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iviarellereads · 18 days

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The Great Hunt, Chapter 25 - Cairhien

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Wheel of Time, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

(Cairhien flag icon)(1) In which the dead walk the world once more.

PERSPECTIVE: Rand is in Cairhien, which is at least as big as Caemlyn. Outside the city walls is a warren of streets known as Foregate, essentially the poor neighbourhoods on the outskirts, with lots of peddler's tables and people hawking wares as they walk around. Most of the buildings are wood, poorly made, but looking relatively new.

Tavolin, the leader of the guards traveling with Rand and co, sneers at the peasants and says they're "corrupted by outland ways" and shouldn't be here. When Rand asks where else they should be, Hurin explains that many left their farms near the Spine of the World when the Aiel invaded, and refused to go back. Cairhien now has to import most of its food, and Cairhienin are sensitive about the subject.(2)

There are a lot of gleemen, musicians, tumblers, etc. and Rand asks if it's a festival. No, Loial says, Galldrian keeps his people quiet by entertaining them, paying huge sums to anyone who will perform in the Foregate. There are even fireworks most nights, and the Illuminators' Guild has set up a chapter in town, the only one outside of their home base in Tanchico.(3)

As Tavolin negotiates entry into the city proper, Rand gets a peek past the gate at a place much more subdued. There are huge scaffolds signaling the rebuilding efforts of a couple of towers, formerly known as the Topless Towers.

Tavolin returns and Rand is given a note from a city guard saying he must return to this guardhouse by this time tomorrow and tell them what inn he's staying in. Rand asks if they can tell him the name of an inn in the Foregate, but Hurin hisses at him that it wouldn't be proper, being a Lord and all. Rand sighs internally, says he'll take rooms inside the city and tell them where he's staying, then asks if they can inquire as to the location of a Lady Selene, of unknown house. They agree hesitantly.(4)

Hurin leads them to the Defender of the Dragonwall in, whose sign bears a crowned man with a foot on a prone red-haired man's chest. Rand notes along the way that nearly everyone is giving him funny looks, and assumes it's just assumptions about a new Lord to play the Game of Houses. Then he shakes it off. Not everyone can be playing this Game of theirs, surely? And if they are, he's no part of it.

The common room is neat, and laid out as tidily as the city, all straight lines and 90-degree angles. Everyone turns to look as they enter, then conspicuously turns back to their former activities, though Rand's still sure they're listening and watching.

The innkeeper was a plump, unctuous man with a single stripe of green across his dark gray coat. He gave a start at his first sight of them, and Rand was not surprised. Loial, with the chest in his arms under its striped blanket, had to duck his head to make it in through the door, Hurin was burdened with all their saddlebags and bundles, and his own red coat was a sharp contrast to the somber colors the people at the tables wore. The innkeeper took in Rand’s coat and his sword, and his oily smile came back. He bowed, washing his smooth hands. “Forgive me, my Lord. It was just that for a moment I took you for—Forgive me. My brain is not what it was. You wish rooms, my Lord?” He added another, lesser bow for Loial. “I am called Cuale, my Lord.” He thought I was Aiel,(5) Rand thought sourly. He wanted to be gone from Cairhien. But it was the one place Ingtar might find them. And Selene had said she would wait for him in Cairhien.

Rand can't get away with sharing a room with "his men" here, he has to take an ostentatious room with an enormous bed, with a second room for Hurin and Loial connected by an inside door.(6) Rand wants to go back to the Foregate for an hour, at least, back to where people laugh. He asks who will take the first watch on the Horn? Loial volunteers, saying he doesn't want to run into any other Ogier who might be in the city, he'll just stay here and read. Hurin says he'd like to have a drink in the common room of this inn, with Rand's permission. Rand says Hurin doesn't need his permission for anything, but Hurin dismisses this without comment.(7)

As Rand is leaving and Hurin getting a drink, the innkeeper hands Rand three sealed parchments on a tray. Rand asks what they are, and Cuale says they're all invitations, from noble houses. Who would send him invitations? Who would know he was here? Hurin suggests that everyone will know by now, there's no way the guards kept their mouths shut about an outland lord coming to town, and hostlers, innkeepers, they all tell whoever they think will pay them the most for the information.

Rand takes the parchments and hurls them into the fire, then says loudly enough for all the common room to hear that he is NOT playing Daes Dae'mar, he has nothing to do with this game, he's just here to wait for friends.

Hurin catches his arm and BEGS him not to do that again. Rand boggles at the idea that he'll receive more.

“I’m certain. Light, but you mind me of the time Teva got so mad at a hornet buzzing round his ears, he kicked the nest. You’ve likely just convinced everyone in the room you are in some deep part of the Game. It must be deep, as they’ll see it, if you deny playing at all. Every lord and lady in Cairhien plays it.” The sniffer glanced at the invitations, curling blackly in the fire, and winced. “And you have surely made enemies of three Houses. Not great Houses, or they’d not have moved so quickly, but still noble. You must answer any more invitations you receive, my Lord. Decline if you will—though they’ll read things into whose invitations you do decline. And into whose you accept. Of course, if you decline them all, or accept them all—”

Rand reiterates that he'll have no part of it.(8) They're leaving Cairhien as soon as they can. He stalks out and back out through the same gate he entered the inner city from, noting that the guards can tell who he is by his height, his hair, and the red coat he's wearing, while everyone else in Cairhien is quite short and dressed somberly. He doesn't care. He fits in just fine in the Foregate.(9)

Peeking into one of the performance rooms he made note of earlier, he sees a gleeman performing some part of the Great Hunt of the Horn in high chant, and it reminds him sadly of Thom. At another he sees a woman dressed in white seeming to make things vanish from one basket and appear in another. The barker asks two coppers to see an Aes Sedai perform.(10) Rand declines and moves on.

Shortly, though, a performance really catches his attention. A deep and familiar voice, accompanied by a harp, draws Rand in like a rope. He pays the two copper price here, and finds Thom Merrilin performing inside, for true.(11) His height lets Thom catch his eye and he nods almost imperceptibly toward a door beside the stage.

Rand enters the door discreetly, and Thom comes in from the dais, his right leg not quite bending like it used to. He says Rand looks like he's doing VERY well indeed. Rand can't help but laugh. He was so sure Thom was dead, despite Moiraine saying he couldn't be!(12) He should have gone back to help...

Thom stops him right there. No, the Fade had no interest in Thom, it let him get away with just a leg injury. Moiraine's still alive, huh? Is she here? Thom looks disappointed when Rand shakes his head.(13) Oh well, at least Thom knows now that it was Mat or Perrin the Fade was after, he doesn't need to know which. Does Rand still have his flute and harp? He wants them back, and he's very serious when he says it.

Rand confirms he still has the instruments, he'll give them back as soon as he can fetch them. He has so much to tell Thom... Later. He has to go perform some more here, or the crowd might tear the hall down. He gives the name of the inn where he's staying, he'll be back there in an hour or so. One more tale will have to do for this lot. And bring the harp and flute!

=====

(1) Well that makes things nice and straightforward. (2) So they've been living here instead of farming for twenty years, and nobody's gone home? Oof. That's gotta be some mega PTSD. (3) And in addition to mega PTSD, let's throw in some mega expensive bills. At least they're being taken care of and entertained, I guess? But oof, the treasury must be nearly empty by now. (4) Rand has no way to know the guards would absolutely know every noble house and name within them, and don't recognize her. (5) So did everyone on the street, Rand. They'd all recognize an Aielman up close, even in a lord's clothes. (6) You'd think they'd understand that an Ogier was a friend and traveling companion even if they thought Hurin was just a manservant. (7) Loial doesn't want to meet other Ogier because he's out illicitly and word's probably got around by now. Hurin is never going to accept that Rand isn't a lord after all that's happened. (8) Rand is getting his second big taste of culture shock with Daes Dae'mar, doubly so because they're so intense about him looking like an Aiel, and dressed in such finery and not in the local fashion, either, that there's no way he's not a Lord of some sort, and if he says he's NOT playing the Game then surely he's just playing a double, triple, or quadruple bluff level and he's REALLY deep in it. (9) I can't blame him for wanting to be where the people who are more like who he believes himself to be, are. Where people laugh and don't just stare at you and play ten dimensional chess in their heads about what you intend with every move you make. (10) As if any Aes Sedai would be performing street magic. HA! (11) So then we come to the big reunion. It was definitely a spoiler of me to say that Thom came back but also he was too firmly established in the first book to just die permanently so early on. And the way Rand just couldn't let go of the harp and flute… yeah, there was no way Thom was staying away. And even the Tor first-reader knew Thom wasn't dead. (12) And just how would she know? Did Min see something and tell her? (13) Whatever Moiraine seems to know, Thom's come a long way from his immediate snapping and distrust at the sight of her in Emond's Field. "She's a fine woman," he says.

#wheel of time #wot #the wheel of time #twot #tgh #the great hunt #wot cairhien icon #rand al'thor #hurin (wot)#loial #elricain tavolin #innkeeper cuale #thom merrilin

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paradisetemporarilymisplaced · 3 years

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Fave 1D fics?

Hello! This was very fun to put together and I really enjoyed my journey down memory lane in doing so🤗 Full disclosure, this list is all fics from 2016 or earlier bc I stopped regularly reading fic around then, but these are my very favorites. These are all either AO3 or PDF links because some have been deleted, and I'm sure I'm missing some (it's hard to keep track when so many have been deleted and my AO3 bookmarks are not as comprehensive as they could be). Happy reading, friend!

Wear It Like A Crown (zarah5, 141k, E): The first fic I ever read in this fandom and it remains my very favorite to this day! Royalty AU in which Louis is part of a team of PR fixers hired by the royal family to spin a photo of Prince Harry getting some with his bestie, Zayn. Enemies (ish) to friends to lovers, grand gestures, tragic backstory, and remarkably well-written communication issues. Zarah is one of the most beloved fandom authors and has written some classics, but this one is my personal favorite.

These Inconvenient Fireworks (mdasch & everydaysalike, 190k, E): The OG fandom classic for a reason. Louis is a drama teacher and Harry, an aspiring photographer, starts coaching soccer football at the same school part-time. Friends with benefits ensue, but there's a lot of angst as they try to figure out what the fuck they're doing and what they really are to each other. Major OT5 feels, funny as hell, heartbreaking - it's everything you want in a fic.

Allies in Heaven, Comrades in Hell (rockinaintnowalkinthepark, 265k, E): Catholic school AU. God, this one just punches you in the dick. I love it so fucking much. Louis and Harry are classmates and Louis realizes he's really into Harry. Unfortunately, his father is violently homophobic, and when he and Harry get together, he's terrified of the possible consequences. Major warnings for violence and homophobia, so if that's not your cup of tea you might want to stay away. I however am a sucker for angst with a happy ending and this fic delivers.

And Down the Long and Silent Street (whimsicule, 89k, M): THIS! FIC! God. I love it so much. Historical AU - Victorian England. Louis is selling newspapers on the London streets when he crosses paths with Harry, a wealthy young gentleman. They start an affair and fall in love, but unfortunately, a serial killer on the London streets is targeting poor young men - in particular, as it turns out, Louis - which complicates things. Plotty, heavy on the hurt/comfort, and keeps you on the very edge of your seat. I reread this one all the time.

Pull Me Under (zarah5, 140k, E): Another Zarah fic and also incredible. This one features Louis as a professional footballer trying to navigate coming out. Liam is Louis' agent, who suggests he be in a long-term relationship to ease the coming out process. Luckily, Liam's boyfriend Zayn has a friend named Harry who'd be perfect as the fake boyfriend. Fake relationship ensues. Beautifully written, also a classic.

Butterfly Gun (eravain, 100k, M): 1940s AU, set around WWII. In 1940, Harry and Gemma were evacuated from London to stay at the Tomlinson farm. Harry and Louis become friends, but as they grow up and learn more about themselves, there's the possibility for something more - except Louis' grandpa is a dick. Harry and Gemma are sent to another home to stay, and after the war, Harry goes back to see Louis in an attempt to rekindle their relationship and see what's actually there. Beautifully written and clenches your heart in the best way.

Coax the Cold (mediawhore, 86k, M): Another Victorian AU, this one featuring professor!Louis, whose focus on the supernatural has resulted in professional ridicule. He stumbles across ads for a circus sideshow that supposedly has a mermaid, so he goes undercover as an employee to obtain proof of the mermaid's existence. He definitely obtains proof, but his goal shifts as he gets to know said mermaid (Harry, obviously) and instead of proving his existence, he needs to free him and keep his secret to protect him.

College AU series (whoknows, 75k, E): This is a two-fic series that's just fun. In part 1, Harry and Louis are in an epic prank war - well, at least Louis is engaged in a prank war, while Harry calmly retaliates. Louis is a fucking menace in this one which I just adore. Dialogue is NEXT LEVEL. Friends with benefits (or at least, that's what Louis thinks it is) that (obviously) becomes a relationship (which is what Harry has thought it was the whole time). The last scene (before the epilogue) is one of my favorites in any fic. Part 2 is pretty much more of the same - sex, banter, and planning for the future.

Give Me Truths (iwillpaintasongforlou, 110k, E): This fic HAS. IT. ALL. College AU! Hurt/comfort! Punk, confident, psych major Louis! Sad Harry! I just! Love it! In this fic, Harry is in an abusive relationship and Louis helps him gather the strength to leave his abuser. In the process, they end up falling in love, and Louis helps Harry regain his confidence and self-esteem. I love this one especially because it was written at a time when the common fic trope was that Louis hates himself and Harry is the manic pixie dream girl who makes it better, so the role reversal in this fic was very refreshing. But it's also just such a good story and so well-written. (And again. PUNK LOUIS.)

Relief Next to Me (dolce_piccante, 333k, E): Okay. This fic is a MONSTER. It's really just 333k words of slice of life as baker!Harry and graphic designer!Louis become friends with benefits and then fall in love. I read this as a WIP (which I rarely do) just because there's barely a plot, they're just having a great time living life and having sex. Chapter 17 in particular is my comfort reread, I just love it SO MUCH.

Love Is a Word, You Gave It a Name (hattalove, 21k, T): Pure fluff, canon compliant. It's Christmas time and the boys are celebrating with their families and each other and getting ready to take a major step in their relationship - that is, publicly coming out. OT5 and family feels all over the place. This fic just gives you such warm and fuzzy feelings and I always smile the whole way through reading it. Also features a reunion with Louis' infamous geography teacher and also him being jealous of Ed Sheeran's cat.

Soft Hands, Fast Feet, Can't Lose (dolce_piccante, 113k, E): College AU in which Harry is an (American) football star for a Texas university and Louis is a dancer at the same school. In everyone's favorite 90s teen flick trope, Harry's friends bet that he can't get Louis to fall in love with him. You can guess how this plays out. It's very fun and especially good to reread during college football season.

#anonymous #answered #thanks for asking anon i want to go reread some of these now #there’s a lot of classics on that list but hey they’re classics for a reason #larry fic #larry fic rec #and for my own reference #halo #fic #mine #my recs

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bebepac · 4 years

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Fireworks

I am participating in @wackydrabbles prompt # 48 “Maybe it was confusing, but it’s wasn’t like anyone really cared, will appear in bold.

This is chapter 3 of Pop’s Place. To see what you’ve been missing so far, Please click here: Pop's Place Masterlist

Summary: Mia and Daniel take a day trip to Wrightsville Beach to hang out on Hana’s boat with Maxwell, Leo, Liam, Penelope, Drake and Olivia.

Warnings: Profanity, underage drinking, Olivia being an ass. Mia pulls out some ginger jokes for Olivia.

All characters belong to Pixelberry.

Word Count: 1286

Song inspiration for this chapter In This Diary by The Ataris

https://youtu.be/0SbxNQYblY0

I don’t own rights to the music.

Tagging: @queenjilian @burnsoslow @loveellamae @bbrandy2002 @dcbbw@nomadics-stuff @kimmiedoo5 @cordonianroyalty @cordonia-gothqueen @lodberg @glaimtruelovealways @custaroonie @texaskitten30 @janezillow @atha68 @my0123456789universe @indiacater @losingbraincellseveryday @furiousherringoperatortoad @marietrinmimi @xpandabeardontcarex @thanialis @hopefulmoonobject @sevenfuckslefttogive @ac27dj @queen-arabella-of-cordonia @yukinagato2012 @mrsdrakewalkerblog @marshmallowsaremyfavorite @islandcrow @axwalker @sanchita012 @queenwalton @gabesmommie1130 @mom2000aggie @gibbles82 @ramseysno1rookie @lovablegranny @nikkis1983 @marshmallowsandfire @hopelessromanticmonie @storylineofnothing @katedrakeohd @coolpsychicempathhumanoid @cordoniaqueensworld @aestheticartwriting @batgirlassociationofgothamcity @thatdoctorownsme @seriallover99 @choicesficwriterscreations

“No biggie, we’re just going to be on a boat at Wrightsville Beach with the rich kids from Prestonwoods. This is totally our life now thanks to you Mia. Best summer Ever.”

“Summer has only just begun, Daniel!" Mia said.

She was pulling the convertible top up on her car, when she heard a whistle.

She glanced back seeing a Black SUV pull up next to them.

Of course, it was Leo being absolutely obnoxious.

He jumped out of the car, grabbing Mia in a bear hug. “Mama Mia Dancing Queen, what up girl?!?!?!”

“Hey Leo.” Mia smiled at him.

“What’s in the coolers?” He pointed to Mia and Daniel’s matching pink coolers.

“Sammiches. What’s your contribution to this boat trip?”

“We brought the liquors.” She watched as Leo spun a bottle in his hand, then went a little over ambitious with it and the bottle slipped from his hand hitting the ground and breaking.

Mia jumped back just in time.

Liam, Drake, and Maxwell walked around the SUV.

Leo was still staring at the ground in shock.

Drake laughed.

“I don’t know what just happened.” He said with a dumbfounded look on his face.

Maybe it was confusing, but it wasn’t like anyone really cared.

“What did you do?!?!?!?!?!” Maxwell screamed.

Okay scratch that. Maxwell cared.

Liam shrugged his shoulders. “We have 5 more… so… I think we’re good.”

Drake walked over to Mia, taking her cooler before anyone else had a chance.

“I got that for you.” He said with a smile.

“Thanks.”

“Have you guys been over here before?” Maxwell inquired.

“To the beach yes, but not this side.”

“Hana’s family has a house at the beach. So we have to walk to her private access gate.”

“Oh okay.”

As they walked over to the private access gate, Drake took Mia’s hand, while they walked. Daniel gave her a thumbs up sign.

There was really a man dressed in a suit holding a sign that said “Guests of Hana Lee.”

As soon as they got on the yacht, not so much a boat, Hana grabbed Mia by one hand and Daniel by the other. “You have got to see these! I know you will love them!” She was showing Mia and Daniel her new designs.

Last to arrive were Olivia, and Penelope.

She noticed as soon as Penelope got onto the boat, both of them were wearing the same swimsuit.

Of course Olivia noticed right away.

“Isn’t that hilarious, Penelope, you’re twinning with the new girl.” She looked Mia over. “I’m surprised that swim suit actually came in your size.”

“Liv cut it out.” Liam looked at her annoyed.

“Why are you defending her Liam? That’s Drake’s job. Are you gunning for Drake’s job?”

“Olivia, not everyone wears a size Bitch like you do. Mia and Penny look great in their bathing suits.”

“Old Navy rocks!” Penny said to Mia, giving her a high five. Maybe Penny wasn’t so bad. “Liv thought I spent $100 on her birthday gift. $5.99 at Old Navy.” Penny whispered.

Okay Penny was not bad at all.

Leo made everyone drinks, that were about 90% alcohol with a splash of the mixer.

“No thanks,” Mia said when he went to hand her a red solo cup.

“You’re breaking my heart girl!!!” Leo had a sad look on his face.

“I am not much of a drinker, sorry Leo.”

Liam had planned for this. He had noticed Mia didn’t drink at the pool party either. “Mia, come over here, I have some waters, sodas, and apple juice.”

He flipped open their big charcoal gray yeti cooler.

“What would you like?”

Mia gasped. “I love this apple juice in the glass bottles.”

“So do I, you mean to tell me you have something in common with Richie Rich?”

Mia laughed. “Can you let that go already? It was bound to happen I guess wasn’t it?” He got one handing it to her, and then himself one.

“You’re not drinking either?”

“I don’t have to drink to have a good time. It’s the company. Cheers.”

She clinked her bottle against his.

She walked back over to Drake.

“Don't let Liam fool you, he drew the short straw, he's DD tonight.”

“That makes sense.”

“Your friends are fun, well minus Olivia. Next time let’s just be us. Okay? I want to get to know you better, without all this going on.”

“I promise Mia.” Mia kissed him.

“Get a room.” Leo exclaimed.

"Why you mad bro?"

“So weird to see Drake with a girlfriend isn’t it Liam?” Olivia said intently staring at him. “You really should work on hiding your jealousy better. It’s all over your face.” she whispered to him.

Finally it was time to eat before they took the jet skis out on the water. Everyone put their combined items on the table.

Pops had let Mia go to the restaurant and make sandwiches with hoagie rolls, and her and Daniel had made nice sandwiches for everyone.

Olivia sneered. “Ugh sandwiches, isn’t that like poor people's food?”

“I’m so sorry Olivia.”

“Whaaat?” Maxwell inquired.

“Mia’s about to get that ass!” Liam whispered to Leo and Drake.

“If I would have known you were going to be here Olivia, I would have packed you a soul to eat. But as you can tell, I’m fresh out. So I guess it’s poor people's food, or your soulless ass is going to starve. You decide, because I'm tired of playing around with you. You got one more time. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Everyone laughed.

But she noticed Olivia shut her damn mouth and ate a whole sandwich.

“Why are we doing this again Drake?” she was bobbing into the water next to the jet ski. He pulled her on behind him.

“I’ll tell you exactly what it is, you two are both alpha females and neither of you back down from a challenge.”

“So you better win Drake. No pressure.”

“We all have our parts to play.”

She glanced to her right seeing Liam and Olivia on the jet ski next to them.

“You know they dated right?”

“Not a surprise at all.”

"Hold on tight."

"So to the buoy and back first one back gets bragging rights for the rest of the day. In 3…..2…..1…."

Before Leo said go Liam took off spraying them with water.

Drake took off behind him. Mia screamed in delight holding tight to Drake. By the halfway point around the buoy they got there at the same time. Olivia scowled at them. On the way back Drake saw his opportunity to take the lead. They headed for a huge wave Liam was avoiding. Mia saw it at the same time.

"Oh my God!" She screamed bloody murder while the jet ski went airborne for a few seconds. Landing in a splash a few meters in front of Liam and Olivia claiming the win.

Back on the yacht "Bragging rights to Drake and Mia!" Leo screamed."Liam… you fumbled at the one yard line."

When night fell, she could tell Hana was super excited.

"What is it?" Mia and Daniel asked.

"My dad has a fireworks display planned for us that should be starting right about…. "

Everyone looked up hearing the crackle of the fireworks, as the display began. Mia immediately found Drake to sit by his side. He put his arm around her. She snuggled closer to him.

She noticed Liam watching them. Drake saw too but neither of them cared, as he pulled her closer to him kissing her.

The way Mia felt as he kissed her, under those fireworks, took Mia's breath away. Maybe Mia really did want a boyfriend, and maybe….that guy was Drake.

#bebepac writes #pops place #trr fanfic #trr fandom #drake walker #liam #cordonia #summer vacation #trr mc x drake #fireworks #trr olivia #trr maxwell #fun in the sun #wrightsville beach #wacky drabbles

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always5hineee · 3 years

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Hell and Back- Chapter 42: Game Master (Trials 90-100)

Word count: 2403

Chapter warnings: Mild language, themes

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Their next trial was exactly the same. All that happened was the number switched from 89 to 90. It honestly had her wondering if there ever really were trials where they had earned skips, or if the game simply knew who it intended to die. She was questioning the power behind it. It was already strange that they'd be able to give her, as they'd stated, whatever she wanted. She remembered that offer.

You have been given the opportunity to make a wish. The wish can be anything, quite literally. Do not underestimate our capabilities by making a trivial request. If we so choose, you may be invited to earn this wish. You are under no obligation should your wish be selected. You may only wish once.

It was ridiculous. It was so ridiculous, she had chosen to partake. At the time, it seemed like a blessing. Now it was a living nightmare, one she wasn't quite sure she'd be able to fix. She had yet to tell anyone of her deception regarding the wish as well. Before, she'd figured that they'd be supportive, but... now that people were dead? The likelihood decreased with every carcass. Even if they were going to forgive her, would there be anyone left to do so by the end? They were in the final stretch now, but her hope was draining.

It took them nearly a two full days to find the room they were meant to come upon. In walking through the doors, they first found similar rooms, then mazes like they had previously, (although this time, they were sans Kris's fireworks to see them through). Not only that, but Kris's leg was barely functional. He tried to reassure them that he could handle it, but putting stress on him wouldn't help anyone. They would take turns helping him along as he leaned on them. They would have carried him, but he would have found it humiliating, not to mention his weight being a significant factor.

They ran out of diet supplementary pulls by the end of the first day. Of course, they didn't know if it was actually night or not, but they did know when they became too tired to continue on. No one knew how long they slept, and no one said much. Kris tried to make his usual shitty jokes, but they honestly just came off as mean, so he cut it out. The same happened with Baekhyun's goofy attitude- he was finding it harder and harder. to even bother smiling at this point. Xiumin continued making them ice cubes as they walked. It wasn't the most hydrating, but it was better than the alternative.

When they finally found the room, it was like discovering Atlantis. It wasn't that there was anything particularly comforting about it, but it meant the end of their trek through this decrepit nightmare of epic proportions, a chance to finally finish this. 2 days was the longest they'd spent on any trial, and it was fantastic to be out of it.

When they arrived, it looked to be just a gigantic room, bigger than the vat room, with barely anything in it. The black tiled floor stretched for what could have been a half a mile, with a raised platform and stairs descending from it in the center. Walking in, she looked around in awe. There were no pathways, doors, anything besides the structure and the floor beneath her. Venturing out into the room, the other boys looked around as well, but didn't seem to draw attention to anything unusual.

Out of nowhere, the floor dropped from around them, almost like a shitty video game graphic. Tiles sank into a deep black pit, down which none of them could see anything. It left them separated, spread lightly around the room. They were close enough that they could hear each other, but not so they could jump to each others... what seemed to be pillars of sorts? She looked back to the door, searching for any way out of this, uncertain of checking her phone.

"Boo!" A voice said suddenly from behind them, causing them all to spin. Standing above them on a platform, attacked to stairs and a runway, was a hooded figure. He was backlit by the room, and his robes hung around him in droves. "It's so nice to finally meet you!" He said like a young fan, obviously cheery. He lifted his hands, slender fingers peeking out from under the sleeves, to remove his hood, pulling the crease of the robe behind him so his legs were more free.

He wasn't anyone that Y/N could ever recall seeing before. He was surprisingly young, and of similar height to Baekhyun, although clearly younger. His hair was dark and fell in soft waves over his face, nearly concealing the strange glint in his eyes. His jawline was strong, but subtle enough as it curved his face, smooth skin stretching over the expanse of the portion of his body that was revealed. Although he was technically still wearing the robe, with the hood pulled down and the folds pushed back behind him, she saw that he was dressed fairly casually in actuality, maybe even more stylishly than average.

"Who are you?" Kris growled, confirming her suspicions that this was not someone familiar to them.

"It's none of your business." The man said with a shrug, nonchalantly walking down the stairs from his own platform onto the runway that ran through all of theirs. "I've had such a fantastic time watching you." His lips plumping into a pout, he said, "I was hoping that last little trial would have taken more of you out. It seems like I'm going to have to settle for Xiumin."

"Xiumin?" Baekhyun demanded, still defensive, "What's wrong with him?"

"Oh, nothing technically. It won't be much longer now, though." The man laughed. Xiumin had seemed weaker, but they'd thought nothing of it... Thinking back to Lay, though, that was naive. Was it a similar situation? Was he sick? Seeing the glance of confusion on her face, the man held out his arms as if offering them a generous gift. "What? If you're that clueless, I suppose I'll explain. Unless...?" He asked, looking to the man in question, as if offering for him to explain on his own. He simply looked to the ground.

"Alright, then! You see, Xiumin's power relies on drawing water from his environment to crystallize into ice. Of course, in light of this, I had to make absolutely certain there was none of that to be had. Of course, I didn't plan on giving you water once you got in here anyway, so it wasn't too difficult. That left him with only a few options once you idiots started demanding it from him. Take it from the air, which- I'm not even certain the random hydrogens and oxygens would have been enough, and even if they were, he could risk suffocating everyone in the process. He could take it from you, which would have defeated the purpose, or..." She looked to him as she realized, the man finishing her thought.

"He can get it from himself."

"Xiumin," she muttered, looking at his frame. With the context available, she began seeing gate specific indications. His cheeks were no longer soft and rounded as they had been, but now sinking just slightly into his face. His lips were cracked and he seemed tired.

"Honestly, I'm surprised he's managed to hang on for this long," The man said with a congratulatory tone. "The same really goes for all of you. You're actually my first test run of this little game! I was a bit worried when you came in with such a diverse set of powers. I had to plan the challenges very meticulously. I was mostly worried about Tao and Lay, but they honestly dealt with themselves! It was hilarious to-"

"Shut up! You don't get to talk about them like that." Kris seethed, glaring daggers into the man's body. He couldn't do anything, though.

"I 'get' to talk about you however I want." He stuck a tongue out childishly. "It's my game, after all. And I'm being generous! Is this so much to ask for one little wish? A wish for anything you could truly ever want?"

"Yes." He spat. "It is." Shrugging, the man posed,

"And yet you're still here. Which brings me to your last trials." He spun on his heel, gesturing outwards. "Welcome to the final room! Designed it myself. Technically, you have ten trials left to complete, nine when your pipsqueak over there kicks the bucket. Of course, I've realized that I've had to make this incredibly difficult for you all thus far, and as I said, you're a test run, so I'm willing to tweak the rules. So! I'll make you an offer." As he said this, a watch that she only just noticed he had on his wrist beeped quietly.

"Oh! Speak of the devil, fatality skip!" Pressing something, she felt her phone buzz, and sure enough, there was the notification.

Fatality skip: Trial 91

"Xiumin!" She shouted, looking over to him desperately. He was laying down on his own platform, not moving at all.

"That won't help you now, sweetheart." He said, walking on air over to Xiumin's platform. Was that his ability? Did he have more than one? He was outside of her realm of understanding to say the least. She watched helplessly as he removed the man's body from the platform by pushing it with his shoe, as if relocating a dead rat on the driveway. He did so with the same disgusted flick of his heel, turning away as his corpse fell into the abyss.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" She asked with tears now coursing down her face.

"Wrong? I'm doing you a favor, don't you forget!" He said looking at her like a consumer upset with their product. "Which brings me to my, as I said, generous offer. I'd like to just give you your prize now, but that's no fun, and I'm curious." Grinning ear to ear, he asked, "Just how good of friends are you, really?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kris growled.

"Ah, ah, calm down, I was getting there." Sitting down cross-legged on the runway, he held up a hand. "You," he pointed to Kris, "And you." He pointed to Baekhyun. "First one to fall off of the platform dies, obviously. Once one of you goes, I'll reward the wish. Or, we can all sit here and wait to see which one of you starves to death first."

"Why not me?" Y/N asked, looking at him helplessly. "Let me do it!" Pouting again, he shook his head.

"That's no good. You're player one! The crown jewel! The wish maker! I can't have you dying on me, yeah?" Waving his arm, he dismissed her, "You just sit tight. I want to see who's going to push who in." Kris and Baekhyun locked eyes. Their platforms connected via tiled bridges, similar in material as to the floor when they'd first entered. They both walked down their pathways to meet in the center at a common pillar. The man in the robe watched intently as they looked to each other. Kris clearly had the advantage in height and weight class, but Baekhyun may be able to get an edge with agility and size. It was anyone's guess.

"I'll go." Kris said with a sigh.

"No! You can't do that!"

"Baek, I'm hurt. If he were to do anything else, I wouldn't be of any use to you."

"You can't die, Kris! We've made it this far, maybe we can-"

"You know we can't do anything to this maniac!" Kris shoved him lightly in insistence. "I want nothing more than to crush his stupid fucking skull, I know. But you've seen what he can do, and he's clearly deranged. We'll never win, especially not on his terms and in this state."

"But..."

"You think I want to die?" Kris laughed, shaking. "I've been trying to keep this from happening the whole damn time. Hell, I almost died getting here. So did you."

"Let me go. You'll take better care of Y/N. You're betraying he by leaving, and everyone who..." he couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.

"I just told you, I'm doing it, no questions." Kris shifted his weight off his bad leg. "It'll be okay, man, I promise." Puling Baekhyun into a hug, something she'd rarely ever seen him do in their entire time of knowing each other, he said, "Now get our wish and bring everyone back, okay?" Baekhyun nodded as tears fell down his face, causing his eyes to grow red. "Hey, don't cry on me. You'e always been such a baby." Lightly punching him in the arm as he sniffled, Baekhyun argued,

"You're literally crying, I don't wanna hear it." Kris pulled away from him, looking to Y/N and giving her a nod.

"Don't let this piece of shit win, okay?" He asked. She didn't know what to do, watching in awe as she gave a slight nod.

"Wait." Baekhyun said after he turned, holding out something. Looking down, Kris saw that it was the little stuffed animal he had taken as his item. They'd never needed it, but... somehow, in this moment, he was glad to have it.

"Thank you." He laughed looking at it and putting it in his pocket. Then, limping to the edge in only a couple steps on his bad leg, he paused. He wanted to turn around, to say goodbye again, but it wasn't going to get any easier. Taking in a deep breath he looked downwards, to where there was seemingly no end. Then, as he exhaled, he stepped off, not making a sound.

The man immediately began talking over Baekhyun's quiet crying and her choked noises of dread and incomprehensibility.

"Ugh, that was so boring, I thought you two were at least going to fight each other. Baekhyun! What if he had pushed you off the edge, hmm? What if it had been a trap?"

"I wanted to go, anyway." The boy muttered.

"Ah, whatever, a deal's a deal, I guess. I don't like breaking the rules." The man shrugged. "Anyway, I gave you your wish, you can go. Bye!"

Go to Chapter 43

#exo #exo x reader #exo fanfiction #exo fanfic #kris #luhan #tao #kai #kyungsoo #sehun #suho #chen #chanyeol #xiumin #baekhyun #lay #kpop #Kpop x reader #Kpop fanfiction #Kpop fanfic #x reader #trials

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lucidpantone · 4 years

Text

Chapter 3: Visitations

Someone recently asked the tag if Sander and Robbe stayed together forever.

Here’s a fic exploring the journey to get to that answer.

This fic takes place in two simultaneously timelines: the past and the present.

Italics is the Past. If not, it's August 15th at any point in the day I chose to drop you into.

Large line breaks are a new memory.

Read the rest on Ao3.

The concrete stairs are overwhelming.

Sander thought to himself as he ascended them coming to a full stop outside Robbe’s apartment door. His reflection looking back at him. The residue of sundown’s volcanic incandescence was high in the sky creating a mirrored effect on the building. It was one of those ghastly mid century modern blocks that was lathered in a matte high shine finish. Giving the entire building a sensation of reflectivity. Sander disliked these types of buildings. They felt cold and soulless. These were the kind of buildings that Robbe would defend as being functional but completely lacking in any of Belgium’s highly regarded Art Nouveau/Art Deco qualities. Of course it would be Sander’s luck that this building’s heinous exterior would be the thing that would make him recognize that he was on the right street about to knock on the right door.

Sander had only been to Robbe’s Brussels apartment once before when Robbe moved into it almost a year and a half ago. He hadn’t seen Robbe since he had checked himself out of the hospital and Robbe had driven him home. Sander was somewhat aware of Robbe’s schedule due to the frequency of his texts over the last couple months but he hadn’t told Robbe he was coming. He wanted to catch Robbe off guard. Lessen the possibility of allowing him to gather any of his usual armor to barricade himself from Sander’s charm. After Sander’s hospital stint he knew he had made a mistake. He had allowed himself to believe a false narrative that he and Robbe weren’t perfectly crafted for each other. That they both hadn’t found a way to defy the gods and find one another. During his darkest days Robbe would show up ardently. Journeying between south and north to come spend his time by Sander’s side. During their time apart Sander was certain that a fracture would have formed. A crevasse so large that it would have cordon off each of them to their respective lives never allowing them to leap across the barrier but Sander was wrong.

During Sander’s hospital stay he caught a virus that germinated from within an undeniable appetite for Robbe. This sickness was a contagion, a gnome sequenced strait into Sander’s DNA. An ailment that percolated beyond marrow-deep, an essential function of the body. It caused a mutation in Sander’s mental state; he’d sit and sketch just Robbe all day long something he had long stopped doing. He would anticipate Robbe bursting through the door in his work clothes, kicking off his loafer, tearing off his shirt and tie.Unapologetically changing into whichever one of Sander’s t-shirt he could find rambling on about the days occurrences making himself completely comfortable in Sander’s orbit. Sander would just watch him take notes of all of Robbe’s beautiful idiosyncrasies, the way he would tilt his head from side to side whenever he lost his train of thought, the way his eyes followed Sander’s hand when he scooped his hair onto to one side, the high pitched giggle that would generate from the back of his throat whenever Sander teased him or he was slightly embarrassed, but also the other side.

You see Robbe had an innate ability. Anytime any medical staff entered their bubble he could morph from his typical bambi-eyed self into a calculated tactician operating under a didactic agenda of inquisition readily observant of negative evaluations concerning Sander’s mental health or the need to further medicate him. It always took Sander aback when he saw this side of Robbe he could be so detached, frigid, coupled with a spikey disposition. This side of Robbe’s was one of the few things he never made public something he reserved only for Sander, only for the things he was most passionate about, the things he wanted to keep safe. Over the years Robbe had surmounted a vast amount of experience when it came to how medical professionals treated the people he loved. Between his mother and Sander’s treatments Robbe had become a battle hardened mutt who’d survived dogfight after dogfight. If he ever sensed your judgement or mistreatment of Sander he could be vicious, react like a rabid animal ready to evasicarate you. Sander’s touch being one of the only things that could stabilize him. Bring him back to himself.

On the last night of Sander’s hospital stay. Robbe delivered one of his high octane good boy next door performances that managed to convince the nursing staff to let him stay pass visitation. He knew their time together was coming to an end. He would go back to his daily life in Brussels and Sander to his normal routine. So, Robbe surprised him. Sander’s episode had kept him from attending the annual contemporary art retrospect at Belgium’s Museum of fine art. Sander loved that retrospect he attended it religiously usually with Robbe by his side. So Robbe found a way to bring it to him. He snuck into Sander’s room during his final therapy session and set up a projector and his laptop up to walk through the exhibition virtually. He accompanied their private art show with one of Sander’s Bowie playlist.

“Art, can be really feeble” Robbe sighed out as Sander and him laid on their backs looking up at the ceiling walking through the exhibition.

“What don't you like about it?” Sander pointed his arms towards the work.

“Its a 6 foot gold toothbrush, what is artistic about that?” They both snorted at Robbe’s criticism.

They both hadn’t anticipated the potency of the next work. It crash-landed into them like a ball of fire. It was an image of a fireworks display, but it paused at the exact moment at the end of one of those big celebratory new year’s eve fireworks’ display when they turn the sky into a pantone of colors and lingering stardust creates a mirage-like effect as the fireworks dissolve into themselves. In-turn making the ground underneath you vibrate like some sort of epicenter to a natural disaster. The artist had probably never intended for the viewer of this piece to take it in on their backs, from a ceiling, in a sterile hospital room, but this setting worked. It magnified the piece allowing its luminescence to turn the hospital room’s white walls into a colorful kaleidoscope of radiance. As they lay there staring at the work Sander turned to Robbe who was in a state of hypnosis, completely captivated, and echoed “I love you”. Robbe snapped his cheek towards Sander his beautiful doh eyes gleaming from the stained glass effect the image was transmitting around the room. Without much thought Sander took Robbe’s hand, the one that when clasped together completed the phrase they both had scribbled on their wrist.

Sander had been longing to reach out and kiss Robbe for the past couple of weeks but he was so afraid. Afraid that Robbe wouldn’t kiss him back, that he had truly kicked the habit of their love but he scooted towards him anyway, leaped across the crevasse and closed the gap between them and placed an ever so soft kiss on Robbe’s lips. Robbe stilled for a few seconds, unsure, tentative, questioning the gesture but after a few seconds he didn’t object he accepted Sander’s invitation letting Sander slip his tongue onto his. Amping Sander up as he climbed on top of him and slid his hands under his shirt. Robbe let go of his sobriety that night, let the inertia that surrounded them collapse in on itself and create a vortex. That was the first time Robbe and Sander would sleep together since their separation. The first of the many times that would follow and taint them little by little but in that moment neither of them cared. Robbe and Sander just allowed the rain drops of the fireworks above them melt them into symbiosis.

“Sander what are you doing here?” Robbe inquired as he came hurdling out of the apartment building’s door. Just as Sander was about to buzz in. Before Sander could even respond he noticed a dirty blonde with disheveled hair standing behind Robbe. He felt a flicker of anger for a moment but he managed to divert it and turn on.

“Who’s your little friend Robbe?” Sander struck back with a self assured confidence ignoring Robbe’s initial question. Sander didn’t really care who this transient guy was he just didn’t want to miss the opportunity to make Robbe pay.

“This is David”, Robbe said sounding a bit apprehensive.

Sander waited for Robbe to introduce him but when he didn’t so he took it upon himself to do the honors.

“Sander”

He extended his hand out to David. Taking notice of the guy’s icy blue eyes the only thing memorable about him.

Robbe interjected himself into their salutations.

“This is my fri--” Robbe wasn’t fast.

“Am his ex, ya know the love of his life, center of his universe, the one.” Sander really emphasized the last part as he delivered his schtick in his most casual fuck boy tone.

Robbe’s jaw dropped.

Sander had Robbe exactly where we wanted him with a cocksure grin painted across his face. Daring Robbe to say something to him.

Robbe didn’t react fast enough.

“So where’s that accent from David? Doesn’t sound local?”

The poor guy clearly confused and a bit flabbergasted by these odd exchanges between exes. Fumbled out an answer.

“Berlin”

“Oh I loooove Berlin. Robbe and I went to this sex show out there once where this girl was sho…….”

“That’s enough” Robbe cut him off in a matter of fact tone.

Sander was clearly posturing now. Enjoying every minute of this transaction.

“Robbe aren’t you gonna let me finish my story?” Sander pouted back at him.

“Come now” Robbe grabbed his date by the arm and dragged him away.

Sander was just hotshotting now and yelled out to Robbe, “That’s what you said. Bye David”.

Robbe looked back at Sander and threw him an are you kidding me look.

Sander started counting out loud. He gave Robbe 90 seconds, tops.

“69, 70, 71, 72……. Ah there you are?”

“What The Fock Sander” Robbe let out in frustration but also with a tinge of glee behind his voice.

Sander was resting with his back against the doorway with one knee up and his foot up against the wall.

“What?” Sander shrugged his shoulders with a deadpan expression acting like he was utterly confused as to what he had done wrong.

“Your unbelievable, you know that?” Robbe shook his head from side to side as he walked towards him with his head down trying to hide the smile on his face.

“I wonder if he’ll call you?” Sander was clearly gloating now with a wicked grin across his face as Robbe opened the door.

Whatever game he had initiated he had most certainly won.

“Didn’t realize you were into that whole mopey plant lover vibe though.”

Robbe gave him a smart ass remark, “I dated you for 5 years didn’t I?”.

“Touche, touche” Sander wagged his finger in Robbe’s face.

“But it was actually almost 6 Robin” Sander corrected him as he booped Robbe’s nose while he walked past him and entered the apartment building.

As they walked into Robbe’s apartment. Robbe put his fingers in his ears in anticipation.

Sander took his right hand to his mouth placing his thumb and index finger between his lips and pursed out a deafening high pitch whistle.

All of sudden the clank of a bell began to approach them. Bowie had come to Sander on command.

“My boy!” Sander picked up that damn cat and smothered him all over his face. Worshipping him. The cat evidently loving every minute of it. Purring to no end.

Robbe walked over to the fridge and grabbed them a couple of beers. He was about to hand one over to Sander who was holding Bowie up high above his shoulders like a baby when he paused. One of his eyebrows rising towards Robbe’s direction.

“Have you..”

Robbe finished Sander’s sentence as he took a sip of his beer. “Been feeding him the grain-free stuff?”

Robbe nodded.

“He feels heavier”

“Are you sure it’s…?” Sander probed.

“One third of a cup? Yeah. Also, can you not say that out loud? Not in front of the kid, he’s sensitive.” Robbe jokingly reprimanded Sander for commenting on their bowie’s weight.

Sander gave the cat one final smooch and then put him down on the ground. Finally taking that beer off Robbe’s hand.

The inside of Robbe’s apartment had one of those open plan layouts that was situated from right to left. Kitchen, open plan middle space which housed a dining table and living room. It had the icky new build vibe that Sander hated.

Sander examined the apartment with his eyes and looked back at Robbe who was leaning against his dining table staring at him trying to decipher what Sander would say next.

Sander had almost forgotten why he had even come here and now that his whole plan went awry. He felt a little exposed as he had no real reason to be there.

“So….” Robbe egged on the conversation. His eyes shifting back and forth.

Trying to get Sander to participate but Robbe was so good at sensing Sander’s feelings. You’d swear that Sander had little thought bubbles protruding above his head storytelling his internal narrative for Robbe’s personal consumption.

“I know why you’re here?” Robbe finally said. Sounding a bit illusive.

“Oh yeah” Sander asked inquisitively.

“Why am I here?”

“You came here to do that thing we always do” Robbe said as he made a come here gesture with his hands.

Sander broke out a warm smile. Typical Robbe always saving him. Protecting him.

Sander walk towards Robbe. Placing his beer on the table behind him. He then placed both of his hands on each of Robbe 's shoulders and pressed their foreheads together as a sign of thanks for what Robbe had just done.

Pulling back and finally saying to Robbe.

“Okay, but no subtitles this time. Promise?” Sander demanded.

“Sanderrrrr” Robbe whined.

“What is it with you and all that foreign shit.We end up watching tv shows in 7 different languages” Sander jokingly scoffed at Robbe.

“What’s wrong with that?” Robbe asked offended. Thinking doesn’t everyone do that.

“Come” Sander said turning his body to face away from Robbe. Signaling Robbe to get on his back he was going to carry him to the couch.

Robbe jumped on recalling in his mind how many times they had done this exact thing. In the years that Robbe and Sander had been together they had formed their own traditions. When Sander was hospitalized or at home not feeling very well he would lay in Robbe’s arms in bed or on the couch and just marathon shows for hours. It was strange because any other time Sander wasn’t much of a TV watcher but in Robbe’s mind those moments were some of the best of their relationship. They would just lay together for hours. Robbe would just grip Sander so hard he practically left bruises on Sander’s arms but Sander would still have to remind him to hold him tighter and nuzzle himself even deeper into Robbe’s embrace.

“Where’s your watch?” Robbe picked up his head off Sander’s shoulder to respond.

“Oh my watch broke. I think it’s the battery or something. I needed a new one anyways.”

“Do you still have it? Sander asked as they sat down on the couch together.

“I can fix it for you” Sander was always the handy one in their relationship.

“You don’t have to do that. It’s old. Just let it go.”

“No come on. I want to. I can bring it back to life for you” Sander said as he gestured spooky fingers.

“What's going on up here?” Robbe twirled his fingers towards Sander’s hair.

“What you don’t like my platinum tips with two inch roots?” Robbe leaned over towards Sander and sweetly rustled his overgrown hair.

This touch of intimacy spurred Sander onto his next thought. He grabbed onto Robbe’s wrist as he began drawing it back from his head and asked.

“Maybe you could dye it for me tomorrow?” His focus shifted downward. As to not draw too much attention as to what he was implying.

There was a pause from Robbe. An acknowledgement of the invisible contract Sander was handing over to him requesting some sort of temporal permanence.

“Only if you cook dinner the night after?” Robbe responded back.

Sander looked up at him with an adolescent grin and leaned in and gave Robbe the most innocent peck on the lips. There was no intent behind it aside from a simple thank you.

“Are you hungry?” Robbe asked.

“I could eat”

“Are you in the mood for anything specific? Italian, French, Greek?”

“Doesn’t matter” Sander titled his head towards Robbe direction. Tacking on.

“I eat everything”

“Everything” Robbe repeated in a sultry voice.

“Yeah everything” Sander spoke onto Robbe’s lips. This kiss, not so innocent.

“Seriously stop…order please. I am starving” Robbe pushed Sander off him in a playful manner.

Sander took out his phone to start ordering but before he did Robbe grabbed him and twirled him around on the couch and brought Sander’s back up against his chest. positioning his arm around Sander's chest. Sander placed a small kiss on the base of Robbe’s thumb and continued on ordering.

“Anything but french” Robbe said as he placed his chin atop Sander’s head.

“You know how I feel about french” Robbe added as he placed another kiss on Sander’s temple.

Finally closing out the dinner conversation with “Don’t forget something sweet for dessert”.

“Something yummy,” Sander said playfully.

“Yeah, something yummy” Robbe toyed back as he pulled Sander tighter into his arms.

****************************************************************************************** Salivating...

The silkiest organ

Swirls of sulfates

Mixing…

As the roof of his mouth pressed onto the demerara. Brandishing it’s sugary topcoating onto his enamel.

Relishing it.

“Tasty?” Luc whispered into his ears as he swallowed it down.

“It’s so good” Robbe moaned with a full mouth.

“Don’t forget to go slow.” Luc egged him on.

“I want you to really taste it.”

Luc told his boyfriend. “Is it sweet enough?” Robbe took a big gulp down as confirmation.

“Good, because I wasn’t sure if you would like the raspberry sea salt flavor” Luc quibbed.

Robbe and Lucas(he preferred Luc) had now been dating roughly around 9 months and in that time Robbe was sure Luc had fed him every cake in Belgium and the Netherlands combined.

Luc had one rule, you were only allowed sugar if you burned it off and well Robbe and Luc had found creative ways to work off their glucose consumption.

They hadn’t been together long but they had already established their after sex program. Luc would always bring some decadent treat along for them to share in their post fucked out haze.

Luc was so different from what Robbe had previously experienced. A total skate head with a beach bum swagger composed of a wardrobe of cuffed up light denim, extravagantly printed socks pulled up to his shins, paisley short sleeves shirts which he hardly ever button pass one notch and an array of different colored bucket hats, caps, fedoras and worn down chucks coupled with his signature fur collar denim jacket.

Luc wasn’t an easy breezy type. That wasn’t his style, he was always a little pumped up, boombastic when at his best. Years of living his life on ledges about to drop in into bowls, half pipes or slopes had made him permanently frenetic. He’d learned to meet Robbe in the middle though and give him one slice of cake before he would eventually hijack Robbe’s tranquility and kick him out of bed to hold an impromptu jam session, go skate or find some new concrete hideaway to go vandalize.

Oh and his music taste. There was only one god in Luc’s world, and his name was Marley. BOB MARLEY. Fuck Bowie.

Just kidding, Luc loved Bowie too. He was Robbe’s favourite so he loved anything his boyfriend loved.

If Luc hadn’t impressed Robbe enough during their first meeting well Robbe was not prepared. Luc was a real life wheeler dealer, a bird of prey. He could gnar with the best of them. Play it fast and loose. Go full vertigo. Nothing got Robbe more jacked up then seeing Luc shredding up a storm on his board completely shirtless with his jeans barely hugging his hips and a quarter inch of his boxer’s on display; his washboard abs glistening with sweat. Luc tailspinning through the sky like a stick of dynamite on the path to self destruction.

Luc lived his life like he rode his board. Bitchin fast, at full voltage, bursting with kerosene, no concept of consequences. When his sponsors asked him to ease up on his on the spot celebratory make out sessions with Robbe after his winning runs. He laughed in their face and told them next time he get Robbe to blow him so the kids could get a real show. I mean that was just typical snarky Luc. A real life renegade. Take it or leave it. There was no real way to describe him, a jack of all trades, a real mad hatter, some even called him an artist.

Robbe loved it. Loved him.

Robbe hadn’t realized how much he had missed the familiarity of a known lover. He had gotten so used to the dribs and drabs of affection that Sander schlepped out that he had just sold himself short but Luc was some unexpected pixie prince who blitz in ready to declare Robbe his. No questions asked, stick a fucking fork in it, done, over, schluss.

Luc was uninhibited too. What he felt is what he said. Luc was loyal to the soil and Robbe was his budding flower. The first time he said “I love you” he asked for nothing from Robbe in return. Love wasn’t some sort of payment system for him. Luc told Robbe when you know, you just know. None of that mask your feelings in mystery bullshit. For Robbe it took time but Luc was the catalyst he needed to finally wash away the remnants of his past. He did eventually tell Luc he loved him and he meant it but the experience in itself was surreal. See Robbe had never even considered the possibility that he would fall in love with someone else. Sander basically took Robbe’s heart hostage from a young age and Robbe never looked back but somehow this magpie dutchman with his steely azure eyes, a bucket hat and guitar finally broke through and broke Robbe.

“Baby, you want the last bite?” Luc brought the spoon to Robbe’s mouth.

Robbe shook his head back and forth on Luc’s chest. He was too comfortable, lazily placed atop Luc, straddling him. Luc sitting up against Robbe’s headboard with one hand through Robbe’s hair and the other carefully balancing a porcelain plate and fork. As Luc went to put the plate down on the bedside table he grabbed the little bit of whipped cream left on the plate and rubbed it straight down Robbe’s nose.

“Luc” Robbe whined.

Luc immediately cupped his hands on Robbe’s face and gave Robbe a wet sloppy lick. Clearing the cream off. Stopping at Robbe’s mouth to push the remnants of the cream onto Robbe’s tongue and into him. Robbe took that as signal, intensifying the kiss and started gently thrusting onto Luc’s hips. Luc smiled against Robbe’s mouth but before Robbe could really get lost into his heat. Luc broke the soppy kiss. He was such a tease.

“Have you been thinking about what we talked about?”

Luc flashed those pretty eyes at Robbe. Robbe instantly thinking he needs to stop doing this himself. Stop peering into eyes that have the ability to dissolve him.

“Mmmmmhmmmm”

“And….” Luc coaxed him.

“Don’t you think it's a bit too soon?” Luc placed his hands on Robbe’s hips slightly squeezing them. Assuring him he was listening closely.

“I mean it's only been 9 months” Robbe said in a barely audible whisper.

“No pressure” Luc ran the back of his hands on Robbe’s cheek to ease his visible tension.

“We’ll do whatever you want. I just want to be able to wake up next to you every morning”

“And Bowie?” Robbe added on. Pointing at the black hair cat watching them at the edge of the bed.

“Oh shit” Luc let out.

“I forgot my apartment doesn’t allow pets.”

Robbe’s hands started to feel clammy all of sudden.

“His coming with me or I am not coming.” Robbe stated harshly in deviance.

Luc laughed at Robbe’s reply finding it a bit dramatic but then he realized Robbe was dead serious. If the cat wasn’t welcomed, he wasn’t coming.

“Ok hear me out. You move to Amsterdam and we look for a new place and come get Bowie. Do you know anyone that could watch him for a month or two?”

Yeah, Robbe knew someone….

“Is he doing better with you?” Robbe enquired tentatively. Knowing this was a sore subject.

“Oh you mean has Bowie tried to scratch my eyes out, bite my fingers off or even let me remotely close to him lately” He let out sarcastically. Knowing damn well that fur ball hated the living shit out of him. He honestly didn’t know why, pets usually loved him but this one seemed to be planning his demise.

“Anyways” Luc said in an attempt to break up the awkwardness. “Sesh time” He picked Robbe off him and headed towards their acoustic guitars resting in the corner of Robbe’s bedroom.

“I finally learned the cords” Luc let out with excitement.

“Took you long enough. I've been waiting.”

Luc hands Robbe his classic mahogany finish Martin. While Luc sports a zestier walnut burl Yamaha.

“Calling rhythm” Robbe declared as he tuned his guitar.

Luc raises his eyebrows in acceptance. Handing Robbe a black pick.

Robbe moves towards the middle of the bed to give Luc room to hop on. They sat across from one another looking at each other.

“Tempo is 1 and a 2 and a 3……” Robbe tells Luc.

Robbe presses his left fingers on the frets. His right fingers holding the pick and he mouths to Luc E add 9 and begins to strum down, up down down, up down up, down, up down down.

Luc picks up Robbe’s tune and Robbe switches out to the rhythm.

Luc continous to play the intro.

Robbe starts to move through some bar chords switching from E to G causing the steel cords to whine out gently as Robbe tabs on them through his cord changes.

Robbe and Luc sit there bobbing their heads up and down as they get lost in the music.

Luc starts to sing the intro “Here comes the story of a hurricane”

Cord change [Robbe]

The music begins to ascend, “Cyclone…...You’re on your own”.

The strumming is starting to get heavier now.

Robbe slides his hand down the neck of his guitar to hit some high G’s.

His eyes are closed now. He knows this part by heart. His working the pocket.

Both men are fully swaying now. In the groove.

Luc sings the chorus. The part everyone knows.

“It was bad and I was unable to pull him inside”

Cord change [Robbe]

They’re at the bridge now.

The strumming intensifies as they hit the crescendo.

Robbe is slumped over his guitar shredding it out. Aggressively bobbing with eyes closed.

This next lyric is Luc’s favourite. He sings it directly to Robbe. Robbe opens his eyes to watch him deliver it to him.

“I could never hate you. Even If I tried”

This part is all Robbe, the pick solo.

The music is just flowing out of them now. The pace starts descending.

Luc starts playing a little slap stick to wrap it up.

Robbe is taking the melody home.

Both men are leaning so far back their feet are off the bed as they strum it out.

There shoulders moving in syncopation with one another.

Robbe winds it down slowly. Not wanting to let go of the moment.

But eventually he stops and lets the music go out.

Both men look up and giggle at each other in perfect harmony and share a kiss.

“I love you” Luc says as he takes hold of Robbe’s chin and kisses him again.

“Love you too” Robbe tells him back.

As they pull away from each other. Luc whisper’s in Robbe ear.

“I am so happy that I found you”

Robbe shudders. Lightning strikes him. An overwhelming nausea overcoming him. His body stiffens.

“Are you okay?” Luc asks him.

Robbe hops out of bed muttering something about feeding Bowie knowing that he needs to get out of room.

He runs to his kitchen sink. His body violently letting out a dry heave over the sink but nothing comes up. It's just a reaction.

He hovers over the sink for a few seconds splashing water on his face. Trying to gather himself.

He feels something massage his arm. He jumps back and realizes it's just Bowie nuzzling him. His aqueducts begin to moisten so he squeezes his eyes shut and looks up at the ceiling. Attempting to will everything away but he sees it, the white studio with the pictures on the walls. His breathing starts to even out after a minute or two.

He opens his eyes, feeling somewhat composed. Thinking he managed to keep it all at bay but little did he know the rot within had begun to permeate, a contagion that was seeping into every orifice of his soul.

******************************************************************************************

Is this where the living come to meet their death?

In the gullies of the earth.

Where tranches of unclaimed dukedoms exist awaiting reanimation.

Oxygenless.

Still.

The soulful, arms up, reacting to the vastness in complete surrender.

Robbe feels the pressure, he moves slowly.

Unable to make out anything. In dire need to escape his holdings.

The laws of thermodynamics pushing him towards the surface.

He finally gives in. Contracting his body and propelling himself vertically upwards. Like a jellyfish moving through the ocean currents. His lungs thanking him as he reappears from his watery submersion.

Robbe’s vision takes a moment to adjust. Still in disbelief that he let Sander talk him into one of his usual clandestine expeditions of break-ins, yacht clubs and late night canal swims.

Robbe wipes the back of his hands against his eyes in attempts to wipe off the condensation clinging onto him. He can’t see anything. Its pitch black, and the canal provides no lighting. All he can see is the deck lights in the distance. Where he abandoned his clothing and all of his usual utilities.

“Sander!” He screams out in panic.

Nothing.

Silence.

Robbe starts to paddle towards the deck. He's been in the water for what feels like eternity. He’s exhausted so he twists his body towards the sky and begins to backstroke.

The moonlight is shining down on him.

He paddles lightly. Tiny waves billowing around his body. The stars surveillance comforting him.

Robbe absorbs the cosmos above him. His mind blank, calm, reassured. A baptism of the mind via compound elements.

Suddenly a creature from the bowels of the riverbed pulls him under.

He turns to face it.

Robbe and Sander are swimming across from one another. Face to face, the water encasing them. Sander swims over to Robbe. He goes to kiss him but before he can lean in, Robbe pulls up.

Ripples crack through to the surface as both men reemerge.

“Still don’t know how to swim?” Sander yells out breathlessly. Struggling to grab enough air to even out his slight panting.

“Still cheating?” Robbe taunts.

Sander paddles over to Robbe. He is so close to Robbe's face he can feel his breath on his cheek.

“Something’s never change”, Sander whispers to Robbe. His eyes glistening in the moonlight.

Like shiny emeralds looking back at him.

But Robbe isn’t swayed so easily by Sander’s charm anymore and responds.

“You know I was foolish once. The kind of kid that was impressed by breaking the law and making out in large bodies of water”

“And what about now?” Sander starts leaning in towards Robbe.

Robbe puts his index finger under Sander’s chin and moves his cheek to the side. Dodging Sander’s advances and says.

“Still foolish, but maybe not so young” Unable to contain a cheeky grin.

Robbe starts to paddle away from Sander. Then he stops, looks back at Sander and tilts his head towards one side and says.

“Come, race you.”

Sander gives him a soft laugh and paddles towards him up for the challenge.

“On the count of 3”

“1, 2 ….”

Before Sander could even get to 3. Robbe starts sprinting towards the deck.

Sander yells out to him.

“Cheater”

It seems so juvenile Robbe thinks but he feels so exposed as he stands on the deck putting his clothes back on in front of Sander. Sander has literally seen Robbe naked hundreds if not thousands of times at this point.

“Stop looking” Robbe slips out coyly. Pulling his jeans up onto his hips.

“Am admiring the view” Sander says with a mischievous smile across his face.

“Come on, hurry up. We need to get home, Bowie needs his dinner.” Robbe checks the time on his watch. It clocks 21:21.

Sander turns around to face the Scheldt canal. His back to Robbe now.

“You know I once heard this story” Sander says. Still facing away from Robbe.

“About two boys and a beach house with a moon just like this one” Sander points up to the sky.

Robbe knows where he is going with this but he doesn’t want to hear it. Not now. Not this story. Not after everything that has happened. This story is off limits.

“Please don’t” Robbe says in a stern voice. Sander turns around to look directly at him. Knowing by the tremor in Robbe’s voice that he has hit a pain point.

“Why?” Sander challenges Robbe, annoyed at his lack of engagement.

“You used to love that story?” Sander adds on.

“I used to love a lot of things” Robbe threw back with venom.

Sander wasn’t amused by Robbe’s comment but he was prepared. He knew this moment was inevitable. So he continued.

“These two boys fell in love at the house by the beach”

“The brown haired skater boy……”

Robbe rushed him, pissed and asked again.

“Stop it, Sander. Just stop it”

Robbe pushed him hard now. Almost making Sander fall off the deck.

“I don’t want to hear your stupid fucking story” Robbe pleaded.

But Sander was relentless. Taking the opportunity to incite Robbe even more.

“Then we had the artist who fell in love with his skater boy.”

Robbe was seething now. An indescribable rage bubbling within him. Sander knew this story was hazardous. It wasn’t meant for retelling unless needed.

But Sander knew how far he could take Robbe until he broke him and he was determined to shatter him into pieces. So he went on with an almost growl in his voice.

“The artist would say that the moonlight was shining down on the skater boy and he knew.….” Sander suddenly charged at Robbe. Cupping his cheeks in his hands but with distinct force. His eyes pierced through Robbe as he slowly queued Robbe into the story while holding his face in his hands, peering down at him and asked.

“What did he know Robbe?”

Sander squeezed his cheeks even harder. It hurt Robbe a little, Sander noticed and lightened his grip up.

“Say it”

Sander’s pupils were fully dilated now. Almost black. It made him look so harsh under the moonlight.

Robbe stayed silent. He didn’t recant the story. He didn’t want to.

Sander was nose to nose with Robbe now. Still holding Robbe’s cheeks in place. Robbe was sure his heart was going tachycardic as Sander said.

“What are you afraid of skater boy? That maybe you’ll speak the story into existence.”

Sander almost violently let go of Robbe making him fall back on himself. Switching up his charm instantly into one of his nonchalant demeanours.

Then he said, “I think it's time to get you home Robbe. You need to feed my cat.”

And now….Now Robbe had had enough and he unleashed.

“He’s not your cat. So don’t come in here thinking you know what's best for him because you don’t. Oh, and just so you know. He hates that fucking diet food you buy him. He likes to be petted upwards not downwards. He sleeps on the right side of the bed because I sleep on the left and I give him half a cup of regular food because one third doesn't cut it anymore. His changed. You don’t know shit about him. You gave him away, you left him, you abandoned him and you have no right to him now.”

Robbe hadn’t realized he was so enraged until a tear rolled down his cheek.

Sander just glared at him, grinding his jaw down. His eyes squinting in a fiery veil Robbe hadn’t seen before. He said nothing as he walked towards Robbe but when they got shoulder to shoulder as he passed him. Sander stopped, looking straight ahead and said.

“I didn’t abandon him. I took him to the only person I knew would protect him.”

Sander walked off into the night. The moonlight shining above them.

******************************************************************************************

“Do we need to protect your scalp?” Genade asked.

“Nah, It's not bleach, it's just hair dye” Sander said.

“I still can’t believe you won’t be a blonde anymore.”

Sander shrugged his shoulders as he checked out his dye job in the mirror.

“Sometimes you just need a change” he said.

“I am thinking of dying my locs too. Maybe purple”

Sander scowled at that statement and shook his head.

“No don’t do purple. I hate purple”

“I love your pink locs. They stand out against your skin. Make you look even more beautiful in the sunshine”.

“Awwwww, thanks baby” Genade pressed a kiss on Sander’s lips.

Genade de Heem was a half dutch/half nigerian hippie fairy with an edge. Sander met her at his tattoo shop's grand opening. Noor had brought her along as her plus one. Sander was instantly infatuated with her. I mean it was hard not to be she was a stunner. She looked like a young Zendaya. A real life ten.

They hadn’t been dating long. It was all still very new but so far she was close to perfect for Sander. She was a wild child like him. A Bowie fan too she even knew all the b-sides. An ink queen with a huge lettering piece on the back of her arms that read Love Is Love. She meant it too. She had no reservations or premeditations about people, life or love. She didn’t push Sander for a label either. She would say, why need a label? When lost souls are meant to be they will find one another across the dunes of life. So they just existed, and they were cool with that.

“Babe you want to go out tonight? Show off my new look” Sander asked.

Genade agreed but added on.

“Let’s make it an early one though. Remember we gotta bake those croissants tomorrow”.

Yeah, she was an amazing cook too.

“Ok ready?” Sander asked as Genade sat in the bedroom waiting.

“Yes, show me” She said.

Sander walked out of his bathroom into the bedroom as a full blown brunette.

Genade squealed.

“You look smoking hot”

Sander rustled his wet brown hair. It was certainly different for him but like he said he needed a change. Needed to “look” more grown up.

“You know what, lets just go out now. I am in the mood” Sander said, hyped up.

The pair got moving and started collecting their shoes and jackets but as Sander put on his signature Black Doc Martens, he thought nah. In tribute to his old hair he was going to pull out the white Doc Martens. He walked over to his bed and got on his hands and knees to peer under it. Those shoes had to be somewhere in this general area.

Finally he found them but as he pulled them out a litter of other shoes came along for the ride. All tangled up via their prospective shoelaces. Sander picked apart his white Doc shoelaces and dropped the rest of the shoes on the ground as he started the usual wiggle and jiggle to get his boots on. He hadn’t even noticed Genude staring at him from the doorway.

“Your so pretty baby” Genude said in the warmest voice.

“Oh yeah come over here and I’ll show you how pretty I can be”

There was the squeal again.

Genude dropped her bag and jacket on the spots and ran towards Sander who was sitting on the edge of the bed but as she sprinted towards him she tripped and dove past the bed. Sander tried to grab her but her hands slipped off his and she crash landed on the other side of the bed alone.

“Ca’va?”

She pushed herself off the floor and signaled to Sander that she was fine just a little embarrassed.

She went to look at what she had slipped on.

On the floor were some old grey vans.

“Stupid shoes!”

“I've never seen you wear these”, Genude stated in a prying fashion. Realizing quickly those didn’t look like Sander’s size.

“I don’t wear them anymore actually. Honestly I should just throw them away.”

As Sander grab the pair of shoes to toss them in the garbage.

Genude stopped him and said, “No keep them, you know how these things go full circle and come back into fashion.”

“They’ll probably be al la mode within the next year or two”. If she only knew.

“If you say so” Sander encouraged her.

“Anyways, lets go, I need a drink”

Genude nodded in consensus.

As Sander headed out the door, he turned back around and kicked the shoes back under the bed.

Forgetting about them for now.

Sending them back into the darkness.

*****************************************************************************************

The clock dials filled up the silence.

Tick …

tock….

Tick…

tock….

It sat above Dr Meyer’s office door.

He would just sit there and passively observe it. The time, passing forward.

He was usually disengaged and uninterested but something felt different today.

His voice pierced through the silence.

“There’s been something lingering” he said with little regard to the allowance of truth he was exposing.

His hands were clammy. So he gripped his fist. Hoping it would provide some sort of comfort.

“When I was younger, I use to let people control me. Influence my thoughts and feelings. Try to tell me what I felt without really listening to me. Or noticing how I was hurting, how I was changing. It made me angry, made me say things I didn’t mean. Hurt the people I cared about."

"It made me think I am never going to find anyone, at least no one who’ll really love me.”

He exhaled.

“But I did find someone and he was great. Perfect even, but I ruined it and now I keep asking myself why?” This was an unusual admittance for him. Sparking a recollection of last night’s happenings and the nights before that.

Laying in the dark.

A bareless ceiling.

Questions left unanswered.

“Are the sleeping pills not working?” Dr Meyer asked.

“Are they having any negative side effects?”

He hated questions like these, probing ones that were an attempt to calculate the durability of your mind. He also really hated the layout of Dr Meyer’s office. It felt like it was intentionally laid out to make you feel like some sort of dance monkey being poked at to divulge some existential secret about your own reality. He was over this session, he wanted it to end. Thank god he told the doctor he would need to leave early today.

“I haven’t been taking them. I mean I have them. It’s just ...I don’t know. There is so many thoughts going on and on...”

He twirled his index fingers around his temples. A depiction of his minds’ instability.

Dr Meyer took note of that comment and wrote it down.

“Could you maybe benefit from some mood stabilizers?”

That question made him anxious. Made him press his palms together and scratch his nails on the surface of his left hand. An adolescent twitch that became an established habit after so many years of over exposure to medical professionals.

“Yeah maybe that could help, but I think before I do that, I should try to find some answers. Take care of something that has been gnawing at me.”

“I could refer you to a more senior colleague if needed. Someone that specializes in sleep disorders.” The doc suggested with a sense of empathy.

“Could you maybe come back at 4pm today?”

He shook his head back and forth and started to get off the couch.

“Sorry doc. I have to go now. I did mention I needed to leave early today. I have to be somewhere at 10am.”

He put his jacket on and looked at his watch.

“And looks like I have 19 minutes to get there now.”

He gave the doc a one hand palm up salute to thank him for his time.

He walked towards the exit and as he turned the door handle Dr Meyer tacked on.

“Oh and Robbe”

“Try to come back at 4. So we can try to help you with the sleeping.”

Robbe gave the doc a lackluster sign of acknowledgement.

He left quickly.

Ran out the office, and into the daylight.

The autumn leaves scattered all across the pavement on his route to work.

#wtfock #wtfam #sobbe #sander driesen #robbe ijzermans

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rogers-metaphor · 5 years

Text

Lessons in Falling in Love: Chapter Four

Summary: Selene is a student, Joe is a professor. Thing’s don’t always work out the way they do in movies, and things aren’t always what they seem.

Permanent warning/disclaimer: this will be a story that contains smut, will have cursing, and other themes like these. So, if you’re under the age of 18, please skip this story. Also, everything in this story is completely fictional and not based on real life!!!!!!!! It’s for dramatic and entertainment purposes only.

A/N: here’s chapter four. this story is actually @ 13 chapters so far (with a lot more to happen!!) also thinking about writing blurb requests for the story, or answering questions to the characters. Let me know what you think!!

previous chapters: One, Two, Three

my masterlist

There was no getting out of Joe’s class. It was to late, all the other History classes were full. It was either suffer or drop it and take it the following semester, though there was a chance that Joe would be her professor again. She figured she’d suffer and stick it out. She made her way back to her place and got into bed once again. She wished she was over it, but she wasn’t.

She had a shift at the bookstore but it wasn’t until later that night. She decided a nap was the best route to spend her day until then.

Selene was startled awake. She didn’t even know what time it was when she jumped at the sound of banging on her door. It took her a moment, to get her footing, and focus. Irritation overwhelmed her as she groggily made her way toward the door, throwing it open, ready to ask if the person was stupid or insane. Her stomach turned when she realized Joe stood in front of her. She laughed, full of sarcasm, she started closing the door.

“Wait! Selene!” he protests stopping the door with his hand.

“No.” she tries to push the door closed but Joe’s strength is much greater than hers, “What do you want!?” she groans.

“You weren’t in class today.” he says quietly, his eyes trying to find hers.

“Observant” she says flatly.

“Why?” he asks, again his eyes are searching for hers. She rolls her eyes, looking past him. She sighs, running her hand over her eyes.

“Why do you care?” she asks. He doesn’t say anything, he just runs his hand over his chin, and then slides both his hands into his pockets. “Right. Joe. You don’t actually care.” He opens his mouth, to speak, no words come out. The aggravation starts to build again, and she goes to close the door on him again. He stops it once more.

“If I didn’t care, then why am i here?” he sighs.

“I don’t know!” she snaps. “I don’t know why you’re here!” she slams her fists at her sides.

“Look, I’m sorry.” he says. “I had a lot going on this weekend and-“

“Did you come here to get laid?” she asks quickly, cutting him off. His face contorts and he looks confused.

“No I-“ he tries

“Then why are you here?” she asks again, more aggressively now.

“To make sure you’re okay.” he says, “Are you serious?”

“You don’t get to just fuck me and leave and then not call me for days.” she snaps again. She felt her eyes start to burn, her throat closing up.

“I didn’t mean to do that… I just-” He stops himself from going any further, his demeanor softening. “I’m scared.” he admits.

“Can you just go?” she asks, tears spilling over and down her cheeks. He sighs, his shoulders dropping as he walked toward her.

“I’m scared because this isn’t right. I could lose my job… and...” she is struggling to keep herself together. Her tears spilling down in a constant stream.

“Then we end whatever this was.” she shrugs. “We stop fooling around.”

“I don’t want that.” he lets out an exasperated sigh. “I just freaked.”

“I don’t want to- No, I can’t deal with someone that’s not sure.” she says quietly. “If you just want sex you can find it anywhere else.”

“I don’t just want sex.” he groans, throwing his head back. “Can I come in?” he asks, and she sighs moving to the side so he can walk past her. She liked him and wanted to forgive him. She shut the door and folded her arms. Watching as he shoved his hands back into his pockets. He was clearly thinking, and she waited for a few seconds but grew impatient. She sighed loudly, and threw her head back. “I want to make it up to you.”

“How?” she drops her shoulders, her mouth still pressed in a frown.

“I want to take you on a real date.” She can feel her body warm at his words. “Like proper date. No sex. Just you, me, and a strawberry field.” his lips spread into a big grin.

“What if I’m allergic to Strawberries?” she muses, and his face drops, his eyes scanning the floor his idea seemingly crushed. She couldn’t hold her laughter at his panic, and finally she cracked a smile. “I’m kidding.” she said.

“You scared me.” he chuckled. “So is that a yes?” She quickly weighed her options again. She could end it all right here and tell him to fuck right off, or she could go on a date with her professor.

“I’ll have to think about it.” she says, sternly her arms coming back to fold over her chest. He nods, and heads toward the door. A little pep in his step.

“I’ll take it.” he shrugs.

“Goodbye Joe.” she said, opening the door and letting him exit.

Just a few seconds later, her phone was vibrating in her hand. An unknown number, she answered anyway.

“Hi.” Joe’s voice sounded.

“Hi.” Selene smirked, responding triumphant.

…

When Saturday afternoon rolled around, Selene had no idea what proper strawberry picking attire was. She wanted to look hot, to tease Joe who put her through to much in the past week. She settled on a black dress that dropped just to her knees, a pair of biker shorts under that, a pair of sneakers and a flannel to put over her arms. She felt good and even excited.

Joe was on time. There was another small win when he looked at her like she, herself was a strawberry. He licked his lips, and smirked and she pretended not to be phased. She wasn’t sleeping with Joe tonight. She wouldn’t let him have that. She wanted to keep him on edge, make him wait for it. Work for it.

The day was perfect, for the end of August it was a beautiful 80 degrees. It felt like a cool relief from the 90 degree and up humidity they suffered through all summer. They drove for a while, and Selene didn’t mind. She loved car rides, she loved singing to songs that played through the radio, and looking at all of the sights around her. They were heading deep into farm area of the state over, so there was plenty of pretty things to see. Including a sunflower field.

“Oh my god!” she yelped, “Look at them!” she gawked and beamed. Joe smiled looking at the sight as she was and then at her.

“We could stop there one day.” he said, and she felt excitement build. Selene felt her body grow warm again, Joe seemed to have a way of doing that. From the way he glanced over at her while they sang songs together, and the way he made her laugh without trying. He made her feel warm.

When they arrived at the destination, it was more than just a small strawberry farm. It was a huge farm and a strawberry festival. Families ran about as a band played on a small stage. There were activities and hay rides out to the field to pick your own strawberries. There were animals you could pet or feed and food trucks each with a different option. And of course, strawberry wine, ice cream, chocolate covered, smoothies, and any other way you could serve a strawberry.

“Where do we even start?” Selene asks, truly in wonder at the place.

“Let’s grab some wine and go from there.” Joe shrugs, and he grabs Selene’s hand and pulls her along.

Selene had never been on a real date, and it felt more than that for her. Especially with Joe’s hand wrapped around hers the entire time. The way he fed her chocolate covered strawberries and bought her tacos from a taco food truck. She drank wine and got close to Joe, watching children run around with painted faces. The two pet animals which Selene was insanely excited about. They picked their own strawberries and bought some chocolate covered strawberries for home.

She was having an amazing day and as the sun began to set, she melted into the way Joe wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into him, as fireworks sounded off above them. She leaned into him, her head resting against his shoulder as the fireworks continued to go off. With each boom she felt closer to him, her heart racing at the memories of the day. She’d have them forever.

The car ride started off comfortably quiet. The music played quietly as both of their skin still warm from the sun. Selene was a little wine drunk, and sleepy but she felt good. She felt Joe’s hand carefully graze her thigh, his thumb gently brushing over her skin. She offered him a smile, her hand covering his. Every doubt had melted away, he didn’t feel like her professor. He felt like her boyfriend, like it could get serious.

“Today was really great.” She said quietly, “I had the best time.” His lips spread into a smile.

“I’m glad.” he said, his hand gently squeezing her thigh. “Am I forgiven?” he asks. She sighs.

“I can forgive you. But i won’t forget. Just don’t hurt me again, Joe.” she says seriously. He nods, looking over to her one last time before they fade back into the quiet ride.

When Selene opened her eyes what felt like hours later, though Joe had just arrived at her place. She rubbed her eyes and sat up.

“We’re at your place.” he said, clarifying.

“Do you want to come in?” she asks, in a groggy voice. He smirks and nods. “No funny business” she warns.

He takes her hand in his, pulling her close kissing her cheek as she fumbles with her keys and the bags of strawberries. They quietly make their way through her house, his hands on her hips and lips finding their way back to her neck.

“I said no funny business.” she giggles pushing away from him, pulling the dress over her head, smirking to him. “I’m tired.” He stared wide eyed at her, gulping back as she swayed her hips moving over to her closet to grab a t-shirt to throw on.

After washing off her makeup and brushing her teeth she crawled into bed, waiting for Joe to do the same. She brought him close, and cuddled into him in the dark

#joe mazzello #joe mazzello fanfic #joe mazzello x reader #joe mazzello x oc

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vgckwb · 5 years

Text

ML: Are They Worthy? Chapter 7: Nino’s Feelings!/Re: Anansi

“Ladybug and Judgement Wolf were standing over Nino. “Doesn’t this seem a little…” Ladybug began asking.

“Creepy?” Judgment Wolf finished. “I know, but I thought doing it in broad daylight would be worse. Especially because the subject has to be knocked out.”

“I see” said Ladybug.

Judgement Wolf readied his sword. “Wolf Mist!” he called. He thrust the mist onto Nino. “Alright, now to catch the little green kwami.”

“Wayzz?” asked Ladybug. “He isn’t here.”

“What?” Judgement Wolf asked. “Forget it, you can explain it to me later. Right now, I have a job to do. Take my hand.” Ladybug did. Judgement Wolf walked into the Wolf Mist with Ladybug. They are in an empty white area, and Ladybug is befuddled. Judgement Wolf put his thumb, index, and middle finger together than then separated them to bring up a screen. “This is what Nino is dreaming.” He said.

Nino was walking by himself, listening to his headphones, walking passed the ferris wheel. He takes note of the fireworks. Suddenly, a large woman with six arms, wearing headgear that looks like a spider, and whose uniform is gold and brown hops onto the ferris wheel. She begins spitting webs and then crawls up to one of the carts. She rips it off, jumps back down, and takes out one of the passengers.

“Don’t I have class with her?” Nino asked himself. The spider-lady ran off with the passenger, while another gets out. Nino rushes to her. “Are you alright?”

“NINO! It’s awful! That spider-lady took my friend Alya!” said Marinette.

Nino then remembered that this was his class rep, Marinette, and the person that the spider-lady ran off with was her friend Alya. They didn’t know each other too well, but he at least thought that this Marinette would make a better class rep than Chloe. “What should we do?” Nino asked.

“Wait, how come Nino doesn’t seem to know me too well?” Ladybug asked.

“Good question” said Judgement Wolf. “I’m not sure myself. The only thing I asked was ‘what would you do if Anansi attacked and you and Alya weren’t dating?’ I guess Nino’s mind took it to a place where you guys don’t know each other too well.”

“Well, we should try to rescue her,” said Marinette. “But, I don’t know if we can hold our own against that spider-lady.”

“Well, we’ll think of something when we get there, dudette” said Nino. “Let’s go!” Nino and Marinette ran down the web-covered Champs-Elysees and confronted the spider-lady, who had made a web in the Arc de Triomphe, and was holding Alya there. Marinette and Nino hid behind a car.

“Nora! Let me go!” Alya shouted.

“The name’s Anansi now!” Anansi said. “And I’m not going to let anything happen to my baby sister.”

“I’m not a child anymore! Let me go!” Alya kept demanding.

“Should we wait for the authorities?” Marinette asked.

“They might not shoot cause she has a hostage. The last thing we want is for your friend to get hurt” Nino said. Nino sees a metal bar by his feet. He picks it up. “Marinette. I’ll distract this Anansi character, while you see if you can’t do anything about that spider web.”

“Nino wait!” said Marinette. “What if you get hurt?”

Nino smiled. “I’ll be fine. I’ll get out of the way if the situation gets too hairy. Just focus on freeing your friend.” Nino ran out, metal bar in hand. “Hey Spider! Let her go!”

“Seriously? And what are you going to do about it?” Anansi said.

“I’ll...I’ll fight you!” Nino said.

“Now THIS I gotta see” said Anansi, climbing down.

“What are you doing?!” Alya asked.

Anansi met Nino. “Just to make this interesting, I’ll only use 10% of my strength.”

“You’re going to need that other 90% when I’m through with you!” Nino said. He swung his bar, but Anansi blocked it. She then threw a punch, which sent him to the ground. Nino got back up and charged at Anasi.

The two kept fighting. Alya watched in horror. Her sister was going to pulverize this guy. She then heard footsteps approach. She looked down and saw her friend. “Marinette?” Marinette put her finger in front of her mouth to signal to be quiet. Marinette began inspecting the web as best she could. It was far up, so she decided she needed a closer look. She found a ladder and climbed up to the web.

When she touched it however, she got stuck. “WAH!’ she yelped, as the ladder fell out from under her and she was now hanging from the web by her arm.

Anansi was staring down Nino when she heard that. She turned around and saw Marinette hanging from her web. “Thought you could fool me” said Anansi, walking toward the web.

Nino was panicking. Two of his classmates were now caught in this web. Even though he didn’t know them well, he still knew he had to do something.”Hey Anansi!” he shouted. “We’re not finished yet!”

Anansi turned back. “You still wanna go?” she said. “I’ve got better things to do.”

“What? Are you scared?!” Nino said. “Why did I say that? He said to himself.

“Scared!” said Anansi, now giving him her full attention. “Fine! If you wanna go, I’ll go! But I’m not holding back anymore!” She charged at him, readying her fists to strike.

Nino was out of breath. He was scared. But he was determined not to give up. As soon as Anansi began to punch, he jumped backward and slammed the bar against her head, sending her to the ground. Nino landed and propped himself up with the bar and was breathing heavily.

“HER HEADGEAR!” Alya shouted. “IT’S THE SOURCE OF HER POWERS!” Nino nodded, took the headgear off, and ripped it, revealing and Akuma.

Anansi turned back into Nora. “What happened?” she asked. She looked up to see Nino. “Who are you?” she asked.

“I’m just the guy that saved your sister” Nino said.

The dream started to fade into all white. Nino looked around and saw Judgement Wolf and Ladybug. “Congratulations,” Judgement Wolf said. “You passed.”

“Ladybug? And...YOU!” Nino said.

“Yes me” sad Judgement Wolf.

“Nino, how are you feeling?” Ladybug asked.

“I feel...fine” Nino said. “But what are you doing here?”

“Well, apparently Cat Noir’s dream got very intense” said Ladybug. “I just came along to see how Judgement Wolf operates. He trusts me to protect the city, so I need to trust him to do his duty.”

“Of course” said Judgement Wolf. “Trust is a two-way street. So, how did I do?”

Ladybug smiled. “I think you did fine. Just be careful when you do this.”

“I will” said Judgement Wolf. “Goodnight Nino. My kwami should meet you tomorrow to tell you what he thinks.” He grabbed Ladybug’s hand, and together they lept out of the Wolf Mist, as Nino fell back asleep.

Ladybug and Judgement Wolf leave Nino’s house. “Before we part ways, I want to get back to what you said earlier” said Judgement Wolf. “Why doesn't Nino have his miraculous with him?”

Ladybug was shocked. “The truth is, there’s a guardian of the miraculous here in the city. He lets Cat Noir and I keep our miraculouses full-time. But when other miraculouses are needed, he asks me to only give them out temporarily.”

“I see” said Judgement Wolf.

“I would like it if everyone kept their miraculouses” Ladybug said. “And I would like it if we could tell everyone who we were. But it’s just…”

“I get it” said Judgement Wolf. “You have to protect your identity from Hawk Moth. Tell you what? I do plan on meeting this guardian, but I’ll do it on his terms. Just as a courtesy to you.”

Ladybug smiled. “Thank you Judgement Wolf” she said. She left.

“I guess it’s time for me to leave as well,” said Judgement Wolf.

The next day, Nino arrived at school and walked up to Alya. “Hey Alya. Wanna go play some Super Penguino?”

“Sure thing” said Alya. The two of them went to a corner to play it.

Just as Alya was about to kiss Nino, Nino interrupted and said “There’s something I need to tell you. I got visited by Judgement Wolf last night.”

“What happened?” Alya asked.

“Well, he used his power to make me dream of a situation where Anansi was attacking. In the dream, I hardly knew who you were. Yet I still tried saving you.”

“Nino” Alya said.

“I actually kind of feel relieved” Nino said. Alya was confused. “See, I’ve been having doubts myself. The only reason I became Carapace was to save you. I sometimes wonder if I’m an actual hero. But now knowing that I’m willing to save someone I barely know, I feel better.”

“Nino” said Alya. “Come here.” She gave her boyfriend a hug.

Nino spotted Beyyo floating around. He went to whisper in Alya’s ear. “Hey, do you want to get tested as well?”

Alya thought about it. This meant having to tell someone other than Nino her secret. But as she looked into his eyes, she could see that her boyfriend came out the other end stronger and more confident. “OK” she said.

“Great” said Nino. “Hey little dude” he said, waving down Beyyo. Beyyo was shocked and hid while Alya was turning around. “No need to be shy. I just want you to meet my girlfriend. You might know her as Rena Rouge.”

Beyyo popped back in. “I was going to give you my approval, but if you go about blabbing secrets like that, I may have to reconsider.”

“Don’t worry, he asked me beforehand” said Alya. “It’s fine.”

“Are you sure about this?” Beyyo asked.

“Well, you seem dead set on testing every miraculous holder, and I’d rather you not hit my girlfriend with that Reveal Claw” said Nino. “Besides, if Ladybug trusts you, why shouldn’t I?”

Beyyo nodded and left. “Wait, when did Ladybug say she trusted him?” Alya asked.

“Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, Ladybug was with him last night” Nino said.

“Jerk. You could have told me that sooner” Alya said.

“Sorry” said Nino.

“It’s fine” said Alya. “Now, how about that kiss?” The two started to make out.

Beyyo returned to Vlad and whispered the information he gathered. “Alya is Rena Rouge?” he said. “Why am I not surprised? But I am intrigued.”

More people were walking into class. Eventually, Alya and Nino walked in holding hands. “Oh you two” said Adrien.

“Oh yeah” said Nino. “Adrien, we need to talk to you about something.”

“Huh? What is it?” Adrien asked.

“Well, it’s-” Nino began. Lila then walked it. “I’ll talk to you later about it.”

“Oh. Um, OK” said Adrien. Everyone took their seats as class began.

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug fanfic #marinette #Vlad #Beyyo #Nino #Alya #Nora #Adrien

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onewhoturns · 5 years

Text

Fireworks (3/4)

This is... the fluffiest. xD Hello and welcome to Jonas and Alex are dorks with each other. If you want to start from the beginning: Part 1, Part 2. Feel free to hit up my AO3 if you’re interested.

Fandom: Oxenfree Pairing: Alex/Jonas Chapter: 3/4 Characters: Alex, Jonas, Michael, Ren, (later) Nona, Clarissa Word count: 2568 Rating: T for language Summary: The one saving grace of that first kiss (apart from, well, it wasn’t a bad kiss) – the one thing she could point to as making the kiss sort of okay, morally – was that it was in a timeline where they were just friends. Well… okay, maybe the kiss might have changed that. A little? Or maybe it didn’t get a chance to, much, cause Alex was too busy shutting herself away and having a teensy tiny crisis over kissing her sometimes-stepbrother. And then, naturally, as always seemed to happen July 8th, it would be May 1st all over again. or: the First, the Fourth, the Fireworks.

If anyone had told her that approximately 14 months after whatever the hell happened on Edwards Island she’d - they’d all - be heading back to that cursed place, Alex wouldn’t have believed them. And as she watches her friends faces, as Michael hands the drive thru bag to Clarissa, and the fast food is doled out among them, she thinks that maybe there’s some fear under their smiles.

“Not to put too fine a point on it,” Clarissa is doing that thing where she wants to be a bitch but is just a hair past the line of ‘too nice’ to do it. She’s always so much nicer in the later half of the loops. When she exists. “But… is there any particular reason we’ve jammed five people in this car when Jonas is stuck driving alone?”

Michael hums a noise that is suspicious for its innocence, and Alex feels like everyone’s eyes turn to her. Michael is stopped at the turn out of the parking lot, shooting her a look over his shoulder that says well it had to happen sooner or later. And he’s right.

Alex sighs melodramatically. “Yeah okay fine, I’ll go be Jonas’s navigator.” She pops the door open and steps out, pulling her backpack from where it was wedged under the seat.

“Great! Finally getting my fries all to myself!” Ren seems overjoyed, and Alex’s eyes narrow at his mischievous grin, wondering just how much he knows. Jonas and Ren always get along a lot better in the timelines when Michael’s back. But well enough for him to mention the— um…? “Alex, if you don’t get moving you’ll be holding up traffic and we’ll get stopped and our glorious plans will never come to fruition.”

“...Not necessarily a bad thing…” she mutters, but closes the door and lets them drive off as Jonas’s truck pulls forward.

It’s a hand-me-down, well worn, and by now she’s familiar with it— how much the handle sticks, how she’s really gotta yank the passenger side door, the right spot to step on the running board to swing herself up into the front seat.

He looks surprised to see her, though he obviously knew she was getting in since he was the one who stopped for her. “Hey.”

“Hey.” She avoids his eyes, settling her pack between her feet as he pulls out of the lot, and digging in her paper bag for— “Yesss.” The box is popped and that perfect high sodium nugget is in her mouth immediately.

“Still think it’s weird you don’t use sauces. Not that I’m complaining--I mean, I’d rather not have ketchup smell soaking into the upholstery, but still.”

“Why on Earth would I mar the perfection of a well-fried nugget?” She gives him a pitying look, but he’s grinning, and she’s grinning, and everything is back to normal. And when he looks back to the road, she feels a little tug in her gut that could be anxiety but feels a lot less awful.

“You know that stuff is just fleshy bits all held together with meat glue-”

“Shushushushush!” Alex waves a finger at him. “Do not. Ruin this for me.”

He’s smirking, and it’s cute. Dammit, he’s cute. Since when is he cute?

“...Just for that, I’m taking a fry tax.”

“What?!” For all his shock and horror he can’t hide his smile and she’s already digging in his to-go bag. “If anything, I deserve a tax of your disgusting dry nuggets, for driving.”

“Jonas, seriously? A burger? How exactly did you plan on eating this while driving?”

He shrugs, “I dunno. Wait til we get there? I mean, it’s July, it’ll keep warm-ish.”

He’s kind of right, but it’s also kind of gross. Plus the sun will be down in the next hour and it’s already cooling down outside. “Hoo, bud, that is a str-etch.”

“Hey, give me a break, okay? I haven’t driven to the ferry before, how was I supposed to know it’s far enough that we’ll need provisions for the drive?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe Google?”

“Okay you know what? You’re the fry wench now. For that, you are the fry wench.”

She snorts, rolling her eyes. “Riiiight.”

“Nope, it’s a thing now. Fry me. Wench.”

There’s a vicious grin on her lips, spotting her secret weapon nestled in the cup holder. “Owo, what’s this?”

“Did you seriously just—” Jonas’s words stop as she lifts the cup. “Alex…” It’s a warning, but not one she plans to heed. Her fingers pop off the lid. “Don’t you dare.”

“Oh: I dare.” Her smirk is straight up evil as she brings the fry to the milkshake’s edge. “I am the dare-iest.” She snorts and repeats, “I am the dairy -est.”

“First you ruin my threaten to ruin my milkshake and now you’re punning about it?” He shakes his head disappointedly.

“The only fry sauce for me.”

Jonas lets out an audible hiss, wincing as she dunks the fry. “You’re a monster.”

“You’re a cretin with an unrefined palate,” she shoots back, exaggeratedly humming her enjoyment as she chows down on french fry and chocolate milkshake.

“Dry nuggets and soggy fries,” he tuts his tongue in disapproval.

“One day you will taste the majesty that I taste and you will be enlightened and choirs of angels will sing you to flavor heaven.”

He’s skeptical, but amused as he shoots her a look out the corner of his eye. “...Okay.” He catches the raise of her eyebrow and laughs. “Screw it, right? Why not now? Fry me, humble fry wench. Gimme that soggy fry.”

There’s a look of triumph, of complete and utter self-satisfaction, as Alex picks out the perfect fry for the job.

And then eats that one, and picks out another.

“Why don’t you just buy your own fr-” He stops cause she’s about to poke him in the chin with a milkshake-covered fry, so he just shoots her a side-eyed glance and eats it. She’s chomping down on her own (perfectly seasoned, no-sauce-needed) nuggets as she watches his brow furrow, watching the road before them - Michael’s tail lights - with a look of utter concentration.

“Hm?” She bats her eyelashes, about 90% sure she’s won this debate.

Jonas’s lips twist and she thinks he’s chewing his cheek before he finally speaks. “...It’s… okay.”

“Ha! It’s delicious, you lying liar.”

His tongue swipes out for just a second to catch the last grains of salt on his lip, and he’s giving her that begrudging amused look, and she suddenly remembers that kissing isn’t bad and-- oof-- where did that even come from?

“It’s… what’s the opposite of sub?”

She knows what he means, though the context is lacking. “Super?”

“It’s super-par? That doesn’t sound right.”

Finishing off her nuggets and licking her fingers clean, Alex preens; “Just super will do. Super duper, even,” and ignores his snorted response.

“...How much longer is this drive, anyway?”

“Like… thirty minutes?”

For the first time since she entered the car, there’s a moment of silence.

“Um…”

She’s suddenly holding her breath. There’s just a teeensy bit of terror that he’s gonna ask her some Big Loaded Question about their kiss. But when he finally brings himself to say something, it’s a lot more relevant.

“So. The island.”

Crap. She’d almost forgotten about that for a second. “Yeah… Why did Ren pick it?”

Jonas lets out a heavy breath. “Pretty sure it’s some BS about closure.”

Alex is definitely too comfortable with him, cause the bitter laugh is nervously bubbling from her throat before she thinks to stop it. “Pretty sure there’s no closure in a loop. Or-- well, like, I mean it’s a closed loop, but-- but it’s already happened? Or… something?” Ugh. So much for living in the moment. She makes a weak attempt to wipe the soles of her mostly clean beat-up high tops on the car’s rubber mats before pulling her legs onto the seat, criss-cross applesauce, just like elementary school. His annoyance at feet on the upholstery is minimal. This truck has seen much worse than a few pebbles and a bit of dirt.

“Well, yeah, but…” His fingers are drumming on the steering wheel. “...I mean, maybe he’s right. It was a year ago. It’s over.”

His free hand digs through the bag for his food, and unthinkingly grabs the spilled fry pieces and dips them in the uncapped shake before popping them in his mouth. There’s definitely an urge to point it out and crow about it, but Alex is no longer in the mood. It’s not over. It’s never over. Instead, since he seems intent on doing it, she unwraps the burger for him and holds her tongue from warning him how ridiculously stupid it is to try to eat a burger while driving. And when he reaches for it he has that same soft look on his face, and he maybe takes a little too long to take it from her hand, and she feels a tiny bit noodle-y as blood rushes to her cheeks.

The effect is lessened a bit as he inevitably drops shredded lettuce on his shirt, and there’s a cynical edge to her poorly hidden affectionate smirk. Of course she’d figure this out now. Too late. Too early. Too much of a wrench in the cycle of island-island-island. He’s… bent the spokes of her tire, or... something. Whatever it is, it’s just gonna make it harder to deal with the leaving.

She sighs, feeling like her lungs are being pressed of all their air. It’s not the first time she’s backhandedly grateful that she won’t remember it all at once. A twisted kind of blessing and curse all at once. She remembers too late to stop it, but still has to remember. It usually just ends up confusing. Or depressing.

Or both.

If she were looking at him she might see the way he glances over at her, the way he keeps glancing back and forth between her and the road, mildly irritated by the food in his hand, looking at her hand instead, before he finally settles on just finishing his burger as soon as possible. But she’s not, so all she sees is him taking massive bites.

She raises an eyebrow. “You good there, bucko? Don’t forget to breathe.”

He shoots her a vaguely irritated look, but his mouth is too full for a comeback. Which, okay, maybe that does lighten her mood just a bit. Alex does not stop stealing fries. She, of course, rationalizes this with the fact that they’re already getting cold, and cold fries are of no use to anyone. The only sign that he spots her continuous filching is the occasional side-eye she gets. But she just turns straight ahead, watches the back window of Michael’s sedan.

That’s one of the things she loves about Jonas’s car, no matter how… well-loved it is; it’s a solid foot or more taller than all the smaller cars on the road. And yes, that means it’s a pain in the ass to climb into, but once she’s in she’s so tall! She likes tall. Jonas is tall. She likes Jonas.

...Oh no, not this again.

He opened that whole can of worms and now… they’re just… flailing around on the asphalt of her heart, or… whatever worms do. The metaphor in her head is very promptly heading just about nowhere. The point is: she likes him. She really really likes him. But there’s A Lot happening-- the fact that she like likes anyone, for one, when she’s more used to friend crushes in the ‘you seem so cool I want to hang out with you’ way and not in the ‘okay yeah, actually, this kissing thing, not too bad, please hold me’ way.

She chews her lips, pulling her knees to her chest and making a noise like a hurnnngh cause she is very A Lot right now and -- hhh.

“We don’t have to go, you know.” Jonas is done with his food, with minimal spillage, and is watching her closely in quick glances.

“Hm? No, no, that’s-- it’s fine. It’s just an island.”

She hasn’t been back since that night. Maybe she should’ve. Maybe she could’ve learned something. Maybe-- and it was a slim-to-none chance, but maybe -- there was a clue there to ending this hopeless cycle.

“If it helps, I’m like 99.9% sure no one wants to fuck with any radios.”

Her smile is grateful but weak, cause now she’s not so sure that that’s it. Maybe they do need a radio. Maybe it’s time she gave the Sunken a piece of her mind, instead of running away and hiding and trying to live her life one 14-month dose at a time.

“And, y’know… um…” Jonas’s words are becoming more uncertain, more mumbled as he continues. “I’ll… be there, I guess. With you. If that even-- I mean, if that makes a difference.”

She’s not expecting the sudden jab of pain in her chest. Because-- well, it does and it doesn’t. For Alex, Jonas was always the one on the island. He was the one who believed her when no one else did, who stuck by her and occasionally scared the shit out of her, and sat by her side when she went God knows where with the ghosts in her head. But… that isn’t how it happened here. In this timeline.

Her breath is held for a half second before she puts her head against her knees and sighs. It can’t hurt. Whatever pain she’s due for, she’s due for it no matter what. So she flops her arm out, onto the cupholders, narrowly avoiding toppling the milkshake and instead just crunching down the now-empty to-go bag. She’s not looking at him. Not even when she flexes her fingers out, expectantly. But she can guess at his expression, when his fingers twine with hers. Soft.

She shifts her head sideways to glance at him when he turns her hand over, and feels her face going flush when he pulls the back of her hand to his lips. He’s watching the road, but he’s-- alright, it’s cheesy to say he’s glowing, but… well. His ears are pinker than the light of the setting sun and she suspects he’s trying to play it cool, but his lips are twitching.

“You are such a sucker.” Not that she isn’t blushing, too. But she can at least attempt to hide her face in the shadow of her knees.

“Shut up. I’m a romantic.”

She’s smiling at him, rolling her eyes. “Oh really. Since when?”

“I’ll have you know, it’s genetic.”

And okay so maybe it’s also a little contagious, cause he’s shooting her a look, and the sun is just at that really annoying height where it’s blasting orange light into everyone’s eyes, but it’s kinda beautiful. He’s kinda beautiful. And he’s very nearly grinning, and Michael’s words pop into her head-- “...he’s been in love with you for… like, ever?”

She doesn’t argue. Doesn’t even make an attempt at a comeback, especially since she knows it’s true. She just lets whatever’s doing little loop de lous in her stomach keep doing its thing, and she holds his hand and-- yeah, maybe it’s a little sweaty, but it’s July so what could she expect really. She just holds his hand. And they’ll figure the rest out later.

#oxenfree #oxenfree fic #my writing #jonalex #fireworks #half of this chapter is pure sugary bff fluff that goes nowhere #enjoy #alex/jonas

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isakthedragon · 6 years

Text

Super Sonic Thieves Chapter 13

Chapter 13 - Croaked Ships

The Set Up:

Sonic, narrating: “Blaze, Silver, and Marine warned us of where the next villain appeared, and he was attempting to take control of the Sol dimension.”

Sly, narrating: “And just as appropriate, Sir Raleigh was the criminal handling the occupation here. Figures he’d try to take over the seafaring world here like the pirate he thinks he is. He was born to a rich family, but loved stealing other people’s riches. Last we dealt with him, he tried using a storm machine to churn the seas to stop ships.”

Sonic, narrating: “And it looks like he’s doing it again here, since when we arrived, there was storm clouds as far as the eye could see. We better find him, and stop him before he does irreversible damage here.”

-----

Zone Layout: The gang has unfortunately landed on the other side of the island Raleigh has docked his ship at, so they’ll have to pass through a Sol island jungle to get to his ship. Then it’s a trip on and in Raleigh’s gigantic pirate ship to find the frog himself. Perhaps Raleigh is hiding his storm generator on board as well?

Enemies:

Robot Walrus (Mallet): These angry metal walruses smack the hammer down to crush you. Carries/drops 15-17 coins and has a 10% chance of treasure to pickpocket.

Robot Walrus (Welder): If they aren’t working on fixing metal, they’ll turn their torches on you and burn you. Carries/drops 15-17 coins and has a 10% chance of treasure to pickpocket.

Robot Walrus (Shuriken thrower): These robot walruses toss metal starfishes like shurikens to smack you away. Carries/drops 19-21 coins and has a 25% chance of treasure to pickpocket.

Robot Squid: Robotic copies of Raleigh’s flashlight carrying squids. They still squirt globs of oil at you that make you slippery when they spot you. Carries/drops 19-24 coins and has a 50% chance of treasure to pickpocket.

Aquis: Flying robot seahorses that also shoot globs of oil to make slippery floors or make you slippery. Drops 19 rings when smashed.

Stormmister: It’s similar to Eggman’s earlier Toximister, but this one dispenses storm clouds that if touched, will attempt to strike you with a lightning bolt. You need to be moving to miss it. Drops 21 rings when smashed.

Treasures:

From Guards:

Lump of Bronze: Worth 90 coins and 45 rings.

Lump of Silver: Worth 110 coins and 55 rings.

Lump of Gold: Worth 130 coins and 65 rings.

From Pedestals:

Platinum Ship in a Bottle: Found near to the river in Act 1. Worth 2150 coins and 1075 rings.

Water Jewel: Hiding on the top deck in Act 2. Worth 2250 rings and 1125 rings.

‘Jeweled Scepter’: In plain sight in Clockwerk’s room, grab it before destroying the bird. Worth 2350 rings and 1175 rings.

The coins have the Sol emeralds as the design on them.

-----

Stormy Seas Zone Act 1: Dimitri and Silver take on the first leg of finding Sir Raleigh, which is actually getting onto his ship that is docked on the other side of the jungle island they are on. The player will use Dimitri’s swimming abilities and Silver’s psychokinesis to traverse the dense jungle, avoiding the enemies along the way. Silver’s psychokinesis will need to be used to either block or destroy spotlights so you won’t get shot at.

*At the start.*

Silver: “* Sigh* I wish we were coming back home under better circumstances. Seeing our world under this storm is saddening.”

Dimitri: “Hey, don’t worry, bro. You’re with the Cooper gang. We’ll put the bizness back to what it was before, you dig?”

Silver: “I dig… I think.”

Bentley, over the binocucom: “Just be careful through the jungle, guys. I’m pretty sure Raleigh’s set up plenty of traps to catch us in.”

---

Stormy Seas Zone Act 2: Carmelita and Blaze sneak their way onto the top deck, and listen in on Sir Raleigh as he hops around and talks about his plans. The player must stay out of his sight, or it’ll have to be done again. Soon, he’ll go a deck down, so it should get a bit easier to hide behind things. The main focus of his talking is of his storm generator, which happens to be another Clockwerk bird.

*At the start*

Carmelita: “We’ve boarded Raleigh’s ship, so we better look for him…”

Blaze: “Maybe we could entice him out with a cannon blast or 2?”

Carmelita: “That would work, less searching for us.”

*Some cannon blasts and hiding later, Raleigh comes to the top deck to inspect.*

Sir Raleigh: “Hey! Quiet down up here! I’m busy trying to figure out our new ship course for this place!”

A guard: “Sorry, someone fired the cannons out”

Sir Raleigh: “Cannons don’t fire by themselves! Find the person who did it!” *He turns around and starts hopping.*

Blaze: “Phew, that was close.”

Carmelita: “Yeah, but we better follow him.”

*After a bit.*

Sir Raleigh: “I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical about this place, but now that I see it for myself, it’s quite perfect for me. So much sea to see, so many islands to raid and plunder. Surely a pirate’s life here.”

Blaze: “Not if I can help it, you stupid frog…”

Carmelita: “We’ll nail him, just wait…”

*Later, a deck below.*

Guard: “Remind me why we are also sitting around for now?”

Sir Raleigh: “We’re waiting for our Storm Clockwerk below to turn the whole Sol Dimension stormy, so we can easily plunder this world.”

Guard: “I thought that raccoon who got you last time killed him, twice.”

Sir Raleigh: “He did, but that Eggman fellow somehow figured out how to build copies of him, and now we can control one as we wish! He’s better as a loyal servant than as an annoying leader anyway.”

Penelope, over the binocucom: “Huh? That’s strange…”

Bentley, over the binocucom: “It is?”

Penelope, over the binocucom: “I don’t remember him ever talking about Clockwerk copies, at least, not offering one to me. Now that I think about it, he did send me out quickly…”

Tails, over the binocucom: “He probably didn’t want you squealing any information to us. He’s really putting the hammer down on leaking information.”

Penelope, over the binocucom: “Jeez… I really was just a pawn…”

Bentley, over the binocucom: “It’s okay… you’re with us now, that’s what matters.”

Penelope, over the binocucom: “Yeah… I’m going to see what I can do about hacking the Clockwerk Owls while you guys smash them. Maybe I can figure out what’s going on.”

---

Stormy Seas Zone Act 3: Panda King and Marine head down to the lower decks and find the Storm Clockwerk up and running and creating electrical storms in the seas. The player can use Panda King’s fireworks to just use fireworks to blast apart the bird to pieces, while Marine plugs up leaks that may appear from the falling pieces and explosions. Then, it’s just a trip to the captain’s room to confront Sir Raleigh.

*At the start, on the sight of Clockwerk.*

Marine: “Argh, mateys! We’ve spotted the blight of a bird! It’d be working electrical conduits to the top o’ the ship and discharging into the atmosphere!”

Bentley, over the binocucom: “Thus, supercharging the air above and producing storms! Good job, guys.”

Panda King: “I assume you want me to use my fireworks to smash the bird to pieces?”

Tails, over the binocucom: “You got it! We better hurry, before it creates a storm too powerful to stop!”

Panda King: “Excellent. Prepare, fake Clockwerk, to become nothing but dust!”

*Upon destruction*

Panda King: “The bird… it is gone now.”

Marine: “Yar, let’s make haste to find the captain’s room!”

*While looking for the captain’s room.*

Penelope, over the binocucom: “Hmmm… interesting. Something left when it blew up.”

Bentley, over the binocucom: “Can you determine what it is?”

Penelope, over the binocucom: “Hard to say… it’s not a simple electrical reading… I can at least say, based upon designs you guys made of the original Clockwerk, it seemed to come from where… the ‘hate chip’ was located.”

Sly, over the binocucom: “It’s been a long while since we’ve heard about that thing…”

Penelope, over the binocucom: “I can say there is no hate chip though, from the wreckage you guys made, nor does it seem to be there anyway… Maybe Eggman attached something there to work it from far away?”

Tails, over the binocucom: “It’s not familiar to me. Eggman has dabbled in the supernatural though, if that is any help. I mean, he’s built a few bases on haunted grounds.”

Penelope, over the binocucom: “Hmmm…”

Bentley, over the binocucom: “So have a few of our villains, kind of a normal thing actually. We got laws limiting the use of supernatural things for evil uses.”

---

Stormy Seas Zone Act 4 (BOSS): Sly and Sonic enter his swamped Captain’s room to deal with the annoying frog…

Sir Raleigh: “Well, well, if it isn’t the lost raccoon and an annoying pincushion Eggman warned me about. You sure have been making a mess of my ship, haven’t you?”

Sly: “Only enough to stop you from pirating this world.”

Sonic: “Wait, this little frog is a nasty villain? He looks like he’s going to break into a dance. You know ‘Hello, my baby, hello, my honey, hello my ragtime gal’ ? ”

Sir Raleigh, sounding quite pissed: “Grrr… I was told by Eggman you’d be annoying, but that’s really low. I am not related to Michigan J. Frog at all!! Just because they create a cartoon that stars a frog that’s all happy and dances does not mean all of us are like that!”

Sonic: “I don’t know… you do got the top hat, and you’re old enough to need a cane. Look! He’s even got a record player in the back!”

Sir Raleigh: “Shut up, Shut Up, SHUT UP!!! I was just going to crush you, but now you’ve made it really personal, hedgehog!!! DIE!!!”

Boss: Sir Raleigh

Sir Raleigh fights like before, hopping around and trying to smack you with his tongue, or attempting to belly slam you on the lily pads. And like before, wait until he deflates to attack him, though watch out for the tongue still. If he was easy the first time around, this is going to be a walk in the park.

*When defeated*

Sir Raleigh: “Noooo… lost again… Why did pirating get so hard?”

-----

The Getaway:

Sonic, narating: “Soon after Sir Raleigh’s defeat, the storm clouds faded away, and the seas became calm once more. The Sol dimension was safe again, much to Silver’s, Blaze’s and Marine’s excitement. We couldn’t stay for long, since we had to drop Sir Raleigh off back at INTERPOL and return to our world again. I wonder where our journey is heading next...”

Next Time: There’s a tiger on the prowl in the cold jungle in Bamboo Blitz Zone.

#Isakthedragon's fanfiction #Super Sonic Thieves #Super Sonic Thieves Chapter 13 #SST #SST: Chapter 13 #Time for some high sea hijinks #So of course that means Sir Raleigh is involved. :P

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acindra · 7 years

Text

We Only Want To Have A Good Time (1/?)

Chapter 1 | 2

Pairing: Jeremy Heere/Michael Mell

Words: 1.871

Summary: “You’re right.”

“Of course I am. I’m amazing.” Michael said, promptly.

This startled laughter out of Jeremy. “And so humble.”

(Jeremy asks Michael on a date to the Relay For Life)

Read on AO3 or under the cut

Jeremy ran a hand through his hair and frowned at himself in the mirror. He was nervous. “You can do this. It’s just Michael.” he told himself.

The butterflies in his stomach disagreed.

“It’s just Michael. Michael who plays video games. Michael who likes 90’s soft drinks. Michael who forgave you when you were a massive dick to him. Michael who’s loyal and awesome and really fucking cute. Why is he so cute?”

His reflection did not provide him any answers.

“What’s the worst that’ll happen?” he asked himself. “He’ll just say no… and that he hates me and that I’ve ruined our friendship forever- oh god I can’t do this.”

His phone buzzed in his pocket, alerting him that he had received an email.

“Oh! I could text it to him instead!” He pulled out his phone and opened a new message to Michael.

There was a solid three minutes that he stared at his phone, trying to type out the words.

“This was a stupid idea.” He muttered as he locked his phone and stuck it back in his pocket. “Plus, I’m already here, I might as well ruin everything ever in person.” He ran a hand through his hair one more time before exiting the bathroom.

The door to Michael’s bedroom was mostly plain and unassuming except for one thing- it had a poster for Jeepers Creepers on it.

Jeremy stared at the eye in the poster.

The eye stared back, judging him silently.

He considered going back to the bathroom.

The sound of footsteps approaching drove him to open the door and enter Michael’s room; he didn’t want one of Michael’s parents to catch him loitering indecisively in the hall and, god forbid, ask him why.

As he made his way down the stairs, he caught sight of Michael lounging sideways on a beanbag, playing some video game.

He got so distracted he missed the last step and tripped.

Luckily, he managed to regain his balance after wobbling a little and windmilling his arms.

“Watch out, we just put that step there.” Michael remarked, laughing a little.

“I meant to do that.”

“Sure you did. Actually, look.” He pointed at his tv screen where his Animal Crossing character was pushing a gorilla villager into a pitfall trap.

The gorilla wiggled around in the pit for a few seconds then flipped back out.

“See that? You looked just like Peewee. Less buff, though. You should really work on that.”

“I’ll take that under consideration.” Jeremy said, dryly. “Is his name really Peewee?” he asked, incredulously.

“Yup.” Michael popped the p loudly. “So what can I do you for?”

“Well I came out to have a good time and I’m honestly feeling so attacked right now.”

“Pew pew.” Michael mimed shooting him with a gun.

Jeremy mimed getting shot and collapsed against the wall.

“I see… I see a light.” he said, stretching his arm out towards the imaginary light.

“And it’s like the fog has lifted.” Michael sang, watching as Jeremy pretended to die. “Well, shit. I gotta hide a dead body. Better call my best friend for help- oh wait.”

“Aw, you’d call me to help you hide a body? I’m touched.” Jeremy picked himself off the floor and went to perch himself on Michael’s desk chair.

“Wait!”

Jeremy froze, halfway to sitting on the chair.

Michael leaned forward off the beanbag and tapped Jeremy’s hand. “Boop.” He sat back. “Now you’re touched. As you were.”

Jeremy rolled his eyes and sat down.

“If you want, we can play a game together. You just gotta wait for me to put in a code with Nook and save.”

“A code?”

“Project Hyrule, man!”

“What, like Zelda in Animal Crossing?”

“Not really. It was a forum or something a long ass time ago- like in the early two thousands- that posted universal codes for items in the game if your town was named Hyrule. I’ve been using it to get thirty thousand bells so I can pay off my mortgage.”

Jeremy watched as Michael’s character initiated a conversation with Nook.

“WB2…” Michael muttered as he input the code from memory.

“Why do you know this?” Jeremy asked, incredulous.

“Internet.”

“Ok, obviously. But how did you get from regular internet browsing to memorizing secret codes for a fifteen year old game?”

“I don’t know. I was up late the other night and found it. That’s why I broke out the gamecube, to be honest. It’s actually pretty fun, if a little bit isolated. Kinda reminds me of playing the early Sims games.”

“Gotta get your massaging heart bed on.”

“Speaking of babies in the Sims. Did you know you can have a child live by themself in Bustin’ Out if you kill off the parents? If you get good grades you get a hundred dollars from your grandparents and can then buy pizza or eat snacks instead of cooking food.”

“Bustin’ Out?”

“It’s one of the gamecube Sims games.”

“Did you have to look up the child thing, too?”

“No, that was an accident. I set off a firework too close to a carpet and… well. Fire.” He imitated a large flame with his hands.

“Amazing.”

“I know I am.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

“You’re just jealous.”

Jeremy scoffed. “Of what?”

“I got the brains, the looks, and the skillz- with a ‘z’. I’m the whole package.” Michael boasted.

Jeremy agreed. But he would never let Michael know that. “You certainly are a whole lot of something.”

“Like I said- you’re just jealous.”

“You keep telling yourself that.”

“I will.”

Jeremy watched as Michael steered his character up to the gyroid outside his house and saved the game. “Sooo…. Michael.”

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out.”

“Are. Um.” Jeremy picked at the chair. “Do you… er. Are you... busy… on. Uh...”

Michael looked up at him, curiously. “Are you ok?”

Jeremy could feel his face turning red as he struggled to get the words out. “Whatareyoudoingonsaturday?” He rushed out. He fidgeted awkwardly as Michael processed his words.

“Saturday? Uhhh… Probably playing video games? Why?”

“Do you- I mean, only if you want to- d’you wanna go to… um… the Relay for Life? With me?”

“Relay for… Life? What’s that?”

“Oh! It’s. Um. A fundraiser. For cancer research. A-and like all of the clubs at school participate. It’s kinda like a festival? I- I think it goes until, um, six in the morning?” He ran a hand through his hair again. “That’s- actually really late.” He stared down at his hands as he wrung his fingers together. “You don’t want to do that. You’re right, it was a silly idea. I’m sorry I brought it up. Forget-”

“Sure. I’ll go with you.”

Jeremy looked up. “Really?”

“Yeah! It sounds fun. It’s a date!” He joked.

Jeremy felt relief course through him. He couldn’t fight down the pleased smile that broke over his face. “It- it is!” He nodded.

Michael tilted his head. “Wait- is it?”

“What?”

“Is- are you asking me on a date?”

“Y-yes? ”

“Jeremy!” Michael exclaimed, sitting up excitedly.

Jeremy startled a little.

“I’m so proud of you!” Michael pulled himself up onto his knees and half collapsed onto Jeremy to hug him around his middle.

Jeremy blinked in confusion even as he automatically patted Michael’s back. “What?”

“I know how hard it is for you to express yourself when it comes to liking someone. Usually you run away or- wait.” He pulled away slightly to look up at Jeremy. “This isn’t a joke is it? Cuz that’s really mean and I will get you back.”

“Wh- No it’s not a joke. I. Uhm. Ireallylikeyou.” If he wasn’t red before, he certainly was now.

Michael eyed him, suspiciously. “You aren’t making fun of me, right?”

“What would I be making fun of?”

He gave him an incredulous look. “I’ve had a crush on you? For, like, forever?”

“Oh. I didn’t know that.”

“How?” Michael poked him in the stomach. “Like, are you serious? Are you fucking oblivious? I wasn’t even being subtle after we hit ninth grade.”

“I don’t know! You know I’m really bad at feelings.” Jeremy defended himself, catching Michael’s hand so he’d stop poking him.

Michael looked at Jeremy’s hand holding his and hooked his pinkie over his fingers. “You’re really asking me out?” he asked quietly.

Jeremy’s heart hurt at how vulnerable Michael sounded in that moment. “Yes.”

Michael gave him a lopsided smile. “Cool.”

They smiled at each other for a few seconds.

Jeremy fidgeted, breaking the eye contact and releasing Michael’s hand. “Well... This is awkward. I- I should go.” He made to swivel the chair so he could get up.

Michael grabbed the back of the chair to prevent him from moving. “No! Don’t go. You just got here.”

“But…”

“Please stay.” He made puppy eyes at him.

Jeremy’s stomach rumbled.

“See! Now you have to stay! I’ll feed you!”

“Okay, okay. How can I pass up free food?” Jeremy asked, a little sarcastic.

Michael slapped his hands down on Jeremy’s knees and hauled himself up to standing. “Don’t you worry. I will provide for my man.” He winked and offered a hand to him.

“Your man?” Jeremy laughed a little as he let Michael pull him up.

Michael furrowed his eyebrows. “We’re- but we’re going on a date? So that means we’re dating? Right? Did I get that wrong? I’m sorry! I just thought-”

Jeremy put his hands up in a placating motion. “I didn’t, uh, think about it. Before.” He waved his hand vaguely. “B-but if you want to be, um, b-boyfriends, I… I’d like that.”

“YEAH!” Michael shouted, excited. “Uh. I mean yes. Yes, I want that. Of course I want that.”

Jeremy looked down. “I’ve never had a b-boyfriend before.”

“I’ve never had an anything before.” Michael pointed out.

“I just mean. I don’t know how good I’ll be. At this.”

“Jeremy-”

“And like what if I do something stupid or wrong?”

“Jer-”

“What if someone tries to hurt us because we’re together and-”

“Jeremy!” Michael clapped his hand over Jeremy’s mouth. “I’m gonna stop you right there. We haven’t even gone on our first date and you’re already worrying. Stop it.”

Jeremy’s reply was too muffled to make out. He reached up and tugged Michael’s hand off. “You know I can’t help it…”

Michael sighed. “I know. But you know I’ll always be here for you.”

“Yeah…”

“You’ll be fine. If you do something stupid or wrong, I’ll tell you and we can fix it. If someone tries to hurt us I’ll kick their ass. Plus, we don’t have to tell anyone we’re together. And whatever happens- we can deal with it. Together. Because that’s what we do.”

“You’re right.”

“Of course I am. I’m amazing.” Michael said, promptly.

This startled laughter out of Jeremy. “And so humble.”

“If you got it, flaunt it.” He shrugged. “Anyways- let’s go get some food in you before you shrivel out of existence.”

“Ok.” Jeremy followed him up the stairs.

“And if you’re good, I’ll feed you by hand. It’ll be gay! I mean great.” He paused for a second to contemplate it. “No. I meant gay.”

#bmc #be more chill #be more chill musical #boyf riends #meremy hell #acindraquill #be more queer #jeremy you useless bisexual

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every-yumichika · 6 months

Text

#bleach #mangacap #ikkaku madarame #volume 11 #chapter 90. See You Under the Fireworks #pg. 46 #yumichika thinking ikkaku died: wtf?! (spirals)#ikkaku seeing yumichika 'lose' (idk if he thinks he's died or not): aw.

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velcr0kitty · 7 years

Text

What If? (Pt.3)

Title: What If? (Pt.3) Summary: You indulge yourself in a harmless passion, following a train of thought, but when Mikey catches a glimpse it may not be so harmless after all. Author: Velcr0Kitty Characters: Mikey x Reader Word Count: 1750 Warnings: Angst, fluff, body image… issues? I guess? Fighting Author’s Notes: IT kEePS GRoWING D: welcome to the final chapter. Take a fucking sip babes and strap in.

Part 1

Part 2

Mikey’s hands won’t stop trembling. Every ounce of curiosity and joy in his body had crystallized to a dull, chilling throb caught in his throat. At first Mikey thought the man might have been a friend of yours from before they took you in. He wondered when you had gone to see him, and be gone long enough to draw him. Then, slowly, the similarities trickled through him like ice water. Nothing big, just the pose and the smile. The clear love of 90’s fashion. This drawing in particular had confused him until he saw the title.

What if? - Mikey

It winded him. He was fully and truly confused. He couldn’t concentrate. All the focus he had was on the man on the page. His head grew cloudy and his heart jumped into his throat.

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

Raph’s thunderous steps fade as you enter the room more and more. You cautiously approach the moody turtle. Mikey’s back has been fully turned to you as he leans on the wall. He crosses his arms and lets out a small childish huff, looking over his shoulder a little.

“Well?” he quietly spits. He waits a moment in the empty silence. The stool groans as he whips around to face you, his hurt and anger rising again. “Well?” The venom in his voice makes you flinch.

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

A single long green finger ran over the man and Mikey felt himself reach that unmistakable lightheadedness that comes right before you cry. His chest twitched inwards as the first small sob escaped involuntarily. Ever since he was a kid he had been incredibly insecure about being a sentient freaking turtle and it was a soft spot for him and his brothers. All of them wish they were human every now and again, but Mikey had finally convinced himself that someone else- and most importantly he- could learn to love him as he is. After he and Y/N spoke for hours in deep and emotional conversation he found himself not being so hard on himself. When he sat down and had to either sit on the edge of the seat or almost lay down because of his bulky shell, instead of mentally cursing himself out for being so large he started cheering himself on cause that size is what took down Donnie the other day in training. When he sees himself in reflections he’s stopped quickly turning away, and instead studying it, testing expressions. He had hope. Every drop of self-doubt leaked back into his pores while he locked eyes with the man he wishes he was.

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

At your flinch, Mikeys bravado cracks, just a little. As he looks at your small face and your quivering lip he realizes that you were legitimately frightened of him, even if only for a second. He was a monster. A frustrated growl escapes him. He runs his hands over his face then locks his fingers behind his head, turning away from you. You attempt to compose yourself. Mend the damage, lessen the blow.

“Mikey,” you start, unsure how to continue. “Mikey, I’m sorry.” He whips towards you, jaw set. Fire swirls in his eyes. “I didn’t mean anything by it, but I know it hurt you.” Guilt tangles with the fire. You start pacing and your hands twitch and move with your words. “Especially after what you told me, I never should've even thought that shit. I convinced myself it was a natural thought to have but that’s not fair to you.” Guilt wins. “I really really care about you and I’d never want to hurt you. Ever.” You start tearing up and your words flow faster and faster. “Mikey, you’re my best friend and I hate that I hurt you but I hope you can forgive me.” Faster still. “Idon’tknowwhatI’ddowithoutyou, please don’t hate me, M.”

You stop pacing and continue to ramble apologies, while beginning to cry. Any resentment Mikey harboured melted away. He thought you didn’t care about him, that you wanted him to change before you could care, but now that he rationally thought about it he knew that was ridiculous.

By this point you are actually blubbering. You hate hurting people and fucking up and confrontation and this is all three. Somewhere in your messy jumble of words you said you would leave him alone so you started to hobble away, aiming for the ice cream in the fridge. A large hand clamps onto your shoulder and spins you around. Mikey hugs you with everything he has while you slowly raise your arms to hug him back. He doesn’t hate me? Both of your minds are reeling. You sob into his chest, gripping him as hard as you can. One hand below your shoulder blades, the other on the back of your head, he shoves you deeper into his chest and rests his face on the top of your head. Mikey breathes you in deeply, his head swimming. Relief laced with shampoo and vanilla overwhelm him until he too is crying. You stay like this for a while.

Once you both stopped crying you awkwardly left saying you’d give him space. He didn’t want you to go, but he pulled himself together and watched you leave. He had crawled into bed and laid awake until Raph returned, climbing in above him. You skulked off to your room bumping into Donnie on the way, who gave you a quick sympathetic hug and went on his way. A hollow feeling crept over you. You put away the art supplies you had on your bed and rolled to the center pulling a blanket over yourself. A minute or two pass and there’s a knock on your door.

“Um, Y/N?” Donnie’s quiet voice carries through the room. You barely peek your head over the blanket to shoot him a look to see him juggling two tubs of ice cream, a bunch of pillows and a laptop. “I figured you could use some company.” He cautiously pads into the room. Quietly, you sit up. Donnie drops everything on the end of your bed and starts setting everything up, eventually settling in beside you. You both sat stiffly next to each other until you moved to cuddle into him. He wraps a comforting arm around you and gently kisses the top of your head and presses play on the movie. You were fine for a few minutes until the stress of the day hot you like a ton of bricks and you started to cry again. Crying sucks. I’ve never fucking cried so much. Donnie rubs your shoulder as you cry yourself to sleep.

It took a few days, but eventually everything between you and Mikey were back to normal. You two were on the couch surrounded by snacks, playing Mario kart and teasing each other. “No, no no nO NO! YOU BITCH” You side check Mikey while a string of curses fall out. A hearty laugh rolls out of him and you join him in giggling. Mikey kept a solid eye on you in his peripheral while you laugh. It makes him melt. You shine in the tv light and Mikey loses all regard for the game, instead watching you. Your eyes flick back and forth between the game and Mikey after noticing his character had gotten severely worse. “Dude, DUDE, you’re losing! MIKEY!”

The race results roll across the screen and you turn to look at him like he punched himself in the face. Concerned, confused, and a little giggly. “What the fuck was that?” He chuffed with a smirk and turned his gaze to his lap.

“Hey, Y/N?” His voice was small, making you pause.

“What up? Are you ok?” He chuckles and laughingly shakes his head.

“Yeah Angelcakes, I’m good.” His body stiffens and tenses as he mentally rehearses. “But uh… ok, Dollface, I gotta just do something real quick, ok?” Your eyebrows crease and your concern only grows.

“Uh, of course? Do what you gotta, man.” You study him for a few moments, waiting. He looks up at you, steels his nerve, and grabs your hand turning to face you. Your clueless self sits in confusion waiting. He looks like he’s in pain. Geez if he wanted some contact he only had to ask. You smile warmly, thinking you’ve figured it out and go to hug him. With miscommunication thicker than dense jungle, Mikey’s nerves slip away thinking you’ve taken initiative. You both close your eyes.

Oh. You think.

OH.

Warm. Your face flushes, feeling the heat of the fireworks in your mind. Mikey’s hand snakes to your side and gingerly rests on your waist shooting familiar electricity up his arm as he softly kisses you. You don’t move for a moment, stunned. Mikey’s mind raced thinking he had done something wrong until you slowly brought your free hand to cup his jaw. Your thumb rubs down his cheek and a finger traces patterns where his neck meets his head. Because of this, a small tremor runs through him and rest in his lap, leaving him warm and fuzzy. The large hand on yours tenderly tightens and you turn it upwards, lacing your fingers as best you can. An enchanting fire takes hold of both of you as the kiss deepens.and deepens until you both stop to breathe. Your mind catches up to your body and, after a second and some staggering breaths, your eyes pop open. Mikey’s eyes had opened immediately but his brain won’t catch him for weeks. Your gazes finally meet. His face splits into the most dazzling, soft, dopey, sweet smile you had ever seen that warms you deeply.

“Haaaaoooohk” Mikey mutters under his breath, his wide eyes looking stunned.

“Oh,” you sigh. A sweet moment in the silence then you both break into a laughing fit. In between giggles he slowly lifts your hand, only barely breaking eye contact, and presses it to his lips with a cheeky grin. You both quiet and continue holding hands for a minute.

“That’s gonna happen like waay more often right? Cause I want that to happen way more often.” You crack up again, just a bit.

“Um, duh.”

“Heh, ok. Good.” he states, with a trace of arrogance in his voice. “... Hey Y/N?”

“Mmm?”

“I’ve never seen someone draw before, could I-” he trails off for a moment, “-maybe watch you do it sometime?” He tries (and fails) to hide his excitement and anticipation. This is the cutest fucking thing.

“Of course.”

Tags: @another-tmnt-writer @girl-next-door-writes @sarazzprime @jam-jar2 @i-know-i-am-weird-thank-you @theclonewarss @gummiwormsandonedirection @chubbygoddess22 @jumpybox @ikindafuckedup-maybe

@pyromantic-technin @IIturner7 @bae-kage @savvy-mutant-turtle-banger your guys tags don’t seem to be working but don’t say I didn’t try

#tmnt mikey #tmnt 2014 #tmnt x reader #tmnt donnie #tmnt raph #mikey x reader #what if pt 3

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fromtheringapron · 5 years

Text

WWF WrestleMania X

Date: March 20, 1994.

Location: Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.

Attendance: 18,065

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler.

Results:

1. Owen Hart defeated Bret Hart.

2. Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon defeated Dink the Clown and Doink the Clown.

3. Falls Count Anywhere Match: Randy Savage defeated Crush (with Mr. Fuji).

4. WWF Women’s Championship Match: Alundra Blayze (champion) defeated Leilani Kai.

5. WWF Tag Team Championship Match: Men on a Mission (Mo & Mabel) (with Oscar) defeated The Quebeccers (Jacques & Pierre) (champions) (with Johnny Polo) via count-out.

6. WWF World Heavyweight Championship Match: Yokozuna (champion) (with Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette) defeated Lex Luger via disqualification. Mr. Perfect was the special guest referee.

7. Earthquake defeated Adam Bomb (w/Harvey Whippleman).

8. Ladder Match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship: Razor Ramon (champion) defeated Shawn Michaels (with Diesel).

9. WWF World Heavyweight Championship Match: Bret Hart defeated Yokozuna (champion) (with Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette) to win the title.

Analysis

I’m probably not telling you anything you don’t already know, but WrestleMania X is one of the best WrestleManias in history. This is largely contributed to the fact that the show boasts not just one but two of the most iconic and influential bouts of all time: the battle of the Hart brothers and the ladder match. But while those two matches certainly deserve all of the accolades, I think where the show truly succeeds is its ability to tell an emotional, succinct story regarding the trials and tribulations of Bret Hart.

I feel like I’ve said this before, but Bret is the main character of the New Generation Era and this show is a big help in firmly establishing that. In the previous 12 months, he’d been shoved to the sidelines by Hulk Hogan and Yokozuna, forced to deal with Jerry Lawler’s repeated humiliation of his family, and even saw his younger brother turn on him. The show plays on our knowledge of what a hellish year it’s been for the Hitman, starting off with him hitting an absolute low⎯wrestling against his own brother and losing. And not just losing to his brother, but having that loss rubbed in his face in front of millions of people. It’s sad, but it’s all just setup for one of the happiest moments of Bret’s onscreen career and the entire era as a whole.

Bret’s WWF run works best when you look at it as one continuous saga and, honestly, it may be the best story ever told in wrestling. It’s one that’s filled with both heartbreak and disappointment, where Bret is constantly overlooked by both management and his peers. But that’s exactly what makes his moments of triumph so rewarding. Bret emerging victorious at the end of this show, with the previously loss and leg injury and so on, is such a wonderful way to end this particular chapter in his tenure. The mass celebration at the end is just the cherry on top. It’s an acknowledgement that all the pain he felt, all the family drama, in the previous year had somehow been worth it. The good times won’t last. They never do. In fact, Owen is right around the corner ready to challenge him. But, for now, it’s nice just to soak in the moment.

I should probably say something about the ladder match, although I’m not sure what new insight I could possibly add. I will say it took me awhile to fully on board with it, as I’d seen plenty of other ladder matches before watching this one. The action can understandably seem tame to those of us who are used to seeing someone like Jeff Hardy kill himself on ladders for our enjoyment, but it’s all about the historical context. While this was far from the first ladder match in history, and not even the first in the WWF, this is the first one the audience at large had ever seen. Once framed in that context, it’s amazing. Some of the ladder spots we take for granted now were completely fresh at this point. The audible gasps from the crowd in MSG are reminders of just how brutal they truly are. Plus, only a few images in WrestleMania history are as iconic as Shawn Michaels jumping off the ladder.

For a show that’s commonly written off as “The Harts, the ladder match, and nothing else,” I find myself entertained by the whole lot of it. Everything in between the big matches is kept light and fun. There’s a little something for everyone here. It does start to run into some timing issues in the last third or so, leading to a huge 10-man tag getting cut from the show entirely. It’s a weird decision, considering the show ultimately still runs well under three hours anyway and it’s not like the card was overcrowded to begin with. Even the best New Generation shows can leave you wanting more, I guess.

But that’s all fairly minor in the grand scheme of things. That the tenth WrestleMania is such a success is still a bloody miracle. By 1994, the WWF was in some deep trouble. Vince McMahon was just months away from the steroid trial that could’ve nearly sealed his fate, business had taken a turn for the worst, and many of the previous era’s top stars had disappeared. And yet here we have a show like this that proves, even in its darkest hour, the WWF is capable of change and offering something new. That, above all else, may be this WrestleMania’s most enduring legacy.

My Random Notes

Did someone accidentally set off the fireworks before the opening match? Even Vince seems a little caught off guard by it.

Shout out to the thick wad of saliva around Owen Hart’s mouth, no doubt a tribute George Welles’ iconic frothing at WrestleMania 2.

Oh, man, that glass case of Hasbro figures in the Fan Fest segment is everything I dreamed about as a kid.

I think the selection of celebrities for this show is pretty good. Burt Reynolds and Little Richard are obviously two of the most famous people they’ve ever managed to get, and Jennie Garth and Donnie Wahlberg are inspired time-period appropriate choices. Sy Sperling, though? Herb-levels of obscure. Vince’s mid-life crisis must’ve played a role in selecting the president of the Hair Club for Men. I can’t think any of another reason why he thought the kids in the audience would relate to him.

The Bill Clinton impersonator seems random at first, but then I realize it falls right in line with the various jabs the super conservative McMahons took at the Clinton administration. It’s a reoccurring theme throughout these ‘90s pay-per-views. Remember how they brought in Gennifer Flowers four years later just for the sake of trolling?

“Hmmm, how can I look like your culture-appropriating aunt while also looking like I could be in a Heart music video circa 1987?” - Leilani Kai in the lead-up to WrestleMania X.

Man, those 10-man tag guys must’ve been so pissed about getting cut from the show. “At least Shawn and Razor got time to put on a classic!” said none of them, presumably.

It’s taken me this long to realize he’s named Johnny Polo because he carries around a polo mallet. Embarrassing.

It’s a shame the Lex/Perfect feud never went anywhere after this because it’s such a great bit of continuity to have Perfect screw over Lex given everything that transpired between them the previous year. And I don’t really fault Perfect either. Why should he just forget that Lex is the prick who knocked him out?

Speaking of Lex, I definitely think he and Yokozuna would’ve benefited from swapping heel/face alignments shortly after this show. For as much as this show is a huge step forward for Bret, the other two guys in the title picture didn’t quite have the same aura after this.

Love, love, love the mass babyface celebration at the end. Wrestling really needs to bring it back. Plus, here it makes it look like Bret just played a monolithic beast and the fearful townspeople can finally come out of hiding to celebrate.

#wrestlemania #wwe network #bret hart #shawn michaels #hbk #wwf

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dat-town · 7 years

Text

Under the same stars || chapter 1

Characters: Park Jimin & OC (Xu Xianni)

Setting: Winter Olympics, figure skater!Jimin AU

Genre: 90% fluff 10% angst

Summary: A story about Olympics, first love and rules that are meant to be broken.

Words: 5802

Chapters: 1, 2 , 3 (the end)

Alternatively titled: Kiss and cry. (exp.) The area in an ice rink where figure skaters wait for their marks to be announced after their performances during a competition.

I blame Jimin’s end of year dance stages for this mess. I don’t have any first-hand experience about figure skating so if I claimed any uncorrect detail about the sport, please feel free to let me know.

The story is set in 2018 during the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Korea.

The rules

My mother told me three rules I should never forget:

Number One. Everyone who steps on the ice rink is your enemy. Don’t trust them.

Number Two. Everything in the Olympic Village is a temporary illusion. Don’t hope to bring home other than a medal.

And last but not least, Number Three. When you fall, no matter how much it hurts, get up and forget it ever happened.

I might be a bad girl for not listening but I happen to broke them one by one and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. I proudly claim that I have no regrets even though mother was right: falling in love indeed can influence careers.

Breaking rule no.1

Day 0 - 9th February

“I still can’t believe we’re here,” I let out a sigh in awe as I look out of the hotel room’s window. It grants me a magnetic view of the Pyeongchang mountains covered by pearl white, fresh snow. The peaks and downhills under the azure blue sky look like sweet meringues freshly out of the oven. It resembles to heaven in my mind with all the tiny houses and sparkling lights below. So much prettier than on the poster.

“You better believe it. Hurry up with unpacking, The opening ceremony starts in two hour,” my coach’s strict voice rings in my head just like those times when I mess up practice and she scolds me for not paying attention. Usually I lift my chin high and try harder but we’re not in the ice rink now. We’re in a room on the 4th floor in the Olympic Village at my very first Winter Games.

“I know. I’ll take a shower and change. I can finish unpacking after it. I have plenty of time,” I try to reason and give an explanation about my calm state.

The woman at the edge of my made bed is a little shorter than me and unlike me she’s already wearing an appropriate clothing for tonight: a business costume. It’s so different from her usual casual training clothes that it makes her look older. Her cheeks are rosy and her hair is a little messy from the chilly wind we came across on our way here from the airport.

“I have to leave to the coaches and staff’s accommodation and you’ll be on your own,” she warns with a frown on her face and stares at me with her famous piercing look. It makes me feel belittled because it implies to that I can’t take care of my own luggage despite the fact I have been travelling around the world because of competitions since I was thirteen.

“I know. I can handle it.” This time a shudder sigh leaves my mouth but my voice never wavers. “I’m not a kid anymore, mom.”

As I emphasize the last world, the woman before me tenses. Sometimes I wonder how she sees herself. Is she my mother first or my coach? When she decides what the best is for me, is she thinking about me as her daughter or just her most potential student who can make it big?

“But you are,” mom sticks to her own opinion and brush aside my weak protest with a last pat on my suitcase. “I have to go so we’ll meet in the lobby before the take-off to the opening ceremony, okay?”

“Yeah,” I mumble a little discouraged and let her press a kiss to my cheek. I try not to pout as I wave her off because I know she only wants to protect me but I still can’t shake off this uneasy feeling that she’s overdoing it. There must be so much more to this world than she lets me see.

I cast a last glance to the wonderful scenery then do as I promised. I take a quick, cold shower and put on the common athlete training clothes with my surname and my county’s name on it. I always wear it proudly and it makes me feel like I have a whole nation supporting me. It’s a feeling beyond expression just like the heavy weight of gold around your neck. I just wish I could experience the weight of an Olympic medal no matter the colour.

The opening ceremony is grandiose and splendid; South Korea really does it justice and doesn’t stir disappointment. There are all kind of performers on a big scale, even kpop stars and traditional sword dancers. I enjoy the whole thing but for me, the most heartfelt moment is when all the athletes march in. I see a few familiar faces from other competitions and we greet each other but I have no idea about most of them.

Day 1 - 10th February

As the fireworks paint the sky in rainbow colours, the clock ticks and the day turns. Everyone is cheering, the Olympic Flame is shining brightly in the dark night. The reality finally settles in my bones and veins: it really did start. When I leave the huge stadium alongside with a few other skaters, mom finds me at the lobby where we met before the ceremony. The bus ride back to the Olympic Village in Gangneung is quiet. It's already well past midnight when we arrive so her sudden request sounds a little absurd.

“No staying up late, no partying with others. I’ll wait for you at the ice rink tomorrow morning at seven.”

It takes a lot of my willpower not to whine. Of course, even though ladies competition is last in line, mother would never waste the opportunity to practice.

“Mom…”

“No buts, honey. Now I have to go, I meet one of the Russian coaches. Good night!” She pursues her lips and sends me a kiss before storming out of the lively hall. The Village buzzes with excitement. Nobody plans to sleep tonight. There are bars and clubs waiting for just us and lots of athletes want to loosen up a bit before their big day.

The girl from the skiing team whom I room with is also one of them because she's in the middle of preparing to going out when I arrive back to our place. We introduce ourselves in hurry but it looks like she doesn’t plan to waste any more time for formalities.

“Hey… you comin’?” Yanmei turns around at the door as she fixes some ribbon on her tight black dress. Her make up is smokey and wild, she’s definitely going to get a date tonight. Thinking about clubs, loud music, lots of frustrated young people and what I learned about them from American movies, I only hesitate for a moment before answering:

“Yeah, I’m coming.”

Maybe I should listen to mother but we spend 350 days out of 365 practicing and today I just want to relax. It’s hard to lead a normal life, to graduate with good GPA and to have friends when you’re going after the gold. It’s impossible to ‘hang out’ when you’re at a training camp this week and at the Grand Prix the next. I gave up friends for this life. I even delay university for this. But I won’t deny myself a little fun. I’m not a robot; sometimes I need a break as well.

I quickly disconnect my phone from the charger to shove it into my jeans pocket. I have nothing party-worthy outfit (otherwise mom would have burnt it anyway) but these black jeans and platform heels make my legs seem longer and the baby pink blouse with pearls is pretty. I let my hair down so the golden locks swirling around me and I’m ready to go.

The club near our accommodation is quite nice. To be honest, I have never been at any place like this so my judgement can be mistaken but I find Wings okay. The place is full of athletes and Olympic staff members. The UV light paints the wide space and everybody fluorescent blue while the DJ is providing some mashup of famous songs that takes the party to the dancefloor. Almost as soon as Yanmei and I step inside, someone jumps on her. (Almost literally.)

“Do you wanna dance?” the tall, broad shouldered guy flashes a smile at my fellow citizen and he prolongs his broken English’s syllables probably because of the alcohol in his system. But that doesn’t stop Yanmei from saying yes and she’s trailing after the German snowboarder.

I sigh as I’m all alone once again and I try to manoeuvre my way towards the bar before any suspicious looking guy could hit on me. When I’m there I examine the supply of drinks and search for something without alcohol. It’s not like I can’t drink, I’m of age but I should be on ice in less than seven hours and I don’t intend to break my legs because of a clumsy slip. I wait for my cocktail while casually sitting on one of those modern stools as I sway my legs like a child would. My fingers follow the rhythm of the loud music when suddenly I hear Korean chirping behind me followed by a warm hand planted on my shoulder. The sudden action makes my heart jump like a bad horror movie would and I turn around astonished. The pitch-black haired guy I’m facing seems even more surprised based on how quickly he jerks his hand away as if I had burnt him.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. I thought you’re someone else,” he switches to English quickly that makes me eternally grateful because my Korean knowledge is confined to surviving. I know nothing more than sorry, thank you and where can I find the toilette.

“It’s okay,” I reply with a warm smile. It happens, nothing to be sorry about. It could have been worse.

I expect the stranger to go away without another word but he stays still and eyes me curiously so I return his gaze. He dressed up casually in knee-ripped jeans and a big white sweater that seems baby blue under the artificial light. He has stylish coal black hair hinted with glowing sparks because of the neon white disco lamp. His faintly reddened face seems familiar yet I’m sure we’ve never met before. Maybe the same realization keeps him here only a foot away from me.

“You came here alone?” The guy furrows his eyebrows and it sounds more curious than suggestive so I don’t mind answering.

“No. With my roommate but she left with a guy,” I shrug lightly. I was well aware why she came so it didn’t take me by surprise when she vanished into the crowd and since I don’t really know her, I can’t be mad either.

“So cruel,” the obviously Korean guy pouts and it’s kind of cute which should be weird for someone as handsome as him. But no, he gives off the typical, approachable, kind boy-next-door vibes while he has a face of models and the glint in his eyes are ethereal as well. As if he wasn’t on the verge of heart attack and all flustered just a minute ago, he dares to act cocky by asking. “Mind if I keep you company then?”

Again, nothing suggestive, just a question. Nice and kind. Maybe I wouldn’t be so oppose of saying yes but I can’t help but find something fishy.

“Didn’t you look for someone?” I raise an eyebrow in question because his sudden appearance is suspicious. Or maybe I’m just paranoid because this is my first time in a place like this and all of my experiences are taken from books and movies.

“Nope, not really.” The guy shakes his head and gosh, his smile could make flowers grow and my heart skips a beat. Maybe I should consult with a doctor about sudden palpitations. “I’m Park Jimin by the way. Korean team. Figure skating men’s single as in the category. But I’m single too if you’re interested.”

His breathy laugh makes it sound like a joke. A lame one but I giggle anyway and try not to care about the heat that makes its way up on my face. Suddenly, I’m grateful for this luminescent light because I’m sure I could make a tomato jealous. Nonetheless, I cover it up with a counterattack.

“Do you always flirt like this?”

“Why? Is it working?” Jimin attempts to keep his serious macho behaviour with wiggling his eyebrows but fails and instead he shows a genuine, toothy smile.

“Sorry, I’m not like this usually. You’re just really cute and… I should shut up.”

“Yes, probably,” I chuckle as I downcast my eyes bashfully. I’m not used to compliments outside of the rink. It takes a few moments before I look up again but Jimin wait patiently with his outstretched arm. “I’m Xu Xianni from China. Figure skating women’s single”

I take his hand and smile at the gentle pressure of his fingers. Maybe I even let the feeling to linger a little more than it should.

“Thank god we’re not competing in pair category. That would have been awkward,” he says when he lets my hand go and it falls back to my side. His laughter is fairly nice, I have to admit. It sounds like a chime of bells, a melody that is soaring in the spring sky under rainbows or a beautiful flower that grows in the middle of winter and fights its way through the snow.

“Yeah,” I agree because his statement couldn’t be more right. If we were in a different category we could have been rivals and that would probably mean the end of our so far enjoyable conversation.

Jimin flashes a smile at me and orders a drink for himself, some cocktail which I’ve never heard of and then he casually asks about my day like we had known each other for years. We talk about my flight and that kid on the plane that just didn’t shut up. We praise the opening ceremony and Jimin makes a show of copying one of the kpop groups’ choreography. We compete to see who had been in more foreign country and we go on and on about our favourites. Jimin tells me about that time when he and his high school best friend, Taehyung ran around in a hotel after shower because of some game controller and got locked out of their room in nothing but their underwear.

I can’t even remember the last time I had so much fun like today with Jimin. However, everything comes to an end eventually and the sight of what time it is makes me slightly panicked. I’ve been here for almost three hours and I have to get up in less than the same amount of time. The funny thing is I’m not even tired because miraculously I didn’t have practice today and I had some sleep on the plane. Yet, I need a nap because mom will ask how I slept and I can’t lie to her in the eye or else she will know about it immediately. Mother censors and stuff.

“I should go,” I mumble in the momentary silence of our conversation, sorrow evident in my voice. Jimin’s reaction is immediately dumbfounded.

“So early?” he pouts with a sad puppy look on his face. He’s frank about his disappointment because I can’t stay longer and doesn’t try to hide it. It makes me giggle a little because it is early: half past three in the morning.

“Well, my coach wants me on ice by 7am so I have to,” I groan in mild annoyance and Jimin’s usually narrow eyes go wide at my statement.

“What? That’s ruthless. Isn’t female skating like a week away?” he asks in a struck and perplexed state.

“Yeah, but she wants me prepared,” I shrug because my mother’s methods are not even shock me anymore. Jimin nods understandingly and yawns.

“Today I think I’m gonna sleep in. Luckily, my coach is a pretty laidback guy. Such a shame he had to stop competing early. You may have heard about him. Taemin was kind of a big deal back then...”

“No way! Lee Taemin is your coach? He's a legend,” I squeal and my eyes lit up at the mentioned name. I can’t believe I just spend the last three hours talking to someone who is a student of Taemin. He must be good, but unfortunately nowadays I can only keep up with Chinese athletes and foreign female contestants.

Jimin hums in agreement but doesn’t say anything. When I stand up I suddenly don’t want to go. It would be so easy to stay and enjoy this cozy bubble of ours a little more without paying attention to the trap music and kissing pairs around us but I’m not the one who goes back on her word.

“Thank you for keeping me company. I’m glad we talked.” I can’t force back a sincere smile which he returns without missing a beat.

“Likewise. See you around,” he turns his body towards me and his arms are really inviting while I’m shifting my weight from one leg to the other and back because I’m not really sure what should I do. How girls do this? Should I hug him, shake his hand or just wave to him? Oh, I’m so damn pathetic when it comes to being social. Goodbyes are really not my thing.

“In case we don’t meet until then, good luck!” I decide on honest best wishes, finally ready to go.

“You too. But I sincerely hope we will meet,” he adds and I nod hesitantly, preparing to go. However, Jimin beats me to it as he envelops me in a hug that ends way too quick and smiles at me widely. I smile back and forget about being nervous.

As soon as my body touch the bed, I sleep like a baby.

Day 3 - 12th February

Gangneung is a coastal town near the mountains and here will be held events like ice hockey, curling and skating. All contestants in these categories stay in this Olympic Village so I’m sure the Korean figure skaters are no exceptions. But with so many people around it’s easy to get lost in the crowd.

Despite my foolish hopes, we didn’t meet again that day. I guess he really did slept till late and yesterday we could have missed each other’s practice hours. However, since everyone trained in the Ice Arena, at least one meeting was inevitable. It was bound to happen eventually.

Yet, I was surprised to find him on the ice Monday morning. He just finished his routine to a music I don’t know and get off the rink gracefully. There’s another men beside him in a puffy coat who keeps talking to him while offering a towel and a bottle of water. Jimin shakes his head, black locks sticking to his forehead as he looks conflicted. It’s weird to see his recent carefree personality to change so serious.

“Who is he?” I point at him when nobody’s around and step closer to our team’s male figure skater because if anyone then he must know well who he is. Of course I could search his name on the Internet but that would be cheating and less exciting. Fortunately, Yan Han doesn’t seem bothered by my sudden question and just shrugs.

“He’s Park Jimin, South Korea’s sweetheart. He and Hanyu are the biggest rivals. They’re constantly breaking each other records since Sochi. That time, the Japanese won the gold but it was Jimin who claimed the world champion title. With them in the competition everyone else fights for the third place.”

Wow. That’s all I can think about. I still stand there mindlessly and speechless when Yan Han has to step onto the ice.

Today I arrived early (No way I did it in hope of seeing someone. Nope. Not at all) so my mom still hasn’t arrived yet. I make the most out of my free time by going over the choreo once again in my head meanwhile absolutely not stealing glances at the other end of the ice rink. That’s the only reason I notice the approaching steps of a certain someone. Alone with his coach watching him from afar.

“Hi there,” Jimin greets me with a warm smile as beautiful as sunrises.

“Hey, Mr. Champion.”

The new nickname I made up just now makes him laugh. I take a moment to scan him over in his training clothes under the natural light. He seems amused and even more handsome than the day before.

“I see you did your homework on me but to be honest that gold was only luck.”

“So humble,” I comment on his shyness because there’s no way someone becomes world champion because of purely luck. I can’t wait to see him in action.

“And what about you? They say you're China's Kim Yuna.”

“She's the queen,” I protest quickly just like every time they mention it. It’s an honour to hear my name in the same sentence with hers because I look up to her as a role model but her achievements outshine all of my attempts. “I’m not even close.”

“So humble,” he mimics my earlier response with a cheeky smile and run his fingers through his silky black hair.

“I almost didn’t recognize you with your hair in a bun,” he admits and drops down to sit on a bench behind the barrier. I copy his movements but I make sure not to sit too close. An arm-length should be a comfortable distance between friends, right?

“Well, I have to keep it in one place if I don’t want to bother with it while dancing,” I let out a chuckle and unconsciously touch my made-shift hair.

“It’s cute,” Jimin compliments with an easy-going smile and I feel my cheeks turn rosy pink again. But before I can mutter out an answer, someone interrupts us in Chinese:

“I hope you have already warmed up.”

“Mom!” I react instinctively in my native language as I lift my eyes up to see my parent standing in front of me with a strict look on her face. I get on my feet quickly and the boy beside me follows. “This is Park Jimin...”

“I don’t care who he is. You’re here to win gold and not to make friends, understand?” she’s preaching as always. But this time it’s quite rude to act like the other athlete wasn’t there and speak in a language that he can’t understand. “I want you on ice in five minutes. Hurry up!”

And with that she leaves as if nothing happened. While on the other hand, there’s me with poppy-coloured cheeks from anger and humiliation. How could she do that to me? How could she act like that to me in front of a friend?

“Sorry,” I mumble turning towards Jimin who has this sad look on just like last time when we had to say good bye. Sorry doesn’t cover what my mom did but I can’t do more and I still have to put on my skates before she comes back and grounds me for the rest of the Olympics. That would be unfortunate since that’s only my third day here.

“No, no, no. I’m sorry for causing trouble for you. I should have known your coach is quite strict. She seemed pretty angry. I didn’t mean to distract you or anything,” Jimin apologizes even though he shouldn’t be the one doing that. But the guilty look on his face is sincere and I don’t want anything more than reassure him that he didn’t do nothing wrong.

“It’s not your fault. She’s a perfectionist and basically spent her entire life to build my career. She has everything planned out for me and if something unexpected happens like me talking with you she freaks out a little bit,” I explain hastily because I don’t want any misunderstanding between us. Hence, I don’t really think through what I’m saying and it ends up sounding like a complain. For a second, I’d like to rephrase my words but sometimes my mother’s behaviour really makes me wonder. Am I only an investment? Am I living her dream? I never really felt pressure of doing what she told me but she made me feel ungrateful if I didn’t. Would it be the same? I don’t know; the result is the same anyway.

“You can tell your coach no if she’s overdoing it,” Jimin suggests lightly with concern evident in his fascinating onyx eyes. He takes a step closer and for a brief moment, I think he’s going to hug me or something and I have to catch my breath. In the end he turns and leans over the barrier with a sigh.

“It’s not that easy. She’s my mother,” I tell him a bit anxiously in case he didn’t figured that out already. From the way he looks up with bewilderment, he hasn’t thought about this possibility.

“Oh.”

“Oh exactly,” I nod while a lump is forming in my throat. Well, bye-bye my newfound friendship. I know acquaintances at competitions don’t last but my mother tends to ruin all of my chances of a normal life. I doubt that Jimin would like anything from me after this. “Sorry, I have to go now.”

Unless I want to anger my mother even more.

“Me, too. See you later,” the Korean boy bids his goodbye when he hears his name called and jogs off to somewhere I can’t see him anymore.

It’s better this way. No more distraction. No more heart fluttering eye smile. I can focus on winning the gold.

The practice goes well even though my mother is harsher than usually. I guess she’s still mad about what happened earlier. I just don’t get why. It’s not like I did anything wrong. Is it so bad that I talked with another country’s contestant? But that’s the whole point of the Olympic Games, doesn’t it? To enjoy sport in a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play. Sad that people usually forget this.

“It was good.” mom pats my back as I get off the ice. She immediately starts the review as I massage my sore ankle. “Although your candlestick spiral can’t be this sloppy, the doughnut spin needs to be more graceful and don’t forget that we changed that last double axel to a triple.”

How can I forget? As far as I know only seven or so female skaters involved triple axel in their program on competition so far. I can’t blame mom for wanting me to be the eighth. I’d be proud if I could make it perfectly. It happened before and I spent a lot of time trying to improve but still, one out of four times I fail.

“My step sequence and Biellmann spin were good? What about the jumps?” I ask and try to curve everything into my memory to get everything right next time. I love reviewing with my mother because she’s really good at her job. No wonder why I won the Chinese junior nationals when I was 9 years old.

We spend half an hour monitoring the video she just took to point out every possible problem and everything’s fine until she calls it a day. As soon as I start to walk off to take a cold shower, she has to make a remark:

“I don’t like seeing you getting involved with that boy.”

It gets on your nerves really fast because Jimin didn’t do anything to deserve this negative attitude.

“What boy, mom? You scared him off, too. Are you happy?” I huff through clenched teeth and walk out of the room before she can muster another word. I need to cool down.

After a nutritious lunch, a run-through dance lesson with my choreographer and two interviews, I can finally enjoy freedom. After changing into comfy clothes, I decide to visit some souvenir shops downstairs. Even though I still hold grudges against mom, I send her a message informing her about my whereabouts so she won’t worry about me. Amidst the Pyeongchang 2018 printed T-shirts, mugs and refrigerator magnets Park Jimin is the last person I’d expect to see.

“Xianni? Hi!” he’s waving at me with a beaming smile like nothing bad ever happened. It helps me forget, too.

“Hi, yourself. Did you find anything to buy?” I step closer in order to make way for a passing customer. This shop is a quite small but it looked so cute from the outside I had to come in. Its unique charm seems to successfully draw Jimin in, too.

“Yeah. This is for my little brother,” he proudly holds up a big sweater with the mascots on the front. From the size of it, his siblings can’t be a lot younger than him but that endearing smile of his shows how much he cares for him. “And you?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe I’ll buy a pair of earrings,” my bottom lip quivers because I’m a little jealous. I have nobody to buy for. Dad no longer lives with us, I only meet him a few times a year and mom is with me here, why should I buy for her? I have no friends who cheer for me. It’s kind of sad and the realization hits me like bullet train. Maybe my expression falters, I don’t know but Jimin drop his smile and change the subject in a serious tone.

“Are you free the rest of the evening?”

“ Yes. Why?” It should be embarrassing how quickly I answer. In a heartbeat as if I was afraid he would change his mind. Also, I might be imagining things but maybe there was hope in his voice. Or was it in mine?

“I’ll go to the city and look around with a few friends,” he starts carefully dragging out the syllables but I can’t help but interrupt.

“Don’t you have the short round tomorrow?” I narrow my eyes in suspicion. I know he said his coach is pretty laidback but shouldn’t he rest?

“In the evening, yes. But I have been preparing for this for months now. My performance won’t depend on my last minute rituals.” Jimin shrugs wisely choosing his words. “So about the sightseeing… Would you like to join us?”

I know for sure mom wouldn’t approve but who cares? I’m an adult. I can make my own decisions and suffer the consequences. She didn’t get to know about the opening party either and I had fun there. Nothing can go wrong.

“You know what? I’d love to.”

Jimin’s smile grows wider. There are crinkles around his sparkling eyes and the apples of his cheeks are close to exploding.

We agreed on meeting in 10 minutes at the front gate so he can call the others and I can grab my camera. My roommate is currently doing some fitness so I also invite her but she refuses to hang out with Koreans. I have no idea what’s her problem with them but to be honest I can’t find myself regretting that she won’t come. I call the elevator in hurry and I feel anxious all of a sudden meeting with Jimin’s friends. In the end it turns out that there’s no reason for me to be nervous. All of them are nice.

“Guys this is Xianni I told you about.” Jimin presents me and two guys in the back exchange a knowing look. They’re at the same height, both a few inches taller than Jimin who’s so into introducing doesn’t notice this. “They are Seokjin from the curling team and Hoseok who’s competing in speed skating. I guess you know Chanmi, she’s our female figure skater after Yuna. And last but not least, there’s Jungkookie, the hockey team’s star. Don’t mind him. He’s a little shy around ladies”

“I am not,” the said boy crunches his nose in offended.

“If you say so,” Jimin shrugs teasingly.

“I’m glad to meet you all,” I smile at them happiness bubbling inside me because of how direct and open-minded they are. They don’t make me feel like an outsider at all.

“The pleasure is all ours,” the tall guy called Seokjin bows like a gentleman and Hoseok shoves him away in a friendly manner as laughing cracks them up.

“Yah, stop flirting!” he says with his cute broken English and we’re finally ready to go. Rather as a group of giggling youngsters than Olympic athletes.

We take the bus to the beach while talking in a weird mix of English, Korean and occasionally Chinese because the oldest of the group knows a bit of my language. We find a good seafood restaurant there and stop for dinner. Because of my diet, I only eat salad with salmon while the boys except Jimin are having a feast with various types of food. I notice that the figure skater boy barely eats something but I blame it on his nerves. Tomorrow is the competition and even if he doesn't admit it he can’t be entirely calm. But he has to eat if he doesn’t want to faint on ice tomorrow so when it comes to desserts I ask him to share a slice of cheesecake with me. He says yes gladly.

Later, we wonder around near the sea, searching shells in the sand using our phones as torches. Darkness has already settled and gazillions of tiny white dots decorate the textile of night. We come upon the town’s museum and pay it a visit. It’s very interesting to me because I know so little about Korean history and because normally I don't have enough time to go to places like this. While leaving we meet a few citizens who recommend the night market by the port for us. We discover lots of goods there, I buy a pair of leather gloves and Jimin keeps feeding me famous Korean street food such as Goldfish bread that is a fish shaped patisserie filled with red bean pasta and tornado potato which is basically seasoned roasted slices of potatoes.

“Do you trust me?” he asks me after he buys some weird looking brown sauce with breaded fish on a stick and offers me a bite.

“Yes.”

I'm a little startled by his intense gaze when he holds it to me but I do trust in him nonetheless. I know we don’t know each other for long and everything will end in three weeks. Despite everything, I can't help but feel this connection between us. We just click somehow. I have never felt this way before with anyone.

The fish cake with black bean pasta sauce turns out to be heavenly.

#figure skater au #olympics au #jimin scenario #jimin fluff #bts scenarios #bts fluff #jimin x oc #ice skating au #stories #i hope you like it #story: under the same stars

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anachef · 5 years

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Disney Food News: Everything That Happened Disney World This Week!

Happy weekend! Here’s all the Disney food news this week!

Spaceship Earth Krispy Treat

Disneyland’s Festival of Holidays started is ON, and we have ALL the menus! Start planning what you’re going to eat before you go! And check out our BEST of the Fest here!

Epcot’s Festival of the Holidays is in full swing and we have all the menus! Check them out before you go! And, check out our Best of the Fest too!

We have a lot to share with you this week, so let’s jump right in…

Disney Food News

Check out the new artwork that was released for the Storybook Dining with Snow White at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge.

We’re happy to share that Bing Bong has finally arrived at Bing Bong’s Sweet Stuff on Pixar Pier!

We shared what’s new at Epcot this week!

We checked out the classic and unique snacks at Heritage Manor Gifts in Epcot’s American Adventure Pavilion.

See how the Germany Pavilion Train Village celebrates the Epcot Festival of the Holidays.

We spotted Maple Bourbon Eggnog at The Polite Pig in Disney Springs!

Check out what’s new at Disney’s Hollywood Studios this week.

We have details on the Holiday Sweater Passholder Get Together in Disney Springs!

Check out everything new that we found at Animal Kingdom this week.

We shared details on the New Year’s Eve celebration at The Edison in Disney Springs.

Check out the new cooking class available at Paddlefish in Disney Springs.

We shared details on the discount coupon available at Satu’li Canteen in Pandora in the Animal Kingdom.

Check out what’s new in the Magic Kingdom this week!

We spotted new Starbucks Tumblers in Epcot.

There’s a new Spaceship Earth Krispy Treat at Epcot’s Fountain View!

Check out the new ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ meet-and-greet in Epcot!

We shared the latest construction updates from Disney’s Animal Kingdom! And, more construction updates from Hollywood Studios and the Magic Kingdom!

Chef José Andrés has been nominated for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.

The new Mickey 90 Ears are available in Disney Springs.

We reviewed dinner at Jiko in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge!

Check out the ugly sweater and matching pajama events in Disney Springs.

We shared a photo tour of the new exit at Space Mountain in the Magic Kingdom.

The hot holiday drink mug has returned to the Magic Kingdom!

Tokyo Disney Resort is building a new Toy Story Hotel.

The name was announced for the new rooftop restaurant at the Gran Destino Tower.

We shared details on the Sip and Savor Pass at the Disney California Adventure Festival of Holidays.

Check out the opening date for the new Gran Destino Tower at Coronado Springs.

We shared our favorite merchandise from the Epcot Festival of the Holidays.

Check out the seasonal treats and gingerbread display at Amorette’s Patisserie in Disney Springs.

The gingerbread display at Disney’s BoardWalk Inn is up for this season.

We reviewed the Meatball Sub and White Pizza at the BoardWalk Pizza Window.

We reviewed some new eats at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater in Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

New DFB YouTube videos: New Disney Dishes that We Loved (And One That We Didn’t), Review of Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill, Changes and Updates Just Announced for the Disney Parks, and Tour of the 2018 Disney World Gingerbread Displays.

New DFB Video — Changes and Updates Just Announced for the Disney Parks

Have you subscribed to the DFB YouTube Channel? We’ve got FOUR brand new videos EVERY WEEK showcasing our adventures in Disney World and Disneyland! This week, we’re sharing our latest video — check it out — Changes and Updates Just Announced for the Disney Parks — and don’t forget to subscribe here.

youtube

Deal of the Week: Pre-Order the 2019 DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining

It’s time to pre-order the DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining 2019 e-book!

Pre-Order with code WDW2019 TODAY to get:

1. 25% OFF your pre-order purchase with code WDW2019! And…

2. The fully updated 2018 Edition of the Guide immediately for FREE. Just use code WDW2019 at checkout! (We’ll send the 2019 Edition directly to your inbox as soon as it’s published after the New Year.)

Just like all DFB pre-order deals — when you pre-order your DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining e-Book, 2019 Edition today for 25% off the cover price (with code WDW2019…did we mention that?), you’ll also get our 2018 Edition immediately for FREE, so you can start planning TODAY!

With over 700 pages of full-color photos, tips on the best restaurants, an ENTIRE chapter on snacks — including the best snack credit values throughout the parks and resorts — and a full break-down of whether the Disney Dining Plan is worth it for your family, now’s the time to get started!

What’s in the DFB Guide?

The DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining is full of ALL the information you need to plan the BEST Disney World vacation.

We keep ALL of our DFB Guides fully updated — which means the 2018 edition is up-to-date RIGHT NOW and the 2019 Edition will have even MORE new changes when it’s published after the New Year! This means when you pre-order the 2019 edition today you’re getting TWO fully-updated DFB Guides for the PRICE OF ONE!

We want your vacation to be stress-free!

The DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining is full to overflowing with tools and features to make your trip go smoothly, including:

A 5-Step Strategy for Disney Dining Planning, covering everything you need to know from budgeting and booking to kids’ meals, dining discounts, and fireworks.

A comprehensive and in-depth look at EVERY Disney World restaurant, kiosk, bar, and lounge, including our personal tips to ensure a positive and stress-free dining experience.

Four free, downloadable worksheets for planning your trip. These worksheets are designed to help you execute all the steps of planning the perfect Disney dining experience. And they’re reusable for all of your future trips!

Seven sample one-day dining itineraries for a head-start on planning.

A comprehensive index of bars and lounges WITH reviews. An often under-appreciated option for both dining and entertainment, the e-Book devotes a whole index to the topic.

The ability to be read on your mobile device or computer! It’s fully portable right in your pocket!

Here’s Just Some Of What We’ll Have Updated In Our 2019 DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining e-Book:

Fully updated menus, prices, and restaurant info for 2019 visitors

Updated details about available discounts and deals at Disney World restaurants

DFB’s own 2019 recommendations for everything from table service to counter service to snacks and more

Over 700 pages of updated Disney Dining advice, details, and information

Disney Dining Plan Analysis — Is it right for your family? Can you really save money?

NEW Disney food and restaurant photos

Updated reviews of all Disney World restaurants, kiosks, bars, and lounges including all new eateries

An updated chapter focused on one of the most popular Disney dining topics: Snacks in the theme parks and resorts

A comprehensive section of What’s NEW in Disney Food, including new restaurants, new menus, restaurant closures, and more

You can pre-order your copy today for 25% off the cover price and get the 2018 Edition immediately for FREE!! Just use code WDW2019! The 2019 Edition will be emailed to you as soon as it’s published in early 2019.

DFB Reader Finds

If you find a fun new food — or other edible awesomeness — in or around Disney, share a photo with us on instagram, facebook, or twitter so we can add it to our DFB Reader Finds each Sunday.

Sometimes, just thinking about Disney World makes the day better! @zachandkadyeat on Instagram said the weather has them thinking about margaritas in Disney. Same here. ;-D

Cheers!

We LOVE all the holiday treats in Disneyland right now! @thisisourneverland on Instagram shared this gorgeous Strawberry Linzer Cookie that can be found at Market House (Starbucks) on Main Street in Disneyland.

It’s almost too pretty to eat! Almost.

Do you have a favorite Disney Food find? Share a photo with us on instagram, facebook, or twitter so we can add it to our DFB Reader Finds

On to the Round-Up!

Mickey Fix shared this hilarious – and true – wine glass!

WDW for Grownups shared a review of Chocolate Martinis and Gingerbread Cookies at the Outer Rim.

Oh My Disney will tell you which Pixar restaurant you should visit right now!

Disney Family shared a recipe for Holiday Mickey Piñata Cookies.

Don’t Miss ANY Disney Food News! Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!

Disney Food News This Week: New Eats, Holiday Treats, and More!

The Year in Review: Top Disney News Stories of 2017

Disney Food News This Week: New Eats, Secret Menus, Free Cupcakes, and MORE

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