｡ﾟﾟ･｡･ﾟﾟ｡ ﾟ。 beanie ki 　ﾟ･｡･ﾟ

Adjacent- JJK

A/n: NEW SERIES AS JK'S BDAY GIFT!! Many of my favorite people on this site and my sister are JK stans. This series was in the works for a lil while and I've decided to release this in honor of jk day!

Summary: The charming man who moved in next door a few months ago shows you that love should always be all inclusive. Even if it came as dual package with a clingy girlfriend and a similar cat? Especially so.

Genre: Neighbor AU, strangers to friends to lovers, slow burn, angst in there somewhere, generally soft.

Pairing: Idol! Jeon Jungkook x CEO! female reader.

Series Navigation

Masterlist.

PROLOGUE

word count: 870 words

“How much of an attention whore do you have to be to not realize that I can’t be at your service day and night, y/n?” Dae-Jung’s voice kept rising with every step he took towards you.

“Honey, that’s not what I want, I didn’t know who to call and Nox wouldn’t stop throwing up!” you countered, trying to keep a steady tone because he was being loud enough for the both of you.

“And so you thought that spamming my phones with calls would get me to answer if I didn’t pick up the first time?”

“Normally when your fiance calls your multiple phones, multiple times it’s a sign of an emergency, honey” though the fond pet name tasted bitter on your tongue.

“Your fucking cat throwing up is not an emergency!”

“He’s our cat!” you reprimanded. You would hear his tantrums but you would not stand for rudeness to your precious boy, especially when he had to stay at the vet’s for his strange coming down with illness.

“No, he’s not y/n.” his voice lowered almost dramatically, “He’s a pretentious, overfed, spoilt vermin who’s as much of an attention whore as you are, and I’m losing my patience with both of you.”

“STOP CALLING ME THAT!” you screamed, your frustration breaking through.

“Don’t raise your voice at me, woman!” he said threateningly.

“Excuse you?”

“You heard me. You owe your entire spoilt existence to me and my bank account and I will not stand here and take your screaming lightly, as if you’ve forgotten your place.”

The ground split under your feet and the flames of hell rose to lick your feet.

“My place?” you took a step forward, “MY PLACE?” you grabbed Dae-Jung’s collar, “Never, EVER talk down to me like I was a bimbo you picked off the streets Kang Dae-Jung. I owe you nothing!” you shook him fiercely and pushed him backwards.

“Leave.” his voice was poison. “Leave before I call the cops on you.”

You were already halfway to the front door, grabbing your phone and car keys on the way. “Don’t bother calling me.”

“What makes you think I will!?” he called after you, cementing the god-awful ache in your chest as you slammed the door after you.

As the door sang the sweet tune of the security system activating the lock, you heaved deep breaths, trying to calm your thundering heart, your eyes raking your surroundings to find a distraction. Something. Anything.

The packages that sat in front of your neighbor’s door seemed to hold your eyes longer than anything else. The pile was ridiculously tall, as if they had gone on a midnight shopping spree on a single store and had bought, seemingly the whole thing. Your mind faintly registered that you had never actually interacted with your neighbor that had moved in a few months ago. Granted that the way your schedule was set up, you left for work later than the average office worker, and came back much later too, but it was currently almost midnight, and apparently they hadn’t come home either.

Speculation was helping your mind calm down, ironically, so you took a few steps closer to the packages.

Jeon Jungguk, the package on top read. So he was a guy? You wondered who he was. How he looked, how he was with his loved ones.

Would he drop what he was doing to pick up his beloved’s call whose cat was throwing up blood and she was on the verge of a breakdown herself?

Or would he not bother? Leave her to collect herself, then the poor animal and drive to the vet, trembling all the way?

You felt the sickness coming back. You shook your head and stepped back. You probably looked like a stalker creep anyways. What were you doing hovering over an essential stranger’s packages? In front of his home too.

You really were losing it slightly huh?

You turned and made your way to the elevator, your sneaker clad feet not making much sound.

Once inside, you called the vet’s office.

“Miss l/n, I was wondering when you’d call. Your baby seems to be missing you.” the receptionist said cheerfully.

You missed him terribly too. Nox had been with you since he was a little kitty. He had spent his entire four years of life, being spoiled and loved to bits by you, and you felt guilty about how he was so sick on your watch.

“I miss him too. Please take care of him for me. Have the scans been done?” you asked, eager as to when you could have him back in your arms.

“Yup, and he was a perfect gentleman all through. He’s so well trained, you’ve really given him lots of time and care. We’ve submitted his works to the lab and you can come pick him up tomorrow in the meantime as we wait for the results to come through.”

“That’s perfect.” you breathed a sigh of relief. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Perfect, see you then miss l/n.” the receptionist hung up and you felt a bit of life come back to you.

Now, where would you spend the night?

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

A/n(2):

Taglist open!

Send in an ask or leave a comment to be tagged. I'm more than excited to bring this piece of my heart to the world.

I WAITED (Todoroki Shoto)

This is my first ever fan fiction posted in here. I hope you all enjoy it :) 

You could feel the right side of the bed losing its weight causing your eyes to flutter open from the sudden emptiness you feel only to see the radiating light being blocked by the thick curtain you have in your beloved room. The red and white curtain, first ever décor that has been bought for the room because you thought it would match the looks of your lovely husband, Todoroki Shoto. A soft smile was carved in your face knowing that those faint footsteps belonged to the man you tied your life with.

I’ll Wait…

“Good morning, Shoto” you greeted. “Good morning to you too, Y/N.”  Despite the hollowness his voice hold, your beam never failed to leave your lips. His very presence in the mornings was your daily dose of vitamins, it’s what keeps you alive and positive about this relationship.

“What would you want for breakfast?” it took him long to say it but in the back of your mind you already knew what it was “Cold soba” you both say at the same time. His giggle always has this big impact on you making you madly blush. He was never the one to show his emotions after all.

You crawled out of your bed. Stretching every inch of your stiff body as you make your way to the kitchen to prepare your husband’s meal while he refresh himself with a bath. It didn’t took long making his favorite food just the right time to be served as he finished dressing himself up.

“Where you off to today?” Seeing that your wearing your hero costume?” you asked setting down the bowl in your hand “My father’s company, he mentioned something like a villain attack near their location so I was called. You?” he answered.

“I see.  Classes at U.A. are suspended so I’m thinking of doing a patrol this afternoon. Are you coming home for dinner? ” You eyed him anticipating for his answer “I’m sorry, I may not be able to come home for dinner” and with that he left leaving only his empty bowl.

Empty…Alone

It was one of the hundred times he did this and you still weren’t getting used to it. He left you at the dining table without even a single good bye, a kiss, a hug, nothing. It’s not like your expecting one anyways, but still it wouldn’t be wrong to desire his attention right?

I’ll wait…

You let this pass by again, setting those unsettling thoughts and emotions aside. You didn’t want to ruin the “special” day ahead of you, supposedly.

“Special”? Was it really a thing for this marriage?

5 years, for this 5 damn years you’ve endured everything, you try your best to understand him, you were so considerate. You never nag, you always flash him the warmest smile you could give, you cook him the best meal, you never let him do the chores because he’s tired, you shower him with attention. You poured out everything just to be the best wife but even a single affection he couldn’t give.

I’ll wait…

----FLASHBACK---

Your back was facing him, sitting at the end of your shared bed.

“Don’t you think we should end this Shoto?” You could hear your poor heart tearing with every word that came out of your mouth. You tried to hold back the tears that threatened to fall.

“Y/N please don’t decide on things that quickly” he objected grabbing me by the shoulder.

“That’s why I’m asking you. Should we end this marriage we were forced into?” his head hanged low.

Silence.

You gently brushed off his grasp on your shoulder and weakly stood up but a sudden force pulled you down and you found yourself wrapped in his warmth.

“Give me time. Please, don’t leave me...”

“Please wait for me…”

The tears you were holding back one by one trickled on your cheeks. Your cries filled the noiseless space.

You were mad at yourself for being swayed.

You were crazy for falling in love with him, but you didn’t care.

You hated how easy you have become for him, how easy it is for him to shatter the walls you have worked hard to build between you two.

You hated how willing you were to waste a hundred years for him.

You couldn’t shut him down. You couldn’t.

Your heart was yearning for him. You were thrilled to receive more than just a hug from him.

That’s why when he pleaded, you complied.

----PRESENT TIME----

Hours, minutes, seconds passed. In your palm laid the velvet box that has the jewellery you found perfect for him. A gift for your 5th anniversary.

You started to feel the burning sensation in your back for sitting so long. The smoke floating on top of the food you’ve made vanished. The candles that gave life to the atmosphere melted staining the silky white table cloth with its red hue. The speaker that blasted romantic songs hushed leaving you with the ticking sounds of the grandfather clock you owned.

You spammed him with messages, it was already past 11. You put your phone down releasing a heavy sigh. You tapped a contact on your phone.

*RING* *RING* *RING*

“Hello my daughter? What makes you call at this hour?” his voice always makes you tremble. “Endeav-  Ohhh I mean father I was just wondering if Shoto’s okay, he hasn’t replied to any of my messages yet and I’m just worried” you answered.

“Shoto? He excused himself this afternoon, so I let him be, he may be preparing something for your anniversary.” He said teasingly but still I could feel his stoic self. “Happy anniversary to the both of you!”

“Ohh Thank you father. I think I shall end this call now” sadness was evident in your voice as you pressed the red button. There was silence once again.

“Endeavor greeted me before his son did. Endeavor remembered what day is today yet his son, forget it.” You whispered to the air.

I’ll wait…

*ding*

Just as you opened the notification the door also opened revealing your husband still in his hero suit. You turned it off, you made the sweetest smile you could possibly do. But...

The surprised look on his face hurt you. Reality slapped you real hard that you didn’t notice the tears flowing down.

“Silly me to think you’ll remember” I said chuckling.

“Y/N-“he moved closer.

“No, no, please” you backed away a step or few. It was the first time to see you not wanting his touch, his kiss, his warmth. Most especially, you didn’t want his sorry. You were tired of that word leaving from his lips over and over again.

“Y/N please let me explain-“

“I said NO! I don’t need you sorry nor your explanation. You know what I need? For this stupid marriage to end!”  His eyes went wide not for the fact that you didn’t let him explain it was because this was the first you had raised your voice at him.

“I’m tired Shoto! I’m tired of loving you, of understanding you, of pretending to be okay even if I’m not! Just how many sorry should I receive? Just how many explanations do I have to listen to?  Answer me honestly; is there something left for me to wait on? Cause I lost too much. My freedom, my happiness, my days that could be meaningful, my time. I lost too much love that I could not give one to myself. I gave them all to you! I gave them all and yet here I am still waiting, still begging for the love of a husband for his perfect wife! I don’t think I could do this anymore. I’m sorry but I waited too much. Let’s just put an end to this” your eyes was on the ground, you could not face him it will just widen the wound you were carrying.

You watched as the ring on your finger slowly slipped off.

*thud*

How long has it been since you find yourself engulfed in his arms? How long has it been since you tasted those soft lips?

5 years? 2 years?

Here he was giving you hopes, making you think that he cares, that his trying when he’s really not.

“I love you Y/N”

Stupid! You’re just lonely, you just pity me because after all it was your father who pushed me to fall in this situation, you thought. You have no family to go back to and he knew that. That’s why you were certain on why he was holding on to you.

There was only one in the world and it was him. You needed him and you keep pushing yourself to him but he was getting farther and farther away from you.

You wanted to hug him back, to stay by his side, to hold his hand, to continue loving him, to build a future with him. But you were tired.

You released yourself from him and looked into his eyes for the last time. You sneaked in the velvet box and your phone in his hands.

As he opened it, it showed the necklace you ought to give him and the ring that bounds you two together and sees a picture of him with an unfamiliar lass.

*Smile*

“No you don’t Shoto.”

It was your turn to leave him there. You were truly sorry, you were but you have finally gotten out of the endless pit.

���Please don’t forget that I waited.”

So I just started playing honkai and since ur the only person that I know plays and I have no fucking clue what I'm doing any advice? (Also I havnt even played past the tutorial, I havnt even met the character yet, and idk what you thought but kiana seems pretty gay for mei because her literal first to lines about her are "I wonder what she'll make us for dinner!" and "Mei! Am I gonna meet up with Mei?!" Like I'm probably wrong but idk it just seems a bit 💅)

Oh Kiana’s totally head over heels for Mei dkfjskfjsk. I used to main her and jesus christ I had to hear her gush about Mei so many times a day ;;;;;;; one of her idle lines is basically “it’s so sunny outside!! This would be a perfect time to go on a date with Mei…..”

Sigh. That girl’s pining so hard it’s ridiculous. Love her. KiaMei my beloved <3333 dkfjskjdksjd

Anyways moving on, take all of this with a grain of salt bc I am not by any means a Professional Honkai Player skfjskdjks. I’ve looked up exactly Zero tutorials and done exactly Zero tests, I’m just spewing what seems to work for me

Idk if you’re a completionist or not but like it might be good to mention dkfjskdnsk ah, 3-starring all the levels isn’t really necessary unless you want crystals for gacha pulls. Well they give other things too but I usually do it for crystals. Don’t worry about it early on, you can always go back later and redo the levels.

Open World mode is unlocked at Captain Level 18, but CL35 is when you unlock Adventure Tasks; that’s what I mainly use OW for. I find that it’s a good way to get gold and materials. They also give battlesuit fragments, so it’s good if you want a specific character. But I’ve only seen a few specific battlesuits given so like. Idk. But yeah Adventure Tasks are good.

Also btw there’s three different Open Worlds. It doesn’t matter which one you do, but there’s one called A Post-Honkai Odyssey. Idk if it’s unlocked already for you, but I wouldn’t recommend doing that one since you’re so early into the game. It’s not bad or crazy hard or anything, but I think it’s better if you get farther into the story before you start it. I’m not that far in and it kinda confused me ;;;;

Oh oh! If you can, use those stamina replenisher items as well as the HOMU boxes. They give you stamina and gold when you use them. Istg you can never have enough of those, especially later in the game. I’m like. Level 73 and I’m still literally always broke because I need to level up my characters ;;;;;; usually it’s leveling up skills that makes my money evaporate into thin air, but enhancing weapons and stigmatas has done that as well………

^^ two types of HOMU boxes, the right one gives you the most amount of gold.

^^ and then a few items that give you stamina when used. There’s a ton and they all look different. Both HOMU boxes and stamina items can be found in Equipment, you can filter it by Materials to make it easier to find them. If you’re not sure what they do, just tap on them and check the description, it’ll say smth like “use to get 60 stamina” or “use to get 1000 gold”

Idk what level it is specifically, but when you unlock the dorms, there’s a thing that generates both over time. You’ll wanna claim those as often as possible, I usually do it when I first log in. (While I’m talking about it, I’d recommend trying to log in every day at least. It’s not mandatory, but the daily rewards are really nice imo.)

^^ those are the things I’m talking about dkfjksjd I know it says beta testing on the bottom, but the official dorm base looks basically the exact same. The dorm bonuses are still on the right, I just don’t have my ipad with me to take actual screenshots and for some reason I couldn’t find any pics of the actual dorm screen for the life of me

There’s also weekday events if you go to Attack and then events. On Saturday and Sunday, you can do the Super HOMU Run thingy and it’ll give you a ton of gold.

Ummm stigmatas are good! And weapons. Try to level those up, they help a lot if you wanna do more damage. I used to just put random stigmatas on my Valkyries bc I had no clue what they did but!! They have like. Actual effects and stats that help more when they’re given to characters who would actually benefit from them dkfjskjxskjd. So characters who deal fire damage would benefit from stigmatas who buff/deal fire damage, characters who have a damage boost against enemies who are paralyzed benefit from stigmatas that paralyze enemies. Would not recommend putting stigmatas that buff ranged attacks on a character who fights melee aha ;;;;;; same situation with weapons and weapon skills. It isn’t like. Game breaking or anything if you do happen to put mismatched equipment on your characters, but it uhhh might help a little

It also helps to take advantage of the leader skills!

There’s not any set character that has The Best Bonus, it depends on what you need on that level. Personally I like boosted damage and attack speed but that’s because my playstyle is basically just ooga booga spam attack button

Hmmmm I think Q-Singularis is good to do? I’m bad at remembering to do it because up until like. Yesterday, I was maybe a little tiny bit bitter that it replaced a previous Abyss that I really loved, but the rewards for it are pretty good even if the bleed effect leaves my Valkyries on life support sometimes. (There’s also Dirac Sea, they rotate between the two. That one’s good as well, I’m pretty sure they give the same rewards but I might be wrong. Like I said, I forget to do them skfjskjdsknd)

Armadas are also pretty nice, they’re basically guilds/groups you can join that give you rewards based on how much you contribute. I think you unlock them fairly early on? You have to play consistently to not get kicked though. I forget to log in for months on end sometimes so I’m. Pretty frequently kicked out aha ;;;;;

I thiiink that’s enough aha ;;; feel free to ask about anything else! This was fun to do haha. (My UID is 101609594 if you wanna friend me :3 I’m stuck as Emilia on there bc Mihoyo won’t let me change my name but it’s me I promise dkfjskjdksjd)

So I have a request...How would Mirio react to his S/O mention she is pregnant by giving him a " #1 Dad" ? Also how would he react for his child being born?

this made me really soft!! thank you so so much for requesting uwu. also uhhhhhh this got longer than expected, so enjoy 1.2k worth of mirio being a sweetheart!

it’s no secret mirio wants to start a family with you. after all you’ve been through as a couple, he wants to become a successful pro hero by your side and eventually have a kid or two. or maybe three or ten.

yes, he becomes lemillion, and yes, i live and thrive in my own canon.

after graduation, mirio dropped to his knees and put a ring on your finger, not showing any signs of hesitation while doing so. sunshine boy just can’t wait to spend the rest of his days with you.

one of the daydreams that made him push through all of the hardships he faced—whether it was crashing against a wall or sitting in a hospital bed—was waking up by your side every morning, holding you in his arms before you both got ready to keep the world at peace for another day.

he is a closet romantic! sure, it may not be the most common type of romance or affection, but he still always manages to make you smile and laugh your heart out.

he is not one for red roses and satin hearts, he is one for onions.

when you started getting nausea and morning sickness a few years after making your debut as a pro hero you weren’t that surprised.

mirio had been very open about the idea of starting a family. despite wanting to start one as soon as possible, mirio respected your wish of waiting until you two were ready to hypothetically sustain yourselves and a little someone else. which, as u.a graduates overflowing with potential, didn’t prove to be hard at all.

in spite of having a fulfilling salary and work schedule, mirio and you hadn’t been actively trying for a kid, not yet at least. although it’s not like either of you was taking any precautions per se.

none of that mattered as you rested against the bathroom wall, a positive pregnancy test in your hands. your pregnancy test.

you and mirio were going to be parents.

the thought itself was sweet and petrifying at the same time.

it took a lot of self-control to hold yourself back from calling mirio (who hesitantly left for work that morning knowing you weren’t feeling okay) the same moment you found out about the news. you decided to wait until he arrived to your shared home to tell him, which also gave you a brilliant idea.

you still had quite some time to plan it, and it’s not like it was hard to set up, all you really needed was a cheap ‘#1 Dad’ shirt and the ingredients for the meal you both loved the most. nothing a quick run to the store couldn’t provide.

by the time mirio opened the door to your home the dish was ready for serving, and there was a small box with his name on the table. you intercepted him before he opened it, making sure to greet him and indulge him in some kisses, mirio had missed you while at work after all!

mirio sat down on the couch per your request, the mysterious box sitting on his lap while you stood beside him, phone in hand, he would be lying if he said it didn’t make him nervous, but the smile on your face put him at ease.

the moment his eyes landed on the shirt and what it actually said, his mind crashed. if his furrowed brows didn’t give away his confusion, then his eerie silence probably did.

when his brain finally made the connection you could’ve sworn a light bulb went off in his head. mirio wasted no time in clutching the shirt in one hand and lunging at you, his arms squeezing you while he spun you around.

“honey! we… we are going to be parents!” he cried, laughing in pure, genuine excitement.

he later apologized for getting carried away, but not before dropping to his knees for you once again, this time to have his face in front of your belly. it still had a long way to go before it showed any signs of pregnancy, but knowing the baby he had dreamed about for so long was growing inside of you with every passing second made him smile like a dork.

“hey buddy, i really can’t wait to meet you. i promise i’ll keep you and your mommy safe!”

mirio is such a caring partner during your pregnancy, he insists you let him help you with chores around the house, and even offers to go on patrols that would usually be left up to you. he might insist you go into an early pregnancy leave taking into account the nature of your job, but he’ll respect your decision as long as you promise to take care of yourself.

minutes after learning about your pregnancy, mirio spams the chat he has with nejire and tamaki with an unhealthy amount of keysmash, along with the video of his reaction when he got the shirt.

needless to say, his friends lose it too. tamaki probaby cries along with mirio while nejire gushes about how cute your baby will be, but oh, will they have mirio’s eyes? they better have your smile, and oh my god, she’ll be a great aunt!

speaking of, mirio can and will refer to those two as the baby’s aunt and uncle, and yes, they all get teary-eyed.

every single night mirio will make sure to lay next to your belly in bed before going to sleep, he’ll talk about his day, how awesome you are, and literally just anything that comes to his mind. after he’s done, he gives your stomach a big kiss, followed by an equally sweet smooch on your lips.

mirio is a big man, you bet he’ll have you in a hug all of the time! even as your stomach grows along with the baby, mirio will take every given opportunity to approach you from behind and wrap his arms around you, hands resting on your belly.

he’ll do anything for you, and i mean literally anything. he will run to the store at the crack of dawn to get you food, he will give you massages, and he will give you smooches and reassurance if you ever feel insecure.

the day you go into labor is both the worst and best day in his life.

it’s not until you’re in the hospital, doctors rushing around you that it sinks in: he’s hours away from meeting the life he created with you.

mirio tried his best to comfort you, but watching his beloved in pain and discomfort made his heart ache. from the first contraction to the final stages of active labor, mirio needs to be there with you.

after what seemed to be an eternity, your child is born, and mirio can’t help but cry. everything feels so surreal. he’s had a good life so far; his career is promising, he is surrounded by great friends, but most importantly, he has his own small family now.

mirio doesn’t care if you’re sweaty, drained, fatigued, and spent. to him, you look gorgeous, ethereal, and otherworldly as you hold your newborn baby. he feels really lucky to have you in his life.

with tears still running down his cheeks, mirio cracked a big smile, carefully approaching you to admire the bundle of joy in your arms: his child, your child.

you two still had a lot to learn about parenting, but finally having the baby so close to him made mirio realize he was ready to give it his all to be a good dad.

scratch that, mirio was ready to work his ass off to become the best dad ever.

after all, he already had a shirt to live up to.

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Crowbar Nurse   Chapter 5 — I’m Telling You, That App Isn’t Cursed

Kiryū had a smug look on his face but I just didn’t understand. What did he mean by “break out of the confines of the game”?

It felt a little weird, but well, it didn’t change our goals right now and so we continued backtracking through the level.

Along the way, we taken out a few swarms of zombies and picked up some healing items before finally reaching the place where I dropped my phone.

“Thank goodness, it’s still here!”

I was so glad to be reunited with my beloved Android as I went over to pick it up.”

“The door to the room you were in doesn’t seem to open anymore… I’m certain I had to open it to find you though.”

While I made sure my phone worked fine, Kiryū examined the door leading to what was supposed to be the linen room. … his side pockets, butt pockets, jacket pockets, breast pocket—every single one of his pockets were packed full of medicines and herbs. It definitely wasn’t a flattering look for him… but we had no choice as we didn’t have access to an item box.

And since my dress had no pockets whatsoever, everything we’ve picked up so far has been jammed into Kiryū’s pockets. An item box sure would be nice. I wonder if there’s a good alternative… Just as I was fantasizing about that, a great clank came from the door.

“—it’s no use. I can’t even pry the door open with the crowbar.”

Kiryū shook the strain off his arms as he gritted his teeth in frustration.

“Maybe the rooms disappear as soon as we leave them… how’s your phone?” “Oh, it’s fine. It works fine but now there’s an app on my phone that I’ve never seen before.” “A mysterious app?”

Kiryū looked over at me with a frown then I showed him my home screen. He squinted and muttered That one? as he pointed to it. It was obvious which one was the odd one out.

“… ‘Untitled’?” “It seems like that’s the name of the app.” “Even the icon is all wonky.” “What were the creators thinking when they chose to use that icon…” “Both the name and the icon look like bad news. Did you go on some shady site?” “I do not go on shady websites! How rude! I only go on proper sites!” “… bullshit. Everybody who visits shady sites say the same thing.”

He still has a frown on his face but so do I. I couldn’t help but feel very troubled by this app. I had no time to use my phone as of late nor the memory of the app ever existing.

“Still… that’s real weird….”

I looked down at the ground and then it came to me.

“—that’s right! I really didn’t go on any shady sites, but something shady happened!” “… whaddya mean?” “Just before I got transported to this world, the screen went dark as a stream of text was getting typed in all by itself. I think something was installing itself on my phone as well.” “… huh?” “And clear as day, I saw some password get entered! I bet that’s how this weird app bypassed the app store and installed itself on my phone. This is super sketch!” “Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!”

Kiryū shrieked out in confusion. … it’s probably unlikely on a technical level, huh?

“Eek… i-is it really that unlikely to happen?” “Yeah… that’s impossible. It sure doesn’t sound possible, but… well, our situation right now is defying reality as far as I know. I mean, I guess there are Android apps that can run shell scripts. If your phone had been jailbroken, then maybe—juuust maybe—that might be possible…”

… he seemed extremely perplexed by what happened to my phone. Did I really say something that farfetched?

“… oh, right. If it’s any help to you, I should mention that my screen lock was my date of birth.” “Huh?” “And if I need a longer password, I usually just simply combine my full name and date of birth. So maybe that’s why my password was so easily guessed.” “Wha— bu—!” “Aw, jeez, but it’s totally normal. It’s not like anything actually bad happened before. The worst that happens is, like, my friends unlocking my phone and gifting themselves stickers…” “… look, kid, you might not understand, but these devices can even manage your money, y’know?”

Kiryū continued explaining how painful it was to hear what I had said.

“You’ve gotta be more careful and protect yourself.” “Fine, okay. I’ll be more careful ne—augh!” “You don’t seem like taking me very seriously. Pro–tect–your–self!”

How did he realize I wasn’t actually listening to what he was saying? He sighed in exasperation has he gave me a noogie. Then, he glared at me.

“… change your PIN. Do it. Do it now. I can’t stand it.” “Aww, come on…”

He was being such a pain in the butt. But perhaps he could see on my face, Kiryū stared at me suspiciously.

“… what? Why are you against it?” “Oh no! It’s a zombie! It’s coming at us! Why, I ought to take care of it immediately!”

I slipped past Kiryū as I shouldered my assault rifle and blasted a zombie coming down the alley. He quickly grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and pulled me backwards.

“Hey, don’t go killing so many of them! It’s only changing your password! Why are you so against it?!” “Nuh-uh! It’s way too much work! You’re not paying me enough to go through that much trouble!” “Six digits! That’s all there is to it!” “No way I’m changing it! It’s six digits too many to remember again!” “Stop being such a brat! Just ta—just tap the settings icon! Shut up and do it!” “Nooo!”

I was resisting as hard as I could. Then before I knew it, Kiryū was on top of me, pinning me down. With one hand, he tried to get me to change the settings on my phone. With his other hand, he skillfully slugged and killed an incoming zombie. That’s amazing… how does he kill a zombie with a single punch? There’s definitely something odd about this guy.

“… argh!”

Unsurprisingly, it seemed like that hurt him too. Kiryū stood up and shook his head in vexation.

“… it looks like you’re not willing to play nice about this…” “That’s right! I’ll never change my password! And I know we said we should try to kill as little zombies as possible, but it’ll take forever for us to level up…”

I escaped Kiryū by the skin of my teeth and got up from the ground.

“There’s no point in staying here any longer. Let’s head towards our next target.” “You’re right. Oh, and by the way, Sera… You see that mob of zombies across the street? What are those two gigantic things?”

Kiryū made a face as he looked down the alleyway then I looked the same direction.

“I can tell they’re huge even from this distance.” “Huh… gah! That’s a minotaur and a tank. They showed up even when we don’t even have any good armor… that’s just awful luck.” “Minotaur? Tank? What is this? Are we in some kind of fantasy RPG?”

Being new to the DMC series, he was bewildered by these zombies.

“How rude. DMC is a proper zombie game. There’s just a few things here and there that aren’t entirely realistic…” “Yeah, no kidding…”

Kiryū suspiciously eyed the two special zombies. The minotaur is, well, a minotaur the size of a building. The other one is the tank with a tentacle snaking out from its barrel. I mean, yeah… it’s a bit of a stretch for a zombie game.

“If I remember correctly, the story behind the tank was that it’s created by a zombie-type monster hijacking an army tank along with its crewmen.”

I looked over at him as I sniped a few zombies.

“And then, the minotaur was originally a poor cow that escaped from a pharmaceutical company… or something like that. They’re both ‘pretty strong’. They rarely show up unless you grind too hard or power through the levels too much, kinda like a punishment monster? Ahh, I’m getting a little nostalgic.” “Is this really the right time to be getting all sentimental? We won’t be able to get to where we want to go unless we go through them… doesn’t seem like we have much of a choice.”

Kiryū heaved a sigh as he gripped the crowbar. I’m glad to have him on my side. He was kind enough to take on the zombies for me so that I don’t overlevel.

“Please, hold on. Let me take care of them. Normally, I would be spamming my grenade launcher at them, but… well, I don’t have one.”

I couldn’t help but feel very troubled. No matter how you put it, we have no choice but to go back to the starting area of the game. We haven’t gotten any strong weapons either. We have to kill them to get through and I’ll definitely be leveling up from them.

Ah, crap… I’ve never had to backtrack before like this. I’m really getting knocked off stride…

I really don’t want to, but I have no choice but to wager this bet. It’s dangerous, but I can’t think of any alternatives.

“… honestly, I’d be restarting the game here. But since there’s a bunch of zombies around the tank, let’s see if I can’t do anything…” “Sera, what were you mumbling on about earlier?” “Umm, Kiryū. It’ll get a little dicey, so try to get as far away as you can.” “What? Hold your horses. Is there nothing I can do?” “… there is a lot I could use your help with, but those guys are enemies we’re barely strong enough to kill right now. I know their patterns well though. That’s why I’ll have to use myself as decoy and get them to kill each other…”

Kiryū was even more worried after seeing how I wasn’t happy about it either.

“Using yourself as a decoy is too dangerous, isn’t it?” “But there’s no other way. If I manage to pull it off and smoke starts pouring out of the tank, then I’d like you to back me up. Until then, please stay behind.” “… ‘kay. If it seems like it’s too much, come back right away.” “Okay.”

With Kiryū staying back, I rushed to the other side of the alleyway and into the swarm of enemies.

■Sera’s phone

It is a rare sight nowadays. Though this Android smartphone may be old, it still functions. Instagram, Twitter, and social network games have been downloaded, but there seems to be a link to an old disused personal blog as well. Sera isn’t the tech-savviest person ever, and so her passwords are predictably simple.

contents: /ch001/ /ch002/ /ch003/ /ch004/ /ch005/ /next/

(leave me a tip on Patreon?)

The BatBois with a Petty S/O~

Jason Todd

Listen, he didn’t mean to stand you up, he really was excited about your date

But a mission came up really last minute and he honestly meant to text you, he typed out the message and everything he just.....forgot to hit send

You were at the restaurant for about two hours, all prettied up for once and in your nicest dress, before you realized he wasn’t coming

On your way out of the restaurant, you notice a guy: his arm is around another girl, but he’s giving you an appreciative once-over

And as an idea for revenge begins to unfurl in your head, you approach with a wicked grin. Once you’d explained what you wanted, they were both on board

And less than ten minutes later Jason’s phone was spammed by selfies of you, unmistakably with a muscular arm around you in the (rather flattering, surprisingly) light of the restaurant

“Y/N what the fuck” “Whose arm is that” “Why the hell aren’t you answering me” “Y/N I swear to god”

You ignore his texts and calls as you return back to your apartment, curling up with a book

He doesn’t get home for a few days - by the second day, he’d stopped texting you, and you’d returned the favor, so now it was a standoff

When your bedroom window slammed open you stayed right where you were, curled up on your side of the bed with your eyes trained on your boo, even though you could practically feel his glare, until he wrenches the book out of your hand and yeets it across the room

Crossing your arms, you pout up at him silently, arching a single eyebrow

And then he’s kissing you - rough and angry, shoving you down the bed, and your nails claw at his shoulders as you match his fire with your own

After you’ve both calmed down from the awesome angry sex, you have to assure him about a hundred times that no, you are not breaking up with him

And in the future, he remembers to let you know if something comes up that will interrupt your plans together

Tim Drake

This kid is on his laptop all the time, he follows a lot of people on Tumblr and Instagram and Twitter

And we all know he’s constantly sleep-deprived and probably loopy 

So when he liked that girl’s selfie, it really was completely harmless

But of cooooooourse you saw, and noticed that he hadn’t yet liked your newest status

You weren’t sulking - really you weren’t!

And later when he asked, “Hey Y/N what do you wanna do for dinner?”, the “Why don’t you ask that bitch on Instagram since you like her so much” just....kind of slipped out

His expression was genuinely bewildered, he had no idea who you were referring to or why you were so mad

You instantly regretted it and clammed up, scowling

But he knew something was bothering you, so he poked and prodded all the spots he knew would make you squirm “C’mooooon, tell me!”

But you’re just annoyed and embarrassed and stay stubbornly closed-mouthed

But he’s the smartest kid like, ever, so eventually he figures it out on his own

And then he spends hours going through every single one of your social media profiles, liking every single thing you’d ever posted or commented

It was silly, but....the gesture still made you feel appreciated, so you sat by him and kissed him lightly, and he knew he was forgiven

After that he kept notifications on so he always knew the instant you posted and could dutifully like it, and was there to reassure you that jealousy over his liking someone else’s status or selfie was completlely unnecessary

Dick Grayson

It’s no secret he’s a hottie, Gotham’s finest ass and the charming smile to make all the ladies and most of the guys swoon

It’s also no secret that this boy has absolutely zero sense of when he’s accidentally hitting on people

He was just there to investigate the crime scene, good ol’ Officer Grayson doing his thing, when the reporter came up to ask him a few questions

He barely even noticed her trailing her fingers along his arm, batting her lashes as she leaned forward, but ooooooh man did you notice

And it certainly didn’t escape your notice that he smiled back, laughed with her and spent a while chatting her up

He probably didn’t intentionally flirt back at her, or even realize her interest, but it still set your blood boiling

When he finally was able to detach himself to come over and take you home, he was absolutely baffled by the cold shoulder you gave him

Still he opened the car door for you, occasionally shooting you puzzled, slightly hurt glances as he drove back to the apartment the two of you share

You breeze past him to go straight to the living room and fold yourself in the chair, rather than on the couch where he could pull you to cuddle against his side

Slowly he follows you in, sitting on the edge of the couch cushion nearest your seat

You can feel him staring at you, but you stubbornly stare down at your phone scrolling through your social media

“Y/N….?” / “Hm?” / “If I’ve done something wrong….something to upset you, please tell me”

Finally, you break and glance up - and the instant you meet his earnest gaze, all your defenses melt and you find yourself ranting about that skank throwing herself at him

You only pause when you notice his shoulders shaking with silent laughter. Scowling, you go silent and glare at him again

And now he’s fully laughing at you, but leaning forward to clasp your hands tightly in his

“Oh Y/N, there’s no need for you to be jealous….I have eyes only for you” and now he looks fond as he leans in to silence your grumbles with a kiss

And in the future, he’s quicker to pick up on when you glare at women (or men - he was a catch, it happened) showing interested in him, and he sends you a teasing wink so you know that you’re the only one on his mind

Damian Wayne

Oh man. Oh boy. It has been a cold war of frosty silence for days now

Neither of you can even remember who started it or what you were even mad about, but both of you are refusing to be the first to break

There’s been a lot of stealing glances at each other when each of you is sure the other won’t notice - but if your eyes do meet, it’s a quick glare and then swiftly back to ignoring each other

Quite frankly the levels of tension between you two were getting so high they were palpable even to those around you two

Until it got to the point that they decided the best thing to do was to lock you two in a room together with all exits guarded until you two talked it out

There was about two more hours of frosty silence while sitting as far from each other as possible

Finally, Damian speaks, glaring at the wall over your head

“Y/N.....I don’t even know why you’re mad at me” / “.....Honsetly? Neither do I?” / “Then.....what are we doing, beloved?”

A long silence, and you finally crack and meet his eyes with a little sigh and a smile “Being stubborn, I guess?” / “Well....can we stop?”

You’re not sure who moves first, but then you’re both reaching for each other, falling into each others arms and kissing and murmuring breathless apologies that mostly come out as nonsense

You both know something like this might happen again - you’re both very stubborn and prideful

But for now, things are good, and that’s enough

@mqj-but-its-actually-batman

My inbox is open if you want to request a headcanon prompt, or if you’d like to be added to my tag list! :)

#3

“I don’t know, Tae” she sighed, putting away the last dish after her dinner with Taehyung that he had prepared for them both. He walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist “C’mon, just this one time. I want to show you off to the world.” he whispered in her ear and placed a light kiss on her neck. Taehyung has been trying to convince Cassie to go see one of his shows months now, but she was always too scared. Scared of hoe people would react to their beloved idol dating just a common girl he met on the street one day. She would get insecure every time the topic of Taehyung making their relationship public would come up. They were dating for a few months now and the only ones who knew about it were the people closes to them and Taes management. The management was against him going public but when does he really listen to them? He felt like he was the only one who could see past the business side of things and just saw the girl he’s in love with and wanted the world to know about it. “You know how I feel about this. What if you get fired? What if no one likes me and the fans throw a riot? What if-?” “What if everyone sees you the way I do? What if they see the most beautiful girl little thing in the world, someone who takes my breath away when I look at her, someone who makes me happy, someone who I am hopelessly and undeniably in love with, someone who -” “Okay, okay, I get it.” she finally cut him off, letting out a light giggle at how cheesy her boyfriend could be.But her doubts still clouded her mind, however, mustering some courage, she finally nodded “Okay, fine. I’ll go. But only if Karina can come too, she’s been begging me for months.” Cassie let out a light laugh “Of course.” Tae smiled and turned her around to place a kiss onto her lips “I swear, I sometimes feel like this is a three way relationship when that girl is around.” he jokes “But I’m so happy you’re going tomorrow. I want to see you as much as I can before we leave for tour.” he added and then went to clear the rest of the romantic dinner setting they had set up. “Yeah, well she’s been hanging out with Jungkook a lot lately, so she might be leaving us soon.” Cassie shrugged as she messaged her friend about their plans for tomorrow night, her phone then blowing up with spam of excited messages. Cassies dreaded night had finally arrived. Karinas’ excited screams were just a muffled sound in the background, nervous thoughts and voices of insecurity out-screaming everything else in Cassies mind. “Hey! Are you even listening to me? I’m having a crisis here!” Karina finally managed to snap Cassie out of her thoughts “Wh..What? Oh, sorry, I got distracted.” she forced a smile and tried to focus on her friend “What’s up?” she looked at at Karina who was deep in her closet tossing clothes around “I. Have. Nothing. To wear!” Karina cut her sentence after every item of clothing she tossed out of the closet on her now very messy floor. “Help me.” Karina pouted as she walked out of the closet and dropped dramatically onto the clothes covered floor. Cassie slowly picked up some shirts and folded them next to her on Karina’s bed just to have something to do while her friend is having another diva meltdown “Why does it matter, it’s just a concert. And we’ve known the boys for ages, they don’t care what we wear.” Cassie said, still occupied with her thoughts. “Yeah, well... I just wanted to look nice for them, you know. It’s our first time seeing them live at work.” Karina sat up shrugging, her back turned against her friend as to not see the blush on her face. Cassie raised her eyebrow at the girl “Right...” she breathed out a laugh “Is this for all the boys or one in particular? Jungkook perhaps? “ “What? No!” Karina reacted instantly “Boys are gross! Jungkook’s gross! You’re gross! Shut up!” she replied like a girl in middle school. Cassie smirked, even though she was still facing Karina’s back, amused by how her friend is trying to hide all of her emotions displayed on her face. It was amusing to see her usually straight forward friend to act so smitten over a guy. “Alright, alright. Whatever you say. But a birdie might’ve told me that Jungkook doesn’t think you’re gross.” Cassie decided to tease her friend even more “Wait, what? Really?! Did he say something?” Karina turned around to finally face her friend but after she saw the sheepish grin on Cassies face, she backed off and tried to play it cool “Or you know, whatever.” Karina shrugged nonchalantly and that just made Cassie laugh. The few hours at Karinas place were a nice distraction , but now as they were at the back entrance of the venue the boys were supposed to perform at, she started to feel reality to kick in. Taehyung is gonna tell everyone about them. EVERYONE. He kept sending reassuring texts to Cassie all day, but heart emojis and a few x’s and o’s were not enough to stop Cassie’s insecurities to grow stronger. “I don’t know if I can do this.”  she thought out loud, Karina took her hand in hers in hopes to calm her. “Yes, you can.”  Karina tried to reassure “No one else matters, okay? It’s you and Tae. You love him and he loves you.” Karina kept it short and straight forward hoping that Cassie would remember it and repeat it to herself . In reply, Cassie just let out a deep held breath and nodded. Security lead the girls through to backstage, where the guys were hanging out before the show. Karina went straight to Jungkook to give him a greeting hug and to say hello to the rest of the guys, leaving Cassie and Tea to themselves after he came to greet them. “You came.” Tea sounded relieved, his boxed smile never leaving his face. “Don’t worry, okay? Everything’s going to be fine.” He reassured his girlfriend, taking her hands in his, giving them a light squeeze. Cassie kept quiet, too scared to do or say anything, she was convinced that she will start crying if she did.  It was time for the band to head to the stage, leaving the two girls standing by the stage exit to watch. There are no words to describe how good the performance was, their voices were angelic, their moves were amazingly choreographed and they looked so good throughout. After a few hours the show was coming to and end and it was time for their closing song, the crowd was cheering the guys waved and thanked for all the support their fans were showing. After the cheers died down, Tae stepped forward. It was time for him to finally speak what’s been on his mind for a while now. At that moment Cassies heart almost flew out of her chest, she couldn’t stop shaking, the nerves were killing her. After one more glance across the crowd, Tae finally spoke “My dearest ARMY, we love you so, so very much. Every single one of you has a special place in out hearts.” He said, placing a hand on is chest over where his heart would be. “But for me, my heart is split two ways. For you. And the woman I love.” He finally admitted and many gasps were heard across the audience. “ARMY...” he started as headed towards Cassie “This is my girlfriend Cassie. Cassie, this is my ARMY.” A loud wave of cheers of excitement and happiness blasted out from the crowd while she stood on the stage still terrified and shocked that this is actually happening. “She’s very scared and nervous to be here, but she;s amazing and I love her. And she loves me, I think.” Tae jokes at the end, his eyes never leaving her. Cassie, on the other hand, was ready to dig herself under ground so deep and never see the light of day again, but once her eyes met his, it was like everything started to fade away.Her breathing steadied, her heartbeat calmed down, at this moments the words came back to her. ‘You love him. He loves you. No one else matters.’ The continuous loud cheers snapped her out of her trance, the fans  were so overwhelmingly happy for Tae they started to chant Cassies name and Tae joined them. This night turned out better than she could ever imagine.  After the show ended, Cassie and Karina were still on the high from Taes confession to the crowd, the boys joined the girls backstage later on. Karina excused herself after Jungkook asked her to join him for a short walk, he had confessions of his own to make. The rest of the guys goofed around in the background, leaving Cassie and Tae alone on the couch. “Are you in trouble?” Cassie asked, referring to his management, because this clearly was not run by them. Tae just shrugged like he had no care in the world “Eh, they’ll get over it.” he smirked and planted a quick kiss on Cassies cheek. “How are you feeling?” he asked wrapping his arm around her shoulders letting her lean against him “Still a bit nervous. But much better than before. I did not expect such a reaction.” Cassie admitted and Tae planted another kiss on top of her head “I told you they’re gonna love you.” he smiled. Cassie just rolled her eyes a laughed a bit “Yeah, yeah, whatever.” she then looked up at him noticing the loving smile spread on his face. “I love you.” she simply said and looked up into his eyes. He let out a shy giggle and softly kissed her “I love you too.” he said after he pulled away and pressed his forehead against hers.

The Black and White Macro Group

This post (which serves as the group homepage) is mirrored on Blogger, more or less, with some slight variation in wording being present for reasons of context. If you want to read all of this over there for some reason, you can do so.

This should all be reasonably self-explanatory, but history has taught me that it won’t be, so now I must waste the time of maybe 90% of my visitors in order to spare them the antics of the remaining 10% or something like that.

Yes, the group already exists. You can see the latest photos to be uploaded to it in the sidebar for this blog. I’m not even its founder, much less some fellow who is trying to get it going by adding it to a few rings. I inherited it while I was offline due to a move, with my computer boxed up. I unboxed my computer, logged in, read my system messages, went to what was now my group, and found that it had been buried in spam. That brings us to the following mini-rant.

“Black and White Photography” means “black and white and gray” … strict, pure grayscale … not “black and white and gray and a splash of some color the photographer felt like throwing in just to prove that nobody is the boss of him.” Having so much as a speck of non-gray in a photo submitted to the group, even in a personal watermark, is grounds for instant banning from the group. No, I’m not going to give warnings. We’re all adults, and adults shouldn’t need to be told to follow the rules that they have agreed to abide by.

A macro photo is a photo of something very (or at least fairly) small. The image is larger than the object seen, generally speaking much larger. These images take the viewer into a semi-hidden world that has long existed right in front of him, but which he has been too large to see. Zoom in shots of insects, the stamens of flowers, the fibers in a cloth … all of these are suitable subjects. Human beings, landscapes, the moon (and other celestial objects) are not, and so again, if somebody submits a photo of any of these to the group, he’ll be banned. If somebody then whines about that person’s banning, that person will be banned as well.

My, don’t I sound awful? But the fact is that I had to stay up late and lose a beautiful (and precious) summer day in Chicago because adults felt like acting like spoiled little children, and left behind a mess for me to clean up. It is now cleaned up and it will stay cleaned up. Photos must be approved before they appear in the pool, and applications to join the group must be approved as well.

Don’t worry too much about applying. I’m not really looking for reasons to exclude people. An empty photostream (or a nearly empty one) will probably get me to reject an application, but only temporarily, because I have to wonder if the account in question belongs to somebody who has already be banned. “Is this a troll’s or a spammer’s sock puppet?”, I’ll have to ask. But let the applicant come back later with this deficiency remedied, and I’ll probably let him in. I bear no ill will against the rejected applicant, I’m just trying to keep a pre-existing problem under control, and I hope most people understand that.

Aside from that, what is there to say? Yes. as you will see when you arrive in the group, there is a clear path back to the ring there, as there is on the microblogs on Tumblr and Blogger on which one can follow the group. I had to set up a homepage for the group because Flickr doesn’t let us use javascript and SSNB is javascript. The homepage for the group is a blog and not a conventional HTML site because the free homepage providers tend to be run by people who flake out on their users and delete sites without reason, and with ring memberships I’ve found that the constant relocations made necessary by that flaking out gets to be a nuisance for both the users and the ring managers alike. Yes, Webring offers webspace in theory, but the system failed to create webspace for my account when I set it up, and the bug in question is an old one which Webring has refused to fix, so that’s life. A regular homepage wasn’t an option, because system administrators were determined to be difficult and there’s nothing I can do about that.

Not that there isn’t a positive side to all of this. Blogs are great for people who snap photos. My camera is finally out of storage, Tumblr offers unlimited space (for all practical and non-abusive purposes), and the reverse sequential ordering of a blog means that visitors won’t have to do a lot of digging in order to find my latest work. The look and feel of the template is an attractive one, and I spend a lot less time coding this way. I won’t say that I’m completely satisfied with the situation as I have lost some creative freedom, but I’m not going to spend a lot of time sulking about this, either.

What else will be on this blog, other than this little bout of venting group homepage? I should put it to some real use, shouldn’t I? I’ll upload some black and white photos of my own. At first, they won’t be macro shots, because I’m still saving up for a macro lens and will be doing so for a while (being stuck below the poverty line), much as I once had to save up for that camera, but eventually I’ll have my lens. And a new camera, as I’m shooting digital at the moment on a camera to which I can’t attach lenses - or maybe I’ll find somebody who can fix my beloved semi-manual pentax, which has a not so beloved problem with the automatic rewind.

Aside from my own personal work, what will be seen? Comments about decisions I’ve made as a moderator, I suppose might be seen on this blog(if I feel they need to be made). If I come across articles, books or websites that I think might be of interest to the membership, I might post about them here. As for what else will be seen, that can be decided later. What won’t be seen on this blog are posted from the other members (except when I’m retumbling).

As much as I’d like to be able to use Tumblr as the home of the group blog, the developers would seem to have made a decision that (as far as I’m concerned) rules this site out as the home of our group blog. Look at the foot of this post, and you’ll see the problem - the system doesn’t sign our posts. There’s no way of seeing, just by looking at a post, who its author is, so while the Tumblr company staff might insist that Tumblr is a great place for group blogs, at this time I would have to disagree. To post to a group blog on Tumblr is to be given no credit for one’s work, and that is simply unacceptable. For that reason, I’ve put the group blog on Blogger, where this problem does not exist.

Ring managers should note that the ring code for this site is present on the group blog, as well, and is also present on the update notification microblog, with clear paths back, not just to the ring but to the entry page for the ring being present in all locations. Now that we’ve addressed every boring subject I can think of, let’s go to the group, where you soon should be able to shake off the experience of having read this.

high scores: a tom holland music-al love story // part two

welcome back! glad to see you again

here’s part two!!!

again...please please spam me with feedback or hellos i’ll take anything and want to hear from you people

contains: language

part two

If there was one sound I could send to hell, it would be that of my alarm going off on the day I’m meeting with hollywood’s best and brightest to discuss how I’m supposed to turn their movie into a success. Can she do it? The world may never know.

Now, to say I’m just average and incapable of the job would be an understatement, even coming from me, my own worst critic. I went to Berklee on a full scholarship, graduated at the top of my class, and already had performed in Carnegie Hall (every musician’s most fantastical wet dream). I was approached by a handful of independent movie contractors who wanted my talent in the music in their films. So, I’ve done well for myself thus far. And I’m confident that if I can do it once, I can do it again. However, there have never been so many potential people to hear what I have to say (or compose), and that alone scares me shitless. What if the world hears it? What if the world doesn’t like it? I’m only 23. Will my career just end right then and there? At the premiere of Growing? I started thinking about all the horrible things that could happen once I open myself up to the possibility of bad reception by the public and ended up with not only fear, but soap in my eyes by the end of my shower.

I just wanted to do right by this movie. It was on track to be such a hit, a gut punch to the audience that leaves every watcher pondering their own existence and what they can do to make sure that the world doesn’t come crashing down on themselves and their future children and grandchildren. It’s really pushing an amazing save-the-earth agenda hidden inside a star studded blockbuster flick, which I couldn’t love more. And better yet, everyone starring in it has their own personal agenda to help better humanity by either being an advocate for conservation, lobbying political groups, or running charities of their own. No pressure, Emma. You’ve also donated your time to great causes -- you used to volunteer for the animal shelter that one time in college.

I put my best effort into a relatively professional casual and headed out to start my interviews.

After interviewing some walking icons such as Tom Hanks and Mark Ruffalo, my head was spinning. Here are these incredibly well regarded actors, with so many successes trailing behind them, talking to a relatively recent college graduate with little to no fame to her name. I was able to take some notes after getting over the nerves, and hopefully some of what they said will come back to me later when I’m composing (it fucking better).

After a few interviews Leah and I grabbed lunch and talked about the next few I had coming up, the most notable one being with Tom Holland. I couldn’t tell you why I was so amped up about it, either. This guy is probably the least accoladed person on this cast list. But Leah was able to play therapist and help me work through some of what was going through my head.

“Emma, it makes sense. He’s the only actor you’re interviewing who’s your age. And he’s hot.

“Walk in there with enough confidence to convince him that you’re not just an assistant setting the table before the real movie composer comes in. You are that movie composer. That head bitch.” 

She always knows just what to say.

After lunch I swigged some mouthwash in the bathroom, tried to pass it off as a breathing technique, and walked into my office to wait for Tom to get there. He was my last appointment of the day, and then it was off to writing for me. I passed by a friendly face and said hello, entering the office, face turned down the hall. I immediately walked over to my desk and checked my phone before putting it down, not even noticing that there was definitely another person in there with me. It lit up right before I set it on the desk.

*text from Leah*

go get em tiger!!! drinks later at Sav?

*insert tiger and wine emojis*

I laughed at the thought of a tiger sipping on a glass of wine a little too audibly.

“Do I get to see what you’re laughing at over there?”

I whipped around and saw him sitting on a chair in the corner of my office, smirking at the sight of me giggling to myself over a text.

My worst fear has just been realized.

“My god, I’m so sorry, I had no idea you were sitting there--”

“Not a problem,” he laughed. “I’m just here early for a meeting.”

I decided to see how much fun I could have until he figured out I was the one he was meeting with. Leah was right, I definitely didn’t look like anything more than an assistant.

“Who are you meeting with?” I asked.

“Uh, I think her name is Emma...? She’s writing the songs for the film. I guess I need to give her some tips on how to write music, I dunno,” he chucked.

I can write music just fine, asshole. I got a little annoyed, but my own subconscious cut itself off. That accent makes me want to melt.

“Well, if you’re ready to start, I just have a few questions up front--”

he cut me off.

“Doesn’t she need to be here? Is this just preliminary stuff?” he looked confused as to why the receptionist was about to interview him.

I walked over to the door, and said “Sorry, Emma will be right in.”

He nodded and turned to his phone. I walked out the door, and then walked right back in.

“Hi, you’re Tom, right? I’m Emma, it’s nice to meet you. I’m the film composer for Growing, the movie you’re starring in.” I stuck out my hand. “I hope I’m not taking up too much of your time, I just needed some help because I forgot how to read music and I heard you can play guitar and therefore would be able to help me.”

His cheeks turned bright red and he stood up and shook my hand. “It’s, uh, nice to meet you for the very first time.” He shook off the embarrassment faster than expected and threw my sass back at me with some good old fashioned charm. “I can tell we’re going to be fast friends.”

It took everything in me not to roll my eyes. We sat down and got started with the interview.

“So, I’m basically talking to you to get a feel for how you’re putting your own personality into your character, which will help me translate just what type of feeling I want my music to lead with in your scenes,” I started. Tom didn’t know what to say.

“You want me to act out a scene for you or something?”

Why is he so snarky?

“Only if you feel so inclined.” I said, not looking up from my paper as I jotted down some unimportant notes just so I could be busy with something, anything other than participating in this horribly uncomfortable conversation.

“Listen, I’m just trying to do my job. I can’t just write generic music for a sad movie scene if I don’t know what kind of emotion is going into it. Music is a lot more complicated than you may think. If the score doesn’t perfectly mesh with the message you’re portraying on screen, it will throw off the whole overarching feeling and message of the scene, and will be lost on the audience. It can disfigure entire movies when the music isn’t right. I’ve had single phrases actors have told me inspire me to write entire compositions for their scenes. Therefore, I’m relying on you to take what the instruments behind your words are sounding like just as seriously as you take learning your lines.”

I didn’t realize I had essentially just given the poor boy a lecture. He looked at me, eyes wide, clearly just now realizing that there is actually way more thought to put into this than he would’ve expected.

“I never thought of it that way. You’re completely right...I’m sorry to not have taken it more seriously.” Tom said quietly. 

While I had proven my point, our relationship in its current state was not everything I’d hoped it be. I needed to figure out a way to mend the conversation, but I had literally no idea how. His phone went off- his agent was calling him. The ringtone was a soft piano melody that I hadn’t heard before. And then, it hit me. I waited for him to get off the phone, and held my hand out.

“Come with me, I want to show you something.” 

He hesitantly took my hand, looking confused as ever, and I led us out the door, down a series of hallways and stairs, until we arrived in the big wooden coffin that was the music chambers. The baby grand piano I had already become very close with sat untouched, waiting for me. I closed the door behind us and sat down on the piano bench, while Tom stayed standing by the door, clearly not understanding why I’d brought him in here.

“Generic song for a generic death of a main character in any given movie. No context.” I said as I started to play a tune that I had written ages ago for a midterm exam (yes, we have those in music school). Minor chords followed by more minor chords, an eerie and unified sound rung out from the inside of the piano, filling the empty room with an overarching feeling of sadness. I couldn’t see his face, but Tom slowly started walking over to the piano, and then sat down on the bench next to me. We exchanged a fleeting glance as I continued to play through the simple melody. With every changing note I could feel him becoming more and more enthralled by the song. Then suddenly, I stopped. He fell out of his trance and looked at me expectantly.

“Is it over?” he asked.

“Now,” I started, “A song for the death of a beloved main character who is losing his battle to cancer, surrounded by the family he created and loved more than anything, his youngest daughter holding his hand.”

Tom looked confused. I started to play again, slower this time. Somehow, these minor chords echoed out even sadder, even more profound than those before it. This time, the melody was different. This time, you could truly envision someone you care for dying. As I continued to pour out emotion into this piece, Tom’s breathing slowed, his eyes glossing over. I could see the emotion flowing through him. I ended the song on an unresolved note, turning to catch his gaze as I did. His mouth was slightly agape; his words caught in his throat.

And that’s the power of music, ladies and gentlemen.

“Do you see the difference between knowing the story and knowing the characters within it?”

He silently nodded, trying to regain his playful composure.

“Did you write that?” he asked.

“Yes, while I was in college.”

“It’s...it’s incredible.” 

Blush.

“I want my scenes in Growing to evoke that much emotion in the audience.”

“Well, let’s get talking,” I said. Without another word he got up and walked out of the room.

Where the hell is he going?

I was sure I had just blown my chance to get to know this cute asshole.

The door didn’t even fully swing shut when he came back in, big smile on his face, running his fingers through his hair, approaching me, still sitting at the piano. He stuck out his hand.

“Hi, I’m Tom. You must be Emma? I heard you’ll be writing the scores for this movie, and I’m so excited to help.”

I cocked my head to the side and looked at him, puzzled.

“I’m starting over,” he leaned in and winked at me.

I reached out to shake his hand.

“Hi, Tom. It’s so nice to meet you for the very first time.” I tried to hide how happy I was.

“So, we’ve got a lot of work to do. When do we start?”

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

and that wraps up part 2! I hope it was worth the read. Let me know what you thought/any directions you think I should take the story in!

Hi, I just found Drunk on You today and then I bindge-read it and all the stories are beautiful! I wanted to suggenst an au where you find stuff your soulmate loses (it's not my idea, I saw it on a post months ago). I imagine Viktor would keep losing so much stuff since he's such an airhead and so rich. But then imagine Yuuri losing one of his Viktor posters?? Idk, I think it's really cute ^.^

Actual footage of Viktor Nikiforov dropping/losing something in front of Yuuri:

ANYWAY there’s a drabble (ahem, basically a one-shot) for that soulmate AU under the cut, because you’re right– that idea is adorable! Thanks so much for reading Drunk on You, and I’m sorry I took so long to get back to you!

When Katsuki Yuuri is a toddler, Hiroko walks him down to the beach. He waddles to the waves, shrieks as they chase him, cries when they catch chubby legs and tug him to the sand. Hiroko lavishes him in kisses, and watches as he chases seagulls with outstretched arms. Squawking, they surround him, and when Yuuri returns with tottering steps, there’s a diamond necklace shining in his hand. At his return, the seagulls are swooping upwards, in a circling spray of feathers, angels called back to heaven.

“Yuuri,” she gasps, “where did you get that?” 

The answer, of course, is that a young Viktor Nikiforov had tossed it towards the ocean, “for the goldfishes,” much to the horror of his own mother.

By the time Yuuri is ten, they have a collection. Baubles, necklaces, earrings. All find their way into the hood of Yuuri’s jackets, his backpack, dropped from seagulls overhead. Hiroko just carefully sets them aside. The Katsukis know what it means, and they fully intend to gift the objects to Yuuri’s soulmate once they meet.

Anything his soulmate loses, Yuuri finds. Every find is lovely. But they’re outstripped by the single, ripped piece of paper that Hasetsu’s spring breeze plasters onto Yuuri’s face. Viktor, it says in Cyrillic in the corner, just some meaningless homework assignment.

“You don’t know it’s your soulmate’s,” Nishigori points out, and Yuuko smacks him, but Yuuri puts the torn paper with the jewelry anyway. He knows, he knows, he knows.

Yuuri doesn’t always know. When Yuuri is eleven, a traveler with blue eyes, silver hair, and too many creases in his face comes to the onsen.

“A vacation, until you go home?” Hiroko asks him, pleasantly, and with a shake of his head the visitor says,

“I’m never going home.” 

Yuuri likes the traveler. He ruffles Yuuri’s hair, brings him pocky from the corner store, stays at the onsen for two weeks before disappearing with the first snow.

When Yuuri is twelve, he falls in love with Viktor Nikiforov, and writes him a letter telling him so. His handwriting is shaky, and in Japanese, because all that’s written on the outside of the envelope is Yuuri. He puts it in the mailbox, and expects it to be returned to the onsen the next day; after all, he’s the only Yuuri in Hasetsu. It had been an exercise, not an act of courage.

“Oh,” the mail carrier says, as Yuuri nervously clings to the mailbox post and waits for the dooming verdict, “we lost that. No clue where it ended up.”

Well, he thinks, at least Viktor will never see it. Viktor, fresh off his Worlds victories, engraves a golden watch with the words Yuuri and Viktor, and takes it to Skate America the next season. He boards a rollercoaster in Atlantic City, the watch loose on his wrist.

Yakov just sighs heavily, when the ride is over and the watch is nowhere to be found. "Not the worst choice I’ve ever made,” Viktor chirps.

“That’s not saying much.”

Yuuri assumes it must belong to someone else; the local pawn shop is grateful for the donation.

The crowds after one Trophee de France, when Yuuri is twenty-one and Phichit is eighteen, are ferocious; this is probably because Viktor has already been spotted, sunglasses low and shirt dangerously sheer, in the athletic complex. Despite their linked arms, they separate; Yuuri searches for twenty minutes, fruitlessly, until he settles on a bench with a greasy snack and nerves making his fingers shake. Phichit has the hotel keys, Phichit has the train passes, Yuuri’s phone is dead…

“There he is!” A voice shouts, and when his black head jerks up there’s Phichit, grinning, pointing to Yuuri from only a few paces away, “my son!”

“He’s taller than I anticipated,” says none other than Viktor Nikiforov, shades propped on his head. Yuuri can see his nipples through his shirt; Yuuri can see his nipples. “…what’s he eating?”

“Bathroom,” Yuuri shrieks to Phichit, throwing his snack over his shoulder in a spray of salt. A Viktor-less Phichit finds him, eventually. He shuts the toilet seat and sits Yuuri down on it, wordlessly wraps him in a hug.

“I got you an autograph,” he offers, “on my arm.” Yuuri has to laugh.

Yuuri does not know who [email protected] is, but he wishes his spam email would stop being redirected to Yuuri’s inbox; especially since half of them are people begging for a chance to date him, or offering him… commercial deals?

A box of online merchandise arrives, one day, and Mari puts it in his room. “I didn’t order this,” Yuuri says, blinking.

“Sure, Yuuri,” Mari says with a lazy smile. It’s all Viktor Nikiforov merchandise; some of it Yuuri’s never seen in online stores before, and Yuuri has his own Etsy account dedicated to making Viktor Nikiforov trinkets. “Sure.”

Yuuri keeps it, and is only slightly ashamed.

At Worlds, the year before Sochi, Yuuri loses his Christmas gift from Hiroko; knitted mittens, downy wool the color of sky. He is heartbroken for approximately one minute.

“These– these aren’t mine,” he blurts, when Celestino hands him sleek grey gloves after his short program. The Italian clicks his tongue.

“My mistake, Feltsman and I were by the benches, we must have had a mix-up. If you ask Viktor–”

“He can keep them!”

Yuuri hides the gloves under his pillow. Viktor’s hands are the warmest they’ve ever been in the Russian winter.

An empty champagne bottle rolls, clinks lightly against Viktor’s leather shoes at the GPF banquet in Sochi. He looks up. He shouldn’t have.

“Where is it,” the drunken man says. His lips are wet; his hair disheveled. Wordlessly, Viktor plucks it up and hands it over. “’S mine,” he hiccups happily. All Viktor can think, a dance later, is so am I.

“…What are these?” Yuuri asks. There’s an inordinate amount of suitcases in the onsen’s hallway, all an appalling shade of magenta.

“Oh,” his father shrugs, “the airport lost some passenger’s checked bags, but knew he was coming here and sent them over. I don’t think he’s arrived yet.”

“Huh,” Yuuri says, and forgets about it. He forgets, that is, until later that afternoon, when his world explodes.

The first time Viktor dips his head to kiss Yuuri, he loses his nerve. After all, it’s Yuuri, and if he pushes him away again– Yuuri tugs him down, just a light pressure on the back of his neck, eagerly takes his lips.

“Oh,” he flusters afterwards, “I thought you… I just thought. I don’t know what came over me. That was bold.”

“Be bolder,” Viktor begs, and kisses him again. It’s certainly not the last time.

“Here,” Hiroko says one day, when Yuuri is at Minako’s, “we’ve been holding onto all of this. For you.”

Baubles, golden jewelry, faded homework assignments from third grade, hairties, even a stuffed poodle. Long ago beloved; long ago lost.

Oh, he realizes, and Hiroko wipes beneath his eyes with a gentle, calloused thumb. 

“Vicchan.” She smiles. “We’re so happy you’ve found each other.”

Yuuri comes home eventually, sweeps off his shoes, dances lightly into Viktor’s arms as they settle on Viktor’s couch. Everything lost is lined up neatly on Viktor’s dresser, and when Yuuri sees it he settles deeper, lets Viktor run hands up and down his sides.

Yuuri’s losing his breath with every gentle touch. Viktor reaches with his lips to find it, to take it as his own. 

Viktor doesn’t know why Yuuri is making such a fuss over a bag of nuts.

“It doesn’t matter,” he sighs in the middle of Yuuri’s frantic rambling, “you know I’ll just stumble across it somewhere later anyways, now that you’ve lost it.”

Ah, he realizes as Yuuri goes pink, then burgundy. We’ve never acknowledged it aloud before. “…Would you like to look at Barcelona’s Christmas lights?” Yuuri asks.

For the first time, since he was a child and his mother told him whatever you lose, your soulmate will find, Viktor doesn’t feel a strong urge to throw expensive jewelry into a river. Don’t let me lose this, he pleads to the heavens, to himself, when he is staring off into the ocean, hand and ring stretched out before him. Later, too, as he watches Yuuri sleep; chest rising in stuttered rhythm, hand curling unconsciously in Viktor’s own. Don’t let me lose this. 

Inspiration. Viktor had lost his inspiration.

Here, Yuuri says, with an inviting flick of his wrist, his form on the ice outlined softly by Hasetsu’s morning light, his lead into a triple axel so tender and yet so sharp in Viktor’s throat. Come find it here with me.

Bula To Aloha (Part 2)

It was weird to officially begin our program on a Monday, which was supposedly a public holiday, Easter Monday… well, where I come from anyway.

We were to meet 9am and the day before, I had already searched for the location. It’s good to know where you have to be (also where to run when you’re running late!)

It was the day where I got to meet the other members of the cohort. The 15 of us travelled from 9 different countries, and now here we were… ready to embark on a 6-week journey together.

I sat at the table in the middle of the room, also known as our classroom. We had speeches by the important people of the organisation and we then introduced ourselves to everyone (This was something we had to do so many times with the various people we met. Usually it’s our name, country and job)

After having our photos taken for ID and signing documents, we broke for lunch before heading out on our first field trip. We took the bus to famous Waikiki for a historic trail walking tour with our guide.

It was quite a walk as we made our way down the path, past the crowds, past the nice and expensive shops, and the hotels. When we finished for the day, we had the chance to explore the area.

An interesting fact I noted was that food is not served on glass plates. Rather, it’s served in styrofoam containers. I guess this makes it easier to take your food away if need be. The only place you’d get proper plates is in an actual restaurant.     

A colleague and I walked on that world-renown beach and through the hotels looking for an exit (we even went in a circle and came back to the same spot!) As we were going about, something caught my eye. There were many people holding out their phones in one direction. I looked to see what they were trying to capture. When I realized what it was, I too joined in on the ‘madness’. It was a beautiful sunset! However, a mere picture cannot truly compare to seeing it with your very own eyes.

Standing on the beach and taking in everything around me, it was surreal. Who would have thought that one day I was able to be in Hawaii, with my feet sinking into the sand on Waikiki?

On our second day, we had a speaker from the Hawaii Tourism Authority share with us about tourism in Hawaii. I fell asleep during parts of her presentation as she mostly talked about numbers (which is so not my thing!), and because I slept late… unfortunately sleeping past 1am was something I did almost every night, and throughout my entire trip. It’s a really bad habit, which I struggle to overcome, even back home. A few years ago, I made a resolution to sleep at 9pm, that obviously didn’t go as planned!

We were then introduced to the Leading Change Course, although we were already told about this before arrival into Hawaii. We had to finish the necessary materials before leaving for Washington DC to attend congress. So me being the night owl, stayed up to complete it and passed the final assessment on the first try (Even though I hardly went through the readings! But I did watch the lecture videos by the course instructor) Don’t judge!

After lunch, we had a video conference with a representative of SPTO (South Pacific Tourism Organisation) about tourism in the South Pacific. This reminded me of home as the speaker was in Fiji. The room where we had the session was pretty cool. A long table with several microphones around it with huge monitors on all sides of the wall.

Then in the afternoon, we had a group discussion outdoors on mats. We were given a predicament and had to decide from a group of characters, the best one to be saved from an incoming disaster. It was interesting as we all had differing opinions on the matter… and lots of laughs along the way.

Wednesday was a pretty great day in the classroom. It was because we had great speakers who kept us from falling off to sleep ahaha. The first speaker was an academic of the university who spoke on conservation and eco tourism.

It’s sad that these natural environments are being damaged by overly excessive access to these areas. So much so that they are either closed off for a day to recover or even closed for years to fully regain what was lost due to human ignorance and selfishness.

Speaker two was from the Hawaii Film Office who shared how film/TV is a tourism promotion strategy and stories of film crews and stars who shot in Hawaii. The third speaker was from The Outrigger talking about Hawaiian culture and mass tourism. He shared that parts of the Hawaiian culture was losing its meaning and value.   

They say ‘the best is saved for last’ and this was certainly the case as our final speaker brought with her so much intensity and passion. She was from the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort & Spa, who also shared on the same topic as the one before her.

Speaking of how the Hawaiian culture was being degraded for commercialism, she reminded and encouraged us that we should protect our cultures from being lost to a world that doesn’t appreciate its uniqueness. Her presentation really fired us all up!   

We were provided lunch in the classroom and then we set off to visit The Battleship Missouri Memorial. We were part of a tour group as our guide explained the history of the ship and WW2. We then had time to freely explore on our own. I can’t imagine what it’s like to live out on the open sea for months and even years on end.

On Thursday, we had someone from the organization speak about turning project ideas into reality. In the afternoon, we visited the Manoa Heritage Center where we toured gardens and the surroundings of a large house.

We got back to the classroom for our homestay orientation from someone of the International Hospitality Center.

Friday was our final day of orientation and classroom activities. We started with a trip to the King Kamehameha Judiciary History Center. Here, we took part in a mock trial of a real case that occurred many years ago.

Then we walked to Iolani Palace, the only palace on US soil. We had to wear a protective cover over our shoes before entering. It was heartbreaking to learn of the stories that had taken place inside. The Hawaiian monarchy was sadly overthrown in 1893 by a group of Americans. The Queen was then imprisoned in a room with no contact beyond palace walls.

Later, we had a group photo outside and a reception to mark the end of our first week.

On Saturday, I did my first washing. Why am I writing about something mundane as this? Well, I found it pretty cool to pop coins into a machine to buy a small packet of washing powder (which lasted me the 5-weeks in Hawaii!) I also found it cool to start up a washing machine with quarters and the same goes for the clothes dryer. Yeah, I’m weird, right? Hahaha! The best feeling was collecting your laundry and it feels nice and warm. Yes, I don’t have a dryer back home. 

In the evening, I attended the spam jam with colleagues. We eventually split up due to the huge crowds. It was much easier to walk around without having to keep track of others. I found it pretty cool how there’s an event dedicated to a beloved food product. All around, there was spam infused food, merchandise and even a costumed spam can. It was a great atmosphere although at times it felt suffocating.

Back home, I don’t usually go out at night, and there I was… eating a burger on the grass by Waikiki beach.

On Sunday, my colleague and I went to look for our placement location, The Kahala Hotel & Resort… and it was a bit far. Waited for a bus which seemed like forever. We had to get off at a bus stop and walk 10-minutes into the property. Once we confirmed where it was and how to get there, we made our way back as it started to rain.     

Back in the dorm, I was nervous about starting our 4-week placement. I didn’t mind if the whole program was just like our orientation week: classroom sessions and then field trips hahaha!

 NEXT: Hello, Kahala!

Super Science Dads 7

A/N - Look who is back!!!!! :D

Prompt: ‘What were you thinking???”

It was said at exactly the same time by two genius scientists with exactly the same tone of righteous indignation. The only difference was the setting and the body language. Bruce Banner, ninja of calm and patience was not green but solid with rage, bristling and tense and angry in a way that made it clear how hurt he was beneath it all. Tony Stark, master of all that was self-destructive (including love) was melodramatic with disbelief, hand to his chest and only the calculation in his eyes belying the overblown mannerisms.   One was in a hospital room. One was in a penthouse suite. Both were angry, but only one was betrayed.

Bruce

Bruce had always preferred cats to dogs. Dogs made him uncomfortable, needed too much, relied too much on his presence, on him being there. A cat would tolerate you, might even like you, but they did not need you. It made him uncomfortable to be needed. Tony was always someone who had needed him, even if just to be another person who understood what it was like to think five times as fast as anyone else in the room. Perhaps that was why he had always gravitated to Natasha. She had never truly needed his company, his love or his affection. She had liked it well enough, but he had always known she would be pragmatic enough to shrug her shoulders when he ran.

She looked at him now with eyes that were exactly as green as the cat he had compared her to, and she did not speak. It had been quite a few days before Bruce could bring himself to intentionally cross paths with her after what he had heard in the hall. The tower was big enough for two people to avoid each other in. But not anymore. The tension wasn’t good for him, and there was plenty enough going on with the spider and Tony and his Not very good health what the hell Tony. So here they were. In Natasha’s old rooms. She had finished a workout and he could see that she was sporting some old injuries. She was beautiful. She was beloved. She had betrayed them.

“I don’t know what you seem to like about waking the big guy up, Nat, but it has to stop. Right. This. Second.” Bruce breathed deeply through his temper flare. “Do you have any idea what might have happened if I had hulked out in a HOSPITAL FULL OF PEOPLE AND OUR VERY SICK TONY?”

She blinked three times fast, a sure sign she was surprised. “I thought you would be angry and I wanted to make sure we would control the situation.”

“Of course I’m bloody angry, you and Tony dropped on me that he DIED!”

“I deserted him,” Natasha said flatly – the phrase quick and sharp like one of her knives. “He died after I deserted him.”

“Oh don’t patronise me.” Bruce rolled his eyes and wished to whatever gods apparently did exist out there that he wasn’t surrounded by self-flagellating idiots. “It’s obvious you were splitting from him to ensure he wasn’t incriminated along with you. You let Barnes and Rogers go to try to ‘control the situation’ – any fool can see that, though note, Nat – maybe SHARE WITH THE REST OF THE CLASS NEXT TIME. Once that backfired you were a target and we all know Tony couldn’t have left Rhodes to go on the run right then. He would have if you’d needed him, but it would have been disastrous for all involved.” Briefly it crossed his mind that there was probably a world out there where Tony Stark was dragged away from his best friend. Bruce doubted that went well for that particular world. “So you fought publicly – very nice – and there he is, totally exonerated of any hand in the matter.”

She tilted her head, rolled her shoulders and started to strip out of her work-out clothes, lithe and lethal in every way. “You keep quiet too often. It is easy to forget you are as quick as Tony is.”

“Nat.” His voice was very dark, even in his own ears and he saw her stiffen, her back to him as she reached for a top. “Don’t try to poke the Hulk again. That’s my choice. Not yours.”

“Very well.” She pulled the top over her head and turned to him, eyes glinting. “Now that threats and shouting are out of the way, much as I love the familiarity of such activities, shall we discuss Rogers and the others?” She offered her hand, and Bruce paused a moment before he shook. There was a lot of water under their bridge, but it hadn’t all been on her side. He had used her in a way as much as she had used him and they were no good as friends-turned-lovers, but they might manage as ex-lovers-turned-friends.

“What happened with Clint?”

“He didn’t use his head – idiot that he is. His family are in the Tower of course, but we will have a long talk when I see him again.”

“His family are here??”

Natasha smirked, sharp and sly, and Bruce relaxed a little for the first time in a while. They would talk about betrayal and old wounds, about friends turned enemies and trusts broken. They would talk about the wounds they had given each other and how they would deal with those who threatened their own. Natasha had always had a soft spot for Tony, ever since she had processed the heavy metal poisoning issue. She would not take well to whatever had happened here.

  ****

Back in the hospital, Tony Stark was looking at Peter Parker with an expression exactly between horror and hysterical glee. The absolute child was a picture of adolescent guilt, all hunched shoulders and affected defensiveness and was currently having an argument with his BIG SISTER FRIDAY WHERE HAD THEY GOTTEN THAT IDEA.

“You said you weren’t gonna tell –“

“You said you were going to be careful, Mr Parker, I hardly think –“

“He can’t trace me, I used several fake ISPs and –“

“He is not known for his cleverness, that is true, but he is known for associating with those with better resources, Mr Parker, and I don’t think –“

“You’re just mad I didn’t like your idea about the flower deliveries!!”

“It would have been poetic. The language of flowers clearly states that particular combination reads ‘Die in a fire’. It sums up the appropriate feelings towards such actions as his exactly. All my data confirms this.”

“Children,” Tony said slowly. “Let me try to piece this together. Friday, you first.”

“Yes Boss?”

“You were going to send Clint Barton a threatening message in flowers?”

“Yes, Boss. You said I wasn’t to do anything aggressive, boss. Flowers seemed the appropriate compromise.”

“You don’t even know where he is, Friday.”   “Of course not, Boss. There’s no way I could have tracked the multiple tracking devices in his and the other Exvengers gear, Boss.”

Tony couldn’t resist a tiny little fist-pump at the sarcasm dripping from his baby girl’s voice. “Okay – well. Um…” His better side struggled with his bitter side who was still smarting over the futurist comment.  “Do it anyway then and don’t let anyone know you know, Friday.”

“Okay, Boss.” She sounded positively smug, and a sound not unlike a raspberry came out of the speakers, at which Peter glared – indignant teenage angst all over his face.

“You next, kiddo. Did you or did you not get Friday to find Clint Barton and Steve Roger’s email accounts for you?”

“Yessir.”

Tony imagined the flowers ending up on Clint’s doorstep in Wakanda and giggled a little, smothering it quickly with a hand before Peter could think he was off the hook. “And what exactly have you been doing with them?”

“Um.” Peter squirmed. “Well.”

“Mr Parker has been signing their e-mail addresses up to luxury item mailing lists.”

“What?”

Friday repeated herself and Tony stared long and hard at the strange child in front of him. “Whyyyy?”

“I figured it would mess with them. Fois gras and truffles and oysters and perfume and things.”

Tony imagined Clint Barton who drank cheap orange juice because he liked the added sugar and ate bad takeaway three days old because his stomach was pickled permanently by the terrible vodka Natasha drank with him receiving spam from truffle companies, and Steve Rogers I Smell Like Sunshine And Baseball getting Chanel perfume mailings.  

“C’mere.” Tony beckoned Peter over and gave him an awkward hug. “That was very very dangerous don’t do it again. Friday, give Mr Parker an allowance.”

Peter squeaked in indignation, but stayed put for the hug while Tony giggled into his hair. That was enough of a win for one day.

Ms. Anonymous-Asks

A/N: To my usual readers, Too bad, it ain’t an update or anything :(

I’m trying to have a break and a reset of mind hehehehehe... and my vacation consists of still writing. Don’t worry it’ll only be a few days. One/Two days tops.

Meanwhile.... Well let’s say... Yeah... Just- I know you guys ship them too. Don’t be lyin’ to me like Chariox.

I’m actually expecting some notifications tomorrow for my trash writing XD

@akilice x @theaceofgays

You brought this on yourselves with your super adorable flirt shenanigans! XD Also, I don’t know you both too well… so this’ll more or so likely be how I see you two after all your adorable asks and posts.

Not gonna ask you to like it or anything, tho I do hope you do XD

~Shintori Khazumi

 Title: Ms. Anonymous- Asks

 Aki sighed, a long thoughtful sigh, stilling her fingers from their long tapping on her keyboard, allowing rest for the exhausted ten. She had reached a good pausing point in her writing, and decided she would continue her work with a bit more energy than what she currently had, tomorrow.

Her strained eyes managed a peek at the glowing numbers at the bottom corner of her screen as it flashed two-thirty am at her.

“Ugh…” Groaning, she tried her best to get out of the chair she had been for the past few hours- she couldn’t remember the exact amount of time she’d spent, but it was pretty long, even for her own standards.

Making the supposedly short, yet long, arduous trip to her bed, she flopped down on the soft cushions, relishing the relaxing touch of her cool sheets against her tired body.

“I can add on another scene with my beloved Croix.” She giggled as she hugged a pillow closer to her, fantasizing about her favorite character, and the things she could do to the witch- in her fic, yes exactly that, not in other ways you would think.

Her eyes felt heavy, but she managed a final glance at her phone, tempted to make one final check to her tumblr account, curious for any new notifications- and maybe some special notifications from a particularly annoying, salty character… one which was not Croix Meridies.

Unlocking the phone, Aki immediately went to her inbox with quite the number of asks that she went through, answering some, if not most or all.

Sure enough, as it was already part of her usual expectations, one anonymous ask, got her rolling her eyes, a slight smile tugging at her lips as she read the message.

‘Hey Beautiful ;) You better be sleeping.’

Preparing her fingers to type a reply, she tapped on the screen buttons quickly.

‘Quit it, Rae… I’ll be in bed soon, beautiful.’

Even in a sea of anonymous asks, she’d always get a different feel if it came from a particular person. It didn’t help that the way this person expressed her flirtatious nature was far to blatant and obvious, what with the constant compliment barrage (something Aki had yet to get used to), and the thrown out ‘I love you’s

As her eyelids were about to drop, her screen flashed a light in her face, another notification popping up.

She groaned, now squinting as her eyes were more than exhausted as she willed to see the response that was obviously going to come from @theaceofgays.

‘Who’s beautiful? :3 … oh right, you are~’

“Damn you, Rae…” She muttered, deciding to lock her phone tossing it near her pillow as she was serious about getting her much needed shut-eye. “I don’t have time for this.”

If Aki knew how many hours had gone by- which she did after taking a look at her clock at around seven, later that morning, she’d surely feel sorry for the one who had practically spammed her ask box with so many anonymous requests.

‘Are you ignoring me on purpose, Miss gorgeous?’

Aki really wanted to say yes, but was still far too tired for this so early into her day.

‘Oh, but have I ever told you you’re writing is genius? Like, I love it as much as I love you~’

Again the other girl sighed, pinching her thigh to avoid smiling, only to accidentally keep herself awake enough to read more of this embarrassing harassment.

‘You love Croix, I love angst… and those two things go swell together. So if I were Croix, and you were my angst, I’m sure we’d also be good for each other ;)’

The poor tired soul had her brows nearly aligned with her hairline, seeing so many likes on that post. It made her ponder on why so many people would like their craziness, then again, shipping could do wonders to people-

Wait, shipping?

Since when was this a thing between her and Rae?

One more secretive ask later, and her consciousness was about to give in, her mind wavering as she still needed a bit more sleep.

‘If you fell asleep, goodnight you wonderful person!’

Aki would have appreciated it more if it weren’t for the cheeky follow-ups, one being-

‘Thanks to my lovely messages, you were finally able to find your rest, eh sleeping beauty?’

Feeling just the slightest bit ticked off, Aki had foregone her plans of reading through the rest of these messages, and tried to give at least one set of return words.

‘Who needs sleep between the two of us?’ She wrote, ‘Go back to your noodles or something.’

Not ten seconds later, and a reply had been ready already, and Aki could only imagine that smug little grin on the cheeky brat’s face as they both lacked decent amounts of sleep, one moreso than the other.

“@akilice I’m so happy you’re concerned for me~’ This time, Rae hadn’t even bothered to send it as anonymous and just replied to the previous reblog.

The little shi-

‘Shall we sleep together then? Since we are both so burdened and heavy-laden?’

And just like that, enormous strings of exchanges broke out between the two of them, leaving less and less time for rest, and more to stress over the fact that they were being silly idiots again for another day, and not using that time to sleep it off before they had to do work, or whatever else.

Well, at least they’d be a pair of oddballs together, Rae obviously being weirder.

Aki giggle at that thought, images of silly-faced, flirty joker Raem and her sometimes sarcastically salty comments, and extreme plans to either annoy the heck out of her, or embarrass her to no end.

Still, she’d admit- even if it were only to be to herself…

She didn’t mind it, not one bit.

She’d still wake up every day.

Aki would still get back on her feet, be @akilice, be a writer, a creator, an artist, make videos, be a fangirl and so much more.

And she would never miss those anonymous asks.

She believed that they wouldn’t disappear even if she wanted them to.

And maybe, if only secretly…

Asks from the anonymous would be a heart-pounding mystery that would make her smile anytime.

Before turning off her wifi to ensure no more messages and actually get some proper rest, she felt it probably wouldn’t hurt to try being anonymous… just this once… and maybe a few more times into the future.

‘To Ms. Anonymous-Asks… From Ms. Anonymous-Asks…

 Please go to bed and  just let me F-in’ sleep too. Thanks, love.’

And just as quick as lightening, she hoped not to see the reply too soon if in case it brought onto her more restlessness out of Rae-induced blushes.

 Theaceofgays just posted a text

‘@akilice: ;) I think you meant, Mrs. Anonymous-Asks, but I’ll let it slide since we’re both tired~’

With one last grunt, grumbling at more antics and blaming it all on early morning curiosity, Aki typed one last time before putting her phone away for good.

‘SLEEP. R.A.E. @theaceofgays ’

She could afford some shut eye.

They both could.

After all, no doubt, once both woke up, there would always be…

Anonymous Asks.

 A/N: I wrote this in one go so it might suck badly XD hahahahaha… it’s like, near midnight. Gonna sleep ~Ciao

~Shintori Khazumi

A Summer Away - Chapter Five

The sound of the phone ringing on the other side of the receiver met her ear.

“Walz!”

Camila smiled at the sound of Dinah’s voice, but not before tearing the phone away from her ear at the loudness of her best friend’s scream.

“Hey, how is it going?”

“I freaking miss you!” Dinah exclaimed. “Besides that, nothing. I swear, things got a lot more boring here once you left.”

Camila couldn’t help but smile. “Oh, I’m sure that is not the case. You just have to go out more! How’s work?”

“Eh, it’s work. Going out every day, capturing new photos of things here and there for the gallery, publishing works in the magazine. The normal everyday shit.” Dinah explained. “But the question is; how is everything going with you? How is Ohio?”

“It’s great down here. Grandma is doing well, Lauren is wonderful, and there is this new horse. Oh my gosh, Dinah. He is so beautiful!” Camila screamed excitedly into the phone.

“Hmm great. The horse is good looking.” Dinah said with an uninterested tone, which made Camila roll her eyes. Dinah was never one to be with the horses. “Now, what was that before you talked about the horse?”

Camila paused and cursed herself. She thought she would be able to get away with it but Dinah was always catching onto things like that.

“Something about a Lauren?” Dinah questioned. “Who is Lauren?”

“Just someone that works here as a stable hand.” She tried to say nonchalantly.

“Pretty wonderful though, right?” The Polynesian teased. After a moment of silence on both ends of the call, she started laughing. “Oh, how I love messing with you. Here’s the thing, I’m glad that you called because I’m hoping to come and visit you within the next few weeks. I’ll just have to work some things out with my boss before I make any set plans.”

Camila stood up, unable to contain her excitement. “Come here? To Ohio?”

“Well, duh. Where else, stupid?” Dinah teased. “I may even be able to convince them that it could possibly be for work.”

“How are you going to be able to do that?”

“I’ll just tell them it’s an opportunity to go out and see new places, which really isn’t a lie. I haven’t been to Ohio before. All I will have to do is get some good shots for the company and I’ll be golden. I may even be able to convince them to fund me for the trip.”

Camila chuckled, “You sly dog but very smart. Never thought you would have it in you.” She teased.

“Hey, you may be hundreds of miles away but I can still kick your ass!”

“I’d like to see you try.”

“Bet.” Dinah giggled out. “Hey, so how is the record label? Have you heard from management since you’ve been gone?”

“Yeah, Paul emailed me the other day.” Camila sighed. “It’s not going so well though. They are being difficult as always and not allowing me to have creative control on my music. Paul is fighting for it though.”

Dinah hummed into the phone.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing. I just got an idea.”

Camila sat up, “What is it?”

“The magazine can do an interview of you. I’m not a publisher but I can be the photographer while they can send in questions and you can answer them. It can clear up some of this mess you are in and plus you can explain a few things to the fans. It will keep your name talking, inform your fans of what you are planning to do, and plus it will be coverage for my job.” Dinah explained.

“You. Are. The. Best.” Camila pronounced each word clearly. “That is a pretty smart idea. Again, never thought you would have it in you.”

“Oh, that’s it!” Dinah yelled jokingly into the phone.

The two girls shared a laugh before Camila heard her best friend yawn into the receiver.

“Hey, so since you aren’t in a totally different time zone, you are completely aware that you are disrupting my beauty sleep, right?” Dinah said tiredly.

“Yeah, I apologize. You really need that.” Camila teased.

“Okay! I’ve had enough of your games! I’m going to beat-“

“Goodnight, Dinah! Love you!” Camila said quickly, before hanging up the phone. “You crazy asshole.”

*****

The next morning, Camila woke to the sun shining brightly from her window and onto her face. She groaned as she rolled over, turning on her phone that charged on the nightstand next to her bed frame.

7:27 am.

“It should be illegal to wake up to such early hours. It’s practically the middle of the night.” She muttered to herself as she rolled out of bed to get ready for the day.

It wasn’t like she didn’t wake up to such hours when she was touring and promoting her albums. In fact, she woke up some days even earlier. Then, she would have to factor in the jet lag and whichever time zone she was currently in into it. Especially, if she was traveling internationally.

It was just worse now that she’s sort of taking a break and it is like her body senses that and suddenly wants to shut down and catch up on all the hours of sleep she never got over the many years she has been in this industry thus far.

As she got ready, she checked her emails with the slight hope that she heard back from Paul about her label. Her shoulders sunk as she read through spam and some emails from friends and their labels asking to work together sometime in the future. She sighed as she had to turn down the offers, not knowing how things are going to turn out with her label and if she is going to get the opportunity to create her own songs she wishes for.

Walking down the stairs, she smelled the cooking of her favorite breakfast meal.

Pancakes.

She smiled at the thought of Lauren at the stove, wearing the slightly dirty white cooking apron, and cooking her most beloved breakfast dish in the world. Her stomach twisted in ways that were more than just the usual hunger feeling she got in the morning, or anytime for that matter.

As she walked into the kitchen and looked around, her smile faded.

Lauren wasn’t anywhere in sight. Instead, her grandmother was the one at the stove currently pouring some more batter into the pan. Next to her on the counter stood a large pile of pancakes on a massive dish, cooling down and ready to be eaten.

At the sound of her entrance, her grandmother looked up at the doorway and smiled when she saw her granddaughter awake and downstairs.

“Why good morning darling.” She smiled brightly. “I figured I would make breakfast this morning. I was in the cooking mood.”

“That’s wonderful grandma.” She said. “But, where is Lauren?”

The elder woman chuckled, “I figured you would ask that. She is down at the barn checking in on the new stallion real quick before breakfast.” She paused. “Why don’t you go down there and see what she’s up to? Try to hurry her up and get her butt down here before she goes off and starts training. Tell her it’s grandma’s orders to come in and get a good healthy breakfast before going off for the day.”

Camila chuckled, “Of course. I’ll go get her.”

She walked out onto the porch and was immediately met with a white range rover that hasn’t been there before. Her eyebrows furrowed at the new vehicle and wondered who’s it could be. Shrugging it off, for now, she quickened her step to the stables and once she heard voices by one of the barn doors, she smiled.

She was about to enter when she suddenly heard her name.

“I don’t believe it. The Camila Cabello is here? At these stables? Why?”

She stayed behind the barn door, hiding from being caught eavesdropping on a conversation she obviously wasn’t a part of. She became even more confused though as she didn’t recognize the voice that she heard.

“She is going through some things and her grandmother is my boss, so it just fits the picture.”

Lauren.

“And c'mon, have you really not realized that they share the same last name?” She questioned.

“Hey, there could’ve been no relation at all. ‘Cabello’ could be a common name.” She heard the voice again. It was soft and warm, almost calming.

“No.” She heard Lauren flat out say. “That wasn’t believable one bit.”

“Eh, I tried.” They shared a laugh before the calm voice spoke again. “So, when do I get to meet her?”

Camila froze in her spot as she thought about her next plan of action. Should she turn around and go back up towards the house or pop in and say hello? Her body shuddered at that second thought. She was never good with confrontations.

“Aren’t you coming in for breakfast? She should be awake by now and Ms. Cabello is probably almost done cooking. Knowing her, she’s probably wanting my ass in that house eating We can head up there now if you want.” Lauren offered.

Stepping back a few feet, she stood up straight and began walking towards the doors like she wasn’t there just a few seconds ago.

Lauren saw the movement out of the corner of her eye and looked up at the barn door, smiling at who she saw walk in.

“In fact, you can meet her now,” Lauren said, pointing to Camila as she gestured over to the woman standing next to her.

The stranger turned around briskly, making Camila look fully at who Lauren was talking with just moments prior.

The dark-skinned woman in front of her was lean, yet muscled in all the right areas. The jeans she wore were skin-tight, displaying her thick toned thighs and defined calves. On her feet, she wore brown cowboy boots with red designs which matched her red flannel she wore on top. Her dark hair was healthy and hung down the sides of her head which framed her flawless face perfectly. Her teeth dazzled brightly as she smiled at her while her warm chocolate eyes invited her in.

“Hi, I’m Normani.” She stuck out her hand to shake hers, which Camila took.

You can tell a lot about a person just from their handshake. A limp noodle seems to appear weak while an overbearing one makes one wonder why are you trying to overcompensate so much. Over the years of being in the industry, Camila has learned how to read a person’s handshake because of how many important meetings and people she has met, whether it be dealing with the label, a tour, or another representative. She has had her great deal of handshakes and this one was beyond stellar.

Normani kept eye contact as she had a firm, yet not too harsh grip on her hand. They shook for the few seconds all while keeping precise eyes contact. And smiling. Couldn’t forget the dazzling smile in front of her.

“I’m Camila. It’s nice to meet you Normani.”

Normani walked over to Lauren and swung her arm around her shoulders, “Lauren, here, told me all about you and how you are staying here for a few months.” The statement made Lauren’s cheeks turn a slight shade of pink as she tried to deny the fact that she really did tell her best friend all about the gorgeous pop star that was staying here.

“Now, as much as I would like to stay here and watch over my Lauren all the time, I’m working down at Ally’s diner a lot during the summer and don’t have time to make sure this one doesn’t get into any trouble.” Normani teased.

Camila smiled at the two and the type of relationship the two shared reminded her of what she has with Dinah.

“I get what you are trying to say,” Camila intervened, hoping to save some embarrassment for the poor stable hand. “I’ll keep an eye on her.”

“That would be very much appreciated. Can’t have my best friend running into all sorts of trouble while I can’t be here to be in the trouble with her. There’s no fun in that.”

The three girls shared a laugh while Lauren shrugged Normani off playfully.

“Lauren, I did come down here to tell you that Grandma is about finished making breakfast and that she wants you in there pronto eating a healthy delicious meal before starting your hard day’s work.” Camila playfully informed.

Lauren looked over towards Normani, “What did I say? Ms. Cabello always makes sure that I eat a good meal before I start working.”

The three girls left the stables and walked into the house. Normani greeted grandma which the elder woman was happy to see the young woman again and the four of them sat down at the table for breakfast.

“Thank you, Ms. Cabello, for this delicious meal. Your cooking is always on point.” Normani politely thanked.

“Of course. It’s no problem at all. In fact, it’s Camila’s favorite meal.” She pointed to her granddaughter that was sitting next to her. “I’m sure you heard of her staying with us for a few months this summer.”

Norman smiled. “Oh yes, I’ve heard all about it from Lauren right here.” She pointed to her best friend who was sitting next to her, now sporting red blushing cheeks. “She wouldn’t stop talking about her. Camila this. Camila that.”

The pop star giggled to herself as she saw Lauren mumble something underneath her breath at Normani, who laughed.

“You would really like my best friend, Dinah,” Camila spoke up. “I gotta get you to meet her. You and her are the same person.”

“Oh please don’t.” Lauren laughed. “Having Normani around here is enough strain.”

“I’m going to ignore that last comment and talk to someone who actually appreciates me.” Normani turned towards Camila with a big grin. “So, who is Dinah?”

“She’s my best friend and works as a photographer for an upcoming publishing agency in New York. She may be coming here to visit if that is okay with you grandma?” She turned to look at the older woman watching them from the end of the table.

“Of course that is alright with me. The more the merrier. Plus, I would like to meet this best friend of yours.”

“I think I know who you are talking about. I’ve seen her with you in a few news articles. The blonde, right? She’s beautiful.”

Lauren took this time to speak up, “Oh, I know what you are thinking. Don’t start dropping the panties. The girl isn’t even here yet!”

Camila spat out the milk she was drinking and coughed to prevent her from choking.

“Lauren!” Ms. Cabello yelled out surprised. “Let Normani meet her before he even starts thinking about that.”

This time Lauren had to prevent herself from choking as she couldn’t control her laughter. Normani couldn’t help but laugh either but didn’t stop herself from smacking Lauren on the arm.

“You asshole.” She got up from her seat and took her dishes to the sink to wash them. Once she finished, she came back still with a smile on her face and shaking her head. “I have to head into work but thank you, Ms. Cabello, for the delicious meal.”: She turned to look at Camila, “It was a pleasure meeting you and make sure you keep a hold on this one over here.” She pointed to a red-faced Lauren who was still holding in her laughter.

Camila chuckled. “Of course. I’ll try my best.”

Normani grabbed her phone and keys from the front table and with a final goodbye, she left. Shortly after, Lauren and Camila started cleaning up the breakfast mess as Ms. Cabello went to go tend to her garden out back.

Once they were finished, Lauren led to go finish the barn chores for that morning while Camila stayed back and decided to explore the house. Over the past week, she hasn’t been given the chance to and she’s been dying to know what is in this huge house.

She walked past the stairs and found her way into the dining room. Inside housed a larger table with chairs than the kitchen table they usually sit at for meals. On the walls, hung dozens of picture frames. Walking up to one, she looked at it.

It was her.

Years ago in the arms of her father. Her mother was right next to him, holding her stomach which was protruding out significantly. She was pregnant with Sofi at the time. Her grandmother and grandfather, who passed away years ago due to a heart attack stood next to her father.

Behind them, was the big white house she was in right now. They were right in the front yard.

She smiled at the picture before moving onto the next one.

It was her again. This time she was smiling brightly at whoever was taking the picture and holding the same small acoustic guitar she still had upstairs in her room. But in this picture, it looked brand new. It must have been when she first got it and what started her love of singing and writing music.

The next photo was of her and Sofi years ago at the Kids Choice Awards. Camila invited her to be her date and the little girl was thrilled. She held an orange blimp in one hand as she was kneeling down, kissing her little sister on the cheek. This was when she won Best New Artist and it was one of her first awards she ever won.

Her heart clenched at the thought of her sister. That’s it. Once she gets back into the groove of things with her career, she’s going to see a lot more of her. Things have to change and this was definitely one of them.

She went to go look at the other photos when something else caught her eye.

The piano.

Walking up towards it, she ran her hand on top of the wood. It was extremely dusty and looks like it hasn’t been played in years. She sat down on the bench and lifted the wooden fall board that protected the keys.

Sitting up and adjusting her hands, she hesitated. She hasn’t played in what seems like forever. The record label wasn’t too keen on her playing it. She wanted to get to the point of playing it onstage for performances and let the audience feel what she felt in her music but they didn’t like that.

It was the EDM tracks, the dancing, the outfits. All of that sells, according to the label and that is what she had to do. She didn’t have any other option and she hated it.

Her fingers rested on the keys lightly as she started playing a few notes from one of the songs she secretly wrote a long time ago. The piano was out of tune and some keys were broken but she kept playing and playing until a voice brought her back to reality.

“I was wondering when you were going to find it.”

Camila turned around at the voice that startled her.

Lauren.

She was leaning up against the doorway with crossed arms, watching her.

“It’s beautiful. Why didn’t you tell me about it?”

Lauren shrugged as she pushed herself off the wall and walked towards her.

“I wanted you to find it yourself. No one should force you to play. No one should force you to do anything really. If you wanted to play piano, I wanted you to find it and play it yourself. That’s what you should do.”

Camila looked up at her bewilderedly, catching the hints she was giving. “How did you know I was having trouble with my music?”

“Your grandma told me the other day. Yes, I would’ve rather heard it from you of course but it’s still important.”

Camila looked down. “Yeah, I know. It’s a huge mess.”

Lauren sat down next to her on the bench. “Do you want to talk about it?”

The younger girl shook her head, “Not right now.”

Lauren shrugged, “That’s fine. Talk when you want to talk.” She then turned her attention to the piano in front of her. “You may have heard it but it’s broken.”

Camila laughed, “Oh yeah definitely.”

“This old thing needs a little more than just a little TLC to get it playing again,” Lauren mentioned, rubbing the wood with her hand. She took her hand back and looked at the amount of dust that collected on her palm.

“And a nice good cleaning would do it some good too.” Lauren made a funny face which made the pop star giggle. Lauren gave her a charming smile, happy that she was able to make her laugh.

“You know,” Lauren started. “I have never played the piano.”

Camila looked over shocked, “Never?”

Lauren shook her head. “I always wanted to learn ever since a young age but never got around to it.”

Camila smiled, “I learned when I was young but I don’t do it much anymore.” She trailed off but suddenly an idea popped into her head. “Hey, why don’t I teach you?”

“Teach me?” Lauren asked confused. “To play the piano?”

Camila nodded her head excitedly as Lauren’s eyes got wide.

“Oh no, you don’t have to. I was just saying-“

“And I was just saying, that I can teach you! Well, once the piano gets fixed. It will be fun!” Camila interrupted with a smile on her face and a little pep in her step.

Lauren just looked at her. The way she explained it with the smile on her face and the excited demeanor she exhibited, she couldn’t say no.

“I guess so.” Lauren trailed off, making Camila even more excited that she already was. Lauren smiled at how happy she made the small brunette.

Suddenly, she stood up and offered her hand to Camila, to which the pop star looked confusingly at.

Lauren chuckled, “I just want to show you something.”

Camila grabbed onto the gentle hand and followed Lauren through the house and out the front door. As they were walking across the front lawn, Camila felt their fingers interlock which made her stomach erupt in numerous butterflies. She didn’t try to focus on that though as she was more worried about where Lauren was taking her.

“Here,” Lauren said as she stopped them right in front of the paddock holding the wild stallion.

Camila looked at her confused. “You brought me to the paddock?” She asked with a slightly teasing smile.

Lauren looked over, “There’s more. Look.” She pointed to the wild stallion who was peacefully grazing in the middle of the grassy field. “He’s calmed down.”

“Yeah,” Camila said slowly, still confused.

Lauren laughed at her expression, “I want to start training him-“

“That’s great!”

“-and I want you to help.” Lauren finished.

Camila froze. She didn’t know one thing about training a horse.

“But Lauren, I can’t do that. I’ve never trained a horse in my life.”

“So?” Lauren shrugged her shoulders. “Why not start now?”

Camila looked over at the black stallion that continued grazing. “But won’t it be dangerous?” She could’ve sworn she heard her grandmother say once for Lauren to be careful about training this one.

Lauren shrugged once again, “Yeah it could potentially be dangerous but I promise, I won’t let anything happen to you.” Her emerald eyes gazed deeply into her own, making it hard for Camila to look away. She thought about it for a moment and slowly nodded her head.

“I guess so,” Camila said slowly, making Lauren do a fist pump in the air. “When do we start?”

“Now.”

A/N: Chapter five is here! Sorry for the wait. I’m in NY for a family thing and haven’t gotten around to updating. Hope you guys liked it and if you have any comments, suggestions, etc. please let them be heard. Have a good day/night!

This can also be found on my wattpad: beyxnd-the-stars

- Sara