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little-fam-ily · 3 years

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Build a Bear (Sanders Sides Agere Oneshot)

Read it on ao3

Rating: G

Word Count: 4,079

Characters: CG Logan and Patton, Agere Virgil

Pairings: Queerplatonic Analogical, platonic Analogicality

Warnings: Kink mention

Summary: In which Logan and Virgil take a trip to Build a Bear (brought to you by a Build a Bear employee).

Virgil’s eyes widened as he stared at the commercial on the TV. It was for Build a Bear, talking about how you can put different sounds in ‘your new furry friends’. He smiled around his pacifier. “Lolo!” He called to Logan, his caregiver.

Logan popped his head in from the kitchen, “What is it?”

Virgil pointed to the TV. Logan was able to catch just the end of the ad. “Virgil, I don’t think-” He stopped himself as he looked at Virgil’s wide, pleading eyes. “Oh, oh Virgil, don’t,” He sighed, “You know what the puppy eyes do to me.”

Virgil just let out a whine. Logan looked at him sternly, “You know they’re very expensive, Virgil.”

He nodded, “I know…” He glanced away, cheeks red. Logan shook his head, thinking about it, “Well, it’s almost your birthday anyway, We’ll make a day of it.”

Virgil smiled wide, “Weally?”

Logan nodded, “Really really.”

Virgil jumped up and embraced him in a hug, squeezing tight, “T’ank you, Lolo!”

Soon the day came, and Virgil and Logan sat in the car, getting ready to go into the mall. Virgil was sucking his thumb, and Logan was looking at him with concern, “Do you think you can be big enough to pass?”

Virgil glanced at him, cheeks turning pink. He dragged his thumb out of his mouth, stopping at the tip where he could still bite down.

Logan sighed, “Better.” He paused before he spoke up again, “Virgil, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. You don’t have to hide it if you don’t want to.”

Virgil whined, “I jus’, don’ wan’ people t’inking i’s kink.” He murmured around his thumb.

Logan nodded, “That’s understandable. But what we do is none of their business. I’m pretty sure the average person doesn’t care, and if they do, then they’re not a good person.”

Virgil glanced away. Logan let out a sympathetic breath, “Well, if you’re ready I’m ready.”

Virgil nodded. Logan stepped out of the car, then helped Virgil out of the car. They walked into the mall holding hands.

The line to Build a Bear was already a mile long. They got in, and Virgil was ancy with anticipation. The wait seemed like hours. Logan could tell he was getting impatient, so he squeezed his hand. They smiled at each other.

Finally they got to the door. They were greeted by a young woman with long brown hair and a wide smile. Her name tag read Valerie.

“Hey there! What brings you to the workshop today?” She smiled. Virgil panicked, looking to Logan for help.

“It’s his birthday next week, but I thought I’d take him early.” Logan turned to her. Her smile grew wider, “Wow, that’s great!” She got out a sharpie and a pack of stickers from her apron, “How old are you turning, sweetheart?”

Virgil took a deep breath, preparing himself to answer, “Twenty.”

“And your name?”

“V-” He started, but stopped himself, having to pause for another moment, “Virgil.”

She wrote everything down, tearing the sticker off and handing it to him, “And have you built a bear with us before?”

Logan and Virgil glanced at each other, then back to her, shaking their heads.

Valerie kept her smile, “So to your left is the wall where we have our whole selection of bears to choose from. Once you pick your new friend you’ll head over to the sound station to pick any scents or sounds that you’d like.

“Then you’ll come around over to that blue square where we’ll stuff your friend and perform the heart ceremony. After we get them stitched up you’ll go to the back wall to get their clothing and accessories, head to Station 4 to give them a name, and then you’ll be all ready to check out and take your new friend home!”

Virgil’s breathing became shallow. That was a lot to keep track of. Logan sensed his anxiety, squeezing his hand, “Ready to head on in?”

He looked at him, hesitantly nodding his head. Valerie opened the rope barrier and stepped aside, gesturing for them to enter.

They stepped in, and Virgil was already overwhelmed by the large selection of stuffed animals. There were more than bears, there were rabbits and cats and monkeys and unicorns. There were themed bears too, like Frozen and Star Wars and Paw Patrol.

Virgil’s eyes scanned the wall, biting down on his thumb hard. Logan stepped up to him, “I know it’s a lot to think about, and there are a lot of steps, but I remember all of it, and I will be with you every step of the way.”

Virgil nodded, then his eyes widened as they settled on a fluffy brown bear with the Harry Potter logo printed on its back paw. He pointed to it, “Harry Potter bear.”

Logan smirked, “You want that one? We can put some Ravenclaw accessories on it.”

Virgil smiled wide, nodding. He grabbed the unstuffed pelt and felt the fur, holding it close to his chest.

Logan smiled at his little, then noticed the birthday sticker still in his hand. “Here, let me help you with that,” He took the sticker, peeled it off the back, and stuck it right on Virgil’s jacket, “There we go.”

Virgil smiled at him, leaning on his chest. They stayed like that for a bit, then a young man with an apron walked up to them with a smile, “Have we picked our new friend?”

Virgil looked at Logan, then at the man, who’s name tag read Terrence, nodding.

“Alright! Right this way,” Terrence beckoned them over to a white counter with computers on each end. He reached for Virgil’s bear, “Can I see him real quick?”

Virgil glanced at Logan, then hesitantly handed over the pelt. Terrence pulled a sharpie out of his apron and started writing on the tag, “I see your name is Virgil, is that right?”

Virgil nodded. Terrence put the sharpie away, “And I can also see it’s your birthday! Well, have a very happy birthday,” He smiled, then continued, “Now, we have some scents you can choose from. We have strawberry, birthday cake, cotton candy, and bubblegum.”

Both Virgil and Logan took some time smelling the scents. “Strawberry,” Virgil decided.

“Alright!” Terrence got out his sharpie and wrote some things down on the tag, then took an unopened scent packet, peeled a sticker off, then stuck the sticker on the tag. The scent was a plastic disk shaped like a bear head.

“Now we get to pick a sound we put in the paw of the bear right here.” He showed them the right paw, which had a little heart shaped patch on it.

Virgil smiled. This was the part he was the most excited for.

Terrence moved to one of the computer monitors, “Here is the sound station, we have a huge selection of sounds to choose from. You can scroll up and down as well as side to side. There are generic animal sounds, themed sounds from movies and TV. I see you picked a Harry Potter bear, maybe you’d like a Harry Potter sound?”

Virgil thought about it, scrolling through the Harry Potter selection. He looked, but decided it would be best to just pick the theme from the movie.

He pressed the icon, jumping at the loud noise coming from the computer. Logan grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight, rubbing the back of his hand with his thumb.

“Alright, I’m just gonna scan his tag really quick.” Terrence moved the tag under the scanner. “Now you’re going to grab one of those chips,” He pointed to a hole in the counter which housed a bunch of plastic sound bytes shaped like bear heads. Virgil did as he was told, holding it tight.

“Place it right here,” He pointed to a little divot in the counter where the chip fit perfectly. Virgil set it right in. Then Terrence pressed the ‘buy’ button on the screen, which started loading. It only took a couple of seconds for the sound to be transferred to the chip.

“Great! Now press it to see if it works.” Terrence smiled. Virgil pressed it, holding it up to his ear. That was a bad idea, as he immediately had to move it away.

“Looks like it works!” Terrence chuckled, then took the chip and pushed it into the bear’s paw. “You’re all set! Once that group is done with their heart ceremony you’ll move right on up to that blue square where my friend Mr. Patton will get this little guy all stuffed up for yah.”

Logan and Virgil nodded. “Thank you,” Logan smiled, then turned towards the machine. Virgil tried to get a look at what was going on up ahead, but they were too far away to see or hear anything.

The wait seemed like forever, but soon it was their turn. The young man working the machine got up from his chair and turned towards them, “Alright folks, are we all good to go?”

Virgil smiled slightly as he noticed a shiny they/them pin on their apron. They had a mop of curly brown hair on their head, and circular glasses were perched on their freckled nose.

He looked at Logan, then nodded. Patton smiled, “Great! I’m gonna have you come around this way to that blue square over there.” They pointed to a large blue sticker on the floor next to the front counter. It had white paw prints on it.

They both stepped on the square, waiting to get started.

“See, the thing about this machine is that it needs energy to get it working, right?” Patton started as they put the pelt on the nozzle. “So that means you gotta either hop hop hop! Or clap clap clap! Or wiggle wiggle wiggle! To get the machine running. Do you think you can do that, kiddo?”

Virgil’s eyes widened as he blushed at the pet name. Yes, he did indeed want to clap clap clap, or hop hop hop, or wiggle wiggle wiggle, but he didn’t want to do it alone. He tugged on Logan’s sleeve. Logan blinked, “Oh, do I? Do I have to do it too?”

“If you want!” Patton smiled. Logan sighed, rolling his eyes, but nodded.

“Alright, let’s do this!” Patton exclaimed as they turned on the machine. Logan and Virgil started clapping, and Patton stepped on a pedal, moving the bear around the nozzle to get the stuffing in every limb, its chest, and its head.

“Alright! Great job kiddo!” Patton smiled as they took their foot off the pedal and the bear off the nozzle, checking it themself to see if it was the right softness.

“Now for the scent. Do you want it in the head or the belly?” They asked. Virgil bit down on his thumb. There were so many decisions to make! It was getting a bit much.

Logan sensed this, “We’ll do it in the belly.”

“Okay,” Patton smiled, taking the disc out of its plastic sleeve and slipping it into the bear through the hole in the back.

“Now we get to choose a heart! There’s either a red satin heart or a checkered heart.” Patton picked up two felt hearts from two bins on the machine and held them up, “Which one would you like, kiddo?”

Virgil’s eyes flitted between the two. After a pause Patton spoke up, "I know, it's a hard decision to make."

After another moment Virgil decided on the red one, pointing to it. Patton smiled, "Alright!" They placed the heart to the side, then picked another heart up, this one big and plastic, "We also have a beating heart option! We put it in the chest of the bear, and when you press down on it, it beats like a heart!"

Virgil’s eyes widened. He looked at Logan with them, pouting his lip a little. Logan smiled at him, giving him a nod. Virgil turned back to Patton, nodding enthusiastically.

"Okay!" Patton smiled, taking a heart, peeling the sticker off, and putting the sticker on the tag. They then placed the heart right in the front of the bear’s chest where a human’s heart would be.

“Now,” Patton said as they got up from their chair and took the now stuffed bear and the heart to the counter Logan and Virgil were standing next to.

“We are going to perform what is called the ‘squish test’. Which means you take your new friend and you give him the biggest hug that you possibly can!” They wrapped their arms around themself, “To see if he’s either as soft or firm enough as you want.”

They turned to Logan, “And if he’s too firm we can always take stuffing out, and if he’s too soft we can always put stuffing in.”

Logan nodded, then turned to Virgil, “Do you want to give him a hug?”

Virgil nodded, walking up to where the bear was sitting and grabbing it, feeling its arms, legs, chest, and head. He then embraced it in his arms, holding it as tight as he could. He smiled as he felt the pulsing of the heartbeat.

“Is he good?” Patton asked. Virgil turned to him, nodding.

“Perfect!” They smiled, “If you would put your friend back on the hug station, we are going to perform the Heart Ceremony,” They put emphasis on the last two words, “The most important step in this entire process! You’re going to take your heart.”

It took a minute for the request to process in his brain, but Virgil went back to the counter, put the bear back where it was sitting, and grabbed his heart.

“Now we gotta get it beating, alright kiddo? So you’re going to take it, hold it up like this,” They held it high above their head. Virgil did the same.

“And you gotta wiggle it like this!” Patton started waving their hand around. A smile broke out on Virgil’s face as he mimicked their movements. They wiggled for a moment, Patton giggling, “Do you think you got it beating, kiddo?”

Virgil nodded, smile not fading. Patton smiled at him, “Alright, now you’re going to go to your new friend, and you gotta wave it in his ears so that he’s a good listener!”

Virgil stepped over to the bear and waved the heart over its ears.

“Wave it on his arms so he can give you great big hugs!”

He waved it over its arms.

“Wave it on his legs so he can run and play with you all day!”

He waved it over its legs.

“Now grip your heart, hold it close, and make a great big wish!”

He held it close to his chest, closed his eyes and made his wish, I wish for me and Logan to live together forever.

“Did you make your wish?” Patton smiled. Virgil opened his eyes, smiling back as he nodded.

“Great! Now you get to do the honor of putting that heart into your friend through the hole in the back.”

Virgil grabbed the bear and shoved the heart in as far as it could go.

Patton gave a nod, “Alright, now if you would put your friend back on the hug station and step right back on that blue square, I’m gonna do the hard job of stitching him up, okay?”

Virgil nodded, doing as he was told. Patton stepped up to the counter and started pulling on the stitches. They glanced at Virgil's sticker, “I see it’s your birthday today!”

“In a week,” Logan corrected them. They nodded, “Oh! Okay, well, happy early birthday!” They looked closer, “And you’re turning twenty! Wow! I turned twenty this January!”

“Interesting.” Logan commented. Patton tied the last knot, cutting the extra string off. “Alright! This little guy is good to go! I’m gonna have you come around this way,” they pointed to their right, “to the back to pick out his clothing and accessories. Then you’ll take that tag to station 4 and scan it to give him his name!”

“Alright, thank you.” Logan smiled, leading Virgil around the direction Patton pointed them towards. Virgil looked back one last time to see Patton waving at him. He waved back shyly.

Thankfully the Harry Potter clothing section was right next to the stuffed animal section. Virgil’s eyes scanned the wall. He definitely wanted the traditional robes and a wand. But then he spotted a Quidditch uniform, along with a broom and a snitch.

He gasped slightly, turning to Logan, who nodded, “You can get both outfits if you’d like.”

Virgil whined, “But i’s ‘spensive…” He glanced away, biting his thumb.

Logan chuckled, “Virgil, it’s your birthday, and it’s you. You’re worth it. Besides, I’m getting paid soon anyway, so it doesn’t really matter.”

Virgil scrunched his nose, but took both the normal uniform and accessories and the Quidditch uniform and accessories off the hangers. He had to get on his tip-toes to reach some of them, but he got the hang of it.

“I’m guessing he’s a seeker, hm?” Logan hummed. Virgil nodded. Logan gave a nod back, “Alright, let’s give him a name, shall we?”

They walked over to the back corner on the other side of the store, where Station 4 was. Logan pressed some buttons, scanned the tag, and a menu popped up asking them to put in information for the bear’s birth certificate.

Now it was time to pick a name. Virgil bit down on his thumb, thinking very hard. Logan tilted his head, “What would you like to name him?”

Virgil smiled mischievously, “Logan!”

Logan scoffed, “Virgil, please. Pick an original name!”

“I’s original! ‘N Logan’s my favorite name!” Virgil beamed, turning back to the screen and typing in the name, “Logan the seeker.”

After the bear’s birth certificate was printed out, they walked up to the cash register. The young man standing at the register’s name tag read Joan. “Alright, are we all set?”

Logan nodded, putting all their findings on the counter. Virgil bit down on his thumb as he watched Joan scan the tags, starting to zone out. He wasn’t really interested in this part.

“Would you like to dress it here or when you get home?” Joan asked him. His eyes widened as he was snapped out of his daydreaming. He looked at them, then at Logan, then back to them. “Um, home,” He responded, now ancy to leave.

“Alright, would you like to hold it or put it in a box?” They asked. Virgil whined a bit under his breath. This was way too many questions for one day. “Box.”

Joan nodded at his firm answer. “Alright, with all of the accessories, your total comes out to one hundred and thirty five dollars, and forty five cents.”

Virgil gasped, looking at Logan with concern. That was a huge number. Logan just smiled at him reassuringly, “It’s alright Virgil, I really don’t mind,” He turned to Joan, “He’s a little concerned with money right now.”

“Oh I totally understand that,” They gave a smile, “I mean, I’m working two jobs and even I can’t afford to pay rent sometimes.” They turned back to the computer, muttering to themself, “Late stage capitalism.”

They took the bear and put it in a box, then bagged up all the clothes, “You should be all set. Oh! It’s your birthday! We have to ring the birthday bell!”

As they picked up a large bell from the shelf behind them, Logan squeezed Virgil’s hand, “It’s going to make a very loud noise, Virgil.”

Virgil looked at him as he braced himself. The loud ring of the bell crashed in his ears, running through his entire body. He cringed as he shut his eyes, stopping himself from covering his ears.

Then it was over, and he was able to open his eyes again. Logan leaned into his ear, “Good job.” He smiled. Virgil smiled back.

Then they were all good to go. Logan took the box and the bag, and grabbed Virgil’s hand as he led both of them out.

“Have a good day, kiddo!” Patton called with a smile as they walked past the machine. They both glanced at them. “Thank you.” Logan said before finally reaching the door.

“So, what did you wish for during the heart ceremony?” Logan asked as they took their purchases and headed for other stores, mostly Hot Topic.

“I tan’t tell you!” Virgil teased, “Or it won’t tome true.”

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Patton smiled to themself as they walked into the back room, unlocking their locker and taking their backpack out. Once they made sure everything was still in check, they took their apron off and slipped it in their locker, closing it and locking it again.

Today was another great day at work. Patton loved their job, really loved their job. They got to interact with all the cute kids and families that came in, and they adored all the smiles and giggles the heart ceremony provided.

There was always at least one memorable family that came in, and today it was a young couple, one of which had his birthday today. His name was Virgil, Patton remembered.

He was memorable because of one fact. Patton could see it in his eyes, in his posture, in his energy.

Patton got to meet a little.

They themself had been a babysitter for a couple of years now. Their friend Roman was a little, and when her partner Janus was busy, Patton got to babysit her. It brought them a lot of comfort and happiness, and they one day hoped to have a little of their own.

A pang of disappointment hit their chest. Virgil seemed so adorable and fun and loving, but it looked like he already had a caregiver. But they were happy for him nonetheless.

They brought themself out of their thoughts as they headed on out, waving goodbye to their coworkers. Their brisk walking speed got them to the food court fairly quickly, where they planned to have sushi for lunch.

But their eyes widened as they caught sight of a couple across the food court. It was Virgil and his caregiver! A smile broke out on their face, and they knew they had to take this opportunity to get to know them better.

They rushed to Virgil’s table, slowing down a bit as they got closer, “Hey! You guys are still here!”

They both turned to them, and Virgil jumped, quickly taking his thumb out of his mouth. His caregiver nodded, “Yes, we took a bit of time to do some extra shopping and get some food.”

“Yeah, I’m glad I was able to catch you guys! It was just the end of my shift so…” They smiled, trailing off a bit. “We didn’t really get to actually meet. I’m Patton!” They held out their hand.

“Logan,” Virgil’s caregiver took it, shaking firmly. Virgil just waved slightly, “Virgil.”

“Yeah, well, it was really nice to meet you guys! I hope you had fun, I always do.” They laughed nervously, trying so desperately not to make it awkward.

“Yes, I can confirm that our experience was most enjoyable, don’t you agree, Virgil?” Logan said, then turned to him. He nodded with a small smile on his face.

Patton stood there for a moment. They knew what they wanted to do, they just didn’t know if they had the guts to actually do it. “Hey, I don’t usually do stuff like this, but, can I get your guys’ Instagrams?”

“Oh, I don’t have one, but, Virgil? If that’s alright with you?” Logan asked him. He looked to Logan, then to Patton, but eventually nodded.

Patton smiled wide, “Great! Uh, here’s my phone, you can just put it in.” They handed Virgil their phone. He took it, quickly typing in his username in the search bar. He handed it back to them, a shy smile on his face.

“Great! Thank you! Again, it was really nice meeting you!” Patton beamed.

“It was a pleasure meeting you as well, Patton.” Logan responded. Virgil nodded in agreement.

Patton let out a sigh of relief, giving one last wave before heading down the food court the other way. They couldn’t help but continue to smile as they skipped along, soon reaching the sushi restaurant. They didn’t know how yet, but they knew this was the start of something special.

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kevindayisafrog · 3 years

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Part 2 of the post that was supposed to be a one shot inspired by @knandersonart ‘s art on Instagram (I have too many ideas for it to be left as a one shot, babe, I’ve got a whole book planned)

TW - abuse, anxiety and mentions of Dr*ke

Kevin had been at Palmetto for over a year now; alone and in fear. He tried hard to fit in with the upperclassmen but his short temper and constant panic left a huge gap between them that no one had tried to fill. He tried to get close to his father too but he knew that he’d never be able to tell him who he really was to him; he knew that his dad would only turn him away like Riko said. Kevin tried to keep in contact with Neil but their texts and calls had gone from one a day to one every few months. Everything was falling apart and all Kevin could do was watch as he fought like hell to climb back to the top. And the top is where he is now, but this time the podium he’s standing on is for him only, Riko can’t pull him down. Until Kevin’s alone with his thoughts, then he remembers how small he is against Riko’s power and ruthless abuse. Kevin felt himself slip further into the darkness around him when the championships were announced, something to finally concentrate on and a place where he’ll finally be with his Neil again; even if they’ll be against each other.

Kevin stared blankly at the empty bus seat in front of him as he sat at the back of bus alone; distantly listening to the upperclassmen’s idle conversation as the foxes made their way to the banquet. He couldn’t sit still as fear warred with excitement in his tight chest. He placed his AirPods in and called Neil, knowing that he’d see him in less than an hour but couldn’t wait to hear his voice. He grumbled to himself when it went to the voicemail and hung up, choosing to listen to his music instead as he watched the scenery pass by in a colored blur through the window.

Kevin was last off the bus and he stood behind the other foxes as Wymack opened the storage compartment on the coach, passing their outfits to each player. Matt tossed Kevin his dark green suit before turning back and catching his own suit before it hit the ground. “Jesus, Coach, this cost me a lot of money”, Matt smiled despite his words and smoothed down his suit. Wymack retorted dryly but Kevin didn’t hear what was said as he already turned and made his way towards the stadium; his body buzzing with a distant memory of Neil’s body close to his. He pushed his way into the locker room with a sign reading: ‘Palmetto Foxes’ written in black sharpie. He quickly threw on his suit with his back to the others, ignoring Nicky’s wolf whistle as he moved to the mirror to smooth down his forest green blazer. “Where are you going, hot stuff?”, Nicky winked with a laugh as Aaron groaned and turned away from his cousin. “I’ll be on the court”, Kevin muttered as he left the locker room and walked as fast as he could to the court. It pained him to see a perfect court being used as a dance floor and dining area, but he wasn’t here to be disgusted. He opened the court door as he felt a stern hand on his shoulder causing him to flinch and duck down. “Don’t worry, it’s only me”, Wymack pulled Kevin back up and turned him so that they were facing each other, “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay before you walk into the lion’s mouth”. Kevin looked up into his father’s eyes and blushed in embarrassment at the raw worry that he saw. “I’ll be fine as long as we’re not near Riko or Tetsuji”, he wrung his hands together and tapped his foot impatiently. “I’ll keep an eye on you, kid and if you’re worried in any way come straight to me, okay?”, Wymack gave a fierce squeeze of Kevin’s shoulder before pushing him through the door. Kevin turned away and made his way over to where the seating charts were. He ran his finger down the sheet until he found the Foxes’ name and made his way to the back table, freezing as Riko stood from their shared table. “Kevin, welcome home”, Riko announced in Japanese, spreading his arms in a vicious gesture of a hug. Kevin gulped and clenched his hands before taking a deep breath and making his way over to the table. “Riko”, he muttered as he sat down opposite Neil, relaxing as Neil wrapped their ankles together, “the rest of my team are just coming”. Riko barked a shrill laugh as he sat down and leaned towards Kevin, “me and Jean were just talking about how we’re surprised you guys made it into the championships, what with your small number of players”. Jean looked up and sent Kevin a subtle shake of his head, mouthing a small ‘I’m sorry’. Kevin sent a small smile back before turning to Neil, ignoring Riko’s annoyed frown. “Hi”, he whispered, running his ankle up to Neil’s thigh. “I’ve missed you”, Neil replied in French, reaching down and squeezing Kevin’s ankle under the table. “Hmmm, so we’re doing this now? Speaking other languages so I won’t understand”, Riko nodded slowly before laughing and curling a large smile, “your mother would be so disappointed in your disobedience. If you’d shut up we’d all hear her turning in her grave. Even though we’re so far away from her”. Kevin tensed and clenched his jaw, trying not to give Riko the satisfaction by showing his anger.

“Riko, it’s so lovely to meet you, Dan Wilds”, Dan led her team to the table and scraped her chair back, sitting down with her hand extended to Riko. Riko looked at her hand in disgust before shaking it with a fake smile, “I hope you’re looking after my Kevin for me”. Matt sat beside Dan and laughed sarcastically, “he’s not yours anymore, he’s ours”. Riko dropped Dan’s hand onto the table with a thud and turned to Kevin, “weren’t you just telling me how much you hated this team and that they’ll never win the championships?”. Kevin sat up straighter and smiled, “no, I wouldn’t say that and do you know why, Riko? Because although these aren’t the best players, they’re the strongest I’ve ever met. They use their teamwork to push back and fight to win their deserved place at the top. You won’t be smiling so wide when we beat you and win the championships”. Riko’s smile fell and he grabbed Kevin’s left wrist in an iron grip, “don’t fucking push me tonight, remember that you’re my pet. I won’t hesitate to put you down, do you hear me? One wrong move and I’ll bring your whole team down with you, see if you’re so brave then”, he growled in rapid Japanese. Nicky looked between the two before placing his hand over Riko’s and digging his nails in deep, “I’d advise you to take your hands off of him or I’ll break it off”. Kevin turned to Nicky in surprise and was shocked enough to let his long lost genuine smile get plastered across his face. Riko pulled his hand away and glared at Kevin, “you’ve deluded these jokes into thinking that they’re better than they are. You’re getting cocky, Kevin, what will you do when they turn you away like they inevitably will?” Andrew elbowed Neil to get him out of the way and leant on Neil’s hunched back, “now, now, Riko, let’s not throw your toys out of the pram. I told you what I’d do if you messed with my family, do you really want to test my word?”. Riko tensed and slowly turned to face Andrew, “One more word, Andrew and I will get an old friend over to play with you. Drake must miss you”. Andrew flinched at the name and let out a long medicated laugh, “try me” he growled. Neil shouldered Andrew off and stood up, ignoring Riko’s glare, “I’m going to the bathroom, try and fucking stop me”. The foxes watched in silence as Neil left the room without a single glance back to the table. “Your pets aren’t as loyal as you thought, are they?”, Dan asked and she tapped her nails against her glass, “must suck when everyone turns their back on you”. Riko growled in annoyance, hating how he’d lost control of the situation and his words were thrown back at him. Kevin stood up quickly, knocking his chair onto the floor with a loud clatter as he left the table, half running to the bathroom and ignoring Wymack’s shouts of concern.

“Neil?”, Kevin called into the seemingly empty bathroom, pushing open the stool doors slowly. “I really did miss you”, Neil walked around from the corner of the room and stood on his tiptoes to wrap his arms around Kevin’s neck, “I actually missed your irritating shouting and obnoxious presence on the court”. Kevin let out a small huff as he brought their lips together, smiling into the kiss of ‘hello’. “I hate you”, he whispered into the kiss, knotting his fingers in Neil’s orange hair. “Sure you do”, Neil replied, purring as Kevin tugged lightly on his hair. Kevin pulled away first and stared down into the ocean blue eyes before him, the auburn eyelashes fluttering his eyes back open. “Neil”, Kevin started but Neil let go and walked away to the sinks, “please just hear me out”. Neil sighed and turned on the tap, “Kevin, not now, can we just have this moment? Stop trying to ruin everything”. Kevin frowned and followed Neil, leaning his hip beside him at the sink, “I don’t ruin everything”, he muttered. Neil placed his hands under the tap, refusing to look up at his pouting boyfriend, “you know that’s not what I meant”, he sighed and dropped his hands to the bottom of the sink, “I can’t come back with you”. Kevin groaned in annoyance and pushed off of the sink, pacing his way back to the stools, “why not? Why the fuck not, Neil? Nothing is stopping you and even if something was you wouldn’t care anyway”. Neil turned the tap off and slammed his hands against the ceramic, “for fuck’s sake, Kevin, are you being obtuse on purpose? If I could go, I would. Do you think that I enjoy the nest? Do you think I like you being so far away from me? Because I fucking don’t, it’s hell”. Kevin laughed flatly and crossed his arms, half turning away, “you can come with me, you just don’t want to”. Neil pushed the heels of his hands into his eyes and sighed heavily, “why do you always twist things? Listen to me”, he dropped his hands and marched over to Kevin, pulling his arms apart forcibly, causing him to flinch, “listen, I hate not being without you, okay? And I know it makes you cringe when people talk like this, but I can’t live without you and I hate to admit, I really do, but I need you. I’m trying so hard to get out of there so you’re not alone anymore and Andrew’s helping too. We’re so close to getting out, we just need to be patient and wait a little longer before we can be with each other again, okay?”. Kevin dropped his head and Neil stood on his tiptoes so their foreheads could touch. “I hate being alone”, Kevin whispered, “I’ve never been alone before. When my mom found out who Tetsuji really was, who his family were, she exiled us to Ireland and never let me leave her sight. She took me everywhere with her, not even trusting teachers to look after me at school. But she left to go to the shops in the next town whilst I was sleeping and Tetsuji paid people to stage a fatal car accident. After that day I was with Riko and he wouldn’t let me leave his sight either, so I don’t know what to fucking do. I’ve never been alone before”, he sniffed and let out a small whimper. Neil gently placed his hands either side of Kevin’s face and placed a small kiss on the tip of his nose, “you’re not alone, I’ll never let you go”. Kevin lifted his head and turned to look away, “but you are leaving me alone”. Neil shook Kevin’s head and pressed his own head against Kevin’s ribs, “I’m trying, I really am”.

They stood in silence as Kevin hesitantly wrapped his arms around Neil’s shoulders. “I know you are, I’m sorry, I’m just scared”, he placed a gentle kiss atop Neil’s head and rocked him side to side slowly. Neil hummed and looked up, taking in his boyfriend’s worry filled eyes, “that color looks good on you”. Kevin frowned and looked down at his suit, “I wanted to wear red but I don’t really suit it”. Neil snorted and pulled away, turning to walk to the bathroom door, “you suit red, Kevin, trust me”. Kevin watched as Neil left the bathroom with a wink and couldn’t help but feel alone once again, a heavy feeling weighing on his chest. “Thank you”, he whispered with a small smile to the space Neil left behind as Riko kicked open the door with two broad shouldered Raven players behind him.

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stolethekey · 3 years

Text

i woke up just in time, now i wake up by your side

hello! this is for the (final!) @b99fandomevents—i can’t believe how far these two (and this show) have come, and i’m gonna miss them so much. i got to write this for @amydancepants-peralta, who wanted a fic where jake and amy have a disatrous first date, and then amy decides to transfer to chicago—jake has three days to convince her to stay.

enjoy! (you can also read this on ao3.)

It’s their first date, and it’s a disaster.

Neither of them has said anything in the ten minutes since they’ve sat down. Jake buries his nose into the menu, hoping that he looks occupied enough with choosing an entrée to excuse the heavy silence that has settled over the table. A few feet away, in the other side of the booth, Amy does the same thing.

A young man in a pressed suit and tie approaches their table, a small, nervous smile on his face. “Are you all ready to order?”

“Yes!” Amy nearly leaps at the chance to talk to someone who is not Jake. Jake tries not to feel too hurt by the desperate excitement in her voice. “I’ll take the chicken piccata, please.”

Jake lingers around the chicken parmesan but ends up going with a steak, because he’s determined to show Amy and maybe himself that he can eat like an adult. They pass their silk-embossed menus to the waiter, sip their waters, and suddenly it’s too quiet again.

“You got a haircut,” Jake notices, wringing his hands nervously under the table.

“It looks nice.”

“Thanks.”

There is a beat of silence that stretches just a little too long, and then Jake says, “This is awkward.”

Amy chokes out a laugh. “Yeah.”

Another moment passes. Jake swallows the non-existent saliva in his mouth. Their waiter, mercifully, returns with their food a few minutes later. Jake doesn’t want him to leave. He does, of course, and then they’re left in that terrible silence again.

Jake makes it through half his steak before speaking again. “Should we, um, just get really drunk?”

Amy grimaces, reaching for her water. “I don’t think so.” Her voice is quiet, almost defeated. “If we can’t do this sober, what’s the point?”

Something twists uncomfortably in Jake’s stomach, but he stabs his fork into his a piece of broccoli anyway. - It’s the day after their first date, and Amy asks for a transfer.

Jake learns about this through a wail from the evidence lockup that he hears from a good twenty yards away. He bursts through the door, frantic, to find Charles curled in a ball on the ground, rocking back and forth.

Charles gets out the details in between sobs, or at least enough details that Jake gets most of the picture. Amy put in a transfer to Chicago, it’s been granted on account of an emergency vacancy that needs to be filled, and she has three days left at the Nine-Nine.

“Three days,” Charles gasps, tears streaming out of his eyes. “Three days, you have to convince her to stay, Jake, you have to—”

“Hold on,” Jake says desperately, watching Charles dab at his face with a completely saturated tissue. “Let me get you another box of Kleenex.”

He opens the door to leave and runs straight into the source of Charles’s despair, in the flesh.

“Oh,” says Amy.

Jake closes the door behind him before Charles can see her and have a heart attack, then crosses his arms. “Is it true? Are you leaving?”

Amy has the grace to look self-conscious, shuffling her feet and shoving her hands in her pockets. She nods, and Jake feels strangely like the walls are swimming around him.

It just makes sense, she says. She has family there, and New York is too crowded, too expensive, and maybe Chicago is a better place to live anyway.

“Is this because of me?” Jake demands. “Because of…you know…our date?”

“No, of course not.” She doesn’t look at him as she says it.

Jake scoffs before stalking past her into the bullpen, ignoring her half-hearted call of his name. He blinks back the hot, furious tears forming in his eyes, and internally he starts a calendar. - On Day One, Jake calls in sick to work.

He responds to the “r u ok??” texts from Charles, Rosa, Gina, and Terry with a copy-and-pasted “I’m ok. Just feeling gross.” He ignores the ones that mention Amy. He also pretends like he doesn’t notice that Amy hasn’t sent him anything.

The morning is spent mindlessly scrolling through his social media beneath his blankets, with no regard for time or his grumbling stomach.

At noon, Charles posts a picture of the squad from Halloween with the caption “Gonna miss my favorite Halloween-hater. #SayonaraSantiago.” Jake decides he’s had enough Instagram for the day and finally hauls himself out of bed.

He orders a pizza, then turns his phone off and the TV on. Inadvertently, the pizza becomes both lunch and dinner and one Die Hard movie becomes a marathon—and before he knows it, the sky outside his apartment is dark.

“Well, that was productive,” Jake mutters, brushing the pizza crumbs off his lap before standing up to toss his trash into the garbage.

On Day Two, they aren’t talking to each other.

Amy looks up almost timidly as he walks out of the elevator, then waits until he reached his desk to let out a small, hesitant “Hi.”

Jake grabs the file waiting for him on his desk and walks out of the bullpen without looking at her.

So, strictly speaking, this is mostly his fault.

That fact does not do anything to quell the mixture of anger and hurt writhing in his stomach. He spends the day furiously completing paperwork in an empty interrogation room, jabbing his pen so furiously into the paper that he rips a hole in an I-918 and has to start over.

At noon, Rosa stops by with a turkey sub, which she drops wordlessly on the desk in front of him before sliding back out the door.

At five, he has completed more paperwork than he has in the last month combined. He drops the stack of files on Terry’s desk, forces a smile, and says, “Finally caught up on all those forms you’ve been hounding me about.”

Terry, his eyes piercing and slightly concerned, does not laugh. “Dismissed.”

It’s Day Three, and Holt has had enough.

He assigns Jake and Amy to label evidence in the lockup together, much to Jake’s chagrin. Amy turns and speeds off without a word. Jake turns towards Holt with a big, reproachful protest on the tip of his tongue but is cut off by Holt’s raised eyebrows and stern expression.

“Peralta, you need to get over yourself.”

“What?”

“You need to get over yourself,” Holt repeats. “Your partner of six years is leaving tomorrow, and you haven’t spoken to her in three days.”

Jake snorts, crossing his arms defensively. “Yeah, well, she’s leaving because of me, so—”

“I’m not sure that matters,” Holt says, not unkindly. “If you let her leave like this, you might never get the chance to talk to her again.”

Jake stares at the ground, furiously attempting to dig a hole in the ground with his toe.

“I know you don’t want this to be the way things end.” Holt’s voice is gentle, and Jake can’t bring himself to look up. “It would be unwise to let your pride get in the way of your last chance to save your friendship.”

“Whatever,” Jake mutters irritably, but something uncomfortable has begun to form in his gut. “Gimme that Sharpie so I can go write case numbers on a bunch of ziplock bags.”

Jake does not, in fact, get over himself—at least not for the first few hours. He chooses to instead label evidence in the same furious silence that has occupied his past three days, pretending he doesn’t see the furtive, almost timid glances Amy throws his way every few minutes.

Then he walks to a bodega for lunch and realizes mid-chew that this is Amy’s last lunch at the Nine-Nine, and the uncomfortable thing in his stomach grows a lot bigger.

He finally swallows his pride on his walk back to the precinct, and when he re-enters the evidence lockup the thing in his stomach has started feeling a lot more like guilt.

Amy walks in a few minutes after him, tossing a balled-up sandwich wrapper into the trash, and notices that he’s watching her. “You have something to say to me?”

“Yeah, actually,” Jake says quickly. “I do.”

She crosses her arms and narrows her eyes, and Jake’s heart sinks a little.

“I—uh—I’m sorry,” Jake says. “For how I reacted, and for icing you out the past few days. It was immature of me, and stupid, and I should’ve been an adult about it, but—well, I guess we both know I suck at that sometimes.”

Amy snorts, but her expression has softened slightly. “Thank you.”

“And I’m gonna make it up to you,” Jake continues, almost determinedly. “We’re gonna make this the best day you’ve ever had at the Nine-Nine.”

Amy laughs slightly. “I don’t think that’s possible, given the amount of work we have left.”

“Who cares?” Jake shrugs. “The best part of work has always been the people anyway.”

And for all the organizational skills Jake may lack, he sure knows how to delegate. All it takes is a couple text messages to a new, Amy-less precinct group chat and the rest of the Nine-Nine is off. Gina cashes in on a favor and gets Shaw’s to close its doors for the evening. Rosa makes a last-minute motorcycle trip to a local party store and uses a sizable amount of cash and her surprising aesthetic skill to acquire a large box of decorations. Charles says, “leave the food to me,” and no one is brave enough to question him about it.

Jake stays with Amy on the floor of the evidence lockup. They talk and laugh as they work, reminiscing about their years at the Nine-Nine and the particularly memorable perps they’ve brought in.

There’s also a supercut of the stuff that wasn’t work at all—the precinct parties, Charles saving Thanksgiving, the Boyle-Linetti wedding. There are the Halloween heists, the Jimmy Jabs, and there’s the Bet, with a capital B. Neither of them mentions the last one, but Jake is definitely thinking about it.

“Remember that time Terry tried to do the full bullpen and almost knocked a tooth out?” Amy asks, grinning widely. “I thought Sharon was gonna pull him out of the force immediately.”

“You have no faith,” Jake says, shaking his head. “I knew she’d let him stay.”

“You did not.” Amy points at him, narrowing her eyes. “You were so scared when she came to pick him up.”

“I was not—”

“So scared. I’ve never seen a grown man visibly tremble like that, but—”

“God, shut up.” Jake throws a balled-up piece of tape at her, and she laughs. It’s a real one, this time, one that’s bright and infectious.

They let it fade into a gentle silence, one that’s more comfortable than the ones of the past few days.

There’s a beat, and then Jake says, “Don’t go to Chicago.”

He expects Amy to be surprised by this change of subject—to recoil and give an affronted, “what?”

Instead, she sighs, long and slow, and closes the manila folder in front of her. “Jake—”

“I mean, I know it’s your decision, and I respect that,” Jake says quickly. “And if you truly meant what you said to me earlier, about how it’s important to be near your family and it’s a better place for you to live and you’ve grown out of New York—if that’s really the reason you’re leaving, then that’s fine. Just tell me, and I’ll shut up about it and we can just have a big blowout goodbye party and you can leave.”

Amy picks at the edge of her boot and says nothing.

“But if it’s not—if you’re leaving because of what happened on our date—I don’t want to be the reason you give this up, Amy. I know how much you love it here, and this place loves you too. Captain Holt is a phenomenal mentor to you, we both know that, and you might not get that in Chicago—you’ve done so much good work here that I know you’re proud of, and I can’t be the reason you don’t have that anymore.”

Amy looks at him, her eyes a stormy mix of unreadable emotions, but still doesn’t say anything.

“Look,” Jake says, splaying out his hands in front of him. “That date was kind of a disaster, we both know that. And I think it’s because we were both trying too hard, because we cared too much. Because we’re friends, Amy, and that’s what’s most important to me.”

He takes a deep breath, then says, “I don’t care if we never date. I don’t care if I never get to hug you, or kiss you, or do any of the things I’ve so desperately wanted to do. I just can’t lose your friendship. You’re the best partner I’ve ever had, and an even better friend, and I would be more than happy to just be friends with you for the rest of my life. God knows it’s more than I deserve.”

“You deserve plenty,” Amy says softly.

Jake swallows the way that makes his chest flutter. “I’m just saying—I’m laying my cards all out on the table, here. I want you to stay, and I respect it if you don’t want that. But please don’t let me be the reason for you leaving.”

There’s a beat of silence, and then Amy gives him a small, wistful smile that says everything Jake needs to hear.

“Okay,” he says, taking a deep breath and wiping his hands on his jeans. “Party at Shaw’s it is, then.”

Amy slaps the last label on a duffle bag, checks her watch, and stands. “I’m actually taking off early—I need to clear up some stuff at City Hall before I leave. I’ll meet you there?”

“Oh,” Jake says, a little dumbfounded.

Amy notices his expression and shakes her head quickly. “No, it’s not—I mean, this has been settled for days, Holt knows, I was always leaving at three today. So it’s not, like, spontaneous, you know. I would’ve told you earlier, but—"

“I was being an ass. Yeah.”

Amy gives him that little sad smile again, and Jake wants to kick a wall. “I’ll see you at the bar,” she says, almost gently.

Jake forces a smile and nods. “Yeah. Looking forward to it.” - When he pushes through the doors of his favorite bar a few hours later, Jake is expecting loud music, streamers, and—if Gina’s Instagram stories were credible—possibly Mario Lopez. Instead, the bar is completely empty.

There are no balloons, no decorations—the only set table is in the middle of the floor, and on it sits a pizza, two salads, and two glasses of water.

“What—what is this?” Jake mutters, mostly to himself.

“A dinner between two friends,” Amy says, emerging from behind the bar. She gives him a small, slightly nervous smile. “And if it goes well, a second date.”

Jake blinks.

“You were right,” Amy tells him, carrying a bottle of wine and two wine glasses to the table. “Our friendship is the most important thing, here, and it means a lot to both of us. I mean, that’s why we were trying so hard in the first place, right? Neither of us wanted it to fail.”

Jake nods in silent assent, not trusting whatever his mouth would say if he let it.

“But it did fail. Miserably.”

“Uh-huh,” Jake says, somewhat stupidly.

“So the worst thing that could happen has already happened, and we’ve gotten through it. And I think—I think, now, having gone through the past few days, we know enough to give it another shot. As long as we set very clear boundaries.”

“Boundaries,” Jake repeats. “Boundaries are good.”

“Yeah,” says Amy with a slightly amused smile. “So, we’re friends. Really good friends. And that’s what we have to protect, above anything. So this is not necessarily a date. It’s a dinner, and we’re a pair of very good friends who are gonna eat it. And if we want to, afterwards, we can decide to call it a date.”

“Can you do that?” Jake asks. “Label something a date after it’s already happened?”

“Who cares?” Amy smirks. “Since when have you followed rules?”

Jake swallows and shrugs.

“Anyway, if it’s awkward, or weird, then we move past it. It’s a slightly awkward moment between friends that doesn’t have to mean anything. No more silent treatment, no more rash decisions, just two friends who are still friends afterwards. Got it?”

“Afterwards,” Jake says slowly. “So—Chicago—”

“Yeah, I’m not going,” Amy says, her eyes sparkling. “That was a dumb thing I did to avoid this guy I went on a terrible date with.”

A broad grin starts to make its way across Jake’s face. “He sounds like he sucks.”

Amy laughs, then pulls out a chair and points at it. “So—pizza?”

The grin on Jake’s face softens into something smaller, something gentler. “Definitely.”

They each take a slice, then a bite, and Jake will never admit it—but it’s the best Meat Supreme he’s ever tasted.

#b99 summer 2021 fic exchange #this one was fun i hope u guys like it!#i can't believe this show is almost over #i'm gonna miss it very much #my fics #my b99 fics #jake peralta x amy santiago #brooklyn nine nine #brooklyn 99 #b99

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fanmoose12 · 3 years

Text

catch me if you can

Сharacters: Hange Zoe, Levi, Erwin Smith, Kenny Ackerman

Genres: Mystery / Romance

Summary: The Ackerman duo. Just the mention of this name filled Hange with so many feelings. Mostly, when she reread the files of their cases over and over, until her eyes watered, she felt pricking annoyance. Sometimes, when she stared at the dead bodies of those scarce unfortunates who stumbled upon their crimes, she was filled with hatred and a pushing need for revenge. Hange couldn’t deny, however, there were times when she marveled at the impudence of their crimes. And, when she was investigating the Ackerman’s cases and saw just how meticulously planned they all were, she couldn’t help but feel something close to fascination.

No one knew who they were. No one had seen their faces, no one knew their true names. Almost everyone knew of their crimes.

Hange was determined to unravel every last one of their secrets. She will put an end to their crimes and then she will get the elusive Ackermans behind bars.

Chapter 3/?

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Levi stared at Hange intently. He watched the rise and fall of her chest, the flutter of her eyelashes, the movement of her eyes, the way she gripped the teacup in her fingers and slowly put it to her lips, taking a first sip.

He leaned closer, pressing his elbows into the table. He anxiously waited to hear out her verdict.

"So?" he pressed after almost a minute passed and Hange still hadn't said anything.

She put the teacup down and smiled.

"I really want to say it's bad, I was actually looking forward to that date—"

"But?" Levi interrupted, impatient and hopeful.

Hange sighed, dropping the smile. "But it's delicious. I don't think I've tasted anything better."

"Yes!" Levi knew it. He was once again proven right - no one could resist a good cup of tea, those coffee addicts just didn't know better.

"Well, thanks for opening my eyes..." Hange stood up, reaching for her coat.

"Oi." Levi scowled. What the fuck was she doing? "Sit your ass back down."

"Pardon?"

"You haven't finished your tea, idiot," upon seeing the confused look that appeared on detective's face, Levi's lips curled into a smirk. He hid it behind his own cup of tea.

"Oh," Hange plopped down on a seat again, grinning helplessly. "Yes, sorry, I forgot about it."

Levi rolled his eyes, subduing a wave of affection that spread through him because of her awkwardness.

Hange Zoe in front of him was very different from the detective's persona he had seen glimpses of before. Detective Zoe was fierce, she was daring and dedicated to her work to the point of obsession. Hange he got to know today was clumsy. She was awkward, but not shy. She was funny and kind.

An interesting contrast. Levi wanted to know more.

They drank their tea in silence. Hange was smiling slightly, as she looked around the café Levi had brought her in. Levi watched her beneath his eyelashes.

The silence wasn't tense or uncomfortable, it was simply there, and at any other day, Levi would have appreciated it.

Right now, however, there was something he needed to say.

He cleared his throat. Hange's eyes immediately snapped to him.

"A new movie theater was opened recently," he took a sip of his tea, resisting the urge to fidget. "Have you heard about it?"

"I have not," she answered, and her tone of voice made it clear that she was prompting him to continue.

Levi took another sip of tea. The cup was almost empty.

"There is going to be a movie marathon this Friday. Wanna go? Together."

His voice was nonchalant and his face was blank. Nothing betrayed his feelings. But his heart was beating so loudly, Levi was worried it could jump out of his chest.

The voice of reason in his head continued to scream, begging him to stand up and leave. Levi stopped listening to it long ago. For whatever reason - be it his curiosity or a desire to find out what she knew about them - he wanted to see Hange again. One trip to a cinema wouldn't hurt. Probably.

"What the theme of the marathon?" Hange asked, gripping the cup with her two hands and leaning closer to him. She looked just like an over-excited puppy. Levi almost smiled at that comparison.

"They’re showing those Police Academy movies,” he replied casually. That poster, actually, was the only reason he noticed the advertisement about new movie theater. He saw it and instantly thought of Hange. That was also the reason why he remembered about it.

"Oh," Hange blinked. "That's quite a coincidence. I actually work at the local police precinct."

I know, Levi almost said. He bit the inside of his cheek, forcing on a surprised expression.

"You do?" he asked, adding wonder to his voice. He hoped it was convincing enough. He wasn’t a particularly good liar, even though his profession as a thief more than required it. The most Levi could do was put the mask of indifference. He had perfected this technique to such a degree that showing, or even mimicking, different kinds of emotions was almost impossible for him. Kenny always made fun of that.

Hange, however, continued to wear the same relaxed expression, leading Levi to believe that his act had its desired effect on her.

"Yeah, I'm working as a detective."

“Oh,” Levi slightly widened his eyes, before he pursed his lips and frowned. "If you don't like this kind of movies..."

"Oh, no, no," Hange frantically waved her hands around. "I adore them! They are utterly ridiculous and always get everything about police's work wrong and that's why they're so fun to watch! I could get carried away with my comments, however," she tucked a loose hair behind her ear.

"What I'm getting myself into." Levi complained dryly, eliciting a delightful chuckle out of Hange.

"You were the one who offered. It's too late to back out, shorty."

"I could just stand you up."

"No, you couldn't," Hange said confidently. She propped her chin on a hand, looking at Levi with a knowing smile. "You're too nice."

Her words almost made him wince. He wasn't nice. And if Hange knew who he truly was, she definitely wouldn't think so.

Underneath the table, Levi tightened his hand into a fist. The last thought bothered him more than he could admit.

"Fuck you, I’m not nice," he growled, letting out the ounce of the frustration that phrase caused him.

Hange raised an eyebrow. "Fuck me? Aren't we moving a little too fast?"

Under her mischievous gaze, Levi's ears swiftly grew red. Hange threw her head back and laughed.

"Oh god, you should have seen your face!" she pointed a finger at him, still laughing. Levi's scowl deepened. And to think he felt bad for lying to her. "You look like such a cool and badass man, but it's so easy to embarrass you!"

"I'm not embarrassed," Levi retorted, even though he could feel the blush spread onto his cheeks too.

"Alright, alright," Hange raised her hands, placating him. "I'm sorry for teasing. You still wanna watch movies with me?"

"I was the one who offered," Levi repeated her words, shrugging.

"Awesome!" Hange clasped her hands. She grabbed her bag and rummaged through it, fishing out a pen. She took a hold of Levi's hand next, and before he could protest, started writing on it with her sharpie.

"There," once she was finished, she patted his arm. "You can text me the details."

Levi stared down on his arm, not knowing how to react. On one hand, he hated when other people touched him, especially the ones he just met. On the other, the realization that Hange gave him his number caused a weird flatter in his chest. He almost felt giddy.

"Well, should we go?" Hange asked. "It's getting late."

"Sure," Levi nodded, getting up and passing Hange her coat.

He wanted to offer to walk her home, but before he could open his mouth to ask, his phone started ringing. Levi looked at the screen and groaned.

Of course, it was Kenny.

"Won't you answer it?" Hange wondered, when Levi just put his phone back in his pocket.

"There is no need," he shook his head. "It's my uncle, he probably wants to know what's taking me so long."

"Ah, you live with your uncle," Hange cooed. "How cute."

"Nothing cute about it. He's an old man who enjoys annoying me," he looked up at Hange, a smirk curling on his lips. "You and him definitely have something in common, four-eyes."

Hange froze instantly and Levi cursed himself. Idiot, he was a goddamn idiot. Why did he call her that? It was the same nickname he used to tease her in the little notes he left after each theft. Of course, Hange would react to that, he was just too stupid to realize it before he opened his goddamn mouth.

He had to rectify his mistake, and fast. Levi drew his eyebrows together, feigning concern.

"Hange? Did I say something wrong?"

"No," she waved him off with a smile. Levi wondered if his expression looked just as fake as Hange's. "I just have... an acquaintance who calls me the same nickname. It made me think of him, that's all."

"He's not a nice guy, I take it," Levi hummed, trying to ignore his rapidly beating heart.

"He's not." Hange agreed, anger evident in her voice. "Well, thank you for the evening," she reached out to pat his shoulder, and, although, the smile was still present on her lips, there was a faraway look in her eyes. "But I need to go. I'll be waiting for your text!"

Hange was gone, before Levi could utter a single word. He didn’t move for a few moments, staring at the place she just had been.

There was a weird feeling inside him. If he didn’t know better, he’d say it was shame.

*** Hange tiptoed around the precinct, picking her route through the most secluded hallways. She had to be careful, she didn’t want to get noticed by any of her co-workers. Especially, by Erwin.

She needed to get inside her office before he noticed her. Before he noticed her absence, to be precise.

She was never late to work. She usually came earlier than the most and always went home after everyone else had left.

Today was an exception, though. She slept in for the first time in years and then she also made a detour to visit the café Levi showed her last night and order that delicious, delicious tea on the go.

She would have never guessed that simple tea could taste so good, but Levi had opened her eyes. And he had helped in lifting her spirits. Levi was a little strange - he seemed rude and indifferent, but Hange felt that behind this facade hid a kind and honest man. He was also incredibly funny. His humor, although sarcastic, dry and so very different from hers, was more than just enjoyable. She couldn't remember when she had so much fun. Or hanged out with someone, who wasn't a part of the force. She was looking forward to their date at the movies. And she hoped it wouldn't be the last one.

Too lost in her thoughts about newly found friend, Hange forgot to look where she was going. So it took her by a surprise when her forehead had almost collided with someone's chin. She cursed under her breath, it happened for the second time in two days. She was getting too clumsy and absent-minded lately. It was probably due to constant exhaustion and sleep-deprivation. Perhaps, she shouldn’t have ignored Erwin’s advices about taking a break for so long.

Hange lifted her gaze – and Erwin was staring back at her.

“Speak of the devil,” she muttered, too soft for him to hear. Then she took a step back and put on a smile. She hoped it didn't look too forced. "Oh, it's you, Erwin. Hi."

"Good morning," he narrowed his eyes, looking at Hange from head to toe. "Why aren't you in your office? Your shift has already started."

"Yeah..." Hange scratched the back of her neck with a wince. "About that..."

"No way," Erwin raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Hange, you are late?"

"Only by fifteen minutes..." she mumbled, casting her eyes down.

"But you're never late!" Erwin continued to gawk. "And what is that?" he gestured at the cup in Hange's hands with a confused look. "It doesn’t look like coffee from the precinct's vending machine.”

"It's actually tea..."

"What?" Erwin exclaimed. "You're drinking tea? But you hate it!" he leaned closer to Hange's face, staring into her eyes. "Who are you and what did you do with Hange Zoe?"

"Very funny, Erwin," Hange pushed him away with an annoyed huff. "It's just tea, no need to freak out. And since we're already talking, I have a favor. Can I leave early on Friday?"

"You... want to leave early?" Erwin asked carefully. "You?"

Hange rolled her eyes. "Yes. Me. Can I?"

"You're always working after hours, so, of course, you can leave early, I see no problem with that. But, Hange, may I ask why do you need to do it?"

She shrugged. "I have a date."

Erwin choked. "A date?" his eyes went almost comically wide. "You are going on a date?!"

Hange was getting tired of this conversation. "Yes, I am going on a date. Is it so hard to imagine?"

"It's just very, um," Erwin cleared his throat, picking up the right word. "Uncharacteristic of you. You're so focused on your work, it’s actually quite surprising that you’ve noticed someone else, whose last name isn’t Ackerman. Your date must be really special then."

"We've met just yesterday,” Hange revealed with a dreamy sigh. She took a sip of tea and the corners of her lips slightly lifted. “So I’m yet to see if he’s special or not.”

"Well, I'm happy for you," Erwin smiled, clasping her shoulder. "It's good to know that you're taking interest in something, besides Ackerman case. You are so obsessed with it, I was starting to worry."

"You can stop now," Hange chuckled. "Last night I wasn’t thinking about Ackermans at all."

Hange decided not to mention the accident at the end, when Levi had called her 'four-eyes'. She didn't know why she had overreacted. It was a common nickname, kids at school was calling her that since second grade. But they weren't Ackermans. And, obviously, Levi wasn't Ackerman as well. He was just a simple, regular guy. Hange liked that, last night was a nice change from her usual routine. Maybe, Erwin was right in that regard too. Maybe, she did need a distraction.

"It's always nice to have a chat with you," Hange grinned, putting thoughts about Levi to the back of her mind. "But the work doesn't wait. I'll see you around, Erwin!"

As she made a way to her office, a slight spring in her step, the phone vibrated in her pocket, announcing a new message. Hange took it out, reading the text.

Friday, six pm by the movie theatre?

Hange typed ‘can’t wait!’ and entered the office with a wide, happy smile on her face.

*** Grey or blue? Or maybe black? Tuck the shirt in or not? Should he style his hair? Would a tie be too much? Should he wear a coat or would his blazer be enough? Wasn't he overdressed? Was he dressed too casually?

Would Hange like his appearance?

Levi ran a hand through his hair and tsked in annoyance. He was probably overthinking this whole thing. No, he was definitely overthinking it.

Getting ready for the date wasn't supposed to be so hard. Levi had been on dates before, he knew how to do it. Granted, his previous dates weren't actually real, but always a part of Kenny's many rouses.

There was one time, where he had to seduce a casino employee to steal a key card that would get them into the vault. And then there was a time, where he had to take a grieving widow on a date so Kenny could rob her house, while she was absent.

Levi didn't enjoy either of those times, he felt uneasy, but that feeling was caused purely by the fact that he was lying to all of these people. He was never anxious, even though his seducing skills left much to be desired.

Everything was different this time. Levi was aware that technically this date wasn't real too. He was lying to Hange, just as he was lying to all of his previous dates. But that wasn't the main basis for his state. He was nervous about meeting Hange. He was nervous she wouldn't like him.

It made absolutely no sense. Hange was his enemy, a detective who wanted to get him behind bars more than anything. He saw it in her eyes yesterday, her desire and hatred towards Ackermans were transparent. And it bothered him more that it should.

Levi banged his head against the door of a wardrobe, wondering what the fuck was going on with him. When it came to Hange, he couldn't think straight and his usual indifference was nowhere to be found.

He wondered when it had all begun.

Did it happen, when he had seen Hange for the first time? When she was pacing around the house they've robbed, wearing a murderous expression and barking at every policeman? Levi still remembered the feeling of satisfaction he felt upon seeing her frustrations.

Or had it started after he had written his first note to her? He lingered at the scene of the crime that day, pretending to be a janitor. When Hange noticed a small note near the empty slot of the painting they've stolen, he couldn't tear his eyes away from her. Her eyebrows formed a line on her forehead, as she read the contents. Once she was done, she whirled around, as though looking for the person who had left the note. Levi had barely stopped himself from laughing then. He had to leave the place in a hurry after that. If someone had seen his reaction, it wouldn't be that hard to put two and two even for the dense policemen.

Or did it happen last evening, when he made eye contact with Hange for the first time? When he got a glimpse of the other side of fierce detective? When he saw a kind, endearing person underneath that façade?

Levi banged his head again. He was going crazy.

He considered hitting his head against the wooden surface for the third time, when Kenny appeared on the threshold of his room.

"Oi, kid," he crossed hands on his chest and tilted his head, studying Levi curiously. "Are you going somewhere?"

"Yes. But it's none of your business."

"When you say things like that, Levi," Kenny walked further into a room, coming to stand just behind Levi's shoulder. His lips curled into a smirk as he saw the variety of shirts that hanged on the door of the wardrobe. "It only makes me more curious. So, what's up?"

Levi pinched the bridge of his nose with fingers. He knew that he had to tell Kenny at least a portion of the truth. Otherwise, his uncle would find out the other way, and then he would know the whole truth. And Levi really didn't want Kenny to know he was going on a date with a detective.

Yes, he had to tell him about his date, Levi was aware of that. He was also aware of the reaction his words would have on Kenny. He already dreaded it.

"I'm going out," Levi told in a strained voice. He winced, preparing for what was coming. The bomb was going to explode any second. "On a date."

"A date?" Kenny repeated loudly, staring at Levi like he had grown a second head.

"Check your hearing, old man. Yes." Levi glowered. "I'm going on a date."

"You... are going on a... a date," Kenny spoke slowly. "With a real person?"

"Unbelievable, isn't it?" Levi asked sarcastically.

"I can't quite believe it, yes," Kenny agreed, surprisingly honest. He took a few steps back and plopped down on a chair, observing Levi underneath his eyelashes. "And who is that unfortunate soul?"

"We've met a few days ago. Went out for a coffee, then agreed to see each other again and go to the movies."

Kenny whistled. "Not bad, Levi. You going on a date with someone on your own volition, not because I made you. Huh, I'm impressed. When are you going to bring them home? I want to meet them."

“Never,” Levi retorted harshly. “You’ll scare her off.”

Kenny guffawed. “Levi, if she survived an evening with you, she isn’t going to be even fazed by me.”

Well… Maybe, Kenny was right. Levi wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of admitting it, though.

“If you don't have anything else to say, then get the fuck out.” He told him, turning back to the wardrobe. “I'm in a hurry."

"No respect for his elders," Kenny muttered, shaking his head. He stood up and headed to the door. Just before he reached it, he stopped and looked at the collection of Levi's shirts. He studied them for a moment.

"Pick the blue one," he said at last. "It brings out your eyes."

***

Levi paced around the entrance to the movie theater, his expression turning sourer and sourer with each minute. They've agreed to meet at six. It was already a quarter past six. And still there was no sign of Hange.

Had she forgotten? Or, maybe, there was some emergency? And she had no time to notify him?

Perhaps, she had she changed her mind? Had she decided to stand him up?

Levi glanced at his clock again and decided enough was enough. He grabbed his phone and dialed Hange's number.

He waited and waited and waited. No one picked up. He cursed under his breath.

Was the great detective Hange Zoe cowardly enough to tell that she didn't want to see him to his face? Levi refused to believe it.

Putting his phone back into his pocket, he started to walk. Gladly, he knew exactly where his date could be.

Taking a first turn to the left, he headed to the local police precinct. ***

If someone had said to him a week ago that he'd willingly go inside the police precinct, Levi would have called them a fucking idiot. But here he was, and all because of some pesky detective who didn't show up for their date.

With a grim look on his face, Levi approached the reception desk. A blonde woman with short hair was sitting there, her eyes focused on a computer screen.

Levi cleared his throat to gain her attention.

Looking up, the woman graced him with a polite smile. "How can I help you, sir?"

"Where I can find detective Zoe?"

The woman continued to smile, but a cautious look appeared inside her eyes. "May I ask why do you need her?"

Levi hesitated, not knowing what to say. Should he call himself Hange's date? Or should he come up with another explanation?

He was spared from giving a straight answer by a tall man with sandy hair and very impressive moustache.

Paying no attention to Levi, the man put his elbows on the reception desk, leaning over it.

"Hey, Nana, are you finished already?"

"Almost," the woman whispered, not taking her eyes off Levi. "I just need to deal with the gentleman over here first."

"Oh?" the man turned to Levi, looking him from head to toe. "And who is this?"

"I'm looking for detective Hange Zoe." Levi stated firmly. The man was looming over him, a full head taller than him, but Levi stared him right in the eyes, despite the growing discomfort in his neck area. What a fucking giant, he thought angrily, feeling the muscles in his neck stiffen.

"You're looking for Hange?" the man scratched his chin with a raised brow. "Oh! You must be the infamous thief!"

What?

Levi's heart stopped. He felt the ground disappear from underneath him, as he struggled to make sense of the current situation. So the police already knew? Was it an elaborate plan to make him come right into their hands? Had Hange known the truth since the very beginning? Was he the one who was being played, not the other way around?

His head reeling and his thoughts mashing together, Levi thought about turning around and bolting out of here. Maybe, he'd get lucky and be able to escape. He could use his intimate knowledge of the city's streets, make cops lose him in the labyrinth of back alleys.

Through a fog around his mind, Levi heard the man's chuckle. Instinctively, he turned his head to the direction the sound came from, listening more closely.

"Nana, that's him! The man who stole our beloved Hange's heart!"

What?

"Oh," the woman smiled, tilting her head to study Levi more closely. The suspicion was gone from her gaze almost instantly. "My god, you're right! Short, dark-haired and with a scowl on his face! He looks just like Hange described him."

Hange had described him? Hange talked about him? With her colleagues? And she called him short?

Levi didn’t know what to think of it all, getting even more confused than before.

"Let's go, Romeo," with a short laugh, the tall man threw an arm over Levi's shoulder. "I'll lead you to your Juliette."

***

"I'm Mike, by the way," the giant extended his hand to Levi.

"Levi," he nodded, shaking the offered hand.

"Oh, I know this already," Mike smirked. "It's the only thing our division talks about."

"Me?"

"Your date with Hange," he clarified. "Don’t take it the wrong way. We just worry about Hange a lot. Ever since she took the Ackermans’ case, she became quite obsessed with it. So we’re all glad that she finally took interest in something else.”

"Ackermans’ case? What’s that?" Levi asked, trying to goad Mike into revealing some kind of information. "I’ve never heard of it."

“You haven’t? I thought it’s the talk of the whole city. Either way, I'm sure Hange will fill you in in no time. It's one of her favorite topics nowadays."

His attempt obviously failed, so Levi merely grunted, hoping this kind of answer would suffice.

"We're almost here," Mike announced, turning the corner. "Before you go, I just want to say something." Levi looked up at Mike, picking up a slight shift in his tone. It wasn't as friendly anymore. "We all like Hange very much, so if you hurt her..."

"Got it," Levi swallowed, the feeling of shame weighing down on him. He didn't want to hurt Hange. He knew he was most probably going to.

“And another thing,” Mike mumbled, leaning closer to him. With wide eyes, Levi watched how the man started sniffing him, his nostrils flaring. “Yeah, you’re alright,” he concluded with a satisfied smirk. “A bit weird, but alright.” Mike clasped him on a back, his strong hand almost made Levi stumble. "That's Hange's office," he gestured at the door with Hange's name written on it and then left, humming under his breath.

Levi watched him go, wondering what the fuck had just happened. Had the man really sniffed him? What was that about? Should he be concerned? Honored? He should definitely ask Hange about it.

Shaking his head, he brushed the invisible dirt from his blazer. He breathed in, preparing himself, and then knocked on the door.

"Come in!" someone yelled from the other side. Levi instantly recognized Hange's deep voice.

He opened the door and entered. Hange gasped.

"Levi!” she jumped to her feet, almost knocking back the chair in the process. “Oh god, I'm so sorry! Our date! I forgot about it!"

All annoyance Levi had felt up to this moment had disappeared the moment he saw how embarrassed Hange was. She seemed genuinely ashamed and Levi couldn’t find it in himself to stay angry any longer. Although, he still couldn't pass an opportunity to tease her a bit more.

"I thought you decided to stand me up." He said in the saddest voice he could master. It wasn't that different from his usual one, but Hange's reaction was priceless.

"No! I would never, I just forgot about time, I'm—"

"It seems like I'm largely at fault here."

Levi blinked, as a tall blonde man came into his view. He recognized him right away, Captain Erwin Smith was as imposing in person, as he was on Levi's phone screen. Was he present in the room since Levi had entered it? Despite his quite large figure, up until he announced his presence, Levi didn't notice him at all.

"Hange, you may go, since your gentleman is already waiting," Erwin smiled, standing up from a chair across from Hange’s desk. "We'll finish tomorrow."

"Alright!" Hange waved her hand in Erwin’s general direction, too busy with gathering her belongings.

Watching her frantic moves, Erwin let out a soft chuckle. “She’s really excited about your date,” he whispered to Levi. “I’m Erwin Smith, Hange’s Captain.”

“Levi,” he let out his surname, for obvious reasons. “Hange’s… friend.”

“Take care of her, alright?” despite the warm smile and easy expression, Erwin’s blue eyes bored into Levi with surprising intensity. If he wasn’t so good at concealing his emotions, Levi would have squirmed under the heavy gaze.

“And bring her home before ten!” Erwin added, raising his voice, so Hange could hear him.

“Just go already!” Hange snapped, glaring at him. “Stop embarrassing me!”

Erwin laughed, but obeyed, heading to the door. Before he walked out, he gave Levi another look. This one was a little less hostile than his previous one, but it was just as successful in making Levi feel uneasy. Erwin Smith was a sharp and dangerous man. Levi hoped it was their last meeting.

“What’s taking you so long?” Levi grumbled, as he approached Hange’s desk. She was looking for something, opening drawer after drawer and shifting through their contents.

“I can’t find my phone!” she whined, forcefully pushing another drawer shut.

“That’s why you didn’t answer my calls,” Levi guessed, as he pretended to join Hange’s search. He started looking through the papers on her desk, his eyes going over them quickly. Most of it was regular paperwork, reports from Hange’s patrols and other boring stuff. One file caught his attention, though. It was a case from 1988. What Hange could need it for? His fingers twitched to open and read the whole thing, his mind scrambling to explain, how it could be linked to him and Kenny.

He didn’t want to raise any suspicious, though. So with a heavy heart, Levi laid the case file down and continued to search for Hange’s phone.

“Got it!” Hange fished the phone from underneath the table. “Must have fallen down somewhere during the day. Ah, and it was on silent, so that’s why I didn’t hear your calls. Sorry about that,” she added sheepishly.

“It’s fine,” Levi said. “You have an important job, I get it.”

“I’ll make it up to you,” Hange promised, as she put on her coat. “Are we too late already?"

"We are," Levi confirmed grimly. "Good thing it's a marathon, we can still be in time for a movie or two."

"Let’s hurry then!” Hange linked their hands together and dragged Levi along with her.

***

"Did you enjoy the movies?" Levi asked, after they left the cinema auditorium.

"Yes!" Hange answered, nodding enthusiastically. "They were great!"

"But you were complaining all the time," Levi noted, taking an empty bucket of popcorn from her hands and throwing it out in the trashcan.

"Well, there were a lot of inaccuracies in these movies. And most of the things these guys did would get me fired, or worse, earn me a very strict verbal reprimanding from Erwin. But yeah, I still had fun watching them. Did you?"

"Maybe, I would have," Levi shrugged. "If you had shut your mouth for at least a second."

"I warned you," Hange smiled, unfazed by his rude tone.

She did. And, truthfully, despite his bitching Levi actually enjoyed himself at the movies too. He was sure that whatever plot was unraveling on a screen wasn't even half as amusing as Hange's hilarious commentary.

As he walked through the movie theater's hallway with Hange by his side, Levi felt unusually content. Hange's company was unexpectedly pleasant.

Once they left the theatre and walked outside, however, Levi's good mood disappeared without a trace.

It was snowing. Big, fluffy snowflakes slowly descended from the sky, haphazardly falling down to the ground. The city around them was covered in snow and Levi involuntary shuddered, feeling the cold seeping into his bones, and then spread right to his heart.

"Levi?" Hange laid a hand on his elbow, her face and voice equally concerned. "Is everything alright?"

Shaking off his stupor, Levi nodded.

"Sure," he slumped his shoulders slightly, staring right ahead. "Just a bit colder than I expected to."

"Oh. Do you want to go home then?"

"It's up to you. Is there something you want to go?"

"There is one place," Hange said enigmatically. "It's not far from here. And I know just the way to keep you warm."

Levi raised an eyebrow, curious.

With a playful grin, Hange took his hand, interlaced their fingers and hid their joined palms inside the pocket of her coat.

"Better now?" she asked.

"Just a little," he mumbled, turning his face away to hide his embarrassment.

Judging by the soft look in her eyes and her slightly wider smile, Hange was able to see right through him.

“Let’s go before I freeze to death,” Levi grunted, dead set on keeping up his rude exterior.

*** The place Hange had led him to was just a walking distance away. While they strolled through the city, she seamlessly filled the silence with her chatter. She talked about anything and everything. She complained about her noisy colleagues, told him how she nearly burned her breakfast this morning, because she almost fell asleep in the shower, and shared her thoughts on a movie Levi had never even heard about.

He didn't participate in the conversation, only offering different kinds of grunts from time to time, but Hange didn't seem to mind.

Levi was grateful to her all the same, Hange's babbling, even though, a bit silly, helped him take his mind off certain things, memories he didn't wish to relive today. And her hand that was still holding his kept him grounded, forcing him to focus on his sensations.

"And here we are!" Hange exclaimed, stopping in front of the entrance to the park.

Levi looked around, appreciating the view. The park wasn't big, but it was away from busy streets. It was practically empty too, save for a couple of joggers and a few dog owners. Most importantly, it was quiet. Levi liked that.

He turned to face Hange, meaning to thank her for bringing him here. But when he looked to the side, Hange wasn't there. She was crouched a few steps away from him. There was wide, mischievous smile on her face and Levi instinctively took a step back, glaring at her.

"No," he warned. "Don't you dare—"

He didn't get to finish his threat, and a snowball that hit him right in the forehead was the reason for it. Levi cursed, furiously wiping snow from his face.

"Run, Hange," he growled, bending over to gather some snow too.

Not needing him to tell twice, Hange sprinted off, laughing joyfully. Levi formed a snowball and rushed after her. As he got closer, he raised his hand and aimed the snowball at Hange. It landed right in the center of her back and Hange yelped.

"That was low even for you, shorty!" she shouted. "Attacking from the back is against rules!"

"I don't remember you setting the rules!" Levi smirked, making another snowball.

He threw it again, but Hange hid behind the tree, evading his attack. She immediately retaliated, staining the front of Levi's blazer with snow.

Hange cackled, celebrating the successful hit. Levi tossed another snowball and again, Hange effortlessly dodged it. Levi decided to switch tactics. Getting to his feet, he ran right at Hange, spreading his arms and circling them around her waist. Using the momentum, he threw Hange on the soft snow, falling on top of her.

"Do you yield?" he asked, staring down at her.

"N-never!" Hange replied, panting. She raised her arms, which Levi, in hindsight, had forgotten to pin down, and pushed Levi's blazer up, revealing his shirt. She laid her hands on his ribs and her fingers started tickling him.

Levi wheezed, pushing her hands away. Hange took this opportunity to flip them over, landing on top of him. Not repeating Levi’s mistake, she pinned down his arms and then secured his hips with her knees.

"Do you yield?" she grinned victoriously.

Hange looked like a mess - hair disheveled, glasses askew, red-cheeked and breathing heavily. Levi couldn't look away.

"Fine, I yield," he grumbled. "Just get off me."

Hange complied almost instantly, falling in the snow next to Levi.

"Oi," Levi huffed, struggling to catch his breath. "Get up. You're going to catch a cold."

“I’ll be fine,” Hange replied lazily.

“Your boss would kill me if you become sick.”

Hange laughed and the joyful sound reverberated through the otherwise silent park. “Erwin scared you, didn’t he? Don’t make him fool you, he’s actually a big softie,” yeah, Levi had some heavy doubts about that. Maybe, Erwin Smith was indeed a softie. But only to Hange and his other co-workers.

“And what about your other friends? That giant of a man, for example.”

“You’ve met Mike!” Hange exclaimed, throwing her hands up. She turned to Levi, watching him with amused eyes. “Did he try to sniff you?”

“He did. What the fuck was that about?”

“It’s just a habit of his, don’t think about it too much. I need to know, though,” Hange moved her face closer to Levi’s, curiosity sparkling in her gaze. “What did he say?”

“Said I was ‘alright’.” Levi grunted.

“Oh! That’s a high praise, coming from him. Yeah, he won’t beat you up, don’t worry,” again, Levi wasn’t sure about that. “Let’s just stay here for a moment. Relax, we only live once, shorty. Enjoy the moment."

Levi's pants and hair were wet and starting to freeze, his fingers felt numb from the cold, but he did, as Hange said, and tried to relax. It was surprisingly easy, he noted, as he raised his gaze to the night sky. No stars were looking back at him, the weather too cloudy to allow for that, but Levi found a strange beauty in that nevertheless. It was quiet, it was calm. He felt at peace.

"How did you find this place?" he asked Hange quietly, wanting to preserve the tranquil atmosphere.

"I used to come here often, as a child. I visited it with my mom almost every weekend. Do you have a special place like this with your mom?"

"My mom died," Levi blurted out.

"Oh," Hange’s face fell. She pushed herself up, resting on her elbow. "Levi, I'm so sorry..."

"Don't be. It happened a long time ago."

"But you still miss her," she softly noted.

“I don’t.” Levi argued stubbornly, trying to keep his stern façade. “And if I did, how would you know about this? We’ve just met. You barely know me.”

“I’m a detective, remember?” Hange reminded. “It’s my job to be observant. You’re a hard nut to crack, Levi, your face is always so scary,” she mimicked Levi’s usual scowl, and he rolled his eyes, biting back a smile. “But your eyes show what you truly feel. And they look so sad. It was the first thing I’ve noticed about you actually."

Levi looked up, meeting her gaze. There was something inside it, it was inviting him, enticing him into trusting Hange with things he had never revealed to anyone.

"It was snowing when she died," he whispered. He closed his eyes and could almost feel it - the cold wind ruffling his hair and bits of snow flying through the open window as he sat next to his mother's dead body, unable to comprehend why she wasn't getting up; the crunching noise his shiny new shoes produced as he walked through the snowy cemetery; the numbness in his hands and legs as he kneeled before her grave, begging her to come back. “That’s why I hate snow so much.”

He knew Hange was watching him closely and she probably had noted the slight trembling that wracked his body. She said nothing, though, just simply took his hand in hers and squeezed it.

Levi was grateful for her silence. He was grateful for her presence.

Hange didn't offer him meaningless words of condolences or fake encouragements. She just held his hand, reminding him that he was not alone.

"Sorry for bringing the mood down," he said after a few more minutes of silence.

Hange smiled, a gentle look in her warm, brown eyes.

"Don't you even think of being embarrassed about this, Levi. I—"

Whatever she was going to say was suddenly interrupted by a loud shrill.

"Excuse me," Hange took out her phone and looked at the screen, grimacing. "I have to take it," she explained and stood up, walking a few steps away.

With detached look, Levi watched how expressions on her face changed. First appeared annoyance, then anger, next came curiosity, before it settled into determination.

Hange put the phone back into her pocket and came back. Now she wore an apologetic expression on her face. "It's an emergency," she said, offering Levi a hand to help him up.

“Do you want me to walk you back?”

“No, thanks,” Hange winced. “My friend will pick me up.”

“Oh, alright,” Levi nodded numbly, not knowing what to say.

“I’ll text you, yeah?” she looked at him with a hopeful smile. “So we could meet again, perhaps?”

“Sure,” he agreed. “I would love that.”

“Awesome!” Hange gave him finger guns, and Levi rolled his eyes, smacking her arm playfully.

“See you soon!” she shouted and then hurriedly walked away.

As soon as she was gone, Levi was cold once again.

#obviously this is set in a parallel universe where people can still go to movies lmao #anyway nothing happens in this chapter but! maybe the next chapter will be more exciting #no guarantees though :)#levihan #levihan fanfiction

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let-me-write-shit · 4 years

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Somebody To You: 9

Friendly reminder to please Like and/or Reblog. It helps more than you think! :)

New chapter every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday!

WARNING: LOTS OF FLUFF and mentions of situational depression

Word Count: 3,880

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CHAPTER NINE:

She tried. She really did. After Harry’s unexpected surprise for her sister, Zoey was in better spirits. And the phone call she got at work that night from Katie who was gushing about how great the show was and how well Harry treated her and her sister’s friend and made sure they got home safely meant the world to her. But it was just a distraction. By the next morning, the depression hit her again. She made the mistake of checking her social media accounts for the first time in weeks and was instantly bulldozed with dozens of posts and tagged pictures from old high school and college classmates making ‘I miss you’ posts. Needless to say, she didn’t respond to them.

Instead, Zoey went right back to barricading herself in her room. Nancy and Rory began to worry and started checking in on her a little more frequently throughout the day, which she actually appreciated. Andy tried his best to distract her at work and even had her take a few shots with him to ease the stress. Brett had backed off a little, not texting her as much and he had taken a little break on coming over to hang out with them, but still kept the normalcy of shamelessly flirting with her at work.

And Harry. Poor Harry. She knew he was going through a lot right now with his tour and Rory and trying to write a new album. It was always in the back of her mind with every text she left unanswered. ‘I hope he doesn’t think I’m abandoning him.’ It was a silly thing to worry about. She knew he wouldn’t blame her for her silence if he knew. But he didn’t know. She couldn’t tell him. Because to say it or to write it down would make it more official - more real. She was okay with pretending that she was living in some sort of fantasy. One where her best friend was simply back at home. It was plausible. There was no way that she would be living in LA, pulling hot, successful men’s phone numbers nightly, and be friends with Harry Styles in real life. Being in a dream-like state or alternate universe made more sense than Jessica having been dead for a whole year.

She just couldn’t talk to Harry about it. She tried, drafting a few texts to him. But she deleted them all before she got the courage to send them. She didn’t want to cry. She needed to keep it together. She had gone this long without crying, she just needed to get through to Wednesday. Because she knew that once she started crying, she wouldn’t be able to stop. And Harry would have said something sweet or profound and she would have lost it. Better to ignore Harry and just get through this.

But it was lonely, and being alone during this scared the crap out of her. She could feel her grasp on reality slipping. She could feel herself falling deeper into the hole she dug herself in a year ago. How did anyone cope with losing a loved one? Especially as suddenly and unexpectedly as she did? She was with Jess when she died. They were laughing together when the impact happened. Jess was one room over when she was pronounced dead. How could Zoey have gone a whole year having, arguably the best time of her life, without Jess?

She hardly slept after work on Monday. If anything, she just went into a deep state of zoning out, because the next thing she noticed was the sun rising behind a thick layer of dark clouds. Seemed fitting that it would rain today.

Her phone rang several times, missing calls from her parents, her sister, her ex-boyfriend Michael, and Harry. She was half tempted to answer Harry’s call, but she lacked the energy to speak. She just felt drained and numb. It reminded her of how she felt when she heard the news. There was no emotion she could register. Not sad, or angry, or confused. Just numb. But she had the overwhelming urge to be held, desperate for warmth and the pressure from being squeezed. Something to make her feel safe and comforted and to ease her pent-up anxiety.

The longer Zoey stared out the window, the busier the streets below got. Rory had already poked her head in to say goodbye before she left for a meeting. She knew that any moment now Nancy would be knocking on her door to offer her some breakfast for the sixth day in a row, and Zoey would, once again, respectfully decline. Like clockwork, a soft tapping sounded. Zoey rolled over in her bed to face the door and she uttered, “Yeah?”

Slowly, the door creaked open and a tall figure in gray sweatpants, a black t-shirt, and a black beanie with curly brown hair poking out from the bottom came into view. Stubble lined his upper lip and chin, his lips were turned down in a sort of frown, and his big green eyes stared down at her, concern, sympathy, and care was etched thick in his gaze and in the creases of his eyes. Seeing Harry standing in the middle of her doorway was all it took. With one look, he had managed to make her not only come to terms with her emotions but also allow her to push through the numbness to feel her emotions. By just a mere look, Zoey’s face screwed up, her lips tightened and turned downwards, and she began to cry.

Harry quickly closed the door and was by her side in an instant, slipping under the covers and pulling her close to his chest, stroking her back and just allowing her to let it out. He didn’t even flinch when she gripped onto his shirt and sobbed into his chest. He knew she must have been hurting, but he couldn’t get a good read on just how much until that moment, and to see her in so much pain twisted a knife into his heart. He couldn’t help but get emotional as tears stung his eyes, holding his friend tighter.

Eventually, her sobbing slowed as she began to run out of energy, but neither of them said a word. They just laid there with Zoey’s face in Harry’s chest, gripping onto his shirt, until she eventually fell asleep. He didn’t dare move in case he woke her. He could tell it had been days since she’s had a decent night’s sleep. She had bags under her eyes, her hair was barely in a bun with chunks of hair dangling sporadically every which way. He had half a mind to wake her up and yell at her for bottling up her feelings instead of talking to him or anyone for that matter. But he didn’t have the heart. At least he was here now. He’d take the heat from his management for leaving later.

They stayed like that for what seemed like hours until Harry, too, fell asleep. By the time they came to, Zoey’s phone was ringing. Harry rubbed his eyes and yawned while Zoey stirred awake, reaching for her phone that was wedged in between their legs on the top of the bedspread, turning it to see that someone named ‘Mikey’ was calling. She pressed a button to silence the ringer and stared at the screen until the name disappeared. Harry noticed the dozens of missed texts she had gotten before she tossed the phone to the end of the bed and he couldn’t help but recognize that she was probably screening his calls like that, too.

His attention flashed to the window seeing the sun high in the sky and figuring that it was probably around noon when his stomach growled. He sat up and looked at her, eyes still puffy and hair still disheveled, but looking more relaxed.

“Are you hungry?” Harry asked, “I was going to go make some lunch.”

Zoey shrugged, “A little.”

“What would you like?”

“Whatever you’re having is fine, thanks,” Zoey avoided eye contact, seeming embarrassed.

Harry nodded, pushing the covers off of himself and dragging his feet out of the room, touseling his hair. He made it to the kitchen when he realized he was no longer wearing his beanie and that it must have fallen off while he was sleeping. There was a note on the counter that had quick scribble written in sharpie that read: “H and Zo, running out to a meeting. Be back around dinner. Text me if you need anything. Love, Nancy”.

He grinned, rummaging through the fridge for something to eat, thinking back to a year ago. There was a point in time just before he met Nancy and Rory when everything seemed to be going so well for the singer, he had amazing success in his solo career, he was able to see his family more frequently and take breaks, surrounded himself with great people, but somehow he still felt alone and down. He was missing something and he couldn’t quite figure out what it was. Then he met Nancy and Aurora at a charity dinner and they seemed to add a sense of comfort and true friendship in his life that he was missing on the west coast.

But Zoey was the missing piece. When he met her, he felt like he understood what a soulmate was, which was weird, because he wasn’t sure he totally believed in soulmates and always figured that a soulmate was something to romanticize. And maybe in certain situations it was, but for him, it was something completely different. For him, it was someone whom he could tell absolutely anything to without judgment or fear of abandonment. Someone he could sit in complete silence for hours and be at peace. Someone whom he didn’t have to impress or put on an act with. Someone whom he could love with every ounce of his being, even just platonically, and whom he could share every bit of each other’s pain or happiness.

He knew that sounded crazy. They’d only been friends for a couple of months, but he felt it in his bones. He had met someone who would be in his life, through any trials and turbulence, for quite possibly the rest of his life. He was certain of it. He saw it in flashes while he dreamt. She would be there when he fell in love. She would be there when he got his heart broken. She would be there when he found the one, and when he would fall in love all over again when his children are brought into the world. She would be there through the tough parenting trials. She would be there for his future family during the lengthy, lonely tours and business trips, and celebrate the endless nominations and awards, and he was grateful to have met a friend like her. He could only hope that she felt that way, too.

Harry finally decided on making some grilled cheeses for himself and Zoey, grabbing a couple of bottles of water before carefully carrying them back to Zoey’s room. He heard faint muffles from the other side of the door, and when he pushed it open he saw Zoey sitting up, phone pressed to her ear, a tear rolling down her cheek, and her free hand fidgeting with his beanie. Her attention snapped in his direction when she noticed him walking in and she scooted over a bit to let Harry back into the bed while responding to the person on the phone.

“Not tonight. I’m off on Tuesdays and Wednesdays,” she said. After a pause, she continued, “No. Thankfully I made some pretty great friends over here who are keeping me company. She would have really loved them.”

Harry looked down at his food and smiled, knowing she was talking about him as she finished the conversation.

“Of course, no problem. Thank you again for this opportunity, it’s been more helpful than I ever thought it could be. Okay, love you both. Bye.”

Zoey ended the call and wiped the tear from her cheek, looking up at Harry with a soft grin. She had fixed her hair, pulling it to a neater messy bun, and her eyes weren’t as puffy, though still bloodshot. She must have read his face because she informed him, “It was Jess’s parents.”

Harry’s mouth formed an ‘o’ and he nodded, “How are they holding up?”

She shrugged, “It’s hard. They were going through old pictures of us when we were younger when I called. They said I’ll always be family and they’re happy I found some good friends out here. Thank you, by the way.”

“Oh, no problem,” Harry held up half of his hot grilled cheese sandwich, pulling a corner of the triangle piece to his mouth, “it’s technically your food, I just put it together.”

She snorted, “I meant for coming. I thought I could handle it on my own, but I guess I was wrong. I didn’t realize it until I saw you.”

Harry put an arm around her shoulder and squeezed her into his side, “Zoey, I don’t know how many times you want me to say it, but I’ll always find a way to be there for you. You just lucked out that I’m off during this.”

“How pissed are your management?”

“...I’ll probably get an earful l when I go back.”

Zoey laughed and asked, “Do Nancy and Rory know you’re here?”

He nodded, “I called them when I landed. I just missed Rory. She had apparently just left before I got here, but I talked to Nancy for a little. She just left a note for us to let us know she was going to a meeting. She said she’d be back tonight.”

Zoey nodded, taking a small bite of her grilled cheese. The clouds from the storm were so dark that it cast a gray light into her room, making her more relaxed as the two pulled Zoey’s laptop between them and played ‘The Sandlot’ in the background while Zoey talked, finally saying everything that’s been on her mind for the past week. It was hard at first, trying to control her emotions. But the more she talked, the more she understood that she didn’t have to control her emotions. In fact, Harry didn’t want her to control it, he wanted her to feel how she needed to feel.

“Don’t bottle it up. That’s not how you get better. Lean into it. Cry if you need to. Scream if you feel it. But don’t hold it back. It’s just you and me, you’re safe,” he told her.

And she felt it, too. Safe. She wondered how she ever went through life before knowing him. How she ever felt safe before him. Whatever she thought safe was before him was something else entirely. He provided her with a sense of comfort and belonging she never thought existed. He never made her feel inferior or silly beyond the sense of joking. It was hard to imagine that just a few short months ago Harry Styles was just some famous, hot, British singer on the radio and in magazines who didn’t even know she existed. Now, it was hard to picture him as anything more than, what she would consider him to be, her best friend.

Hours had past and the movie had long since been over as they continued to talk and she found herself finally starting to laugh and smile again. Her phone went off a couple more times, noticing another call from her ex-boyfriend and one from Brett, but she was finally feeling a little bit like her old self again and she didn’t want to ruin that right now. Instead, they talked about Harry and his tour, stories of life on the road, and a few fan encounters.

“I don know how you do it. How do you feel safe?”

Harry shrugged, “I guess I’m just used to it. You never really fully let your guard down. You’re always cautious, but you don’t really think about it after a while.”

Zoey nodded, “I guess the attention isn’t all that bad. Especially for a single guy. But...what’s even going on with that? Made any decision yet on what you want to do about Rory?”

Harry pushed out air through his nose in a sigh and relaxed his shoulders, dropping his head, “I have no clue,” he groaned, “Honestly, I’ve been avoiding thinking about it and just pretending like that conversation never happened because I liked the way things were when we were just TALKING. It was easier then. And it kind of feels like we’re getting back to that, too, so I’m hoping she just forgot about it.”

Zoey shook her head, raising an eyebrow, “Harry,” she warned, “girls never forget. Don’t wait too long or you’ll lose her.”

He huffed, “I know. I just need more time to think. One thing at a time. Right now I’m focusing on you.”

Zoey chuckled, “Well, thank you, but don’t forget to focus on yourself, too. And maybe don’t tell her that. I know you mean well, but no woman wants to know that you’re focusing on another girl, even if it’s just a friend.”

Harry laughed, ruffling his hair, “Yeah, maybe not the smartest thing to say.” They settled when Harry asked, “What do you want to do tomorrow? It’ll be just me and you.”

Zoey shrugged, “I really want to go to the beach, but we definitely can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

Zoey looked at him as though he grew five heads, “Hello? Did you forget you’re famous? You’ll definitely be recognized.”

“I can get away with it in big crowds. Too many people are distracted. You just have to keep moving.”

“And your tattoos won’t tip them off?” she pointed out.

“I can just wear a long sleeve shirt if it’ll make you feel more comfortable.”

“It’ll be a trillion degrees!”

Harry waved her off, “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry. We’re going to the beach.”

Eventually, there was a knock on Zoey’s door. She called for whoever it was to come in and Nancy poked her head in, holding two dome-topped cups filled with chocolate milkshakes, Binx scurrying in behind her and leaping onto her bed.

“I brought these for you,” Nancy warily chimed, edging in.

Zoey smiled brightly at her, scratching the top of Binx’s head and taking hold of hers while Harry grabbed the other, “Thank you, Nancy,” she said.

Nancy grinned, happy to see her friend in better spirits. “I just got off the phone with Rory. She’s on her way back, but we were thinking about getting some Chinese for dinner if you want any.”

“I actually just ordered some postmates,” Harry informed her, “should be here any minute. But thank you.”

She nodded and excused herself from the room when Zoey’s phone rang again. She held it up to see the screen and sighed.

“That’s the fourth time this Mikey person called today. Why do you keep ignoring it? Is it some weirdo stalker from your work not getting the hint or something?”

Zoey shook her head, “No, it’s my ex-boyfriend.”

Harry’s eyes widened, “Oh.”

The phone screen went blank and she groaned, “I should probably talk to him, shouldn’t I? He’s probably having a rough time with Jess, too. He WAS there when it happened, too.”

Harry shrugged, unsure of what to say. Zoey thought for a moment before pressing the ‘Return Call’ button, listening as the phone dialed out, feeling bad that it had taken this long to reach out to him. He didn’t have anyone in his life that knew Jess that well. Zoey was lucky that Harry was here, she couldn’t imagine how she’d feel right now if he weren’t, so she could only imagine how Michael felt.

“Hey,” Michael answered, his voice low and sullen.

“Hey,” Zoey greeted, feeling Harry’s eyes on her, “How are you feeling?”

She heard Michael sigh, “I don’t know. Pretty shitty. Left work early today. But now I’m by myself and this sucks.”

“I know,” Zoey soothed, “What about your friends? What’s Dan doing? Can he come over to keep you company?”

Michael huffed, “He’s with Becky. But I wouldn’t want him to come over anyway. He’d just try to make jokes or play video games and I’m not in the mood for that right now. I wish you were here.”

Zoey frowned, “I’m sorry, Mikey. I would if I could.”

“Can’t you come back and visit? Just for a little?”

“I can’t. I’ve got a job. I’ve got friends here. I can’t just leave.”

There was a moment of silence before he spoke, “You really made a whole new life for yourself out there, didn’t you?”

“Mikey…” Zoey cautioned, looking at Harry who she was pretty sure could hear the conversation as his eyebrow raised and his head tilted.

Michael stammered, “I know, I’m sorry. I’m not trying to make you feel guilty. It’s just...hard for me. We were together for four years. I can’t get over you that quickly. I just miss you.”

“I know, I miss you, too,” Zoey responded, looking down at Binx who was nuzzling his head into her lap, a little embarrassed as this phone call was a lot more intimate and personal than she expected, feeling sorry that Harry had to hear this, “Well, it’s late there. Try and get some rest. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay. I love you, Zoey.”

“I love you, too. Get some sleep.”

Zoey ended the call and gently tossed her phone to the side, hesitating before she looked up at Harry, his expression all sorts of confused.

“Sorry,” Zoey blushed, “Conversations with him lately are usually like that, I was just hoping that this one would be different.”

Harry’s eyebrows furrowed, “I’m confused. Are you guys broken up? I thought you were seeing Brett?”

“Brett and I are a different story, but yes, Michael and I are broken up.”

“But you still tell each other I love you?”

“I mean, yeah,” Zoey shrugged, looking Harry in the eyes, “I was with him for four years. He was there with me during the most traumatic moments of my life. And he’s always been good to me. I’ll always love him. I’m just not IN love with him.”

“So you don’t want to be with him?”

Zoey laughed, shaking her head, “You seem awfully confused for a guy who’s still friends with practically all of his ex-girlfriends.”

Harry’s eyebrows relaxed and his lips twitched into a smile, laughing, “True. But I don’t tell them I love them.”

“But you do,” Zoey quipped, “Just because you fall out of love doesn’t mean you don’t still have a love for that person. There will always be a piece of you that loves them, it’s just not as great as it once was. That’s why you’re still friends with them. Because you still care about them on some kind of level.”

Harry stared at her for a moment before smiling his perfect, toothy smile, “You’re too wise for your own good.”

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tornadoofcreation · 5 years

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Lloyd Heacanons Pt. 2

~I don’t think there’s anything too bad in here, but trigger warning for slight mentions of anxiety~

These also got really long, oops sorry

* He gets stomachaches and headaches when he’s stressed.

* He gets very, very upset with himself when he fails in a mission and makes a mistake.

* He has a bad habit of skipping meals and sometimes goes a full day without having a single proper meal

* Despite this, he’s not picky at all when it comes to food. Maybe it’s because he lived on the streets for a while and took what he could get or maybe it’s just because he’s Lloyd, but he will eat literally anything. Ketchup and bananas? Sure. Peanut butter and cheese sandwich? Sure. Everyone, save Cole, is high key disgusted by it

* He also loves pineapple on pizza, much to Kai and Zane’s disdain

* When Zane died, Lloyd blamed himself because if he had just been a bit stronger and better, maybe when he had defeated the overlord, he would’ve stayed dead.

* Because of this, he started obsessively training and completely neglecting his human needs. It got to the point where Garmadon would literally sit on the edge of Lloyd’s bed all night to make sure he actually slept and didn’t wake up at some ungodly hour to train

* Okay that got a bit too angsty for me, so, Lloyd’s favorite color is yellow and he likes wearing pastels. He owns a lot of light greens, blues and yellows

* He also loves doodling on his jeans and shoes. His jeans are almost all ripped up and covered in sharpie doodles. He has one pair of white converse that he uses as a canvas

* He loves strawberry marshmallows and strawberry milk. Obviously, his favorite ice cream is strawberry

* He talks to himself a lot

* He visits the Ninjago orphanage a lot, just to talk to the kids, and make friends with them. When he turns 18, though, he’s planning on adopting all of them. Every. Last. One.

* He chews on his sleeves when he’s stressed

* He also bites his nails until they bleed. To get him out of the habit, the other ninja (mostly Kai) put bandaids on all of his fingers so he can’t access his nails

* He was once so tired in a press conference that he said “hi, I’m Energy, master of Lloyd” and it’s become a Ninjago-wide meme

* He loves lizards. They’re so cute and have the sweetest faces. He also likes frogs.

* He also really likes sharks

* Because of his dragon side, he’s sort of cold blooded. It’s not full, but if it’s very cold outside, Lloyd needs to keep extra warm to regulate his body temperature and maintain homeostasis

* He has these horrible side effects of getting possessed where he’ll get really dizzy, pass out, start shivering uncontrollably, get pain flashes or start vomiting blood. The effects just randomly show up and it’s very scary for Lloyd and everyone around him when it happens. (Not my personal headcanons, based of an ask that @lindsey-chr-not-found received (sorry for tagging I just wanted to give credit))

* He had to get his passport illegally meddled with because his birthdate looked very suspicious

* After the whole possession fiasco, Lloyd always kisses his mom before every mission, because when he was possessed by Morro, Lloyd feared for his life and all he could think was that he was going to die here, and the last thing he did was refuse to kiss his mom goodbye

* He’s prone to panic attacks

* He always keeps some type of fidget with him. When he has to give public speeches, he likes to play with it to make him feel more comfortable

* The ninja eventually got him a spinny fidget ring that he wears all the time. It helps him so much

* This is more of a garmadon HC, but he knows that Lloyd tends to bottle up his own fears and pain to be strong for others. Because of this, garmadon makes sure to ask Lloyd how he’s feeling every single night, just to encourage Lloyd to open up and give room for him to talk if somethings wrong

* Lloyd goes on runs a lot. He likes to clear his mind and take a moment to breathe

* He likes listening to others talk. He’s not great with social interactions and people. He prefers to listen than to talk

* However, he really has a way with words, and the fact that he’s a pretty quiet person makes the words that he does say very impactful

* He need glasses, but he doesn’t like wearing them. he usually only wears them when he’s around the house or needs to read. He wears them during interviews, because it’s really embarrassing when he spends like 5 whole minutes squinting trying to read the question

* Wearing them makes him look so much older though

* After season 9, he started growing his hair out more and changing small things about his appearing because after everything that just happened, he hates when he looks in the mirror and sees an almost carbon copy of his father

* Lloyd got highlights in his hair because the most apparent difference between him and his father is that Lloyd’s hair is lighter, so he went and got highlights to exaggerate that differences

* As a side effect of the whole “master of energy” thing, Lloyd’s powers can leave him drained of energy very easily. After the whole ‘losing powers’ situation is s9, his powers seem to be different and he’s prone to fainting when he overuses them. Wu told him that he needs to be very careful because if he’s in a situation like he was in season 8, when he fought garmadon, it could sap his energy completely and leave him in a coma.

* He likes putting colorful bandaids on his injuries

* Speaking of injuries, he has a scar right above his heart from the battle with garmadon in true potential. He absolutely hates the scar.

* He is victim to all kinds of nicknames about his hair. The ninja are very creative when it comes to these nicknames, but their favorites are “blondie,” “Rapunzal,” And “Goldilocks”

* Jay and Lloyd like to enthusiastically re-enact starfarer scenes for the others. It started when the power was out, so jay and Lloyd decided to entertain everyone else by performing the entire starfarer movie. After that, it kinda became a thing.

* Little Lloyd used to make blanket forts on the bounty when he was sad, so now all the ninjas, after a particularly difficult battle, will make a blanket fort and just enjoy each other’s company,

* Sometimes they’ll sit in the fort and make up stupid games, or they’ll play video games, or they’ll talk, but sometimes, they just sit in silence and drink in the fact that all of them are okay, and they’re all alive.

* His favorite partners for missions are either Kai, Nya or Cole. Kai and Nya because they’re his siblings and they know each other’s fighting style and where they need to cover each other. (Kai And Nya always cover Lloyd’s left side, bc his left leg still is weak from the time he broke it in season 2). He likes working with Cole as well, because Lloyd has a tendency to panic and overthink, and Cole is so grounded and chill and his strategies are simple and practical.

* He struggles a lot with finding his worth when he is not the green ninja. Lloyd struggles with the fact that his friends only care about him because of his important title and everything.

* That was something his father helped him with a lot. Finding Lloyd’s strengths and all the things that make Lloyd wonderful and lovable. Not the green ninja. Garmadon reminded him a lot that the child he loved and cherished was not the green ninja, but Lloyd.

* Finding his own worth without relying on his powers, title, and family is something Lloyd is working very hard on.

* As soon as Ray and Maya were brought back after season 7, Kai and Nya dragged Lloyd to them and just kinda announced to them that Lloyd was their new son. Both ray and Maya adore him.

* The reason the ultra dragon liked him so much was not because he was the green ninja, but because of the dragon in him. They also connected with Lloyd the same way Firstborn connected to the FSM. They sensed purity and kindness in Lloyd’s soul

* He knows all the small hiding places on the bounty. Whenever he gets overwhelmed or needs to have a breakdown without messing up his “perfect” façade, he goes to those spots and hides.

* Misako and Wu tore down Garmadon’s monastery after season four when the ninja were gone for a week to follow a lead. When Lloyd got back and saw that his father’s monastery had been torn down by his own mother and uncle, he cried for hours on end.

* He was furious and refused to speak to his mother for a few days because this monastery was a such a big part of the legacy of peace garmadon tried so desperately to leave behind. He even sacrificed himself for this legacy, and his own mom, garmadon’s wife who should know how important this was better than anyone, tore down a big part of this legacy to build a tea shop.

* When the tea shop was built, the ninja had sleeping quarters in the shop. Lloyd; however, literally took his blanket and slept outside for the first two weeks. (The others begged him to stop when he caught a fever after sleeping in the rain)

* When the ultra dragon was still around, when Lloyd was feeling sad or lonely, he wold go and sleep in the dragon keep with them. All four heads would nuzzle around him and comfort him until he fell asleep.

* Lloyd and the other ninja burst into musical numbers all the time. If one of them starts a number, the rest are literally legally obligated to join in.

* The first few days after Lloyd aged up were hard for Wu because he looked so much like garmadon

* His anxiety can be really horrible, especially after Morro, and to help with it and make sure it doesn’t get in the way of doing his job, Lloyd takes medication for it.

* Lloyd has a tendency to overwork himself because he constantly feels he needs to prove that he is good enough. Wu sometimes finds this very concerning, because 1) overworking yourself isn’t good for you, but more importantly, in some way, Lloyd’s need to constantly be working and proving his worth reminds Wu a bit of Morro.

* Of course it’s very different. Morro wanted to prove he is the best, while Lloyd wants to prove that he is good enough and worth loving and caring about

* It is so incredibly hard for Lloyd to resist the forbidden scroll’s power, because he has always struggled with self worth, and this scroll gives him power that makes him so important and useful

* After season 2, when Lloyd was receiving awards for destroying the overlord, an alarming amount of new mothers approached Lloyd, telling him they named their baby Lloyd. It kinda freaked Lloyd out, to be honest

* Lloyd’s puppy eyes can convince anyone of anything. Whenever the ninja need to convince Wu of something, they send Lloyd.

* Lloyd knows what places on the bounty each ninja visits most often, so after a hard battle or if one of his siblings is having a bad day, he’ll stick little post it notes with nice messages in all of those places.

* He ends every note with “I love you so much. Love, Lloyd” and a little heart

* After the Morro incident, every single day, Wu would find a new note on his teapot, telling him what an amazing teacher he was, or how much he meant to the ninja.

* After skybound, Lloyd could tell that Jay was hiding something and that he was acting different, so he left a note every day on all of jay’s inventions and the video game console

* He left some for Cole on the refrigerator after he became a ghost

* For Nya and Kai it’s whenever they’re having a bad day. Sometimes Lloyd leaves them on random days, just to remind his big brother and sister how much they mean to him

* For Zane it’s on bad days as well

* After season 8/9 the others started doing it for him. The day after garmadon was defeated, Lloyd woke up to little notes on all of his belongings, from his sword, to his towel to his comics. He kept every single on of them.

165 notes · View notes

keelywolfe · 4 years

Text

FIC: Bedside Stories ch.1 (baon)

Summary: In the aftermath of Internal Disputes. Everything is going swell.

Tags: Spicyhoney, Established Relationships, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Hospitals

Part of the ‘by any other name’ series.

~~*~~

Read it on AO3

Read it here!

~~*~~

One of the first things Stretch had done when Edge was able to remain more awake was to sign in to their Netflix account on the hospital room television. Or rather, Red’s Netflix account since they still hadn’t bothered to get their own. He suspected Red took some minor glee at allowing others to pirate his account and who was he to steal his brother’s joy. He’d keep his thefts to digital streaming services.

But the television was currently dark, hunkering in the corner and silenced from the bevy of cooking shows played non-stop since that morning, ones like Sugar Rush and Cake Wars. Edge finally snapped on the second episode of ‘Nailed It’ and turned it off to relish the silence. His pain was currently at a tolerable level without any medication and he preferred not to add to it with awful programs.

On the table beneath the tv was a lovely floral arrangement sent by Asgore, one that he’d quite likely made himself and Edge truly appreciated that Stretch only put it where Edge directed and made no comment about who it was from.

It wasn’t entirely a surprise; Stretch had been on his best behavior for the past couple days and if the shrill voices of the hosts from that awful show had grated on his nerves, a well-behaved Stretch was nearly worse. He loved his husband as he was, snark and puns and all. It was nearly better to have him briefly gone, with the hopes he’d be more himself when he returned.

Much as Edge appreciated the current silence, there wasn’t much else to do in the hospital room. There was a stack of books sitting on the side table that he didn’t want to read along with his cell phone which gave him an apologetic message stating that his account could not currently access the Embassy servers, along with a terrible stick figure drawing resembling Janice with a word balloon that said, ‘Get well soon!’.

On top of the books was a rubix cube that Jeff brought in for him, a thoughtful gift that Edge solved in less than a minute, to his laughing dismay.

He was actually starting to reluctantly consider playing Simcity on his phone when a hammering knock at the door almost sent him flying to his feet. Or foot, rather, since one of them was currently firmly encased in a plaster cast.

“Come in!” Edge called irritably. He really could do without anyone testing whether skeletons could have a heart attack for a while.

He wasn’t surprised when the door flew open to reveal Undyne, grinning unrepentantly. She all but slammed the door behind her and flopped down in the chair by the bed, propping her booted feet up on the bed rail.

“Heya, tough nerd, where is your pretty honey bunny?” She glanced around the room as if she expected to find Stretch stashed away in the closet or under the bed.

“Must you call him that?” Edge sighed. The soles of her boots were leaving smudges on his sheets and he reached down to give them a slap, knocking them to the floor. Undyne only laughed.

“Touchy.” She shifted to lean with her elbows on her knees, hands hanging between them. “I’m the one whose knocked up, shouldn’t I be having the mood swings?”

“Thinking of you with mood swings is terrifying. Congratulations, by the way.” Edge knew very little about pregnancy, but he couldn’t really see a change in Undyne. He thought she might be wearing a slightly looser shirt than normal, but nothing else seemed visible, not even the ‘glow’ often mentioned in books and movies.

“Eh, thanks,” she grinned. “But let’s back up a step. I figured that honey of a hubby of yours wouldn’t leave your side.”

“You would be correct, even if I want him to,” Edge said dryly. “Much as I adore him, he was starting to get, shall we say, antsy. I sent him home to check on his chickens and to bring me some clean clothes.” Today was the first day Edge was in a position to despise the hospital gowns and he was, with great distaste.

“Uh huh. When are they springing you?” The way Undyne’s gaze fell over him was familiar, assessing damage and calculating potential weakness. It was automatic and came from a place of concern, he knew, but it was difficult not to bristle.

“Hopefully tomorrow, for a week’s rest and then a walking cast.”

Her eye narrowed, flicking back to his leg. “Bad?

“Not as bad as it could have been. For one, it’s still attached.” Undyne barked a laugh and pounded on the arm of her chair, which was the hoped for reaction. He’d tried that particular gallows humor with Stretch earlier and he had not been amused in the slightest. “It was mostly healed before we even got to the hospital, but the bone needs support until the doctors deem otherwise. Now that we’ve discussed me, can we…?”

“Yeah, sure.” She leaned back in her chair and spread her hands over her belly, pulling her t-shirt taut. That revealed the soft swell of her belly. “Alphys and I decided it was time to have a rugrat to chase, so us and the pop-sicle are on it.”

Popsicle? He didn’t want to know. But he did ask, curiously, “When are you due?”

“‘Bout two months.”

“Two months!” Edge blinked at her in shock. “I thought you’d be...more…” He held his arms out in front of his own empty stomach cavity in a wide circle.

She scoffed loudly and flexed, the firm ball of her bicep popping. “When you’re swole like me, the baby’s gotta fight the abs. And let me tell you, they’re trying.” She smirked then, a fiendish sort of glitter in her eye that filled Edge with equal parts fondness and terror. “You wanna feel the baby?”

“Well, I—”

Too late, she already stood and snatched up his hand, plopped it the slight curve of her belly. It was oddly firm, not at all what he was expecting and before he adjusted to that, there came a wiggle, like a fish was caught in her stomach which it might very well be. Ugh, that was disturbing. He preferred children after the creation process was finished.

She let him pull away and from her grin, she knew exactly how Edge felt about it; some of her glee rather resembled Red’s...or another Undyne, from another world. She flopped back in her chair and gave her belly an absent scratch. “So, when are you and Stretch gonna--”

“Please don’t ask.”

She frowned. “Oh. Sorry.”

It wasn’t her concern or her business, it was private, between him and Stretch, and Edge was as astonished as anyone to hear himself say, “He doesn’t want children.”

“What?” Undyne’s face twisted into disbelief. “Get off it. He loves kids, he’s always getting into trouble with the local ankle-biters. Bet you could talk him into it.”

“I don’t want to talk him into it.” Edge barely kept his testiness down, he knew Undyne, and knew she didn’t mean any harm, and he was the one who’d opened the topic. "I never want him to feel like a child is something he needs to agree to to keep me. I—“ He hesitated, thinking of Stretch, and his irritation faded. His faint smile was automatic, as natural as breathing when it came to thinking about his husband. As terrible as their anniversary had been with him mostly in a drugged sleep and Stretch curled up against him in his arms, Edge would have rather done it that way a dozen times over than to not have it at all. “I love him and I’ve accepted that we won’t have children. That’s our choice.”

For the first time, that honestly felt true. He supposed there was a faint hope lingering after their brief discussion last year, one that nagged at the back of his mind, tugged at his soul. But if he forced himself to truly consider it, Edge was happy with their lives the way they were and that wasn’t simply from Stretch’s preference; if they had a child, he would need to severely limit his other commitments to the Embassy and the Monster community as a whole. Plus there were the children at the Y to consider, children whose home lives were far from perfect, who craved a stabilizing influence.

Those children needed him more than he needed to speculate on an imaginary child. Even the children in New New home, who had loving parents of their own, needed to be protected from a world that was not yet as accepting as they might wish. The glaring white cast on his foot was proof of that.

That little pang he sometimes got when he thought of having a child of his own eased, fading, and Edge was content to let it go.

Undyne was looking at him with unusual shrewdness. “Yeah, I get that. Well, you’ll be a great uncle, both of ya, and I’m betting we’ll be trying to hook you up with babysitting duties.”

“I’d like that,” Edge said honestly. “And all the other neighborhood children seem to enjoy having a spare uncle or two. I’m sure your tadpole will be delighted to join the rest.”

She slapped her knees and stood. “Well, I gotta get back to the shitshow...and don’t even bother asking, I’m not supposed to tell you anything yet, that’s orders from on high. Just wanted to check in on you.” She sobered, and said with unusual softness. “And thank you. If I’d been there--” She shuddered, her hand falling down to rest on the slight swell of her belly.

“You don’t need to thank me, but you’re welcome,” Edge said sincerely.

Her somberness split into another wide grin. “But while I’m here….”

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a Sharpie, waggling her eyebrows as she held it up.

Ugh. They’d only put the cast on this morning and thus far, no one else had been around to attempt signing it. Grimly, Edge nodded. This was a bonding ritual of sorts in this world, and he would not be so churlish as to refuse it.

“Nothing obscene,” he warned. Undyne scoffed, but obediently signed only her name, adding in a clumsy sketch of her own face saying ‘get well soon, nerd!’

The door opened as she was finishing, Stretch barrelling inside with several bags in his arms. “okay, i know it’s cold out, but you won’t be able to do any turns on the catwalk soon anyway, so i figured gym shorts would be easier to get on you--hey!” He stopped, outraged. “i was gonna do that!”

“I left you plenty of room,” Undyne snorted.

Stretch harrumphed and started digging through one of the bags. He pulled out an entire package of sharpies in a startling array of colors. “my canvas is the world!”

“Your canvas is on my body,” Edge said dryly. “You may sign your name and sketch a small picture, Van Gogh.”

“salvador dali had a better moustache. and both ears.”

“Considering you have neither--”

“yeah, yeah. hey, undyne, congrats on the bump.”

“Thanks,” Undyne said easily, but Edge noticed she didn’t try to grab Stretch’s hand and drag it over to feel any kicking. Neither did Stretch ask and that seemed best. “See you two nerds around!”

“See ya,” Stretch called even as he plopped down to sit next to Edge’s carefully propped leg. “oh, yeah, here, i got you this.”

From the depths of his bag came a couple of books, not novels, but crosswords and sudoku, both with bright titles declaring them ‘World’s Most Difficult Puzzles’! There were also two metal squares about the size of his fist and when Edge inspected them, he found that they were latticed, dozens of different parts that appeared to be a whole.

“those are supposed to be really tough brainteasers...shit!” Stretch had been struggling with opening the packet of pens and when he finally pried the plastic apart, they fell out in a burst, scattering over the bed. Grumbling, he gathered them up in a messy rainbow pile near Edge’s cast.

Edge added a blue sharpie that had made it all the way up to the pillow to the pile, then set books and puzzles on his other side. “Thank you.”

“sure. i figured you were tired of watching other people baking when you can’t stand up and do it yourself.” Stretch contemplated his pile of pens, his face screwed up comically, and his expression brightened into an ‘aha’ as he picked up one in bright orange. Of course.

“Stretch?”

“hmm?” he said absently, pen poised over the rough plaster.

“I love you.” Edge said it with all the deep, longing sweetness in his battered soul, the warmth that rose merely from thinking of Stretch, trying in some small way to project the depth of his love.

Stretch blinked and lowered his pen. Undyne might not normally be shrewd but Stretch very much was and his look was assessing. Wondering, perhaps, what happened while Undyne was here.

“i love you, too.” Then his mouth quirked in a lopsided smile. “but you’re interrupting art here.”

Edge smiled back and shook his head. “Far be it from me to play the part of philistine.”

“actually, this might end up more picasso,” Stretch mused, “guess we’ll see.” The tip of the sharpie touched down as Stretch began, but Edge didn’t watch his dubious attempt at art. Instead, he began inspecting the brain teaser his husband brought for him.

As if Stretch wasn’t a walking, talking brain teaser every day.

Edge lightly touched each joint as he contemplated how to begin, listening as Stretch hummed down by his feet, sketching something that would likely be terrible for him to love.

-finis-

#spicyhoney #papcest #keelywolfe #underfell #underswap #underfell papyrus #underswap papyrus #by any other name

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of-thoughts-and-phobias · 4 years

Text

Of Thoughts And Phobias

Part 4: Under Wraps

Edited by @a-faithful-fanartist

First : Prev

Like what you see? Follow to support!

"Robin!" Sean cheered when he came through the door.

"Hey hey!" He dropped his bag on the floor and brought Sean into a hug.

"Haha, welcome to the mess. How was the trip, man?"

"Ugh, don't get me started. Seems like anything that could've gone wrong did at the same time. It's like something didn't want me to come here or something."

He tiredly walked over to the couch, Sean making sure to stay in between him and the shattered counter.

"Just don't wake me up and we'll be fine," he said, flopping face-first on the couch.

"Y'good man?"

A muffled confirmation came from the cushions closely followed by snoring.

"Been a long day for both of us, I guess."

Sean grabbed a pillow and blanket from the closet and carefully draped it over him.

"Goodnight, dude," he sighed, switching off the lights.

He swapped into some pajamas and fell onto his bed. It was impossible trying to get comfortable. His mind was just so active and awake that even blinking was a traitorous act. His brain was shouting at him all the possibilities of what was happening to him. He couldn't hide for long. He knew that. There was no way that this would end well. He groaned.

Sleep didn't come for a while.

Waking up felt even harder than falling asleep. He struggled to keep his eyes opened as he felt around for his phone.

He fell ungracefully out of bed and landed with an "oomf".

As he got up, he saw a quick flash of bright red from under his bed. He didn't want to think about it.

He was interrupted by a loud snore coming from the other room. He forgot he wasn't alone. Sean poked his head out into the living room to find a bundled- up figure on the couch, snoring loudly. Only his feet and hair were visible. He chuckled and went back to his room to get ready.

Getting dressed was a chore when running on a few hours of sleep, but Sean pushed past it. He fixed his hair, brushed his teeth, and went to check on Robin again.

"So I was thinking we could start by recording-" He walked into the living room to be greeted by a Robin who was still out cold.

"Uh. Hello?" He tried.

"Earth to Pixlpit? Roooooobiin, come 'ooon man. We have thiiiings to do," nothing.

"Geez," he backed off into the kitchen, where he remembered his shopping list. He had forgotten all about it and yep, the only thing he could find food wise was the junk in the fridge and an old box of spaghetti noodles.

"Whoops," he said. That won't do.

He snatched a sheet of printer paper and a sharpie and scribbled down a note for Robin when he woke up. After grabbing his phone and placing the note lovingly on Robin's face, Sean left once more.

It only took him about an hour to get groceries and come back. Robin was up by the time he came back, sitting at the table.

"Morning Sleeping Beauty! How was the couch?"

Robin chuckled.

"It was fine, but I woke up with this hanging out of my mouth," he held up the note.

"Had to put it somewhere you could see it," he shrugged slyly, slacking the grocery bags off his arms. He turned on the coffee maker and started to put the food away.

"So, I was thinking we could start with the Reading Your Comments and then go into the challenge vids," Sean explained, pulling out eggs and milk to put in the fridge.

"And tomorrow we can get some playthroughs done before we get started on editing," Robin added from behind his mug.

"Exactly. Sorry about the lack of food, want me to whip something up before we get started?"

"That sounds awesome," he laughed.

Everything was alright.

He smashed a few eggs unexpectedly and startled Robin by cracking the counter a bit when he accidentally gripped it too hard, but it was nothing he couldn't brush off.

It's fine.

Spending time with Robin almost made Sean forget about everything. It all just seemed to fade back into reality after he fell through crazy town. Recording felt... normal. And he needed that. He needed something ordinary.

That left the two of them walking down town to a cafe that Sean had recommended. They had gotten quite a lot of work done and decided to take a lunch break.

"No way," he continued, "there is no way the remake was better than the original."

“I’m telling you man! The plot line was more realistic and they fixed multiple plot holes in it!” Sean followed alongside him. The door dinged behind them.

“There was nothing wrong with the plot, you just couldn’t wrap your small head around it!”

Sean gasped dramatically.

“Insulted. By my best friend! For shame, Robin, for shame.”

They both laughed and sat down at a booth.

It was a nice place, quiet and homey, and it always smelled like coffee and chips. Relaxed chatter from other customers filled the room. Music played overhead and the TV in the corner murmured away about sports, and it all blended together into a pleasant white noise.

“Wait ‘till you try the bread, man. They make it from scratch!”

“Is that why we walked five blocks to get here?” Robin laughed again.

“Yes,” he deadpanned.

They continued talking until their food came.

"Thank you, miss. Oh, more chips, please?" Sean asked as the waitress walked away.

He dove into the fresh batch of chips.

It took him a moment to realize that Robin had stopped talking. He looked up and saw him staring back with a concerned look.

"What's wrong?" He tried.

"Dude are you alright? That's the sixth plate of chips you've ordered."

Oh. He didn't realize. He vaguely recalled something similar happening the other day at the pizza restaurant. Did it have something to do with his new.. predicament? Probably, seeing as he was still hungry.

"Um, told ya?" Robin furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"Best chips in town!" He laughed nervously.

"Right. Maybe next time you'll actually let me try some," he was smiling but the worry was still visible in his eyes.

"You'll just have to beat me to it!"

Stupid.

They continued to eat in silence until the waitress brought them a check.

"Let me," said Robin, "you've al--"

Sean knew Robin was talking but he couldn't hear him. His eyes were attached to the screen nearest to them. It was a news reporter, discussing reports on stuff that happened throughout the day. But the video that was playing in the corner...

Oh no.

"It really is an odd sight," the reporter stated, "This anonymous clip shows what appears to be a bolt of green lightning flashing in the sky. The same lighting was also spotted a second time not long after, a few miles away. That's not the weirdest part, though. If you pay attention, it almost sounds like someone screaming.-"

The TV was turned down as to not interrupt the patrons but Sean heard it clear as day.

They found him.

"Some call it a joke, just a gag someone sent us to get on the news. Others say that the footage shown is real, unmodified and definitely something to be wary of. What are your thoughts, Jim?"

It switched to another anchorman, appearing next to the videos.

The clips shown showed a bright flash in the sky, appearing above an airplane. It disappeared shortly after that.

Oh no no no.

"Well I don't know about you, but I think they look very convincing-"

No, no no no no no no no no-

"Sean!"

He snapped back. Robin was looking at him, concern all over his face. He swallowed down the knot in his throat.

"You good, man? You zoned out pretty hard there. What're you even looking at?" He started turning around. Sean quickly grabbed his arm, forcing him back.

"No," he whispered.

Robin shook his arm out of his grip. "Why? what's wrong, my hair messed up or something?"

"Don't," he tried again. "Please." Why did everything have to be so loud? Tears pulled at his eyes.

"Can we go home?"

Robin nodded knowingly. "Yeah man, let's get you home."

Sean was silent on the walk back. Robin didn't think to mention it.

Sean fell down face first onto the couch.

"Oomph."

Robin pushed his legs off so he could sit down instead. He tapped Sean on the shoulder.

"Hey, are you feeling better?"

A muffled noise came from the cushions, then Sean pushed himself up so he was sitting too.

"Yeah. I.. sorry," he sighed.

"No no," Robin interrupted. "It's normal dude, it looked like it was just an anxiety attack. Those aren't a joke."

Sean nodded slightly. "Yeah."

"Do you want to talk about it?" He tried.

"No, Robin," he grumbled "I'm fine. 'S just anxiety, I'm fine."

He got up from the couch and started towards his room.

"Sorry. I think I'll just take a nap or something. You alright with that?"

Robin sighed.

"You know where to find me man."

"Thanks Robin."

"Any time."

Sean closed the door behind him and fell down against it. Small bursts of light shakily pulsated all down his arms. He decided to focus on that instead.

He wasn't even sure why he was panicking. Sure they *caught* him on camera but they didn't *know* that it was him. He watched the neon colors trickle down his arms like water. What would he do if they did find out? What would he do if Robin did? He didn't want to think about it. But what if?

Losing it won't do anything, Sean, he told himself. You need to calm down.

He inhaled deeply, filling his lungs completely before exhaling.

In.

And out.

In.

And out.

Come on, Jackieboy, you got this.

He stayed there for a while, contemplating whether he should get up to go to bed. The thought was interrupted by the bright red peeking out from under his bed.

He could hear Robin outside furiously working on his laptop. Knowing him, he wouldn't move for hours.

He supposed sleep could wait.

Taglist

@septilover3 @obsidiancreates @cookiethedevil @chains-that-bind-this-roulette-of-mine

@caori-azarath @tinykitty252 @reverseblackholeofwords @fairyofsomething

Ask to be tagged!

That wraps up the prologue!! Three years in the making and we're finally getting to the good stuff! Buckle up, bitches it's only getting worse from here!

#official story #otap #of thoughts and phobias #jackieboy man #jacksepticegos #jacksepticeye #writing #tw anxeity

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mssjynx · 5 years

Text

a series of pretty promises

ohmtoonz fic no warnings 6224 words

@alfa-angel hi! this is a present for you, lovely! its a lil ohmtoonz fic for your birthday (ignore the fact that I’m two or three days late) but i super super loved writing it and I really really hope you love reading it! keep being your lovely, eccentric self!

The bustle of people held them close, one arm wrapped easily over Ryan’s shoulder to keep him from getting jostled with the crowd. The theatre had never been so busy, but the new Star Wars film wasn’t one to go unnoticed.

Ryan waited patiently as the popcorn machine rumbled, dropping lovely buttery pieces of popcorn into the cardboard bucket. He tried not to pay too much attention to how close Luke was at his side, thumb drifting back and forth over the protruding bone atop the end of Ryan’s shoulder. The action may have been an unconscious one for Luke, but Ryan was all too aware of their proximity.

It was the first time they’d hung out together outside of the cafe and he couldn’t help the butterflies fluttering in his tummy as his recurring internal question circled through his mind again.

“Woah!” Luke’s exclamation drew his attention back to his bucket, overflowing with popcorn which fell to their feet. He jerked the bucket away from the dispenser. “You still with me, Ryan?” His words were brushed with amusement as Ryan lifted his hand to hide his blush of embarrassment.

“Sorry.” He only met Luke’s eyes for a moment before dropping his attention as his face went up in flames. “Got lost in my thoughts for a second.”

The arm over his shoulders dropped to settle around his waist, long fingers resting atop Ryan’s shirt. He began leading the two of them towards the theatre, holding his tickets in hand. “Is everything okay?” Luke asked, and the touch of concern that leaked into his low, southern tone had the warm flush in Ryan’s cheeks reaching down to fill his heart too.

With whatever courage he could muster, he looked up to meet Luke’s gorgeous dark eyes again and nodded his head with a gentle smile. “I’m all fine, don’t stress. Just… distracted,” he explained, trying not to notice how Luke pulled him that slight bit closer when giving the theatre worker their tickets. He tore the corner of them before handing them back and the two continued down the hall to the entrance of their assigned theatre.

“Well don’t be too distracted to miss this movie, okay? If you zone out through the whole thing I’m gonna have to drag you back here for the next showing and we’ll watch it all over again.” The tease in his voice had a touch of the truth and touch of a joke, and Ryan didn’t doubt that the boy would do exactly that.

He nodded with a soft laugh, the arm around his waist slipping away only for his fingers to be caught and linked with Luke’s. The southern boy lead Ryan up the stairs, between the many rows full of other people. Ryan had no idea how Luke had managed to catch such perfect seats as they shuffled past people knees to the very back right corner of the theatre. “How early did you book these tickets?” Ryan asked, his hushed tone aware of the number of people sitting impatiently in their seats.

When he sat himself down, popping his drink in the cupholder and the popcorn between them, he looked to Luke who was surprisingly quiet and blinked in confusion. Was it too dim for him to see right or were Luke’s cheeks a darker tone than usual?

The older boy glanced away and Ryan didn’t get the chance to decide. “A little bit before I asked you,” he commented, nonchalant about the fact. Ryan blinked. He had asked him a few weeks before, knowing the movie was soon to be released, but how early had Luke been thinking about asking Ryan to go with him? “Get comfortable,” Luke whispered before Ryan could form a question that wasn’t embarrassing. The quick change of subject was perfectly timed as the black wall before them lit up and music seeped through the speakers.

The movie was beginning.

Yet thirty minutes into the movie and Ryan could hardly pay attention. He kept zoning into his thoughts, jolting as if electrocuted anytime his knuckles brushed with Luke’s when they simultaneously reached for popcorn, completely losing himself in his nerves and questions and wonders.

Why had Luke asked Ryan? From all the flirting and little bantering, to go to hanging out as friends was so peculiar. It didn’t feel just friendly, with all the hand holding, arms around shoulders and waists. But Luke hadn’t put up the middle armrest! Wasn’t that something people did when they went on dates; cuddled up together and watched the movie? So was Ryan wrong to think it was a date? Luke hadn’t specified so and he didn’t mention anything about any reasons to why he’d asked Ryan so-

“Ryan, is there something bothering you?” Luke’s voice wound its way into his awareness and he snapped his attention to the boy sitting beside him, watching with careful, worried eyes. They glimmered in the dim theatre, deep and full of stars. “Are you okay?” Gentle fingertips followed the question, drifting down the sensitive skin on the inside of Ryan’s forearm before slipping between his fingers.

The cafe worker ducked his head for a moment, hesitating before lifting his gaze back to meet Luke’s. “Is this… a date?” he asked, the words followed my an internal sigh of relief at their release.

Luke’s expression didn’t shift except for the slight tilt his lips adopted, turning up at the question. “If you want it to be a date, it is. If not, then that’s okay too,” he explained, the simple, open answer warming Ryan’s heart despite not giving him what he wanted. He smiled at his hands, glancing to the theatre screen.

“But when you asked me,” he pushed, “did you ask me in thinking of taking me on a date? I don’t want you to just say it’s a date now so I- because I want it to be. I want you to be honest.”

The hand in his lifted, tightening slightly as it was brought up to rest atop the arm rest between them. Luke’s free fingers slipped up over Ryan’s knuckles, moving slowly and lightly over the back of his hand and his wrist. “When I asked you, I was intending it to be a date. I chickened out last minute and didn’t specify, but from the moment I bought the tickets, it has been a date to me.”

Ryan watched his face, eyes squinted just slightly as he tried to pick out anything in Luke’s face that might have told him the older boy was lying to reassure him. “You sure?” he whispered, aware of the irritated glares sent their way from Luke’s distinct voice.

Luke’s smile broadened, shuffling back and releasing Ryan’s hand. He pushed the armrest up, moving the popcorn to his other side and shuffling into the space he had created between them. “I promise,” he told him, slipping an arm behind Ryan’s back when he leaned forward, and tugging him firmly to his side.

The sincerity in his voice was enough for Ryan, being cuddled into Luke’s side in the exact way he’d wanted to be. With clear air surrounding them and a comfortable warmth holding them together, they returned their attention to the film playing in front of them and Ryan rested his head against Luke’s shoulder.

Thoughtlessly playing with Luke’s long fingers throughout the duration of the rest of the film, he didn’t get distracted again until it was over.

The second date was more than special. First of all, Luke greeted Ryan at the cafe counter, wearing a dazzling grin and a confident look in his eyes.

“Would you like to go to the aquarium with me this Sunday?” he asked, paying no mind to Ryan’s coworker who slinked away from the blushing boy with a smirk. The brunette dropped his eyes, obviously embarrassed by the attention, but Luke couldn’t look away if he wanted to. Ryan was cute normally, but with flushed cheeks and that flustered smile; Luke had never seen someone look so beautiful.

“Luke,” he mumbled, lifting a hand to cover the right side of his rosy face.

“A second date,” Luke clarified, grinning still and leaning forward on the counter. “Write your number down on my cup for me an’ I’ll message you tomorrow about it, okay? My usual, please.” The little wink he added to the end of his order unsurprisingly had Ryan’s flush crawling down his neck, the barista taking the bill from Luke’s hands and quickly giving him his change.

His quiet murmur of: “It’ll only be a minute,” had amused giggles sounding from the two girls standing behind Luke in line.

“Thanks, sugar.”

Ryan’s ears were bright red, the girls releasing another round of amused giggles as Luke turned and walked down to his usual booth. When his drink arrived, he smiled with satisfaction at the scrawl of ten digits lining the side of paper cup along with a little sharpie heart.

And the date went as swimmingly (Luke couldn’t not snicker at his internal pun) as it could have gone.

From the moment Ryan arrived in long overalls with a camera around his neck, Luke couldn’t wipe the grin off his face. He pulled the shorter boy into a hug, winding their fingers together as he did so. There was no better feeling than Ryan’s hand clutching the back of Luke’s shirt while the brunette buried his face in Luke’s shoulder.

And it seemed that was as long as Ryan could last hiding his excitement, as when they pulled away Ryan was wearing the biggest smile Luke had ever seen on his gorgeous face. It wasn’t shy, flustered or embarrassed like the ones he showed when Luke flirted and flattered him in the cafe, nor was it mischievous like the ones Luke caught across the room after receiving his coffee with some ridiculous nickname scrawled on the side.

It was pure, unadulterated excitement and the beauty of the boy standing in front of him hit Luke like a sucker punch.

Before Luke could even greet him, Ryan was almost running down the path with him in tow. The air-conditioning welcomed them into the lobby, Ryan bouncing on the balls of his feet as he gazed around the room at pictures and art of the ocean and its creatures.

“A little excited, are we?” Luke probed, bumping their intertwined hands against Ryan’s hip. Beautiful green eyes fell to Luke, that smile never faltering as he let out a laugh and a shrug.

“I’ve always loved ocean animals,” he explained, kicking his feet at the smooth flooring. “I’ve never been to an actual aquarium.”

Luke grinned. “Well, you’ll love every second in this place,” he said, making sure his words were strong and genuine.

Ryan could hardly wait long enough for them to buy their entry and walk into the facility. Immediately, Ryan was dragging Luke through each room, stopping at large windows to examine the little fish and ocean animals in each little fish tank. He took pictures and fawned over multi-coloured jellyfish.

By the time they made it to the little underground theatre with a large wall of grass exposing the bigger fish that swam around the wider tank. It was just the two of them wandering behind the row of seats and gazing in awe at the underwater life on the other side of the glass.

Ryan was up against the glass in seconds. “Look! Did you see that one!? It’s a baby zebra shark- he’s coming back!” The nineteen year old didn’t stop himself from squatting down to the shark’s level as it swam languidly up to the glass. “See his spots and stripes? They’re such pretty sharks.” The shark turned and ducked away, Ryan half raising to stand before a gasp left his mouth. Luke watched with a fond smile as the boy jumped up and stumbled along the glass wall to wherea small crowd of brightly coloured seahorses were floating around in a crowd of grass and corals.

“Fuck, seahorses are so cool! They’re such weird little animals, look at her nose!” he exclaimed, blindly reaching out and grabbing Luke’s shirt. He yanked his date close, pulling him down to crouch beside Ryan and get a closer look at the odd little ocean creatures. It was almost impossible for Luke to pull his gaze away from Ryan’s face of childish awe.

There was nothing more gorgeous than the simplistic happiness that vibrated through the entirety of his date’s being.

When Ryan glanced at Luke, his grin faltered and Luke frowned. Anxiety slipped into those bright eyes and Luke wanted to put that joy back in the boy in front of him as quickly as he could. “I’m sorry,” Ryan said, laughing lightly. Luke could see him getting smaller, retreating back into his shell of worry and concern and fear. “I don’t mean to be annoying I just- I get pretty excited about this stuff.”

Now that just wasn’t going to fly with Luke at all. He fell to his butt, sitting on the carpeted floor and easily getting a grip on Ryan’s wrist. One swift tug was all that was necessary for the boy to unbalance and fall on top of Luke, knees falling either side of his thighs to stop him from slamming down on his date’s lap.

Still, the proximity of it was enough to have his cheeks burning pink. Before he could push up and away, one of Luke’s hands fell to his hip, and the other lifted to cup his face. Ryan sucked in a breath through his teeth and fell dead still.

“Don’t you think for a second I’m unhappy or annoyed.” He didn’t let Ryan look anywhere else but his eyes, making sure the boy in his lap heard his every word. “I’m…” Trying to find an explanation to his distracted behaviour took him a long second. He bit his tongue. “I’ve never seen you smile so much before. I just can’t stop thinking about how beautiful you are.”

He ignored his own fluster at the honesty in his tone, brushing his thumb along Ryan’s warm cheekbone. Shaky fingers lifted to curl around his wrist, Ryan’s weight settling over Luke’s thighs as green eyes dropped to the space between them. “Don’t say that,” he murmured, cheeks darkening further.

Luke’s head tilted lightly, lips soft in his smile. “I want to see you smile like this every day,” he said, drawing Ryan closer as he practically melted above him. Their foreheads bumped lightly, resting together as Luke counted the freckles that spotted Ryan’s rosy cheeks.

“I’m childish-”

“You’re not.” Green eyes lifted, locking with Luke’s open, honest gaze. “I don’t think you’re childish; I think you’re beautiful.” The fingers around his wrist squeezed lightly, the moment hovering between them. Luke didn’t miss the way Ryan’s bottom lip quivered. “Do you believe me?”

Those pretty eyes fell shut, brows creasing with internal conflict. “Maybe…”

“If there’s one thing I won’t ever do, Ry; it’s break a promise,” he explained. “And I promise you that I’m telling the truth when I say that you are damn beautiful when you blush, and even more so when you’re happy like that.”

The way Ryan slumped, eyes closed and body loose showed his defeat and acceptance, and Luke knew he didn’t need to push the boy any more. He leaned forwards, pressing his lips to that warm cheek before giving his hip a nudge. The barista blinked his eyes open and allowed Luke to help him back to his feet.

“Have you ever touched a stingray?” he offered. No matter how many thoughts were running around Ryan’s head, the idea of being able to interact with real life stingrays was too good to pass up. Luke watched the boy visibly push his inner conflict about the little reassuring pep-talk he’d received to the back of his head for another time.

His current focus was the offer of friendly stingrays and Luke’s hand in his, pulling him towards the stairs that would lead them around the next site of the aquarium they had yet to experience.

When Ryan turned up at Luke’s apartment four days after their second date, the mechanic didn’t exactly know what to do. He was covered in grease and dressed in old dirty clothes, having dragged himself away from working in his home to answer to door and not expecting Ryan to be standing there looking stressed as all hell.

“Can I come in?”

Luke was already dreading the conversation ahead, hoping to anything that it wasn’t what he thought it was going to be. No matter his fears, seeing Ryan so distressed was unsettling and he stepped aside for the boy immediately. “Are you okay?” he asked, shutting the door behind him and following Ryan into his home.

He spun around in the middle of his walk, not even making it down the hall before he was landing a helpless look on Luke. “What are we?” he asked. Luke blinked, brows raised in surprise as he let the question sink in. “Because we’ve been going on dates and I see you at work all the time- whenever you’re around me I get all warm and- and embarrassed and I don’t know… I know what it means but I’m scared.”

Luke closed the space between them with a few long strides, reaching an arm around and pulling the boy towards him. Arms flew around his waist tightly and he tucked his head into Luke’s neck.

“We don’t have to be anything if you’re not ready or if you don’t want that,” he explained.

“I want to but- but I’m-”

“Ryan?” he drew back and met those fearful green eyes. “I want to be able to call you mine, but if you don’t know yet that’s okay. I’ll wait until you know what you want.”

He found Ryan’s hand with his, giving his fingers a short squeeze of reassurance when the younger boy gave a troubled shake of the head. “I can’t do that to you, just because I’m- I don’t-” He didn’t know how to finish his own sentence.

“I haven’t got eyes for anyone but you,” Luke confessed, ignoring the low pain in his chest. He would be completely honest with Ryan, even if it meant losing what they were headed towards. “And if you’re not sure, I’ll wait for you until you know what you want, okay? I only have eyes for you. I’ll wait, I promise.”

“You shouldn’t wait for me.” He dropped his forehead to rest against Luke’s chest, words defeated and low. “I’m not worth it.”

Luke didn’t even try to stop himself, raising a hand and carding his fingers through the mess of brown curls. “You are to me,” he said, voice content and sincere. “You just think about yourself and I’ll be here ready to go as fast and far as you want.”

It was Ryan who took his hand, grip loose and uncertain. Luke let him hold on as tight as he wanted, pulling away and leading Ryan into the living room.

“Find a movie and I’ll go get us some ice cream,” he instructed, waiting for Ryan’s slow nod before walking out of the room. He swallowed down the lump in his throat, ignoring it like he did that fact that he may have ruined his chances with the cutest boy he could’ve asked for.

luke: I’ll be over in 5

He tucked his phone into his pocket and continued cleaning up his bedroom. Dirty clothes in the wash basket, bed made, desk cleared. He was eager to see Ryan again, having not seen the boy in three days due to college testing and his work schedule.

By the time he was pulling up outside Ryan’s apartment complex, he had the energy to run up all four flights of stairs just to give the boy a hug.

They hadn’t spoken of dating and Ryan hadn’t pushed their relationship any further than a little bit of flirting mixed in with their banter. Luke wasn’t complaining; like he’d promised, he would wait. And the two were still frequently seeing each other, almost daily when their schedules allowed it.

He’d become familiar with Ryan’s home by then, fetching the hidden spare key and letting himself in. “Ryan,” he called, shutting the door behind him. A smile lit his face at the pitter-patter of paws on floorboards as Tiny darted around the corner and barreled straight for his legs.

He gave the dog a head-rub before stepping over him and placing his bag on the kitchen counter. There was no sign of Ryan but the soft tones of music from the boy’s bedroom had Luke’s attention.

When he pushed the bedroom door in, a surprised squawk-like scream sounded from within and Luke looked in with confused concern. Ryan was perched on the floor, half-lifted from where he’d been kneeling in front of his full length mirror.

Luke’s attention snapped straight to the rosy shimmer coating Ryan’s lips, heart flipping with an urge he had to control.

“Luke!” The surprised voice was accompanied with a red flush of humiliation, Ryan reaching up and hopelessly trying to scrape the tinted lip-balm off his lips. “I- My lips were chapped and- and I couldn’t find- there was only this stuff-” He had stumbled to his feet as he pushed out a mess of excuses and reasons to his “inappropriate” activity, but silenced himself at Luke’s shake of his head.

“It looks nice on you,” he said, voice softer than it was when he spoke with any of his other friends. It was something about Ryan that melted his hardcore edge. “Makes your lips look-... nice.” His compliment fell short, the word “kissable” halfway off his tongue before he caught it and reeled it back. It wasn’t appropriate for him to say something like that; the last thing he wanted was to make Ryan anymore uncomfortable. “C’mere.”

Ryan dragged himself closer, eyes down as a sense of shamed circled his head. He didn’t look up until Luke’s fingers brushed his jaw, slipping up to cup his cheek when he didn’t pull away. Those green eyes locked on Luke’s as the southern boy dragged his thumb across the skin beneath Ryan’s lip, wiping away the residue of the pink smudged off his lips. “It’s stupid,” he murmured, looking away when Luke’s eyes lifted to his from his lips. “And girly.”

“Well it makes you look cute,” Luke said, brushing his clean thumb over Ryan’s cheekbone, “not girly at all.” His words had the weight to them and he didn’t need to explain that they were a promise of truth. Ryan’s shy silence proved he understood, and his rosy cheeks remained for several minutes after Luke’s hand had fallen away from his face.

He followed Luke out into the kitchen.

“Now, I bought us some cocoa so we can actually make our brownies brown this time.” Luke’s grin seemed to be contagious, Ryan unable to stop his glossy lips twitching into a smile. That was enough for the southerner, turning back to his bag and pulling out the baking ingredients needed to make themselves a delicious batch of brownies.

Ryan hadn’t stopped fidgeting since Luke had picked him up. He was sat in the passenger seat, watching the remains of the sunset dissipate out his side window, fingers playing with the hem of his shirt, his phone case, his fingernails. His hands refused to sit still.

Luke didn’t mention it, knowing that the boy he adored wasn’t so good at hiding when he was anxious or nervous. He didn’t want to push him to spill what was on his mind; he let him wander through his thoughts in the silence of the car. By the time they pulled up to the outdoor cinema, he looked ready to pull his hair out and Luke reached over to settle his hand over Ryan’s. They stilled beneath his fingers, green eyes flicking up to Luke’s.

“What’s wrong?” Luke’s voice was warm and open. “At this rate, you’ll hardly be able to watch the movie if you’re this unnerved. What’s up?”

Ryan ducked his head. “Nothing, I’m good. It’s fine!” His smile was wobbly and pained.

There was no denying the fact that it had been a blatant lie but Luke just sighed, turning away and getting out of his car. The open back of the pick-up truck was already lined with blankets but Luke got to steady work decking the back out with an unnecessary amount of pillows and fluffy duvets.

When Ryan was climbing into the back to get comfortable, Luke could still feel his nerves radiating from his skin. He was nibbling on his bottom lip, tearing strips of skin off and licking the red lines that formed beneath.

“Ryan,” Luke said, catching the boy’s attention as he clambered into the back after him. He kicked the blankets up over both of their legs. “Tell me what’s bothering you.” He reached over to Ryan, pushing his fingers into the back pocket of the boy’s pants and fishing out a small cylinder.

A layer of red fluttered over his cheeks, taking the lip balm and rolling it over his nerves-ruined lips. “It’s- it’s not a big deal.” If there was one thing Ryan was stubborn about, it was refusing to let go and let someone try to help him.

“It’s a big deal to me. You can talk to me,” he offered.

“Can I?”

“Always,” Luke promised, a pained push against his chest. “Always.”

Ryan’s head fell to his hands, fingers rubbing at his eyes as Luke took the lipbalm back. “Do you still want me?” He pressed the words to the palms of his hands, find courage in the blindness his hands provided. Luke felt the words run through his head, over and over as he tried to process them.

Before he could think into the meaning of the question, the implication, the tone of hope; the words, “Of course,” slipped out of his lips. It wasn’t a question to him, watching the boy before him in the dark lift his head, shining green eyes full of fear and hope, lips shimmering with a sheen of lip balm that unavoidably drew Luke’s gaze. He had to bite his own lip to stop himself from pushing forward onto his knees and fitting his lips against Ryan’s.

The idea had his stomach flipping.

“I’m scared,” Ryan admitted, keeping his eyes on Luke’s. “But I… I want… You make me happier than anyone else has,” he whispered, afraid of his own words as Luke hung off each and every one.

He reached out a hand, finding Ryan’s and giving him a small smile. “There’s no rush,” he pushed, torn between taking what he could and making sure Ryan knew what he wanted. He didn’t want to push the boy into it and have it spiral down into a disaster. He didn’t want to risk it. “I don’t want you to feel like you-”

“I don’t,” he reassured, slipping his fingers between Luke’s. “I… I want to… be with you.”

Luke couldn’t hold his grin back anymore. “Do you wanna be my boyfriend?”

Ryan’s smile flickered into life as the huge projected screen lit up behind Luke. “Yes,” he whispered, tugging on Luke’s hand and drawing him across the space between them. “C’mere.” He pulled Luke towards him, pressing a hand flat to his chest to push him back into the pillows mountained up around then. With Luke laying in the centre of the bed, Ryan wriggled beneath his arm and laid his head on his newly-labeled boyfriend’s chest.

That strong arm wound around his back, pulling him snugly against Luke who tucked his face into Ryan’s hair, pressing a kiss to the top of his head, and setting a flush of red across Ryan’s face above his broad smile.

The introduction to the film started and Luke had never been more comfortable watching a film than he was with Ryan’s head on his chest and their fingers linked together.

It was at a party where they first introduced themselves as boyfriends to their friends. A collection of both of their crowds mingling together in Luke’s apartment with music, games and drinks for all around. There was celebrating, cheering and teasing that circulated the new couple, having only been together the two weeks.

Questions of their relationship were thrown from all directions but Luke quickly and easily deflected those that brought a blush to Ryan’s cheeks (most of them).

When everyone had settled down, an all-out-war was going down on the couches with Mario Kart music urging them on. Luke was sat between Jon and Mark, eyes locked on the screen that Scott, Marcel and Tyler were all shouting and screaming unintelligibly at. They knew better than to get involved, not wanting to destroy Luke’s gaming controllers (though by the looks of it, Tyler was close).

Ryan brought out a new plate of snacks for everyone, hands flying to get the first bites, but stood awkwardly by the side of the couch upon realising there wasn’t really any space for him. Luke caught his eye, offering a smile, and motioned for him to come over to his couch.

“Come sit,” he said when Ryan was close enough to hear his voice over Marcel’s agonised screams. He patted his thigh, nodding Ryan closer and smiling to himself at the familiar red that bloomed across his boyfriend’s cheeks and painted the tips of his ears.

“It’s okay, I’ll just sit-” A sharp yelp cut his sentence off as warm fingers snagged his wrist, locking on and dragging him towards the full couch. Luke’s grin was teasing yet fond as he yanked Ryan close and pulled him down to sit on his lap. “Luke-!” he whined, smacking his hand against his boyfriend’s chest. “I’m too heavy to sit on you.”

Luke just shook his head, winding his arms around Ryan’s waist and pulling his back firmly to his chest. Chin perched on his boyfriend’s shoulder, he let a chuckle slip from his grin. “You’re not heavy at all; relax,” he urged, pressing a light kiss to the arch of muscle between Ryan’s neck and shoulder.

The boy’s grumble vibrated against Luke’s chest, but he melted in the embrace all the safe, leaning into the warm hold and letting his head tilt just slightly to provide more space for chaste, teasing pecks up his neck. “You promise?” he asked, uncertainty fading in his voice with every moment. Luke slipped a hand beneath his shirt, settling on the warm skin of his hip where his thumb could draw little swirls and circles.

“I promise,” he reassured, ignoring the faked sounds of throwing up Jonathan was making to his right. He pressed a final kiss just below Ryan’s ear, tightening his hold on the boy before setting his head on his shoulder and turning his attention back to the new race seconds away from starting.

The number of times Luke had to physically pull himself back from leaning forward and stealing Ryan’s first kiss was totalling up far too high. He knew his boyfriend was still anxious about their relationship, the flirting and bantering being at an all-time-high but the physical contact still a work of progress.

There hadn’t ever been legitimate sexual tension between them besides silly jokes and flirty innuendos, and even though they’d been seconds away from sealing their first kiss on multiple occasions. For some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to commit to it, though he didn’t know what he was waiting for.

It only lasted another week before their late night adventure to the beach marked the night of their first kiss.

It wasn’t a night they planned to swim, wind just strong enough to push hair into faces and pull teasingly at loose clothing; the two were both rugged up in pants and hoodies but bore no shoes as they wandered beneath the moon.

“I love the stars out here,” Ryan whispered, words fading into the sound of small waves crashing on the sand, reaching forward to try and grasp them only to fall back and try again. There was no calmer sound, no calmer existence than the one Luke experienced, feeling cold water wash over his feet as he walked, Ryan’s fingers linked loosely in his. It was hard to draw his attention away from the coat of lip balm on Ryan’s lips that shimmered beneath the star-light.

He looked beautiful in the twilight.

He always looked beautiful.

“Luke?” He didn’t realise they had stopped, Ryan’s hand in his keeping both of their feet planted as he looked quizzically up at his boyfriend. “You zoned out a minute there. Is everything okay?”

His confusion dissipated into a warm smile, reaching forward to take Ryan’s other hand as he took a step into the boy’s space. “Just admiring the view,” he said, smile turning up into a teasing smirk as Ryan frowned.

“Don’t be silly,” he scolded, ducking his face away.

A tug on his hands drew him a step closer, chest bumping with Luke’s though he made no move of stepping away. His eyes were locked on Luke’s and the soft coo of the ocean urged them closer.

“You look beautiful tonight,” Luke said, honest words falling with so much weight from his shoulders. He watched closely at the slight change in colour brushing the roundness of Ryan’s cheekbones.

Those glimmering green eyes flickered down to Luke’s lips for half a second before jolting back to his eyes. Luke didn’t miss it, but he didn’t push closer. “The stars are playing tricks on you.” His words lacked their usual tease, Luke finding it coincidental how the term “starstruck” came to mind. Though he didn’t bother scolding his boyfriend, or frowning at the dismissal of his compliment; he merely shook his head with a soft smile, unable to take his eyes away from the beauty in the face before him.

“I want to kiss you,” Luke murmured, words so simple and weightless with the backdrop of nothing but stars and ocean. Ryan’s sharp inhale was only audible due to the natural silence surrounding them and Luke swayed forward a touch. “I haven’t stopped thinking about kissing you since the theatre,” he admitted, not bothering to think over his words. There was something magical about the night that assured him that there was no point in holding back the truths he locked beneath his tongue.

Ryan swallowed, licking his lips briefly as his gaze once again dropped to Luke’s mouth, to follow his words or to wonder for himself, Luke didn’t know. But the restraint he was holding was growing thinner and weaker by the second.

“You think about kissing me?” Ryan whispered, disbelief floating on his vowels.

“Every single time I see you,” Luke swore, slipping one hand out of Ryan’s to lift to his cheek. The simple motion of brushing an eyelash from his cheekbone had tingles jumping off his arm but he didn’t acknowledge them as he hovered his thumb in front of Ryan’s face, eyelash perched on his nail. “Make a wish,” he breathed, not even sure if his words made it past his lips.

Ryan’s eyes fluttered, not even looking at the thin hair as he exhaled and pushed it off the tip of Luke’s thumb. “Kiss me,” was his only wish and Luke refused to disappoint him again.

The second Luke pressed his lips to Ryan’s a wave of relief and comfort rolled through him. His fingers cupped Ryan’s cheek, holding the chaste kiss for a few long seconds before drawing back a hair to breathe.

There was a second that passed where they shared the same air, lashes fluttering with uncertainty whether to remain closed or blink open. It was Ryan who lifted his hands and grasped two fistfuls of Luke’s hoodie, pulling him close and sealing their lips together once more.

A spark flickered when Luke’s tongue brushed against Ryan’s bottom lip, cold water washing over their feet contrasted with the heat shared between their mouths. The feeling of lips relaxing beneath Luke’s, softening at his tongue’s touch and parting with trust and permission. When their chests bumped, Luke could have sworn their hearts shared a beat and he wrapped an arm around Ryan to pull him as close as he could get.

The fingers in his shirt untangled, lifting to slide around the side and back of his neck. The brush of an exhale on Luke’s upper lip, Ryan pressing into the touch of his hand as he deepened the kiss and slid his tongue along the underside of Luke’s.

Never had Luke lost himself in a sensation like that before; kissing his boyfriend beneath the starlight. When he drew back, he was breathless, eyes quick to take in the glossy sheen of Ryan’s lips, the unfocused glaze over his pretty eyes and the flush of pink that danced beneath his freckles.

He was simply beautiful, gazing up at Luke with wonder written in his eyes, and Luke made a promise to himself right there on the sand that he would never, ever let this boy get away.

#ohmtoonz #ohmtoonz fic #ohmtoonz fanfic #fic #fanfic #bbs #banana bus squad #romance #cute #fluff #relationship #younger bois #jynx writes #alfa-angel #happy birthday you gorgeous girl! love you to hell n back xoxoxo

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everlarkchristmasgifts · 5 years

Text

A/N I had a super hard time with this one and any sort of fluidity, so sorry if it’s come out garbled: It felt like trying to untangle my hair after a night of tossing and turning, and I didn’t want to ask anyone to beta read on Christmas Eve so I finally just gave up and hit submit.

Part Two for the Pasty White Raisin Follow Up Christmas Drabbles done for @everlarkchristmasgifts. Part One is here.

Rating: T

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Eleven Days to Christmas - Secret Santa Exchange

The clang of the bell over the door brought Peeta out from the back of the bakery. The customer already had his face glued to the case with the day’s remaining cinnamon rolls. They were each the size of plates, and covered with syrup glaze and walnut halves.

“Can I help you?”

“Yeah. You can tell me whether it’s possible to have an sugar crash that’s existential, or if it’s just a thought in my head.”

“Sorry?”

The guy laughed at his own joke and came over to the counter. He looked friendly, but also exuded a confidence that made Peeta, run down as he was, feel less so.

“Are there walnuts inside those? Or just on the top?”

“Walnuts throughout.”

“Walnuts throughout,” the man parroted with an appreciative nod. “I like you. Walnuts throughout.”

When he didn’t say or do anything else, Peeta cleared his throat and suggested, “Do you want me to box one up for you?”

“Maybe. I’m looking for Peter.”

“You mean Peeta.”

“Ah, Peet-ah. He’s got the Boston thing going on!”

Peeta tried to smile, but smiling was hard. Too many orders, too many hours. Too old of a story. Rue usually worked part time, but had needed two extra days off that week because of finals. Thom was still technically full time, but he’d been out sick on and off for the last two months because his mother was ill. Cashmere had quit right before Thanksgiving. And Katniss…

Well, he’d run Katniss off.

The last two days the operation had been a solo show.

“Actually, it is ‘Peeta,’ not Peter. And that’s me. I know, blame my parents.” He needed to get back to work. “What can I do for you?”

The man gave him an appraising once over that bordered on invasive, followed by a nod of approval. “So you’re the one. I can see it. I can totally see it.”

Peeta cleared his throat and shifted a little on his feet.

“Uh… The one what?”

“Katniss’ ‘There can be only One.’ Aside from me, of course.”

Peeta’s back stiffened.

“And you are?”

The man didn’t notice, or wasn’t phased, by Peeta’s abrupt gruffness.

“Handsome. Funny. Amazingly talented. I go by many names. In previous times, I was referred to as ‘God’s gift to women.’ But alas, now that I’m on the road to a lifetime of sweet monogamy, I go by the unassuming alter-ego Finnick Odair.” He held his hand out over the counter, joking grin giving way to an earnest smile and a lower-key manner. “Hi, good to meet you. I work with Katniss at the brewery. I’m the one she always gets your everything bagels for.”

“She’s mentioned you.”

Peeta crossed his arms but Finnick kept his hand extended until it was rude to not shake it, so he used a stronger grip than necessary.

“Road to monogamy with…Ann?” Peeta didn’t look away from Finnick for a millisecond, squeezing his hand tighter. “Or was it Annie?”

“Wow, ice, ice, baby. You sure there isn’t a Peter back there?” Finnick squeezed back, hard. “‘Cause to hear Katniss, you’re, and I quote, ‘warm and amazing,’ not Mr. I-Might-Murder-You-Where-You-Stand. And yes, it’s Annie, definitely not Katniss, if that’s what your grip is asking, so,” Finnick stared pointedly at their hands then back up, “release the hostage; it comes in peace.”

Peeta held on for an extra few beats, then released.

“Thanks.” Finnick cracked his knuckles. “Not that I don’t enjoy holding your hand, but really, I don’t enjoy holding your hand.”

Peeta smiled apologetically. “Sorry. Christmas season makes for long baking days and grumpy bakers. Did Katniss send you to talk to me?”

“About what?”

When Peeta didn’t respond, Finnick studied him, eyes narrowing.

“Interesting.”

“What?”

“You thought I might be making a move on Katniss. Katniss hasn’t been bringing me my bagels. You think Katniss might have sent an emissary.” He stared until Peeta reddened. “You two have had a fight that she hasn’t let on about, haven’t you?”

Peeta stared down at the worn linoleum tiles. They muttered at him about unionizing if they didn’t get better mop and wax benefits.

Finnick hmmm’d.

“So that’s why she’s been ultra reclusive lately. And here I assumed she was just having her traditional end-of-year wigout about breakage losses.”

Peeta forced himself to look back up.

“So does that mean she didn’t send you?”

“No, she didn’t.” Finnick was still analyzing him. “You know, I’d say it’s none of my business, but she’s Annie’s best friend and the closest thing I have to a sister, so really it is. What’d she do?”

“Excuse me?”

“What did she do? Shut down on you? Annie and I were worried that might happen. She avoids relationships like a golfer avoids water traps, and with how happy she’s been, we’ve both been worried she might try a runner.”

“A runner?”

“She might seem like she’s got the emotional stuntage of coal, but behind the scowl and the lasso of bookkeeping truth, she’s actually really nice… and also terrified of losing people.”

Peeta cleared his throat. “Look, I appreciate your concern, but it’s my business and hers.”

“Hang on…” Finnick’s staring was approaching full on x-ray power.

Peeta found a rag and started wiping at the counter nervously to avoid it.

“It wasn’t her, it was you. What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything. And it’s a private.”

“Nope, you don’t get to do that. Not where it concerns Katniss. You’ll have the entire Tribute Brewery Suicide Squad coming down on you if you break her. And trust me, you don’t want to face Mason’s interrogation techniques.”

“Mason?”

“Johanna.”

“Is that ‘Jo,’ the assistant brewmaster?”

“Yeah.”

Peeta stopped wiping the counter, and looked up.

“Shaved head, leather collar, and a tattoo of Wile E. Coyote holding a stick of dynamite that’s about to go off?”

Finnick cocked an eyebrow. “You two’ve met?”

Peeta shook his head and took a few extra wipes with his rag before standing upright and tossing it onto the counter. He crossed his arms and relaxed enough to laugh a little.

“Naw. But Katniss showed me a picture once of Jo pretending to mount one of the vats.”

Finnick cracked a laugh. “Christmas party last year. We all remember, unfortunately. And she almost got fired for it.”

“Does that mean it was a tamer Christmas Party this year?”

Finnick laughed. “If you think the threat of being fired would tame Jo, you’ve definitely never actually met her.” After a few seconds, he leaned forward on the counter, tone lowered to something more serious, but also more open, “Look, we know about you and obviously you know about us. Even Haymitch calls you ‘The Boy,’ which means you have the official seal of approval. But even though we keep expecting an engagement announcement, every time we try to goad her into bringing you by, Kat claims you’re too busy. So what’s the real reason you’re afraid of meeting us?”

Peeta stared down again at the linoleum.

“I’m not. I haven’t been. I just work crazy hours, and my schedule doesn’t fit with a normal person’s.”

“Baloney. She thinks you’re the greatest thing since— What’s that guy she likes on t.v.?”

“Which one?”

“She’s always yakking about with Annie after a new episode airs. He saves businesses or something.”

“Marcus? I think?”

“Yeah.” Finnick picked a half donut hole from a sample plate by the register and popped it in his mouth. “She thinks you’re the greatest thing since Mr. Marcus, and if that’s true, then over the course of a year, you’d have found time to meet us at least once. What’s really the hangup?”

“Listen, I appreciate that you’re trying to help—”

“Man, I’m proposing to Annie Christmas Eve. If there’s a blind date program for grooms to find best men, you and I have already been enrolled, so we might as well accept the arranged bro-marriage Annie and Katniss have negotiated for us and move on to the deep stuff.”

Peeta hesitated.

“Look, just looking at you it’s clear you need a break, a shave, and a good roll in the sack. Which,” he took another half donut hole, “Katniss needs, too, if for no other reason than it might get her off my back about that over-order of glassware I made last week. But more than that, you look like you need a pep talk. Katniss wouldn’t fall for a loser, so tell Mr. Odair what you did, and he’ll help you figure out how to smooth things over.”

“There’s no ‘smoothing things over.’”

“Kat still has a selfie of you two as her desktop background at work. Trust me, we can get you back in the clear.”

Peeta sighed and slumped his shoulders.

“If you didn’t come here because of Katniss and me to begin with, why are you here?”

“I miss my everything bagel. And Annie likes the sea salt ones.”

Peeta frowned. “Aside from the baked good.”

“Ah, well, see… I’m a man in need of advice. I drew Katniss’ name in the Secret Santa bag today.”

“And?”

“Annie said I’m on my own, and the only thing that comes to mind when I think of Katniss and gifts is a run to the office supply store for a stack of ledger books and fine-point Sharpies.”

“You want help buying her a gift.” Peeta wasn’t convinced.

“Yes. She doesn’t hardly drink, doesn’t go out, doesn’t have any hobbies that I’m aware of except for stalking Bambi in the woods with her bow and watching CNBC. And pretty much as far as we can tell, the only social things she does outside of work or her time with Haymitch is what we force her to do, or,” he added with meaning, “the time she spends in the company of ‘Pee-tah,’ her favorite, local, friendly neighborhood baker-man.” Finnick’s grin went wide enough to give Peeta’s own dimples a run for their money. “My real talent lies in buying lingerie. But I’m pretty sure if I bought Katniss a naughty Mrs. Claus nightie, none of us would be comfortable at Christmas ever again. Well, except for maybe Johanna. So,” he rubbed his hands together, “throw a man a life line.”

Peeta glared a little, then pulled a box flat from under the counter, folded it up, and went to retrieve one of the cinnamon rolls, then got a paper bag, went back to the baskets along the back wall and put in two everything and two sea salt bagels.

“Have you heard of Sweet Pete’s,” he asked, after he slid the box and bag across the counter to Finnick.

“That high-end candy place over on 4th?”

“Yeah. Katniss always seems to like going there. Maybe a gift card.”

Finnick nodded. “Thanks. What else? It’s a twenty dollar limit, but she went above and beyond yesterday helping me get the perfect present for Annie. And, she dug into her own wallet to make it happen, so I’d like to go a bit extra.”

“There’s that archery store there in the mall she loves. Maybe they’d have something to suggest. Like some sort of bow wax or something.”

“What are you getting her for Christmas?”

Peeta ducked his head over the register to ring up the order, not offering an answer.

“A ring would be a good idea. Speaking of,” Finnick pulled his wallet out and put a twenty down to cover the bill, “when are you and Katniss finally gonna do it?”

“Uh…” Peeta took the twenty and keyed in the cash. The drawer popped open.

“Well?”

Peeta cleared his throat, made change, then closed the register’s drawer with quiet push. “I’m not exactly in the habit of discussing bedroom matters with people I barely know.”

“Well, getting married is a lot more than…”

They stared at each other, Peeta looking uncomfortable.

Finnick’s mouth slowly twisted into a grin.

Peeta went red.

“You mean to tell me that you two haven’t even…” Finnick laughed so hard he could barely talk, his words eventually came out bookended with wheezes, “And yet somehow she’s always contented and glowing when she talks about you. Man, you need to tell me what you put in your baked goods, ‘cause it took me two years just to get Annie to trust me enough to go out on a date.”

“Anyway,” Peeta cleared his throat and handed Finnick his change, “I need to get back to cleaning up in the back. I hope you find something good for Katniss.”

“Wow. Andy Stitzer.” Finnick was still trying to catch his breath from laughing. “You really are her ‘There can be only One,’ aren’t you?”

Once he managed to fight down his amusement, he gave Peeta a nod of genuine admiration.

“Look, you talk to Katniss, I’ll talk to Katniss. Trust me when I say she’s not the kind of woman who keeps a guy in bad graces just for the drama of it. We’ll work it out.”

Peeta hesitated.

“I’m the one who ended it.”

Finnick’s smile faded.

“What do you mean ‘ended it?’”

__________

When he finally came to the end of his very long day, Peeta found a second present waiting at his apartment door.

#everlarkchristmasgifts #day two: secret santa exchanges #part 2 #by dandeliononfire #2018 #fan fic #submission

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hazandholland · 6 years

Text

Maybe

Written by Christina

Category: Fluff

Word count: 1,614

Requested by @annakins422: Could you do a Tom Holland where she works with the script department for one of his movies and they meet at a table reading? Either a sketch or oneshot is fine, whichever fits your mood/flow! Also, I you could include a kiss where she is looking down and he swoops underneath for a peck, that would be amazing! :)

A/N: Happy birthday!! I hope you enjoy your day and this fic!

You ran your fingers through your hair, gathering it into a ball at the back of your head and seized the hair tie on your wrist. You looped the hair tie over your hair, making a messy bun and leaned back in your chair when you were done. You glanced around the room and met eyes with one of the actors. Your breathing hitched when his rich brown eyes locked onto your gaze. He was sitting on the other side of the table, across from you and one spot over to the right. He was leaning forward in his chair, fingers woven together with his elbows resting on the table top. He smiled and pointed to your hair.

“I like your hair,” He said brightly, his British accent somehow made your heart skip furiously and melt into a puddle simultaneously. You felt heat rise into your cheeks and glanced at the table.

“Thanks,” You said quietly. You risked another glance at the boy. He was still staring at you, smile fixed on his thin lips.

“How did you do it that fast?” He asked politely, his voice laced with admiration.

“Do what?” You asked, feeling your brow crinkle.

“Your hair.” Tom raised his hands to his hair and shuffled them around, making his coif-like style come undone. His now frizzy wavy curls stuck out every which way, contrasting against his most likely very expensive designer jeans, shirt and leather jacket. You giggled, making Tom’s face light up like a kid eyeing his birthday presents.

“Practice, I guess,” You answered, smiling widely. You hear a faint click and saw a cameraman a few feet away, behind Tom at an angle. The man’s camera was angled at you two, surely catching a candid photo of Tom with his messy hair and you mid-giggle, a wide smile stretching over your face. You felt your cheeks heat up again and straightened your posture, fixing your gaze on the script in front of you. It was a big day; the script reading for the untitled fourth Avengers movie. Of course there was going to be cameras. You glanced around the room again and saw a small film crew of three people in the corner of the large room. A small blinking red light on the camera indicated that they were already capturing the action. You suddenly felt a little nervous; your every move was going to be observed and recorded, then shown internationally in either the bonus features on the DVD copy of the movie or a random interview with the cast and crew of the movie during the press tour. You should pay close attention to what you did.

“That’s insane how fast you did that,” Tom continued, seemingly unaware of the photographer behind him and the film crew in the corner. You smiled again. He was so amazed at such a minute feat it was adorable.

“It’s not really that amazing, but thank you,” You said, smiling again. Tom stretched his hand out, resting on your script.

“I’m Tom by the way. Tom Holland. Not to be confused with the other Tom. Who’s last name also starts with an H. Who’s also from London.” Tom’s rambling introduction made you giggle slightly and you gripped your hand in his, shaking it politely. As soon as your fingers touched his skin, it felt like electricity raced through your body. It was like something you didn’t know was missing fell into place. You liked it.

“The name’s Y/L/N. Y/N Y/L/N,” You answered coyly, smirking at your James Bond reference. Tom laughed.

“OK, everyone, let’s get this show on the road, shall we?” A voice announced. You turned to the head of the table, eyeing the director, screenwriters and producer of the film. You swallowed the lump in your throat and began to listen to the director as they introduced themselves, then began to make their way around the table, introducing everyone. The director motioned in your direction, announcing your name and your title as assistant script writer. At the mention of your position, Tom glanced at you, eyes wide. You met his gaze and he exaggeratedly mouthed the word “wow”. You rolled your eyes a little and let a small smile tug on the corner of your lips.

The reading began. Whenever you and Tom met eyes, he made an entertaining face, trying to get you to let out a giggle. You barely held them in, trying to stay quiet and professional. You saw the photographer capture a few of Tom’s faces which included but were not limited to an impersonation of the Hulk’s face, crossing his eyes, attempting to cross one eye, flaring his nostrils and attempting, and failing horribly, to wiggle his eyebrows like worms. The script reading went smoothly. As with any movie, numerous changes were made to the script, leaving your copy of the manuscript littered with pen and pencil markings, notes in the margins and sometimes entire pages scribbled over in Sharpie. The director decided to take a break a few hours into the meeting. Most of the cast and crew left the room to get snacks, drinks or use the restroom. Everyone began to socialize with each other, making a comfortable din. You stayed seated, thinking over the changes being made and reading ahead to see if there could be any other improvements. You heard the chair next to you squeak across the floor and looked up.

Tom lowered himself into the chair, facing you. Your breathing hitched and your heart began to race. It was nerve-wracking to have someone so famous and so attractive sitting next to you.

“So, assistant script writer, huh?” Tom asked, propping his elbows on his knees and linking his hands together. You glanced at him, admiring his physique up close.

“Yeah,” You said, focusing on writing down questions for when the meeting resumed and your conversation with the gorgeous British actor. You pulled the script off the table and placed it on your lap, twisting in your seat to face Tom. “It’s a really fun job. I like it a lot!”

“How long have you had this job?” Tom inquired. Something about his voice when he asked that question made your heart melt.

“Not very long,” You responded, glancing at him. Gosh darn it he was so attractive. “Why do you ask? Are you doubting my abilities as a writer?” You teased, smirking.

“What? No!” Tom looked shocked then confused, his face wrinkling in the cutest way possible. His voice raised an octave when he said ‘no’ and he furiously shook his head, making his already messy curls flop around his head. “I was just trying to make conversation. You seem incredibly talented, considering all the questions and ideas you had.”

“Thanks,” You laughed. You were in the middle of writing down an idea when a shadow came between you and the script. You gasped when Tom’s lips met yours. You were kissing THE Tom Holland, the actor who played Spider-Man. You were kissing him! You felt giddiness erupt in your heart and you raised a hand, gently tracing your hand over his sharp jawline. Tom leaned back, letting out a little sigh. He kept your heads close together, your finger still resting on his jawline.

“Sorry, I just had to do that,” Tom said quietly. His voice was a mixture of the British twenty one year old man he was and the fifteen year old American boy he portrayed. The combination of huskiness and youthfulness made your heart and stomach dance. You smiled, breathing a little hard.

“I don’t mind at all,” You responded, giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

“You missed,” Tom said, smirking. You raised your eyebrows, catching on to what he was doing.

“Oh really? Where was I supposed to kiss you, then?” You asked coyly. Tom smiled wider.

“Here, darling” Tom answered, planting another kiss on your lips. Your heart raced again and you smiled so wide your cheeks hurt. You giggled at Tom’s cuteness and looked at your script. A subtle click brought you back to reality. You glanced at the photographer, who was just lowering his camera and standing a few feet from you.

“Sorry,” He said, smiling sheepishly, “you guys have just been really cute together. I couldn’t help snap a few shots.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it, man,” Tom said, rising from the seat and walking to the photographer. He extended a hand and shook it. “Do you mind sending the photos you have of us?”

“Well...” The photographer said, shuffling his feet against the floor. “I would love to but I can’t. The studio is concerned about...” The man glanced at Tom, “people spoiling things.” You couldn’t hold back your giggle. Tom shot a glare at you then to the photographer.

“That only happened like, five times. And one of them was set up by the studio!” Tom defended. You laughed louder and the photographer joined in. Tom sighed and trudged back to his seat next to you, then sat down with a huff, crossing his arms and sticking his lips out like a pouting three year old. “I just met you and I hate you.”

You scoffed. “Whatever, Tom,” You laughed, shaking your head and turning back to the script. People were starting to migrate back to the table, a sign that the reading was going to start up soon.

“And this is crazy,” Tom said, fighting back a massive laugh. He scribbled on the corner of empty scratch paper, ripped the piece off and gave it to you. “So here’s my number.” You rolled your eyes. “So call me maybe.”

“Maybe,” You said, smiling.

Tag List

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louquis · 7 years

Text

24K ‘Still With 24U′ Concert in Bucharest, Romania (Fan Account)

I've been a Kpop fan since 2011 and this is my first concert experience with 24K in Romania. First I have to say that I didn't know much about the group, I knew that they had some great songs but I didn't know the names of all members and even though I had a VIP ticket. The venue wasn't easy to find because Google Maps led me to a location 500m away from the concert hall and I spend about an hour desperately running the street up and down thinking that I would miss the concert because I couldn't find the number of the house. I finally made it 30minutes before the start of the show. There were booths that sold posters (signed ones for 30lei aka 5,50Euro, unsigned ones for 5lei, about one Euro – surprisingly low) and other goods and I brought an unsigned poster, relieved that apparently in the end I still got a way to get something signed. I waited for a few minutes and the doors to the concert hall opened about 18:45, 15minutes before the concert. The weird thing was, no one checked for my ticket. I could have been coming without a ticket and would have had no trouble getting in or even standing right in front of the stage.

Then the concert started. First of all, I don't know what I've been expecting, but they all had insanely good proportions. They weren't that tall (I was in the sixth row so I can't say for sure but I thought they looked all in the 170-179 range, leaning more towards 170) but their faces were really small in comparation to the rest of their bodies and their shoulder-hips ratio was perfect, especially the visual one (though they were all on the smaller/lither-framed side). I wondered how their agency found so many guys with really good proportions though they were so small. They were slim but didn't look skin-and-bones. The most fitting description would be that they had model-esque builds only without model-esque tallness.

I didn't recognize the first song but the second one was Oasis, my favorite B-side track. The standout was Cory. At the beginning of the concert the girl next to me asked me who my bias was and I said Cory, thinking that he'd be the one I was most likely to recognize. Cue to the concert start and I find myself thinking that two of them look like Cory and I won't be able to put a name to the face of any of the boys. The next moment their visuals hit me hard and I'm already swooning. For those of you who haven't seen a Kpop group live yet, the synchronisation and the quickness/fluidity of the dance moves (at least in this case) are absolutely mesmerizing in the first minutes. Looks way more impressive live than on screen.

The first talking segment is the introduction and the crowd is cheering super-hard whenever a member speaks up. During, I think, Kisu's turn, Cory asked us why we were shouting after he (Kisu) was speaking since he was pretty sure that we don't know Korean. Then we shut up whenever the other members talked.

Hui said he hoped the snow would substide once the concert was finished. When Hongseob was beginning his speech, someone shouted 'I love you' to which he replied 'I love you too'. Two members started with 'Buna Seara', the Romanian greeting

I'm a person who hates body rolls and overly sexual dance moves in boy groups but halfway through the concert I started noticing that I was choking whenever Cory rolled his hips (and he did it often). HOLY LORD JESUS that guy is a born performer. I googled 'facts about 24K' to get knowledge about the group and somewhere I read that Cory was the worst dancer of the group. BITCH FIGHT ME! That body rolls were a gift send from heaven and overall, he seemed like he was the most into the choreography. This doesn't mean that he was the best dancer (I don't know shit about dancing but he didn't have any solo dance parts), but his dancing during everything revolving hip movement came off as a tad more aggressive/exaggerated than the others. During one slower and less choreographed song he was the only one to mildly hip thrust during the chorus. He just came across as born for the stage, like he was absolutely into it and wanted the crowd to be into it, too. He was always moving and comparatively often at the center. I then knew I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

After some more dancing they have a segment where they split into tree teams and dance the chorus of Bingo together. When Hui, Kisu and Hongseob (?) search for a participant from their left side of the stage, they ask the crowd who of them thinks that they are the prettiest in this room. Selected is a boy and one of the members Kisu spend the next segment talking about his beauty. At one point he even goes down on one knee in front of him and raises his hands as if in a proposal!!!1! Turned out there is another girl on team right side who's far the better dancer though so Hui oop Hongseob (80% sure it was him) goes to the right side in an attempt to change teams and Hui ? pretends that they don't take them back. Cory then grounds him into the corner of the room with 'Stay!'.

After that came the subunit stages. First was Cory, Kisu, the visual guy and somebody else singing a midtempo song which I personally found pleasant but generic. Then there was the hip hop stage which was OMG ONE OF MY FAVORITE PARTS because there was Cory and someone else (probably someone who's name starts with J) and there was rapping, good rapping and the beat was good too and I became so pumped! It was something aggressive and Cory's expressions were to die for, and I thought perhaps I actually died and I didn't know it yet. At the end I was turning to the girl next to me who asked for my bias at the beginning because I couldn't contain my emotions and shouted 'Oh my god I love him! I absolutely love him!'

Then there was the dancing, it was 1 vs 1, and a third member was holding a sign with 'round 1' written on it. Changsun and another member were doing some awesome dancing/fighting moves and I would have been absolutely thrilled if the hip hop stage hadn't been right before it. Afterwards another member danced solo and was then joined by the both of them as kind of back up dancers.

I'm not sure whether it was after these stages but there was also a segment where they said they'll be now playing songs that everyone knows from other artists. Well, first song starts playing and I don't know it – and it also doesn't look like anyone around me does. The chorus was entirely English (I think), I could barely make out the verses. Second song was 'bang bang bang' but it takes me till the chorus to realize it's not fxxk it.

After the solos they had another talking segment where they brought a Romanian flag on stage. Fans (?) had apparently written '24K Romania' with sharpie on it and it turned out that the writing was wrong (when read from left to right, the colours blue and red from the flag were on the wrong sides, when the flag was correct, the writing wasn't). Cory seemed visibly bothered/concerned by it and mentioned something about 'not wanting to cause misunderstandings'. I think he was actually ranting for a bit. At a later point in the concert he also told a member who didn't 'get it' to turn the flag around so that it showed the 'true' color order. It kind of felt like he was worried about a witch hunt. We also made a photo with a big heart pose together.

After that talking segment 'Superfly' was played. Another one of my favorite moments of the concert was the unison shouting of 'YANANANAH!” and 'I said follow me!' in/before the chorus. The choreography was super fly (forgive the bad pun). I was super pumped up, the people around me too and the group was dancing crazily.

After a couple more songs they said that this one would be the last (I went to other concerts and I loved that they didn't announce 'okay, five songs left' 'four songs left' every couple of minutes. Everyone was saying their goodbyes and I don't know, I somehow got really emotional. First one was Changsun.

Cory was the fourth one, he said that he was actually supposed to go last and that it would probably confuse The Visual One that he's speaking now but he wanted to say that the whole tour and everything was just possible because of us, the fans (AWWWW!). I know that every group is supposed to say that and all but the way he said it I just found it incredibly touching. I was really anxious about showing up to the meet and greet without an album but at this point I was just like fxxk it, I'm definitely going and I tell them that this here made me become a fan.

During this segment Hongseob was sniffling often. His behaviour was playful and he didn't look like crying but he frequently scrunched up his nose. It was kind of adorable.

Kisu held his microphone in front of his face like a moustache. When it was Hui's turn, he said something along the lines that he hadn't high expectations for Romania (LOL) but he was proved wrong and absolutely liked it here. Two things that stood out for him were a Romanian dish called Sarmale [cue cheering crowd – I personally hope he ate those with vita de via (green ones), since they are even so much more better than the usual ones] and a flashmob that happened that morning. Someone (I forgot who, either Kisu or Jeunguk) also said 'I will now talk in Romanian' and said a whole sentence, I couldn't make out what though. Anyway, I'm super happy that he tried!

They performed their last song and went off stage. The crowd then started chanting '24K! 24K!' and after a few minutes they came back! They performed two more songs and it was absolutely crazy. Cory's expressions drove me insane.

Someone (dark brown hair but shorter than The Visual One), took a water bottle and dowsed the contents over his head. He started shaking it and droplets flew into the crowd. It was glorious. He did it for a second time and that time water droplets actually HIT MY FACE! I was in row six and I absolutely didn't expected it! I died for a second time. Non. Nichts. Nada. Finish. There was only a shell of my former self left. I don't think the encore were title songs, I recognized the second one as a popular b-side. After performing they went backstage and the concert was over for real.

Now to each member:

Cory's English was really good to understand, even as someone who has difficulties understanding spoken foreign languages. He was basically the MC of the concert and he did his job so well, it was absolutely amazing. I loved his angry expressions at songs like 'Still 24K' and his hip hop stage. His voice is very pleasant to listen to SO ABSOLUTELY SEXY OMG and I felt he always tried his best to hype the crowd. He often dipped his head back and let me tell you, he has a reallllly sexy neck and adams apple, I absolutely loved it. He also wore the most eye make up, I’m not sure but sometimes it looked slightly as if he was cross-eyed. I didn’t care though, I absolutely loved him. I think he’s the most talented, his singing and rapping was the bomb and he actually had a lot of parts compared to the little screen time he’s getting in MVs.

He had at the first talking segment a tissue which he would use to pat his forehead carefully with. In the second talking segment he didn't have a tissue and motioned one of the assistants behind the scenes to come on stage hastily and give him a tissue which he also used to wipe off sweat from his forehead and neck. There were a few times when he looked into my direction and I thought that he was really staring at me (i cheered really hard so I don’t think it’s impossible. when they chose a person for bingo it seemed that he was staring right at me for about two seconds and I thought I die and my heart ached in my chest). Hui also seemed to look once directly at me.

Kisu has a really high voice and often stood on the right side and between two others. I remember him having very big eyes and lots of black eye shadow. He did a few antics with the mic. His face looked rounder than on the pictures I’ve googled after the concert and I also think now that he’s terrible at talking selfies because he looked much better in real life.

Changsun was literally ALWAYS SMILING. Like what did you eat to be so happy??? His eyes just scrunched up and tbh my cheeks hurt just looking at him. He was one of the tallest and had chubbier cheeks than on pictures. He also stood a lot at the far left of the stage so I didn’t saw a lot of him.

Hui is the person that voice I love in the 24K songs belonged to! He is the smallest and I didn't see him much in the center. But I think he was absolutely adorable when he talked (the snow, sarmale - he mentioned specific things about Romania and it made me swoon) and my favorite talker after Cory. The blue of his hair really suited him.

The visual was the tallest member with the tannest skin and hands down, the most handsome face. Like ugh, his face was nearly perfect. He seems to be the official visual, too, since he was often the center and has the first part in Still 24K (I looked it up and it turns out to be Jinhong!) But the search results really don't show his handsomeness at all. Seriously, he more tanned, has GODLY proportions like how can a person like this exist and his face was so GODDAMN handsome, I’d believe you right away if you told me that he was the nation’s heartrob or the nation’s son-in-law. He was part of the vocal line. In the beginning songs I thought that he'd become my favorite but then came Cory's hip thrusting and expression and everything and he was demoted. Still love him, though.

There was one member with a weird parted haircut and at the end of the concert his face seemed the most glistening with sweat. Google search now told me it was Jeunguk. In the beginning I thought his hair wasn’t suiting him but by the end it was falling in his eyes and looked good, especially while he was dancing. I’m not 100% sure but I think he was the one with the water bottle? He is the only one who fits that description/mental image in my mind. If he was then: that guy was absolutely getting freaky on the end and shaking like crazy. I was in the freaking sixth row and still getting hit by the water droplets that came from his hair. CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW MUCH HE WAS SHAKING HIS HEAD? It was as if he was possessed and he managed to tear away my eyes from Cory. Hongseob was another one of my favorites! He sometimes seemed a bit fidgety while the others were talking. I’m also pretty sure he was the one that abandoned his team after the guy couldn’t dance Bingo. He was also smiling a lot and I was sure that he was the maknae just by looking at him because he really seemed younger than the others. He was adorable! He was the most tanned one after Jinhong and also has a really long neck.

The boys had real mics (the big ones) and were singing live with a backing track, I think.

The fans were okay-mannered. A lot of them had really fashionable, distinctive styles (hair, make up and clothes). I was right at the middle gangway and of course the fans from the worse seats gathered there instead of staying in their seats. When I entered the concert hall, someone actually had put their clothes on my seat but removed them once I entered. The girl in front of me had a light stick (they were gigantic and looked like they belong to a Star Wars cosplay) but she didn't wave it. At one point a girl that stood in the pathway sat down/leaned on my seat where I had my poster and jacket. I grabbed my things and she quickly stood up. Overall, they were very loud but most people kept their hands down, even during the more hard hitting songs.

After the encore the concert hall cleared pretty quickly. I was excited to meet the group so I went to the staff in the front. When about 2/3 of the fans were out, I saw two totally in red dressed paramedics coming from the exit doors, used the side entrace to the stage and went backstage. First I thought that a fan might have fainted because there was a group of fans talking animatedly to the backstage people but it turned out that they just wanted signed posters (I think there had been an issue).

First no one really noticed me, then a man told me to go to a staff member at the side of the stage who was discussing with two fans, one of them sobbing. I went there and found out that meeting the group wasn't possible anymore! NO ONE told me that – not the woman on the telephone who called me twice to check my ticket purchase, it wasn't written on the site where I bought the tickets and it certainly wasn't written on my ticket either!

We pleaded for a photo but the woman said no, they are all sweaty right now. Another man said they couldn't let us enter because we couldn't prove that we haven't been backstage yet (mind you, one girl was crying - and even if that's the case, THEY had the responsibility to check that every VIP only goes backstage only once, they could have a list with the seats that were backstage already or write something on the tickets, of course we can't prove we haven't been backstage). She offered us that we could get letters written from them and I said yes euthusiastically (the other girls also agreed).

Now comes a kind of serious and speculative part because I think one of the 24K members had perhaps some kind of serious health issue after the concert. The staff assistant asked us for our favorites, the first one said Jinhong. The second one named another member, I couldn't hear the name but the woman said that he's not available so the fan had to change her pick (she then named Jinhong, too). I picked Cory and in that moment I was really anxious about him being the unavailable one but it turns out that he was okay! She asked us for our names and we wrote them down on her mobile, then I and the sobbing girl gave them out posters for them to sign, too. She went backstage and we waited.

She came back with two posters for us and Din-A4 papers with our names and an autograph of our biases. I thanked her and went outside while other fans approached her about their issues (I think there were more VIPs that weren't aware they had to come before the concert). In front of the concert hall was another crying fans and several fans complaining in Romanian. It was a bummer that the concert ended that way.

On my way home (same street as the venue) I saw an ambulance coming from the direction of the concert venue though the lights were turned off. When I came home I checked the posters and every member signed them so I was curious why that one girl couldn't get a mention from her bias but he could still mysteriously sign two posters? I don't know if any of them really got sick or if they were just too tired to sign posters but something didn't add up. To be honest, I think they exchanged the posters with two pre-signed ones. I was concerned because everyone knows how overworked idols are and the thought of me enjoying their performance when they might have not is a bit disheartening. I hope the members get the rest they deserve once they go back to Korea.

tldr: Overall, great concert. I was surprised because it exceeded my expectations. Fell in love with Cory but there were misunderstandings with the VIP seats. Edit: here are some photos

#24k #still with 24u #cory #jinhong #kisu #hui #changsun #new fan #fan account #24k romania #hongseob #jeunguk #24k concert #kpop concert #choeun entertainment

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char27martin · 7 years

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Tips for Surviving a Book Tour from a Debut Novelist

It’s your first book tour. You’re ready to face crowds of adoring fans, and you’re going to autograph books and body parts until your Sharpie runs dry. Nothing could be more rewarding, with your first book hot off the press.

This guest post is by Jason Rekulak. Rekulak is the Publisher of Quirk Books, an independent press based in Philadelphia.

His first novel, THE IMPOSSIBLE FORTRESS, was published by Simon & Schuster in February and is available wherever books are sold.

Follow Jason on Twitter @jasonrekulak to get news and updates about his writing.

That’s the best-case scenario, at any rate. What’s likely to happen is a different story. Talk to any veteran author or publicist, and they’ll tell you the book touring business ain’t what it used to be.

Back in the twentieth century, in-store book signings were a reader’s only opportunity to witness writers up close and personal—so bestselling authors could expect massive crowds, and even first-time authors could usually count on a decent turnout, if the book was getting the right amount of buzz.

These days, of course, every writer has their own website (and Facebook page, Goodreads account, and Instagram feed) …all of which have diminished the popularity of in-store events. After all, why leave the comfort of your own home to shake an author’s hand when you can sit on your sofa and trade tweets with her instead?

Booksellers admit that getting readers to events by first-time novelists can be an enormous challenge. I was well aware of the difficulties as I set out to tour my first novel, The Impossible Fortress, and I was determined to buck the odds. Sure, I was an unknown author … but I believed my novel’s subject matter had broad universal appeal. The Impossible Fortress is set in the 1980s and concerns two teenagers who fall in love while programming a video game. Full of nostalgia and romance and technology, I figured the novel offered something for everyone.

To entertain my audience, I created a Powerpoint presentation with colorful images of Tom Selleck, George Michael, Wheel of Fortune hostess Vanna White, Apple II computers, and other pop culture treasures. I went on eBay and found a Members Only jacket to wear during events, and I bought a pack of Cyndi Lauper trading cards to give away as bookmarks.

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And my first three events were great. The first night in Philadelphia was a terrific kickoff. We had a full house, mostly because I sent personalized invitations to all of my friends and neighbors (Pro Tip 1: you have to be shameless and force everyone you know to come). Night two in Brooklyn was good because my publisher showed up in force, my agent brought a few coworkers, and I was “in conversation” with a terrific author who attracted his own fans. The third night—in my New Jersey hometown—may have been the highlight of the tour; the venue was packed with my friends from high school, there were plenty of cocktails, and a 1980s cover band kept the party going long after I stopped reading. Clearly, the tour was off to a fantastic start.

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But sometime near the end of night three, my high school buddies started talking about the approaching snowstorm, and I realized my tour was in jeopardy. I was scheduled to fly from New Jersey to North Carolina the following morning. But when I logged onto the American Airlines website, I saw my flight was already cancelled.

By this point it was nearing midnight, and I decided to take a calculated risk. I would drive south to Philadelphia, hoping to stay ahead of the bad weather, and I would catch the earliest possible morning flight from Philly to North Carolina. After all, there were crowds of excited readers waiting for me in Raleigh, and I wasn’t going to let them down!

I didn’t get much sleep that night, but my gamble paid off: By noon the next day, I had arrived at my hotel in Raleigh. The manager at the front desk greeted me with a smile. “Here for the big game?”

This was not the greeting I’d hoped for. “Big game?”

“UNC versus Duke,” he said. “Tar Heels versus Blue Devils! Haven’t you heard? It’s the biggest rivalry in college basketball! Everyone is going to be watching tonight!”

My heart sank. “Wonderful,” I told him. “I’ll take the key to the minibar.”

I tried to stay optimistic. I reminded myself that my novel had received a starred review in Booklist and a one-sentence mention in Entertainment Weekly. Surely I could manage to pull a small crowd in a city where I knew absolutely no one … right?

My event was due to start at 7pm, and that night I arrived a few minutes early. The staff had assembled some thirty folding chairs, but only three of the seats were occupied—a father and his two teenage kids.

“We’ll give people another ten minutes,” I told them. “In case anyone’s stuck in traffic.”

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No one was stuck in traffic. No one else was coming. One minute ticked by, then another. The teenagers slumped in their chairs, and I sensed they were getting impatient. By 7:08, I knew I was pushing my luck; I worried my three attendees would flee the store and leave me alone in a sea of empty folding chairs.

Now if you ever find yourself in this kind of situation (Pro Tip 2: you will), I suggest you try to make the most of it. There’s no reason to act like you’re addressing a crowd of hundreds. An audience of three allows for a different and more personal kind of conversation, so take advantage of the format. I switched off the microphone, sat across from the father and his two kids, and asked why they had come to the event. It turned out that the father was a fan of 1980s pop culture and video gaming. His son (a ninth grader) was an aspiring writer. His daughter (an eighth grader) was interested in graphic design.

I couldn’t have wished for a better three-person audience. I’ve spent twenty years working in book publishing and I love speaking with young people about writing and graphic design. So I gave a truncated version of my normal presentation, then asked about their favorite writers, shared some advice about breaking into book publishing, and showed off some rejected cover designs for The Impossible Fortress. We ended up chatting for forty-five minutes, and what could have been an incredibly awkward reading became a positive encounter for everyone.

In the weeks since my visit to North Carolina, I’ve described the event to a handful of authors, and everyone laughs with recognition. “Yeah, I’ve been there” is the most common response, and many insist that I got off easy.

Book Tour Blues

Here are just three ways it could have been worse:

I could have arrived at a bookstore that didn’t have copies of my book. (This happened to the comedian and actor Judah Friedlander, while promoting his book How to Beat Up Anybody. He tells the story in a podcast interview with Greg Fitzsimmons).

I could have been heckled by a drunk in an ill-conceived prank. (This happened to Kevin Wilson when he was touring for his terrific novel The Family Fang; he wrote about the incident for the Powell’s Books’ website.)

I could have accidentally insulted the only people who showed up for my reading. (Which is exactly what happened to John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars. He tells the story in a video appropriately titled “Mortification.”)

And then there’s Lori Jakiela. If you’re heading on a book tour anytime soon, you must head over to Literary Hub and read her chronicle of the worst book-signing of all time (the story involves a case of mistaken identity at the grand opening of a Sam’s Club—and to say anything more would spoil a brilliant essay).

So now you’ve been properly warned. Sure, you’re likely to have one or two rocky events along the way, but hopefully there will be plenty of good ones to balance out the duds. I wish you a safe and healthy journey (Pro Tip 3: Pack plenty of Vitamin C, and don’t forget your signing pens)!

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If you’re an agent looking to update your information or an author interested in contributing to the GLA blog or the next edition of the book, contact Writer’s Digest Books Managing Editor Cris Freese at [email protected].

The post Tips for Surviving a Book Tour from a Debut Novelist appeared first on WritersDigest.com.

from Writing Editor Blogs – WritersDigest.com http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/tips-surviving-book-tour-debut-novelist

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