Thought it'd be fun to do a little drabble soooo-
Cattonquick Oxford Days - the first cigarette
(This is based in the Maneater AU - unless I change my mind on details later - but can be read as in canon universe)
The lighter fails to catch the first couple of times Felix tries it. But after a final, despairing shake of the crappy thing, the flame sputters to life.
“Thank fuck,” he mumbles around the ciggie, and hurriedly brings the lighter up. April’s swung in with far too much chill, because fuck England, right? No spring for them, nooope. Just horrible grey rainy days, where even brief lulls like this evening are tarnished by cold winds.
He’s regretting not grabbing a jacket when he had chance to, and he eyes Oliver’s long-sleeves jealously. They’re on their way back from the pub, and it’s still early enough that most streetlights feel unnecessary. After a of couple hours there Felix realised he just wasn’t feeling it tonight, that stickiness of going through the motions and not enjoying himself like usual, where even a few pints couldn’t soften it up.
So when Oliver gave him a nudge, mentioned he has an essay he really needs to work on, Felix leapt at the chance to head out. He has his own pile of coursework to dive into before the Easter holidays start. Maybe speed through a chunk of it tonight, get that late night focus on, and then he can decide how much is usable tomorrow.
He’s glad he decided to stick it out at Oxford over the coming break. Originally it was more about keeping his word on staying at university all year, rather than nipping home every holiday - or even every other weekend, like some silly sods do. He went as far as to swear off a trip abroad this school year, fully committed to the uni life, which means no fluttering off to sunnier skies.
He aims a glower up at the dark clouds far above them. Curse thy existence.
“Felix?”
Felix’s head snaps down, and down, and he has to grin. Oliver is so short. Like, okay, so he’s not actually super-duper short. A bit below average, perhaps, and around the height of most girls. But he’s a lot shorter than Felix, which is what really matters.
It means he’s the perfect height - practically made for it - for Felix to sling an arm around his shoulders and drag him into his side. Oliver runs a bit cool, but he’s still a damn sight warmer than the nippy evening air.
“Yeah, mate?” Felix takes a pull from the ciggie, careful not to blow it all in Oliver’s face. Would be awfully rude. But that does get him thinking about how Oliver doesn’t smoke, and he frowns at him. “You know, I don’t think you ever said why you don’t smoke.”
Could it be something to do with his family? Cigarettes are a huge leap from heroin and meth and whatever else, but traumas can be multi-layered, can’t they? A full-on aversion to anything even related. But Oliver is clearly battling through it, going to the pub and clubs where alcohol abounds, not even flinching at all the casual drug use their group gets up to.
“Just not keen.” Oliver shrugs slightly, and it’s interesting to feel the motion of it under his arm. Makes him want to squeeze Oliver a bit. His hand slides down to cup Oliver’s bicep rather than hanging loosely, but he holds off on the full grabby. For now.
“So you’ve tried one before?”
Oliver hesitates, but shakes his head. He’s looking ahead rather than at Felix, and while he does have lovely thick hair, that isn’t quite the view Felix wants currently.
So he brings them to a stop, Oliver stumbling into him a bit and looking up questioningly. There it is. Christ, Oliver’s eyes seem to get bluer every time Felix catches a glimpse. Like, with each additional second he knows Oliver, he’s able to see more of him. Another droplet of paint on the colour palette, swirled in with patient brush strokes.
“If you’ve never tried it…” Felix puts the ciggie between his lips, just so he can flip his hand and pluck it out again. Holding it filter-first toward Oliver with an inviting smile. “How can you know you won’t like it?”
Now, Felix would never pressure anyone into doing something they don’t want to. That would be terrible manners. All he’s doing here is giving Oliver the chance to expand his horizons. Indulge in a little fun, like he’s clearly not had chance to- well, probably in his whole life.
Felix has been making up for that. He’s fully embraced showing Oliver the highlights of uni life, and it’s been an absolute blast so far. Letting Oliver have a go at smoking is just another part of that.
“I dunno, mate.” The corner of Oliver’s mouth ticks up as he looks from the ciggie to Felix. “They’re not great for your health, right?”
The little right? at the end softens what might’ve been an annoying admonishment, to something that makes Felix smirk. “All part of the appeal. If we only did what was healthy, we’d be a proper dull lot.” He raises his eyebrows and tips the cigarette closer to Oliver’s lips, his pinky finger grazing Oliver’s chin. “You’re not dull, are you, Ollie?”
He knows most of his friends think Oliver is boring. That he outlived any novelty within the first week; Felix’s unlikely saviour from a tutorial scolding, the scholarship boy with the funny accent. Farleigh has certainly made his opinion clear, his pissy attitude the real bore around here.
They just don’t get Oliver. None of them.
Nah, Felix is the only one who gets the real Ollie, the one Oliver trusts and opens up to. They’re already best mates, fitting together like two puzzle pieces. And the way Oliver looks at him - yeah, it can get a bit much at times, but it’s all part of Oliver’s charm, really. He’s completely genuine and clearly thinks the world of Felix, so obviously he can’t filter that intensity down. Felix would never ask him to. He accepts Oliver exactly as he is.
Oliver takes the cigarette, pinched between his thumb and forefinger as he eyes it like it might bite him. Or give him lung cancer.
Felix would give him a drumroll if he could. He settles for an encouraging shake and cheering, “Go oooooon, Oll-aaaaay!”
And Oliver does.
Not that there was ever any doubt. But it’s still satisfying in a warm, buzzy way to watch Oliver take a drag, lips pursed and the shadows on his cheeks deepening a little. Takes it like a pro, his Ollie, and it’s only once Oliver’s eyes close that Felix realises they’ve been locked in a staredown.
Then Oliver breathes out, and Felix is hit by a faceful of smoke.
The moment his coughing fit is done, he grabs a hastily apologising Oliver by the shoulder, snatches the ciggie back, and gets revenge.
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The idea of azul with a darling who has a 2d husband is kinda funny 😭 he’s trying to do everything for your attention and your eating dinner with a png of a character taped to a pillow
The romantic comedy potential this has... OTL he's fighting a losing battle. Azul knows he's down bad when he starts to consider getting the same hairstyle as your favorite character in hopes that you'll notice him more. He tries to come up with these very elaborate schemes just so he can ask you to dinner or to hang out for a few hours when all he really needs to do is be himself, be more confident in his abilities, and enjoy the time he spends with you. Knowing Azul, he still frets over every detail.
This concept has a lot of potential for some silly happenings (i.e. darling is smiling at their phone. it must be because of that funny meme Azul sent you!! truthfully, you're watching a compilation video of your favorite character's best moments). Azul's not sure what's worse: having an actual rival or one who is merely pixels... How can he be better than someone who doesn't exist? How can he compete? Does he even have a chance?!
But there are moments where he's unintentionally clumsy! Like that time the both of you were eating different desserts at the board game club and you'd commented on how delicious his looked and he gathered a bite on his spoon and held it out to you, asking if you wanted to try it. Idia pulled the most obvious face at that and Azul only realized what he'd done until your fingers were brushing against his to take the spoon from him. Sometimes even galaxy brain tako fails to calculate his moves when he's immersed in you... orz
Or the time you'd got him talking about piano after you noted how you'd like to hear him play one day, and he went on and on about how good he was (and still is) when he'd play with Jade and Floyd. The twins can't help grinning at that. Even if Azul's hyping himself up, it's obvious with the way he's blushing and fidgeting that he's happy you want to hear him play the piano. He'd love to teach you. Sometimes, if you get Azul talking about a topic he's really passionate about or is very knowledgeable on it, he'll talk on and on. He doesn't even intend to do this, as he knows very well that plenty of people despise overly chatty people. But when it comes to you he can't help wanting to show you just how intelligent he is with all that he knows.
The twins love to steal his notebooks and flip through pages upon pages of detailed plans on how he'll ask you to upcoming school events, how he'll plan the perfect midnight dinner for you, how he'll spend holidays with you, how he'll dance with you in the dimness of the lounge after hours, etc. Jade loves to remind him that, as wonderful as all of these delusions daydreams are, you still seem very attached to your favorite character. Floyd will remind him of this fact as well, but he does it without intending to be mean. He'll just mention it conversationally and Azul's crushed once again by reality.
He has genuinely considered putting his image on a pillow and gifting it to you so you'll stop bringing the one with that character on it every time you choose to spend the night at Octavinelle.
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Hello! I hope you're having a good day!
So many people in my life seem to be going through something right now, and I just wanted to give you an opportunity to share anything you might be going through. Good or bad, as specific or as vague as you're comfortable with. Or feel free to ignore if you'd rather not. No pressure at all!
I hope things are going well for you! But if not, I'll be sending prayers your way if you're comfortable with that!
You know I am having a pretty good day!
I dont have work today so im just sort of hanging out at home and I just finished doing my laundry and doing the dishes and im just sort of doing some cleaning up around my room like getting rid of clothes that have holes in them and just getting rid of stuff that i have but is broken like my headphones and stuff like that
i am a little sad since i have to get rid of some shirts that Ive had for years at this point, I got a shirt when i was 13 from hot topic that was that one adventure time shirt but it was jake as totoro at the bus stop, and im fairly certain that hot topic stole that art and printed it on a shirt? but i didnt know that when i bought it and i really like that shirt and i found that it has a massive hole in it, and i also found a hole in a shirt that my sister bought me for my birthday like 7 or 8 years ago and so im sad about that but this gives me the opportunity to buy some new shirts and i know how to take better care of my clothes so i can make them last longer now hopefully
im just having a pretty chil day cleaning up around my room and i really like cleaning my room as long as im doing it in little bits and pieces and taking breaks in between so i dont get burnt out or whatever maybe ill take a picture when im done because im having a pretty good time rn and idk irll be nice to have everything organized again
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SHARE COLLEGE AU
HBDJVBDJFH ok. ok.
the basic premise is that like. any character that could be hced as indigenous. is hced as indigenous . and then u take everyone and plop them in 1999 in a college setting with some added bg for each of the characters and motivations and stuff yk
i will admit it is ww centric as its written from his vague pov (third person limited omniscient) but i digress. hes in november trying to get a degree asap so he can fulfill an ultimatum proposed by chapel so he can get livio out of the system and fuck off back to the reservation he grew up on (for context ww is crow+seminole and livio is crow) but he shows up to the college and his roommate is this . scene guy. enter legato our favorite french canadian (besides hornfreak love u hornfreak) who becomes begrudging besties. sort of . with ww
he recommends him a coffee shop and ww goes there before going shopping for shit he needs and thus we get one of our big hubs of the au: threes a crowd! a number of characters work there including brad, luida, zazie (navajo) and of course. vash (mixed white + kanien'keha:ka) he meets him and doesnt really like . register him much beyond it bc hes got bigger fish to fry :sob:
and obv ive planned a lot more (36 chapters for part one. augh) including but not limited to: ww struggling through his coursework (majoring in social work) and being aided by one of his teachers (roberto. love u king u may be tristamp only but u have bewitched me) (hes also ojibwe. love him), ww joining up with a mentor club and accidentally befriending two journalism majors (meryl and milly!!!! inuk and seneca respectively) (also specifically meryl is a photojournalism major!), ww continually running into this one pipsqueak around town who gives him attitude (zazie <3), and also dealing with whatever situationship legato is in (i could not resist making him and nai messy as fuck)
theres also obv other characters that r in there that im still trying to sew in in a way that makes sense: elendira (journalism professor, russian + sami), rollo (mexican + southern paiute, havent entirely decided on his major though so sorry king), hornfreak (a part of the school band. fascinating man. at one point he holds a halloween party) and a bunch of others i havent gotten to yet :sob:
theres a lotttt going on in this au ill be honest but also objectively it is very slice of life . but heres a list of stuff i have planned
vash and nai as lacrosse players. vash invites ww out to games and is really silly abt it
for a not insignificant amount of time ww learns about legatos situationship and bc legato never mentions names he thinks vash has a secret insane ass thing going on with legato . it isnt until chapter 11 (allegedly) that he finds out vash has a twin brother and goes back to legato like . hey. is it vash and legatos like ew what?
milly and meryl are enraptured by roberto working at the school bc he did a lot of journalism work that inspired them to join the field. silly shenanigans ensue
on the topic of milly and meryl they are so fascinating to me. they originally met in the mentor club and hit it off immediately based on their similar (but different) familial issues and the horrors
vash and ww plan out a bunch of movie nights including: scream, 10 things i hate abt you and smoke signals
chapel drama followed immediately by ill-timed vash and ww argument
while ignoring vash ww gets a nokia <3 love loses
at the halloween party milly accidentally walks in on them in a compromising position (nothing was happening) and awkward bs ensues where vash comes around and it like its ok theyre chill and Not Gay but it wouldnt change anything if they Were Gay but They Arent so its Fine
livio and ww apartmentsitting for vash and nai while theyre off visiting family during the holidays :D
nye party where vash and ww almost kiss and thus ends part 1 . LOVE LOSES
also i should list what everyones majoring in that i didnt mention but this is already long enough good lord
all this to say. i am insane god bless
some small cuts from the draft so far beneath the cut bc i couldnt resist
none of those are in order but its ok <3
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