two symms (wave 10), i help the team take the first one out, then i ult the 2nd symm so we don’t get overrun. first is generally easier to kill w/o mccree ult. there was a game where i ulted both of them to kill the first and leave the 2nd at maybe 10% hp which worked well but ymmv
mostly seen hanzo and s76′s ult for larger crowd control, quick tire kills, but of course also to lay down some extra dmg on bosses. their ults (and torb’s) are good for when you’re starting to get overrun.
before symm spawns and if possible, hanzo can take junk’s ledge so he can take out shield gen immediately without being microwaved which is what will happen if you stay on left ledge. doing this will pull symm’s m2 aggro to hanzo which he can easily dodge (don’t fucking die to symm’s m2) while the team does cleanup. but try to kill her/both symms before the next wave starts and more shit starts happening.
you can also perch junk’s ledge with widow, genji, s76 (rocket jump? that sounds dangerous) depending on which achievement you’re going for.
i prefer not having the hanzo/genji/widow/whatever useless teammate on junk’s ledge when they don’t have a symm to deal with because they generally do a shit job up there and it’s easier for them to miss stray bots and tires they could’ve otherwise gotten if they were in mid
if you’re gonna ‘main’ mccree for junkenstein besides the obvious aim good/don’t get hooked basics, try to get a feel for how often you can get your ult up. you’ll DEFINITELY want (possibly even need) it for mercy, junk, and symm. so while you can ult pretty frequently, just be aware of when you’ll really need it and how long it takes for you to get it.
zen ult when your idiot teammates are dying
ana ult for nanonoon or if your team is bad you might need to clutch ult
torb ult pretty much whenever there’re a bunch of bots (preferably at least one boss) on the field, it charges fast. just try to have it for when your team is getting swarmed or things are getting a little hard to handle.
if you’re going for no dmg to the door, seriously watch out for those tires and cleanup. as i mentioned earlier, mccree can almost always (or always, if you are better than my <100% accuracy) take the left tires, hanzo and s76′s scatter/helix are excellent burst to do a good amount of damage, and everyone’s m1 also does a chunk of dmg. make sure you’re paying attention to wherever they’re coming from and handle them. it’s easier for them to fuck you over in later waves when you also have multiple bosses to contend with.
i let this post sit in another tab for like half an hour and completely lost my train of thought. sorry about that.
oh yeah remember to spray because i recall literally nobody other than myself spraying in this gamemode and that sucks because we had so many fantastic spray bonding moments during uprising
also there are little clovers roughly marking the boss spawn points if you wanna photobomb (cutscenebomb?) them :)
76 notes
·
View notes
Text
tinder's a shit show (trixya) (1/?) - ornacia
(A/N: hey all. this little thing is the product of exam stress, boredom, and my inevitable relapse into full-on rpdr fanfiction addiction. i’ve never written anything for this fandom before so apologies if it’s not the best. i might continue it if the response is good but if not, it was a lot of fun either way!)
“Galentines Day,” Trixie repeated incredulously. She’d been sitting in the library for almost three hours and had relocated six times either out of boredom or because someone nearby was giving her evil-eyes for taking up desk-space she didn’t actually need. As of now she’d found herself a table at the back of the cafe with a patchy signal and a couple of suspicious looking stains on the seat.
“Yeah, it’s from that one episode of Parks and Recreation.”
Trixie raised an eyebrow, taking a long sip of strawberry milkshake.
“Remember? It’s the one where –”
“I remember,” she said, pushing her drink aside and adjusting the screen of her laptop in the hopes of seeing her friend a little better. “Are you gonna make me a mosaic out of crushed up bottles of my favourite diet soda?”
“No.”
“Am I getting a personalised 5,000 word essay on why I’m the most awesome friend you’ve ever had? A needlepoint cushion with my face on it?”
Kim fixed her with a look, and after a beat of silence Trixie gave in and pushed her milkshake to the side of the screen. “Okay, okay. What are we doing?”
“Having a sleepover. You, me, Naomi, and Max. They’re staying the night and we’re watching 10 Things I Hate About You and ordering a take-out.”
Trixie raised a brow. “Eating your feelings isn’t supposed to be a group activity.”
“But it can be,” Kim argued. “So are you in? You know, you kind of have to say ‘yes’ unless you want to lock yourself in your room all night while we throw the Galentine’s day party without you.”
“Will there be wine?”
Kim smiled triumphantly at the camera, holding up one finger and clumsily shuffling upwards and backwards out of her seat. She disappeared for all of thirty seconds before reappearing in the frame with several bottles clutched against her chest, none of which looked particularly stable. “Lots,” she confirmed, lifting her arms a little so as to give a better view.
“You got me,” Trixie said, shaking her head and grinning at her roommate. “Now go put those back before you cause an accident.”
—
She was two glasses deep into the bottle of Grenache Rosé when someone said the word ‘Tinder’. Her ass was numb from having been forcefully relocated to the arm of the couch by unanimous vote and her attention was only half on the T.V, the other half being reserved for the last few slices of pepperoni pizza.
“Yeah,” Naomi said, legs splayed out across the other girls’ laps and a wine glass dangling between her fingers. “I know someone who met their boyfriend on Tinder. Like, an actual boyfriend – not some guy who takes you to the cinema one time and tries to bundle you into the backseat of his jeep. ”
Max, ever the sensible one, considered this information with a small frown creasing her brow. “Really? Isn’t that a little… you know, dangerous?”
“Not if you meet them somewhere public,” Trixie pointed out sliding down from her perch and onto the floor that she could crawl towards the pizza boxes and re-load her plate.
“Second wind already?”
“Fuck you,” she said, jabbing a mozzarella stick in the offender’s direction and licking the salt from her fingertips. “It’s been at least twenty minutes.”
“Sure,” Kim snorted. “Seriously though, what’s the guy like?”
“Not that weird. She could do better, but like if she’s happy I’m not going to say anything.”
“Does he have Instagram?”
“I didn’t ask.”
“Everyone has Instagram,” Trixie said. “It’s like Facebook. If you don’t have Instagram you’re probably not a real person.”
“Unless you’re forty years old, in which case you’ve probably got better things to do.”
“Yeah, right. Like bake a tuna casserole for the neighbours and spam inspirational minion memes on your fourteen-year-old daughter’s Facebook page.”
“Don’t come for my mother, Miss Mattel. You don’t know her like that.”
Trixie laughed and threw a ball of kitchen towel at the other girl’s face before scooting backwards to sit on the floor between the other girls legs. Max, to her credit, caught the hint immediately and picked a couple of blonde curls to start playing with.
“Why don’t you get it, Trixie?”
“Get what?” She half-turned her head to look up at Kim and Naomi on the sofa behind her.
“Tinder,” Naomi said, holding up her hands in mock-surrender in response to the flash of indignation that flashed across the blonde’s face. “Woah, hey, that wasn’t supposed to be shady. I just thought maybe you could do with getting some.”
“You are always complaining about how long it’s been since you got laid.” Kim chimed in.
As true as that was, her complaining was more for show than anything else. Trixie hadn’t ever been much of a dater, and the one time she’d been fingered at a house party in the eleventh grade was hardly memorable.
“You just said Tinder was full of creeps.”
“No,” Naomi said slowly. “Max said Tinder was full of creeps. Come on, it’ll be fun. We can toot or boot your potential hook-ups. It’s not like you’re actually gonna meet any of them in person.”
“Ooh,” Kim clapped her hands together lightly. “Sounds interesting.”
Trixie grimaced, shaking her head and pushing her phone protectively beneath her knees. “No, no way,” she said. “What if I run into someone from college or a neighbour or something?”
“Your neighbour is rather attractive,” Max mused, looking a little taken aback when three curious sets of eyes swivelled her way. “What? I’m allowed to find someone visually appealing. I don’t mean anything inappropriate by it.”
“Calm down, Maria,” Trixie snorted. “Nobody thinks you’re that kind of girl.”
“Nobody thinks you’re that kind of girl either.”
“So why am I being made to download it? Why not Max?”
“Because Max would never actually do it, and you’ve had way more to drink.”
Trixie made an affronted noise, placing her hand on her chest and and opening her mouth in a caricature of shock. For all her theatrics, she knew they weren’t wrong. All it took was ten more minutes of relentless pestering before she threw her hands in the air and gave into the pressure. It wasn’t as though she’d ever use it or talk to any of her potential matches. Besides that, a little ego boost never hurt anybody.
“Use that picture,” Naomi said, reaching forward to tap a perfectly manicured nail against the screen. “You’re giving beach-babe Barbie realness.”
“That’s so not a thing,” Trixie said, smacking her hand away. “And I can’t put that up, I’m in a Bikini!”
“What’s your point?”
She rolled her eyes, looking over her profile one last time before hitting ‘done’. It wasn’t as though she was trying to impress anybody. If a scantily clad photo with a margarita in her hand was what it took to keep her friends entertained then what was the harm?
“Set your preferences to ‘both’.”
“What? Why?” Trixie frowned.
“Because I want to see if the girls on Tinder are as weird as the guys,” Kim shrugged.
Apparently the answer was yes. There were a few cute guys here and there and a couple of girls that Trixie couldn’t help but linger on before passing, but the majority of people were pretty unsettling. There was a guy named Daryl with one too many innuendos in his bio and a selection of identical photos all taken from the exact same angle on his laptop. Then there was Jesus, Jesus in a nappy, and Jesus who’d dragged a random baby goat into his profile picture for the sake of looking ‘sensitive’.
“This guy just made a power-point on the pros and cons of swiping right,” she said, raising her eyebrows and turning the phone screen so everyone could see it better.
“Next.”
“I like her makeup,” Kim said, leaning in closer to examine the next potential match. “And her shoes are cute too.”
“Toot.”
They carried on like that well into the evening. When eventually it did get old, they resorted to watching an episode of Toddlers and Tiaras before calling it a night.
It wasn’t until the other girls had gone to bed and Trixie found herself sitting up alone on twitter that she opened it up again out of curiosity. The first profile didn’t disappoint. In fact, she found herself squinting to try and figure out exactly what it was she was looking at.
The girl in the photo was blonde and rail-thin with hollow cheeks that struck an odd contrast against the brightness of her eyes. There was a spot of red lipstick in her teeth and a slightly flushed and breathless look about her and, strangest of all, she was wearing a dress printed with screen-caps of Amanda Bynes in ‘What a Girl Wants’.
“What the…” she shifted her gaze to the bio section and snorted with laughter.
‘I’m the closeted High School make-out session that’s still got you sweating when grandma comes to visit, Katya.’
Curiosity piqued, Trixie flicked her way through the remaining photos. There was one of her hanging upside down from a goal-post with her underwear on full display and another of her photobombing a cute, ginger girl’s mirror selfie. She was grinning like an idiot in both of them and against all odds, Trixie found herself gravitating towards the green heart.
‘We probably won’t even match,’ she told herself, continuing on through the profiles out of sheer boredom. ‘And even if we did, it’s not like I’m not into girls.’
There had only been one openly gay student at her High School in Milwaukee. It wasn’t something anyone ever talked about, but she’d spied him getting roughed up behind that school canteen a couple of times and that was more than enough evidence for her to deduce that it wasn’t something you went around telling people.
And maybe it was naive of her. She that it was different in places like California where people were open to new ideas and methods of self-expression, but she’d gotten more than enough flack for her sense of style over the years. Since moving away from home, Trixie had been able to start presenting herself the way she’d always wanted to; big hair, pink clothes, and a lot of makeup. That was enough. She didn’t need to embark on some journey of self-exploration or live out the ‘everyone experiments in college’ fantasy.
She didn’t.
Her train of thought was interrupted when a notification cropped up in the corner of her screen. Her heart stuttered a little in her chest a moment, but it wasn’t anywhere near as exciting as she’d first hoped. It was a message from some guy they’d swiped right on a couple of hours earlier - not that she was disappointed or hoping for anything else.
She didn’t bother reading it before locking her phone and struggling up off the sofa to grab herself a glass of water and follow the other girls to bed.
—
(04.33AM) i hear you’re looking for a stud. well, I got the STD and all I need is u ;))
Trixie blinked, reaching to rub the sleep from her eyes with her free hand. She could hear chatter from the kitchen, a sure sign that everyone else had been awake for a little while already, and the smell of pancakes was just starting to waft in through her bedroom door.
“Who the hell,” she murmured, keying in her passcode and scrolling through her apps until she found the little fire icon.
Of course.
The message was from Katya. A second glance at her profile confirmed that she was every bit as gorgeous as Trixie remembered and just weird enough for the pick-up to be funny instead of creepy or uncomfortable.
(10.53AM) No offence but that really isn’t how to sell yourself.
(10.54AM) Also why were you still awake at 4AM?
It wasn’t as though she was committing to anything by writing back. At least, that was what she told herself. If Katya turned out to be some sort of insatiable horn-dog or a sixty-five year old man with a thirst for women way outside the socially acceptable dating pool, she could always delete the app or block her.
The thought had only just crossed her mind when her bedroom door flew open to reveal a fresh-faced Kim sporting frilly, turquoise apron and some sushi-print pyjamas. “We’re making pancakes,” She announced. “Nutella and strawberries or peanut butter and banana?”
“Nutella and strawberries. Do we have any whipped cream?”
“Yeah.”
“That too.” Trixie said, flinching when her phone buzzed in her hand. It was from Tinder. She’d been a little on the fence about whether she’d be receiving a response at all, let alone so quickly. What kind of person stayed up till just before dawn and managed to resurrect before lunch-time?
“Who’s that?”
“Huh? Oh, nothing. No-one,” Trixie put her phone in her lap and played it off with a shrug. “I’ll be through in five, can you keep a couple warm for me?”
“Sure.”
She waited until Kim had left the room before re-launching the app to see what Katya had sent her. Vaguely, she wondered if Tinder notified the other person when she’d read their messages. That was something to figure out later.
(10.55AM) no, totally - the best way to sell yourself is to up the quality and put down the price :D
(10.55AM) Sounds like you’re talking from experience.
(10.55AM) i’m a wealth of wordly experience, mother.
(10.55AM) Mother?
(10.56AM) wrong number. it’s the russian supermodel you swiped right on last night ;DD
She rolled her eyes.
(10.56AM) Doesn’t ring a bell.
(10.56AM) :((
(10.56AM) how about a crazy flashing her granny-panties in the playpark?
(10.56AM) So this is my mother.
(10.56AM) ha ha
(10.57AM) for real though, you’re super cute!
(10.57AM) Thanks, you have a really pretty smile.
(10.57AM) twenty-one years of refined sugar and legal highs and i’ve never had a cavity
(10.57AM) Get out, I had braces for two and a half years!
(10.57AM) and didn’t put one of those pictures on your profile???
(10.57AM) I literally looked like Sharon Spitz.
(10.57AM) braceface!
(10.58AM) You got that reference?
(10.58AM) no, i googled it.
(10.58AM) why did the deer need braces?
(10.58AM) Oh no…
(10.58AM) he had buck teeth!
(10.58AM) That was awful.
(10.59AM) wanna hear another one?
(10.59AM) Hold on, let me… brace myself.
(10.59AM) ahhh!!!
(10.59AM) marry me. right here, right now
Trixie was fully aware of the fact that she was smiling like an idiot. She couldn’t help it. For someone she’d been speaking to for a little over five minutes, Katya was ridiculously charming and super easy to talk to.
(10.59AM) I usually don’t accept marriage proposals until after the second date.
(11.00AM) two dates for marriage?? who do you think u are
(11.00AM) A lady of class and sophistication.
(11.00AM) no way, me too
(11.00AM) I can tell.
(11.00AM) it’s an energy
(11.00AM) Oh, totally.
(11.00AM) cosmic, almost
(11.00AM) Cosmic?
(11.01AM) absolutely. the stars have aligned to tell you i’m one high-end, high-class piece
(11.01AM) That wasn’t what I was getting.
(11.01AM) you need to open your mind
(11.01AM) listen with your heart
(11.01AM) Paint with all the colours of the wind?
(11.01AM) yes!! thank you, pocahontas
“Trixie!”
"Coming! I’m coming,” she called, peeling the duvet covers off herself and feeling around the floor for her slippers.
(11.02AM) I gotta go, breakfast is ready.
(11.02AM) aw :((
(11.02AM) ttyl?
(11.02AM) Sure.
(11.02AM) :D
Trixie huffed out a laugh, glancing at Katya’s smiling profile picture one last time before setting her phone face-down on the bed-side table and shuffling on through to the kitchen. Kim, Naomi and Max were all gathered around the counter in various states of wakefulness. Naomi looked as though she’d slept in her mascara, no surprise there, while Max had was sitting with a cup of tea clutched in both hands. All three of them turned when she entered.
“Someone looks cheerful,” Max commented, raising a brow. “What’s that about?”
"Oh, nothing.” Trixie said idly, swiping a plate from her cupboard and stacking it high with a smile still lingering on her lips. ”Nothing at all.”
#trixya#lesbian au#college au#tw internalized homophobia#fluff#rpdr fanfiction#ornacia2#tinders a shit show
73 notes
·
View notes
Text
[SASO2017] Haikyuu!! - those days are dead and gone (but we're still here)
Title: those days are dead and gone (but we're still here)
Fandom: Haikyuu!!
Pairing: Matsuhana
Summary: For SASO2017 Bonus Round 3.
“Prompt:
La La - The Cab
On Melancholy Hill - Gorillaz
Magic - Olympic Ayres”
Also found here on AO3.
Word count: 1,649
The end comes suddenly for them. One day they are kicking back for another day of volleyball practice and riling up the Grand King (name courtesy of one Karasuno shrimp) and then suddenly the graduation ceremony that marks the end of their short three-year high school life is today.
Hanamaki suddenly feels a gaping void in his life where high school, volleyball, and the friends who come with it used to be. It is a lot like having the floor under your feet all the time only to wake up one day, roll out of bed, and realise that it isn't there anymore.
He doesn't want to get out of bed today. The void is going to suck him in.
"Makki!" Something bounces off his window, startling Hanamaki out of bed anyway and he goes down in a flurry of blankets. He lands with a thump on the floor, which is still there and not gone, and it takes some expert manoeuvring to get him up and to the window.
"What?" Hanamaki shouts, punctuating that one word by throwing open his window with as much force as he can muster.
Matsukawa blinks back at him, his arm raised in the act of throwing another rock at Hanamaki's window. Then he grins. "You're going to be late to your own graduation!"
"That was the plan," Hanamaki mutters under his breath and Matsukawa squints up at him, trying to see what he is saying. "Be right down!" he yells out of the window and Matsukawa drops the rock and gives him a thumbs up.
It takes him less than fifteen minutes to shower, change into his school uniform, and bound out of the door with his breakfast half-stuffed in his mouth like some kind of shoujo heroine—or a barbarian, his mom had yelled at him as he passed her on his way out.
"Hey," Matsukawa says, half-leaning against his front gate, and it is a good thing he still has his school uniform to protect him from nosy neighbours who might take it upon themselves to report the suspicious-looking person harassing the Hanamakis because that is what he looks like exactly. Tall, dark, brooding, and throwing rocks at the window of the Hanamakis' only son. Tall, dark, and brooding usually looks good on Matsukawa but it is also all the identifying characteristics of a possible stalker and he won't have the school uniform to protect him after today.
"Hey," Hanamaki says, shelving that line of thought.
Matsukawa falls into step with him as they head down the road. "Deep thoughts?"
Hanamaki shrugs while chewing through his makeshift sandwich of bread and pork cutlet. Of course Matsukawa had picked up on that pause. "Just thinking about you heading down the life of crime."
"Am I good criminal?"
"The best. You've already got the looks down."
"Shame. I don't think they offer crime as a major where I'm going."
Hanamaki stuffs the rest of his breakfast in his mouth and mutters something incoherent around the soggy bread dangerously close to choking his windpipe, and Matsukawa nods seriously like he gets it even when Hanamaki doesn't even know what he is saying.
---
Graduations usually happen on bright, sunny spring days and theirs is no exception. Only that Hanamaki feels like he has swallowed a storm cloud and it is growing inside of him, expanding ominously with every classmate that pulls him in for a photo or when his parents show up for a quick "congratulations" and "we're so proud of you, son".
He kind of wants it to end, kind of doesn't want it to end, and he smiles reflexively for every camera aimed his way. He photobombs Oikawa and Iwaizumi's photos, pats Kindaichi on the back when he starts tearing up at the sight of his seniors graduating, and generally gets everywhere and nowhere until the crowd starts thinning out, trickling out of the front gates to wherever.
"Hey, the team's going out for lunch," Iwaizumi nudges him as he rounds up the other members of their volleyball club. "Ready your wallet. We're giving the juniors a treat."
"Can't we pin this all on Oikawa?" Hanamaki asks.
"If you and Matsukawa come up with something, I'm all ears," Iwaizumi tells him, already leaving to grab more juniors.
"He wasn't actually saying no," a voice in his ear points out.
"He'll split it with Oikawa on their way back anyway," Hanamaki says without turning around. "He's too honest a soul."
"Unlike us," Matsukawa says and Hanamaki can feel him hovering just by his shoulder like a second shadow except warm and tangible.
"I love the kids with all my heart but my wallet isn't as big as my heart." Hanamaki is weak, so weak, but he finds himself leaning back against Matsukawa just the slightest, turning to look him in the face as he raises an eyebrow and asks, "Got a plan in mind?"
Matsukawa raises an eyebrow back and with eyebrows like his, that is a whole lot of expression. "I do."
---
They end up at the nearest McDonalds, skipping out on the team lunch despite Iwaizumi's repeated reminders to show up at the gate in ten minutes. Hanamaki hadn't felt up to it anyway and he is somewhat thankful that Matsukawa's "plan in mind" had simply been not to show up. It is probably bad for team morale and Hanamaki feels slightly guilty thinking about the way Kindaichi had cried over their graduation the same way one would mourn a deceased dearly beloved. He'll make it up to them one day, take them out to lunch or dinner or something and drag Matsukawa into splitting the bill with him, but he just needs to be away from all that today.
"Are you feeling better?" Matsukawa asks as he picks a fry out of the giant pile of fries between them.
"Who me?" Hanamaki asks, frozen in the act of dipping his fry into ketchup, all deer in the headlights when he is trying to go for nonchalant.
"I don't see anyone else around that I know so yes, you," Matsukawa says. "For someone so pink, you've been really gloomy today."
"Gloomy how?" Hanamaki lets his shoulders drop, tired from holding them up all morning, as he slumps back in his seat.
Matsukawa shrugs. "Not the usual you."
"Not pink?"
"Like thirty percent pink. Maybe less." Matsukawa chomps into his fry without dipping it in any of the four condiments available before him, the heathen, and asks, "What's eating you? Graduation blues?"
It is Hanamaki's turn to shrug. "Something like that." He licks the salt off his fingers and reaches for his milkshake, holding it without really making an effort to bring it up to his lips as he tries to shape the storm cloud brewing inside him into a question. "Mattsun," he starts and finds the rest of it along the way, "aren't you sort of, kind of, scared about the future?"
"Terrified."
"You don't look it," Hanamaki says and then remembers Matsukawa from the morning, tall, dark, and brooding against his front gate, throwing rocks against his window when he could just let himself in like an honorary Hanamaki. His mother would probably feed him too. He's an idiot. "Oh."
Matsukawa smiles and it is a small, subtle thing but it is there. "Yeah."
He's such an idiot. He isn't the only one graduating today, isn't the only one struggling through scary thoughts of the future, isn't the only one heading irrevocably towards the future.
"I just never thought that high school would actually end, you know," Hanamaki admits, tightening his grip on his milkshake as he lets it all spill out of him. "It felt like one of those things that dragged on and on forever and then suddenly it's over and we've got our certs and the teachers never want to see us ever again."
"To be fair, the teachers probably didn't want to see us during school either."
"Point," Hanamaki says and slumps further down in his seat, dangerously close to sliding right down to the floor. "Volleyball's not going to be the same without you guys. You're probably going to pick it up in university and I'll join the alumni club or something."
"I wish we had the chance to play with the guys a bit longer," Matsukawa admits, tapping a fry against the tray distractedly, and the raw honesty in his voice makes Hanamaki's heart clench. "To the Inter High finals, to Nationals and beyond."
"I wish we had won against Karasuno."
"And Shiratorizawa."
"And Inarizaki and Itachiyama and all those other bastards out there," Hanamaki says loudly, fixing his eyes on the ceiling and trying not to mind the way his eyes have started to prickle uncomfortably. "Maybe if we'd gone far enough we wouldn't have to stop."
"That'd be nice," Matsukawa says contemplatively and Hanamaki can hear the smile in his voice. "Eternal high school. Think of all the tests, day after day after day."
"We'd ace them all if they keep us there long enough."
"You? Ace anything but Japanese?"
"I'll pass them all," Hanamaki amends, sitting up properly before his butt slides off the edge of the seat. "Moderately well. Good enough for eternal volleyball." The fries won't eat themselves and the milkshake won't taste as good melted so he eats and drinks and fights Matsukawa for the crispier fries as Matsukawa's hand inches forward on the table.
"Sounds like a good start," Matsukawa remarks and steals a fry right out of Hanamaki's hand.
---
"Wanna go crash the team lunch?" The fries are gone and Matsukawa shows his phone to Hanamaki. "Iwaizumi put the address of the ramen place in the group chat."
"Sure. It isn't like we have anything else to do now. Besides, I think Oikawa's still broke from the previous ramen place so we better go rescue Iwaizumi."
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
The Valentine's Day Community Relationship and Bonding Soirée
Chapter 1: The Set-Up
Fanfiction ~ Main Pairing: Jerza (but many others involved!)
RATING: Chapter 1~Teen+ 💕 Chapter 2 ~ Mature (verrrrry sexy!) 😉 💋
Words ~ 7600
Total Chapters: 2 Total Words ~ 15,000 COMPLETE
CHAPTER 2 WILL BE POSTED TOMORROW!
Read on FF.net HERE
Summary: None of the Fairy Tail guild members would think of Valentine's Day in the same way again... A night of frolic, dancing and minor (for Fairy Tail) explosions. Also, canal boats. Mirajane and Cana plot to ease Erza's surly attitude, roping Gray and Wendy into the action as well as stirring their spoons in several other pots. The older members of Crime Sorcière are only too happy to help out, as they’re tired of Jellal’s moping.
A fabulous collaboration between @nalufever and @impracticaldemon -- We hope you’ll enjoy this Valentine’s Day present to you! 💗💗💗 If we receive enough encouragement, we will definitely try this again, although we still haven’t quite recovered from our current state of giggles! 😂 😂 😂
Chapter 1: Set-Up
[I] The Planning
Mira sat on top of the freshly polished bar and employed her brightest smile at Erza. “The Master gave me the go-ahead for the Valentine’s Day Community Relationship and Bonding Soiree.”
“Valentine’s Day is an archaic idea.” The red haired swordswoman crossed her arms and frowned. “The Master only wants to ogle more women.”
“Of course.” Mira’s smile never lost any wattage. “There’s nothing wrong with that.” She cast her eyes over to a sullen Laxus and Freed dancing attendance. “We could use some fresh meat here. Don’t you get tired of the same guys?” She giggled—Laxus could hear everything (dragon slayer senses doncha know) but she had a thick skin when it came to certain things; if he knew what was good for him and her and Freed—he’d ignore Mira’s small verbal faux pas.
“Ugh.” Grimacing, Erza looked away and let her lips pinch together in a most unflattering expression. “Not everyone is looking to sate their base desires at a moment’s notice.”
Cana took this opportunity to spin around on her bar stool. “More’s the pity.”
“Yes, Cana knows what Valentine’s Day should be about,” agreed Mira.
It took all Erza had not to growl. Instead she grumbled: “Why would any sane person take the advice of a demented match-maker or an inveterate lush?”
“Tch.” Mira ignored the tone and content of Erza’s words. “You really need something to take that wicked edge off.”
“I am fine.”
Cana drained her mug and shook her head; Mira looked at the red-head and giggled. “The cards never lie, Erza. You need some help.”
“I am fine.” Repeating her words didn’t make her believe them any better either. The endless scuffling between Gray and Natsu, behind her, burned her last nerve. Turning, Erza glared at the ice and fire mages. “I will rip off your arms and beat you to death with them if you don’t stop right this instant!”
Natsu pulled his punch, turning his haymaker into a friendly arm around Gray’s neck. For his part, Gray grimaced but allowed the contact.
“We’re the best of pals over here!”
“The very best!”
Lucy sighed and joined Erza, Cana and Mira. “Did I hear someone asking for help?”
Mira settled behind the bar once again and leaned forward. “We were discussing the ‘Valentine’s Day Community Relationship and Bonding Soiree.’ It’s going to be the best gathering of eligible mages in all of Fiore!”
“I would love to bond with my teammate.” Lucy blushed as both Mira and Cana chuckled knowingly. Erza looked slightly less murderous. “Ah, I mean, a party sounds fun!”
“Then you can take first dibs on my list of what needs doing.” Mira picked up a clipboard from under the bar and held it out to Lucy. “The budget for decorations is kinda low, but the Master had to double our insurance from the last party.”
Lucy ran her finger over the list and considered her choices. “I do have mad skills at making cardboard hearts and I’m sure Lyra would love to play some music at the party.”
Mira clapped her hands. “That’s so great!”
Erza let out a sigh. “Valentine’s day is dumb.”
“Let me know when you start making decorations, Mira.” Lucy edged away from Erza who was tearing a napkin into confetti. “Can I get you to deliver a pitcher of beer to Levy’s table?”
“Sure!”
Cana picked up the clipboard and scrawled a few new suggestions at the bottom. Erza pulled it over and began reading Mira’s list. Her expression got more dour by the second. “Don’t you think red, white and pink balloons are overkill? Cupids are just babies with weapons, doesn’t that send the wrong kind of message to children? They’re going to think it’s okay to shoot people with arrows.”
Mira returned from her drink delivery and just leaned up behind the bar, watching Erza read and complain. She noticed Cana flipping her cards between her hands into a more and more complicated pattern - never a good sign.
Erza grimaced. “You want fancy ice sculptures from Gray? What’s the point when he and Natsu will destroy them? Why make Reedus paint a romantic mural for people to have their pictures taken in front of when Wakaba and Macao will photobomb each couple?” Erza ran her finger down the list and stopped three quarters the way down the paper. She snorted her disgust and then ranted some more. “You’re going to regret letting that restaurant cater. Their food is adequate, but they have the most wretched cake. Their pastry chef is some sort of back alley monster.”
“Well, then I’d take it as a personal favour if you’d choose a better place instead.” Mira crossed her arms and smiled with vigour. “Anything else you’d change? Perhaps the games I’ve selected?” Her smile sharpened further. “I’m of two minds over the dress code. On the one hand, I love the idea of fancy costumes all relating to fictional lovers—and on the other, perhaps elegant black tie for the gentlemen and gowns for the ladies?”
Cana took a big draft of her drink and stared at Erza, waiting for the swordswoman’s reaction.
“It doesn’t matter, and dressing up as romantic fictional couples is foolish.” Erza scowled. “What do you expect single people to do? How can I match my outfit to Je—” She bit off her word and took a deep breath before continuing. “Just specify formalwear.”
“Tch.” Cana smirked and rummaged in her purse. “I think I just heard my communications lacrima ring.” She lifted it and read the caller ID. “Mira, we need to take this.”
“Oh goody!” Mira clapped her hands, pulled Cana over the bar and frogmarched her into the back, calling to Erza to keep her suggestions flowing for the party.
[II] -- Crime Sorcière
Jellal was never especially cheerful at the best of times, but the last few weeks had been worse than usual. He really cared about Crime Sorcière, and tried to look after the members, but lately when he wasn’t focussed on guild business he’d taken to withdrawing entirely from the team to go sit on his own. Meredy was still trying to cheer him up, but most of the others had hit their breaking point.
“It’s that damn red-head,” muttered Midnight, from his usual place toward the outer edge of the camp, seated on his square of silky carpet.
Even though Midnight still spent a lot of time tuned-out, Jellal’s latest round of navel-gazing had gotten through even to the cruel-eyed illusion-wielder. He was starting to contemplate dosing their leader with some really wild dreams… but he didn’t want to get his butt kicked, although it might almost be worth it just to see a crack in Jellal’s armour.
“Of course it is,” agreed Coba, looking amused. “Look on the bright side, Macbeth, at least you don’t have to hear his thoughts—although he’s pretty good at keeping them mostly to himself, thank the gods. Seriously, though, half the time he’s thinking about what a saintly person she is, and the rest of the time he starts with her breasts and moves on from there, if you know what I mean. You wouldn’t think it to look at him, but yeah.”
“Wish he’d get laid and get it over with,” grumbled Racer. “Who does he think he’s kidding?”
“He thinks he’s kidding everyone,” Cobra answered with a smirk. “Which takes some pretty wishful thinking around me an’ Macbeth.”
“Yeah.” Midnight rolled his crimson eyes. “I mean, I crushed him the first time we fought, and he still wanted to protect her, somehow. I’ve seen his nightmares, right?”
“Well, it’s getting old, fast.” Racer looked into his empty cup and got up for more coffee.
“The kid’s out trying to make him feel better, again,” noted Midnight. Midnight didn’t really like a lot of people other than Cobra, but he had a bit of a soft spot for Meredy.
“We just need to get them together under the right circumstances,” said Cobra thoughtfully. “You know, get him to work it out his system.” He paused, contemplating just how long it had been, assuming it had ever happened at all. ”Or least kinda take the edge off.”
“Does that mean fighting or sex or both?” asked Midnight with a snicker. “She’s freaky, I tell you.”
“That’s saying something, coming from you,” Racer snarked, glancing sideways at his colleague’s punk-goth styling and weird eyes.
“Whatever.” Midnight stretched out lazily, leaning his head on one hand and giving Racer a look that made the other man twitch a little. Macbeth wasn’t a good guy to push too much. “I’m all for our fearless leader getting some, if it means he’ll stop with the pining for a while, but we’ll never get him to Fairy Tail. What do you say, Erik—got any great ideas?”
“Maybe I do,” Cobra replied thoughtfully. “I’ll look into it and let you know. Anyhow, I’m going out for a walk to get away from you lot—and Jellal—for a while. Try not to miss me too much.”
There was a pause, and then Midnight cracked. Usually it was Racer.
“With every shot so far, mind-reader—but only ‘cause I’m not trying.”
Cobra stood up, smiling faintly at the old joke. He waved a hand vaguely in the direction of the other two before walking off into the night. He had a pretty good idea of who, at Fairy Tail, might be interested in a set-up. Well, whatever happened it was going to be entertaining—that was something.
[III] - The Party
Ichiya strolled into the guild followed by the Trimens. Several of the unattached women at the event stopped to stare and whisper amongst themselves. Eve made sure to smile and look at the pretty ladies from under his long lashes, Ren pretended to ignore the fuss being made, and Hibiki simply did his best to be pleasant.
“Excellent party Makarov,” Ichiya said to Fairy Tail’s master, “You’ve outdone yourself with the parfum of success.”
“This is Mira’s doing.” Makarov’s smile was only slightly devious. “I gave her some suggestions and she surprised me with this elegance.”
“I’m not surprised everything is fancy, what with the sublime invitations that were sent.”
“The what-now?”
Ichiya pulled an embossed invite from his breast pocket and enjoyed a heavy sniff of the vellum. “Ahhh, a most dignified parfum, it has the piquancy of youth and the gravitas of age at the same time.”
Makarov nodded, his mouth zipped shut, hoping the leader of Blue Pegasus would not need an answer. He was flummoxed as to what he could say that would stop the short, red-haired man from becoming even creepier. It didn’t matter though; nothing much could dissuade Ichiya from his normal weirdness.
Thankfully, Mira flounced up and tapped him on the shoulder while smiling at Ichiya. “I apologize; I must steal the Master for a few minutes.”
“Quite all right.”
Mira and Makarov forced smiles that didn’t reach their eyes and scuttled away. Once out of earshot of Ichiya, Mira spoke softly to Makarov. “We’re close to capacity but the guests I’ve been waiting for haven’t arrived yet.”
“I’m sure they’ll be here soon.”
“Well, perhaps.” Mira giggled, “Remember to save me a dance later.”
“I’d be delighted,” said Makarov. “Let’s be sure Laxus gets a front row seat.”
“I’m counting on it.”
Lucy shook imaginary dust off her frock and let her gaze wander over the massive number of guests thronging the guild. Eve had waved and winked at her just a little earlier—it had taken several minutes for her heartbeat to return to normal. But it wasn’t just the fact that a cute guy had expressed interest in her—it was because Natsu had marched over to her and grabbed her hand, not letting go even after the blond member of the Trimens had slunk off.
Wendy found herself worrying about Erza. The redhead had been increasingly sour the whole week leading up to the party. This morning she’d acted especially strange, even for a guild member whose weirdness was legendary.
Charle sipped from her teacup, pensive as she gazed at Wendy. Making up her mind, she spoke. “You look as if you’ve just bitten into a sour plum.”
“I do not!” Wendy protested. “I’m having a lovely time, even if there are so many people crowding our guild. So many… Oh Charle, I saw things I can’t un-see!”
The fastidious white Exceed grimaced. “I was hoping that Max, broom and Laki would be more discrete, but some people have no class. Speaking of which…”
“Hi Charle!” Happy bounced over to his crush and grinned like the buffoon he was. “Classy party, right?”
“It was.” Charle gave Happy her coldest smile. “Shouldn’t you be hanging out with Natsu?”
“Oh, he’s busy with Lucy.” Happy waved to Wendy. “He’s being very clingy. It’s like Lucy’s weirdness is catching.”
Charle’s tone was frosty. “That’s not a very nice thing to say.”
Oblivious to the undertones, Happy said, “Well, Cana said that they just need to bone it out. Or maybe get the bone out? But I don’t think Natsu heard her and anyway he didn’t bring Lucy any fish.”
Charle gave Happy a look of total disbelief. Happy admired the way her delicate jaw formed a perfect triangle when her mouth gaped like that. Fortunately, Wendy had just turned toward the door.
“Oh! I see Romeo and Chelia!” Wendy smiled at Happy, “Please excuse me and Charle - we’ll see you later, okay?”
Charle had her paws over her ears as she trotted off behind Wendy. “...I’ll never get that image out of my mind! I may be sick....”
Happy’s eyes widened, and he stood looking after them with hearts in his eyes and floating around his head, muttering ecstatically to himself. “Charle thinks I’m slick and she can’t get me out of her mind!”
Elsewhere in the room, Evergreen sighed. Elfman was just only barely acceptable as an escort. He had found (the spirits only knew where) a passable suit that strained to contain his super broad shoulders and paired it with the palest pink shirt that matched the corsage he’d given her for her wrist. His tie was a dark blue, but Ever decided to forgive him that trespass—just this once—because it set off his eyes.
“Are you hungry?” Elfman wanted to throttle himself as soon as he asked such an inane question. If experience had taught him anything, it was that Evergreen would tell him everything he needed to know before he asked. If he asked, then it was always the wrong question. Maybe she’d keep it on the down low in front of outsiders. Shit. Her left eye was twitching—time for some grovelling or the after-party sex would end up being just him and his right hand like always.
“Do I look ill-fed?” Ever crossed her arms under her ample bosom. “Just because you eat every hour on the hour doesn’t mean everyone else does.”
Elfman kept his chagrin under control and deflected as best he could. “Mira said that she brought in the best of the best appetizers and I thought you’d be the judge of that.” Now if Ever smiled, then it was crisis averted. Elfman hunched smaller in front of his domineering girlfriend. “I trust your opinion.” Ah, that did it.
Ever preened. “I suppose I could go and take a look at the spread.”
Elfman followed Evergreen as she sashayed to where most of the food was set up, on the main floor but near the entrance to the downstairs documents room. He grinned—Ever was busy passing judgement over the food, her back to him so that he was for once not under her microscope, and he was free to enjoy how bangin’ her ass looked in her tight gown. Ooh, plans for later!
Nearby, Gajeel tugged at his bow-tie. Levy had insisted on it; she’d insisted on rather a lot of things actually. He adjusted the handkerchief in his suit pocket, marvelling again at how exactly it matched Levy’s hair band. Dressing fancy wasn’t all bad he guessed, not when his better half wore a low-cut diamante gown. The sparkles made him think of metal, which fed his appetite like nothing else could—and Levy knew how that would affect him.
“Let’s go find Lucy—and try your best to behave with Natsu.”
“Ghee hihi! What’ll you give me if I do behave?”
Levy inhaled deeply. It made Gajeel sweat and his heart clench. Shrimp was petite but her assets were on mouth-watering display. That ass! Those tits! Tasty as fine carbonized steel.
“It’s not a question of what I’ll give you as much as what I’ll let you do.” Levy pulled out a pot of lip gloss and applied a new coat before speaking further. “Me.”
Things weren’t going quite as smoothly for some of the hall’s other potential lovers. Somewhere between the bar and the front doors, Gray stood with his arms crossed and tried not to glare at Lyon who was smiling like a dolt at his wom-, his Ju-, his … friend. (He was failing.)
“Juvia thinks this is the nicest soirée she’s ever been to.”
“You’re absolutely correct Juvia.” Lyon adjusted the ice rose pinned to his suit jacket, his fingers twitching with nerves. “Because you’re here, it’s the most perfect party.”
“What does Gray-sama think?” Juvia fluttered her thick fringe of lashes. “Is Gray-sama enjoying himself? Can Juvia get Gray-sama a drink?”
Lyon patted Juvia on her arm. “Allow me to fetch us all drinks. Ladies deserve special attention. What would you like?” He smiled at Juvia’s diffident answer and walked off as Gray tried to place his request. Over his shoulder he glared at his rival. “You’ll get what you’re given.”
“The party is starting to look up.” Gray shoved his hands in his pockets - it was either that or he might try to hold Juvia’s hand in order to stake his claim. Dammit! Seeing Lyon all over Juvia like a cheap suit was messing with his head.
The worst of it was that he needed to keep at least one eye out on the arrivals. Mirajane had blown by him earlier muttering something about Erza and telling him to make sure that if Jellal showed, she wanted help getting them together. Since Gray agreed that Erza was even more tightly wound than usual, he wanted to help—and if he could accidentally screw up any of Lyon’s plans at the same time, so much the better. And what the hell kind of drink what that anyway?! He wasn’t going to drink something bright pink with umbrellas!
[IV] - Smooth Operators, Part I
Jellal allowed his group to flank him as they walked from the hotel that he had booked for himself and those of the team who hadn’t been invited to stay elsewhere. By design, it was a considerable distance from Fairy Hills—bad enough that he had to see Erza at a party, it would be worse to be too near her overnight.
Meredy had skipped ahead of everyone, whether in a rush to hang out with other girls or just to get away from the same boring people he wasn’t sure. Erik was rushing for his own reasons, which were most likely purple-haired and gorgeous. When Racer sped up, he figured that the man just wanted to arrive ahead of Midnight, who never looked like he put in any effort, but was irritatingly good at winning anyway and generally showing people (Racer) up.
Pretty soon, most of Crime Sorcière was rushing madly down the street, dodging pedestrians—mostly—and avoiding falling into the canal—again, mostly. Jellal turned to Richard to make a comment about being the mature ones, but Richard had a wistful look on his face, and shortly afterward he was charging down the street behind his comrades just for the joy of participation. It didn’t occur to Jellal until he heard a resounding bang and the sound of splintering wood that they would all get tangled up a short way from the Fairy Tail front doors and end up literally crashing the party.
Jellal picked his way through the debris, wincing at the damage to the lavish decorations, not to mention the doors. And yet, he couldn’t help but admire the irony of Crime Sorcière, with its coterie of fancy powers, being the ones to create a disturbance at Fairy Tail, which was justifiably known for creating its own disturbances on a regular basis. Jellal looked elegantly dressed as always, but it just seemed to highlight the caustic—and rather arrogant—antagonism of most of his colleagues. Despite his dismay, however, he noticed two things: first, Erik was having a quick chat with Mirajane, which he found odd; and second… Erza looked stunning in an evening gown that accented every perfect curve.
Even as he hastily dragged his eyes away from Erza, Mirajane came rushing over. Jellal squelched a sigh and managed a polite smile. Not that he didn’t like Mirajane, but she tended to take an… interest… in his personal affairs.
“Jellal! You made it! I was just beginning to worry!”
She looked anything but worried, in Jellal’s opinion. In fact, he thought her blue eyes had the particular gleam he’d come to dread. She was perfectly dressed, of course, and would probably make the front of Sorcerer’s Weekly again, but he knew her too well to be taken in—especially when she wore such an innocent smile.
“Mirajane, thank you for inviting us. I’m very sorry about the, uh, door though, and--”
“I’m so glad you came—and the others too! You absolutely have to dance…” For an instant Mira’s eyes seemed to darken slightly. “We spent absolutely forever deciding on just the right music. Oh and the cake—as you can imagine!”
Well, she’d managed about half a dozen sentences, maybe, without bringing up Erza. That wasn’t too bad. Still, he was reasonably certain that this was just the beginning. Sure enough, at just that moment, Mirajane turned abruptly with a low cry of annoyance, and when Jellal glanced up to see what had alarmed her, he found himself looking straight at Erza.
With incredible—and surely staged—timing, a path had opened across the hall between the star-crossed lovers, and Jellal was looking directly at Erza’s…
“Oh, wasn’t it a shame that she dropped her dessert tickets?!” Mirajane was saying, with apparent sincerity.
Jellal frantically searched for a response that didn’t include a cascade of scarlet hair over bare shoulders and very nearly bare… arms… as Erza bent over to pick up her tickets. Somehow, he’d managed to forget just how creamy her skin looked against the beautiful jewel tones that she loved to wear. From there it was just a short skip of memory to how soft she was to hold—although maybe memory had become blurred with fantasy. Jellal felt his cheeks begin to burn.
Apparently, Wendy had fumbled the dessert tickets at just the wrong moment, and then stumbled trying to pick them up. At least, Jellal assumed it was something like that, since Wendy was being helped up by Charle, as well as disentangled from whoever she had fallen into. A little closer to Jellal, Gray seemed to be having a dispute with Lyon, which was causing other people to stand back in concern.
None of which really registered except in passing. As Erza straightened, her eyes naturally went to Wendy, who was apologizing to everyone around her. And from Wendy they went fleetingly to Gray, and then directly to Jellal. Somehow, Mirajane was now standing beside the master of Crime Sorcière, instead of in front of him.
Jellal swallowed hard and crossed his arms, gripping his elbows tightly so that he wouldn’t be tempted to reach out. His dark eyes finally met Erza’s, and he almost recoiled a little. The blazing look she gave him was mostly anger, but he knew her too well to miss the longing that went with it. It was very, very difficult to turn away knowing that he could walk up to her right now and touch her soft skin and bury his head against her hair and, maybe, let his hands run over those wonderfully rounded hips.
He gave up trying to deal politely with Mirajane, muttered something about speaking with Makarov, and fled in the general direction of the bar, trying not to look as though his own personal demons were after him. It was a less dignified retreat than he’d hoped for, and it didn’t help that the first person he bumped into was Cobra.
“So, tell me again why you’re not off somewhere getting cozy with those breasts?” Erik’s eyes were bright with amusement. Jellal felt his face getting redder, but he’d had lots of experience shoving the mind-reader out of his head when he really needed to.
Erik smirked at him. “Yeah, that’s so not working right now, Jellal. Your concentration’s shot and I don’t think anyone needs magic to know what’s on your mind.”
When Jellal glared at him, suddenly looking far more menacing than he had in a long time, the former member of the Oracion Seis threw up his hands in mock surrender. “Yeah, okay, you’re the boss, boss. But, uh, you might want to get a grip… on something, anyway.”
With that parting shot and an audible snicker, Erik sauntered off, leaving Jellal wishing for a moment that he hadn’t become one of the good guys. Fortunately, staring after Erik allowed him to finally catch a glimpse of Makarov. Completely unsettled by the directions his thoughts had taken since arriving at Fairy Tail, Jellal composed his face as well as possible and walked over to say hello.
Makarov sat on top of the polished bar conversing with his cronies. Wakaba blew a massive smoke ring, giving the master a thumbs-up. “Not too shabby. Lots of good lookin’ chicks here for once.”
Macao gave his best friend a dubious look. “For once? Best selection EVER.”
“Keep it down or Mira will make my life hell—and yours too.” Makarov glanced left and right, worry evident on his face. “She giveth and taketh away if you know what I mean.”
“Yup.” Macao nodded and then grunted. “I was married once.”
Wakaba rolled his eyes. “Pfft. Like you could ever land a woman as enticing as Mirajane.”
“I didn’t say anything about Mira, but I could if I tried.” Macao glared at his buddies, but shrank back at little at Jellal’s stony-faced response to his bragging.
Makarov spat out a mouthful of beer and let out a long-suffering sigh before setting his mug down to make eye contact with Jellal.
Macao mumbled: “Well, maybe. Can’t a guy dream?”
“So Jellal, my boy, have you been enjoying the party?” Makarov decided to move forward with the conversation. Mirajane didn’t just have demon souls, she had the ears of a devil too—and too much reflection on her charms would lead to heads slamming together (whether it was her doling out the punishment or her brother crying both ‘men!’ and actual tears). Changing topics was not a hard choice to make, really.
“Most assuredly.” Jellal nodded stiffly. “I’ve always been entertained by your guild members. Natsu in particular. How fares Lucy?”
“Lucy?” Wakaba asked, “You’re asking about Natsu and need to know how Lucy is doing?”
Jellal furrowed his brows briefly. “Yes?”
“Natsu’s just fine.” Makarov set down his drink and leaned closer, the better to talk to the leader of Crime Sorciere. “Is there something you’d like to ask me?”
“...” Jellal gulped and looked askance at Makarov. “I have no idea to what you are referring.”
Makarov laughed, loud and hearty. “Relax my boy! This is a party, have a drink!”
Wakaba and Macao exchanged looks (which read like WhatDaFuQ?).
“I still don’t follow.”
“Jellal, you need to get over yourself and talk to the woman!”
“I do not see your reasoning.”
“Erza needs some of your attention.”
“Erza might want my attention, but she doesn’t need the attentions of any man. She’s a force to be reckoned with, as strong as nature itself— “ Jellal broke off his soliloquy praising Erza as Bickslow sauntered up to him and forced a tankard into his hands.
Bickslow flipped up his ever-present visor, leered, winked and cackled. “Time to party! Drink up dude!”
The five spirit-dolls flew in a bobbling pattern around the Seith’s head and chanted, “Drink! Drink! Drink!”
Wakaba, Macao, Makarov and Jellal proceeded to consume.
[V] - Smooth Operators, Part II
He was here. She’d known that he would be, of course, since the party was an official event to encourage relationship building and collaboration between the guilds. Jellal always did his duty. Unfortunately, she’d forgotten how much she missed his physical presence. It was one thing to admit that his ideals, his sense of justice and friendship, and his quick mind impressed and captivated her, and quite another for her body to suddenly betray her by longing to be held against his tall, lean form and caressed by his strong, capable hands. She felt a shiver go through her, but she definitely wasn’t cold.
For just an instant, she had thought that he would finally throw caution and scruples aside and rush to her side. Her mind had painted a picture of him kissing her passionately, totally unable to resist her any longer. Instead, he had turned away from Mira with an unconvincing smile and hurried toward the bar. She loved the way his deep blue hair was always slightly untidy, even though the rest of him wasn’t. She wasn’t aware that her fingers were tightening as though she could actually feel the soft, slightly springy strands.
“Um, Erza? Are you okay?” Wendy was looking anxiously up at her.
“Oh, Wendy.” Erza smiled affectionately down at her young friend. For no apparent reason she wondered if she and Jellal might have a child with hair as blue as Wendy’s.
Seeing that Erza was abstracted again, Wendy patted her gently on the arm and moved off to talk to Gray, who appeared to be drinking--was his drink actually pink? It seemed so… unlikely. Still, they needed to do a little more planning, apparently, if they were going to get their friends together for the evening. Wendy couldn’t help but think that Erza and Jellal would look incredibly elegant and romantic dancing together.
Meanwhile, Erza was fully engaged with her fantasy world, one hand playing absently with the ends of her long red hair--she always left a few wavy strands to fall on either side of her face, even when her hair was up, as it was now. In her mind’s eye, Jellal had finally told her that he loved her and couldn’t live without her.
It was the night before their wedding and he’d come to see her, even though he wasn’t supposed to. That’s what made it so wonderful, of course: that desire for her had made him infringe on even such a minor custom. He’d kissed her--she almost thought she could feel his tongue exploring her lips and then probing more heatedly into her mouth--and one hand had--involuntarily of course--moved from the small of her back to her breast.
It was just as well that neither Mirajane nor Cana were looking in her direction, because the dreamy look on her face was rapidly becoming something more intense. Unfortunately for Erza, somebody else had noticed and even now was stretching out a delicate, well-manicured hand to say:
“Erza! My honey! Your parfum is—”
Hearing her name, Erza had turned, eyes shining and lips slightly parted to find… Ichiya of Blue Pegasus, his large face alight with ecstatic admiration.
Erza screamed. It was embarrassing, but there it was. The change from Jellal’s much-loved features and sensitive touch to the vision in front of her was drastic, to say the least.
“Agh! Get away from me!” Erza wasn’t afraid of much, but for some reason Ichiya’s fawning (not to say drooling) attentions always unnerved her. Clutching her dessert tickets in one hand, and her skirt with the other, she rushed blindly away.
“But come back here my honey! Your parfum it is wonderful! So beautiful! So sensual!”
Ichiya was following her through the crowd, his drink spilling a little as he trotted after Erza’s bare back and round, silk-covered derrière. Oddly enough, although he was slightly hindered by the throng, people didn’t interfere on Erza’s behalf the way they usually did. Or rather, a few people interfered, but not to prevent Ichiya from chasing Erza directly toward the bar, where Jellal had suddenly stood up, red-faced and eyes glowing with drunken fervour.
“I’ve got to find Erza!” he shouted, words only slightly slurred. “She’s smart, an’ powerful, an’ nice to everyone, an’, an’ by the gods she has incredible breasts!”
There was a slightly muted cheer from Mirajane and Cana, who were watching their plans develop from behind the bar (with occasional forays for important activities like directing Ichiya in just the right direction).
“You go get those tits, blueberry!” Cana called to Jellal, downing half a beer. “Just take ‘er away and don’t bring her back until—” Mirajane put her hand over her friend’s mouth at that point, because she could see Wendy turning red about thirty feet away.
Meanwhile, it had finally dawned on Jellal that Erza was rushing toward him, her expression disgusted and her wonderful brown eyes wide with fear. He wasn’t sure why his head felt so muzzy, but even so he perceived the cause of her distress immediately. With surprising accuracy, given his condition, he aimed the tiniest charge of magic at Ichiya’s feet and swung his beloved Erza up into his arms.
“Woohoo! Go get’er big boy! Make that grumpy ass allllll yours!” Cana had gotten away from Mirajane’s half-hearted grasp and was standing on the bar to get a better view of the action. Fortunately, Wendy was halfway across the hall whispering to Gray, who looked first murderous and then grinned.
“Don’t worry, Erza, I’ll deal with this ruffian!” Jellal, all inhibitions flown and awash with chivalrous lust, glared at Ichiya and then kissed his beloved passionately on the mouth. Erza, completely at a loss, just stared at him, too shocked to even return the embrace.
“I am NOT a ruffian, you uncultured, undersexed, over-complicated--”
Jellal missed the rest of Ichiya’s rant, as Mirajane was pushing him rather violently toward the front of the hall.
“I’ll look after it, Jellal, but you’d better get Erza out of here! She shouldn’t have to be bothered by such attentions, right? You should take her away from the guild for a while, right?”
“Uh, Mira?” said Erza weakly, at that point.
“Shut up!” Mirajane told her firmly, and for a wonder, the redhead obeyed.
From behind them, Jellal heard a roar of “MEEEENNNNN!” from Ichiya. Torn between defending Erza’s honour and certain attractions of Mirajane’s suggestion, that cry propelled him toward the door. He could easily crush them all, of course, but Erza might not like it and he had the distinct impression that there was a party going on. It really wasn’t appropriate to get into a fight at a party.
He made his well-wishers hold their collective breaths when he suddenly stopped, frowning. It had occurred to him that at Fairy Tail, starting a fight might actually be the socially and morally appropriate course of action. Fortunately, Erza chose that moment to take a deep, bewildered breath, and the sight caused Jellal to lose track of what he’d been thinking. Wendy waved at him and opened the door, handing Erza a bright pink bag as Jellal trotted by.
“Your dessert, Erza! I thought you might want it! And some special chocolates that Mirajane said to give you! Happy Valentine’s Day!”
She had to shout the last part down the street, as Jellal was picking up speed on the slight incline. He looked as though he might rush straight into the canal by accident.
A very short distance away, Gray was having a hurried conversation with the gondolier of a festively-decked boat sitting at the edge of the canal.
“Yes, that’s right, I’m Lyon Vastia and I hired this gondola for my friends because they haven’t seen each other in a while, if you know what I mean.”
The gondolier wasn’t overly-concerned, but he’d been told to hold the boat for a white-haired ice mage with a blue coat, not a dark-haired guy with a white coat.
“Are you an ice mage?” he asked, trying to be fair about the whole thing.
“Oh yes,” answered Gray, smirking a little. “I sure am.” He brought his fists together and murmured “Ice Make Floor!”
The street between Jellal and the canal suddenly sparkled with ice in the moonlight, and only battle-honed reflexes kept him on his feet as he skidded the rest of the way toward the water, tripped on the stone edge of the canal, and tipped gracelessly into the canal boat.
“They’re just a little, um, warmed up, okay buddy?” Gray said to the gondolier with a knowing wink. “The guy’s a wizard from out-of-town, usually pretty easy-going, but don’t piss him off, right? Oh, and uh—” Gray gave the gondolier the name of the inn Jellal had chosen to stay at, in an attempt to stay away from Erza.
There were sudden shouts from the direction of the guild hall, and Gray told the gondolier to get going. Jellal had just sat up, rubbing his head, and Erza was tugging at the skirt of her evening gown.
“Gray! What are you doing?! That was--”
“Later, Erza! Just, um, look after Jellal for us! I think somebody spiked his drink and he’s, um, not safe on his own! Bye!”
Gray gave the gondola a surreptitious shove with some well placed ice, and it suddenly shot ahead into the main part of the canal. Satisfied that he’d played his part as well as possible, Gray ran up the side of the street, avoiding the sheet of ice he’d created. He met Lyon halfway up, looking angry, Juvia hurrying along behind him.
“What the hell did you do with my gondola, Gray?! I had it reserved for Juvia and I. It wasn’t easy to get a reservation tonight, let me tell you!”
“Is Gray-sama alright?” asked Juvia at the same time. “Gray-sama is missing his coat! Juvia will go find it!”
Gray looked down. Damn, he must’ve gotten distracted while trying to convince the gondolier that he was Lyon.
“Will you LISTEN to me, Gray! Are you looking for a fight? You better get that gondola BACK!”
Gray retrieved his coat from Juvia with a smile of thanks, which made the elegantly-dressed water mage sigh in happiness. Gray-sama didn’t always notice when Juvia tried to help him.
“Not gonna happen, Lyon. I suggest you get over it. Also… I don’t think Juvia was gonna go with you anyway.”
Just as Lyon was about to respond, both doors to the guild hall burst open, and Natsu came rushing out, followed by Happy and Lucy.
“What’s going on out here?” he demanded, looking around wildly. “Ichiya and the Blue Pegasus gang are taking on Mirajane an’ Cana inside for some reason, but Cana told me to get lost and then I heard this guy shouting. He giving you grief?”
“As if he could!” retorted Gray, insulted.
“Yeah, but y’know he beat ya before!” taunted Natsu, ignoring Lucy tugging on his arm.
“HEY! I’m right here you know!” shouted Lyon, frustrated. “And somebody just stole my gondola!”
This caught Natsu’s attention for a moment.
“You carry around a gondola? What for? I mean, you c’n just hire one if you need one, right?”
“I can go look for it!” Happy suggested, trying to be helpful.
Gray shoved both hands into his hair. This was getting out of hand. And Juvia looked really… nice… standing there all dressed up like she was--as her team-mate he should make sure she got to enjoy the party and he didn’t think that brawling with Natsu or Lyon was going to help.
Just then, Wendy called out from the doorway:
“Happy! Charle was looking for you!”
Happy immediately abandoned all thoughts of canal boats.
“Really? Where is she? Is she hungry? Does she want some Valentine’s Day fish?”
Wendy blinked. “Um… no. But I think she’d like to eat her dessert with you!” It had taken some convincing, but Charle had agreed to keep an eye on Happy. Not that Charle was as indifferent as she pretended, in Wendy’s opinion.
“So, Juvia,” said Gray, tucking his hands into his pockets and trying to look casual. Like, friendly casual.
“Yes, Gray-sama?”
“How about we go in and um, we can get some dessert too?”
Juvia beamed and clapped her hands together. Gray-sama wanted her to eat Valentine’s Day cake with her! That was practically like getting engaged!
“Juvia would like to have dessert with Gray-sama! And if Gray-sama wants, he can have some of Juvia’s cake as well!”
“Yeah, thanks Juvia.” Gray sounded cool--he hoped--but his heart had given a tiny skip at the way Juvia had looked at him. Without a backward glance at the canal, he escorted Juvia into the guild hall.
Bitter at the failure of his plan for a romantic, hour-long gondola ride with Juvia, Lyon glared at Gray’s back, but gave up the obviously unequal fight. I mean, if the stupid canal boat had been there--and Gray had been fighting with Natsu--then he was sure that Juvia would have come with him.
“So, since Gray’s gone in, wanna go a round with me?” Natsu asked hopefully.
“Oh grow up!” growled Lyon, totally disgusted with the evening. “I’m going in to get a drink or several.”
“Huh. Guess he really wanted that gondola,” Natsu commented.
“I’m sure he did,” answered Lucy, repressing a sigh.
“Well, you know what we should do, Luce?”
“What?” Lucy waited for the suggestion with something like hope but no real expectations.
“I think we should get some of that cake too! Erza chose it so I’m sure it’s awesome!”
She stood there and just looked at the friendly smile Natsu wore; open and childish like always. Lucy knew her own smile was crumbling. Maybe she did have expectations - and they had suffered another crushing defeat. No keeping this one down, she sighed.
“Not in the mood for cake?” Natsu tilted his head as if seeing Lucy at a new angle would serve to gauge her emotions better. “Then let’s go have some drinks.” He offered her his arm, puffing out his chest as she accepted, unaware that his grin had turned prideful and a smidge possessive.
Lucy leaned into Natsu’s welcome heat; escorting her like a gentleman—this was the stuff of dreams. “I’d love to.”
[END of CHAPTER 1]
From the authors: Stay tuned for some steamy hijinks tomorrow!
All notes, reviews, comments and reblogs (we LOVE notes and reblogs!) are very much appreciated!! 💕 💕 💕
241 notes
·
View notes
Text
awkward dates
To keep things fresh and a little awkward, I decided what better topic to bring up than dating? Dating is cool and all until well… it’s not. So this week I asked friends to tell me their most awkward dating stories and moments. As I read through them I couldn’t help but laugh out loud and cringe at others. After I share these 8 stories, I will share my own which I believe is one of the most awkward dating stories I know. Not to boast because who wants that title? Without further ado, here are the stories:
1. “So here’s the context, I’m a senior in High School, and I’ve been seeing/talking to this girl on and off for about a year. (We were also close friends.) During one of our “on” times she decides to treat me for a date on my 18th birthday. She planned a whole elaborate thing with my mom where my mom called me before I left for school and said, “Hey, come to my office. You’re skipping school to come get your teeth cleaned. It’s the only time I could fit you in.” So I was like, “I’m down.” I got to my mom’s office and BOOM. The girl was there. I was confused when they both started laughing. They had gone in together to buy me and her tickets to Six Flags and we were going to be leaving right then. I had never been to Six Flags but I’m a HUGE rollercoaster fan and they both knew I had always wanted to go. It was a very thoughtful gift. We drive down, we’re having a good time, we park, and are walking up to the entrance losing our minds. The she’s like, “Oh hey, by the way I’ve been meaning to talk to you.” and proceeds to break up/friend zone me while waiting in line At Six Flags. We spent the whole day together at Six Flags now broken up. So uncomfy.”
2. “It’s our first date. We’re at Skagit Speedway for Sprint Car Racing. We were sitting in the smoking section talking to family friends when he has an asthma attack. We have to rush out and ended up having to take my dad home because he wasn’t good to drive. We found my dad peeing in the bushes after losing him for a half an hour all after two old guys had caught us making out. We ended up dating for a year.”
3. “I had a guy take me to this little concert venue for some live music which I was super excited about! When we got there we went to the bar, got a drink and then all of a sudden he goes, “Hey, wait here for a bit. My friends from work are here and I’m gonna hangout with them.” So he just left me there alone while I could see him on the other side of the room hanging with his friends! He left me there for over 30 minutes so I went up to the bar and a guy asked me if he could buy me a drink, so I let him!”
4. “He ended up only talking about himself the whole time and told me about his future cat names and how he has plans about a specific house to get for his future cats. While dissing on having kids. He didn’t pay for my coffee either. At the end he said he had a great time and wanted to get to know me better and go on a second date.”
5. “One time me and a guy went to Chick-Fil-A before seeing a movie as a first date. (We had been friends for a bit so we wanted to keep it casual.) He stole the flowers out of the vases on every table at Chick-Fil-A and presented them to me as a romantic gesture and I made him go back inside and put them back because I thought it was rude to steal flowers from a restaurant.”
6. “Tinder date: agreed to go to see Paranormal Activity which was a huge mistake already since I cannot stand horror films. Seriously. 20 minutes into the movie I’ve already jumped a couple of times and she’s basically laughing at me. Someone starts hiccuping really loud, which was funny at first but it kept on going. It is loud, like they’re at the front of the theater and we can hear it from the back. Eventually there’s a commotion and people start standing up and yelling to stop the movie. Apparently this person that was having a bad case of the hiccups was actually passed out from drinking way too much. Paramedics arrived and we were all moved out of the theater. Obviously this kind of emergency usually kills the night, but me being oblivious to that fact, decides to go for a kiss after I drop her off. She cheeks me. Queue the fastest goodbye ever and me basically speeding to get away from all this. But hey, I got a free movie ticket.”
7. “This was high school, my first official date and we had been talking for a few months. He had just gotten new rubber bands and metal brackets in the back of his mouth added to his braces, so he could barely talk and more so could hardly eat. The date consisted of him trying to chew and not choke on his food. Everytime I said something I had to wait probably 2-3 minutes for him to finish chewing to respond back. Then he realized he forgot his wallet, so my mom had to drive back up after dropping me off and had to pay for us.”
8. “I went on a first date with this guy who was kind of getting over bronchitis and it came back kind of strong. So we went to Purple Cafe and suddenly he starts like, full on hacking and can’t stop and went to the bathroom for majority of our date. I was literally by myself eating for majority of the time. By the time he returned I finished my meal and he looked terrible. He said he was laying on the ground in the bathroom trying to breathe and stop coughing. I was like “well I’m done eating so....let’s call it a night.” I honestly was pissed because I wanted some deep convo or something profound to come out dinner but instead it was so weird.”
These were the stories that got me GOOD. I hope you enjoyed reading them, too! Here are some other honorable mentions:
“Someone told me he had a fart fetish…”
“I spilled water all over both of our pizzas.”
“We went to a nice restaurant and she was on her phone yelling at her roommate for a majority of the date.”
“He talked about his ex-girlfriend the whole date.”
“He picked me up in his car and then asked me where I wanted to go.”
“He started calling me names from Pokemon.”
“The date got awkward and silent so she started meowing at him.”
Obviously, first dates can be wild. Now before I get into my story, prepare yourself. It’s about to get real awkward. And don’t worry, he doesn’t have social media so he definitely won’t see this.
It’s early 2011, my friends and I had planned to go see a band play in Seattle. Just the four of us. When they day came, the boy who clearly liked me, arrived at my door alone. I asked, “Where are the others?” He said, “Oh, did they not tell you they weren’t coming anymore?” me, shocked and now awkward, “Uhm, no. That’s okay. Let’s get going.” He opens the car door for me which I thought was really weird and there was a bouquet sitting on the passenger seat. “What are these for?” I asked. He replied, “I saw them and uh, I thought you would like them.” I told them he should give them to his mom or sister. (Savage.) We arrive in Seattle to get sushi before the concert. He was wearing a button up white shirt, black skinny tie, black cardigan and skinny jeans. When we got out of the car, someone yelled, “Hey f****t! Nice outfit!” and kept laughing. I was embarrassed and so was he but I assured him he looked fine. We got to sushi and I had the thought, “If I pay then he won’t consider it a date!” He then proceeds to spill sushi and soy sauce on the front of his shirt. When he left for the bathroom I took the opportunity to pay for our food even though I knew neither of us were done eating yet. After a few minutes passed, he came back and got upset when he’d found out that I had paid. More minutes passed and we finally left to head to the concert venue. Once we got there it started to pour down rain which neither of us was prepared for. We made it inside and had a lot of fun photobombing peoples pictures and listening to the band. Afterward, we got back to his car. He was silent and I was trying not to pay attention to the awkward atmosphere. Surely enough he asks, “So, I really like you. Would you be my girlfriend.” I started to respond, “Oh, I’m so sorry. I’m not interested in you like that.” as I said that he hot a grate in the road that popped his tire. His spare tire just happened to be blown out as well. Finally, after almost three hours in the car, AAA was able to find us and save the day. Or I guess what could be saved.
There you have it. My awkward date story. Everything that could’ve gone wrong went wrong and more. At least for him. I was along for the ride… literally.
If you liked this blog and want to share your awkward dating story, I would love to hear all about it! Just DM me on my Instagram to do so. Until then, keep on blooming friends.
0 notes
Last Seen Blogs
officialkamand
Kamand
mizuyakitaisen
Ninja In Hiding
larsboy1
Unbetitelt
wofocasac
Untitled
zargsnake
Bride of Vader and Other Stories