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baby-grayson · 4 years

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is there any chance we can see some heavy angst between gray and ness?

College Football Gray Part 2: Tagged Out

tw: hospitals & angst

Vanessa’s tears hadn’t dried onto her cheeks when a group of nurses came in to whisk Grayson away, rolling his bed out of the room as he groaned in confusion. One of them stayed behind, offering Ness a tissue and sympathetic shoulder tap before running out to catch up with the group. Ness sat there, staring at the empty space that used house Grayson’s limp body in a hospital bed. Her emotions stirred inside of her, mixing into an uncomfortable mess of happiness from hearing Grayson declare his love for her for the first time and darkness from recognition about what Grayson’s declaration could be stemming from.

She sat in that chair until a deep imprint of her hips formed in the polyester cushion. She chewed off nearly all her fingernails, occasionally flicking her tongue against the corner of her mouth. She waited so long for the nurses to wheel Grayson back in that her tears dried on her face, leaving dry trails of salt across her cheeks.

At the sight of Ethan, she nearly leaped out of her chair. Although he was usually emotionally grounded, Ethan did not consider Vanessa’s feelings when he started shooting questions out of his mouth. He asked her if Gray had seen a doctor, if he was awake, if he had an X-Ray, how long had she been there, where he was: his questions blended together into an obsfucation of sounds and grunts.

Nessa felt a ball form in her throat during the middle of Ethan’s questions, it started to grow and welled up. When Ethan took a breath between his words, the ball exploded out of Nessa’s mouth like a sob. Ethan looked shocked: too confused by his own emotions to analyze the situation at a regular speed. He paused for a moment before putting an arm around her, drawing her into his chest.

Nessa heaved into his shoulder. Her nose filled with the smells of grass and sweat which only triggered her eyes to water more. Something about being pressed against Ethan’s chest made her yearn for Grayson more, knowing that the twin was not as good as the original. She needed her Grayson, and she was prepared to cry heavy tears until he was by her side again.

Lisa and Cam arrived on the scene to find Ness heaving into Ethan’s chest, with a fat lip and swollen eyes. Lisa adjusted her cardigan, preparing herself to enter mom mode while dealing with her own emotional struggle. She gently took Ness from Ethan’s arms and wrapped her in her own, starting to soothe her. Ethan collapsed against the back of his chair when Ness left his arms, he looked at Cameron and began explaining the situation to his sister.

“It’ll be okay,” Lisa rubbed a warm hand against Nessa’s back. Hard as she tried, Lisa only managed to partially quell Nessa’s anxiety while she still heaved against her shoulder, occasionally taking in a mouth full of fabric. Lisa pulled away from Ness as a large blob of snot ran from her nose and landed onto her sweater, “Why don’t you-“ Lisa hedged, “Why don’t you go home? Get cleaned up? We can take it from here huh? You can come back in the morning.”

Lisa rubbed gentle circles into the small of Vanessa’s back but her attempt at comfort did not stop the loud, shrieking cry that escaped Nessa’s lips.

“No-“ Ness sniffled, “I-I-“ she heaved, “I can’t leave him,” her words sounded dry in her throat, “I love him-I can’t” she sniffled, “I can’t-I won’t” she heaved harshly, roughly moving her chest as she tried to breathe, “No.”

In Vanessa’s mind, leaving Grayson meant giving up on Grayson. While her memories of sitting near her mother’s bedside flooded her brain, Ness didn’t want to face the consequences of missing a moment while Grayson was in the hospital. She defined her role as his girlfriend to mean that she had to be there for him. She felt existentially obligated to not leave the hospital. Considering Lisa’s suggestion meant considering surrendering as a failure to Grayson.

Lisa shook her head softly, trying to wipe tears from Nessa’s face while holding in her own stress. “It’ll be okay, I promise” Lisa cooed, “go home- get some sleep, you’ll be here in the morning.”

Ness continued to shake her head in a stalemate with Lisa.

They repeated the interaction for what felt like hours, with Ethan and Cameron frozen in the corner watching everything happen. The overhead fluorescent light flickered. Each passing nurse held the possibility that they would be towing Grayson behind them.

Eventually, Ethan broke the stalemate by standing up and throwing an arm around Nessa’s shoulders. Ness protested while Ethan started to walk her to the parking lot: she was a ball of heaves and snot. Ethan sighed when he got into the drivers side of his car, gritting his jaw. Halfway through their drive, Nessa’s sobs quieted into gentle sniffles while she wiped her nose with the back of her wrist. Ethan sucked on his bottom lip for most of the ride.

Ethan parked the car in front of Nessa’s dorm building. Ethan didn’t give her a time to pick her up in the morning. In fact, he let her leave the car wordlessly: without so much as a goodbye. She took a few breaths, trying to find composure before leaving his car. The walk up the stairs to her front door felt miles long. The act of taking her key out of her pocket and fitting it into her door required the same amount of mental stamina as brain surgery.

Ness didn’t sleep a wink that night. She didn’t even bother taking off her clothes when she dragged her body through the doorway. She laid in her bed, staring at the ceiling and asking her clock to move faster.

Fortunately, she awake to look at her phone and see a text from Ethan: “I’m leaving at 8:30, I’ll pick you up if you’re awake.”

Lisa was waiting in the hospital lobby for Ethan and Ness to arrive, she feared another outburst from Ness would wake Grayson from his badly needed rest. She greeted Ethan with a hug when Ness peeped up from behind them, “How is he?”

Lisa made a gentle nod, as if she was letting the information settle in her head. before saying anything. “A bad concussion- they guess he probably had a minor one before the fall-” Ness and Ethan exchanged a sheepish look,, “--and it got worse. He was out all night, they were doing tests on his back-”

Ness sucked in a breath, afraid of the end of the sentence.

“-he slipped a disc in his spine.”

“What does that mean?” Ethan spat out while Nessa’s mouth went dry.

Lisa shrugged, “We’re waiting to find out” she passed a hand over her forehead, “It’s going to be a long road.”

Ness couldn’t wait to see Grayson, she all but ran up the hospital stairs and did not look behind her to see how far Ethan and Lisa were trailing her. She froze outside of his hospital door, looking in to see his head passively leaned back on a pillow. In the corner of the room, Cameron slumped over a chair, curled in a ball during a nap. Grayson’s head didnt move, his eyelashes didn’t twitch against his cheek bones, his chest didn’t even pump with the shallow promise of breath.

Ness felt frozen in fear: anxieties igniting on her nerves like a million fireworks going off against the night sky.

Ethan and Lisa moved past her, making her pick up her step and follow them into her room. Ethan stood by Grayson’s head, he rested a hand against his brother’s limp shoulder. Nessa’s breath caught in her throat when Grayson’s eyes blinked opened. He sniffled, his lips were dry. “Bro-” Grayson said lowly, “E-..”

“Hey man,” Ethan said, his tone hinting at sadness, “How are you feeling?”

Grayson sniffed in a breath, his eyes fell in opposite directions in their sockets when he tried looking up at Ethan, “Better than ever” his letters rolled over each other. Ness felt overtaken by the helpless feeling of seeing someone you love in a hospital bed and knowing she was powerless over his fate.

Ethan’s eyes teased a tear when he looked down at his brother.

Grayson tried to hold his head up, looking like a broken bobblehead, “Whu-Where is erreebody? Oh hey mom,” his head bobbled in Lisa’s direction, “..Ness..”

Ness shuffled to the opposite side of the bed as Ethan. “Hey,” she spoke softly. Her hand found his limp fingers to hold and stroke gently, “How’s your head?”

“Great,” Grayson murmured unconvincingly, “Better with your lips on it.”

Nessa’s eyes went wide. Ethan sucked in his lips. Lisa found a spot to stare at on the floor. From her nap, Cameron chortled against her chair.

Ness tried to alleviate the situation by pressing a sweet kiss to Grayson’s forward. He responded to the act by murmuring words of appreciate. The air still hung heavy and awkward.

Grayson stayed in the hospital for more than two weeks. Ethan drove Ness from campus to see him in the afternoons. He was plagued by the pain and nausea that accompanied his intense concussion. Ness grew accustomed to helping him to the bathroom as he struggled to regain feeling in his right arm: his shoulder would occasionally spasm and lock, making him moan in the combination of soreness from his shoulder and his head.

The day Ness and Ethan brought Grayson home from the hospital was like bringing home a new baby. Ethan prepared his car with a cushion fort’s worth of blankets and pillows. Ness stocked their fridge with snacks and labeled his medication cabinet with the days of the week.

Grayson was allowed to go home under the condition that he did not attend class. He was prohibited from practicing football: his doctor refused to entertain the question of when he would be back on the field. Lisa tried to protest, but Ness and Ethan insisted that the best place for Grayson was with them. In truth, neither one of them would have been able to handle the emotional strain of being separated from him for a prolonged period of time.

Ness would rush to Grayson’s apartment between classes to check on in: despite the fact that she was texting him constantly. Grayson gave her his key since he was not going to be leaving without her and Ethan anytime soon. She would drop her backpack on their couch and go to sit by his bedside. Grayson would groan as she applied hot packs and icepacks to his shoulder. reminding not to twist so he can keep his spine straight.

When his pain medication kicked in, he found enough energy to ask Ness about her day. One day, he insisted that she sit on the floor in front of his bed. She laughed and asked him why.

He shrugged, “I want to try something.”

Ness shook her head lightly and complied: she was mainly happy to see Grayson find energy to do something besides lay in bed.

Grayson took her hair in his hands and started passing strand over strand. “Oh-um,” he grunted, “Why do you have so much hair?”

Ness laughed, “Do you want me to cut it?”

“No! No,” Grayson hedged, “This looked easier on TikTok.”

“What are you doing?” Ness giggled and looked up at him.

Grayson sighed, “I was-I was trying to braid you hair- all pretty like.” He let go of her hair, “I saw it on tiktok- they called it a Niagara braid? or a waterfall braid?”

He huffed in defeat. Ness reached up to kiss the bottom of his chin, “Practice makes perfect.”

Unfortunately, not all of their moments during this time were so happy.

One Monday morning, Ness walked into Grayson’s bedroom and leaned her backpack against his nightstand. Ness was derobing out of her winter coat, scarf, and gloves when Grayson groaned from bed, “Can you get me the IcyHot?”

Ness complied and fluttered out of the room. The door knocked her bag to the side. Grayson leaned his upper body off of the bed, dangling off the edge by his thighs. He shuffled Nessa’s papers back into her backpack. He stopped at one. He pulled himself back on to the bed to look at it further.

Ness walked in, carrying a pack of IcyHot, and noticed him inspecting the paper. “What you got there?”

Grayson took in a shallow breath, his tone was low, “You got a 32?”

Ness stopped in her tracks. Immediately recognizing her exam in Grayson’s hands. She put the IcyHot on his night stand, “It’s no big deal.” She went to grab the paper from his hands put he held it away from her.

“Ness,” he started in a paternal tone, “What happened? You never get grades like this.”

She sighed and rolled her eyes, “It was a hard test okay, not my fault.”

“Are you doing better now?” Grayson asked with a soft touch to his voice.

“I’m working on it,” Ness responded tirelessly, “Don’t be mad at me.”

“I’m not mad at you,” Grayson said softly, “I’m just..disappointed.” He sighed and looked at her with kind eyes, “If this is too much, Ethan can do it. I don’t-I don’t want you getting bad grades on account of me.”

Ness shook her head, “It’s fine, I promise.” She leaned forward and kissed his forehead, “I love you.”

“Love you too,” Grayson mumbled while she applied the IcyHot to his shoulder.

In the weeks that followed Grayson coming home from the hospital, Ethan drove him to physical therapy twice a week: every Tuesday and Thursday night. Immediately following his sessions, Grayson would fall fast asleep: lulled by his soreness and exhaustion. The mighty football god could barely pick up a wooden block with his right arm.

On Wednesday morning, Ness came through Grayson’s front door carrying a box of cinnamon buns. “Hey,” her voice took a sing song tone, “Guess what I have?”

Grayson grunted and tried to pick himself up from bed.

“What- What happened?” Ness nearly dropped the box of cinnamon buns, it fell on Grayson’s night stand with a ‘plop’.

Grayson moved his left hand through his hair, still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

Ness stared in shock, being impatient for Grayson’s answer, “Why are you in sling?”

Grayson looked down to see his shoulder sitting in a blue foam sling. “They’re worried about me pulling it in my sleep, the spasms-they don’t it to flop around in the night.”

Ness blinked quickly, “Why didn’t they give you this before?”

Grayson shrugged with his available shoulder, “Dunno.”

Ness shook her head, “This means you’re getting worse. It doesn’t mean you’re getting better-” Ness paced in circles on the tiny floor space of Grayson’s bedroom.

“I’m fine,” Grayson promised, “I’m going to be fine.”

Ness looked at him, unconvinced by his words.

The semester was coming to a close, Ness furiously, and unsuccessfully, tried to balance studying for exams with tending to Grayson. She didn’t say a word when he proposed a movie night the evening before her Ethics final. Instead, she wore her favorite fluffy socks and tried to curl up next to Grayson while the Lady and the Tramp played on his computer.

“Hey uh-” Grayson grunted, “Can you go on the- the other side?”

Ness gasped, “Yeah. Yeah.” She tried to move over his body, to get away from his injured shoulder.

“Oh,” Grayson groaned as she rolled over his midsection.

“Sorry,” Ness squeaked.

Grayson tried to settled in, returning his attention back to the movie and wrapping Ness in his left arm.

“I can’t see,” Ness complained, trying to shift her body above Grayson’s.

“Sorry,” Grayson groaned a she continued to roll around him.

He shut the laptop she looked up, startled, “What’s the matter?”

Grayson shrugged, “Wasn’t working out.”

That moment was the inspiration for the conversation Grayson knew he had to have with Ness. It happened a few days after, when Ness came over to his apartment on the last weekend of the semester. She was confused when he asked her to take a seat on the foot of his bed. “What’s going on?” She asked curiously.

Grayson sighed and licked his bottom lip, “I-uh- I wanted to tell you.” He sighed and spoke quicker, “I think it’s best if I go stay with my mom. For the start of next semester.”

Ness looked down and analyzed the folds in Grayson’s sheets. She spoke slowly, “How am I going to see you then? If you’re all the way in Jersey.”

Grayson shifted his weight from side to side, “I don’t think you will.”

Ness shot her hands up in the air, “What? That’s ridiculous. I’m not going to- I’m not going to not see you. You’re my boyfriend? If I don’t see you how are we going to-”

The grave look on Grayson’s face told Nessa more than his words ever could.

“Oh God,” she said softly.

“I’m sorry Ness,” Grayson said sincerely, “I don’t mean to-”

“You’re breaking up with me,” she interrupted him. “I can’t believe this Grayson- Gray, I love you. I really love you. I thought you loved me too.”

“I do love you Ness,” Grayson reassured, “It’s just--” he sighed and shifted his weight again, “I can’t stand to see you like this- to see us like this. For pete’s sake Ness we haven’t had sex in months, we can’t cuddle without a major--a major---fiasco! your grades are slipping Ness-” Grayson’s eyes turned downward at the corners, “I can’t- I can’t watch myself keep doing this to you Ness.”

“My life is mine to worry about,” she said indignantly, “Not yours.”

Grayson sighed, “Don’t do this to me. Don’t think of this like a-”

“Don’t do this to you? Don’t do this to you? Like I’m doing anything to you?” Her attempts at sounding angry were water logged by the sobs that were catching in her throat.

“Don’t think of this like a break up,” Grayson continued, “Just a break.”

Vanessa seemed to grow sadder and more sullen at his answer.

“It’s not like I’m going to be seeing other people,” Grayson promised, “I just- I don’t know how long it’ll take until I’m...”

“Yeah,” Ness whispered into the air around her, a surrender.

She sat there, heart broken. She was crushed by the weight of loving Grayson Dolan. When he grabbed her and kissed her at that first party, Grayson became the center of her world. In his broken condition, Grayson took priority in Nessa’s life: stripping her of any trace ways to spend her time. Sitting there, she realized that a life without Grayson, wasn’t really a life at all for her. She felt like someone had blocked out the sun: playing a cruel trick with sunglasses and mirrors that couldn’t possibility be true. She waited for him to say it was a joke, to say it was a misunderstanding, but he never did. She left, feeling like she didn’t know where to walk after someone blocked out the sun.

Despite his injury, Grayson only felt like less of a man when he watched Ness walk out of his apartment. He felt desolate. The pain that thumped in his head and his back wasn’t measurable compared to the stabbing feeling that came as a result of tearing out his own heart: and watching Ness walk away with it, no promise that she would ever bring it back. The only solace he found was in trusting that he did the right thing for Ness. He brought about so much pain to himself, but he couldn’t bare to see her suffer any longer on his account.

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spiribia · 4 years

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i had a dream that was advertised as kipo season 3 but it was fundamentally nothing like kipo at all. a generation or so ago a bunch of people had been pulled into an alternate dimension where they discovered everything was wildly different, magic existed, and dinosaurs were still alive, and they called it Paleontologia (DONT make fun of me i didnt come up with that consciously). they all lived in a giant schoolhouse building where the adults taught the kids as much about the strange new world as they had gathered, and the kids had to successfully pass an exam demonstrating they knew enough about the world and its dangers to be approved for permission to leave the schoolhouse and venture out into the strange wilderness. kipos mom had disappeared out there, purportedly lost to the dangers of the field, but kipo somehow knew that one of the current head scientists (emilia) had kidnapped her.

kipo, benson, and wolf decided they had to go out into the world and look for kipos mom. they didnt have time for the exam to come around though, so the three of them snuck out through a backdoor into the dense jungle beyond. as benson & wolf went ahead, kipo stayed behind and overheard another convo between emilia and emilias assistant from outside the schoolhouse, named dr. flabbergast, where flabbergast hinted that kipos mom might be at a resort town, making a foreboding note about the giant clocktower there. kipo told her friends about the resort but forgot to mention the clocktower. they wandered the resort for a while and it was strange and misty and full of neon lights and people and hot tubs and then kipo remembered they should probably worry about the clocktower when a massive earthquake started from the far distant clocktower. it was subsumed in shadow and the top of it transformed into a leering cat face (this was understood to be an alternate form of flabbergast, who was a demon from this world) and kipo went mega jaguar and began charging the tower. that was the end of the season, but there was a next-season preview that implied there would be a whole arc about flabbergasts demented cat-tower including a part where it placed a curse on wolfs left hand and kipos right hand. there was for some reason a huge focus on science / chemistry too to the extent that their exam wouldve been wholly oriented around it and they had glowing compounds written on their foreheads but since it was just the next-season preview no one knew what that meant. the only one i remember is that kipos was CoO2

#trash talks #sorry ive heard people find other peoples dreams boring but i havent had a dream with such a long coherent plot in so long #or relatively coherent. i used to call them 'plot dreams' and write them down in a notebook

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heuristicallyinclined · 4 years

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MallekWeek2020 Day 1 Writing Prompt

Day 1: What happened after Mallek's Friendsim route

(AO3)

If someone told you you would be spending your evening on the less dirty side of a couch belonging to a guy who genuinely thought you were a robot when he met you, you probably would have absolutely believed it. Honestly, you might have felt some relief knowing you would get a break from the usual life-threatening antics. Things might have started out weird, but chilling on someone’s couch was a nice change of pace. Even if there is a giant snake staring at you from across the room, seemingly unblinking. Can snakes blink? Do alien snakes blink? You don’t think this one does at least. You hope Mallek comes back soon.

The two of you had gone for a dip in some sewer water, willingly and otherwise, and had come back up to his apartment to get cleaned up. He offered to let you shower first since he did push you. You let him know you weren’t holding a grudge or anything, but he insisted. You did get a much needed change of clothes out of it though, so that was nice. You offered to see yourself out after your shower, not wanting to overstay your welcome, but he said it was cool. You are now wondering if he was just saying that to be polite. You mean, other people haven’t had much of a problem telling you to fuck off, but you think you are really feeling a friendship from him and you don’t want to risk it losing it because you can’t take a hint. You guess it is too late now, since while you were weighing your option, he enters the room.

Mallek plops down next to you on the couch and you look up at him and give him a friendly smile. You thank him again for being cool about the whole robot and palmhusk in the water thing, but he stops you.

“dude; its cool; you already apologized; were good;”

You relax a bit more at the reaffirmation. People have done worse for less and he felt bad enough to make it up to you. Maybe you are just waiting for the other shoe to drop?

“anyways; im hungry and am getting delivery; what do you want;”

Wait you’re getting fed? Oh he doesn’t have to do that and you don’t have anything to chip in right now an-

“i didnt really expect you to have money; im buying;”

You don’t have to do that, you’re good, you even ate today!

He shoots you a look of concern. Maybe you saying it like that was less than reassuring that you’re “good.”

“im not just going to eat in front of you; come on; plus my original plans fell through;”

You’re about to ask what when he nudges you with an easygoing smile. Oh, he was probably hoping to mess with a robot.

“here; what sounds good to you; i pulled up grubhub;”

What.

“oh yeah you = alien; you can get food off of it; here;”

He shows you his palmhusk and you scoot closer to see the screen. What the actual fuck. How is this a universal constant? Like you know they have a kind of bug theme going on and slap the word grub on things in ways you don’t really get. This still is a lot for you though. He is explaining it to you and you stop him. You fill him in. He chuckles and seems to be amused by this.

“that = weird dude; how about the food;”

Nope, the food is still eluding you. Some stuff seems to have Earthen equivalents and just have bugs or grubs on them or something. Others you have no idea what to make of. He can get whatever he thinks is good and you’re cool with getting whatever he is gets. He puts an order in.

“sure; but grubs = the best part;”

You disagree.

He laughs, “dibs on yours then;”

They’re all his.

You smile at him and it feels easy to do. You ask what you two are doing until then.

“how about a movie; = you cool with that”

Sure!

Okay, you are actually really pumped about this. A movie night with some delivery? That sounds like a really fun night. This is something actually you want to do, instead of just getting through to try to be his friend. You tell him to choose whatever, you haven’t seen anything other than a few romcoms anyways. Plus, him asking you to choose between two movies would take him ten minutes just to get through the titles. He chuckles at this and starts flipping through titles.

“do you like action movies;”

Yeah.

“how about bad ones;”

Like a really cheesy movie?

“yeah;”

Sounds fun. But you haven’t seen a lot of Alternian media, so whatever he picks is going to inform your opinion of his species. No pressure.

You hope he gets that this is a joke. Joking has felt easy to do with him so far and you want to keep doing it. You would hate to ruin it by saying the wrong thing and having him tell you to get out. By the way he is laughing though, he seems to appreciate it.

He grins at you, “okay; then this is going to be accurate as hell; enjoy;”

You’re ready for it.

Except you aren’t because there is a knock on the door. Mallek starts to get up, but you tell him you can at least grab it for him since he ordered it. You bound up to the door and open it with a delivery guy reading off the order for you to confirm. You realize you don’t know what Mallek ordered and the delivery guy looks up when you don’t answer. You also then realize he wasn’t expecting to see an alien answering a highblood’s door, based off of how he was looking at you. To his credit, he doesn’t drop the food. You just just grab it and thank him, basically slamming the door in his face with mild panic. You turn around and Mallek is there. You two look at each other and he doubles over. His laughter is contagious and soon you are too. You eventually collect yourself.

You feel bad, you know the poor guy doesn’t get paid enough for that.

“hes fine; does everyone do that when they see you;”

Depends on if they’re looking for a robot or not.

He chuckles and shakes his head. You settle back onto the couch with him with some plates and pop the box open. You see what looks like a very creative interpretation of pizza covered in mostly plants. And grubs. Cool. You grab a slice and start picking them off. It tastes good, not what you were expecting, but not bad. You grab another slice.

“how = it;”

You let him know you like it.

“enough to try it with grubs;”

Absolutely not.

He grabs one of the ones you picked off of your plate and into his mouth, “suit yourself;”

The two of you get back to watching the movie and you get comfortable. It has so many explosions and unrealistic combat scenes. Which you feel you now have the authority to judge based off what you’ve seen with Skyyla, Remele, Konyyl, Azdaja, and wow actually this is a concerning amount of violence you’ve seen. Hope that doesn’t have any long term consequences.

The acting is also just so bad. Like you know very little about quadrants, but based off of that and how prickly trolls can be, this is forced as hell. They have no chemistry in a love or hate way. God Polypa would be having a field day with this one. The characters are just. A lot. Some douchey main, secondary buddy dude, the veteran, romantic lead. There are so many cliches and you are having fun hating it, wait, did you just accidentally understand kissmesitude? Because of this shitty movie? Damn it.

There is one hacker character who does tech stuff for the leads. He uses a bunch of technical sounding jargon that you suspect means nothing based off of how Mallek is rolling his eyes. You don’t feel too bad interrupting the riveting dialogue.

So did any of that mean anything?

“fuck no; none of that made sense;”

You continue watching it, curling up fully on the couch now. More explosions and fight scenes. You wonder if humans and trolls have more in common than you originally thought just because of how you share so many tropes, just spun a bit differently. The hacker character utters, “I’m in,” and you can’t help it and smirk.

That’s you.

“that = me; you = right;”

This is easy and you like it, Just dumb side commentary during dumb movies.

Seriously, have you ever hacked anything and said “I’m in”?

“no;” he pauses and smiles at you, “but i have thought it;”

You wouldn’t be a real information specialist if you didn’t.

You grab another slice and immediately put the grubs on Mallek’s plate. The hero saves the day and triumphs doing some backflips off of a burning building. The buddy makes a joke that falls flat. The two kiss. Everyone is happy and the credits roll.

You look over at Mallek, sprawled out on the couch, legs on top of yours. He seems to always keep up a cool demeanor, but this is probably the first time you’ve seen him be genuinely relaxed. You wish you could be that relaxed, you were having fun, you really were, but the movie was over now and you didn’t know where that left you. As reluctant as you are to break the silence, you do.

So the movie is done now, do you want me to help clean up before I go?

“it = getting late; do you want to go;”

You hope you aren’t reading too far into this but you think he maybe doesn’t want you to leave yet.

You were down to watch another one if he was.

“Sweet; i =”

You were actually having a lot of fun.

He raises an eyebrow at you when you make this admission.

“Actually;”

Wait, by that you me-

“im just messing with you; yeah; i havent had a movie day with friends in a while; it = nice;”

He said friend! You were beaming at him. He returned the look albeit more tiredly.

“= you ready for the next one;”

You nodded and he pressed play.

#mallek adalov #mspa reader #mallekweek #mallekweek2020 #mallek #hiveswap #homestuck

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randomliven · 4 years

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WARNING LONG POST HEAVY SPOILERS

Episode4. Play back rewatch

*Open scene Montrose

*Drinking. Going through the memories of his mind

He drinks and still he remembers it all

*God Smites Eve

*2:12 "Give this to tic protect our family" GEORGE

*The Order of the ancient dawn

*You might be all Tic has left

*"Smells like Tulsa

*Bitcx better have my money

*Christina glides through cars

* Black arrow (nods it off)

*leti was ready

*Bitcx tried to walk in like she own the place

*the protection spell works 'akirum

She seemed impressed and snide

*your money (leti realizes where the money came from

**L: "You want something in this house. Something to. do with Atticus"

**Ct: "Dont let the men fool you into thinking its Always about them. "

**His blood may have power but thats only because itus spelled it that way. Hes Not Special. Not really

Christina is a Snitch

*"If he keeps operating like this hes going to get you killed "Again"

(she looks sincere) (im telling yall xtina did this before)

* "I dont want that. Or this house. I just want the orrery"

(To discover a world of first) (chritina dont lie withold yes)

You can get the Fuck up off my Porch

Call me

*Hippolyta calls her daddy... She has the Orrery

She smart as hell

*The new comic diana drawing..outta this universe

Moves and predicts the relative position of planets

*leti tells tic about tina paying for house

*Tic with holds information from leti

*knows tina used tic to kill father

tic was go kill her then just leave

Lil boy with Coke bottle glasses ( just like tic but not tic

*two sets of pages still exist

*the orrery is the key

(using the orrery to go into another world to find his pages)

Titus kept it hidden

*Casting spells to protect

*ask ya daddy " i dont want yall involved"

(Sound like his daddy when they saved him)

They in the back

Every time i tell you to do something yo do the opposite

*" how you kno its 34 lodges"

*"I cant help you kill yourself. You cant see this game she is setting up for you to play"

(Montrose and Christina have done this before.. I cant wait till the final. I need to kno)

*"Looking for answers you already have"

Boston

*"I know where to find that dame vault"

Christina plays hide and seek for the first time

Christina screaming "Im safe."

The police arrive for her to take her to ...

Lancaster

*She didnt mention leti being in the house specie or tic

Says convince "hyrum"

*she knows there is someone in the closet right away

*xtina says time machine

* " let "negros" move in..(vs niggers) cocky

Take my lodges

*did i miss your initiation into the order..

No cunts allowed

The silent fight

Let go. You told me to let go

Hyp suspicious

It so happens to be at a astrology museum

Tree

Ruby walks into Marshal fields

"Work like kobe just to shine like Russel"

Sees Tamara

"Yes yesterday"

"I applied on a whim"

Boston

Lights of the universe

Leti's face watching rose go with the guard

*"u kno y they call me tree"

"Shouldnt i already kno that since we fuc in highschool simore" rolls eye at that liar

True story: Harriet chariot

*MY MAMA NAMED THAT COMET

*Many artefacts Titus was giving in exchange for striping away everything they knew

(Stolen after killing, probably raping and enslaving the native people)

*tree hints at Montrose being gay to tic

Tic questions how mon knows the guard

The vault

*Christina pulls up goes around the gate

(William comes out 30seconds later, yes we kno the skin change happens in seconds seeing ruby change, BUT HOW IN THE HELL did xtina put on a whole suite down to the tie that quick)

Do they not kno william cuz then lancaster wouldnt have known it wasnt xtina when he dies.

She kick they ass

*William says i have a Date

Find a way to open it

Montrose finds the moonlight

How old is this museum

*"This is some journey to the center of the earth type shit"(name of book coke bottle kid in library was reading)

3tunnels

Ever the tide shall rise

Map of titus voyage's..

No telling Letitia fuc N lewis No

Dont help me

Yellow

*Based on adventure novels the tunnels should be based on the map.

*How you know he raided Diana

"I read a damn book

*1810 it was built

Established the sons of Adam 3yrs later

*Whats down the other tunnel?

The lantern being there

Ruby drowning her blues away to a half empty bar

Is copper considered a yellow

Voluptuousness

*I cant afford another one

Blues eyes got ya tab tonight

*A nod. A gulp

*"May i join you?" They dont sit

Keep my glass full"...

*Yall white boys dont come to the dark side for modesty (demanding woman

* i can buy my own drinks ( pride)

Take a bit more to impress me White Boy

*Never insult you to make you a kept woman

* promise me the world to lay with me

*a promise i can keep

(All she needs is the orrery & she literally can give Ruby Many worlds)

The way they look at Ruby

*20min of walking

Walking the plank

Tic brave

Tf me 1st

Learned how to lie

*juneteenth

* "FREEMEN WERE NEVER SLAVES"

She out there

Spider senses

Tic has training

Booby trap

Big fucking deal

The bored starts to disappear

Jump pop

Better catch me Boy. (I got ya kid)

Now they can run shuffle

Montrose knows the combination

Jessie owens

*The tide rising.. Less than an hr

Ruby "got there 1st, shoulda been me but i let Leti distract me"

They sat there all night

*"Whoes leti"

(i dont think Christina knew leti Nd Ruby were sisters before that moment based on willtinas expression

*"my half sister" (willtina Gulps (becoming a signature

* if i was in your skin i wouldnt even have to run"

*what to do about it?

William with them eyes.

*"Better stop looking at me like that, It Aint happening

White Boy"

I Put a Spell on You plays

Ruby want it

(Im more than sure this is Willtinas 1st time, also wonder if so as a woman. Possible leti was a virgin)

Willtina looked confused by the blood. Primal reaction

Ruby in control

William excited, whoa lip biting

The mark of Cain. Big Dic Energy

*" How you kno so much about the sons of adam?"

* george gave me the bylaws i burned it

My brother said protect the family. His dying wish

(Was to give Tic the book, but you cant tell Montrose what to do with his son)

Closing Pandoras box once Nd for good

You wont stop

*Leti finds the neighbors body who went missing

*Chicago to Boston 14hr drive

(They walk 20min to the plank maybe another 20 to yahima)

*sees elevator come down, looks familiar

*Epistien was apart of the order prob chasing the pages... He was missing an arm

This might get dangerous

*he was kidnapped. I Died.

*"not the center of the fucking universe"

Leti can swim too

*Fatherly advice

Ya mama was complicated too

*all that fussing is loving

*Epstein day look like he was missing an arm and like a drowned victim

I don't think Christina knew about the tunnels or at least she knew that she couldn't open them

Black folk dont watch bones come alive & just stare

*reaches. (Back the fuc up

* they have the same symbol on their stomach. The Regeneration spell

*yahima Woman man two spirit

*had no reason to distrust him

ALWAYS HUNGRY

*he killed them all (stole they shii) enslaved

Tic look like Will Smith as a fish in shark tail

*she dont know my spirit

Montrose Takes pages anyway (i think knowing booby trap)

. Grabs yama

*montrose drops the pages purposefully

Like damn leti. Grabbing for her

The kiss. The scream. The knockout

*how did they get back without woodie

*is that your dad's atlas

*devon county circled. Ardum reaper. Hyp makes a detour

*siren. Ill figure out how to help her talk

*"You were brave boy. Grew to be a good man spite me"

*he already had the plan

Damn montrose

#lovecraft country #ruby x christina #christina x ruby #tic x leti

1 note · View note

nigel-twycross · 4 years

Text

Darling, It’s Cold Outside

October 29th, 1980

@lukeselwynx

Nigel:

Nigel needed a bit of an escape. By now, he felt as though the death eaters were breathing down his neck for his help and support in their planning of the next moves. There were people from the Order who were definitely onto him now, and getting more suspicious by the minute. As much as he tried to stay calm and ignore the looks he would get from various people lately, Nigel could only handle so much of it before he had had enough. Getting away for even just one night felt like more of a solution than cooping himself up in his flat forever just because he was afraid of possible consequences.

Pulling on a light jacket, Nigel stuffed his frigid hands into warm wooly pockets. The air was crisp this time of year, which often made his hands feel dry if they were exposed for too long. Still, he wanted to get a night out in the cool fresh air. The park was his favorite area to roam on clear nights like this, so that he could sit and look at the stars. However, as he was walking along, he noticed a male lounging on a park bench shivering. Walking over to him, the blond stared down in wonder. "Aren't you cold?" His voice was soft, curious, as he tipped his head to the side and waited for a response. "Clear night, though. Only a few clouds tonight."

Luke:

Luke stared up at the stars, finding the small details interesting - like how he couldn't look directly at them, because they would almost disappear from sight. Instead, he had to look at them almost in his peripheral vision, as difficult as that was for him to do. He had just started to make out one particular star when his vision was obstructed by someone standing over him.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, but he blinked a few times and then squinted to see. This was someone he...recognized? Or maybe not. He had slightly common features? Luke had seen so many people through the years that all the faces started to blur together. Even if paying attention in the meetings for Death Eaters, he had a hard time picking out anyone on the street. "It's... a bit chilly. Yes," he admitted quietly, starting to sit up to better greet this person. "Yeah, that's true... The stars are easier to see and there isn't so much light pollution out here..." To be polite, he moved over for the other, not wanting to seem greedy. "I just needed to get away for a while..."

Nigel:

One thing that Nigel could say was his special talent other than his knack for healing, was his ability to recognize people extremely well. It only ever took him a few tries to memorize names, even less for faces. If he saw someone twice, almost always during that second meeting he would remember them. He knew this male, that much he knew for sure. Nigel was almost positive he knew his name, too, but held onto that information for a little while longer. Getting it wrong would be embarrassing. More so than guessing.

Nigel couldn't help but laugh as he inevitably gave in, and agreed that it was cold outside. Scrunching his nose as he chuckled, he took a seat beside him now, that there was room. "Small talk isn't exactly my forte, so excuse me if I start asking you intrusive questions. I like getting to know people," he smiled sweetly, looking over at the male. "Plus, I'm a healer, so it's natural." Letting a moment of silence fall between them as his eyes teetered up to the sky, a soft chuckle escaped Nigel's lips. "Me too. Sometimes I feel like getting away more than I feel like staying around. Guess that means I'm probably doing something wrong, hm?" With a slight smile tugging at his lip, Nigel looked back over at him. "What are you running from?"

Luke:

At first, Luke wasn't sure what to expect from this man. He seemed to recognize him somehow - Luke could see it in the man's eyes. But he might have been too polite to say anything.

The man's smile was nice. Innocent. Even as he mentioned asking questions, Luke didn't feel too worried. It was nothing he wasn't already used to. "A healer? That's probably useful I'd say. Sounds neat." His own tired eyes searched the man's features. He was handsome.

"It doesn't mean you're doing something wrong. I can speak from experience. Sometimes it just means you're with the wrong people, you know?" Luke's heart raced at the question, trying to decide what to say - the truth, or something not quite the same as truth. "I'm... I'm just running. From my past, and from feeling insecure and...sometimes fans, honestly... but most of the time I feel like I don't know who I am anymore. Like I'm just losing myself..." It was a lot to throw at a stranger but he felt an odd relief from doing so.

Nigel:

Knowing how to heal others was one of the greatest gifts Nigel could think of. He’d always found it to be an admirable profession that didnt get nearly enough praise as it should. “It is, for sure. My mother has a lot of experience in the field.” Even if Nigel had been sure that he knew the man, he was hesitant to admit that his mother was a muggle.

Letting out a laugh, Nigel ran a hand through his hair. “That’s nice of you to say. I guess you might have a point.” Of course he had a point, just like Han and Henry and Gilderoy and Miriam had points. Nigel couldn’t convince himself that anyone was right. There were so many voices in his head that he hardly knew which to listen to. When the male said he was simply just running, Nigel nodded in understanding. “Everyone feels insecure at times. Even the most confident people,” he assured him.

Giving the moment space to breathe, Nigel turned to him a bit more, tipping his head to the side. “Luke, right? You left Hogwarts early, did music for a while. Now you’re back.” And part of the Death Eater allegiance, but he refrained from mentioning that for now. “Let me see your hands, they must be cold.” He had been shivering earlier, and one thing that Nigel had learned from being cold quite often was how to charm his pockets to warm his hands when they were tucked away. Motioning for Luke’s, he held them in his own a moment to warm them up. “Maybe you need to do a bit of self discovery...”

Luke: Luke smiled at the other. Healing was something special, something that only certain people could have the personality to do. Not everyone could handle it, either emotionally or mentally, or physically... Luke was one of the people who would never dream of doing that kind of job. On the other hand, though, he was also in a bit of a mood. He felt conflicted and lost, and emotionally drained. So he knew for a fact he wasn't showing off his gratitude properly for the kinds of thing this man might be able to do, the number he could save.

"It's a point for sure... I need to follow my own advice... I always let people walk all over me and I feel like... I don't know, I just never feel satisfied you know? I never feel like I do great things anymore. I used to feel accomplished and secure and... Now it's cold, and I haven't been back to my flat in days, and I'm sitting on a bench staring at the stars with... well, you," he paused to laugh. It was pleasant to hear someone recognized him from Hogwarts, and not necessarily from the music scene alone. "Yeah... I'm Luke. I'm sorry, I'm so bloody horrible with names I... I know you from somewhere, I know I do but... Well, Hogwarts probably, right? And...well, you know..." Death Eaters, he wanted to say, but he knew he shouldn't. Not aloud.

He was glad it was dark enough out that the other couldn't really see how his cheeks flushed. He wasn't sure why he was blushing at a time like this. The man offered to warm his hands, that was all. It wasn't a huge deal. And his hands were very warm. The touch was calming and stabilizing. For a moment he didn't even mind that he was essentially holding another man's hands. "Self discovery, yeah... I thought I'd be done with that after traveling the world and... joining a group that might have made me feel like I belonged, and... I don't know. I'm young still, I know, but... I suppose I had hoped the time of self discovery would be over. I still don't know how to talk to girls, even. Certainly don't know how to date, or even maintain friendship really..."

Nigel:

Nigel listened without commentary for the most part, as he normally liked to take in everything that someone was saying before making a judgement on what to say back. However something about his recollection of the past few days caught the blond’s attention. “Have you just been wandering around outside? That’s a sure fire way to catch a cold,” Nigel warned, hoping he’d take him seriously.

“Not that I don’t enjoy stargazing with strangers,” he started. “But you should probably reconsider how often you’re out here at this time. Especially in this weather.” Nigel didn’t hold it against him in the slightest that Luke didn’t remember his name -if he had known it at all. It wasn’t as if Nigel was Mr. Outgoing either. “Nigel,” he answered with a smile. “Hogwarts definitely. And yes.” It didn’t need to be said for them to understand the silent communication.

Perhaps it was Nigel’s eyes playing tricks on him, though he could have sworn that he saw a hint of blush in the male’s cheeks as he took his hands. That wasn’t uncommon, though it was cute on Luke. Nigel said nothing more as they sat there. “Maybe you need a simpler method. Pick a bunch of activities to do at home and see which you like. Meditation, candle lighting...” Giving a shrug, Nigel kept thinking. “Imagine you’re talking to a guy, then. Would that help?” It was a hopeful question, though Nigel hadn’t given away why, attempting to sneak it by and see how Luke would react.

Luke:

Luke couldn't help but laugh softly at the other. He took his concern seriously, of course, but it was funny coming from the other, like a parental warning of sorts. He nodded in confirmation, not exactly proud that he'd been wandering outside for a good while, and intended to continue for a while yet. "It doesn't bother me too much. This weather, I mean."

Nigel. That was the name. Now it sounded familiar, too. In some ways, he felt like he could have guessed it - but that was a name he figured he would never have guessed. "Hogwarts came first, I definitely thought it was that." He listened to the other's suggestions, trying to let them sink in despite the fact that none of them really stuck. They just didn't have that appeal he was looking for. "Well I mean, I haven't spoken to girls in a romantic context, but I can talk to them normally I think? Guys, you know, there's not really--... I mean, maybe?" He started to realize that he was overthinking it - or at least, he thought he was overthinking it. Surely, it wasn't a hint? No, no, Nigel was just trying to help. His heart raced and his cheeks flushed darker. He suddenly didn't know how to explain that it all depended on whether the person he was speaking with was flirting, regardless of male or female. Nothing sounded right in his head. "I... No, I don't think it's helping," he laughed nervously, unable to meet the other's eyes. It had been perfectly simple before, but now he couldn't help but look at Nigel in a flirty way and that ruined it. Now his tongue was tied, his lips pursed shut. He didn't move his hands, though.

Nigel:

Nigel met new people fairly regularly since he worked at St Mungos, but he much preferred meeting people in normal settings like this. He had never been one to prefer small talk though Nigel was good at it; you had to be, when you worked with people. Here they were, talking about the weather while looking up at partly cloudy skies and bright shimmering stars. That was the most muggle thing that Nigel could think of. “Well that’s good, then.” He could have badgered the male about how he really should be taking better care of himself else he get a cold, but he didn’t want to lecture.

Laughing warmly at the way Luke started to trip over his words, Nigel scrunched his nose slightly. It wasn’t that he was laughing at him, but rather admiring how flustered he seemed to be as he thought it was quite cute. “Talking to anyone normally is a proper way to start.” Not everyone enjoyed or felt entirely comfortable with flirting right off the bat. Done correctly, it could be extremely successful. Despite it being dark, the flush in the male’s cheeks deepening became extremely noticeable now, to which he hoped Luke didn’t feel as embarrassed as he looked. “Well... Do you think,” Nigel hesitated, wanting to word his question carefully. “That maybe, you could like both men and women? In a romantic sense?”

Luke:

Luke couldn't help but wonder how in the world he had landed himself here, in this conversation that always seemed to make him flustered. He hadn't spoken about this since being on tour, and now here he was chatting away with a stranger about things he rarely spoke about. Like it was nothing.

"I can talk to people normally, I mean... I have to. It's literally a major part of my career. But the aspect of really trying to flirt with someone is... daunting at best and I lose my way with words--" Then Nigel suggested that maybe it wasn't only women that made his heart race and his eyebrows raised a bit, both in surprise and consideration. He had never really considered that before - it was never something his parents would have approved of, and so he never gave it too much thought. But the fact was, he was sitting there blushing over a cute guy talking and holding his hands. He hadn't really allowed himself to go down that track, but he just realized the track instead moved on him and he found himself standing at the end of the path forced with a decision. Acknowledgment, or denial.

"I... don't know? I think so... maybe? I've had some men flirt with me but I was always on the road. It never would have worked so I...never really... entertained that idea..." He looked at Nigel, meeting his eye briefly before nervously chuckling and looking down.

Nigel:

Having always been raised to be comfortable talking about his feelings, Nigel could understand if not everyone shared his experience. He wouldn't ever want to push someone into talking about something that caused them anxiety or discomfort, which was why he was being so careful with his words, as to not upset the man. "Well that's good, then," he replied, trying to reassure him and make him feel a bit better.

Nigel was no cupid. He could flirt when he wanted to, but the act of someone flirting with him made him turn a bright shade of red. Coincidentally, not far from the flush in Luke's cheeks that he was seeing now. Perhaps they had more in common than he originally thought. "Conversing with someone in that matter can be tricky," he agreed, nodding his head. "You never know how it's going to end up. Then again, a normal conversation could be looked at the same way. I'm not saying that to scare you out of talking to people," Nigel chuckled. "But when you think about it, talking to strangers could go well, or horribly wrong, if they don't know your style of conversation. Even friends sometimes misunderstand each other."

It wasn't all that surprising to hear that men had flirted with him in the past. He was attractive, for starters. Nigel could certainly admit that. "Maybe you should consider it. It doesn't have to be now, but... in the future. I guess, just don't close it off entirely." Realizing he was still holding Luke's hands, Nigel gave a warm smile and slowly slipped out of them. "So... Mr. Musician, hm? What do you play?" A subject change seemed to be overdue at this point, and he didn't want to embarrass Luke any further.

Luke:

Luke laughed softly and bit his bottom lip, looking away for a moment. He was still processing this conversation. For a brief moment, he felt like maybe he could work at it now - right at this second, right here. It wasn't like he was doing anything else with his life anyway. But he quickly understood he was too nervous for that, and it only became slightly worse as the other pulled his hands away. Now, his hands felt cold...and empty. It wasn't to his liking, that much was for sure.

"I don't think I would close it off, not entirely..." he mumbled, nearly down to a whisper level. Why was he breathless all of a sudden? That was random. After blinking a few times to gain focus again, he smiled at the man and returned his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "Hmm? Oh! I play piano. I can mess around on a few other instruments, but piano is my main one. And singing." It took him a moment to realize that the topic had changed so greatly, and he looked over. "Nigel? Have you ever... I dunno, been with someone? I mean, romantically, for any amount of time? Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person I know who hasn't. Never. Not even once."

Nigel:

Nigel had taken Luke's nervousness as a sign that perhaps he wasn't ready to talk about this further. Really, he wasn't even sure at this point how they had started in the first place, but it was an interesting topic to bring up between people who've just met. Then again, they had met before, likely, in passing at school. Though Nigel wouldn't call that knowing someone. Getting to know Luke on a more personal level after this night sounded like something he would be interested in, however. Perhaps even helping him build up his confidence.

The level of volume in the male's voice had dropped significantly, to which Nigel took that as a sign that a subject shift was a good call. His eyes lit up however when he mentioned piano. "Really? I play as well. Have since I was little." He could sing, too, but not likely to the caliber that Luke could. Besides, he was much more self conscious about his voice than his ability to play beautiful music. "My best friend plays the guitar. She's quite good." Before they could continue their conversation about music, it seemed that Luke was backtracking. Suddenly his question made Nigel blush, and his eyes widened a bit, taken aback. "Oh, erm... Well..."

He ran a hand through his hair awkwardly, trying to come up with the right words. "Not until very recently, actually." Conveniently enough, he avoided mentioning how complicated the situation was, considering the person he had slept with had a girlfriend, but their relationship was a bit open. "You're not the only person who hasn't, I can promise you that." Realizing that he could have meant several different things, Nigel opened his mouth to speak, inhaling sharply though no words came out right away. "Do you— I mean, do you mean you haven't been with someone intimately, or, haven't even kissed anyone? Sorry, I just, that was a bit vague..."

Luke:

Luke now noticed that Nigel had a blush on his own cheeks, which both made him feel better because he now wasn't alone, and made him feel more nervous. Maybe he had overstepped, a bit. He inhaled deeply and let it out, realizing that his breath was visible in the frigid air. He felt bad for changing the topic back, in a way, but at the same time he felt like if he hadn't, he never would have gone through with the conversation. "I mean... I've not had a real kiss... not a meaningful one with a person I was actually interested in, and... I guess, yeah, I've kissed some people, but it was stupid tour stuff. Like, truth or dare, or bets with other mates, or... I-I dunno. If you don't count that stuff, I've never even really had a first kiss... Certainly have never been with someone intimately, that's for sure," he laughed. "I just... I dunno." He couldn't say it. It wouldn't come out. You're cute, I'm cute, let's make out was something that he'd NEVER be able to say (especially since he never considered himself such, anyway).

With a defeated sigh, mixed with a strained chuckle, he shook his head like perhaps they could drop it. He was genuinely interested in the fact that Nigel played the piano as well. Maybe he should focus on that. "I played since I was little, too. I sang all the time and my parents pushed it, wanted me to pursue it...after school, of course."

Nigel:

Apparently Nigel had judged wrong when he had made the assumption that Luke was uncomfortable talking about it. At least, he wasn't entirely uncomfortable. It seemed more and more clear by the minute that he wanted to talk about it, but maybe he was just nervous, or scared of judgement. That was something Nigel could completely understand. If he wanted to talk about it more, Nigel was willing to, though he wasn't sure if they should be out here much longer.

It was a bit shocking to hear that Luke had never had a proper first kiss. Then again, first kisses were always awkward anyway, in his experience. No one ever knew what they were doing, and it was downright impossible to get it perfect. "I mean, I suppose that counts. You've gotten it out of the way, then, so when you do fancy someone enough to kiss them, you'll at least have a bit of experience." Having only kissed people because you'd been dared to however couldn't be the most rewarding experience. Unless you did have a bit of a crush on whoever you were kissing. For Nigel however that would have just made him anxious. "I don't think that's a bad thing at all." Nigel hadn't either, until a few months ago.

"Right, after school. That must be why you finished early, right?" After a moment, Nigel spoke again. "We don't have to avoid the other subject, if you want to keep talking about it," he offered, in a softer voice. "I just didn't want to make you uncomfortable." Some things were more private in conversation, so he hadn't wanted Luke to disclose anything he wasn't ready to share, either. "We could go somewhere else to talk? So we're out of the cold."

Luke:

Luke had to focus on breathing. There was something about the way Nigel was attempting to keep up with him (obviously an impossible feat, without the ability to read minds) that was absolutely endearing. He had to keep from laughing when the other described him as 'experienced', though. The kisses he shared with other people were always little more than pecks on the lips. He didn't know that he would call himself such. "I just... I dunno, I hate feeling lonely." He looked out at a patch of grass, zoning out for a moment. "Yeah. It was why I left early - had to work hard so that I could be 'properly educated' and still chase the dream..."

He looked over to Nigel again, recognition in his eyes. So the other noticed just how awkward he felt, after all. At the same time though, he wanted to talk this out. It wasn't like he had many people to vent this kind of information out to, anyway. "I make myself uncomfortable. You don't need to worry." He offered a small grin before letting his own eyes dart to Nigel's. His eyes were pretty - he might even be able to get lost in them for a while. "Oh! Right! Sorry, you must be freezing. Do you know somewhere? Or, we're sort of near my flat--"

Nigel:

"I think everyone does, to an extent." Sure, he knew plenty of people that liked being on their own, but being on your own wasn't the same as being lonely. He highly doubted there were many people -if any- that never got lonely. Nigel was the sort of person who not only craved physical attention from others but had almost always had access to it, so to be deprived of it, that made him feel lonely. The loneliest he had ever felt was that month between he and Henry's relationship where they had been fighting.

Offering him a small smile, Nigel chuckled. "Has that dream been chased to death? Or are you still making things work?" He always wondered if that sort of life was really what people expected, before going into it. Whether they truly enjoyed it, or if it was overrated. "That's sort of what I do, worry," he confessed with a laugh. Their eyes locked onto one another's for a moment, which made Nigel's smile a bit more genuine and infatuated, a light blush creeping back onto his cheeks that he would blame on the brisk autumn air. "A bit, yeah..."

When Luke mentioned being near his flat, Nigel figured that might be best. "We can go there, if you don't mind. I'm alright with that." It gave them privacy, and perhaps Luke would feel more at home there. More comfortable. "Should we apparate or walk? Up to you, I don't mind either."

Luke:

Luke shrugged, truly uncertain. It was difficult to say, really. "I don't think it was chased to death," he sighed. "Just...to sleep. It needed a break. I'm trying to find some sort of inspiration, some way to get back into it... but so far, no luck. The war and everything has just made it nearly impossible for me to really focus on it." At the worry comment, he couldn't help but let his grin spread wide across his face. "I can't blame you for that. I'm the same. It's almost all I do."

He stood up, but stayed close - both to the bench and to Nigel. "No, of course! We can definitely go back. You can stay the night, I've got a guest bedroom, and... Sorry-- bit strong, erm... I don't get guests over often enough." He scratched the back of his head nervously, trying to brush it all off with a smile. "We can apparate! Here--" He held his hand out for the other to take, then pop!

The room was nearly pitch black, which shouldn't have come as a surprise to him, but alas - he was never there, and it didn't cross his mind until now. "Oh, Merlin-- Hold on, let me grab my wand and-- Oh!" There was a crash that sounded to him like his piano bench toppling over. "Lumos!" The light revealed a spacious living room area with great windows that would normally view the outside world, only the curtains were drawn. There was a piano, a record player, dozens of records lining the wall, and big comfy furniture. Behind them was the kitchen, which came into view once Luke properly turned the lights on, and past the kitchen was the bedroom area. "Sorry about the mess... Clutter and such. Not around much really..." Now his blush was perfectly visible. "Would you...like a cup of tea? I could put a kettle on, and... well, I mean, we could warm up."

Nigel:

On one hand, it was sort of endearing how excited Luke seemed to be over having someone come visit his flat. While he wasn’t used to such immediate no-questions-asked hospitality other than at St Mungos, it came as a bit of a shock. However, it wasn’t enough to completely scare him away. “No, no, that’s alright. I mean, it might have been a bit strong, but that’s alright,” Nigel smiled softly to reassure him.

How quick Luke was to take his hand was surprising, but Nigel took it firmly and held tight as they disappeared from the park and wound up in a pitch black room. “Careful! Should I- oh, you’ve got it.” What came to view with the lights on was not what he had expected, but it was rather nice. Looking around, he didn’t think it was messy as Luke probably saw it, though he wasn’t sure. “Don’t apologize, really. I feel like I’m hardly ever home either.”

Taking the time to walk around a bit, Nigel couldn’t help but appreciate all of the details in the flat. He almost missed the question as he wandered around. “Hm? Oh, that would be nice, actually, yes. I would love some.” Nigel stripped of his jacket, laying it over the back of a chair. “This is a really nice flat. Where are you usually off to, if not here?”

Luke:

The flat was simple, which was how Luke liked it, but it was also spacious. Two or three people could easily live here together and not feel as though they were bumping into each other all the time. Perhaps that was a double-edged sword though, because the space also reminded Luke constantly of how empty he felt. "I...yeah, I feel like I'm never around. Actually this might be my first time back in...three days, this time?" he mumbled to himself.

He ran to the kitchen, which thankfully wasn't really walled off so he could continue conversation with Nigel as he prepared tea. They were half-walls, and he could see straight into the living room. "My mother always gave me a stern talking to when I didn't do the full shebang for tea. So I suppose it's only habit for me to get a tray going and everything." He flourished his wand this way and that while he grabbed other things here and there, the kettle starting to whistle. Meanwhile, small teacups and dishes for milk and sugar floated to the tray. Once he grabbed the kettle off the stove, he placed it on the tray and placed the strainer with tea leaves inside. He pulled the tray off the counter, bringing it to the coffee table in the living room and sitting on the couch. "We just have to wait for it to steep-- How strong do you like yours?"

It wasn't long before Luke was shrugging his own jacket off, placing it on the back of a couch and slipping his shoes off under the table. He made himself comfortable, expecting Nigel to do the same, pulling his legs up and crossing them on the cushions. "Thanks. I-I dunno, I normally just...go places to get away from here, honestly. It's a terribly lonely feeling when it gets quiet, and night falls, and... I mean, knowing I'm here alone..."

Nigel:

Nigel felt a bit bad for Luke, though he understood where the male was coming from. It must be hard to live in such a large place by oneself, especially if you craved the company of other people. Whilst Luke had run to start the tea, Nigel slowly made his way into the kitchen, running his fingers over the walls as he did so. "Your mother sounds like a proper lady," he teased, chuckling softly. "I don't think my mum is as educated in tea making. But she does enjoy a good cup."

Watching as Luke worked, Nigel joined him in the kitchen, leaning up against the counter. Had they been in his flat, he would have hopped up, though he didn't want to seem rude on his first visit. It had just become a natural habit for him over the years considering he was short for a male. He would have offered to help, but it seemed that the wizard had everything under control, to which Nigel decided to make his way back to the living room. "Normally I might say the stronger the better, but somewhere in the middle sounds all right, tonight."

Mimicking Luke's body position as they sat down, Nigel folded his hands in his lap, listening as the man spoke. "I can imagine." A hesitant pause filled the air before Nigel opened his mouth again. "You've never considered getting a roommate? What about your bandmates? Or, sorry... perhaps they don't live around here. Unless you've done most of your work on your own." Nigel wasn't really sure how Luke's music life faired, but he would have assumed that there were people he would have met along the way that he perhaps stayed in contact with.

Luke:

"Oh, she is. Very proper. Which is sort of odd? Because it wasn't like she came from money or anything. I think actually she wasn't wealthy at all growing up, and she ended up being just like her mother, who was the same way - had to have everything put together just right, had to make everything look as fancy as possible. Even if it was kind of fake, in a sense. She had to have the house tidy, had to teach us proper manners, all that..." Luke shook his head like he didn't really understand any of it, but it was just his way of life. He'd come to accept it a long time ago.

Once it had seemed like enough time had passed that the tea would be to Nigel's liking, he continued with his serving etiquette - in a way that would make his mother proud, ignoring the fact that his legs were crossed on the couch as he did it. "I haven't ever really found someone I like enough. My bandmates switch out every tour - I'm really the only constant member. Although, our drummer has been on tour with me three times in total! But he has a wife, three kids. I don't think he'd stay with me," he snickered. "Most of my work has been my own and...I just find people I like to take along with me, to play with me. They're not really officially 'my band', so to speak... But I like to get smaller players and then they'll come with me for the experience, so then it builds their profile as well. It gives them a leg up in the music business."

Nigel:

Nigel couldn't imagine living such a prim and proper life like that. He was well mannered and polite, and his parents had raised him well, but they were more the type of people to push for generosity, hospitality and empathy over properness. If he misplaced a piece of silverware or mistook a salad fork for a normal one, they wouldn't ridicule him. "I think I'm a combination of both of my parents, though some might say I take after my mother more, what with the interest in healing, and all." Again he had to bite his lip to avoid mentioning that his mum was a muggle.

Merlin's beard... No wonder he was lonely. Never having anyone constant in his life for longer than a few months? How were you supposed to get to know someone enough in that time? Sure, sometimes it didn't take as long, but to really know someone.... you had to dedicate months, sometimes years. "Oh, I see... And you played these tour games with someone who was married with three kids?" Nigel teased, referring to the dares he had mentioned earlier. "Kidding. Mostly," he added with a smirk. "So... have you really never had a proper kiss then? That's fascinating. If you could choose, do you think you'd want it to be with a girl, or maybe a boy?"

Luke:

Luke didn't really mind the fact that his life growing up was so 'proper'. It came in handy later on in life. Feigning coming from wealth bothered him, in that sense, because his mother and father always wanted it to seem like they had some sort of posh background, which was why they acted the way they did and why they raised him as such. Maybe they were hopeful that one day their son might make them rich...which, he did... but still.

"I like that, though. It's a good trait to get. Caring for others, wanting the best for them, helping them with injuries-- all of that is admirable. There's nothing wrong with that," Luke insisted, finishing serving the tea and handing the cup to Nigel before offering up the smaller tray of milk and sugar. "At least you didn't feel like you were a wannabe posh bloke, trying to fit in with kids richer than yourself. That was what my parents always pushed for, for some reason." He started to pour his own tea and get it ready, smiling at the comment about his tour days.

"So, yes, I would play these games with someone who was married - but at the time he only had one child," he teased back, like it made such a difference. "And he wouldn't partake in the dares, not really. He'd be the one daring me to kiss someone else. But there were all sorts of people I went on tour with, you know? Some really cute girls that had absolutely no original thoughts in their head, some really cute boys that lived across the country - one boy from Scotland that... gosh, Nigel, his eyes..." He sipped at his tea, seeming momentarily lost in thought.

"I've had plenty of...kisses, I suppose. But no, never a proper one. If I could choose?" He leaned against the couch, seeming to stare in the distance, but his eyes were focused on Nigel's shirt sleeve. "I don't think I would really care which, honestly? There are loads of men out there that might actually like me for who I am, not just my stage personality... I dunno."

Nigel:

Nigel couldn't help but laugh as Luke told him that it was better than pretending to be something you knew that you weren't. He had learned that the hard way, as it turned out, and was still battling that thought quite frequently. Especially now that he was questioning the side that he had chosen to take in the war. Taking the cup of tea that he was offered, he fixed it the way that he liked, milk and two sugars, before stirring it by waving his wand slightly.

"Well, that makes it loads better then," he teased, pushing lightly on Luke's leg as he rose the mug to his lips and took a sip. It was hot, of course, but not too hot, and just the way that he liked his tea. Satisfied, he let out a soft sigh and placed it down. They were back on the topic of exploring Luke's sexuality, which Nigel found rather interesting, as it seemed the more he spoke, the more obvious it became. Then again, sometimes things seemed clear and ended up very confusing. "What were his eyes like?" he wondered aloud, wanting to know so that he too could picture them.

In retrospect, Nigel knew that it wasn't likely that Luke was starring at him specifically, but rather in that general direction. However, feeling Luke's eyes on him or anywhere near him made Nigel start to get uncomfortable, but not in a bad way. In the way that someone would flush if they caught their crush staring at them. Sure, he thought Luke was cute, but he couldn't really tell if he had a crush or infatuation. His cheeks turned a light shade of pink for this, shaking his head. "Oh, I'm sure there is," he finally agreed after a few minutes. Mainly to get people to stop staring. "That's good though, it means you're open to new possibilities. I'm sure you won't have to wait long for that kiss."

Luke:

"Exactly! Loads better!" he laughed with him. Luke had obviously been fond of the man he was talking about, because he had a reminiscent look on his face, an old nostalgia in his eyes. "I still talk to him around holidays. Wonderful chap, in all seriousness."

When asked what the man's eyes looked like, he couldn't help but smile. "Nigel, they were... God, they were piercing and beautiful." His cheeks were turning red again, even as he sipped his own tea. "I mean... They were this striking blue. A blue I never would have believed possible. On rainy days, they were practically neon in color, if that makes sense? I just mean...wow. It was like he was a ghost and he could look right through you." He had a dreamy look in his own eyes, now, but he was ever present. His grin was wide, almost unbelieving, and he was meeting Nigel's gaze. "It's so hard to imagine it now, but... That was one pair of eyes that I'll never forget. They were just gorgeous... Sounds creepy though, I should probably modify how I talk about eyes--" He laughed and shook his head, running a hand through his messy hair. "Eyes are just...the first thing I really notice on a person usually. I always feel like souls connect through the eyes." He glanced back to his teacup when the other said he wouldn't have to wait long for the kiss, smiling softly. "Thanks... Here's hoping."

Nigel:

There was no way this boy wasn't at least partially attracted to boys, Nigel was convinced of that now. Whether or not he had admitted that to himself yet, it was quite painfully obvious that he felt attracted to some men. If you think about it, sexuality isn't as complicated as people make it out to be. Even if someone is straight, it didn't mean that they liked all members of the opposite sex, so why should people think of those who identify as gay or lesbian or whichever else, any differently? Luke may like some men, and not like others, which was a-okay.

The way that he described the man's eyes painted a beautiful picture in Nigel's head that he could see so vividly. Gorgeous blue eyes was something he would have noticed too, though he was quite the sucker for a pair of brown eyes. He had always thought they were underappreciated, especially considering most people tended to say things like eyes so blue I could drown in them. Well Nigel hadn't wanted to go swimming anyway. Figuratively, of course. "It doesn't sound creepy, trust me. Actually, I've thought the same things, before. Eyes can tell a lot about a person." It had been his favorite way of communicating, using your eyes.

"They're easy to notice. Plus, it means you maintain eye contact," Nigel pointed out, a smirk tugging at his lips as he took a sip of his tea. "I'm sure it'll happen soon. Did you... have any other questions, or? I mean, because you asked me before, you know. If I had ever been with someone I liked." Sure, it was a bit blunt to address the elephant in the room, but everyone was distracted.

Luke:

Luke laughed a little and nodded. "They're just... I don't know, there's so much you can see in them. And I have a theory, although I'm not sure how accurate it might be, or how it connects, but... Wands choose wizards, personality chooses patronuses, and... I think something in our genetic makeup determines eye color, but in a personality kind of way. It also sort of...determines a bit of who we're attracted to? It's a start, but it's not like I'm very scientific or have any real background knowledge of any of that... But I like greens, they're my favorites, with different browns following. Blues might be really pretty, but it depends on them for me... That's why that guy's were so fascinating to me. They were the brightest blue I'd ever seen in my life, it didn't remind me of an ocean or something it... It reminded me of ice," he finished. His own eyes flashed with delight at the subject before he calmed down and sipped at his tea again.

"Have any other questions? You mean-- Oh... I, erm... How do you know when it's the right time? Like, to go in for a kiss? Or, gosh, how do you know when to take things further? I've heard about all these different signals and things, but I've never experienced it, so I never followed what the bloody hell anyone was talking about."

Nigel:

Nigel listened to Luke's theory, which was a rather interesting one, even if there was no proof or evidence behind it. It sort of reminded him of the theory that names gave people certain personalities, too. "I think that's clever," he nodded with a smile. "In a way, I think you could argue that every part of a creature is related to personality. Their name, their home, who they associate with, their hair and eye color... all of it. It's a hard thing to prove, but it's a wonder to think about." When he mentioned green eyes being his favorite, Nigel couldn't help but laugh. "I'm fairly certain that true green eyes are the rarest color. A lot of people have hazel eyes, but call them green because of the way they look. Maybe that's why they're your favorite. You don't see them often."

To hear Luke talk so enthusiastically about something made Nigel smile, especially since in that moment, he spoke with such confidence that it was hard to imagine just moments ago he was tripping over his own words. Then again, it didn't last very long as they switched the conversation back. However, Nigel didn't mind it all that much. "Well," he started, thinking over his response. "For a first kiss, you're going to want to not overthink it. If you try too hard to make it perfect, you're only setting yourself up for disappointment. You also have to read your partner's body language," Nigel explained, sipping at his drink. "A good indication that someone wants to kiss you is if you notice they're staring at your lips a lot."

It was rather difficult to explain on the fly, so he understood why Luke would be confused. It wasn't like there were people talking about this everyday casually. "It's mostly about reading the situation, and seeing whether or not the person seems engaged and interested. Touch can be very helpful in figuring that out, as well. For example, say you've just kissed someone. If at any point their hands start to move more so down your body, well, at the least it's a sign that they desire to be closer to you physically. At most, that's probably an indication to take things further."

Luke:

Luke smiled and nodded as the other spoke, happy that he understood where he was coming from. He wanted to explain, for example, that Nigel's eyes were most unique in both shape and shade, and his facial structure was attractive and-- No. He couldn't say those kinds of things right now. It wouldn't be appropriate.

But then he started talking on about various signals, tips to read body language. He talked about hands moving down the body, and looking at lips, and Luke didn't even realize initially that his own gaze rested upon Nigel's. He nearly gulped, tearing his eyes away and looking down to the ground instead. Heart racing, he decided to focus on sipping his tea. He wasn't sure what to say or do, now, which only made it more awkward.

Nigel:

Nigel had gotten so carried away in answering the questions that Luke proposed in a rather logical and somewhat professional manner that he hardly noticed that the male was staring at him. He did however notice the abrupt shift in eye contact, and the man's eyes darting toward the ground. Instantly Nigel had assumed he said something that made the other uncomfortable. Back tracking slightly, Nigel passed the mug in his hands back and forth as he watched the other. "Are you alright? I haven't said anything that made you uncomfortable, have I?"

"It will be easier, in the moment when you do have that sort of experience. Talking about it feels a bit silly, I'm sure, but it does help a bit." If everyone talked about it, maybe less people would have these questions. After all, Nigel himself knew a fair share of people who were never properly given a sex education talk. "We don't have to keep on about it if you'd rather talk about something else.

Luke:

Luke blushed. "What? No! No, no... I just felt... silly." He glanced at the other's lips again and blinked, turning to look into his eyes again. "It's just... You're cute. And it's not like I didn't know that before, not like I didn't notice it... but we're talking about this and... I don't want you thinking poorly of me--" His cheeks were very red now, and he stared down into his teacup worriedly. It was better to come out with it now than to drag it on and be suspicious. Besides, it was better to talk it out now and get the hurt and rejection over with, rather than wait and end up heartbroken.

"You have nice eyes. They're almost hard to look at without staring," he mumbled, snickering lightly and trying hard to lighten the mood. "I mean... I dunno. I just want you to know so you aren't...uncomfortable too, I guess..."

Nigel:

Luke’s mouth was saying one thing but his body language was screaming out the opposite. Even if it had nothing to do with what Nigel had said, something must have switched to make him all flustered again. It was apparent in the way he stammered, the way his eyes widened a bit and the unforgiving blush on his cheeks. Nigel was about to interrupt when Luke gave him a compliment that now made his own eyes widen. “Oh...”

Nigel had only just started to get used to people calling him cute. He had never really thought of himself in that light until Henry had come along, and only started to believe it a bit more when Gilderoy had agreed. Now he was sitting in Luke’s flat and the male was telling him the same exact thing. Cheeks tinted pink as he sat there listening to Luke ramble on, hiding somewhat behind the mug of tea in his hands. “I can assure you it takes a lot for me to think poorly of someone,” he managed to get out without stuttering.

The sweetness in his words was not expected, and it was now rather certain that Luke was as attracted to guys as he was girls. At least by physical appearance. That often lead to sexual attraction as well, but they would open that door another day. For now they were just concerned with figuring out if Luke was attracted to men. “Thank you,” he replied meekly with a smile, shaking his head. “I’m not. Uncomfortable, I mean. I actually hadn’t noticed if you were staring, but that’s on me, then.”

Luke:

Luke sat there for what felt like forever, feeling almost sick to his stomach with nerves. He didn't want to cross a line, and at the same time the line kept inching closer to him somehow. Without him moving. Like it wanted him to just tiptoe further...

"I never want to make you... discomfort is the worst and... I think it's worse when you barely know the person who made you uncomfortable but... a-anyway, I just don't want that for you--" He sighed and shook his head, more at himself than anything. "I don't know much about this kind of thing. I could write songs about it all day but that's because I'm clever with lyrics and not much else... so it's not like I could be smooth and tuck your hair back, and stare into your eyes and start to lean in or anything-- I would only end up making a fool of myself... it would be horrible..."

Nigel:

Nigel wanted to laugh but held back, not wanting Luke to think that he was making fun of him. Rather, the reason for it would have been out of amusement for how cute and flustered he was getting. Even though Nigel himself too was a little flustered and surprised by these confessions, it was nice. The attention would certainly take some getting used to, but they had just met, so he was positive that didn't exactly make the situation super easy and comfortable.

"I'm not expecting you to be perfect, you know that, right? You don't have to try and impress me." The mere fact that they were both musicians and had things in common was impressive enough. Plus, Luke seemed like a genuine person, which Nigel admired. His cheeks flushed a bit hearing all of this, though he smiled softly and placed his tea cup down. "You're being far too hard on yourself. Try relaxing a bit, I'm sure you'd feel better," Nigel suggested. He waited until Luke wasn't looking at him before leaning in and pressing a kiss to the man's cheek, figuring it could be taken as friendly if anything, though he meant a little more behind it.

Luke:

Luke had not anticipated being so nervous. Was this normal? If this was what crushes were like, he finally understood why the hell people often tried to ignore these emotions. He worried at his bottom lip, holding it between his teeth again and again. Ears and cheeks hot, he was surprised to hear about Nigel's expectations.

"That's... probably a good thing, because I really don't think you'll be getting 'perfect', nowhere near it..." He laughed, surprised he could manage it given the current situation. "Wait, when you say... wh-what do you mean? In what context?" He didn't know if Nigel was brushing him off politely, or if he meant that this was okay, that Luke could keep trying... because if he could keep trying, that was both terrifying and exciting-- He couldn't even complete the thought, moving to set the teacup down as well. And that was when he felt the kiss pressed to his cheek, and he turned back and looked at Nigel with wide eyes, an adorable yet shocked expression. Suddenly, he laughed excitedly and touched his cheek. "Oh, right, now I most certainly can relax, Nigel!" He sank into the couch, still smiling like an idiot. It took him a moment to gather himself, and then he gazed over to look into the other's eyes. "Feel a bit like I'm flying, Merlin..."

Nigel:

Nigel never expected anyone to be perfect, especially not when he was first meeting someone. While it was true that first impressions were important, he also knew that people were human. They were bound to make mistakes and fuck up and get embarrassed. It happens to everyone, but that doesn't mean that they are a bad person, or not worth getting to know better. In fact, Nigel almost preferred that people got embarrassed around him and fumbled. Not only did it make him feel more comfortable but it meant that they weren't trying so hard to be something that couldn't exist in nature. If Luke had tried to come off as some suave musician who knew a lot of people and acted like they were famous, Nigel wouldn't be sitting here right now having tea with him. He would have taken him to be a stuck up bloke who thought that status made you more appealing.

That was part of the reason for the kiss. Nigel didn't normally kiss anyone he had just met, but then again, the first time that he hung out with Henry outside of the hospital they had been cuddling up to one another. The kiss was to get him to stop worrying, though he would have given it to him eventually that night. Laughter spilled from his lips like smooth wine as he pulled back, shaking his head. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself. At least you know now that you could fancy guys." Had he known a simple kiss on the cheek would have this much of an affect, perhaps he would have waited until right before he had to go.

"That was just your cheek, you know..." he casually reminded him, not bothering to go into specific details about what it would be like for different kisses. Luke could imagine that as he liked. "Not exactly a proper kiss, but closer." Picking his mug back up, Nigel drank the rest of his tea, leaning back against the sofa. "Don't overthink. Just do what makes sense in the moment when it comes, and you'll be fine."

Luke:

Luke held his breath for a moment like it might make him come back down to earth. He was still cross-legged on the couch, yet somehow it felt like he could have been floating. "I don't think it's really a matter of 'could' at this point..." Nigel's laugh was something that somehow was like music in itself - it reminded him of the colors green and yellow.

"I know it was just my cheek, so can you imagine?" For the first time in such a long time, he actually felt playful. He had energy that was comparable to when he performed onstage - lightning in his veins, zapping in his fingers and collecting in his chest. In one swift move, he managed to rise on his knees and almost hover over the other, one arm supporting him from the side of the couch so that he didn't exactly have Nigel cornered (he wasn't close or confident enough for that really- the man needed to be able to escape if he wanted) but he had definitely closed much of the space between them. "If... If I'm not overthinking and I'm doing what makes sense, then... could I?" His voice had dropped to a whisper, and somehow the atmosphere became more serious in his mind.

Luke's eyes darted between the man's lips and his eyes, finally coming to rest on his lips. He didn't want to push forward, didn't want to cross over that line until it was okay... but he inched closer, letting their noses brush, letting this moment hang in the air.

Nigel:

The fact that Luke's reaction to Nigel kissing him had been so strong made him feel that he had some sort of super power. Normally, Nigel was the one getting flustered and embarrassed in these situations. Maybe it was because he had more experience than Luke did with these things? Though not much more, as he saw it. Nonetheless, Nigel was feeling rather pleased that he could make someone feel like that just by giving them a kiss on the cheek. He imagined it was what Gilderoy and Henry felt like when they had gotten Nigel to blush so easily.

Nigel was surprised at how quickly Luke's body position changed, and admittedly a bit confused. Raising a brow, he set the mug down officially after having finished the tea, his eyes locked onto the other male's movements. It was a bit nerve wracking to watch him like this, though not uncomfortable. There was more of a anxious anticipation in the air that Nigel was surrounded by. Then Luke spoke again, his voice lower and softer now, which made Nigel's heart skip a beat. He wasn't scared, however, as he was certain he knew where this was going, and though he would have never made this move first, the kiss to the cheek had been a subtle set up for Luke to pursue should he desire to do so.

Nigel didn't respond with words, though, as when you were going through the motions it was best to let your actions speak for you. Remaining still as he could as Luke leaned in closer, Nigel closed his eyes when he could feel their noses brush against one another, and leaned in a bit closer so that all of the remaining space between them had disappeared, their lips flushed against one another's. If anyone had asked what Nigel thought the night had in store for him prior to this, he would have answered something bland such as falling asleep to television. Never in a million years would he have imagined he'd be here, kissing someone that he had barely known though they got along rather brilliantly to start.

Luke was cute though, so Nigel hardly minded snogging him. His lips parted ever so slightly as they kissed, taking the lead. His lips were soft, which was surprising, but pleasantly so. As they kissed for a moment, Nigel nudged his nose gently against Luke's in a rather affectionate way, letting it linger for a bit.

Luke:

Luke felt like his heart was in his throat. He could feel it there, pounding, taking his breath away. The moment lasted an eternity. In honesty, he was expecting a verbal response. Something like a straight yes, but even a grunt or hum or... something would do. He didn't want to push him to discomfort. But then he noticed Nigel leaning in. His own eyes closed as their lips pressed together, his free hand falling to brush against the side of Nigel's neck. He was more than happy to allow him to take the lead, his own lips parting slightly to follow suit. As their noses brushed together, he let out a breathy laugh, feeling their breaths mingle. Goosebumps formed over his arms, as though they were back out in the cold. "You're a good kisser..." After inhaling deeply, he leaned in for another.

And suddenly his hand slipped, right off the back of the couch, and he bounced - bounced, how the hell did he bounce?- off the side and onto the floor. From the ground, on his back, he stared in horror and amusement at Nigel on the couch.

"...Don't mind me. I'm just gonna be down here... gonna sink into the floor and cease to exist..." With a strained laugh, he covered his face with his hands. "Ughhh, fuck me, why am I so terribly awkward? "

Nigel:

Nigel couldn’t help but laugh softly ay his comment, scrunching his nose. “You’re not so bad yourself,” he replied, teasingly. While Nigel wasn’t expecting a second kiss he certainly wasn’t going to refuse one, especially not after the first being so nice. Before they could even get that far however, Luke had somehow managed to topple over off of the couch and land on the hard floor beneath them. Nigel’s eyes shot open in fear and a bit of shock, wanting to make sure he was alright. Never before had someone fallen over after kissing him, so he wasn’t quite sure what to do in this instance.

“Are you alright?” he asked, uncrossing his legs and kneeling down on the floor to make sure he was fine. Perhaps it was a bit of the healer instinct in him, but Nigel casually started to examine for any bruising or injury. “Well... it could have been worse. You could have fallen on top of me,” he offered an attempt to lighten the mood a bit before standing and giving Luke a hand. “Come on, let me help you up.”

It was at that moment that Nigel truly realized their height difference. Luke wasn’t all that much taller than him, but it was more noticeable now, as he imagined what it would have been like to kiss him had they been standing. At the thought, his cheeks blushed slightly and his hand ran through his hair to cover up the awkwardness he was feeling in that moment. “Really though, are you alright?”

Luke:

"I'm fine, really I am. The only thing hurt is my dignity--" he laughed. This was cringe worthy, in his mind. So un-smooth that it would go down in history as the most awkward he had ever been. He hadn't anticipated that the man would start to inspect him, however. Nigel was so damn cute.

After standing with his assistance, he took in the silence that seemed to surround them, blinking and watching. Nigel was blushing again. "I'm fine, Nigel, I promise." After a moment, he reached out and gently took the man's hand, fingers tracing along the skin over his knuckles. "Should... should I stop?" he asked as he stepped closer, free hand rising to brush his fingers along Nigel's cheek. He was nervous again and yet, he still felt that electricity, that lightning in his chest, that spark as he caressed Nigel's skin.

Nigel:

Nigel was glad that Luke hadn’t seriously injured himself, as he would have taken it to be his fault. Or at least, part of it. It would have ruined the mood that they had carefully constructed, otherwise. “Good. We don’t need to be explaining that you broke a bone because I kissed you,” he teased, laughing softly under his breath. “It would hurt my healer reputation.” Of course he was only kidding, and he was far more concerned for Luke’s safety and well being than his image as a healer.

Having that physical attention felt so rewarding that Nigel didn’t want it to ever cease. It was something he craved often, even in a platonic sense. Draping one of his arms loosely around Luke’s neck as he spoke, Nigel thought for a moment before responding. “I’m going to let you read the situation.” His eyes glanced from the male’s lips back up to meet his eyes, a slight smirk playing on his face as he took a step closer to decrease the space between them. Luke’s breath was warm and comforting. He had a sort of rustic scent about him that smelled vaguely of aged wood and leather. Though Nigel wanted to kiss him again, the next move was completely up to Luke.

Luke:

Luke couldn't stop smiling as Nigel spoke. "I'll have to make it my duty to save your reputation, then - even if it means I end up with a bum arm~" He laughed, letting one arm go limp just for show.

That same arm only ended up wrapping slowly around the other's waist, though. He held him securely - despite his small frame, he actually had strong arms. He felt solid. "Letting me read... hm. I get a sense that this is some kind of test." After a playful, suspicious squint, he rested his forehead against the other's, looking into his eyes for a moment. He didn't hesitate after that, closing the space between their lips, free hand resting on the side of Nigel's neck. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears, but he didn't want it to stop.

Nigel:

Normally it took a lot for Nigel to be this comfortable around someone where he was able to interact like this. Perhaps that also had to do with his more reserves nature since he hadn’t had much experience involving himself with romantic partners. A kiss on the cheek seems like a friendly gesture compared to this. Despite all of that though, he found himself quite enjoying Luke‘s company. He was laughing, which he hadn’t allowed himself to do often anymore, and felt more like himself. Even, dare he say, a bit flirty. “There’s an easy way to test that theory,” Nigel countered, raising an eyebrow.

His lips quirked upward into a slight smile as their foreheads touched, brushing his nose against the other man’s as their lips met. With the arm that was around Luke’s neck, Nigel pulled him closer, his other hand resting against the male’s chest. It was a bizarre feeling, being in the man’s arms like this, though at the same time entirely thrilling. The kiss, although simple, left his stomach with butterflies. Pulling away after a moment, he smiled softly and looked upward. “You didn’t fall this time,” Nigel teased, stealing another quick kiss.

Luke:

Luke felt those soft lips press against his again and it almost made him feel like he were melting. Stress seemed to fade into the background. At the same time, the butterflies in his stomach fluttered wildly. He inhaled deeply upon feeling the hand on his chest, like he somehow felt the touch more that way. After Nigel pulled away, Luke had his eyes closed for just a second more. He wanted to hold onto that feeling. "I didn't. I mean, I could correct that if need be? Should I throw myself down?" he replied with a laugh. The quick kisses were practically a tease in themselves. He wanted to hold Nigel there, keep him against his lips somehow.

"I'm... honestly probably not great--" he managed to get out before sighing and scratching the back of his head. He looked so happy though. "Sorry... no practice. Not really."

Nigel:

Nigel shook his head and laughed when Luke suggested he could throw himself to the ground. “Please don’t, you’ll make me very anxious and then I’ll worry,” he admitted, not caring that he was being honest. Honesty was the best policy, was it not? He would much rather have Luke upright like he was now, arms wrapped around Nigel’s waist and close to him.

Luke was a good kisser. He didn’t give himself enough credit for it, likely because of the inexperience. If that really was his first proper a kiss, then Nigel was surprised. It almost felt as though Luke had embellished how little experience he had. “Would you like me to be honest? You’re actually rather good at it, considering.” Luke was just so in his head about it, that Nigel was sure that was why he had been nervous and a bit awkward. The arm that had been draped around his neck before now rested on his shoulder, while the other one stayed in place. “I really wasn’t expecting any of this tonight,” Nigel laughed under his breath.

Luke:

Luke smiled at him and shook his head to reassure Nigel that he wouldn't, in fact, throw himself onto the floor. No matter how funny it might be. He stood firm, holding the other close, wanting to keep him there as long as he could.

"Well when you lead into it with 'should I be honest?' it makes me all the less likely to imagine I'll like the answer!" He laughed, somehow in that moment looking younger than he was - childish in nature. "Makes me nervous-- Wait, really? You mean that?"

He appeared shocked, but he was also somewhat distracted by the placement of Nigel's hands. He'd never had anything like this, intimate and close. The closest thing to it was at a concert, running through a crowd as fans reached for any part of him they could get their hands on...and it was nothing by comparison. This was so much more personal, so much...nicer. "I-I really wasn't expecting it either, but... I'm glad it turned this way--"

Nigel:

Nigel scrunched his nose, biting back laughter. Admittedly he withheld just being straight up with him to tease. He was going to be nice either way, even if Luke had been terrible at snogging. Nigel would never flat out tell him he was horrible at anything. “I wouldn’t lie to you. I have no reason to.”

Luke’s expression was admirable, as though he almost didn’t believe him. In a way it was a sort of humbleness that Nigel didn’t see in people often. Hopefully it would be able to give him a little more confidence when he romanced people. “I am too,” Nigel smiled, moving the hand pressed to Luke’s chest up to his cheek. “Maybe I’ll have to wander parks more often.” Slowly, he dropped his hands and found Luke’s, taking them in his own as he stepped back. “Though I’m still a bit cold from being out there so long,” he chuckled. “The tea helped a bit.”

Luke:

Luke laughed, squeezing the man's hands in his own to try and warm them up. "If you want, I could find some blankets? Could make a fort, even..." He snickered, waving his wand and watching as some blankets from baskets in a corner flew over the couch. "Fire in the fireplace too? That might help..." He kept one hand around Nigel's waist, waving his wand again and sparking a fire in the fireplace. After the wand was no longer needed, he slipped it into his back pocket and looked back at his ... guest. Luke wanted to keep close to him, wanted to know him more. And not just from kissing, necessarily. It was as he said before- he didn't have many friends.

Nigel:

Luke was being so sweet that Nigel didn't have the heart to just up and leave afterward, even though he had work the next day. Then again, it was getting late, and he had offered for Nigel to stay the night... Perhaps he would have to after all. No, not have to, but rather maybe he would take that offer. "If you keep talking I'm not going to want to ever leave," he joked, chuckling a bit, though there was truth to his words. Nigel loved cuddling under piles of blankets and pillows, and by the fireplace? It was very romantic, even if it hadn't been intentional. Normally he might get shy over something like this, though for some reason, he was perfectly fine today.

"Let's just sit, and warm up, then," he decided, giving Luke's hands a gentle squeeze in return. They could relax a bit, get cozy. Perhaps talk a bit more, now that they had survived the awkward kissing conversation from before. Nigel felt like he needed to get to know Luke more. What sort of music he listened to, what he played, what he liked and disliked, what he thought about before he went to bed. Those little details about a person that no one ever seemed to wonder about, Nigel wanted to know. What he kept in his bedside table in the most innocent way, what his favorite book was, and which one last made him cry. Vulnerable things. They didn't have to get to those deeper ones tonight, but it helped him to get to know a person in the long run. "Come on," he nudged, pulling him back down to the couch.

Luke:

"That's good though, no? I mean, I'd never argue to having the company." Luke shrugged cutely. "I don't like to flaunt it, but... erm, I have money. I could honestly hold you over until you find another job. But maybe not. I think you've found your calling." He scrunched his nose a little just to be cute - he had to play to his strengths after all. "Maybe I shouldn't get you sacked." He moved with Nigel to the couch, taking a moment to sit down first before putting his arms out for the other. In his mind, he imagined holding the other, chatting, playing with his hair... things he dreamed he would do with someone.

"C'mere, Nigel." They would both be comfy. And one of the blankets could fall over them, too. Warm, close, together. "When do you have to go in next? Early tomorrow, or...?" He might be small, but he momentarily forgot his size - instead he felt like he was the larger man, ready to be the larger spoon.

Nigel:

Not having to work for a bit did sound lovely, sometimes, but Nigel knew that it would never be feasible. He loved his job, and he loved helping people. Sometimes though he didn't realize that he needed a break until it was too late, and for that reason alone, not having to work might be beneficial. "That's quite alright, I wouldn't ask you to do that. Besides, I quite like my job," he nodded with a smile. It was sort of adorable to see someone else scrunch their nose in the same way -or at least a similar way- as he himself did. It was just a quirk he had acquired over his lifetime, but it came in handy often. "I would appreciate if you didn't. But, if you were to visit... well, I wouldn't kick you out, let's just say that."

Oddly enough, Nigel didn't even hesitate to cuddle up to Luke, laying down with his back to the male's chest. It had never mattered all that much to him who was the big spoon and who was the little, but in this moment, little for him just made sense. "Not too early, or else I would have left by now," he replied with a brief chuckle. Though he wasn't entirely sure if that was accurate. He might have stayed either way. "Tomorrow morning. It's getting late, though. If I apparate home I might keep myself up all night."

Luke:

Luke felt the weight against him, and his arm wrapped around the man's waist. It was secure, it made him feel whole somehow. Even though normally, he slept in his underwear - and despite the fact that he would love to feel Nigel's warmth against the skin of his chest, his stomach - this made him so happy. He was comfortable. "Should I find reasons to visit then? Make up illnesses? Would you kiss it better? That's the important question."

He pressed a gentle kiss to the side of Nigel's head. "Keep yourself up all night? Why is that?" Luke's fingers traced Nigel's upper neck, before combing through his hair.

Nigel:

Nigel buried his face in his hands despite the fact that Luke probably couldn’t even see him. “Oh, shut up...” he laughed, swatting at him over his shoulder playfully. “Only if you’re lucky.” Of course he was only teasing, but he admired how confident Luke seemed to be now. Truthfully, he would love to maybe see Luke at St Mungos if it were for any reason other than needing immediate medical attention. Perhaps for a lunch break.

The kiss made his cheeks flush, sighing quietly. Relaxing into the male’s body, Nigel hummed to himself contently. “Apparating isn’t exactly the most relaxing type of transportation. And I’m already starting to fall asleep. A shiver shot down his spine, feeling Luke’s fingers creep around the nape of his neck and through his hair. The skin around that area was always a bit more sensitive, particularly near his ears.

“I think I should probably just stay put...” Waiting to hear Luke’s response, Nigel blinked slowly, enjoying the attention he was getting.

Luke:

"What? You wouldn't? You wouldn't kiss me? Oh how dare...?" he teased, laughing as he spoke into his hair, close to behind his ear. Luke loved that the other man relaxed around him, that he was comfortable enough to fall asleep here. His hand continued through the man's hair. "I'll wait to go in until I feel lucky," he hummed happily. "I think you should stay put too, then. Makes sense..." As he spoke, a blanket carefully wrapped around them as though it had a mind of its own. His eyes watched the fire, eyelids drooping slightly. "Let me know before you get up... I'll make breakfast." His voice was lowered to a whisper.

Nigel:

It was difficult to remain calm as Luke spoke so close to his ear. He had always had sensitive hearing, and it wasn’t that Luke was being loud, but talking directly into his ear like that often turned Nigel on,l which he was trying to avoid. “I didn’t say no...” Nigel smirked, tracing patterns into the couch with his finger absentmindedly. “In private, sure.”

The blanket dropping down onto them was like a cherry on top of this evening. Warm and cozy underneath it, Nigel felt safe and comfortable there. It said a lot that he trusted Luke enough to stay the night. Nigel’s breath hitched slightly at the lowering of Luke’s voice, covering it up by humming softly. Scooting back a bit so that he was closer to the male, Nigel closed whatever space had been between them, their bodies flush against one another now. “Sounds lovely,” Nigel murmured, starting to fall asleep to the sound of the fire crackling

#lukeselwynx #c: luke #/don't mind me #/just transferring discord things

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ssr-moonlore · 5 years

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In Depth Profile of Gretz

This is going to go VERY deep and very much into Main Story Quest Spoiler Territory so I’m gonna put the unnecessary stuff under a read more.

Full name: Unknown, She hasn’t given out that information. Race: Erune, techincally a Revenant. Elemental Attunement: Water Occupation: Captain of the Grandcypher, Mage, but can probably beat most people in a sword fight. Charge Attack names: Originally “Lainetav Meri” then becomes “Vaikne Ookean” Parents: Both parents are Erune, Father is from Zinkenstill, Mother from Lumacie. Mother died at giving birth, father is currently in Estalucia. Siblings: Twin sister, deceased.

Aaaand the rest can go into a Read More because this is where things go very detailed and I’m not gonna clog the tag with my ramblings! This is basically her backstory, and parts of the MSQ retold to fit Gretz

I’m gonna warn you all now that this is a brainfart and probably badly written because there’s like... facts and story and it’s all written like a mess, but hopefully explains enough.

So... I suppose the story should start from the beginning. Gretz’s father was an incredible mage and the leader of his own skyfarer crew, and he started young, younger than Gretz when she began her journey. Somewhere along the way, Gretz’s father met Margrite, a rather plain Erune woman from Lumacie. The two fell in love but her father kept the relationship a secret. Before long, Margrite found out she was pregnant, and out of the blue, Gretz’s father disbanded his crew and hid with Margrite and wanted to simply start a family with her.

Things went horribly wrong, however, when both Margrite and one of the twins perished during birth. The circumstances were strange, they simply started failing, and even though Gretz’s father was very well versed with healing magic, to the point where he could bring someone back from the bring and regrow their limbs... his magic didn’t catch. Nothing he, or any of the other healers did could save Gretz’s mother or twin. Margrite’s soul was beyond saving, but a little sliver of the dead twin’s essence was still there, and the father managed to grab onto it.

Gretz’s father stayed with Margrite’s family for a while, until his guilt got overbearing, and he decided to go back home, to his mother’s home. Things were quite relaxed for many years, Gretz grew up strong, and wasn’t really bothered by the fact that she didn’t have a mother. Her dad never mentioned the twin.

He taught her magic, and passed down his ability to cast magic without any arcane instruments, but instructed Gretz to never show that ability to anyone. She never truly understood why this type of magic had to be kept secret, but she played along.

When she was 8, her father’s crew had tracked him down, and much to his dismay, they were incredibly angry and wanted him to get back into skyfaring. Gretz was instructed to hide, her presence was to be kept a secret from the crew, who would otherwise want her to join was well, given that she was HIS daughter, and probably inherited his powers. So Gretz hid. She hid until her grandmother came to fetch her and Vyrn, and so Gretz was left without her father. The little girl was left grief stricken, being only told that she will find something very important when she was ready.

So she stayed there on Zinkenstill until at the age of 21, she saw the girl with the blue hair falling from the sky, and her fate was sealed. She valiantly defended this strange girl, only to be struck down by a hydra. In the process her soul tied with Lyria’s, but another entity was brought into the mix. A terrifying fighter spirit with an opposing power to Gretz’s, the ability to void magic utterly. Gretz would not find out about this other spirit until much later, when stakes would grow bigger and lives were endangered more, but until then, she, Vyrn, Lyria and Kat went on to create a skyfarer crew.

Most of the story follows the main story quest, bar for a few differences, most notably, when Not Gretz appears. She’d appear any time when Lyria would be sure to get hurt, other times when things seem hopeless for Gretz. Her body remained the same but the aura surrounding the Erune was different, cold, devoid of joy. Her mannerism was harsh, sarcastic, almost evil. Most of the time, the crew would spare any people who got in their way, opting to convince them to take a better walk of life, but not this person. With impossible precision and immense power and speed, a jagged spear would cut down all who dared to harm the Red Dragon or the Girl in Blue, or even the vessel herself. These “possessions” were short, but left Gretz a mess for several days. The scar on her stomach that almost ripped her in half that would never fade no matter how hard she tried to get rid of it would tear open, crippling her. They would all inevitably heal, but it seemed that whatever shared Gretz’s body had a vendetta against her and wanted to make it obvious to everyone.

As the crew land on Lumacie, they take on a job to clear out an old cemetery that’d been overrun, and Gretz comes across a very familiar name. That leads to her getting a little hint to her other grandparents, and she tracks them down. The old pair receive her warmly, shocked at how much she looks like her father but having her mother’s eyes, never saying anything bad about her father and that her mother’s death was just an unfortunate situation but wasn’t anyone’s fault. Gretz then keeps regular correspondence with her mother’s parents, and is happy to have found more family.

The next most important event happens after the crew flees Lumacie following their defeat at the hands of a corrupted Yggdrasil. They go to Zinkenstill, where they find that Gretz’s paternal grandmother had passed, leaving her shaken to the core. The crew presses on though, determined to save the islands from the Empire. At the shrine, Vyrn falters, prompting Sturm to raise her weapons at him, only to be swiftly swatted to the side violently by a powerful black spear. Not Gretz takes on the agent duo, her antimagic nature completely cripping Drang and pinning Sturm against a tree with her own swords, though not killing them outright, as “it would interfere with The Other too much.” Before having the shit utterly beaten out of him, Drang did manage to find out who the spirit was, though only cryptically being told that she was “the one who never made it.”

The assault was cut short as Furias’ invasion of the island was deemed far more interesting a fight for the entity. The invasion didn’t last, and soon everyone would return to the ship for a rest, Not Gretz relinquishing control of the body back to Gretz just so she could see the injured Drang and Sturm drag themselves back onto the ship. Needless to say, Gretz, feeling like a monster, attempted to hide from shame, only to pass out from her stomach being ripped open again.

The healers all scrambled to get her back whole again, and no major injuries except for Gretz’s pride. The following morning, before the sun would crest the mountains, she managed to drag herself out of her bedroom, and tip toed off the ship, silently, not telling anyone. Vyrn, however, seemed to know something was off and found her, weeping at her grandmother’s grave, and suggested that the two go and do a favourite early morning passtime of theirs. The two quietly went onto a hill, and Gretz began to call out. Her voice sorrowful, but the echo in the mountains beautiful, and after a moment they’d hear the typical clanging of cow bells as the herd ran over to inspect the calls.

The two of them were followed by another pair. By Drang’s suggestion, he and Sturm followed the captain to see what she’d do, ghosting around like that, all mysterious. It didn’t take long for Gretz to notice, and in her weakened state, she became petrified and convinced the two would want revenge. A little slip on the wet dewy grass left her tumbling off a steep hill and straight into a fencepost and she felt a bit too weak and in pain to do anything so she simply curled up and started to weep. Drang and Sturm, both taken aback at this display of vulnerability rush up to her and Drang offers a little healing to close up the cut on her forehead, Sturm simply propping her up. Gretz, confused and scared simply starts rambling about how she thought they’d kill her. The agents shook their heads and deny that being their goal, though Drang wants to know more about the entity in her.

Upon hearing the phrase that the entity is the one who “didn’t make it” Gretz realized that the entity could be none other than her deceased twin, though she then became even more confused as to how her twin who died at birth would have those abilities. One question answered, 10 more now taking it’s place.

After cleaning herself up a bit, Gretz spots a strange glint in the distance, in the middle of the field. Squinting at it, she spots a familiar relic, her father’s staff. Though weak, and hurting, and confused, her legs simply begin to move and she recovers the staff. The stone in the middle shining just as bright at she remembered it.

The 4 return to the ship, where the rest of the crew is restless and panicking looking for their captain. Relieved to find her unharmed, the crew quiets down, though Gretz now has a new resolve to go and save Yggdrasil, so after Vyrn releases whatever the hell was in the shrine, the crew goes to face the menace.

During that fight, it seems quite hopeless but Gretz manages to unleash magic to a crazy amount. Her innate spellcasting meant that she didn’t need tools to cast magic, but she remembers that she can siphon magic in from other sources than just herself. After basically destroying several staves and tools by sucking out all the magic and basically almost turning herself into a being of pure mana, she manages to get a hit strong enough to defeat Yggdrasil, but then immediately gets slammed full force into a rock cliff by one of the snake tentacles. Her spell took away all noise in the area and the sickening crack of her body hitting the rock face was more than enough to make the whole crew imagine the worst.

Luckily, being made of pure magic meant that in that state her body was basically unable to die from injuries, though she immediately requested help to fix her numerous broken bones. Lyria was NOT allowed to see the body. Everyone else still has nightmares.

After that... The crew follows the main story aside from a few minor differences, but Gretz accepts the whole “Singularity” business pretty well but then realizes that she really DID cause the deaths of her mother and sister. Lyria manages to pacify the spirit, and Emmeliine is given an official position in the crew, and Gretz no longer gets torn up every time a possession takes place. The crew are looking into getting a golem made for Emmeliine so she and gretz can exist in the physical realm at the same time. Em is still very spicy and mean, but no longer AS murderous. She’s still able to beat the shit out of the crew.

I hope??? These ramblings make sense?? I wanted to make a comic of this but my hand hurts and in fic format it’d take too long.

Yes my self-insert is a fucking Mary Sue with Deep Issues and a Dead Twin Ghost Spirit whatcha gonna do about it.

#Captain Gretz #The Turquoise Captain #Long Post #Gretz is 57 levels of fucked up #she just wants to find her dad #and her dad didn't want to leave home and leave her behind #Gretz's Dad is Good

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heartsoftruth · 5 years

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Agreed they even left the party together. They have something going on. I feel a lot of romantic tension between them. People (generally speaking) Take ur eyes off Neymar and focus on Gabriel instead.

Well apparently she kissed them all hahaha.

Anonymous said:So bruna can’t grab attention in other way and she is trying to create drama again? Typical bruna. She is soooooo predictable

Well this was SO much drama! I’m sure the media must have had a field day! The amount of click must have been insaaaane haha.

Anonymous said:Nothing happen between anitta and medina :( i’m sad, bc i ship it hahahaha she already said on her stories too

I don’t know Medina tbh… He’s been kinda annoying me xD But then again (and before anyone else makes it) a lot of people do haha.

Anonymous said:Neymar is already coming back!! some fan took a photo with him on the airport!

Probably saw that I said I would kick his ass if he didnt and got scared haha xD No but good he came back! Needs to support the team in matches like that!

Anonymous said:Sorry but she’s a fucking attention seeker. All she’s ever wanted is publicity and make herself known. Now that he’s dumped her and looks happy and maybe moving on, she’s back to create drama because the only way to remain relevant is to latch onto Ney. When it comes to commitment and moving to be with him, shes not for it but as soon as she smells a hint of fame and attention she’s all over it like a dog in heat. GIRL BYE.

It does come across like that! Or maybe it was just her heart being crushed (again) by seeing him? Who knows. But then again she knew it would cause a whole shit storm in the Brazilians press and that her minions see everything she does the minute she does it. So the whole like/unfollow/follow/deactivate stunt would be noticed 5 seconds after she done it…

I get that she’s hurt and that it might be unpleasant seeing him (lets just say she is hurt ok?) but that’s not the way to deal with it. Why can’t no one in this generation just deal with shit private, but does it HAVE to be all on social media. And she’s always the one who’s talking about wanting to keep her private life PRIVATE.

Anonymous said:I don’t understand why people, obviously some bruna fans, are calling ney childish, imature, attention seeker and so on. He is just minding his own business, living his life. I see that she is the one who constantly throws shades and creates drama, with no reason, playing the victim. He literally does nothing. If he is ignoring all of this, including her, like last night 🤭 then he is being imature. People are mad that the “never ending love” fantasy is fading away. He’s moving on that’s mature.

He literally was minding his own business, going out with friends. Of course he will get photographed going outside, but Bruna (in this case) was the one that gave a start signal for this whole media circus!

SORRY! @ all above for the late reply!

#anonymous

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alphawolfpackleader · 6 years

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Sins of the past (part five)

It had been weeks since rich and Brody spoke about his possible daughter and the wolf was itching to get a hold of her, he had heard word of what Paul does to her how he treats her and just how much this bastard likes to get his way. Although it seems like Paul had made it his mission to keep her away from the cage and out of sight so for the first few days rich wasn't even sure she existed or that he even knew her at all. But once he caught her scent he knew it was her she did exist and she was his kid cause she had her mothers scent and a hint of his own scent which shocked and scared him. Was this why helena wanted him alive and why she didn't want him to bleed out on the first fight in the ring, this was the questions that kept him up at night all night in fact. Rich sighed as he watched the sunset and heard brodys footsteps ever since he started playing along and stopped being a complication they gave him a room in the barn with the rest of the alphas. There was an alpha there who's name was Louis and he told rich he had been there for 30 years and that's when rich knew he had to set these people free by any means necessary. Brody laid his hand on richs shoulder which brought him out of his thoughts and back to reality "its time for your next fight," Brody looked concerned since rich had not said a word after finding his daughters existence to be truthful. He turned and walked out with him this would be one of Rich's hardest fight since he would be fighting two hunters and one beast on somewhat of a freelance field. Louis gave him a nod of approval and support as he walked to the cage and rich nodded back with a small smirk since he had come to like the older wolf. He had told his story to him and bared all his flaws and his battle wounds to the old man in a sort of confession style redemption way just in case one of the two made it out. Rich took a moment of silence before the roar of the blood thirsty crowd hit his ears and then the animals growls and a loud howl could be heard as he was thrown into the cage with it. He fought the beast tooth and claw and didnt let up until he knew for sure it was out cold and only then after the adrenaline started to wear off did he realize just how beat he was. He panted deeply while his blood soaked clothes clung to him and the room around him started to spin as he became faint from his injuries. Rich caught pauls glare as he stood up obviously displeased with the show and how easily he had taken out his little champion and right before they sent in the next opponent he yelled out at him. Rich screamed for Paul's attention "hey! fuckface! Wheres my kid!" Paul stopped in his tracks and gripped his Chair tightly knowing he was calling him out personally. he slowly turned and smiled at rich stepping closer to the cage before answering "in my bed, that's where your slutty child has decided to lay" rich lunged at him banging on the bars of the cage. Paul just laughed and laughed as the beast man tried in vain to attack him from inside the cage he leaned in as the alpha slowed his attack "and thats where she will stay until the day you die". Paul grinned at the beast "or until I kill you and give your bones to all the dogs in this pound to chew to dust". Paul snarled at the pain in the ass alpha who had caused nothing but trouble since he showed up at the nine circles "you and me, in the pit sunrise" the crowd hushed as he spoke. Rich went to grab him and challenge his request but before he could reach his vision went dark as he fell to the ground unconscious and tranquilized to be prepped for the fight he would have with Paul.

When he woke up rich was strapped to a chair in a quiet room in a clean pair of clothes there's was no windows and no doot just an open entrance which was to his left "that was a selfless thing you did" said louis. He wasnt in the room possibly next to it somewhere close enough to hear richs heart beat and know he was awake "yeah and probably the last" he said listening to the steady beat of his heart. there was the sound of metal sliding across wood as Louis spoke again "not if I have anything to say about it" rich looked on the floor searching for the source of the sound. What he found was a small metal lighter that he assumed louis slid through a crack in the wall "what do you-" Richards words were interrupted by footsteps and loud talking. The two wolves fell silent as the talking men approached louis room which made rich uneasy but his heart rate picked up when he heard the sound of a shotgun. He screamed in protest fighting against his chair but the men ignored him and all he heard was a gunshot then dead silence but he could assume the worst seeing blood pour through the crack in the wall. That was it there was no mercy for Paul or his people anymore he would not only kill paul but put an end to the nine circles for all those who have suffered here.

#sins of the past #fight club #nine circles of hell #part five #richard victoriano #werewolf #richard #pack leader #big bad wolf

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larryssunflower · 6 years

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TRR AU- Teachers (part two) Butterflies

Hey! I wrote a part one to this fic :) You should read it first lol

The lovely @simplyaiden-blog asked me to post my part two as soon as possible so here it is! Enjoy :)

Pairing- Drake X Mc (Elle Garden)

—-

After lunch I head back to the classroom, letting the kids file in. I go to my desk, pulling out my schedule. After lunch and recess, they have an hour of class then physical education after. With Drake. I inform the kids what project they are going to do and hand out papers and crayons, but Drake is still on my mind. I can still almost feel the pressure of his knee when he bumped it against mine.

As the kids are laughing and working on their projects, I go through some paperwork because I still haven’t solidified my school year plan. I suddenly jump when there’s a knock at my door, I look up at it opens, Drake walking in. “Hey, sorry to bother you, but it’s time for PE.” He says, and I bring my hand up to my forehead, laughing lightly. “Oh I’m sorry, I totally lost track of time,” I say embarrassedly, getting up and gathering my work.

“Kids! You guys need to go to PE now, just leave your work where it is, we will pick it up after.” I say, and they all get up excitedly, scrambling over to the door. “Single file!” I remind them and they get in line almost immediately. Drake grins at me before turning around and leading them outside. I follow the class.

I sit on the sidelines, still doing my paperwork as Drake plays soccer with the kids. I can’t help glancing up to look at Drake. He is laughing and shouting orders to the energetic kids as they run around in helpless circles around the field. I smile looking at them totally ignore Drake as they leave the ball to chase each other around. Drake glances up at me and grins, making me smile more as my stomach erupts in butterflies.

He still doesn’t give up, trying to get them into the game. I try to ignore the fact that his white shirt is starting to stick to him. And getting a bit transparent. Just ignore him, Elle, just do your work. I listen to myself for a while, actually just doing a good chunk of work. I decide to leave it there for the rest of the class, and look up, nearly having a heart attack. Drake is now shirtless, yelling (still grinning) at the kids to keep up with him as he does jumping jacks.

I’m dumbfounded for a whole minute as I watch him. He is much more fit then he lets on. I notice the trail of hair which goes down the waistband of his pants. I bite my lip and look away, my cheeks burning. Is he doing this on purpose? I mean the kids don’t care, did he do it intentionally? For me? No. No way. Right? I look back up and meet eyes with Drake who was already looking at me. He winks before stopping the jumping jacks and telling everyone to get water.

I’m disappointed as I realize that it’s over. I stand up, turn around, bending over to grab all my things. I stand up straight, my paperwork in my arms and turn, nearly running straight into Drake. Who is still shirtless. When will I get a break? “Oh. Hey.” I say breathlessly, looking up at him. Wow, we are very close. I can see small freckles along the bridge of his nose and flecks if lighter brown in his eyes. We are probably four inches apart. With anyone else, this would be uncomfortably close, but for some reason, it’s not with him.

I step back, clearing my throat. “You have great kids, Garden,” Drake says, making me smile proudly. “Yeah, they’re the best,” I say, looking over at them, laughing with each other as they drink water under a tree. I look back at Drake who has a strange look on his face as he looks at me. I’m about to say something but then he clears his throat, blushing momentarily. “So tonight, Maxwell, Hana, Liam and I are all going to a bar, do you want to come?” He asks, seeming almost nervous.

“Sounds fun,” I grin. Kiara isn’t on the list.. hehe. “Heh, it’ll be great.” He says. The kids run over, and I smile at them. “Had fun?” I ask, and I hear a chorus of ‘yeah!’. “Alright, time to get back to class, get in line!” I say, and they rush into line, wanting to be as close to the front as possible. I turn and see Drake putting on his shirt. He walks up to me. “Leaving already?” He teases. “Heh, thank you for distracting them for an hour. They love you.” I say, smiling. “No problem. Here, I’ll walk you to your classroom.” He says, grabbing his bag. “Okay.” I smile, and the kids lead the way.

“Are you leaving?” I ask Drake, looking at his bag. “Uh yeah, no more classes after yours. Which is good, I mean I actually think I got a decent workout.” He says, making me laugh. “It’s cool that you try hard with them. They really do love you,” I say, bumping against him playfully. He grins down at me shaking his head. “What?” I ask. “You are just- nothing.” He says, cutting himself off. Before I can push further, we reach my classroom. “I’ll see you later Garden.” He says, winking, walking away and out the front door. “Bye,” I say quietly, before heading back into the classroom.

—-

(Group chat with Maxwell, Hana, Liam, and Drake)

Drake- guys we need to go out tonight.

Maxwell- why is that?

Drake- I invited Garden out. I said you would all be there too, we need to welcome her to the friend group.

Liam- Aw Drake, Are you being nice to the pretty new girl?

Drake- Ha ha. Hana was probably going to make us all hang out anyway. Why not now?

Hana- you aren’t wrong, I was already planning something :)

Maxwell- what about Kiara?

Drake- what about her?

Liam- why isn’t she invited?

Drake- I don’t know, I find her kind of annoying.

Hana- Drake! You know she has a huge crush on you!

Drake- She still isn’t over it? Can’t she take a hint? I mean she’s nice and all, but not my type.

Liam- yeah, your type is fourth-grade teachers from New York with green eyes, brown hair, and yellow dresses ;)

-Drake has left the group chat-

Maxwell- he couldn’t even deny it lol

—-

I’m getting a glass of water in my apartment when I hear knocking on my door. “One second!” I shout, walking over. I open it to reveal Hana standing there with a huge grin on her face. “Hey!” She says, walking right in. “Hey Han, what’s up?” I ask, closing the door. “I’m here to get ready with you, duh.” She says, walking into my bedroom. Alright then. I follow in, confused. “I was just going to wear this,” I say to my friend who is digging through my closet. She turns to me. “I think not.” She says, and she pulls out a piece of clothing I never thought I would wear again. “No Hana, I only bought that for a costume, I’m not going to wear it,” I say, crossing my arms. “Come on Elle! It’s cool!” She says, waving it around. I roll my eyes. “At least try it on?” She asks hopefully, using her puppy dog eye trick. “Fine.” I huff, unable to say no to her.

“I feel stupid,” I announce as I walk out. Hana squeals, getting up quickly. “That looks so good! What are you talking about?” She says, getting up and looking around me. “The jacket is perfect! You look like a cool rocker chic!” She says ecstatically. I sigh, looking at my reflection. “Well, you can’t change your mind because we need to leave right now!” Hana says as she glanced at her watch, and rushes away, grabbing her purse. I groan and follow her. Nerves biting away at me.

—

We arrive at the bar and spot the boys in a booth, talking. “Hey, guys!” Hana says, walking right up to them. I follow behind. What if Drake thinks I look dumb? Like I’m trying to hard? God, I look like an idiot. “Hey!” I grin, trying to hide my nerves as I sit next to Drake. “Woah, you look great Elle,” Liam says, making me smile more. “Thanks, Liam!” I say as I shift in my seat. I turn to glance at Drake who looks pretty shocked. “You look like you just walked out of the Grease, freaking cool!” Maxwell says, making me blush. “Alright enough about my dumb outfit. How was your guys’ first day?” I ask, leaning forward.

We all discuss the kids, the other teachers, and plans for the school year. “Alright, enough with the work talk, I need a drink,” Drake says, getting up. “I’ll help you bring them over, Drake,” Liam says, but I notice he is in the middle of the booth. I get up, brushing myself off. “I’ll go, don’t want to make everyone else get up.” I smile and turn to see Drake, who smiles slightly at me before going towards the bar. I follow, wondering why he hasn’t talked to me. We were okay during PE, why is he acting like this now?

We reach the bar and Drake orders what im guessing the group usually gets. Im not really paying attention, watching a woman perform drunk karaoke. “What will you have Garden?” He asks. I turn to him. “Oh, a whiskey please,” I say, turning back to the singer. I glance over and catch him shaking his head, muttering something under his breath. “Is there something wrong?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. “No, its just I’ve never met a woman who likes whiskey,” he says, smiling. I laugh lightly. “Doesn't sound like you’ve met the right woman yet,” I say, lightly biting my lip. “No, I think I might have...” He trails off, a strange look on his face. The bartender suddenly comes up. “Alright, we have a white wine, a beer, a cosmopolitan, and two whiskeys.” He says, pushing them towards us. I grab a couple, leading the way back to the booth. I may have been swinging my hips a bit...

I place the cosmopolitan in front of Hana, but she just laughs, giving it to Maxwell. “Not really my drink, but thank you, Elle, ill take the Chardonnay please” she grins, making me laugh as I hand her rightful drink over. “I didnt take you for a cosmopolitan kind of man, Maxwell” I tease, making Drake snort. “Then you definitely haven't gotten to know him well enough,” He says, making everyone laugh, even Maxwell who mumbles ‘‘Its true’’ with a shrug.

Many rounds later, we are the loudest table, laughing and drinking. I’m not really drunk myself, just kind of tipsy. I can’t say the same for Maxwell. Somehow we migrate to a table near the karaoke stage, and before I know it, im picking a song. I find one that is perfect for me right now. I grin at Drake as the music starts to play. He seems pretty sober to me and he's looking at me with a curious look on his face. Probably waiting for me to embarrass myself.

(This link is to the youtube video of the song :) I recommend listening in a different tab or something. It's Butterflies by Kacey Musgraves)

‘ I was just coasting, not really goin’ anywhere,

caught up in a web I was just kind of used to you stayin’ there

then out of the blue,

I fell for you.’

I start singing, definitely not sounding as good as the original singer but not too bad. My group sways along to the acoustic song, except for Maxwell and Drake. Maxwell is slowly breakdancing and Drake is just sitting there, looking at me with an intensity in his eyes I had never seen before

‘I didn’t know him, and I didn’t know me,

cloud nine was always out of reach,

now I remember what its like to fly,

you give me butterflies’

I sing this, looking right at Drake, getting butterflies just like the song. I smile, looking down, continuing the lyrics.

‘kiss full of color,

makes me wonder where you have always been.’

I sing this and I imagine kissing drake. I bet his lips are so soft. I do wonder where he has been. I have never met a man who has affected me like this before. I do the rest of the song, finally singing the last lyrics;

‘You give me butterflies.

mmhmm,

butterflies...’

I finish, and everyone applauds, making me blush as I clamber down the steps, walking back to the group. Liam, who seems a little more than tipsy stumbles over to me. “Hey hi hello,” He says, his words slurring. “hey, you alright Liam?” I ask, steading him with my arms on his shoulders. “I’m kinda drunk,” He whispers loudly, giggling. “Yeah, I can tell,” I say, laughing. He suddenly gets serious. “I-I’m just working up my nerve for- to do something,” he says, slightly swaying. I furrow my eyebrows. ‘Wha-” He cuts me off, pressing his lips on mine.

what the fuckkkkkkkk

*end of part two*

Hope you liked it! Tagging:

@simplyaiden-blog @butindeed @monosodiumglutamateme @mfackenthal

@drakelover78 @mrsdrakewalkerblog @crookedslimecreatorpasta

#drake walker #drake x mc #trr drake #mc x drake #drake #trr #au #teacher #part 2 #the royal romance #liam #maxwell beaumont #hana lee #drunk #what else do I tag lol

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c-rankin93 · 7 years

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SHE'S NO YOU - Ch.12

A/N: I'll apologize now for this chapter. It's only a filler, and I'm horribly sick so 100% didn't go into this and I'm disappointed, but as long as you guys like it I'll be happy. This chapter is a set up for a dramatic scene that is about to take place. This is where everything starts to unravel and secrets don't stay hidden for long. P.s: the story is also coming to an end soon. Not now or within the next few chapters but soon. --- CHAPTER TWELVE: TO BE CONTINUED --- RAE POV: I don't understand why I never took up smoking. I mean, when Finn gave up smoking I was happy he was no longer sucking on the cancer stick, but now looking at my brothers puff away whilst adamantly talking between each other, I was intrigued. I decided my social side needed a little extra kick. "Anyone going to share their cigarette." I didn't ask anyone in particular. All conversation cease to exists after I spoke, the curious gaze of my three brothers followed my hand as I moved it around between them. They obviously didn't get the hint that I wanted them to pass one over so I dropped my hand. "You don't smoke" Robert stated flabbergasted. No shit sherlock. "Shove it. I just found out my ex-husband didn't cheat on me so my divorce was a mistake, my boyfriend is hiding something from me, and Finn's psycho ex-girlfriend just destroyed my office. I need a cigarette" I grabbed the white stick from between Robert's fingertips and inhaled deeply. The smoke stung my eyes slightly, and they watered instantly. Did I mention this was a good idea? No? That might of been because of the disastrous coughing fit I was suffering from at the moment. My lungs felt like they were on fire, and it didn't help the situation when Mark and Julian were acting beyond immature right now. They could shove their laughter right up their as- "You right there sis?" Robert patted my back as the coughing subsided. "How do you do that to yourself?" I gagged when the after taste hit me. "Eh, it gets easier the longer you do it" Julian laughed and flicked his cigarette into mom's roses. Well I hope he doesn't want more children, because when mom finds it tomorrow he's not going to have a set of balls. "Do you feel better now?" Mark teased still puffing along. "Nope" "Maybe you should try something a little stronger?" "Mark don't even go there! No need to expose her to your celebrity lifestyle" Robert hissed throwing a punch into Mark's arm unexpectedly. "I think I'll just keep drinking mom's shitty wine. Seems to be doing the trick just fine" I tipped back the contents of my glass, just like my life it became empty. Our 7 children were currently in bed, along with our parents and Robert's wife Maria. It was nearing 12am, and the night was still young. Even if we had just spent the day eating, drinking and laughing. It felt good to reminisce about our childhood like we use to, before our lives separated us. I had finally admitted the reason behind my quick divorce, all the way to the events that occurred today. I felt as though I was at an AA meeting the way they gathered around me, whilst Tomas, kept all the children entertained. I left out the sex of course that happened between Finn and I, that was something that would never pass my lips in a conversation with my brothers. My mother didnt feel like the details of the conversation was enough for her, she had hinted a few times that she wanted more details tomorrow morning. I shuttered just thinking about that conversation. I felt like a cow on the way to a slaughterhouse. "You know you could of told me. I could of been there for you Rae." I looked up, meeting Julian's eyes. This was the first reaction I had gotten out of Julian or Mark, before it was just a sigh and nod. Sighing, I took the seat closest to Robert. The bomb fire was roaring, the heat kissing my skin perfectly. Julian and Mark sat across from us, It was the start of an intervention after buttering me up on mom's happy juice, nice move brothers. Well played. 'Well I better make it a good show' I scoffed internally. I poured myself a large class of ròse, the longer I stalled the longer Julian had to wait for his answer. An answer I was still formulating. "No I couldn't of told you, or you.." I said pointing to Mark. "You would of killed Finn without a second thought, and I wasn't risking that. Finn is a very profitable business man in New York, I wasn't risking your freedom. You, Julian had Parker to think of! And you mark had a booming career! What do you think the media would of said, huh? They had a field day when they caught wind of Finn and I's divorce, could you imagine the stories they would spin if you two where involved. No! I was not letting that happen" I smiled sadly. "And you were there for me Julian, more then you'll ever know. You were going through a shit marriage yourself and you still rang me 3 times a week, 7pm Sharp. You were my underpaid shrink." "And you chucky!" I smirked at Mark. "Sending me freaking phone numbers of different actors you know and the lovely phone calls I got at random times of the week and day. By the way, I still have Leonardo DiCaprio's number saved on my phone and I'm thinking if it goes tits up with the two that I have now, I'll give him a call" I laughed draining the bitter liquid down the back of my throat. Mark swiped my bottle and starting to study the label. "Is this shit like true serum or something? I was dating this chick a few months ago and she drinking this piss. It's the reason we're not together anymore." "Mark don't be a dick for once in your life" Julian grabbed the bottle much to my protest and sat it near his feet. Great, my big brother was cutting me off. There was no way I was going to start drinking the scotch Robert was sipping at, I want to wake up alive and out of hospital. Oh! The humanity... "Yeah I understand that Rae. It just hurts to know you kept this secret from us this long, that you were hurting and I knew nothing about how deep it was effecting you." "I understand your mad, bu-" "Damn right we're mad!" Mark interrupted; narrowing his eyes at me. "But! I love you two too much. I wasn't dragging you into my mess." "You decided to bring him into it!" Mark pointed a finger in Robert's direction irritated. "I was her lawyer dipshit." Robert said rolling his eyes. "So! You would of been madder then us! You were buddy-buddy with the guy weren't you? Surprised you didn't tie him to a chair and set him alight!" I shuddered remember Robert's reaction to the news. He had splintered his home office glass table with his fist, requiring 4 stitches. The curse words that flicked of the end of his tongue were just as lethal. His job was the only thing stopping him, because I sure as hell wasn't doing a good job. "Trust me mark it wasn't a good day..." And Robert was right, that memory entered a category was deep in the back of my mind, into a not to be opened box. I nearly rang Finn scared for his safety that day, If only I did make that call. "Ohkay! Ohkay! We get it. The situation was fucked, you panicked and we were kept in the dark for good reason. I get it! I'm sorry you had to deal with that crap alone, and as your big brother I'm allowed to feel shit about it" Julian huffed. "And really he slept with Olivia Clark?" I nodded at Mark. "Man, I remember her. I dated her sister in high school, Bianca or someone. She was so fucking preppy, and happy-go-lucky all the time. I thought she's was going to kill me with the brightness of her teeth alone, so I broke up with her. God she was pissed!" "Its because you can be a real dick sometimes. I'd be pissed too" I hissed. To which only made Mark laugh more. "Its wasn't like it was anything serious. She knew I was moving and didn't want long distance." Mark replied. He was never one to choose his words wisely, always the one to say what he was thinking no matter the consequences. He probably broke the poor girls heart without even realising. "Anyway! What are you going to do now?" Robert asked seriously turning to face me. "Well I'm going to start by having dinner with Gregory tomorrow night. I'm going to tell him what's going on." It seemed to be the only way that felt right. Maybe his reaction will give me a clear cut answer. "Well I'm going to call Finn and set up a nice little dinner date then" Julian spoke like it was the most obvious thing to do. "What? No!" I stood proudly. There was no way I was going to let that happen. "Why? It's not like he ended up doing the dirty deed, so you don't have to worry about his life and all that shit Rae" Mark stated. "I didn't care if he's innocent! No! Why would you need to talk to him anyway?" Jesus this was going nowhere. "Its what men do Raymond" Mark smiled cheakily. Then dashed towards the house yelling something about using the toilet over his shoulder. It was a distraction. I knew that know, he kept me occupied until Julian could do the unthinkable. "Finn, it's Julian Earl here. I'm sure you remember me. I think it's time that us boys and you to have a little chat." I need the ground to swallow me whole now. --- FINN POV: Turns out Oliva decided to fire my housekeeper after maria asked one too many questions about my disappearance. Which doesn't surprise me really she had been my maid for the past 6 years, and after much groveling and the promises that she will never work around Olivia again she came back to work for me. My apartment was now polished and put back into its original condition. One less thing I had to worry about. My parents and archie had stuck around long enough to see the back end of Olivia storm out the door in a rush. Whilst chop on the other hand still hadn't left the confides of my lovely home. He states it's because I need protection for when the psycho knife wielding bitch comes back, but I think security can handle her. It's been a few days since I had kicked her to the curb and she hasn't once tried to call me. Her parents and sister had, but their numbers where blocked the moment their caller ID flashed before me. Her mother was an airhead, father a closet drunk, and her sister a snarky bitch who wants more then she can afford. I had no time for the Clark family anymore. Chop through me a glance over his shoulder, I hadn't stopped pacing since the news came through that Olivia had shown up at Rae's work, thank God Izzy and Chop were still on speaking terms. I had tried calling calling Rae numerous times, not once did she pick up the phone and that made me worried. "Calm down Finn, she will be fine. Knowing Rae she needed to calm down before hunting Olivia down. Told you she was a psycho!" Chop smirked. He was not helping my mood or the situation at hand at this point in time. If he wasn't my best mate, I would of most likely laid him out by now. Grinding my teeth, I just flip him off and continued pacing. Chop's phone 'dinged' and his burst of laughter had me puzzled. "Don't worry champ. Rae's fine." "What do you mean fine! How do you know?" I said pulling up a chair. "Izzy told me she's at her parents house in New Jersey. She had some unexpected visitors." "What visitors Chop!" "Her brothers are in town." "What did you just say?" "Izzy said her brothers have come to visit her. Apparently Linda rang them saying she was worried about Rae" he explained. That didn't make me feel any better. "You mean Mark and Julian are in New York? Plus Robert?" Chop nodded and continued to text. I hadn't seen Julian nor Mark in 3 years, they visited as much as possible but because of mine and Rae's busy schedule we found it hard to go to them. I knew Robert still lived in New York, his firm was a thriving success. The last time I had laid eyes on him was during the court hearing when our divorce was finalised. Ill be honest if he wasn't my ex-wife's brother and didn't loathe me, I would defiantly have him represent me. I had managed to avoid her side of the family for as long as I could, but with all 3 of them back in New York, and Rae and I on such good terms it was only a matter of time before I saw them again. Suddenly, my phone started ringing. I scrunched my nose up at the unfamiliar number and answered, secretly hoping it was Rae. "Hello?" "Finn, it's Julian Earl here. I'm sure you remember me. I think it's time that us boys and you to have a little chat." Gulp. "Sure." -- A/N: sorry for the poor editing. I'm really not well haha! Love you guys 😍😍 What explosive thing is going to happen in the next chapter? @lily-pop-2 @milllott @milymargot @lurkernolonger @l88cym @i-dream-of-emus @arathewallflower @mmfdfanfic @luly310 @tinakegg @hey1tskat1e @eveerez

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qcatter · 7 years

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The Second Fourth of July

SO with the actual fourth of july and family making this take longer, (and the fact it’s exactly nine pages long in a small font) Shout out to @autumn-sweet-fae for just going thro all of the MIB AU, giving me a reason to just stick this up here on tumblr. Some notes for this, like most holiday specials it fits into the timeline the way DBZ movies do. Also T hasnt made his debut yet. (He’s a scientist that Reigen often goes to for under the counter help, and who’s relationship with Reigen is based on mutual blackmail and good natured ribbing.) IF you read very carefully you can find things mentioned here that Dinner and i havent posted yet either. Oh and pretend i actually know what the laws on fireworks are, i havnt been in this state for three years, or ever bought fireworks.

(once again, this was written for Discord, so the odd symbols are marks of formatting.)

Today was the Fourth of July, ~~Independence Day was never spoken aloud in the MIB faulty after that movie came out, it was bad luck of a sort.~~ It wasn’t one of Reigen’s favorite holidays. Aliens tended to find the Fourth as a wonderful cover up for gang fights since any weapons they might have could easily be overlooked as *fireworks* ment that the mib had to be on top of their game for normal business as well as the police call ins for disturbances. Almost as bad as Halloween, *almost*. *both* of them were set in the evening after dark when reigen’s soaps were on. Actually Reigen didn’t like any of the holidays. As a secret government worker he never got time off for them half the time, and the others he would volunteer since he didnt exactly have loved ones to spend the holidays with. This had changed recently. Unfortunately, Reigen had a pattern, a pattern that was still in the system seeing as he had actually asked for the fourth off and was still scheduled in tonight. He had just spent most of his dinner break going through every floor of the facility to find someone willing to stand in for him. To no avail. Which was why he was currently in the lower floors of the building holding an ear piercing peeping slimey thing that looked like the unholy offspring of emu and a velociraptor. “-and I had *told* them i was even willing to spend one of my vacation days to have today off, even if it was just the evening but they had written me in and no one will take this time slot!” The tiny bald birdthing in his hand shrieked as he half gestured with it and it dug its *not* so small talons into his palm. “Alright that looks like the first batch, hand that fellow over here Raygun. And im sure Sparky will be fine.” T set the kicking birdling next to it’s sibling in a heated box as he returned to egg watch. “He’s gone down to Thyme Square before right? I know he was saying he wanted to see the fireworks, but it’s not like you *have* to take him. Couldnt you spin it as an escort maybe?” Reigen slumped and waved that idea past with far less energy than normal. “Tried that, only works if he’s in danger or *is* a danger, and it’s not just Teru. Serizawa said that he would go with Teru since his classes are canceled and he’s only ever seen fireworks in passing. Apparently the higher ups in Claw never had time to stop and celebrate it, and Touchyrow wasnt even in the country half the time.” T glanced up at Reigen with a *knowing* and growing smug grin. “AH~” “*NO*, T it’s not that. If *teru* goes, and *seri* goes, then *SHOU* is going and you know him. What do you think ’Firecracker’ is going to do!? The kid tried to eat *lava* for petes sake!” “Oh. *oh*” “*exactly!*” Reigen threw his hands up in the air and then wiped the slime from them off on T’s labcoat. “*Thanks* Raygun, just what i needed, *more egg slime.* Seri might be able to keep Shou in check?” “If you said that last month i might have agreed with you, but it looks like Shou’s started to settle in. He *listens* but it seems that we’ve left the period of terrified obedience left over from his father’s influence. Shou’s actually pretty good with rules when they make sense to *him*. The problem is that he takes himself as close as he can to breaking them if he thinks of something interesting. ‘Dont burn the house down because we need it’ apparently translates to ‘ok keep the fires small’. ” with a groan many parents would sympathize with, reigen plopped his head in his hands. T looked thoughtful as he rotated an egg. “‘Dont try to catch the fireworks after they launch in the middle of Central Park because everyone can see you?” Reigen sighed and flopped down in the nearest chair. It tipped backwards and nearly sent him to the floor before he regained his balance in a flurry of limbs. “Cloaking, cant get caught if you cant be seen.” “Well shit then.” “That’s not even mentioning if Mob and Ritsu join them” “OH I’m sure the Kaygeyamas could h-” Reigen raised one finger sharply. “ One, fireworks give their mother a headache and, Two, their father’s lungs are bad enough they dont go. Mob said that this would be the first time since Ritsu was small enough to get piggyback rides that they had a chance to see them in person. And that was only because i said i was going to take Teru down and agree to watch them too.” “Mob might be able to help Seri. Sparky and Ritz listen to him and i know Shou pretends like he doesn't but he *does* defer to Mob” “Not with Ritsu around. Shou is always the wild card here and it’s going to be *crowded* if one of them slips up they’d pull the others with them. We *cant* afford having all of them to get caught like that. It’s why i was hoping you’d be off tonight.” They both looked over at the nest of 20 some eggs. One of them peeped while a few twitched. “I’m probably going to be here all night, we’re low staff as it is. Wish i could go Raygun, i’d love to see the S-Kids react to the fireworks.” “‘Pitty i’m not off, i’d love to see the *fireworks*’ you mean.” “Let’s go with that. And really, they’ll be *fine*. It’s just fireworks, if we have to, tell mob to tell ritsu to make shou *stay*. It’s a little underhanded, but if you just *hint* at the fact the Mib’s on high alert he’ll keep shou from doing anything too flashy.” “I’m still worried. Mob and Seri aren't good with crowds and they’re the ones that have the most sway.” One of the eggs cracked, T clicked his timer and then flipped the watch over for Reigen to see. “Shouldn’t they all be getting set up about now? You better give SherBear a call before your break ends.” Reigen stood up from his chair like a whale ungracefully breaching. Digging for his phone and trying to walk down the hall while kicking his leg to untangle the chair from his foot, he turned to shout back at T. “*RIGHT*, i didnt call him the last few hours, Sh- IT”S JUST SERI! Thanks for letting me rant at you, i hate it when i get stuck unable to *do* anything.” “You and me *both*!” As reigen left T toe-flipped the chair back up and sat down in it by the eggs. “Let’s keep it between us that i only let him talk so long because *you* guys need constant vocalizations and my voice was getting tired. Plus it kept him distracted long enough to stop him from calling Sher for the fifth time since he got in here.”

BY the time reigen got off duty and went home, the fireworks had been over for hours. Turning the key in the lock for the third try the door finally unlocked and he kicked off his shoes into the kitchen. While in the process of shedding his suit coat and wondering for the umtenth time how the MIB really expected you to wear the sunglasses at night, he tripped in the middle of the apartment. Reigen debated if it was worth the effort of getting off the floor in order to move to his bed when the rug seemed to be fairly comfortable. Before he could pass on on the floor the room brightened up greatly as reigen hissed and flung his arm over his glasses. “I’d say ‘morning’ but seeing as the sun hasn’t actually come up i suppose it still counts as night” “Nehh, dont you never wake up before the sun?” “Funny thing, it just so happened that someone stumbled into my house and passed out on the floor.” “Ha ha kid, im just, resting. I’ll be going to bed in a second, could you turn the lights back off though? They’re too bright right now even with the sunglasses on.” “I didnt turn the lights on Boss” Reigen blinked, looked up at Teru through the light glare, and then squinted over his glasses to see that yes, the lights *werent* on at all.“Huh weird, i can sorta see your energy field through the lenses. Very disco hippyish” Teru looked unsure of whether to be sheepish or smug about it, before blinking and then focusing on Reigen “It took us *three* weeks to explain the difference between the outer layers and the field and you could have seen them this whole time if you actually wore *your sunglasses?!*” “Looks like.” Shoving himself off the floor and leaving said glasses behind, reigen made his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth while teru seemed to be screaming into his pillow with frustration. Or eating it. Could be both. Most of it seemed to be words at least, since reigen heard some phrases here and there. Such as “THREE WEEKS” and “SHOU”S COAT” with something about “COULDNT EVEN SEE THE DIFFERENCE” followed by “AND I DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT HE WAS UP TO TONIGHT” It wasnt until reigen caught “NOT FIVE MINUTES IN HE JUST VANISHES WITH RITSU” that he realized that teru was complaining about more recent things. Pearing out of the bathroom at the array of shredded foam,~~*mauling* pillow in frustration, not eating alright then~~ Regien warmed up his job voice “Shou did *what* now, cause Seri said everything was fine over the phone.” Teru snapped his tail around pulling everything into one pile of foam. “Nothing!” “That didnt sound like nothing, what happened?” “...” “Teruki” “It started out fine! Serizawa picked me up early and we got a good spot out of the way with a good view, and then the Kaygeyama’s showed up and Shigeo brought this big heavy blanket and when we finished setting up he was just gone and so was ritsu. I didnt see them leave but Ritsu told Shigeo they were going to a different spot. Everything after was fine, Seri shifted but we just pulled some of the blanket over him and everyone thought he was a labrador. But when Shou came back he was *covered* in ash because he and Ritsu went up a tree and he was flying through the rockets like dodgeball and catching the remains” “Ok, but no one was seen then?” “What? No of course not! We know better than that!” “Then what are yo-, wait. Are you annoyed that Shou got to eat the fireworks and you didnt?” Teru huffed and picked through the remains of the pillow. “No. I had a nice evening with Shigeo and S- yes and i cant even *buy* them because im not ‘*old’* enough.” “Rockets arnt even allowed in the city teru, *I* cant even buy those.” “*i know*”

“I think the backyard fountains might be ok in some areas, at least, i should be able to find some if it makes you feel better.” “Shou said something about seeing better fireworks before. I think he’s going to be dragging Seri to the store in a few days for a sale. I gave him fifty bucks if he bought extra for me” “Smart, do you think he’d even give them to you?” “He better.”

Seri was helping Reigen pack the car. Even if it was just standing and holding over 80 pounds of meat and three bags of charcoal like they weighed no more than a pillow while reigen shoved stray hamburger wrappers out of the way and stacked the buns and condiments in a way that would still let all the kids sit inside. “There, all we have to do is stack those in the back and we should be able to get all four kids in, they’re still small enough.” “I could shift if you think it’s worth it.” “We have to hit the highway, so you would have to be down in the foot space so no one sees you” “That’s fine! Im used to busses and planes, it’s odd when i have all that room to myself” “I know and it makes *my* back hurt to see you fit in such small spaces” Teru and the brothers were sitting on the steps outside the building and one by one they turned and looked down the sidewalk. “Shou’s here.” “Are you sure Ritsu?” “It must be, who else would be coming this way with that many fireworks” Reigen twisted around to look. There was a stack of colourfull boxes on jeans walking down the sidwalk. *Many* boxes. Possibly more boxes than would even fit in the car. And most of them, from the labels that reigen could see, were very very much not legal in the city. Some of the boxes were *not* colourful and were completely *unmarked* and THOSE were the ones that really made reigen sweat. Because he could see fireworks poking out of them and they were very *large* rockets. Shou dropped the stack by the car with a grin. It went up to his chest which was puffed out proudly “I *told* you i knew some better ones.” Shou crowed, before going to tell the kids *all* about how *big* and *grand* the fireworks *he* got were. Somewhere in there was “bigger and better than the city ones” “On the sidethought, i think you might have to shift Seri, T’s bringing a second car but i dont think his little japoneze smart car has that much room in it.

“Are we there yet?” “...” “Are we there yet?” “I know i asked T about this before, but are we *sure* you guys breathe? *because im pretty sure shou sure doesnt.*” “We dont breath *air*, i spent three hours underwater once.” Mob looked thoughtful. “Didnt he say it was like plants? I think we just filter things.” “ARE WE THERE YET?” Ritsu sighed. “You know he’s just going to keep saying it until you answer” “*odd, that didnt stop him the last 16 times i told him no*” “:3c *ARE WE THERE YET*” “I dont think shou’s been on a road trip before.” “Nah, not since my mom took me out to see the stars” “I’ve never actually left the city at night, what’s that like?” “*more than you can count*” “Does the Milkyway look any different to you guys?” “*>:3c are we there yet?*” “Shishou i think im getting carsick” “ Do you need me to pull over? We’re almost there Mob it’ just arou- wait, how?” “It feels like i left my stomach back at the house.” “I think it’s probably because the car doesnt have a gravitational pull like the Earth does, I know I used to feel queasy on the planes until i figured out how to move with them.” “We’re on a ball of rock flinging itself around the sun at god knows what speed and the *traveling in vehicles* makes you feel sick” “Yeah Boss, *but you dont weight more than the car does*” “ARE WE THERE YET” “Oh for *Yes*. T’s got the grill, dont ask what he uses it for. Dont run off too far, this is a bit of a marshy area, watch out for ticks in the grass, Welcome to *nowhere* PA.”

“*Yesss*” “Shou, wh- DONT PHASE THRO THE CAR!”

While everyone else filed out in a normal fashion, shou was already ‘helping’ unpack the car. What he was actually doing was digging everything out and stacking them in haphazard piles that looked like a sneeze would topple them. Fireworks sorted in some strange system that made sense to shou and only shou, meat and other foodstuffs on top of the car, and what he was apparently after at the bottom, *the charcoal*. T watched in amusement as shou half disappeared into the trunk in order to grab the bag before approaching to snatch him by the pants and hauled him out bag and all. “Thanks for finding the charcoal for me firecracker, i know you werent trying to sneak off with one of the bags before we even got the grill set up.” Shou blinked at T upside down and grinned sheepishly. “Maybe” “That doesnt sound guilty at all, you do realize that if you wait about ten minutes we’ll have them all on fire and the food cooking and *then* you can start raiding the bags. I brought extra just because i know you rather eat the *supplies* than the food.” “THANKS T! Did i ever tell you youre the best? *’cause youre the best*” “I know i am, now go pull out the daytime fireworks and smoke bombs so we dont have bugs in our dinner while i go and stop reigen from confusing seri on the grill. Seri’s a master at this Ikei stuff and reigen still puts his shoes on the wrong feet sometimes.” “That explains *so* much”

Soon the air was filled with the smell of meat and veggie kabobs grilling and the sharp bite of chemicals as the kids set off sparkler wands and clouds of coloured smoke. Shou and ritsu seemed to be having a sword fight with their’s while teru and mob were writing their names in the air. Reigen returned from the piles of dubiously legal fireworks holding a handful of wands which he offered to seri in a flourish and passed a small bag to T. “I dont have a lighter in the car anymore and i think the kids have the matches right now, but i want to know how shou got *that*.” T looked in the bag and pulled out a smallish bottle with masking tape label saying ‘Na’. “Huh, shou’s got the same supplier as the mib” “Wait you know what that *is*? “It’s just pure sodium. There are less shady sources but this guy has a deal with us, we get half off and even print ads for other labs.” T rummaged farther into the bag. “Oh *neat* he’s got all kinds of homemade firework kits in here.” “T THAT IS *NOT* A ‘Neat’ THAT SHOU GETTING ILLEGAL THI-” “Oh none of these are illegal, i think, you just cant really buy them all too easily, it’s not like most stores carry them. Well, this one might be, but it’s just that since shou is underage that means he shouldnt have been able to get ahold of this. Actually on second thought, i’m pretty sure this is his *father’s* supplier. SO you might be more right than i am. I could make a ship with a warp drive and never get it out of atmosphere. I have a permit to buy everything but rocket fuel.”

“Youre not making me feel any better about this, T” T frowned down at the bag of elements and cardboard. “Well this might, Shou at least didnt bring the things that make starkids sick, so he either listens, or he ate them before this so we wouldnt know.” Reigen looked over where shou was gathering a handful of smokebombs and was trying to tie all the fuses together. “Hey! Make sure to save the leftover sticks, we can use those to light the fuses so we save the matches.” Ritsu looked up from where he was trying to light another sparkler, “*We have matches?*” Shou’s smile faltered for a minute.. “Oops?” “What have you been lighting them with then?” Teru shrugged, “phosphorous tastes good, and it’s not like we actually need them to set anything on fire. Sparks are easy enough to do.” Ritsu glared up at teru, “says you. Shou, how does this work again?” “You just pull a bunch of energy in one spot. Like picking things up, only instead of grabbing it, you jab it.” Turning the sparkler over in his hands, ritsu pinched the one end and pushed his thumb against the tip like he was popping the flower off a stem. The sparkler burst into life with a shower of sparks as ritsu jumped and pulled his hand away from the live end. “HA *told* you could do it! now light up my *masterpiece*” With a twist of light not unlike the heat waves on Phoenix roads, shou shifted into his starform. Curling in the air his brighter colours nearly blended into the sunset of the sky. Shou held his rainbow cherry stem collection for ritsu to light before swinging it into orbit around himself and flinging the smokebombs into the air with a mimicked shreeck of launching a rocket. They went up 60 feet before the smoke began leaking out and another 20 before they separated and fell apart leaving trails arcing to the ground like a radial rainbow and landed in the grass still hissing out smoke. Shou darted for the nearest one like a flaming arrow and dove into the blue column. “HEY RITSU LOOK!” Ritsu looked, and saw more blue smoke spreading out from where shou displaced it. “Shou i cant see you.” “Really? Not at all? What about you teru?” Teru glanced up from comparing the colours of the fading smoke to the stripes on his tail. He tilted his head, squinted at where shou’s voice was coming from, and rotated his eyes a degree like switching lenses in a microscope. “You are still in the smoke right? I’m not sure if im spotting your energy there or if it’s just the remains of the sunset reflecting off that cloud behind it. “YES!” Shou flickered into sight a few feet away from where teru was looking. “I’ve *never* managed to disappear into smoke before! Do we have anymore of those?” Mob looked at the empty wrappers shou had tossed in a box. “I think you used the last ones.” “Oh right, oh well, you know that this means?!” Shou floated over to the piles he had left and grabbed an armful of ground fountains. Ritsu handed the last remains of the sparkler to his brother and looked back at where reigen was attempting to fish out a dropped burger from the coals. “Actually i think it’s dinner time” Shou’s eyes got wide as he let the fountains drop limply from his arms. “Oooh right *food.* i forgot. RACE YA.” Zipping to the table only to u-turn on a dime and grab a firework from the bottom of the pile, he tossed it into his mouth before returning to sit next to teru place like the model of the hungry teenager he was. Shou grinned smugly at teru as ritsu and mob sat next to them. After all the only point of winning was to get the food first. “Pass the fruit salad *please~*” Teru looked shou in the eye, scooped some for himself, and passed it to mob. Shou pouted. Mob looked between teru and shou before passing it to ritsu. “Oh *come on* really?” “Oh sorry, it’s just that ritsu likes it and you tend to take what’s left.” “Yeah that’s fair, but i’d *share* with him.” Serizawa looked at the table nearly covered in food. “Um, reigen, what is this table doing out here anyway?” Reigen paused from eating his burger to wipe the sauce from his face and answer. “Donno, We’re not too far off the Poconos and the Appalachian Trail. You can head down almost any dirt road here and find a picnic table, it’s *weird*. Why does anyone wants to eat outside with all the bugs. Well, i guess the grilled hamburgers are worth it.” “Oh! Speaking of, here shou, i salvaged the victims of reigen’s cooking and shifted the ashes from the coals for you.” “Did i say T was the best? Scratch that, *youre the best seri*” “HEY, *You burned some of them too! Dont blame them all on me!” “Yeah Raygun, but seri’s doesnt flip them ten feet into the air for them to land land five feet away from the grill. Where did those go by the way?” “...”

shou had been the second to the table, he was also second last to leave it. The setting twilight and full stomachs had left teru half asleep and shou was stacking the left over plates to encase him. The rest of the group was slowly gravitating to the pile of fireworks placing blankets on the ground to sit on in anticipation. Mob stretched out on the back edge and propped himself up on his side with his tail curled around the right edge like a barrier. Ritsu immediately hauled his blanket over to his side to claim the area in front of him while T dumped a pile of pillows in the center and kicked them apart and dropped onto his back next to where Serizawa joined Mob in starform and was bunching a blanket and laid on top of it like a saint bernard sized sphinx. Reigen surveyed everyone before clapping his hands together. “Alright, everyone’s eaten, garbage has been gathered, or also eaten while i wasn't looking,” Reigen sat down on Seri’s other sit and twisted back to look at the last two remaining kids. ”Someone needs to wake up teru before we can start.”

“I GOT IT”

“I’m not alseep shou *dont you dare*” “K, and since we seem to have misplaced the matches in someone’s stomachs, who wants to do the weird trick to set these off? You can take turns, just be careful.” Shou stopped pulling up grass and sprinkling it on teru to dash over in a blur of orange light. “I DO, I’LL GO FIRST I GOT THEM AFTER ALL” Shou hovered over the pile and grabbed a small thing with a paper bee pattern, flicked the fuse over his wrist like a snap bracelet and threw it at teru. The firework let out a handful of large yellow sparks before giving out a sharp shriek. Teru echoed it as he lit up, tripped over backwards, and glared at shou from where he was tangled in the table as his stripes strobed as if he could give shou a seizure in retaliation. The nearby fireflies begin blinking their way towards him even after he stilled his colours. “SHOU WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE YOU THINKING YOU COULD HAVE HURT TERU” “Nah he’s fine,” Shou had the audacity to look at Reigen like he was crazy. Flicking his tail at the firework which was cheerily spitting sparks at Teru and bouncing off the air eight inches from him Shou went on. “you would have to set one of the bigs ones off and hold it right against his side before he felt it. A little spark like those wouldnt have even gotten through my old coat.” Reigen sighed and rubbed at his face. “It’s not like you could have *known* tha-” Shou puffed out like an angry cat with the low building yowl behind it. “I *do*. The larger sparks are like being bitten by a bug, not that any of us would know what that’s like since we’re *living bug zappers.* “ Teru pulled himself out of the table with the grace of a snake and reached down to crush the now dead firework before somewhat agreeing with Shou. Drifting over to join the others with the cloud of fireflies merrily following him teru tucked himself next to Mob’s spot half curled into a knot and claimed the other two sides of the blanket. His tail perfectly mirrored the six inches from the corner as mob’s did, as if he was trying to hide the fact he was longer in length without letting anyone notice. The bugs continued to flash and attempted to land on him only to veer off at odd angles as they got close. The few that didnt flash managed to touchdown on the bright yellow/green patches and flashed in time as the stripes passed under them in waves. Teru sighed. “They're just as annoying though, at least *those* i can fry out of existence” Mob gave him a look. “*deflect* and strongly encourage to fly elsewhere. And not everyone holds as much energy in their field as you do shou. That’s how you *lose* it.” “If you makes you feel better Sparky,” T grinned, “im sure you're a very *pretty* firefly” Teru flicked his stripes blue for a moment causing the bugs to scatter and circle in confusion like dancing stars. Shou waved his tail into the swarm to show how the lit bugs also failed to make contact with him before giving reigen a challenging look. Reigen sighed as, once again, shou continued to prove normal rules didnt apply to him. “OK, fine. Starkids are mildly firework proof, *im* not. Neither is T, or the grass. Possibly Ritsu.” Ritsu shrugged “It hurts if i let them touch my skin for a few seconds but it builds up to the burn” “Right, so try not to throw any around please. Last thing we want is a fire and i *know* you guys aren't fireproof. Wait, Shou eats fire, T help?” T waved his hand in a iffy motion “It’s the energy transfer, um think sugar glass? If you get enough that makes it hard to break through but it still hurts. Huh, that would make fireworks like candy then.” “YUP.” Shou popped a handful of ground snappers into his mouth and spat out a bit of smoke. Hooking another fountain and tossing it *unlit* to teru as a peace offering, he spun thro the air. “Come on! Everything’s fine, no one’s hurt, you two can stand next to Mob if you’re worried about sparks, he’s got like, a three foot clearance. Seri’s got like, *five*. And i got a *stack* of these shitty fountains we can munch on while we use the *good* ones” Mob and Ritsu glanced at each other. “Wait we’re not setting these off first?” “We used to go in order of size when our dad got them.” “Nah, they arnt worth the gunpower” Shou grabbed a bundle of rockets wrapped around a single pole and stabbed it into the ground. “Now *these*, *these are worth it”* and planting his hands on the ground Shou cracked his tail like a whip across the fuse as it sparked and Blasted one rocket into the air. The head of every starkid snapped to follow it’s movement with all three eyes. The resulting ring of colours was surprisingly large for a three inch rocket. As the white faded from the air the next rocket caught and launched after it. The green jitterbugs spun and wiggled through the air as shou echoed the whistle and followed the movements like a bee dance. The third one shou chased up after as it shot off and he darted underneath it after a purplish ‘bug’ and snapped at it. Twisting around to avoid the next rocket he dove back down to the group and grinned. Then spat out the spark that flashed and fizzled in the middle of the air between them. With the “THLP” signaling the launch shou flipped in the air to go after it only for Seri to lift a paw from the blanket nest. Everyone but Teru missed the explosion in favor of watching Shou squirm in the air as he slowly drifted down and flattened against the ground. “Shou no. You dont want to catch that in the air before they go off, you cant eat them faster than they explode.” “Yeah Firecracker, dont play fetch with the fireworks, i think Raygun’s having a heart attack.” Shou dug his claws into the dirt and huffed. He twitched as another launched and glared at Seri until he put his paw down, letting Shou drift back into the air. Teru was glad that no one could see his second set of hands. While he looked to be sitting perfectly poised, he had his own claws dug into the blankets to stop himself from jerking after fireworks as well. “I wasn- yeah fine. *i still wanna catch it tho*.” “Why dont you just eat the other ones then?” “those dont *move*” Shou fluttered over to the boxes and emptied them out and stuck the rest in the ground before snapping a claw over the fuse of one. “What, do we need to toss them for you? If it makes you stop going after the rockets we can. Not going to light them though.” “Nah im good on food, it’s just that they dart off *fast-*” The next rocket went off and shou *lunged* only for Teru to make a sharp ‘Stri!ik’ sound at him and Shou flipped back like he *wasnt* just about to chase down the firework. T perked up at the sound teru made more than any of the fireworks as he pulled out his phone and clipped a bit of video. “Oooh Sparky that one’s ‘come here’ right?” Reigen stared at T in disbelief. “Have you been recording this whole evening?” Ritsu glanced over from where he was leaning against his brother side. “No that was ‘stay’, this one’s ‘come here’” and ritsu gave a whistle of a quarter note followed by a higher eighth. Shou flashed over to his side and wiggled himself between Mob’s inky darkness and Ritsu’s back with a placating warble. “It’s a bit longer, but i think it’s the same base of ‘here’. ‘There’ is a bit lower and longer than both of them” ritsu frowned. “Or shorter?” Shou settled like an oversized neck pillow and flipped upside down to look at both ritsu and T. “Depends on how *far* ‘there’ is. You say it first and hold it as long as you need to. Pops used to laugh when people asked where he was from and kept it up for ages underneath his words.” “Huh, do the fireworks say anything?” Mob blinked down at T. “Not really? It’s a bit flat, but some of them sound like you startled them and they want you to back off” “Yeah, they do kinda sound angry in a way, but the ones that *pop* are the BEST” Crackling along with the firework pack’s final five rockets, shou’s constant movement made him slip sideways off mob who caught him from tipping over completely in the curl of his tail. Shou peered over at Teru with a grin as Ritsu wrapped an arm over him to hold him still and take advantage of his warmth. “Hey *teru*, you wanna set off the next pack? Or is your tail too jagged to reach that far?” Responding with a “*easily~*” Teru snapped his tail like a lightening bolt and with a fizz the last set burned and started shooting off small white streams. Then shot off one that flew up high. It went off with a thunderous *bang*”that shou mimicked with a bark like a car backfiring. Followed by two more. “Shou this isn’t just flashbangs is it?” “Nah it’s got others in it, there’s just a few in the start first.” Watching the orange trail of the next one everyone was surprised when Teru joined Shou’s echoing with his own electrical short of a bang.“Does th-” Before T managed to ask them what it was about he was cut off by another flashbang as the two of them repeated the sound. Followed hesitantly by a chime of a struck wineglass from Mob. “Do you guys like these or what?” Ritsu looked just as baffled as Reigen did while the sky popped and shrieked with colours. “Niisan normally hates the loud ones.” “Oh, it’s just that Shou and Teruki already responded so i thought i might as well too.” T pounced on that phrasing as he did with any other tidbit about starkids’ natural behaviors. “SO that *means* something? *What?*” *BANG* Seri stopped twisting the blanket into knots as the others continued their chorus. Shou’s immediate smaller echo, teru, who had refined his sound into something more viola based, and mob’s short ringing ping. Tilting his head as he listened he attempted to find words for such a short sound. “I’m not sure if it’s actually asking for a response, it just seems expected, but it’s a bit of a ‘i’m here. Who’s there?” BANG, BaNG, thi!vvvz!, Thri!ing! “That doesn't sound anything like ‘here.’” “I know, it’s *flat* sounding, but you dont have to say* youre there, that’s just implied.” “Yup! ‘Im *me!’ works just fine. All ya have to do is just sorta say something that sounds like you,” Shou twisted out of ritsu’ grasp and swam in the air over Serizawa. Reigen looked over at shou who started poking and “pip”ing at Seri. “Wait so it’s basicly a great big hello?” “It’s not that friendly, the whole game is not getting caught unless you think you can win. I *so* wouldnt announce myself if i didnt know it wasnt’ actually anyone there. Or if you guys werent here. Pops was deeper than ‘feel it in your bones.’” Switching from poking with claws to digging them in and *pulling* Shou kept at his antics at bothering Seri into paying attention. “Come *on* youre the only one that hasn’t done it. And youre the *biggest*, come oooonnnn.” Shou flopped on top of Seri and flailed dramatically as he held the whine longer than humanly possible. “We dont live over here shou, and there isn’t actually anyone there to hear it.” “*That’s the point* it’s just us. It’s not like the *space* police are going to get you.” Shou glanced over at Reigen. “He’d have to eat more veggies than burgers if he ever wanted to pick you up.” “HEY, i resembl- *resent* that statement. So if’s it’s not ‘hello’ than what *does* it mean?” Shou grinned as the final rocket launched and *boomed*. “*POLO*” ~~almost could end it here~~

Epilogue --

Packing the cars was much simpler with only the bedding to toss in. The park may have had a ‘carry in, carry out’ policy, but trash had a habit of disappearing after reigen’s cluster of starkids had last doubled. Reigen did one last head count and coming up short on the shortest one, only for ritsu to tap the green jacket in his lap as shou sprawled over the laps of everyone in the back. “It’s a miracle, Shou actually *sleeps*.” Only for his head to pop back up and hazily face reigen’s voice, and then drop back into Ritsu’ lap. Teru was already passed out and was leaning on mob’s sholder. “Well it was *almost* a miracle.” Seri shook his head. “You can find him tucked into places all over, i think the real miracle would be if he actually slept in his own bed. Im just glad i’ve been finding him in the house more often.” Somewhere off in the woods near the highway another few fireworks lit up the horizon. “So we never did hear what your ‘polo’ was.” “OH, um sorry? I’m not really good with most Starsong-” Shou rolled over and gave a softer version of the sound he made from before, now more recognizable as the ‘pop’ of a fireplace. The sound of a water hitting a stone cliff at *just* the right angle followed it as Seri covered his reddening face with his hands. The silence that followed was only broken by the snickering from Shou attempting to repeat it with the *distinctive* sound of a soaked towel slapping against a wall. Reigen bit back his own laughter as he looked between Seri and the road. “*THAT* was the most *inelegant* sound i have ever heard you make. They’re normally so *serene*.” “It’s. They’re just white noise really. Theyre not that nice.” “Are you kidding? There’s a reason people have hours of recordings waves and noise. Theyre *peaceful*.” Half letting go of the wheel, Reigen started conducting the sounds. “That Shooosh *swisssh*, the bubbly purr you do when you do that thing where you twist your tail when your nervous. That rush of roaring water you make when you angry is terrifying but i like that one too.” “You *like* those sounds?” “Hey, i like them too. I wouldnt copy them if i didnt!” “Shou you made fart noises for the first hour of the car ride, i thought you just liked to copy the most annoying things you hear.”

“Well yeah, *i like them*. Your’s arn’t annoying, it’s your *sound*. Do you know how hard it is to change accents?” “Um, harder than learning a new language?” “Yep, and that’s your’s.” Shou broke off with a squeak of a yawn. “Reigen’s isnt as nice tho, can you keep it down?” “Sure it’s late anyway.” “Oh um Reigen? Could you not tell T? He can be a bit insistent about the alien stuff.” “No problem, he’s just like that with everything it’s his job and his life, 24/7. Tell him no and he backs off, he’s good with lines. Just dont tell him i was the one that ate those burgers i flipped off the grill.” “deal.”

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#mib au #watch me post this and edit little errors fr the next three days before i try rewritting it #it started a a PLAY SCRIPT #nomrmally i do discprictions not DIALODGE

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