#just nuts to me to marry a guy likely out of college likely very young and stupid | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dragonrajafanfiction · 3 years

Text

The Crane Team: Sons of Amaterasu

The Family Sends Their Regards

“Crow, I need you to pick up some folks for work.”

The hiring process had gone without a single hitch. No doubt that Yoko Uesugi had the backing of Nanami Sakurai so very little ‘vetting’ was actually done of the candidates. Crow trusted Yoko too but at least give them an interview outside a bar.

“I drove you once and now I’m a professional driver?”

“You promised to help me, this is for the cause!”

“Ugh… fine.”

“Thanks. A few of them are still nervous about… going out. Thanks for understanding.”

He got the address of a single spot outside a diner where he was supposed to pick up members of the Clan. This Clan formerly known as Devil and now was just going to be awkwardly absorbed into the Hydra to form what was simply known as the Japan Branch of Cassell College.

Crow leaned against the car, smoking. Were all the Cassell branches this fractious? He wondered to himself, blowing out a plume of smoke. No, likely not. Unless the men running those branches were just as corrupt as Tachibana. Part of him understood Ms. Sakurai’s desire to seal the documents surrounding the horrors under Genji Industries and Tachibana’s plan to turn Erii into a dragon. Half the Hydra members wouldn’t believe it. The other half might even agree with it.

His phone buzzed again. “I gave them the all clear.” Yoko texted. “They’re coming.”

Three people he recognized as the men from the bar emerged from the diner. They were all wearing suits and ties but they still looked like a bunch of rough rascals as they glared at him. Kiko reminded him a bit of Yasha, the way his eyes scanned him with a cocky smile. Ryuusei gave a cheery wave and invited himself into the front passenger side. “Thank you so much for the pick up!” The man had his hair back into a dark ponytail. When he pulled the handle, the door was still locked. “Uh…”

“Listen… There are still people out there who don’t agree with this whole arrangement. Yoko’s doing her best but she can’t do it alone. You’re not getting in my car unless I have your word that you’re not going to let her down.”

Ryuusei’s eyes widened slightly. “I would never! Yoko is my one true love. The guiding star of my life!”

Crow turned slowly to him with a disbelieving curl of his lips.

“I’ll do my best!” Young Hayato bowed deeply.

Crow nodded approvingly. “Hayato sits in front. The other two in the back.”

“Are you her boyfriend?” Ryuusei barked, stepping away from the door for a happily smiling Hayato.

“Yoko is a married woman, unless you believe that your Dragon Lord is dead. His body was never recovered at the Red Well with the others. Pursue her at your own risk.” Crow unlocked the doors.

Crow kept his eyes forward as he led his group of misfits from the elevators on the legal department floor of Genji Heavy Industries. Among Hydra, there was a belief that Devils gave off a certain smell. The way certain Hydra looked at the men with him in disgust, Crow could imagine that perhaps that was true. A new area where they would work was sectioned off. Even though they were in the same building and worked for the same company, the Hydra were reluctant to have them by their sides. But at least the area was well outfitted with phones and PCs and comfortable chairs. Most had already arrived on the phones.

“Wow they even have her name on our cubicles…” Hayato breathed.

“Yoko will be here in a minute to explain. I’m going to go smoke…” Crow turned on his heel.

“Don’t go too far.”

Ryuusei had been about to open his computer when Yoko’s voice reached his ears. He spun to face her. She was resplendent in a black long sleeved jacket, short skirt and black heels. She was smiling as though greatly moved by something. Heavy gold chains hung from her neck.

All the members of the Devil Clan stood up in a silent salute and then bowed humbly. Crow remembered the old man Tamayuki’s words. Whether or not she accepted the title, Yoko was the Chief of the Devil Clan.

Had anyone told him that within a few months, Devil clan members would be working on the dime of Hydra in their headquarters, he would have marked them as a lunatic. Had he known that this was going to be the end of things… how different would he have acted towards them? The faces of Devil Clan members flashed in his mind and he forced his mind away from that useless sense of regret. None of what happened back then was anyone’s fault and yet Devil and Hydra were both at fault. True justice was likely impossible. The only solution was to move forward and leave the old ways behind.

“Thank you… for coming here today.” Yoko said in clear and fluent Japanese. “This is a new beginning for the Japan Branch. Things will not go smoothly or evenly. But when those disruptions come, roll with them, like the waves of the tide and stay the course. The goal is reunification. Please… do not forget that. No matter what.”

The Devil Clan members let out a shout of “Hai!”

“Ganbatte.” Yoko bowed and they all bowed again.

She turned on her heel and stepped out of the office. Crow followed her out. “Crow there’s something I need to talk to you about. It’s very important. I know you’re… probably busy.”

“I’m not.” Crow said.

“Then follow me.”

Crow followed her through winding corridors and up abandoned staircases to an unknown area of Genji. “Thank you for picking up those guys today.”

“Nothin’ to it.”

“You can say that… but it's important. I hope you can continue to help out.”

“You want me to hang around them to get close to them. I get it. You said it before. Hydra and Devil Clan in the same room.”

She nodded to herself. “Yes. The separate seating arrangements were not my idea. But they won’t be able to hole the new employees up in their separate area for very long. My hope is that the Devil Clan members themselves will try to mingle. I can’t convert everyone on either side. I just have to trust their hearts.”

“Trust their hearts… huh?” Crow said.

“Someone once said that the strongest thing about Gen Chisei was not his dragonblood but his heart. At first I didn’t believe it.” She glanced down the stairs at him.

“Understandable. Those were your boyfriend’s chains.” Crow said, nodding to the bright gold chains.

“You were there.” She said quietly.

“I heard everything. I’m … truly sorry.”

“Thank you…”

“What made you change your mind about the Young Chief?” Crow asked.

“I didn’t change of my own will. As far as I was concerned, Chisei was a monster. But it was because someone I cared about loved him. And I couldn’t hate him if he loved him so much.”

Crow blinked in confusion for a moment but continued to follow her.

Eventually, they reached the converted vault apartment where she lived. “Come on in. It’s alright. We have to meet here because this is the only place I can talk freely.”

Erii peered out of her room and waved at Crow before disappearing back inside.

“It’s about a boy. The one at the orphanage. I had him taken out from there and placed under the protection of Cassell members.”

She led him to her own bedroom and shut the door. Crow looked around. The space was small. The furniture was simple wood. The bed was plain construction with plain sheets. The only accessory was a small sailor moon doll striking her signature pose on the dresser.

She pulled a tablet from the wall charger. “Please listen to this.”

She pulled up a file and pressed play.

A young boy’s shaky, barely audible voice came from the speaker. “They broke down the door and started shooting. I went to hide in the safe room right away. But my friend ran out of the room.”

“They just started shooting? No warnings? Nothing?”

“No.”

“What about your friend?”

“He ran back into the wall.”

“What do you mean into the wall?”

He… had his back to the wall. He put his hands up like this…”

“And…?”

“They shot him a lot.”

“Did you see what they looked like?”

“No… they had their faces covered. Just one had a tattoo. The one with the sun.”

Crow sighed as the recording finished. “Look. That time was crazy…”

“Crow. Don’t. Don’t excuse it. That boy wasn’t even a Devil. He was a Hydra child.”

“There were people who died who weren’t even Hybrids! It was crazy! We didn’t have control of the gangs. They just followed orders.”

“Were those orders to murder a whole family without remorse and gun down a child in a house?” She snapped. “If Chisei were here would he have approved of this?”

“These things happened. He never did anything about it.”

She ran her hands through her hair in frustration. “If we don’t… do something about these people. This is not going to work. You can’t expect reunification to happen with the Devil Clan making all the sacrifices to clean up the mess. And these people are part of the mess.”

She pulled out another folder. “This is the witness testimony I’ve gathered so far. None of these people want to be named as witnesses. They’re that scared. This boy is the only live witness I have to these murders who’s willing to talk and he’s too scared to use his real name. And he’s in hiding. All of them who survived just said these men had sun tattoos. They all kept their faces covered. Every time, it was the same. Everyone was killed regardless of what they said or did. The survivors either hid or they played dead. No one escaped. Those who ran were hunted, caught and killed. They wanted no witnesses to hide their atrocities! I need your help, Crow. I need names.”

“No one is going to prosecute these guys. They’re harder asses than Chisei ever was. Even to each other. They’ll get off and come after you.” Crow’s eyes were serious behind his lenses.

“You know who they are.” She leaned forward.

“Yeah. I do. And I can tell you that they’re nuts. Zealots. A separate faction within the executive board. They were focused on the extermination of the Devils. They believed in a pure White King bloodline that did not produce Devils. Only Emperors. That’s why they called themselves Sons of Amaterasu, because they wanted to have an Emperor Bloodline.”

“They’re going to cause trouble. It’s better to nip it in the bud now.” She put the documents away.

“I’ll see what I can do behind the scenes.” Crow said. “Let me try first.”

That night a gathering took place in a historic mansion outside of the city. It was once a Castle stronghold of a village that had long since lost its identity but none of its grandeur. There was no way to get to the mansion. One had to know where it was and turn down a poorly lit path through dense forest to arrive at a padlocked gate. But intruders never make it to the gate.

Everyone arrived armed with swords from the Sengoku Era. This clan of Hybrid were once noble Samurai beholden to a single Daimyo. But after that era faded away, they split into separate families. But they were always beholden to the cause. No Devil Child would survive in their household. They didn’t care to keep them in prisons. They simply killed them as soon as they were identified. The parents of such children were either run off their land, killed, or sterilized. As a result, the appearance of Devils among these families was one of the lowest rates in all of Hydra. Anyone who had born to them a son or daughter that was a Devil had their bloodline abruptly ended.

This is what Crow meant when he said that they were as harsh with each other as they were to Devils.

They sat across from each other on pillows, their ancestral blades placed politely in front of them. They kept their faces masked even amongst each other, their glowing tattoos their own identifier.

“It appears we are all that is left.”

The seven of them sat in a circle, their feet covered under a heated table. “Is there any possibility of continuing the bloodline at this rate?”

“The good women kept frozen embryos and eggs and the good men kept their sperm well banked in case of this catastrophe. It will take a generation, but I believe recovery is possible. Also, the widows are still available. It’s our men who are scarce.” Said another.

“What threatens us now isn’t genetics. It’s the current atmosphere of Hydra. Even now, those Devils have infiltrated right in the middle of Genji. It won’t be long until Hydra is completely corrupted. The Emperor line will be impossible.” A man at the head of the table spoke in a soft voice. “The population of Devils will explode.”

A gloomy silence was around the table. “With Nanami Sakurai at the head… we have no hope.”

“What are you planning? You don't intend to take violent action? Her installment was sanctioned by Amaterasu no mikoto…”

“He was not a true emperor.” The man at the head of the table said. He waved his hand and three women came with documents in their hands, heads bowed. They were Geisha, their faces painted a ghostly white and they delivered the documents and disappeared like phantoms. The men at the table opened the folders and gasped as they read. “Is this true? There was a second Gen brother? And he was a Devil?”

“He was the ultimate Devil. The Dragon Lord, Ruri Kazama.”

“Where did you get this information?! Some of this is dated 20 years ago!”

“It’s too accurate to be falsified. The man who has delivered me this documentation is here now. You just can’t see him. Chisei Gen was a creation in a lab, along with his Devil Brother. Tachibana was aware of this and so was the King General of the Devil Clan. Hydra was never going to produce a pure hybrid line. Tachibana was actively harboring and creating Devils.”

“Why is this source helping you?”

The man at the head of the table smiled viciously. “I’ll let him speak for himself.”

Sure enough, the empty space behind him was suddenly occupied by a European looking man in a prim suit. He was carrying a large silver case that looked like it would be too heavy for an ordinary person to lift.

“We are willing to pay handsomely for the elimination of both Yoko and Erii Uesugi. It will for 4 million to retain your services and 14 million if the targets are eliminated and the skeletons of both delivered. You will be well armed to also create as much havoc as you wish. Once the task is completed, you will be sent to protective custody to hide out for a while until things die down.”

One of the men looked the man up and down. “Why would we hide out?”

“Killing Yoko Uesugi will attract the ire of the Gattuso heir. Once the job is done you must leave immediately.”

A sudden chill fell over the table.

“If it means the Salvation of the White King descendants from being corrupted by Devil blood, then the sacrifice will be worth it.” said he man at the head of the table.

“What do you get out of the deal? Why do you want two Devil women dead?”

“That information is classified.” The man set down the case, typed a code in a keypad and stood back. The metal case opened and deformed into a rack of alchemical weapons! “This is the finest weaponry in Dragonslaying. No dragon can withstand this collection. Make good use of it. I’m also entrusting you with these.”

He held out two pieces of dark wood blocks which the man at the head of the table took.

“With these you will disable Erii Uesugi. She will be the easiest to kill. Your leader has been trained in their use.”

#Dragon Raja

5 notes · View notes

sylvesterlestermanchester · 3 years

Text

Fearfully and Wonderfully

Summary: Dan wasn’t entirely sure what he was going to experience when he starts his first semester at Uni, but he was pretty sure an incredibly sheltered Catholic boy stealing his heart wasn’t on his list of typical college tropes.

Word Count: 12401

Genre: Humor, fluff, angst. All mixed together. Fun times!

Warnings: Conversion therapy, homophobia, brief allusions to sex and genitals. One puke joke?

A/N: This is my first ever published fic-I’ve been writing for literally years little bits and pieces, but COVID has me going crazy and I just wanted to put some effort into an actual thing. Thanks for reading!

Dan wasn’t sure what he was expecting when he walked through the door to his dorm the first time, parents and sullen little brother in tow. All of his knowledge about Uni had been from TV and movies-maybe he would have some frat guy in the bed across from him, or maybe a stoner, or maybe a weird silent dude who will disappear after the first week and let Dan put their beds together so they would actually fit his gangly body.

What he isn’t expecting is to have an eight-year-old girl bodyslam herself into his legs, followed by a loud groan and a sharp voice scolding “Suzanne, we told you to stop running!”

Dan’s eyes look down at the (quickly retreating) girl and blinks a few times as he takes in the scene in front of him. There are way too many people in the crowded room right now-he counts two identical boys, both around 10, bouncing on the stiff dorm bed, one pre-teen digging through a cardboard box, a girl around Adrian’s age whispering something to an older woman with a toddler in her arms, standing next to a quiet-looking tall man, and, of course, the eight-year-old, now having been scooped up by a sheepish looking guy around Dan’s age who’s giving him an apologetic smile. This must be the Philip Lester on his room assignment form. “Sorry. My family is kind of, erm, excited.” He says with a small, nervous laugh and sets the girl aside before sticking out a hand to shake. “I’m Phil! You must be, um...Daniel, right?”

Dan takes a second to readjust the bags in his arms to shake Phil’s hand awkwardly, trying not to look too overwhelmed at the scene in front of him. “Dan’s fine.”

The kids have all frozen in place, staring at Dan with wide eyes like Dan just sprouted a second head. There’s a few long beats of silence as Phil shakes his hand just a little too enthusiastically for just a bit too long.

Finally, Phil’s mum places a hand on her son’s shoulder, beaming brightly. “It’s so great our boys will be living together!” She cheers to Dan’s mum, who looks a bit bewildered. Ms. Lester gently takes a few of Dan’s bags and sets them on the bed, continuing to chatter on. “Come on, we can unpack while you two get to know each other better. I need to know who my son is going to be rooming with, right?” She continues to babble in a thick northern drawl as Dan glances back at his parents, who look like they’re about to bolt for the door and leave their son to be swallowed whole by these people.

“You’re rooming with an absolute freak,” Adrian mumbles in his ear with a small smirk. “Karma is a bitch, huh?” “Shut up.” Dan hisses back through his teeth, trying to look as interested as possible as Phil’s mum keeps talking.

“The weather here is so nice-it’s already getting cold up in Rossendale, can you believe it? Max and Adam were running around outside, and I was so scared they were gonna catch cold, you know how quickly little ones do. Oh, the drive here was wonderful-” “We saw cows!” One of the kids butts in, and suddenly they’re all talking, any nervousness they had around the strangers suddenly vanishing.

“And horses!” “We got hamburgers, and there was this huge truck-it had to have, like, forty wheels-” Phil seems to take after his dad, quietly but quickly unpacking since his siblings have seemingly given up on it in favor of telling Dan’s family every detail of the six-hour car ride. At one point he makes eye contact with Phil, who gives him an apologetic look, his cheeks flushed and an embarrassed grin on his face as the kids chatter along excitedly like they’ve never talked to another person before.

Finally, right when Dan feels like his ears are going to fall off, Phil speaks up again. “I-I think I can get this from here, guys. Mum, Dad, why don’t we go out for a walk before we say goodbye? I know you guys want to see the geese on campus, right?” The kids all cheer like geese are the most exciting thing on Earth, scrambling for the door. Phil’s mum gives Dan a tight hug and Phil’s dad, still not having spoken a single word, even gives his shoulder an uncomfortable pat before they head out. The small space suddenly feels vast and empty, and the silence is almost tangible. “Well. They seemed...friendly.” Dan’s mum says after a few moments, his dad snorting.

“You’re in for quite a year, huh, kid?” He jokes. Dan laughs weakly, but in all honesty, it doesn’t seem that funny.

Just what did he get himself into?

Dan’s curled up in his bed when Phil finally comes back a few hours later, giving Dan that same crooked, shy grin from earlier. Now that it’s just him and not him with (presumably) his entire Brady Bunch-style family, he can get a better look at his roommate. He’s tall, about an inch taller than Dan, and lanky. His black jeans are just a bit high on his ankles, and his faded green shirt clings to his skinny frame. As Dan’s eyes travel higher he takes in his flushed cheeks, his blue eyes wide behind his oversized glasses, all behind shaggy black hair that doesn’t match his ginger eyebrows-ginger like every other family member of his. Dan suddenly feels a bit self-conscious in his Game of Thrones pajamas and old school shirt, pulling his covers up a bit higher as he takes in the other young man with a strange feeling in his chest. He’s definitely different than anyone Dan’s ever known. But damn, if he isn’t cute.

“Sorry if my family was a lot today.” He says after a slight moment of silence, a slight giggle slipping out as he walks over to one of the boxes on his side of the room. “I’m the first to go to Uni out of my brothers and sisters, so my parents decided to, like, make it into a whole thing.”

The memory of the chaos is still fresh in Dan’s mind, but hearing Phil talk about it, he can’t help but smile a bit as well. “I’m the oldest, so I get it. And they were nice. Your siblings are very...uh, talkative.” He says slowly, trying not to sound rude, but Phil’s giggling again before he can worry too much about it.

“We’re from kind of the middle of nowhere, so they’re just excited to see, like, humans outside of Rossendale for the first time.” Phil joked as he started reorganizing some of the things his siblings had just sort of dumped around the room. “Plus, they don’t usually get sugar, but they had soda on the way here. So they were practically about to explode by the time we pulled in. They just exploded all of that excitement onto you.”

Dan can’t help but laugh a bit at that as he watches Phil set some thick books up one way and then rearranges them. “Oh, Jesus. That car ride must have been nuts.” Phil looks over his shoulder, grinning wider now. He looks more and more relaxed each minute, as if he was just as nervous about Dan as Dan was about him. “You have no idea, oh my gosh. They were already wound up for today, and then there was soda, and Max and Alex-they get carsick even worse than I do, and then Suzanne had to pee, like, forty times an hour, and Mum was all weepy...this has been the longest day of my life.” He joked, laughing along with Dan.

Even though Dan can’t connect any of the kids to their names, he feels like he knows them decently well. In fact, as the conversation drifts into more goofy road trip stories, Dan’s surprised with just how close he feels to Phil like they’ve known each other before they even met.

It’s strange, he finds. But then again, Phil’s pretty strange, after all.

Dan doesn’t fully realize how strange Phil is until the next day. There’s a few hints-Dan makes a reference to some TikTok audio and Phil admits he’s never used it before, staring in awe as Dan scrolls through his ForYou Page for him. When they head off to orientation in one of the lecture halls, Phil’s head jolts up and his face flushes bright red when one of the countless speakers jokingly curses (if you can count “ass” as a curse-Dan honestly can’t). But it’s not until they’re out at the quad with some of their new peers for lunch when Chris turns to Phil and asks if he went to the school his cousin went to up north. “Oh, I didn’t go to school.” Phil says with a bright smile, before quickly adding “I mean-I was homeschooled. So I just kinda did the work when I wanted to.”

“Your parents homeschooled you? Didn’t Dan say you had, like, twenty siblings?” Louise questions as they all turn to look at Phil. Dan feels a migraine coming on just imagining being home with all of those kids all bloody day, though he can actually picture Mrs. Lester teaching them all pretty well. Phil laughed a bit, cheeks flushing pink as he looked down at his sandwich.

“We all were. My mum and dad didn’t like the schools in our area-they wanted us to be more connected to the church, said that “our values weren’t instilled in traditional education’.” He explained with a small shrug. When PJ raised an eyebrow at that Phil pulled a small cross necklace out from under his shirt. “I’m Catholic. I actually have plans for Seminary after getting my bachelor’s-so if you’re planning on getting married, I’m taking bookings now.” Phil’s last comment was clearly meant to lighten up the mood, but it’s obvious that the subject matter was making the group a little uncomfortable, considering they all just met. Dan’s mentally running through Phil’s belongings in their dorm-were all those books Bibles? Was he going to start hanging crosses everywhere? Or make him wake up early on Sundays?

Before his brain could spiral out further Chris blurted out “So, were you raised in a Jesus bubble or something?” Louise smacks his arm but Phil giggled. “I-I have been told I’ve lived a bit of a sheltered life before, yeah.” “Were you allowed...TV?” PJ asks slowly, eyes widening when Phil shook his head.

“Not cable. We could watch DVDs, but they had to be approved, so it was usually educational. I know a lot of animal facts, actually. Did you know hippo-”

“What about the internet?” Louise cuts him off.

“Not after my older brother got caught Googling “bikini girls” when he was 10.” Phil joked lightly. “But even before that, my mum was pretty anti-internet. If I really needed it for school or whatever, I’d go down to the library.”

“No Harry Potter?” “Promotes witchcraft. Apparently. I haven’t read it for myself, but-”

“Dating?” “Not without serious intention to marry-and I’m not exactly ready for that, so-” “Running water?” “You know what’s funny?” Phil says, giggling a bit and bringing his knees loosely to his chest. “You guys think I’m weird, which is totally understandable. But your guys’ lives before this sound weird to me, too. Like-Chris, you got to play video games as a kid, right? And I was taught that those would turn me into some homicidal maniac. Dan, I saw you have a horoscope app-that’s the occult, so that’s a huge no-no.” Wow, okay. Before Dan could feel too offended, though, and Chris could jump in, Phil keeps going. “But, like, I get that you’re not a witch, or Chris, you’re not gonna chop me up into little pieces when I’m sleeping. There’s gotta be some middle ground here, right? So...you guys could show me how to live more like you, and maybe you guys would be more interested in what I’m into?”

There’s a small silence that falls across the group before a wicked grin slowly appears on Louise’s face.

“What do you want to learn first?”

The next few weeks are a bit of a whirlwind for Dan. Between classes, hanging out with new friends, homework, scrambling to find a job, remembering to text his mum and let her know he hasn’t died, he’s barely able to keep his head on straight. But the time he spends trying to introduce Phil to the “real world” is some of his favorite.

Phil had set some ground rules-nothing that could kill him or ruin his life if it got out on social media. If he got too uncomfortable, he was allowed to tap out, but he’d give it an honest attempt. And nothing Satanic. (Dan had laughed until he realized by the look on his face that he wasn’t joking).

Granted, their friend group hadn’t done a great job at the start. PJ thought it would be hilarious to let Phil start with some “iconic reading material”.

Dan had been in class when they had presented the book to him, and the two were in their respective beds when Dan heard a shocked gasp from Phil’s side of the room.

“You good, mate?” He rolled over, watching as Phil sat upright and started flipping through the pages. “Do-Do you know about this book?” He asked, face turning impossibly redder as he held up the cover for Dan. 50 Shades of Gray. As Dan burst out laughing, his roommate whined playfully.

“What-Phil, who gave this to you?” “PJ said it was necessary reading!”

“PJ is a dunce. Give it here, I’ll protect you from the big bad book.” Dan teases, but Phil quickly shoves the book into his hands like it’s on fire.

“I’m gonna have nightmares about ties and rich men for weeks.” He grumbled playfully, curling up on his bed and reaching for his phone. “I’m never trusting Peej again.”

Louise turns full maternal the next day when he struggles to recount the experience in polite language (Dan holding back laughter), and she decides to go the complete opposite way, launching a mission to, as she put it, “reshape Phil’s lost childhood”. Phil lightly pushes back against wording, because he feels like he had quite a nice childhood, thank you very much.

Still, Louise comes over a couple of nights later, armed with her laptop.

“They couldn’t come up with a more creative name than “High School Musical”?” Phil teased gently as she pulled it up on her screen.

“Phil, you sweet boy, High School Musical is a cultural milestone that you need experience. So no backtalk!”

“Whatever you say.” He said, sitting on the other side of her and holding a bowl of popcorn in his lap.

They watch the first movie, and then the second, and then Phil’s begging to watch the third. As the final song plays Dan glances over and sees that Phil has his head ducked down, shoulders shaking gently.

“Phil?” Louise asks gently right as a choked sob erupts from him. She lets out a yelp as Phil flings his arms around her neck, laughing shakily. “It was just...Troy chose basketball and music…both of his passions...” He blubbers out, nuzzling into her shoulder as she coos. “You’re so weird, hon. You know that?” Once he’s calmed down enough (when Dan offers him a hug the waterworks start up all over again, sniffling. “So. Is that what your guys’ school was like?”

Louise and Dan glance at each other before bursting into laughter, only stopping a couple of minutes later when Louise turns to Phil once more. “If you liked High School Musical, you’re going to love this show Victorious…”

Of course, it’s not all smutty books and (incredible) movie trilogies.

Being homeschooled meant that all Phil knows is doing school when he feels like it. Lucky for Phil, he’s a huge nerd, so homework and studying actually excite him. The problem is, these things tend to excite him at 3 in the morning, and he actually has classes to go to now outside of his room.

By day three of no sleep, Phil swears Dan’s grown wings, and Dan intervenes. They make up a rules sheet-bedtime is 2AM, wake up at 10AM, eat three meals a day, no more than five cups of coffee a day (of all the vices Phil was deprived of, caffeine was clearly not one of them-Dan’s never seen anyone drink more coffee in his life). He gets him down to one all-nighter a week, and in turn, Phil wakes him up each morning and helps him with schoolwork so Dan doesn’t have to face going to the tutoring center. It turns out that Phil’s kind of a genius, despite never being in a classroom until a couple of weeks prior.

Chris is the one who convinces Phil to get social media, telling him that “only serial killers and old people” don’t. Phil’s not the greatest at it at first (there’s a lot of pictures uploaded on accident to his Instagram stories and nonsense tweets), but he slowly gets more used to it, getting his terrible puns and weird things he sees on campus out to the world (all 20 of his followers).

Dan can’t help but get slightly annoyed when Phil’s phone is shoved in his face to choose a filter of some stupid looking goose that’s close to attacking him, but the look of pure elation that Phil gets when someone sends a dog meme in their group chat is enough to warm his heart in ways he didn’t want to address fully but knew he couldn’t ignore.

There’s so much to teach him, and it seems like each day something pops up. Still, Dan’s surprised by Phil’s world, too.

First, he brings them to a non-denominational bible study group. PJ groaned quietly as Phil handed them all cheap paperback Bibles before they entered the church.

“Can’t we do something a bit more...fun? With less reading?”

“If you don’t like it, you don’t have to do it again,” Phil said with a grin, rocking back and forth on his heels. “And if you like it-which hopefully, you will-we can come back once a week, and I’ll get you some nicer Bibles. These are just to start out with.”

Louise forces a small “yay” as they head inside, Phil leading them through the sanctuary with a happy sigh before taking them down some stairs, where a young woman sits in front of a small arrangement of chairs. “Phil, you brought your friends!” The woman cheers and Phil laughs happily. “Caroline-this is Dan, PJ, Chris, and Lou. They’re new to all this, so we’ll go easy this week?” He joked lightly, and Caroline nods, asking them about their religious beliefs.

“Uh, went to church a few times with my Nan. Atheist.” Dan says, biting his lip. He never actually said the “a'' word around Phil, and he’s a bit nervous that he’s going to suddenly flip out, but he still seems just as excited as when he walked in.

“Atheist. Never been-parents hate churches. Can I still grab snacks?” Chris adds and Caroline laughs, nodding.

“I’m a little complicated, but it’s basically just hippie church.” PJ says, shrugging. “Singing and chanting and all.”

“I go about once a month-I’m Episcopal, officially, but I’ve been to other churches too.” Louise gently smiled, and with that, the group got started. They went around and talked about their weeks, a few upcoming events, a prayer, and then Caroline instructed them to get their books. Phil pulled a well-worn leather Bible out of his bag, and Dan’s eyes widened a bit when he opened it. There are post-it notes everywhere, with entire passages highlighted and notes covering practically every margin in Phil’s stupidly perfect handwriting. It’s clear that Phil’s spent a lot of time with the book.

“Since we have guests, I figured we’d take a break from our reading of Matthew and focus on a couple of specific verses today,” Caroline says brightly. “James 1:13-15: “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”

There’s a slight pause and Chris furrows his eyebrows. “Huh?” “In simple terms-don’t say God isn’t the one to tempt you, because when you stray off His path, that’s on you.” One of the group members explains. “And if you do sin, it’ll lead to, uh, death.”

“Well, does God not tempt us to do bad things by putting so much pressure on us to be perfect?” A girl with blue hair jumps in, raising an eyebrow. “He sets the standard so high. Sometimes I’m just like, ‘Chill, dude. I can’t do everything. I’m not you.’ “

PJ snorts at that, giggling. “You call God dude?” They’re all laughing now, but Dan can’t believe it-he wants to jump in.

“Can I ask a dumb question?” His voice is a bit quiet but inquisitive. “Isn’t God supposed to be loving and forgiving? Why does He want you guys to be perfect? That sounds kind of...harsh.”

“Well, He knows we’re not perfect.” Phil says, and another guy nods.

“He asks for us to be because it strives us to be better. And it teaches us that messing up is okay.” The conversation keeps up for a bit before Caroline interrupts, asking them to focus on the latter half of the passage.

PJ narrows his eyes at the text before looking up. “Am I really gonna die if I sin?” “Well, sin was what led us away from eternal life in the first place-Adam and Eve kinda messed that up for us.”

“Yeah, but our personal sins can lead us to death, too. Not just old sins. That’s what God’s warning us about here.”

“Not every sin does, though. Like mixed-fabric shirts.” Louise grinned a little. “Or grabbing dudes by their nads during fights.” PJ’s eyes widened and he turned to Phil. “Are those actual rules?!” “It was a different time!” Phil giggled as he watched him flip through the pages quickly.

“Where does it say we can’t grab nads?’ “Can we stop saying nads in church?” Phil pointed out, still laughing despite his red face.

Caroline tuts and wags a finger playfully. “Uh-uh, Philip. No judgment. They can talk about nads all they want, now.”

The entire room is laughing again as Phil buries his face in his hands. Finally, when he controls his giggles, Caroline speaks again. “Do you think talking about that kind of stuff in church is a sin, Phil?”

It’s teasing at first, but Phil actually thinks about it for a moment.

“Well...my household was pretty strict growing up. I mean, I got yelled at once for just sneezing during church.” He admits slowly and Dan’s eyebrows furrow a little. He can’t imagine either of Phil’s parents yelling at him, or anyone, really. “But I get why it was. They wanted me to love God, and respect Him, just like they loved and respected me and I loved and respected them. So I think if you do things with love, genuine love, it’s not a sin. But if you do things out of hate, or anger, or with the intention of hurting, that’s a sin. And that’s not automatically bad-like T’andra said, we’re all gonna make mistakes. Just keep on acting with love, and I think you’re good.” There’s a pause, and Dan’s face flushes slightly. Not just at how much Phil was saying “love”, but the words he spoke, and the true thought and passion behind them.

The moment is cut short when PJ snorts. “So if I love nads, I can talk about them to Jesus?”

By the time the room is back under control, the group is over. “Y’know, that was actually pretty fun.” Chris said after they had all grabbed snacks and talked to everyone.

“It was! It was like...philosophical debate.” Dan said. “The real nitty-gritty. The topics of good, evil, life, death, corruption-” Louise shoved him gently. “So deep, Dan. Of course you enjoyed it.” She joked lightly before adding “No offense, Phil!” Phil doesn’t seem to care-he’s grinning so wide it must be hurting his cheeks, and Dan would be lying if he isn’t tempted to start reading the whole Bible from cover to cover just to see him grin like that again.

Phil also manages to bring them to actual church services a couple of times (though getting college students out of bed before noon on a weekend proves to be a practically impossible task).

Dan has to admit he’s not as impressed with this as he is with the study group. The group is fun-they can all talk, and laugh, and actually discuss the points. Church is...not. They sit on hard pews. They listen. They stand and sit and kneel and stand and sit and kneel. They sing a few songs, and while Phil’s quiet baritone makes Dan’s sore knees quiver, it’s not enough to really warrant him waking up at 8AM on a weekend.

Phil is politely understanding of this, though it’s clear that this is of certain importance to him that his friends might not ever understand. It’s admirable if nothing else.

Other than storytelling from his childhood (which does little to make him seem more normal, honestly) and the weekly study, though, Phil doesn’t talk too much about the church to his other friends. Dan, however, is different. Maybe it’s just the fact that they live together and their space is more shared, but Phil opens up to Dan a bit more about it. He reads passages and verses to Dan, he prays in front of him, and he answers his questions in a non-condescending way. Dan has to admit that while he likes what Phil says, he can’t find himself connecting to it in the way Phil has, with his entire heart and soul. But Dan can admire the stories and the way his friend sees the world, and this new world that he’s entering with him.

It’s been a month of them being friends when Dan realizes that he’s seeing the world in two ways-Dan’s universe, and Phil’s universe. They’re so different, but (and he’s sure he’d never admit this out loud) Dan prefers when their universes collide.

When Dan comes home after a long day of classes and working at the campus bookstore, he’s exhausted. The soft music fades through the room as he opens the door to find Phil chewing on a pen, looking just as anxious as him. “I think my brain is leaking out my ears,” Phil said wearily, looking over the top of his glasses at Dan. “Do I have brain on my desk?” Dan snorts and rolls his eyes, reaching over and grabbing his textbook. “We need a break. And you need sleep-I know you took that second all-nighter last night, rule-breaker.” “Fine. Watch something with me?” He says after a moment, grabbing his laptop. They load up an episode of Zoey101 (they’d finished Victorious the week before) and hit play.

As the bars from the theme song fade out, Dan suddenly feels a strange pressure on his shoulder. He glances over and finds Phil with his cheek pressed to Dan’s shoulder, glasses sliding down his nose as he lets out a soft snore. Dan pauses the show, and for a brief moment, it’s just the two of them. Dan and Phil.

He lives for those moments: Getting coffee after a class. Sending each other memes. Trying new food at the dining hall. Brief greetings in the halls. Shared looks as they hang out with their friend group.

It’s been a month of them being friends when Dan realizes he's never fallen quite this hard before. He doesn’t just want to make out, all hot and heavy, or go further than just that. He just wants this-Dan and Phil-forever, even just as friends. He didn’t expect to find that in this pale, bible-banging weirdo, but now that he does he never wants to let him go.

Dan’s getting that feeling now more and more, the Dan and Phil feeling when they’re in the study group a few weeks later. They’re both sat towards the back, trying (and failing) to hold back laughter as they’re hunched over Dan’s Bible.

“I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots. Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold. We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver…” Phil says under his breath in a low, gravelly tone.

Dan turns to the next page. “O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes!” He whispers, still trying to make his voice sound high-pitched.

“Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead. Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from-”

“Dan, Phil, I’m guessing you both are whispering about how excited you are about our retreat at Camp Brabeck?”

The two both fall silent, Dan quickly glancing between Phil and Caroline, her smile wearing a bit thin from having to call them out. Phil’s eyes are wide, suddenly all signs of laughter gone. “Camp Brabeck?” He squeaks out, and the leader nods.

“On our upcoming four-day weekend. It’s up North, so it’ll be a bit of a drive, but we’ve already got the vans rented out and everything.” She says before noticing Phil’s sudden change in demeanor. “Phil, you’re from around there, actually. Have you been before?”

Phil blinks a few times before nodding, curling up into his seat a little. “O-Oh. Well, I actually did, once, but-”

“Great! So you’ll be down to come, right? We’ve got more space in the van, and it’ll be fun…” Caroline says hopefully, not letting him argue as he starts shaking his head. “Plus, if you’ve already been there, you can tell us all about it! C’mon, this is right up your alley. I think you’ll-” “I’ll go if Dan does.” Phil blurts out suddenly, looking nervously over at. Dan’s definitely confused now-Phil loves the outdoors. He loves this group. He loves-well, to be fair, Phil seems to love most things. He’s racking his brain trying to figure out what it could be, but he just can’t, and now all eyes are on him, and-

“I mean...as long as someone brings bug spray.” Dan says slowly, Caroline beaming and writing on her clipboard before talking excitedly about the campground. The two stay quiet, Dan focusing on Phil’s eyes trained on her and hands gripping his Bible so tightly that his knuckles turn white.

The minute the group ends Phil makes a beeline to the door, walking so fast that Dan can’t catch up without actually chasing him. Dan’s phone dings a short moment later:

Sorry 2 run! Had 2 catch up w some1 4 a thing. Thx 4 signing up w me ^_^ - Phil!

Dan furrows his eyebrows, and not for the normal reason of Phil’s stupid abbreviations and the fact he insists upon signing all his texts. He’s trying to piece the pieces together from the few characters on his screen when Louise puts a hand on his shoulder. “So what was all that about?” She asks with a raised eyebrow, giggling a bit as she gives his arm a light squeeze. “What did you show him that spooked him so bad?” Before Dan can speak, Chris is at his side.

“He’s just embarrassed that Dan was flirting with him during the Jesus Power Hour.” “Dan, were you?” Louise gasped teasingly, and Dan sputters a bit, sliding his phone into his jacket pocket. “Chris-what?! No, no, I wasn’t flirting. I wasn’t! He just-when she mentioned the retreat-and the camp-” Dan’s face is bright red now, suddenly the words from Solomon seem a lot less goofy and a lot more...romantic, to outsiders, with their heads bowed together with dumb grins on their faces.

Louise and Chris shoot Dan equally doubtful looks. “Dan-” She starts, but Dan grits his teeth.

“We’re not-neither of us are like that.” He snaps. As she steps back and Chris raises an eyebrow, guilt starts to pool in his stomach, but he can’t stop. “For one, I’m not gay, and two, Phil is gonna be a priest, remember? Aren’t they, like, sworn to celibacy?”

Chris and Louise glance at each other. “Mate...chill, yeah? We were just joking. We know you’re not...y’know.” “Good.” Dan said before turning and stomping up the steps, the unnerving sense that the painting of Jesus had his eyes following him the whole way.

A few minutes later, Dan is sitting in the back garden of the church that Phil helps tend to after services, the wind whipping through his hair. Usually, he’d be walking to a Starbucks with Phil, discussing that session’s theme in-depth and watching Phil’s face turn pink as Dan releases the string of expletives he’s been holding in for an entire hour. The expletives are running through his head at top speed, as he spends about three minutes crafting the perfect text message.

hey, i’m sorry if i weirded you out today! didn’t mean to haha. i was goofing off way too much and i know you take these meetings p seriously. i’ll take it more seriously next time and not distract you

Dan hits send after rereading it about a million times, groaning audibly as he does. It’s not exactly a “Sorry I have a crush on you and made you seem gay but I get you’ll never like me and that’s fine I just wanna spend all my time with you”, but it’s the best he can do.

No worries! OMGosh I was just embarrassed 2 b called out like that hahaha! 0_o <= Literally my face. I was def the 1 who was whispering 2 loud. Lol! -Phil!

dude, it was totally on me. Dan texts back, chewing on his bottom lip. Phil had looked pretty freaked out, but if he was fine, maybe they could just...move past it? really, i started it.

Noooooooo! I take all the blame. I had some cookies b4 group and I was on major sugar rush. Btw...I had some of those cookies ur nan sent! Sorry, I’ll buy some snacks 4 us. Ask her to send more, tho? So good <3 Thank u! Take dancing men as an apology (/-_-)/ |(-_-|) -Phil!

okay, seriously, who taught you to text like this? my head hurts trying to decipher everything

DANCING MEN 4 U (/-_-)/ |(-_-\) ~(*-*)~ (/-_-)/ |(-_-\) -Phil!

you’re ridiculous. Dan can’t help but laugh, in spite of the churning feeling in his stomach. He drops his phone onto the grass next to him and looks up at the sky.

“If you know Phil so well, big guy, what do I do?” He asks before he can stop himself, before pausing. Half of him expects a thunderstorm to start, and him to get struck by lightning, or a rainbow to leap across the sky and the clouds to part to show Phil’s shining face as the sun. But after a few long moments of silence, Dan realizes he’s not going to get any divine intervention and groans.

“Well...let me know when you figure it out.”

The next couple of weeks go by quickly. Everything seems normal-they go to classes, they go to work, they go to group, they goof off. The four-day weekend creeps upon them, but before they know it the whole group is up at 6AM standing in front of a huge white van.

“This isn’t cult-ish at all.” PJ yawns, chucking his duffle bag into the trunk. Louise sips her coffee and squints over at Phil.

“This has to be a sin, you know. Not giving a girl her beauty sleep.” Usually, Phil would spout something about “being beautiful in His eyes”, but right now he’s getting the same sense of panic in his eyes that he had when the camp was first mentioned, laughing weakly as he adjusts his glasses. Dan is just awake enough to get the sense that Phil has been repressing the idea of the trip until this exact moment, but he also knows just how to fix it. He had been stockpiling on Phil knowledge for this exact moment.

Phil jumps a bit as Dan nudges him. “Relax. Listen, I know what’s up.” He says quietly, watching as his friend’s eyes widen and a blush spreads across his cheeks.

“What?!” Phil yelps a bit as Dan gently leads him away from the rest of the group. “I mean...what do you know? What’s up?” He asks quietly, fiddling with the strap of his messenger bag.

Dan holds back a fond noise as he smiles gently, shaking his head. “No need to be embarrassed, Phil. My mom went through the same thing for years.” As Phil looks more and more concerned, wringing his hands, Dan digs in his own backpack for a moment before pulling out a small box of Dramamine and handing it to him. “So you don’t upchuck all over us.”

There’s a beat as Phil stares down at the box, eyes wide, and Dan almost thinks he’s got it wrong. Does Phil not get carsick? Was he insulted? Was he really that embarrassed by it?

Phil finally starts to giggle, but it seems more relieved than anything. He nudges Dan lightly and opens his mouth to speak.

“Ah, Dan and Phil! The dynamic duo. You two can sit in the back with the bags!” Caroline’s voice cuts through whatever Phil’s about to say, and he turns to Dan with a small shrug.

“Looks like it’ll just be you I puke on.” He says, a slight grin on his face as he pulls the door open for Dan, who rolls his eyes but steps in “Gotta get you a poncho for the splash zone.” Dan gags playfully before squeezing in to sit next to Phil amongst all the bags, rolling his eyes and plugging his earbuds in before holding out one bud to Phil and turning on their shared playlist-a mix of indie, Christian rock, (mostly clean) emo jams, and Disney Channel top hits. It’s not the most welcoming thing to listen to at 6AM, but if it keeps Phil calm and Dan from actually needing a poncho, he’ll welcome it.

The majority of the drive is spent in and out of sleep for Dan, guitar chords and vocals bouncing around his sleep-deprived brain. He’s not fully conscious until around noon when they’re about an hour away from the camp. The roads are getting twisty, and it’s then that he notices that Phil has his eyes screwed shut and face scrunched up, both hands shoved into his messenger bag. It only takes a slight peek for Dan to see his fingers curled tightly around his well-worn Bible, and he bites his lip.

Phil talks about leaps of faith a lot in group. Dan doesn’t quite get it, but he’s pretty sure he’s taking one when he slides his hand into the other’s bag and gently coaxes Phil’s hand into his own. The young man stiffens up for a moment before turning to stare at Dan with wide eyes.

“Shush. It’ll help nausea.” Dan mumbles, his own face red and praying that Phil won’t ask how exactly it will. There’s a pause before Phil smiles weakly, turning his face away, and Dan is about five seconds away from opening the van door and hurtling himself onto the road.

Phil’s probably just been playing nice, and now Dan’s gone and made it uncomfortable for the both of them, and Phil can’t even look at him. Dan’s whole body turns hot, but right before he can pull away, he feels Phil’s slender fingers intertwine with his own.

It’s not the first time they’ve held hands-they do it at the start and end of study groups, and at church, and that one time Phil got them all to hold hands while standing on a hill to reenact the ending of High School Musical 2 for his Instagram. Dan was a bit flustered then, too. But this is different. It’s...intimate. Phil’s never held his hand with such need before, fingers locked with his and palm quivering gently as he mouths a silent “thank you.” Dan feels his entire body buzz, and he can’t help but close his eyes and try to focus on the music and not the fact that he feels like he’s literally twelve years old.

The rest of the ride somehow takes an eternity and only a minute before the van stops, Chris bemoaning his hunger loudly and the rest chattering excitedly. Phil finally opens his eyes and turns to Dan, slowly pulling his hand away.

They both look at their hands, and then back at each other. There’s a long pause before he opens his mouth, and Dan’s heart starts pounding so hard he’s surprised Phil can’t hear it.

All that Dan has thought about them staying platonic goes out the window. Dan wants nothing more than to lunge forward and shove his lips against Phil’s, to run his hands through his hair, to climb into his lap and- “I didn’t puke!” Phil blurts out loudly, loud enough that everyone hears. The group falls silent before one of the other young men, Raz, gives Phil a thumbs up. “Good for you, bud. C’mon, let’s get these bags up to the cabin, and then we can get some food to celebrate.” Phil laughs a bit too hard at that, face bright red. As he clamors out of the van he leaves Dan in the backseat, trying to climb over the mountain of bags as he watches his friend chatter away as if nothing happened. He watches for a moment before shaking his head quickly, trying to erase the memory from his mind. He was just making things more complicated than they needed to be. They didn’t share a moment. No way.

Dan hauls his bag over his shoulder and walks along with PJ and Lou, struggling to stop the loop of those ten seconds from playing in his head.

Dan liked that the Bible study group wasn’t too Jesus-y. It was more philosophical than anything. Even church was just an hour a week on the weeks he went, which was really only once a month when Phil promised brunch afterward.

This weekend, he and his friends had realized, seemed to be where the group could get enough Jesus to last them until the next retreat. It started with grace before lunch-simple enough. But then a pastor had started to preach to them during lunch. And then after lunch. And then afternoon Bible study-for two hours, with a lot more reading and praying than actual discussion. Pj, Chris, and Louise were clearly trying not to fall asleep, while Phil sat off a bit, eyes trained on either the priest or his Bible, hugging himself tightly as he stayed completely silent.

“It’s just so boring!” Louise groaned once they were all finally outside and out of earshot. “I’m sorry, I know this is what you want to do with the rest of your life, Phil, but we’re in nature! Why are we just stuck in some stuffy room listening to an old dude read for hours when we can see the cool stuff God apparently built for us?” “God wants me to climb some of those rocks over there.” PJ agreed, snapping a few pictures on his phone. “He tried to call me earlier to tell me so, but reception sucks here.”

Phil laughed a bit, but it’s definitely more hollow than his normal giggles. “I’m sorry, I-I really thought-”

“Wait. Haven’t you been here before?” Louise asked as PJ started jogging over to the huge rocks, Chris following shortly after. Phil paused before rubbing the back of his neck. “I-I mean, yeah, but-”

They’re both cut off by someone calling Phil’s name, and he whirls around to see the priest-the same “old dude” Louise had just been insulting-walk over and clap a hand on Phil’s shoulder. “Philip, you must have grown a full foot since I last saw you!” Dan glances over at Phil with a slightly surprised look. He knew Phil had been here before, sure. But to know this man? Someone who seemed so different from Phil in so many ways?

“O-Oh, Father Richard. Hey. Guys, Father Richard worked at the camp I came to a-a couple of years ago.” “And Philip was one of the finest boys there, wasn’t he?” If the man notices Phil shift from one foot to the other nervously, he sure doesn’t show it. “I mean, they were all wonderful young men, don’t get me wrong. But Philip-you’re truly going to be a man of the cloth. Don’t you both think?” Dan is watching Father Richard’s face closely, immediately feeling himself wanting to leave the conversation as soon as possible. If it wasn’t for Phil, he’d have made an excuse and walked off by now. It seems like Louise isn’t thrilled, either, but she smiles and nods a bit. “It’s clearly his passion, uh, Father Richard.”

“Oh, absolutely. As long as he keeps his head out of the clouds.” He throws his head back and laughs, Phil’s grin looking more like a grimace as he chuckles along. “I swear, this boy would lose his head if it wasn’t attached to him!” “I think Phil’s pretty smart, actually.” Dan says suddenly, a good bit of bite to his tone. He’s not sure why, but something about this guy gives him the creeps. He stares him in the eyes as he gets a surprised look from both him and Phil.

After a moment, he clears his throat. “Well...I suppose he’s matured a lot over the past two years. Good to see you again, boy. We’ll have to catch up.” With that he heads off, giving Dan a slightly curious look as he does so, and Phil watches him go before shaking his head.

“Jeez. Phil Lester Fan Club over here.” Louise teased gently before frowning. “What’s his deal?” Phil bit his lip and sighed. “That’s how he is.” He explained quietly, yelping as Louise pulled him into a tight hug.

“Philly…” She cooed before moving to sit on the grass with him, motioning for Dan to do the same. “Talk to us? You’re not usually closed off like this. We know something’s up.” Phil squirms, and Dan can tell he’s debating whether or not to lie. He’s seen it before-when Chris asked if he looked good in his new neon t-shirt, or when some girl asked him once if she was being too annoying after complaining about her roommate to them for five minutes straight. “I just...I came to this camp when I was younger and had different ideas than I do now.” He explains finally.

“Like how interesting that Richard guy was?” Dan tries to joke, instantly regretting it as Phil brings his knees to his chest and curls up into himself.

His voice gets quiet, as it does sometimes when things get serious in group meetings and he’s comforting someone with a verse or trying to explain a tough concept to Dan.

“Like...I was raised to think God ruled with a vengeance. If you sinned in any way, He would punish you. That’s what my parents said. We were supposed to fear Him, y’know? And when I came here...Father Richard pushed that hard.” Phil explained gently. “But I don’t think God’s like that. I think we’re all sinners-we all make mistakes. James 3:2 and all that. God loves us in spite of our flaws. Hearing him talk about God like he was so cruel, and then reading about His love for us...it was the first time it didn’t add up for me.”

Dan’s eyes widened. In all his time of knowing Phil-two months doesn’t sound like much, but it feels like a lifetime ago-he’s never once heard him speak against his parent’s beliefs. Sure, he could admit that they were a bit extreme at times, but it was always quickly followed with how their intentions were good and that everything had been great.

“And as someone who wants to be a priest, I don’t think the way to get people to turn to God is to scream at them until they repent and scare them into not sinning. I think you need to be like Jesus. Hate the sin, love the sinner.” He continued, forcing a tiny smile as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Because we’re all His children, after all. And He’s got a path for all of us-fear won’t guide us onto that.”

There’s a moment of silence before Louise reaches down, giving his hair an affectionate tousle. “You start preaching like that and I’ll come to your church every Sunday. I’ll even sing in the choir.” She joked. A slow beam spread across Phil’s face-a a genuine one, and he stood up before pulling her into a tight hug.

“Thank you.” He whispered. “Thank you both. I-If I had known he would’ve been here, I’d have at least warned you-”

“Shush, mate. You had no idea. Trust me, you’re way too much of a softie to lie to us, we know that.” Dan laughed a bit, giving Phil’s back a light pat. Phil giggled a bit before pulling away, taking a deep breath.

“Wanna go make sure Chris and Peej don’t crack their heads open?” He said finally, and before they could say anything the two of them were taking off towards the rocks, Dan chasing after both of them. Despite his grin, he still couldn’t help but feel like his head was heavy with questions. Father Richard had seemed boring, and a bit grumpy, but not angry. Were Phil’s changing beliefs really all that had happened?

Phil had seemed relieved to talk for a bit, but the mood shifted again once evening activities started. Father Richard had preached again during dinner-and again, nothing terrible happened. He made a few dry jokes, he talked about having “complete and total faith”, he read some long passages that Dan didn’t care about. He was too busy glancing over at Phil next to him, who had left his food practically untouched.

Then there are evening vespers, with Phil’s hands clenched together so tightly in prayer that his knuckles turn white and his fingernails dig into the skin. The firepit seems to be going well-he shares a s’more with Dan, but before he could get another he’s pulled aside by Father Richard. Dan’s sure at one point the two glance over at Dan, but then Phil’s walking back over, trying to look interested in some story one of the group members is telling as he brings his knees to his chest. Even Chris and PJ seem to notice that something’s going on, but with a pointed look from Dan, they give him some space.

They turn in for the night, but Dan wakes up way too early to find Phil curled up on his bunk pouring over his Bible. The bags under his eyes tell Dan that he didn’t sleep a wink last night, and he sighs. “C’mon, you gotta show me where the showerhouse is.” He says gently, and Phil looks up at him with a tired laugh. “Do I?” He teased weakly. After a minute though, he sits up and stretches. “Mmm...fine. But no chickening out.” With that he hops down from the bunk, peeling off his shirt before walking over to his bag.

Dan’s pretty sure he gulps audibly as Phil grabs a change of clothes and a towel, eyes wandering over him. Though Phil braved the communal showers at Uni, he was always sure to change in the stall-Dan had never seen him in so much as a pair of shorts that went higher than his knees. And yet, here he was. Dan would feel guilty about watching him, especially considering he knew Phil was having a tough time, but…

He couldn’t help it. His best friend looked hot as hell from behind. He couldn’t help but admire his slim frame, his lean but toned arms, and when he turned around, the slight smattering of chest hair that slowly turned into a happy trail that crept lower, into-

“I’m telling you now, if you forget a towel you’ll regret it.” He said, voice still low from sleep, and Dan snapped his head up. “Towel! Right! Let me go grab that.” He squeaked and quickly moved to grab it, trying to hide his flushed cheeks as he snagged a change of clothes as well. By the time he looked up Phil was already heading for the door, humming under his breath, and Dan followed him quickly.

After a few moments of silence, Phil spoke. “Father Richard is leaving tonight, so you won’t have to sit through his lectures after today. He’s just stopping by to talk to us. So we’ll have less worship-y stuff and more free time tomorrow.” Phil glanced over at Dan. “Sorry if I’m weird about it. I just..y’know.”

Dan nodded and relaxed into the shared feeling of relief, even if he didn’t exactly know what Phil was talking about. Before he could ask, though, they were at the small building-just a row of four stalls that looked like bathroom stalls, built out of wood. As Dan stepped inside and stripped-definitely not thinking about how Phil was doing the same just inches away, especially as he heard his sweatpants hit the ground-he rubbed his eyes. “Is there coffee here?”

“Oh, trust me, you don’t need coffee here.” Phil laughed a bit, a genuine one, and Dan raised an eyebrow, glancing over at where his head peeked over the stall.

“Dude, I’ve seen you-sweet fuck!” Dan shrieked as he turned the single knob on and freezing cold water shot out of a showerhead on the ceiling. “How the fuck do you get the hot water?!”

Phil was really laughing now, his witch cackle carrying over Dan’s screams. “No hot water at camp.” He sang playfully. “And no swearing, either, but-”

“Christ on a bike, no wonder you were fucking miserable here!” The words come out before he can realize it, and suddenly he freezes (as well as he can while shivering like mad), but Phil only laughs harder.

“You’re ridiculous, you know that?” Dan can hear the grin in his voice, and he lets out a long breath. “Whatever. Shitting fucking fuck! Let’s get this over with.”

Dan somehow manages to survive the worst shower of his life, his hair curling as he towels himself off before tugging on clothes and leaving the showerhouse. If it wasn’t for the bright smile on Phil’s face, he’d say it wasn’t worth it. But at least for right now, Phil is his old, giggly self again, and Dan comes to the realization he’d do just about anything to keep him like that.

Unfortunately for Dan, it doesn’t last long. As they’re walking back to the cabin, Phil glances across the way and sees Father Richard, walking through the trees. “Oh, shoot, c’mon-” Phil grabs Dan’s arm and tugs him along a bit faster, not looking behind him for nearly a full minute. As he glances over and sees the look on Dan’s face he finally stops, sighing softly. The joy from before is gone. “Sorry. I just...too early to try to handle that right now.” “Yeah, yeah, of course. Let’s just get going to the cabin, yeah? I’m still freezing.” Dan jokes weakly, and Phil tries to crack a smile, still looking uncomfortable as they walk along the trail in silence.

The rest of the day is disturbingly similar to yesterday, and the whole group is sensing that Phil is just...off. He’s usually eager to jump into discussions, but even when Father Richard gives them the chance to talk, Phil seems totally holed up in himself, mumbling something about wanting to give others a time to speak (which pushes the topic along to Louise, who fumbles it totally and is earned a condescending smile from Father Richard).

By lunch, Dan thinks he can’t sit through another hour of this. By mid-afternoon, he’s considering faking being possessed by Satan. And by dinner, he’s come up with about forty ways to fake the possession. The only reason keeping him from doing so is that when he mutters it to PJ he tells him to wait until after dinner-if he keeps Chris from food, he’ll have bigger things to worry about than a camp full of religious fanatics thinking he’s possessed.

They set the tables and then get in line to eat dinner. Dan immediately realizes Phil isn’t anywhere to be found, exchanging concerned looks with Louise. When they get five minutes into dinner and realize that Father Richard is also missing, he starts to worry.

What if Father Richard was...well, what would he do?

The truth is, Dan doesn’t know what the big deal is with this guy. He honestly doesn’t seem to be too bad, but the control he has over Phil’s emotions is genuinely weird. Still, he doesn’t want to cause a scene.

“Hey, Caroline!” He says, quickly jogging over to the young woman, and she gives Dan a kind smile. “Dan, hey! How have you been enjoying this so far?” She asked gently, resting a hand on his arm. “I know it can be intense, considering your, um...well, you weren’t exactly in the church before you joined us, and-”

“Caroline, it’s all great, but do you know where Phil is?”

She smiles and gives Dan’s arm a squeeze. “I’m so glad you two found each other, you know that? You guys are like-”

“Caroline.”

“Okay, okay. I won’t be mushy, even if you guys are my favorite freshmen.” She winked before waving her hand towards the door. “He’s out by the lake with Father Rich. They go way back, did you know?”

Dan nods slowly. It’s clearly not the answer he wanted, because Caroline leans in. “Don’t tell him I said this, but trust me, Phil’s not choosing Father Richard over you. You’re still his BFF.”

Wonderful. That’s the reassurance he needed right now, that Phil wasn’t going to choose a 65-year-old man to be his ‘BFF”. He manages to smile and thank Caroline before going to wait on the mess hall deck. If Richard was going to drag Phil away, then dammit, he was going to be the first to talk to him when he got back.

Phil doesn’t come back up to the mess hall for at least another hour. His eyes are rimmed red, and he’s alone. The second Dan hears his footsteps he shoots up. “Phil!” He shouts after he yanks his earbuds out, and Phil lets out a yelp, laughing shakily. “Oh my God, did he-did he make you cry?!”

Phil rubs his eyes quickly and giggles weakly. “Dan, I cry at everything. We cried together over that muffin in the dining hall on Wednesday, remember?”

Dan doesn’t look convinced in the slightest, but suddenly Phil’s arms are pulling him into a long hug. “We just had a long talk. Don’t tell me I missed anything?”

“They went on some dumb night hike, but-don’t tell me you wanted to go on the night hike?” He asked as he saw the disappointment on Phil’s face, frowning. “We can go! We can go right now, and meet them, and-” “Dan. Breathe, okay?” He giggled and led Dan inside. “Our group can go on our own little night hike tomorrow, I’ll survive. Besides. I haven’t gotten to spend time with you these past couple of days, and I’ve missed you.” Phil’s voice is a bit softer, and he gives him a shy smile.

Dan’s face turns red and he sits down in one of the faded couches, Phil flopping next to him. “It’s only been, like, a day and a half.” He mumbles.

“It’s been a long day and a half.” Dan nods slowly, looking up at Phil. “Is he gone?” “Yep. Just left camp now. Didn’t wanna make a fuss.” Dan can’t help but roll his eyes a bit at that, shaking his head. “Now, c’mon. Can we talk about something fun? Like…” He reaches out and snatches up an old copy of Women’s Health from a bin by the fireplace, clearly meant for kindling. “What advice can we find for two lovely women like ourselves?”

As he flutters his eyelashes at him, Dan can’t help but laugh, grabbing the magazine from him. The two swap it back and forth, giggling like children at the stupid advice and making fun of all the pictures. The tension from before melts away, and suddenly it’s just Dan and Phil, the two of them being absolute idiots and laughing over nothing. After the last day and a half, it feels amazing to just laugh.

When they finish that one they go to the next one in the bin. They read through issues of Runner’s World, Golf Digest, Christian Living, Better Homes and Gardens, and even a Highlights before Phil’s stomach lets out a loud growl.

“Oooh, I need some food. Why don’t I go grab us some snacks from the kitchen? There’s some board games in one of the closets, find something for us to play?”

With that, he’s up and going into the kitchen, and Dan wanders over to one of the closet doors. Sure enough, he sees some old board game boxes peeking out behind some moving boxes. Dan goes to move one out of the way when he catches a peek of the pile of brochures inside. His eyes run over the text and clip-art outline of a strong-looking man. Program Judges 6:12 at Camp Brabeck: For teen boys and young men struggling with sexual impurity.

Sexual impurity? Dan grabs the brochure and flips it open.

Today, our young men are raised in a culture where abnormal lifestyles are being accepted, even praised and celebrated. It’s no wonder that more youth than ever before are turning out oversexualized and confused, and more than ever are struggling with same-sex desires...

From there on, the words start to blur together for Dan, and he flips the brochure over.

And then Dan sees it. In the top corner is Father Richard, smiling wide.

With his hand on Phil’s shoulder.

Dan feels his stomach churn violently as he looks at younger Phil. There’s no way it could be anyone else. Even if he’s a bit shorter, and his hair isn’t dyed, Dan’s studied Phil’s face long enough to know it’s him. As Dan grips the picture frame in his hands, Phil’s words from yesterday come back to him, hitting his chest like rocks.

“Hate the sin, love the sinner.”

Phil worked with Father Richard, at this-this “camp”, this place. They worked together.

“God loves us in spite of our flaws.”

Not only was Phil not gay, thus extinguishing the slightest bit of hope he had, but Phil was actively homophobic. Phil worked at a bloody conversion therapy site, for fuck’s sake.

“He’s got a path for all of us.”

Phil wasn’t uncomfortable about Father Richard-he was uncomfortable about Dan and their friends being around Father Richard, and them finding out just what a homophobic, lying, fake-

“I found Pop-Tarts!”

Phil’s voice interrupts the swirling thoughts in his head, and he slowly turns, holding the brochure up. “Were you ever going to mention this?” Phil’s face goes pale. “I...Where did you…” He whispers, but Dan growls. Actually growls. Red hot anger is taking control now as days, weeks, months, years of suffocated emotions rises to the top suddenly. A lifetime of not fitting in, a lifetime of hiding, and to be rejected by Phil-like this.

“Nice pic of you and your friend, Phil. You worked with him on this? You and Richard, two pals-and you knew we’d judge you for it, so you just decided not to tell us?!”

“Wait, wait, Dan, no. It’s not like that. That’s not what-” Phil tries to butt in. Dan isn’t having it.

“Do you realize what kind of damage you do to people, Phil?! You can’t act like-like Little Mr. Innocent about this, this is some seriously fucked up shit you’ve done!” Dan’s properly yelling now, getting to his feet and not even stopping as Phil cowers back. “And-And worst of all, you hid it from us! You talk like you love everyone, hiding behind your stupid flowery language, but you’re a total fucking hateful dick!”

Phil suddenly stands as well, putting his hands in front of his chest, but irritation is creeping into his voice. “Daniel. Listen to me, you don’t understand. I’m not hateful-” “Oh-Oh yeah? Not hateful, huh? Not hateful when you say ‘gay is an artificial construct, created to celebrate people’s sinful homosexual desires’? Or when your stupid fucking camp goes to ‘remove young men from their unhealthy environment to bring them to Jesus and see the errors they’re making’?” Dan’s reading directly from the pamphlet now. “That doesn’t sound loving, Phil!”

“Dan, let me-” “There is literally nothing you could say to make this better. You think you’re helping, don’t you? But you’re just-just spreading hate, and-” Dan’s words are cut off as Phil suddenly grabs him by the back of his head, pulling him into a hard kiss. For possibly the first time in his life, Dan is rendered speechless, especially a few moments later when Phil pulls away and his eyes well up.

“Dan…” He choked out, sinking down onto the couch and starting to sob. “I didn’t-I didn’t-” After a moment he grabs the brochure weakly. “I didn’t work at the camp.” He chokes out finally, and Dan just stands frozen in place. “I was a camper.”

Dan hates that he doesn’t know whether he should trust him or not. But...this is Phil, crying ugly, hard sobs, and he can’t help but feel his heart break in two. “A...camper?” He asks slowly, moving to sit next to him but keeping his distance.

Phil lets out a pained noise but nods. “I signed up to go. Because I kept having these-these dreams, and these urges. And I thought if I did everything right, if I listened to Father R-Richard…” He has to stop himself to catch his breath as it comes quicker, curling into himself and resting his head on his knees. “I thought if I could be perfect, I could b-be like him. A priest. A husband, to a wife. A father to my k-kids. An ex-homosexual.” He said, tears streaming down his face. “Dan, I-I tried so hard…” Dan frowns, running a hand through his hair slowly. “You can’t just-I mean, I don’t think it works like that, Phil,” Dan says after a moment, and Phil nods quickly. “I know, I know. God knows I know. They tried everything on m-me. I mean, everything. But the more they did, the more angry I got, with myself, with Richard, with God. I hated God, Dan, I hated him so much, and I did all this stuff…” Dan can’t stop himself but reaching out and taking his hand at that, and Phil clings to it almost instantly. “I lied, and I ripped up my Bible, and I did stuff with the other guys there…”

Dan blinked a few times. For Phil, that was intense, and he can hear the guilt and true sorrow in his voice. “You-I mean, no offense, but kissing a few guys and tearing up a book aren’t exactly unforgivable sins.” He says, hoping to bring him comfort. To his surprise, Phil laughs sadly.

“I did more than just kiss, trust me. When Richard found me in the showers with one of the guys-”

At that Dan’s eyes nearly bug out of his head. Phil, who half an hour ago was blushing at ads for tampons, in the showers with a guy? “He-He decided I needed more intense therapy. It was hours and hours of just being told how disgusting I was, being shown these videos, being preached at, b-but I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t stop feeling like I did.”

“Phil…” Dan feels his broken heart finally crumble. He pulls him into a hug, letting him sob into his hair.

“F-Finally I just lied my way th-through it. That’s what m-most of us do. And then I was th-the big success story, and they took that dumb picture, and it was finally over. I went home, and I was so mad I decided I’d go through my Bible-the nice, new one my parents had bought me, when they heard that ‘somebody’ tore up my old one-to s-see how wrong I was before and how terrible He was. So I stayed up for nearly a week, no school, no nothing. Just reading.”

Phil pulled away to reach out, grabbing his copy of the Bible from his bag “ And as I read, I…”

He took a deep breath as he opened it up and slowly turned the pages, motioning to the Post-Its and notes littering the scripture. “I didn’t find that. I found a God that wanted me to love-He wanted me to love my family, and my friends, and my neighbors, and-and guys. He wanted me to love you. He wanted me to love you, romantically.” At that, Dan feels his heart stop and he gently moves to look Phil in the eyes. “You really think that?” He whispered, Phil nodding quickly as he ran a hand through Dan’s hair.

“God gave us all the ability to love-fully, and deeply, and wonderfully. And-And I love you, so much. I didn’t want to freak you out, and I’m not ready to be out, but-” This time it’s Dan’s turn to cut him off with a slower, gentler kiss. “Shh. We don’t have to tell anyone.” He murmured.

“It can just be us?” Phil asked in a small voice. “Just you and me?”

At that, Dan is pretty sure he’s going to explode, because dear God that’s all he’s ever wanted. He wants to scream, he wants to jump up and down, he wants to run down the fucking mountain and throw rocks at Father Richard’s car-

Instead, Dan takes a deep breath before smiling and nodding. “Just me and you.” He agreed quietly.

He leaned in and kissed Phil again, cupping his cheeks. This time was gentler, and Phil let out a soft, relieved noise as his lips moved against Dan’s and he pulled Dan close to him.

“I love you,” Dan says once they pull away. “I love you, I love you, I love you-”

“Have I ever read you Proverbs 17:28?” Phil interrupts with a giggle. Dan raises an eyebrow but grabs Phil’s Bible, flipping to it.

Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.

“Did you just ask me to shut up and keep kissing you through a Bible verse?!” Dan whined, but he can’t help but grin as Phil kept laughing, nodding as he connected their lips again.

Time seems to stand still. Two minutes, five minutes, ten minutes, ten hours, ten years-Dan can only guess how much time has passed when they hear the group off in the distance. “Shit-shit, okay, one last-” Dan jerked away but Phil giggled, grabbing the plate of Pop-Tarts and Dan’s hand before dragging him outside. He took him out a bit before they got down to the lake, sitting on the sand and wrapping his arms around Dan. Dan pauses before shyly climbing into his lap, and then they’re kissing again, Phil only pausing to catch his breath and murmur “I’m sorry you thought I could be homophobic.” “I’m sorry I didn’t ask before jumping to conclusions.” “I’m sorry I didn’t open up about what had happened.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t keep you away from Father Richard.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t keep you away from Father Richard.” “I’m sorry I couldn’t have been that guy in the showers with you.” The words leave Dan’s mouth before he can stop himself-humor is a coping mechanism for him, but right now, he wants to kick himself when he hears Phil’s gasp.

“Oi! Not yet, at least.” He said with a slight laugh, pressing his lips to Dan’s cheek and watching as his face burns red. He grins and presses a few pecks to his lips before looking up at the sky.

“...You really think God wants this for us?” Dan says and Phil closes his eyes, snuggling closer.

“‘For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:113 to 114’.” Phil recited quietly. “God made us fearfully-like, with great awe and respect of us-and wonderfully. He made us find each other, he made us love each other.” He kissed Dan’s nose. “So that’s us. Fearfully and wonderfully made.” Dan looks at Phil with a soft smile, a bit worn from all the excitement of the day, but feeling...free. “Fearfully and wonderfully, huh?”

Phil nods, and Dan pulls him even closer.

“I could get used to that.”

#phan #dan howell #phil lester #dan and phil #phanfiction #phanfic #phanfic au

10 notes · View notes

kcrinas · 3 years

Text

hi sexies ! i’m dani ( she/her ) , 21 & i’m from the gta aka ur messy canadian wassup 🤠 thank u guys sm for applying all ur muses are so beautiful & im sm in love already ! i rly wanna plot w every single one of u so pls give this a like for permission for me 2 come bug u for plots ! 🖤 karina’s info & wanted connections r under the cut !

karina maji was spotted in the fashion district adorning gucci leather ankle boots , with some airpod pros on . they’re most likely listening to don’t stop by meg thee stallion . you may know them as @karina or as that mishti rahman lookalike . their twenty - fourth birthday just passed . while living in tribeca , they’ve gained a bit of a reputation . they’re known to be tenacious but on the other hand quixotic . wonder if they’ll be the next person to hit the headlines . ( cisfemale / she/her + dani / 21 / she/her )

* 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 :

full name : karina aarvi maji .

nicknames : kar , rina , maji

age : twenty - four .

gender : cisfemale , she/her .

sexual orientation : pansexual .

hometown : chicago , illinois .

occupation : professional mma fighter / instagram model .

zodiac chart : aquarius sun , gemini moon , scorpio rising .

character inspo : alicia mendez ( kingdom ) , cristina yang ( grey’s anatomy ) , princess jasmine ( aladdin ) , megara ( hercules ) , alyssa ( the end of the f*cking world ) , kat stratford ( 10 things i hate about you )

* 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐲 :

tw : death , accident , drugs .

karina’s life began in chicago , illinois . born where her parents spent their life , grew up together & eventually ended up married . it was the perfect love story , best friends - then lovers - then soulmates . tied for life , married young , in their mid 20′s . but the love between the two of them never faltering once even after another 10 years pass .

her mother , was a highly sought after model . her father , one of the most legendary ufc fighters in the league . the maji’s were considered royalty to the tabloids , their love story inspiring many . their life was seemingly so perfect , a dream to many . & when they found themselves blessed with a little girl after five years of marriage , it just made them an even more “ perfect ” family .

karina was treated like a princess , her parents adored the ground she walked on & karina did the same with them . she was well - behaved growing up , knowing how lucky she was to be living so luxurious , something her parents taught her to appreciate since she was old enough to understand . they drilled gratefulness into her head by the age of five . it was a very rare occurrence where karina would fight or disrespect her parents .

they lived in chicago for many years , a way for them to keep their roots established while raising karina . & have more privacy than living in their career hubs would give them - aka , nyc or la . it was much more accessible for her father to work out of chicago , but for her mother , there were many hours spent travelling between chicago & new york . too many .

( tw death , plane crash ) it was the mere age of 17 , when karina’s loving mother never returned home from her trip to new york . tragedy struck when her plane crashed due to pilot error . the day that changed not only karina’s life permanently , but her father too . both their hearts broke into two that day .

she wondered for months how she could possibly continue life & living without her mom in it . & the older she got , the more & more the feeling invaded her . through every life experience she had afterwards she wished with everything in her that her mom was there next to her .

karina went from a happy , extroverted & polite girl to a closed off , sardonic & enigmatic woman . it was as if the light was taken out of her body & she turned into someone unrecognizable .

( tw drugs ) it tore her dad apart , after taking a year off to mend , he fell into a spiral of alcohol & drugs , and he never went back . his career completely ended . to this day , her dad hasn’t stepped foot in the ring since her mother’s death .

her senior year of high school - karina fell into that same spiral . using cocaine , xanax , weed & booze to cure her broken heart . & she felt like it did , for a little while anyway . by some miracle , she graduated with her diploma . but that didn’t mean much anyway , karina wasn’t going to college , she knew exactly what she wanted to do with the rest of her life .

karina grew up religiously watching her dad fight , she’d seen tapes of every single one of his fights before she was old enough to watch them & from before she was born . religiously trained & boxed with her father every sunday since she was eleven . she learned the ins & out at a young age , & fell in love with the sport the second she took her first swing .

she fell even more heavily into training after her mom passed , spending practically every single day honing her skills & building herself to follow in her dad’s footsteps & become one of the best fighters the ufc has ever seen .

began building her career at eighteen by moving to new york city , she was signed by the age of 20 . suddenly appearing in the tabloids , there was something about her that seemed to bring in people’s attention . mma fans or not , she gained a large following on social media .

suddenly , she was getting sponsorship offers left & right . whether it was mma related or sugarbear hair , she was getting them . karina took the ones that paid her well , & her following just seemed to keep rising every day after that , basically became considered an “ influencer ” along with her other title .

at the age of 21 , karina became one of the youngest female ever to be signed by the UFC . this was a big deal to her , as it’s a dream so many fighters wish for . something it takes years of hard work & dedication to accomplish . something she worked her entire life for .

she’s been fighting with the ufc for the last three years , loving every minute of it . the intense training , the fights , the interviews , it all gives her a rush she can’t explain . something drugs couldn’t give her , which she’s required to get tested for every once in a while , usually before a fight . she’s found her ways around using without it ruining her career and/or getting caught . let’s see how long that lasts .. ; - ) ksjndfsfd

with all the money that she’s reigned in the last few years from the ufc along with her instagram sponsorships , she’s sending a lot of it to her father , considering his “retirement” fund is basically non - existent while he stays cooped up in their chicago family home , surrounded by memories of her mother . while karina stays resided in her cozy tribeca home , only steps away from her training gym .

* 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 :

karina is a v hard nut 2 crack . she’s closed off , sardonic & doesn’t really converse much with strangers

it’s basically been her & her dad since her mom’s passing , so she’s very hard to get close to . but once u do , she’ll never let u go .

she’s loyal to a fault , because she’s always afraid of people leaving / d*ing .

she’s trying to branch out & make more friends since moving to tribeca , but she truly doesn’t open up to anyone . if she opens up to you about her life or her past , she truly trusts u , & that means something

she tends to come off as intimidating or .. bitchy , even when she doesn’t mean to . her personality just tends to be dry . she tends to have dark humour , so she has to be careful who she makes jokes around skndfkk

sometimes tends 2 stir up drama even by accident . nskjkf

if she’s not training for a fight , she’ll be out partying every night . dancing on tables & probably getting herself kicked out of whatever bar/club she found herself in that night . doing what she can to get drunk or feel any type of high , whether that be drugs or waking up next to a stranger .

she’s heavily into fashion & always posting cute outfits on instagram , something that caused her following to grow .

she’s lowkey a hopeless romantic ... seeing how her parents fell in love , but it scares tf out of her because of their ending . & she’d literally never admit this to anyone ever .

she’s a new muse & i’m still developing her but i have sm muse so i’m very excited & i rly hope you guys like her !

* 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 :

ok hello if u read that long ass messy shit ur a baddie 🖤 anyway , for wc’s , i literally have so many !! they are all listed here @karinawcs , so take a peek & if you like any of them lmk bc i have tons of headcannons / ideas for all those ! hehe ily let’s plot

#10 yrs later hfdkskf #sry this got so fkn long ...#plot w me pls 🥺🖤#wealthyhq:intro

14 notes · View notes

whereisten · 4 years

Text

Creature Feature - Part 2

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 Preview | Taeil blurb

Summary: You work at your family’s 9-5 nighttime movie theater for the supernatural. Your fling with vampire!Taeyong is just that: a fling.

Pairing: Vampire!Taeyong x female reader

Word Count: 3.5k words

Genre: Romance, Fantasy, Smut (just a very brief mention of fingering)

[1:30 AM]

You were furious. You knew that you were being irrational with him. You were throwing a fit because he couldn’t drink your blood? Or was it something more than that?

To be frank, you were mad at yourself. You couldn’t understand why you were so angry.

From the first time Taeyong came into your office to say hi.

To every engagement you had at the 3:00 AM showing of a movie that had been out for weeks. When no one else was around.

To when he left you a box of your favorite pizza in your office when you had a rough night.

To when he slyly helped you manage some rowdy customers. It was a close call that time with the hybrid who tried to break your neck when you told him he couldn’t harass the female customers. Thankfully, he never showed up again.

To when he sang along to “How Deep Is Your Love” as you slow danced in your candlelit office.

He really knew how to charm someone who wasn’t his escort.

Taeyong encompassed your mind more than you let on. And you couldn’t tell anyone. Your parents would disown you for fraternizing with the vampires. Your parents tolerated the presence of vampires at their theater but to befriend them? Out of the question. And you could never figure out why without getting turned away.

“The less you know, the better, y/n. Now go watch a One Dimension video,” your dad told you when you were seventeen. He meant One Direction.

“y/n, vampires are manipulative and cruel. It’s in their core. Don’t question it,” your mom said from time to time until this day. She possessed a haunted look on her face whenever the topic came up.

The supernatural and the human race...For the most part, they didn’t see eye to eye. They were divided to prevent even more chaos from unfolding in this world. Your mother’s side of the family was bound to live among and serve the supernatural for centuries, she told you. Your maternal grandparents founded Sinema. Sinema was a safe space for the supernatural to mingle and escape to in the nighttime when most humans were asleep and oblivious to the world. Sinema could only be seen by the supernatural and their allies like you, your mother, and your father by marriage.

As a child, you attended night classes with some of the supernatural that could pass for humans, like werewolves and vampires. When college came around, you lived those four years as a regular young adult. Adjusting to more of a daytime schedule at that time was a pain so you tried your best to get 5:40 PM and later classes. Eventually, you adjust to earlier classes.

Coming back home to work alongside your parents wasn’t your number one choice but it was your birthright. Maybe when your parents retired, you could find another career endeavor away from the movie theater and still help out the supernatural.

You were obligated, after all.

And you were fond of them. A lot more than your parents were, as a matter of fact. And they weren’t particularly thrilled about that.

Your parents expected that you would marry a nice human boy so he could support you the way your dad supported your mom.

Your parents were so in love it blew your mind sometimes. Your dad worshipped your mom. The adoring looks and the need to please her never faded. Your mom looked at your dad every day like she was falling in love all over again. You couldn’t believe that the love they had could exist somewhere else. Or that you would ever find it.

Your dad must have loved your mom so much to give up the life he had to be with her. He could have been a hotelier and traveled all over the world. He loved the sunlight when he was a boy. But his priorities realigned when he met your mom. So your folks hoped you could find something just like that. A regular boy who could settle down with you and manage a movie theater full of creatures he originally thought were fairy tales.

Your parents hadn’t factored in that you would meet Yuta, though.

When you were away at college, during your senior year, you met a boy with the most brilliant smile and long silky black hair that always left crowds of people stunned. Your class with Yuta ran three times a week. After noticing you on the first day, he moved from his original seat to yours over the course of the next few days.

Lecture 1: He sat across from you as the lecture hall ran circular like a dome. He liked your laptop stickers.

Lecture 2: Moving to your side of the room, he was now four seats away, he sent you handwritten notes. Some were flirty and some asked you to diagnose him with any of the disorders the professor discussed.

Lecture 3: Three seats away, he sent you less notes, instead staring at you and winking when you met his gaze. He was still an excellent note taker, given that he glanced at you several times.

Lecture 4: Two seats away. He deliberately dropped his pencil right next to you so you could pick it up for him. You obliged and handed it back to him. He deliberately ran his fingers against yours. That was when you realized he was a werewolf.

Lecture 5: he sat right next to you. You two exchanged numbers and grabbed coffee after class. You let it slip in conversation that you knew he was a werewolf.

Lecture 17: you two were inseparable. He was a little cocky but somehow his arrogance made him more attractive. You helped him with his transition for the full moon that night. And after it was over, he took you to Waffle House and you splurged on chocolate chip waffles.

Lecture 32: he finger fucked you when the professor played a documentary. At this point, you two migrated to the back of the classroom so no one was the wiser. He told you he loved you that day.

Lecture 47: you two sat at opposite sides of the room again.

Yuta ended up being one of your biggest regrets. As far as your parents knew, he was the human boyfriend that got away. You were okay with that. Better that than to face their wrath for dating a creature.

It’s been a few years since you graduated. Yuta was probably an alpha now with a trophy wife who was in the process of giving him twelve kids. You could only hope he didn’t treat her the way he treated you.

🎥

Two days have passed since you left Taeyong in your office. He was smart to give you time to cool off but he still came to the theater. The nerve.

You’d just finished talking with your supplier for the concessions. They were delivering their latest shipment out back. Employees Mingi and Seonghwa were out back helping them out. You hoped to snag some Sour Patch Bats this time without getting rebuffed by your parents.

You checked out a movie poster for the next Paranormal Activity film, which was dubbed as a comedy in these parts. It was an image of a blank TV screen. You observed it carefully to see if there were any hidden details when a transparent face appeared before you.

“Boo,” Taeil said, with his most malevolent expression. His face pale and almost sucked dry from an eternity of dehydration. Bags under his eyes from sleep deprivation. His teeth rotting and falling at your feet.

“Nice one,” you backed away from the poster, “But that trick hasn’t made me piss my pants since I was three so...you’re gonna have to try harder.”

Taeil the friendly ghost came out of the wall and appeared to you in his transparent form. His horrifying face was a ruse. He reverted back to the form he possessed the moment he died: an elegant young man with a golden tone on his skin. He wore a nice navy button down and black slacks. He was lucky to have died in those clothes since they were the ones he was stuck with until he ascended. You’ve seen ghosts in their bunny pajamas and some in their lingerie.

Taeil sighed, “You’re tough to break, y/n. Think I can try that on Lexa?”

“I thought we agreed she should live with paralyzing guilt all of her life. Not kill her instantly from fear,” you replied. Lexa was Taeil’s ex-girlfriend who cheated on him and told her lover that she wished she could get rid of him. She didn’t realize that her lover would take that to heart and push Taeil off of a twenty story building. Lexa helped her lover hide the body and they skipped town. They weren’t too far from Sinema now.

You offered to help Taeil get justice but Taeil already got his killer incarcerated. Now he paid him nightly visits at the penitentiary and the killer’s fellow inmates mocked him for bellyaching about seeing the ghost of his victim. Taeil was having a ball.

Taeil pouted at your remark. “Oh, she won’t die. It’s not that terrifying.”

You added as you walked back to the entrance, “She’s weak. You told me that..”

“Yeah yeah yeah...Enough about me, how’s it going with Edward Cullen these days?”

“Nothing’s going on,” you said, stuffing your hands into your pockets.

“You two were having a lot of fun on Friday night...Ballsy of you since Haseul was very close to bulldozing the door down.” Taeil chuckled.

You sighed. “How many times do I have to tell you? Even if you can walk through walls, my office is off limits.”

“But not to Edward Cullen over there,” he nodded toward the ticket stand where Taeyong was buying tickets for him and his vampire comrades.

You blushed.

“What would your parents say?” Taeil asked.

“They’d tell me to keep up with the pill and go nuts.” Taeyong couldn’t impregnate you even if he tried. Vampires couldn’t reproduce with humans. Even if you were 99% human.

Taeil sighed. “He’s trouble, you know. You better wrap up whatever it is you got going with him. Before it gets messy.”

“Taeil, I know all there is to know about guys like Taeyong. You think I would ever let it get that far?”

Someone tapped your shoulder and you felt a wave of dread overtake you. You turned around.

Yuta.

“I knew it was you,” Yuta said, smiling at you with his perfect teeth that made every single person want to hit up their orthodontist.

“Please tell me this is a dream,” you muttered at Taeil.

Taeil said, “I could pinch you but I’m a ghost.” He left you alone with Yuta as he quickly faded away. Probably to go haunt Lexa. You wished you could join him.

“Tae-“ you started but it was too late.

“You’re even more stunning than I last saw you. I’m dying here,” Yuta said as he moved closer into your no-no square.

You backed away, hating how he still had a very small effect on you. You really couldn’t believe that he was here.

Nakamoto Yuta stood before you, his now silver hair running past his shoulders. His rockstar apparel hugging his body tightly. He was always fit but he must have been an alpha now. He always told you that once he graduated from college he would be alpha. And his body definitely looked like an alpha’s. Rock solid and ready to smother you if you rubbed him the wrong way.

You said bring it on.

“y/n, my eyes are up here,” he said as he pulled your chin up to him. He smiled at you the way he did during your honeymoon stage. He loved to do that to you.

But he forgot that he broke your heart.

You smacked his hand away. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Didn’t you miss me? I sure as hell did,” he said as he inched closer again to smell your shampoo. “Your still using the same shampoo. My favorite.”

“Last time I checked you hated my guts.” But not as much as you hated his.

“I could never hate you,” he said as his flirty demeanor faded. He started to realize that he really did a number on you. And he felt more like an ass with each passing second.

“What do you want?” You asked as your eyes shifted to Taeyong. He was in line for concessions and he watched you like a hawk. His prominent jaw could stab anyone in line at that moment. You quickly turned back to Yuta, who you also prefer to avoid.

“A second chance,” he pleaded.

“Are you joking?” You gaped.

“No,” he said, deadpan.

You had nothing to say. The idea of him being serious was too much for you to process.

He continued. “I’ve come to realize that I was unfair to you. I’m sorry.”

He was onto something. At long last. “Look...That sounded almost sincere.”

He continued, his dark brown eyes never losing sight of you. “You were the best thing that ever happened to me. I was too blind to see it.”

Why? After all of these years?

You sighed. “Did you realize this after you achieved your dream of becoming an alpha? Because Yuta, that was all you cared about. You were going to meet some girl from another prominent pack and unite the packs. It would all be yours. In the end, it didn’t matter who reigned beside you. She would always be beneath you. In status...and in everything else.”

Yuta clenched his teeth in response and you could hear his low growl. He bit back his words. “I-“

“Yuta, no. Spare us both and just leave.” You’ve had enough.

He sighed. “This was not how I wanted this to go.”

You lifted your brows. “How did you expect this to go?”

“To be honest, I was expecting us to reunite at the beach by the end of the night.”

You frowned. “What?”

His face was now flushed with embarrassment instead of anger. “Uh...”

“Excuse me?” You demanded. The nerve of this man.

“You weren’t supposed to hear that...”

“What has gotten into you?”

“Honesty has always been my motto. You know this, y/n. Regardless of whether I’m an ass or not. It seems as though becoming an alpha has amplified that trait.”

After an awkward silence, you said, “That must get you into a lot of trouble, alpha.” Who knew how much havoc he wreaked since graduation?

He boasted, “I’m the most powerful alpha. I can deal.”

“Has your modesty gone up from low to medium? Or is that just wishful thinking?” You joked.

He chuckled. “It’s a little better.”

You shook your head at him. He was such a jerk but he seemed sincere.

“Y/N!” Haseul ran over to you. “I need to break a thousand dollar bill.”

“Come again?” You asked.

“It’s your regular,” Haseul said, winking.

You knew damn well to whom she was referring. Taeyong had an interesting way of trying to get your attention. Irritating but effective. And he was about to get an earful.

Yuta noticed your change in mood. He knew that the inch closer he’d gotten to you tonight was meaningless. It was in your eyes. There was someone else.

You turned back to Yuta. “I have to go. Take care, Yuta.”

“y/n-,” he started with your name but stopped when you rushed off with Haseul.

His eyes darted all over the theater entrance. Who dared approach his girl?

That was when he saw Taeyong at the front of the line for concessions. To Yuta, Taeyong looked presumptuous and arrogant and weak. All vampires were. He was far beneath an Omega, the lowest rank a wolf could have.

Yuta watched Taeyong’s serpentine eyes on you. Taeyong looked at you like you were his impending snack. No respect at all, Yuta thought.

Your taste in men fell off the deep end, it seemed.

You walked over to the counter where the line was growing restless with varying growls and screeches.

“How can I help you, sir?” You gave him your most winning smile.

Haseul piped in. “He wanted to pay for Sour Patch Bats with a thousand dollar bill.”

“We don’t accept thousand dollar bills, sir,” you said, desperately wanting to glare at him.

Taeyong smiled. “That’s fine. I have smaller bills.”

Haseul gaped. “That’s not what he-Oh!” She realized something you didn’t.

You apologized to Haseul and left the register to meet Taeyong. You sat down at the bench by Theater 13, the theater that always played the most popular film out.

Taeyong opened his bag of Sour Patch Bats and offered it to you. You shook your head and smacked his shoulder. “You know Haseul’s stressed enough already. Don’t give her any trouble. If you want to talk to me, just come and talk to me.”

Taeyong dug into his sour gummies. “Seemed like you wanted to get away from that dog so I got creative.”

“Thank you but I can handle him. You didn’t have to do that.” You took the bag of candy from his hands and ate some. He was beaming.

“A friend of yours?” He asked way too innocently.

“He’s my ex from college,” you said.

“I figured as much. Since you didn’t push him away the moment he breathed in your direction.”

You looked at Taeyong trying to get a read for his mood. He was neutral and it unsettled you.

“He wanted to get back together and I told him no,” you admitted.

Taeyong struggled to contain his emotions so he got up and said, “I’m going to get an ICEE. Do you want one?”

You nodded. “The triple, please?”

He nodded and smiled shyly at you. You both loved triple flavor ICEEs: cherry, blue raspberry, and coke.

He came back with your drinks. He handed it back to you.

“Hey, you drank out of this one!” You frowned and tried to grab the other untouched one in his hand. “Give me that one!”

He refused to give it to you and raised it above you so you couldn’t reach.

“Taeyong, come on!”

“How about this?” He asked quietly. “You can drink out of mine and we’ll call it even?”

“An indirect kiss. How...shoujo manga of you. Alright, let’s do it.”

He lifted the ICEE back down and you were going to drink it from his hand when he leaned down and kissed you. Oh, he was good. His mouth was cool on yours. An ICEE never tasted so good. You took advantage and switches your drinks.

He pulled away. “Hey!” He frowned.

“One kiss is enough, is it not?” You teased as you drank from the new cup.

Joking around like this, you forgot that he was a powerful vampire.

Who had swift reflexes

He drank from your ICEE cup in the blink of an eye. He winked. “One kiss will never be enough.”

“You’re so greedy. Why did you claim to buy me an ICEE if you were going to drink them both?”

“y/n I barely drank from yours. You’re just too OCD,” he joked.

“I resent that. I’m OCD? Don’t be such a hypocrite. You wash your hands almost as much as I do.” You two were neat freaks and as a fellow germaphobe, only he could tease you about it.

You went back and forth for a few more minutes before you got called back into work. Things weren’t exactly resolved with Taeyong but you let yourself have hope.

When you returned to your office, you found a jewelry box on your desk. Tiffany and Co.

Taeyong had outdone himself this time, you thought. You still needed to talk to him and tell him what’s been on your mind.

But.

It would be rude to not open his gift.

You were stunned to find a rose gold necklace inside. It was exquisite. You saw that there were two letters at the center. You found your initial and then.

You found a Y.

Y for Yuta.

You quickly put the pendant back into the box and quickly found the note under the box.

“y/n, I know I have a lot of making up to do. But I can promise you that I’m doing my best to be a better man. I want to be a better man for you. I hope one day you can forgive me and we can start again. I love you. Always, Yuta.”

“Oh, boy,” you started.

Someone knocked on your door and opened it. No one else did that except Taeyong and-

Your parents.

“Honey, we’re back!” Your mom, sporting a new tan, hugged you. Your dad hugged you after.

“Kiddo, the place looks great,” your dad said, “Any trouble since we’ve been gone?”

You quickly stepped backwards to your desk to hide the jewelry box and note behind you. You spun around to your desk and pretended to gather some papers so you can hide Yuta’s idiocy.

“Nothing to report,” you said.

Author’s Note: hey y’all! Thank you so much for always giving us so much love! And thank you for waiting for me! I’m so excited to take some time to write! For this chapter, I was inspired by a scene from Gilmore Girls (when Taeyong kisses y/n during the ICEE scene). I was also inspired for the transition to full wolf by Teen Wolf and The Vampire Diaries (Best shows ever). I was also inspired by a scene from @sakuurae’s story “Study Sessions” for the mention of Yuta having fun with y/n in lecture 🌚. I was also inspired by @caiuscassiuss’s story “Sasaeng” for the description of Taeil’s death. It’s an interesting mixture of inspirations. 😂 Thank you for reading!

377 notes · View notes

vitosscaletta · 3 years

Note

personality + relationships for julia & background + relationships for lucia 😌

rips you off and makes banners <3

PERSONALITY

What’s their alignment?

chaotic good/neutral. more neutral/lawful later on

Which one of the 16 Personality Types do they fit into?

Not looking at it in-depth but entj 😳

What are their hobbies and interests? Do they have any particular “favorites” (food, books, and so on)?

Writing obviously... Mostly her little newspaper articles though, she’s not creative enough to write fiction :/ Other than that she likes to read, mostly the standard literature of the time (she’s a big fan of Ernest Hemingway.. 😳) or some of her mom’s old stuff and a few other columnists she looks up to :) Also medical books her dad has in their living room. She reads those too. She also picked up sewing at some point in the late 20′s/early30′s but she’s kinda. whatever about it. Mostly did it when she couldn’t afford new clothes and tried to change the silhouette of her old stuff

What are they bad at?

Driving 😔 she’s not... bad... she’ll just yell at anyone for no reason and break speed limit all the time

Do they have any vices/addictions/mental illnesses?

No lol but she smokes... sometimes 😒

What are their goals and motivations?

God she’s ambitious as hell and it has mostly to do with her job... she wants to be a famous journalist or something but most of all to be taken seriously? Insert that saying about having to work twice as hard as a man to get half as much respect. Besides that, she also believes whatever she puts out into the world could somehow change things for the better :) It’s a little naive so she’d never tell people but.

What are their manners like? Any habits?

Her manners are.. good? But she’s chatty and won’t shut up and says whatever is on her mind so

RELATIONSHIPS

Do they have any friends? Would they consider anyone to be their best friend?

She’s friends with almost everyone at Salieri’s (except Frank ig just because I couldn’t see them interacting much.. and Vinny..) and mostly just hangs out with them, she doesn’t really interact with other people anymore. Friend group that consists almost exclusively of italians <3 Her best friends are Olive and Sarah, maybe also Carlo since he always hangs around the bar too while the others are doing idk mafia things and plays cards with them :/ She’s friends with the other guys too though. Including Ralphie to some degree, she feels sorry that everyone makes fun of him... then laughs at whatever mean shit the others say about him and feels bad about it 😔

What’s their love life like? (See also: ship question meme.) Do they have any kids?

Oh you know 🙄 has a stupid little crush on Sam because she likes evil men i guess... idk what to say because there’s. A lot. They hold hands on her dads couch, get together like a year later because hes a freak etc. You know how it ends in canon but in the sexy superior au they get married in 1939/1940 something but nothing changes bc she was living in his crappy little italy apartment anyway :) also no kids god..

Who do they look up to? Who do they trust?

Hmmm mostly her parents. Yes her dad is a crooked doctor but she wants to be like that too... He ends up in prison in the canon timeline though :c Also her late mother... she was an author (not a well-known one lmao) who died in the late 1910s :/ She trusts uhhh.. her dad and her friends I suppose.. her close friends.

Who do they hate? Do they have any enemies?

She dislikes/hates a lot of random people because she’s petty but has no real enemies? Maybe Morello & his gang but just because everyone else does.. She has the exact same opinion on him as Salieri so whenever he talks shit she’s like “haha YEAH! >:(”... then he goes crazy in the end :/

Do they have any pets?

Yes, a cat :) his name is Louie

Are they good with kids? Animals?

With kids... yeah, to some degree? She’s the cool aunt who teaches kids swear words like “oh nuts” and tells them (child-friendly versions of) stories about her mafia friends but she’s not really someone who could take care of a child all day 🙄 Animals... yeah? She’s good with cats but probably nothing else

BACKGROUND

Where were they born? What was their childhood like?

She was born in Parlermo in the 1920s but her family moved to america when she was very young so she has no memory of her old home :/ They weren’t very well off in sicily and that didn’t change when they moved, her parents worked shitty jobs with low pay so they didn’t have much & lived in some ugly little apartment in little italy with their three kids... Lucia had to take care of her brothers most of the time because her parents both worked.. and was usually the one who had to beat the other kids’ asses when they got into trouble with any of them 😒 She spent most of the free time she had studying and doing things for school so she could get a proper job and wouldn’t end up like her parents or whatever

What’s their family like?

Her parents like I said are both from Sicily.. her dad is a mechanic and mostly worked in some little garage. The earning wasn’t that bad for the time but he made a few debts to the bank (and other people trying to pay those off) in the 1930s so you know :/ Her mom worked part-time in some random store lol.. they loved her obviously but they were very strict and had a billion expectations while also not really being around enough. They do support her trying to do well in school, mayyyyybe also going to college and all that but still expect her to get married instead of pursuing a career in the end so she can become a proper housewife 😒 She also has two younger brothers, Antonio and Frank.. they’re closer and like i said... Lucia is the cooler older sister who beats up the other kids who mess with them. They don’t have much lore but.. they exist..

What factions or organizations are they a part of? What ranks and titles do they hold?

None... idk.... empire bay library where she works in the late 40′s/early 50s :) she initially just works there as a librarian but becomes an archivist in 1950 something.

How do they fit into their “story”?

Just like Mia, she’s Vito & Joe’s friend from childhood.. dumb teenage antics that end after high school and they grow apart while Vito is in the army and Joe does... crime things. She’s just doing her own thing until the like 2 months where Vito isnt in prison.. where she has to drive his ass home after he & Joe robbed that one jewelry store :^) also they all meet up again in 1951, life is good for 3 months

Where do they currently live? What’s their place like?

Some crappy little apartment complex in Westside except her apartment looks nice 😌 it’s nothing fancy but it’s cozy and nice, lots of books lying around (there’s a system to it according to her), some old furniture mixed with new mid-century style ones. She has a little sunburst clock hanging there.

How do they eventually die?

Uhhh probably just of old age... in a swamp..

RELATIONSHIPS

Do they have any friends? Would they consider anyone to be their best friend?

Her childhood friend group that I mentioned, consisting of Vito, Joe and Mia :) They all lived in the same crappy neighborhood and went to school together.. Apparently Joe was the neighborhood bully whch is funny as hell to me but also. Lucia got into his “gang” when he picked on her little brother and she threatened to beat his ass.. meanwhile Vito actually had to do that to get into their group lmao. They met Mia like two years later in church and all became friends when Lucia helped her out in school 😳 She’d definitely consider Mia her best friend, they still hung out after their little friend group fell apart :(

She’s also friends with Giuliana and by association Henry (not really she just hears about him from like everyone)

What’s their friend group like? What role do they play in it?

godd obviously she wasn’t the one who started shit but she gladly went along with whatever stupid bullshit the others were doing. She’s supposed to be the responsible smart one or something but she’s not... she’s the one who causes more trouble to help the others somehow 😌 Shoplifting antics

She started being responsible after graduating high school when her parents told her to do something with her life so she’s like... “time to stop hanging out with criminals and focus on college...”. she really misses it though :(

What’s their love life like? (See also: ship question meme.) Do they have any kids?

Ahem.... she and Vito.... Childhood friends to lovers 😌 they were just friends in high school & she thought she’d never see him again after he got arrested but she does in 1945. Then he gets arrested again :)) Uhh she probably briefly dated a few people during that time but nothing ever came out of it. They get together in 1951 though but i cant talk about my mafia ships here or I’ll combust. They also probably have kids idk yet.. they look like kids people

Who do they look up to? Who do they trust?

She trusts..... her friends. and her brothers. Doesn’t really look up to her parents though because that’s exactly what she doesn’t want to be :(

Who do they hate? Do they have any enemies?

She doesn’t have any enemies she just hates some random people by association (the irish gang, some random mafia men she doesnt know)

Do they have any pets?

Two cats. Ocs by me owning cats cinematic universe

Are they good with kids? Animals?

Yes, she’s good with both :)

#THANK YOU 💗💗💗 sorry this took ages.. gets distracted from ask meme you sent by talking to you in dms #the gc too actually #c: julia #c: lucia #mafia 1 brain activated #ok also getting a solid feeling on Lucia now.. :)#jennystahl

8 notes · View notes

justjessame · 4 years

Text

The Deal Chapter 5

I left Daryl at the RV so he could give Carol her hope. I went in search of Dad or Lori. Lori was jumpy and weird, so I looked for Dad. Luckily him and Carl were together in the sickroom. I watched while they did hat related things. Fun.

Knocking on the open door, I grinned as they looked up at me. “Is this a ‘been shot, got the hat’ members only meeting? Or is there room for me, too?”

“Course there’s room for you, baby girl.” Dad said, patting the bed for me to come sit. Carl was grinning and looking more like himself.

I sat and smiled at my baby brother. “You look so much better, Carl.” I reached over and tipped his new hat down. “And so do you, Daddy.” He did, his color was back and so was mine.

“Did y’all find anything?” So he knew Daryl and I went out alone. I sighed, knowing that Carl was getting to learn the truth now that he was out of the woods.

“We found a house.” I answered, laying back on the bed and staring at the ceiling. “It looked like she’d been there. It had a bed laid out in a closet, she’d fit, but just. Some recently eaten food.” I shrugged. “Looks good.” I said, with only slight hesitancy.

“That’s great, Jessi.” Carl said, smiling as big as the sun. “She could be close, right?”

I smiled up at him, and knew my dad could see that I didn’t share his and Daryl’s optimism. “It’s a good sign, baby brother.” I sighed. Laying in the room with Dad and Carl chatting around me, I could close my eyes and almost pretend my life was back to normal.

We chatted for a while, until I felt the urge to get out of the house. Dad called for me to wait up, and I stood on the porch and waited for him. We stood looking out over the farm and I wondered what this kind of life would have been like. The quiet country life, with fields and animals. Dad was squinting against the sunlight, and I heard him sigh.

“Jessi,” his voice was low, and I wondered why he was being so careful. “Are you and Daryl-”

“Together?” I finished for him. “We’re trying to be.” I looked up at him. I could see his worry, and his fear about Daryl. “Dad, you don’t know him.”

He groaned and gripped the banister in both hands. “Honey, I’m a cop. I know people like him all too well.”

I glared at my dad, feeling like he was being completely unfair and blinded. “You don’t know HIM.” I snapped, and turned away. “You’re not using your cop skills, Dad, you’re using your dad of a daughter skills.” I ran my hands over my face in irritation. “You’ve done this every single time I dated anyone.”

I heard him chuckled. “And I was right, each and every time, Jessi.” He touched my shoulder. “I’m right now, too. You’ll see, but I’d rather you not have to go through all that again.”

I rolled my eyes. “Daryl isn’t like those other guys.” I knew it, I could feel it. “Look at him, Dad, look at the fact that every single other person in our group has given up on Sofia. He’s the one out there beating the damn bush every fucking day!” I turned and poked him in the chest with a finger. “Not Shane, oh no, Mr. Hero of the Year doesn’t even think we should!”

“Jessi.” He was trying to calm me, but I was done. “Sweetheart, you’ve got to listen to me.”

Shaking my head and stomping down the steps, I shot back at him. “No, Dad, actually I don’t.”

GREENE FARM~ LATER THAT EVENING

I’d found Daryl, looking as sad as I felt and pulled him to where he’d set up our tent. Sitting on a stump, surrounded by his early warning system, I held his hand while I calmed down. He knew me well enough to let me have a breather. As soon as he could tell I was ready, we talked.

“Ya gonna tell me what had ya stompin’ all over lookin’ like ya wanted to murder someone?” He asked, pulling me into his arms.

I sighed, feeling much better wrapped in his arms and feeling his heart beating against me. “Where do you want me to start?” I asked, wondering if now was the time to unburden ourselves completely.

“How ‘bout the beginning?” He offered, and I felt his fingers gently tracing across my skin.

I nodded. “The beginning. OK. You know I’m not Lori’s daughter, not biologically?” I felt him agree. “My mom ran away after I was born. Literally, she got as far away as possible, and her parents didn’t want me in their lives anymore than she wanted me. Dad, he was sixteen when I was born, but he stepped up. I mean, really stepped up. Him and my grandparents were the reason I wasn’t scooped out and dumped as a fetus.” His arms tightened against me. “This might not seem important, but you wanted to know everything, so here it is. Dad met Lori in college, they got married, and then Carl came along. Our family has always been very close. I’m talking front row center for everything that me and Carl have ever been involved in.” He needed to know how weird my parents were about not being in my loop. “Dad and Lori started having problems the last few years I was in high school. They married young, so hiccups are going to happen.” And here came the real issue from our closeness. “The only person as close to my Dad as his family is Shane. They’ve been friends since they were children.” I grabbed one of his hands in mine to hold. “When I graduated, my family insisted on throwing a huge party at our house. Food, cake, presents, and a hell of a lot of bragging from my family.” I chuckled at how great it was at first. “I started to feel overwhelmed, I guess, at the party. Fear of the unknown, you know?” He squeezed my hand. “Shane found me, I swear he can SMELL fear and uncertainty. Vulnerable, he thought I was easy pickings, he tried to-” I stopped and shivered. “He only kissed me, but that was more than enough. I tried to fight him off by pushing him away, but he liked that.” I felt Daryl tense up. “I ended up punching him in the nuts.” That got a gruff chuckle. “It’s why, while Lori and Carl worship at his altar, or did anyway, I can’t. I won’t. But I didn’t tell Dad.” I closed my eyes and wondered at my inability to confess to Dad the way I did to Daryl.

“Why not?” He asked, his breath rippling my hair.

“I don’t know.” I whispered. “They were partners in the sheriff’s department. They’ve been best friends forever. I could give you a million excuses, but none of them make sense to me.” I sighed. “That’s not all. Dad doesn’t approve of THIS, just like you expected.” His chuckle this time sounded more real.

“Course he don’t.” Daryl said, pulling me tight against him. “Does it matter?”

I shook my head. “No.” I turned to face him, pulling out of his embrace and staring up at his blue eyes, such a different shade from my Dad and brother’s. Cupping his cheek, I brought our lips together. A short, loving kiss, drawing back and putting our foreheads together, I asked for one thing. “No more hiding, Daryl. I want everyone to know I love you.”

He smiled down at me and rubbed his nose against mine. “Deal.”

We sat together for what seemed like hours, leaving only long enough to grab some food and come back to our tent. I watched the moon rise, and saw that it was almost full. “Daryl?” I asked, drawing his attention from doing crossbow maintenance. “Think the moon is bright enough now?”

His eyes moved from mine to the bright ball of light glowing in the dark. He tossed the crossbow aside and smiled. Biting his lip, he held up one finger to tell me to wait for him. I watched while he unzipped our tent and drug out both of our sleeping bags. He grabbed my hand and pulled me along behind him, toward a spot far away from the area that Hershel gave our people use of, away from the house, and away from our spotters. Finding a suitable spot, he arranged the bags to use beneath us and then, in the light of the moon, he turned to face me.

#daryl dixon x ofc #rick grimes daughter #negan x ofc #slow burn #eventual smut #angst #depression

10 notes · View notes

premiumappapk · 4 years

Text

The PROS And CONS Of Marriage In 2020

Marriage bureau Fewer and fewer men are looking to get married. These days the Pew Research Institute recently found that the number of men ages 18 to 34 saying. A successful marriage is one of the most important things that dropped from 35 percent to 29 percent since 1997. The number of young adult women saying the same thing has risen from 28 percent to 37 percent in the same time. This statistic made me wonder why so many guys out there are saying. They don't want to get married there seems to be a growing subculture of guys. Who says they'd rather avoid it altogether? I grew up thinking that marriage is just what you do when you hit a certain age now.If any want to marry then visit Pak Marriage Bureau Happy married life I'm questioning why do we get married, where did the tradition come from and what are the pros and cons. This article will aim to answer these questions and see how marriage fits into the modern-day culture. But first, let's take a quick look at the history of marriage. The first humans who lived about 5 million years ago had very little use for marriage using the behavior of bonobos is the basis for how early humans would have behaved. It is presumed that early males and females had sex with many partners. They lived in open polyamorous communities where food was exchanged for sexual favors. Couples therapy Because females could collect food fruits nuts and insects while still caring and protecting their baby’s males were not needed as protectors or providers. This meant that neither partner gained from being in a committed pair as the climate heated up the forests receded and humans ventured out into the savanna. We began walking upright hunting with tools and our brains got bigger our large brain sizes. The reason human babies are born so helplessly early and require constant care from their mothers. During the period of 1.8 million to 23,000 years ago survival was hard and the offspring that had the best chance to reach adulthood. Divorce Those that had two parents that work together to raise and protect them. This survival strategy gave birth to first marriages. These were not quite like the marriage as we imagine today couples. In this period would stay together for about three or four years. Before one or the other would wander off to start another family. Perhaps this is why divorce rates peak between three to four years and modern-day marriages relationship dynamics completely changed. When humans began to grow their own food, agriculture meant that humans were permanently tied to the land. The most productive household arrangements were ones in which men and women divided their tasks men, who were physically stronger worked the land while women stayed closer to home and cared for children. Love marriage This is the era in which marriage became a lifelong union between two people that was recognized by their community. Agriculture tied people to their land meaning that at the end of the four-year period. Neither men nor women had any inclination to wander off and find a new family. So, they stayed together and worked as a unit to feed and care for their children. The creation of marriage is a legal contract between men and women came into being over time. As communities settled and monogamous relationships became a necessity for long product life. So, the real origin of marriage came from the biological desire of both men and women to see their children survive. Marriage It was the evolutionary dominant strategy in the last few thousand years marriage became less about a survival strategy and more about a way to control power. It became a tool to strengthen alliances maintain wealth solidify social class control female sexuality and fulfill religious duties. Arranged marriages were the norm around much of the world up until the mid-20th century. So now most of us watching this live in a society filled with abundance. We're at the top of the food chain and we don't have to defend ourselves from saber-toothed Tigers. Anymore many of us are not strictly religious or rural farmers our parents aren't arranging us. New marriage We don't need to form an alliance between kingdoms like in Game of Thrones. So, you may be wondering, why are we still getting married. We no longer need the institution of marriage to ensure the survival of our species live doesn't have to be a conveyor belt of common events. Where you graduate at this age start a family at that age and retire at this age. These are ideas that many Millennials are discovering and are a primary cause of the steady decline in new marriages. Each year about 5% it's beginning to be seen by many as an outdated restricting institution that simply not worth it. People keep getting married at older ages in the 1960s. Best age to get married Over half of Americans under 30 were married the average age of marriage for a woman was about 20. The average age for men was 23. Today only 20 percent of people under 30 are married and the average age for women is 26 and a half and for men is nearly 29. So, let's take a look at some of the pros and cons of modern-day marriage. First, the pros of marriage are the ultimate showcase of commitment an unbreakable love bond through sickness and health. But there are numerous legal financial social and health advantages to getting hitched. for more details about marriage click Pak marriage bureau Marriage benefits The legal benefits a married couple is seen as a single taxable unit in the eyes of the government. In most cases, this will save money on taxes when you claim your spouse is dependent. There are estate planning benefits including inheritance rights government benefits in receiving Social Security Medicare. Disability benefits for your spouse employment benefits such as obtaining health insurance through your spouse's employer. The right to take medical leave to care for a spouse who becomes ill decision-making benefits including the right to make medical decisions. If your spouse is incapacitated consumer benefits such as family rates for health homeowners auto. Other types of insurance financial benefits financial benefits a 2005 study at Ohio State University found that after getting married people saw a sharp increase in the level of wealth. After 10 years of marriage, the couples reported an average net worth of around forty-three thousand dollars single people. At the same age had a net worth of only eleven thousand dollars. However, people who got divorced were worse off than any other group. After a divorce, the average man was left with $8,500 in assets. While the average divorced woman had only $3,400 health benefits health benefits research has continued to show that married people live longer. The stability of a long marriage can act as a support structure throughout life. When one spouse is weak the other gives care happily wedded patients. Who undergoes major surgery are more than three times as likely to still be alive 15 years later? When compared to their unmarried counterparts. There are also many perceived social benefits married people appear to be more stable committed and reliable having a long-standing marriage shows. The world that at least someone can tolerate you in the history of America. There have only been two unmarried presidents. The last one was Grover Cleveland in 1886 and he got married shortly into his first term. So, a successful marriage can certainly lead to a happy healthy long life. Divorce They're fun and we all like cake but the average wedding costs about $30,000 over a third of married couples go into debt to pay off the big day. Half of those newlyweds are still paying the tab five years later chances are by the time. You're finished paying off your wedding. There will be time to start paying for your divorce roughly half of all marriages in the US and in divorce. This is another big reason Millennials don't see the value in marriage anymore. Why start something if it's probably going to fail much of the millennial generation grew up with single or divorced parents. Their entire youth was back and forth between bickering parents overhearing never-ending conversations of legal disputes and custody battles. Another huge factor contributing to men's disinterest in marriage is the fact that marriage isn't. Late marriage What it used to be a hundred years ago having a wife meant having someone who would raise your kids, clean your house, and cook your meals. This may not be an ideal dynamic for everyone. But men used to have much to gain from getting married. Now there are more women than men in the workforce and more women than men have college degrees much like. The bonobo's many women today no longer need a man to provide for them. There seems to be a direct correlation between the liberation of women. The decline in men seeking marriage in areas where women are highly educated and career-oriented. Stable marriage The marriage rates are the lowest although marriage rates continue to decline both men and women agree. That parenting is still a high priority 52% of Millennials say that being a good parent is one of the most important things in life. While only 29% assign high importance to get married. This shows that Millennials don't think that they necessarily need to be married in order to have a family. Many are choosing to avoid the headache and create a love bond and raise kids on their own terms. There are plenty of legal alternatives to getting married like a domestic partnership civil union or creating a will. The truth is you can have just about all the benefits of marriage without actually getting married. You can have a lifelong partner who supports your goals and you can have a soulmate; you can have a family a shared home financial wealth and good health without the state mandated license. So maybe those bonobos had it right. All along do your own research to assess your own goals and list your priorities. If your goal is to travel the world and check out the tinder scene in every city. Maybe marriage isn't right for you that does not pressure yourself.

for more detail click here Source: Pak Marriage Bureau

1 note · View note

nadiafm · 4 years

Text

( camila morrone, cisfemale ) hey ! have you seen NADIA PEREZ around ? they work as a ICE SKATING INSTRUCTOR at big bear resort, but they must be off their shift by now. well, if you do see them can you let me know ? they’re 21 years old & they’ve been working here for 11 MONTHS. they tend to be +AMOROUS & +CONVIVIAL, but can also be -LICENTIOUS & -WARY. the other employees have labeled them THE ROMANTIC. thanks a lot ! gold hoops , floral mini dresses , pink lipgloss , overly dramatic eyeshadow , freckles specked across your nose , mascara running down your cheeks , tequila shots chased with salt and lime , lana del rey blasting in your headphones , mirror selfies , golden hour , glitter and rhinestones , blue raspberry dum dums , piled up books you keep forgetting to read.

hey y’all !! i’m so excited for this wow. i’m sam, i’m 22, and i live in pst !! i’m a sucker for cooking shows and dogs and candles. but more importantly...this is my freaking baby nadia, an absolute idiot with a heart of gold ! i already know this intro is going to be too long but bare with me i will include a tldr at the bottom i promise. also hmu on discord to plot ! capricornmom#1278

here is nadia’s pinterest & here is her playlist

aesthetics : gold hoops , floral mini dresses , pink lipgloss , overly dramatic eyeshadow , freckles specked across your nose , mascara running down your cheeks , tequila shots chased with salt and lime , lana del rey blasting in your headphones , mirror selfies , golden hour , glitter and rhinestones , blue raspberry dum dums , piled up books you keep forgetting to read

character parallels : jackie burkhart ( that 70′s show ) rachel green ( friends ) , cassie howard ( euphoria ) , brooke davis ( one tree hill ) , bianca stratford ( 10 things i hate about you ) , april ( palo alto ) , erica vandross ( flower ) , gigi & triple a ( booksmart ) , snooki ( jersey shore ) , jessica day ( new girl )

full name : nadia paloma perez

birthday : july 23, 1998

zodiac : cancer sun , pisces moon , pisces rising . god help this emotional ass girl

nationality : american

religion : roman catholic

sexual & romantic orientation : bisexual , biromantic

hometown : aventura , florida ( 20 minutes outside of miami )

languages spoken : english ( fluent ) , spanish ( fluent ) , french ( still learning , takes it in school , somewhat conversational )

likes : candy ( sour punch straws , lollipops ) , watching soccer games ( messi stan till she dies ) , rex orange county , writing , magazines , making empanadas with her abuela , romantic comedies ( her fav is how to lose a guy in 10 days ) , tequila sodas , sex , lana del rey , chipotle burritos , iced chai lattes with almond milk from starbucks , gossip girl , craft beer , margaret atwood

dislikes : quinoa , nuts in things like salad or cookies , star wars , watching golf , oatmeal , church , screamo music , california ( a grudge ) , spoiled rich kids , condescending business majors , quentin tarantino ( and his avid fans )

BACKGROUND

Born and raised in South Florida, a little aways from Miami ! Her mother, Paloma, was an Adventura native while her father, Santiago, was an immigrant from Argentina. Her parents met in college when Paloma was studying abroad in Argentina. They fell in love, rather quickly, and the rest was history. They had planned on moving back to America together, but Santiago’s visa was denied. So, after only four months of knowing each other and 2.5 months of dating, they got married.

Turns out sometimes you should know your partner better before getting married !! shocker right. It wasn’t so bad at first, though. They were young and in love and their honeymoon phase seemed to last forever, until it didn’t.

By the time Nadia was born, they’d already begun to realize each other’s faults and flaws. Santiago was a good looking guy, and with his thick Argentine accent, he tended to come off as overly friendly and at times overtly flirty. Paloma was jealous and needy. It never seemed to mesh well when she thought her husband was flirting with every other mom in the neighborhood.

So, for the majority of Nadia’s childhood, all she remembered from her parent’s marriage was them fighting. She had a close relationship with the both of them, though, and she was particularly close with her father. He was her biggest supporter !! Always hyping her up. He was the one signing her up for sports like soccer (they’re a huge soccer family, the only time her parents weren’t fighting was during Argentina games), gymnastics, dance, and ice skating. Her favorite was soccer, and her for most of her adolescent years, her dad coached her team. They formed a really close bond because of it.

The marriage was sort of non exinsistant at this point, but in some sort of last attempt to salvage any love they might have had for each other, Santiago and Paloma had a baby. It was more Paloma’s idea than anything. Santiago, at that point, was only sticking around for Paloma. She was seven when her little sister was born, Caterina, and Nadia absolutely adored her. They may have been seven years a part, but they were the best of friends.

When Nadia was twelve, she woke up with a note on her bed side table. It was from her father, and it read: “Nads, I’m so sorry I couldn’t say goodbye to your face. I wish I was stronger. I am so proud of you and I promise I will be in touch. Te amo. Papa” He hadn’t left anybody else a note, and not even a word to her mother. As close as she was to her mother and sister, she couldn’t help but blame them for her father leaving. Still, she was pretty certain she’d hear from him soon. That he’d come back once he cleared his head. Only, he didn’t.

Word spread pretty fast around school about what had happened. Suddenly, Nadia was a charity case. PTA moms were coming up to her and offering to bring her lunch or dinner, if she needed it. She was the girl who’s dad left them high and dry. It didn’t help that on top of that, her body was going through changes much more rapidly than any of her friends. She already had gotten her period, and by the time she was in seventh grade she was wearing a D cup bra. So in addition to the sudden spotlight as the girl without a dad, boys started treating her differently. Boys that had never talked to her previously suddenly wanted to be her friend. In eighth grade, Hayden Walker rolled up a small piece of paper and shot it like a basketball into her cleavage. He high-fived his friends after and thanked her for the backboard.

So middle school was rough. And while Nadia had had one or two boyfriends during that time, she’d never gone past kissing them. That’s not how the rumors went, though. That was the part that hurt the most. The things people said, especially the things girls said about her. Girls she thought were her friends.

At the end of eighth grade, during the summer before high school, she got a text from her dad. The first one in 2 years! She’d idolized him her whole life, so obviously she was ready to forgive him as soon as she heard from him. He told her he was living in California and Nadia was like, I’m sold! Let’s go! Only her mother was like...are you fucking insane you are not going to California to visit that man. Long story short, she found a cheap cross country bus ticket and essentially ran away from home to see her dad! He was shocked she had come at all, despite his text message leading her to believe he wanted to see her. Apparently it was more of a courtesy text, a text so he could let go of the guilt of leaving an entire family behind. Because in the two years he’d been gone, he managed to start a new one. He had a new wife, and two newborn twins.

Nadia was pretty furious, but she stayed the summer anyways. She had full intentions of starting high school in California and not going home to Florida. Things were tense at her father’s, though. Her “step mother” obviously didn’t like having her around, and though her bond with her father was slowly rekindling, there was still a sort of distance between them. But they were trying to make it work, at the very least.

Then came the end of the summer. Nadia had made a few friends around the neighborhood, and was invited to an end of summer kickback with a bunch of high schoolers. Naturally, she lied about her age at the party. She was 14, but told everyone she was 16, and everyone seemed to overlook her baby face thanks to her ass and tits. At the end of the night, a boy drove her home, and the two ended up hooking up in the car. Apparently she had misjudged how much her father actually cared, because he’d waited up for her to come home, and after seeing car headlights out front, he’d stormed outside to find her in the car with a high school boy, half naked. After allowing her to gather her bearings, he essentially humiliated her right there on the front lawn, screaming about how irresponsible she was amongst other things. The majority of the conversation has since been blacked out from her mind, but she’ll never forget the look on her dad’s face when he said, “you’re nothing, you’re just like your mother, and i don’t want you anywhere near my family.” whew !! ya girl was hurt.

So, obviously, she was back on the way to mom’s ! Honestly at that point her mom wasn’t even mad at her for leaving she was just thankful she was back.

GODDD okay this is getting long so I need to wrap this up. I haven’t even gotten to personality KJSHG Okay let’s wrap up high school in one bullet point. Basically she sub consciously searched for every man’s approval because she lacked the approval she needed from her father! This meant lots of boyfriends and never saying no. In her four years of high school, she was maybe single for a total of like ... seven months. not seven consecutive months lmao, 7 months in between relationships.

one of those boys was connor perch, her first official boyfriend freshman year ! they were really sweet n young and nadia really thought she was in love. but then she gave him a blowjob and this mf recorded it ! and nadia found out after the fact, asked him to delete it, he said it was just for himself to look at, only to find out he’d sent it to his friends a few days later. so that basically set the precedent for how she’d be treated the next four years of high school ! she tried to act like it didn’t bother her but dang. high schoolers can be very mean !

oh my god i seriously have to wrap up okay this will be quick. basically when she was a senior in high school she went on a ski trip to big bear and met a boy named ethan, who she like fell in love with so fast like literally a week give it a rest girl. he was from Colorado but when she left they kept in touch and basically talked every day for the rest of the school year and throughout the summer. She’d decided to apply to Boulder University to be closer to him because this time it really felt like the real thing ! SURPRISE AGAIN ! She got to school and found out he had a girlfriend. She was really mf heartbroken over that. But did she learn her lesson? No. Does she still fall in love with anyone who looks in her direction? Yes.

Okay and lastly she has been working all sorts of jobs throughout college because her mom is helping her pay for tuition and rent so she’s gotta cover spending money ! She ended up getting a job at Big Bear Resort during her last winter break as an ice skating instructor because she used to do ice skating back in the day. Now she works at Big Bear during her school breaks and on some weekends !

TLDR/Tidbits

Hopeless romantic with major daddy issues

Will overanalyze every interaction she has with anyone because she thinks they might like her

EXTREMELY GULLIBLE

Probably will have a crush if you are even remotely nice to her

Really dumb but means well. Literally no common sense. Complete bimbo

Cries A LOT. Complete crybaby. Happy or sad she’s probably crying

Heart of gold!! She really always means well even when she fucks up so bad I SWEAR her heart was in the right place

Can outdrink anyone. She would drink a 6ft5in, 200 pound man under the table any day

Tequila is her choice of drink, but vodka is for her #sadgirlhours

Obsessed with Rosalía, Lana Del Rey, & Rex Orange County. And also 2010 bangers. Anything she can shake her ass to !

She pretty much used to exclusively wear mini dresses because when she realized everyone was just gonna sexualize her anyway, she was like FUCK IT, i’ll show my ass n titties n legs. Except it’s fucking like negative degrees in Colorado so she can’t do that ! Bummer. (she’ll still probably find ways to wear mini dresses)

Obsessed with makeup!! She loves doing adventurous things with eyeshadows and lipsticks like ok euphoria

Kinda crazy. Major crackhead vibes especially when she’s drunk! She loves going out, she’ll go out on a Tuesday, she just likes to have fun ok and dance on tables and make out with cute people

She’ll have a one night stand but just know for HER she’ll probably get attached. I’m so sorry it won’t last that long but she’ll pine for at least a week

ok that is all i’m so sorry for this shit show of an intro but here is a messy list of wc !

#bigbearintro #literally so pointlessly long but

11 notes · View notes

intothestarkerverse · 5 years

Text

Time of Our Lives (Part 8)

Based on a prompt from @geekymarvel

Peter is tasked with an important mission that requires him to go back in time. Finding himself at a gala for Stark industries in the 1990’s, he comes face to face with a young and incorrigible Tony Stark who considers Peter’s attempts to deny his advances a challenge. Now, dogged by a horny young CEO who won’t take no for an answer, Peter’s task has become much more difficult….

(STORY CONTAINS ENDGAME SPOILERS)

Read on AO3

Peter was panicking. Tony could tell by the look on his pretty face. He was excited, vibrating in his seat, but the size of his eyes and the shallow breaths he was drawing into his lungs suggested that Peter didn’t know if he was allowed to be excited about meeting his parents or terrified of the ramifications. “What…what about the timeline? What if I screw up the future by meeting them? What if they don’t like me?”

“Peter, you’re the most lovable person I’ve ever met.”

Shit.

He’d done it again, and Peter’s smile had taken on that same, ridiculous, dopey quality it always did when Tony slipped and found himself subconsciously using the ‘l’ word. Tony chose to ignore it. “There’s no way they’re not going to like you. As for the timeline…you gonna warn them about their future deaths or introduce yourself to them as their future son?”

“Well, no…”

“Then, I think we’ll be fine. There have got to be some perks to time travel, Pete, and if meeting your parents who you barely remember isn’t one of ‘em, than I refuse to ever invent it. There goes your timeline, then, right?”

Peter’s eyes suddenly seemed to darken. “Yeah, then I’m as good as dusty again.”

Tony paused as he tried to decipher that statement. Clearly, it was a comment he was not supposed to understand, but something in the way that Peter said it and the slight tremor in his voice had set off alarm bells in Tony’s brain. Something very bad had happened to Peter, and even the vague idea of it was enough to send Tony’s blood pressure skyrocketing.

Fuck.

He really had to get a handle on this.

“Good, so, it’s settled, Beautiful. Operation Meet the Parents is a go. But before we go off and make some memories, there’s a few things we need to go over. Just for the sake of full disclosure.” Tony shifted in his seat to give Peter his full attention. It had not been easy to get Peter to open up about his parents so that Tony could go about locating them. It had required Tony to share quite a bit about his own as well. In the end, it was worth it, and completely necessary for Peter’s present…but it had also been painful. Never mind the fact that Peter now knew things about his relationship with Howard and Maria that no other living person had ever heard him say. Not even Jarvis. Now, however, he had the wonderful task of telling Peter that most of what he thought he knew about Richard and Mary…was wrong. “You said your parents worked for the government. Couriers, I think, right?”

“That’s what Uncle Ben said, yeah.”

“And your dad was in the army.”

“Yes…why?” Peter looked so bewildered, it made Tony’s heart clench.

The billionaire cleared his throat. “Yeah…see. About that. Your father’s military record is full of holes. I can find his enlistment information, a record of his additional training in special forces and then…big fat nothing. His activity is so black ops, there’s no digital record of it. Do you know how clandestine that shit has to be for the government to be afraid to leave an electronic footprint for any of it?”

Peter was completely motionless in his seat. He wasn’t speaking. Wasn’t moving. Wasn’t even fucking breathing. He was just staring at Tony like he’d been physically frozen.

“Peter?”

Nothing.

“Baby?”

Still nothing.

“Did I break you? If I was going to break you, I was really thinking it was going to be in the bedroom…”

Not even a response to that.

Damn.

Tony grimaced, but continued. “So…uh…he served under a friend of ours. Nick Fury. Remember him from the gala…”

“Nick Fucking Fury knew my dad!” Peter had almost launched himself into the windshield at that piece of information. His reaction and the strong language were so unexpected that Tony cracked his head on the roof of the sports car from jumping in his seat.

“Fuck, kid.” He was going to have a lump, not that Tony was too concerned about that when he saw Peter’s reaction.

Peter was actually shaking. At least his hands were. “You don’t understand, Tony. I know him. In the future. You know him too. Everyone knows him…even my dad, apparently. And Mr. Fury never said anything. Nothing. How could he not say anything? He has to know who my dad is. There’s no way he doesn’t know…”

“My best guess? He hasn’t said anything because he had something to do with why they died and he doesn’t want to have that awkward conversation.”

Peter was back to sitting completely still again. “Tony…what are you leaving out?”

He was almost afraid to go on, but there really was no going back now. “Last year, your father was recruited into S.H.I.E.L.D. by his former C.O…Fury. He’s been an active field agent ever since. Your mother…she was recruited into S.H.I.E.L.D. right out of college…”

“My mom is a secret agent too!” Peter fell back in the car seat, hands covering his face with a small, muffled moan.

“Kind of…she’s actually where you get your smarts. She’s an up and coming star in the science division, if what I found through a bit of hacking is any indication.”

Peter was peaking through his fingers now. “She is?”

“Oh yeah, genius level smart for sure. Tech. Forensics. She does it all…”

“That’s…Ben and May never mentioned that.”

“I’m not sure they knew, Peter.”

Slowly, the teenager sat back up, smiling just a little. “So my mom’s smart and my dad’s a hero…”

“The spider doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Tony couldn’t help but smirk at the flush that began to climb the teen’s cheeks.

“Uh…so…what…are we doing here?” Peter made a broad gesture at the park beyond the car.

“Ah, yes, well…we lucked out, actually. I was really worried I wouldn’t be able to come up with a good way for our paths to intersect. But, according to my PI…your parents are having their wedding rehearsal here this morning. So, I’m hoping we can find a reason to…be friendly.”

“I’m actually famous for how friendly I am.” Peter was bouncing in his seat again. “So…they’re getting married soon, then.”

“In a couple of days, yeah.”

“Wow, this is…this is nuts. I…don’t even know what to say, Tony. I never thought…I mean they’re names. To me they’ve just always been names. And pictures. Videos. Not people. Not to me. Not really. No real memories. Just…flat. And now they’re going to be real. I never thought they’d ever feel real… This means…it means a lot to me.” Tony was startled to see the kid actually blinking back tears.

Scrubbing a hand over his jaw, Tony tried to shrug the display of emotion off. “It was nothing, really. Just something I thought you’d enjoy…”

“Thank you.” Peter’s voice was actually choked up now and there were full fledged tears and Tony was at a loss for what to do so he just gave an awkward smile.

“I’d do anything for you, Beautiful.”

“I know.” He did? “And you don’t…you don’t have to actually say it, Tony, you know? Cause I know…it’s hard for you…and you do things like this…which are honestly just as good. I don’t know if I’m allowed to say it, either, but this once…cause it’s my birthday and you did all of this for me…” Peter’s rambling drifted off for a moment. Some part of Tony actually hoped the kid was going to drop it there, but he didn’t. “And I just want to say that I love you, too.”

Well, fuck.

He’d gone and said it and that tiny thread of denial Tony had been clinging to snapped.

He could actually feel himself falling. Right up until that moment he’d thought ‘falling in love’ was a euphemism. But, nope. He felt the impact to the depths of his soul. Despite this, Tony did his best to sound unaffected, but he could tell from the sparkle in Peter’s eyes that the kid caught the sudden thickness to Tony’s voice, the slight stutter before he found his words again. “Al…alright, Peter, enough of that. We have a wedding rehearsal to crash.”

—

Peter could hardly believe it was really happening. He was going to talk to his parents. Maybe get to shake their hands. He’d be able to hear their voices and their laughs and their personalities and he’d never, ever have to wonder what they were really like ever again. Not only that, but the things he’d learned about them already! His father was practically James Bond! How cool was that? Ned was going to lose his mind! And his mom, his mom was smart. If his dad was James Bond than his mom was totally Q and that might actually be even more impressive to Ned. Peter figured his ‘guy in the chair’ was probably going to be way more excited about Peter’s Mom being the ‘woman in the lab’. It was all so awesome, so unbelievable that he had absolutely no words to explain to Tony just how much this whole thing meant to him.

As the two men made their way from their car to the wedding venue, Peter casually let his fingers graze Tony’s hand, his gaze darting over to look for some reaction from the older man. Tony raised an eyebrow, rolling his eyes playfully before he took Peter’s hand in his own and gave it a little squeeze. “You’re so lucky it’s your birthday, Parker.”

“Nah, I’m just lucky period.” Peter would have never considered himself a lucky guy before. In fact, he’d always thought the ‘Parker Luck’ was always more on the bad side of things…but maybe luck could change because ever since he’d found himself in the middle of that ballroom being visually devoured by a young Tony Stark, he’d been the luckiest guy on the planet.

“Look alive, Kid.” Tony gave his hand another squeeze and gestured with a nod of his head towards the lone figure a few yards ahead.

No doubt to Tony he was still indistinct, but Peter’s senses were quite a bit more acute. He could see the man with crystal clarity and just the sight of him sent Peter’s heart into excitement induced arrhythmias. “Oh my God, it’s really him.” The man from the pictures. His dad.

Richard Parker was of average height and leanly muscled with dark hair that appeared to bear the hint of Peter’s curls underneath the thick layer of styling gel that was struggling to hold it in place. Peter had always thought he looked more like his mother, but he caught subtle pieces of Richard that reminded him of his own reflection now that he was looking at the man in the flesh.

Apparently, Richard had also seen them approaching. Brow furrowed questioningly, he waited for them to come closer before he called out. “Good morning. This is a far cry from Manhattan, Mr. Stark.”

Tony chuckled beside Peter, dropping the boy’s hand. “I hope we’re not disturbing anything, had an appointment to check out the Park and thought I’d get here a little early to look at things without an audience. Are you Mr. Seston?”

“No, my fiance and I are having our wedding rehearsal here this morning…or we were supposed to. The girls were stranded and my brother had to save them.” He glanced at his watch. “I’m afraid we may not have time to run through everything if you have an appointment with Seston, soon.”

Tony made a dismissive gesture with his hand. “I don’t want my appointment to interfere with your wedding. You probably got the whole song and dance when you booked this place, right? Why don’t you walk us around, then you can take your time with your rehearsal.”

Richard looked surprised by the generous offer. Actually, Peter was too. “That’s awfully kind of you, Mr. Stark. I’m Richard Parker.” He held out his hand which Tony took in a firm handshake before Richard turned his attention to Peter. He held out that same hand again and Peter suddenly felt overwhelmed. He meant to take the man’s hand. He really did, but some embarrassing instinct took over and before he realized what he was doing, he had wrapped his father in a tight embrace that had the man stuttering in a very familiar way. “Uh…well…okay…um…you’re…you’re pretty friendly, aren’t you?”

“He’s famous for it, actually.” Tony’s sardonic tone snapped Peter back into reality. Pushing back with a deep flush, Peter looked up at his father as he stepped back and the man spoke a sentence that made him wish he was dead.

“Yes, I know, he was extremely friendly at your gala.”

“Wuh…” In the fraction of a second, Peter went from a scarlet flush to a sickly pale hue at the implications. “You…you were…you were there?”

“Yeah…don’t worry if you don’t recognize me. You two seemed busy…”

Peter staggered backward into a tree, bracing himself against the trunk with one hand as he doubled over and tried not to revisit his birthday breakfast all over the grass at the implication of his father watching him bite the buttons off of Tony’s shirt.

“Is he okay, Mr. Stark?”

“Peter? Yeah, he’s fine.” Tony was clearly trying to cover for him, though even Tony’s voice seemed a little strained at that unexpected development.

“I admit, I was a little worried about you, Peter. Mr. Stark doesn’t have the best reputation…but clearly if you two are out looking at wedding venues, I didn’t need to worry about him taking advantage of you.”

“What?” Peter heard Tony echo his words as he straightened up to give his father his full attention.

“Oh no, we’re not…” Tony was chuckling nervously, a little too nervously.

“No, no no no no…definitely not.” Peter was shaking his head vigorously, a bit of color returning to his face.

“Definitely not?” Tony stressed the word definitely with an eyebrow cocked in a demi-scowl. “Kid, you’re breaking my heart. I think five ‘no’s’ was enough without the definitely.”

“Ah come on, Tony, you know I didn’t mean it like that! It’s only been four months and it’s not like you’re going to actually try to marry me or something so stop embarrassing me in front of my fa…new friend…” Oh God that was close. It was also really freaking lame.

Richard appeared to be well and truly amused. “Follow me, I’ll show you two around.” Tony let Peter walk beside Richard as the man began to lead them around the wedding venue. He was clearly trying to remember what he’d been told about the features, but gave up when he realized that neither one of them was really paying attention at all. “I don’t think I caught you’re full name, Peter.”

“Parker.” The word left his mouth before he’d even thought better of it. A fraction of a second later he felt Tony elbow his side subtly and let out a grunt of annoyance.

“Really?” Richard chuckled. “Small world, I guess. That a Queens accent I detect, too?”

Peter could only nod dumbly. He was saved from further embarrassment by the sound of approaching footsteps. “Oh, I think your wife’s here!”

It was several awkward minutes before two women and a man crested the hill.

Peter felt his heart stop again.

Ben.

He hadn’t realized until that exact moment that he was going to get to see Ben again, too. Oh, and young May. It was Peter’s turn to elbow Tony in the side when he caught Tony checking May out. His annoyance was forgotten, though, as his gaze moved to his mom.

His mom!

Yeah, Peter was now utterly convinced that he looked a great deal more like his mother than he did his father. He was only a little taller than her. Same chestnut hair, same honey-brown eyes. There features were even similar. Clearly, he wasn’t the only one who noticed, because Tony was looking back and forth between the two of them with an amused expression on his face.

“Baby, did you make friends while we were gone?” Mary took Richard’s arm and rose on her toes to plant a little kiss on his cheek as she surveyed Tony and Peter. “Oh…one of them is a billionaire! In that case, bravo, Richie. I should abandon you in public parks more often.”

Richard was chuckling, shaking his head and staring down at her with such a mixture of affection and exasperation that it took Peter’s breath away. It might also, kind of, maybe, but not really, but maybe kind of, remind him of the look he caught Tony giving him every once in a while in the lab when the billionaire thought Peter wasn’t looking in his direction. “Mary, Sweetheart, this is Tony Stark and Peter Parker.”

“Really?” Peter thought her giggle even kind of sounded like a little like his laugh. He had no idea he had his mother’s laugh! Before he knew what was happening, he was being drawn into a hug. “That means we’re practically family Peter!” His mother’s voice so close to his ear that it sent shivers down his spine as he held onto her and breathed in the scent of her perfume. Lilies and Amber. He was never going to be able to smell Lilies and Amber again without thinking of her…and that was so wonderful the thought brought tears to his eyes.

“Looks like you’re not the only hugger here, Beautiful.” Peter could read the subtext in Tony’s eyes as he was forced to separate from his mother’s hug. Apparently being friendly was also a family trait. His parents were just…they were awesome. They were perfect in every conceivable way!

They were shown around the rest of the venue, Mary holding onto Peter’s arm and walking ahead of them, pointing out all of her favorite parts. “And I adore all of the natural flora, it was what made me choose the park. We could save a lot of money on flowers this way.”

“And I agreed, because with fronds like these, who needs anemones?” Richard was quick to join in from Mary’s other side.

Peter let out a snort followed by a laugh that had his father grinning in delight. “See, Mary, someone likes my jokes!”

Peter heard twin moans coming from May and Ben’s directions. “Don’t worry, Richard, my chemistry jokes never get a reaction either.”

Mary swatted Peter’s arm. “Oh, Peter, that was terrible…don’t encourage him or we’ll never hear the end of his jokes!”

“Oh my God, as if one wasn’t enough, now there’s two of them!” Ben’s teasing was good natured, something so familiar to Peter that without even thinking about it, he turned around to stick his tongue out at the man.

“Are we sure he’s not an actual Parker? No brother separated at birth or something?” May’s voice this time. “If not…you may just have to keep the kid. He fits right in with the both of you.”

Ben seemed to be considering May’s suggestion a little too seriously, and for a moment Peter felt his pulse race. “Can’t keep me, May. I think Tony would miss me too much.”

“Couldn’t live without you, Gorgeous.” To Peter’s ears, that sounded almost a little too sincere.

“We’ll have to keep them both then.” Mary gave Peter’s arm a little squeeze. “You two really must stay for the rehearsal and then join us for lunch. Nothing beats wedding jitters quite like lovely distractions.”

“Oh, you don’t really want us there..” Peter could see the look of alarm on Tony’s face as he tried to make excuses. Maybe he was reconsidering his birthday gift after all.

Too bad. Peter wasn’t going to give up time with his parents, now.

“Oh, we’ll definitely stay!” Peter was quick to interrupt Tony. What was the man thinking? They’d gone to all of this trouble to get Peter memories with his parents, and now that his parents both seemed to want them around, Tony was trying to back out? “I mean, we don’t have anything else to do really. And it’s my birthday, so…”

“It’s your birthday!” Mary grabbed his arm again. “Well now we have two things to celebrate, a wedding and a birthday, and we’re not taking no for an answer!”

The rehearsal was short and before long the six of them were seated around a table at a little Italian restaurant near the park. It was very early in the afternoon and the lunch rush hadn’t started yet, so they had most of the place to themselves.

Peter was only too happy to quiz his parents on everything from how they’d first met to how Richard had proposed and what they’re plans for the future were.

“Oh we want kids desperately.” Mary’s expression looked just a little haunted for a moment and May reached out to give her hand a little squeeze. Peter’s head cocked questioningly at the gesture and Richard cleared his throat. “Mary had a few health problems when she was younger. They could…make it difficult for her to conceive. But, like I told her…we won’t know until we try…”

Peter had never known that. He’d never stopped to think about his parents’ age or how long they’d been married…or even Ben and May’s age come to think of it. “Yeah…you…you really shouldn’t give up. Nothing’s impossible unless you accept that it’s impossible.”

“Are you sure he’s not a Parker-Parker? That sounds just like one of your Parkerisms…like the responsibility schtick of yours Ben.” May was using a breadstick as a pointer, leveling one end at Peter. “He’s a cousin or something, I’m telling you!”

Tony cleared his throat loudly, “So, did I hear someone say you were writing your own vows?”

“Oh yes! We only just decided to do that last week, but I really do not want to promise to ‘obey’ Richard because that’s one promise I’m definitely going to break.” Mary smirked at them over her glass of wine. “Actually…maybe we could use you as a test audience? Make sure they’re just mushy enough without being too over-the-top? I’ll just run off to the little girl’s room for a minute and let Richard give you a taste of his and then we’ll trade. It’d be good for us to practice that too, and you two don’t mind, do you?”

“I’d love to hear them!” Peter was probably a little too enthusiastic about hearing a stranger’s wedding vows, but no one seemed surprised by his excitement at this stage and Tony was quick to echo the sentiment, even if he wasn’t quite as flamboyant about it.

Richard, on the other, looked nervous as he plucked the folded piece of paper from his wallet and cleared his throat about a half a dozen times. “All right, well, here it goes. I love you Mary Fitzpatrick. More than anything else in this world. I promise to give you every beat of my heart, every breath from my lungs. Even when there’s distance between us, nothing will ever separate us because you’re a part of me. The best part. I don’t want to kill for you or die for you, Mary, I want to live for you and I promise that every day of my life, no matter what it holds, will be spent with you, for you, and beside you until the day it ends.”

“That’s really awesome. And poetic. I think she’ll love that!” Peter was blinking away tears, clutching Tony’s hand under the table. When he hazarded a glance at the other man, Peter was surprised by the look on his face. Tony appeared…thoughtful. Distant. Perhaps even troubled by Richard’s words. He met Peter’s gaze and offered a small smile, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

A few minutes passed and positions were changed. Now, Mary prepared to recite her vows from memory while Richard hid in the bathroom.

“Richard Parker…you are the bravest, kindest, most honorable man I have ever known. I know that marriage isn’t easy and that life can be hard. I know that our careers may make it even harder, but I don’t care. My love for you is strong enough to conquer anything. Nothing will ever separate us. Not money. Not health. Not time. The universe itself could try to push us apart, and I would just push right back…because I promise to fight for you, Richard. I will fight for you and our love and our marriage…and someday, our family, because you’ve taught me that together we’re a force to be reckoned with. Together, there’s absolutely nothing that can stop us, that’s my promise to you.”

“Oh wow…Mary. That’s just..that’s really awesome! I don’t think you should be nervous about that at all.”

“Thank you, Peter, I’m sure if you like it that Richard will. You two do seem to have similar tastes, don’t you?”

“Yeah…I guess so.” Another glance at Tony and Peter was perplexed to see a grim set to Tony’s jaw and that same distant look as he stared down into his wine glass. He had no idea what the man was thinking, but a part of Peter was a little worried about it.

The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur. They parted with promises to meet for drinks after the Parkers returned from their honeymoon and with May demanding some information about Peter’s family so she could delve into his genealogy and prove that he was related to Richard and Ben. Peter had to keep repeating that he didn’t have a family or any access to his genealogy much to May’s chagrin.

Peter got a parting hug from the entire Parker clan, ending with Ben who held onto his shoulder after they separated. His voice was soft as he spoke to Peter, gaze trained on Tony as he exchanged numbers with Richard and mary. “Is that Stark fella good to you, Son? I know he has a reputation and you said you don’t have a family…”

“Yeah…no…yeah, he’s great. It’s not like the tabloids make it out to be, Ben. He cares about me…”

“Well, I want you to take our number and address, Son. If something happens, if someday he’s not and you need help or somewhere to go or even just an ear or a ride or a bus ticket…you call us, okay? You may not be family, but you’re a good kid and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I thought you were going to get into trouble because you had no one to help you out.”

Peter blinked back tears and surged forward for another hug. “You’re a good man, Ben. Probably the best man I’ve ever known. I just…I want to make sure you know that before I go, okay? That I just…I want to be half the guy you are someday. Thank you…for everything…and I’ll definitely call you if something happens and I need help. I promise…don’t worry about me.”

—

Tony was remarkably quiet for the rest of the day, though he did try to make sure that the rest of Peter’s birthday was celebratory. It was only when they were laying in bed that night that Tony was finally able to gather his thoughts into something coherent and tangible. “Peter…” , The teenager stirred slightly. He hadn’t been asleep, but he had been blissfully relaxed, cuddled close to Tony’s chest lost in the blissful afterglow of steamy sex followed by a hot shower and the soft, languid touches that had become common place between them several months ago. He had only just stopped assuring Tony that this had been the best birthday of his entire life. The movement of Peter’s hand stopped at the sound of Tony’s voice, palm pressed flat against Tony’s chest as he propped himself up on an elbow to look the older man in the eye. “Yes?”

“I need you to tell me the truth.”

“I always do, Tony.”

Tony shifted, dislodging Peter and sitting up against the headboard. He scrubbed his hands across his face several times before he tried again. “I need you to tell me the truth about the future.”

“What?” Peter was sitting up in a moment, brown eyes wide with horror and disbelief. “I can’t! Tony, I can’t. The timeline…”

“The timeline is fucked, Peter. Don’t tell me you haven’t realized that. You’ve been here too long. You’ve changed too much. About me. You’ve changed too much about me.”

“I…I have?”

“You have.” He steadied himself with a deep breath, brushing the backs of his fingers along Peter’s jawline. “Baby, you’re right, I…I love you and I’m not going to be able to let you go. The Nullifier…we’re close. Baby, we’re a hell of a lot closer than I’ve been letting on, and I need to know what happens. I need to know how the Old Man becomes the hero you say he is. Your parents…they made me realize some things. I’m not giving in. We’re not giving in. I’m not accepting any outcome that doesn’t have you and me together at the end. I’m taking a page from Richard and Mary Parker. I’m fighting for you, living for you, all of it. You’re going to tell me everything. Everything, Peter. And then you’re going to trust me to fight for you because you and me…we’re endgame now, whether the universe likes it or not.”

#starker

39 notes · View notes

italianfish · 4 years

Text

Here’s some things that I’ve overheard recently

- That bridge was created by erosion

- Holy tolino that’s a nice tree!

- Ivy! There’s the guy we don’t like (Trump in a car)

- Why wouldn’t you want to be king? You could get corgis, they’re adorable

- That’s not an allergy, that’s a life choice

- Are you that one guy? Are you DongleMc DongleSon?

- Woooo! CHEMEX!

- THE FURIES ARE COMING

- I NEED A BOYFRIEND AND A SWEATSHIRT

- I wonder what animal that is? Oh wait, it’s a log

- Just a cone, no ice cream. I don’t like ice cream

- My chicken BLT came without the chicken!

- I should have kept the headband from the tampons

- You’ve been reduced to a codename

- Hug, Marry, Exile, the Brucified sleepover game

- It’s just the toes

- Parf Tarts

- It’s crispy?!?!

- When I’m like, 60, I’m going to do drugs

- What really is life without watching Bob Ross?

- 13 YEARS!!!

- Stacy’s mom is Parker’s grandma~

- EmBruce it

- It’s not a water break, it’s a hydration break

- That bird is using a crosswalk!

- I don’t know any colleges in Massachusetts!

- What even is frick without frack

- I’m emotionally offended by your haircut

- That’s like a cat fart

- Someone just shat

- I’M NOT A CHILD PREDATOR DEANNA!!!

- I’ll sue that movie, they stole my idea (Just finished watching Hotel Transylvania 3)

- See, Amanda. That’s your noise

- My mom told me that if you sleep with your phone under your pillow you get fat

- If he were gay he’d be adorable

- He’s racist to chairs

- Flarion is my boob

- Don’t throw the ball at the referee, it’ll hurt his feelings

- Fuck yeah, your name’s Keith

- Can you deep throat a firecracker?

- Your earlobe is soft

- I would sell my toes for my old hair

- It’s like eating a period, NO

- What a funny looking animal (Giraffe)

- Giraffes are the most ridiculous animals

- Ew, keep your ebola away from me

- Look at that glass shard, that must be uncomfortable

- Do sloths have ears?

- Lip jellies freak me out

- A: I have three boobs (Sloth in shirt) B: I have uh.... Arthritis

- Instagram knows I’m lonely

- Knock on any Nonna’s door and tell them you’re Jewish and they’ll pity you and throw you a feast

- But this time it’s just the nose

- I want Granny panties

- Why do we only have confidence when our shirts are off?

- Why is an 8 year old twerking on my leg

- She has curves, you have rectangles

- I’m depressed, give me your water

- Dude! I look like a freaking lion!

- My loofa unraveled...

- I’m eating ramen with a singular coffee straw

- These walls better be soundproof (Amanda loudly singing in the background)

- I’m ready for my 4am Taco Bell runs

- Wifi in Spanish is wee-fee

- I didn’t see the body

- We should crochet together

- Yeah! I was a baby model.

- I don’t know if he likes me or if he’s just the gay best friend

- Have you pooped this week? You need to poop

- You’ve got all your limbs and you’re ready to go

- I need affection

- Diego’s eating rocks again~

- Wait. You’re instagramming my dog?

- I love letting people know what I’m up to

- It’s so funny, it’s like the ying and the yang

- You’re in my world now Grandma

- Two nipples? I don’t need nipples

- You are one gassy fellow

- You’ve got a lot of nerve showing up on our side of the bus

- I can never tell if you’re just depressed or listening to music

- I’ve got a photo shoot coming up for a calendar, for hot teachers with 6-packs. I’m October

- 38 on rotten potatoes!

- I’m hungry, I’m delirious

- DON’T PINCH MY CHUB

- I love clapping thighs in the evening

- Dude, I’m so ready to mingle

- Do you have a magician book

- Let’s taste those minerals

- The sauce is forever

- Why is everything so straight

- The right nipples don’t deserve rights

- We used to have a zebra and he was vicious

- Very important, I forgot shoes

- You look like a lumber snack

- A: I’m the only one here who looks like a hobo B: Really? Say that again A: We can be hobos together

- Woah dude! Can we take a picture of you? *Truck next to the bus*

- What were you guys doing? Bathing yourselves in the toilet?

- I want to be those people in Wii sports (The background characters that make the noises)

- Then we can have a dance party in a prison cell!

- Most of the bible sounds like gay fanfics

- It’s Frozen all over again!

- I have my metal bus on the straw

- My mom told my Dad to not be a weenie

- I’m going to build my house doors really short so you can’t come in

- Do you want to be black with me?

- Are you the black man?

- How did chutes and ladders go sexual?

- What if there was a rotisserie chicken hanging from the ceiling

- No one said Californians are smart, they’re just hippies who smoke weed

- Stop losing me in airport bathrooms

- What’s with those muscular kneecaps

- Queers doesn’t shake hands

- I’m drowning! I’m not even in the water

- Is this baptism?

- Breakfast doesn’t deserve grace

- It’s not just airport bathrooms

- Ice Age, watch it, absorb it

- I call first waz

- If you’re saying waz you’re not fancy

- I have so many bodily fluids to get rid of

- Don’t eat the lotion samples

- Why are our shoes not curved

- I’m just a fat guy so everything is delicious

- My name is Gay Fieri

- *Monotone iCarly theme song*

- I love Chipoodle

- The others are just Bat-ships

- You ever tie a banana to a tree?

- Can we have a fashion show?

- I’m gonna waz myself

- That’s the Death Star again

- Why do you have glitter on you?

- I smoke the mara-ja-wanna

- I have a gelato emergency

- This is our entertainment for the day (Watching a (probably) crazy man dance)

- I have a lot of questions about pottery

- Ever since I was a small child I have found myself goo-goo-ga-ga

- There are too many cans

- We need to stop canning beans

- Forks are way better than spoons

- I hate spoons

- Do you not want two hours of smooth jazz

- A man just stole my nut

- That’s a really bad name for a gay bar

- Is your tongue comfortable in your mouth

- I’m a penguin enthusiast

- He kept force feeding me marshmallows

- Why would you judge a girl by her neck?

- Are there shampoo bars?

- Why would you want a shampoo bar?

- Don’t burn down the house

- Halloween is my day

- You want to be hydrated?

- Are you kidding me? Right in front of my salad?

- We can still cartwheel into a fiery ball

- It’s your last day of camp, why are you trying to land a plane

- There’s a scale from dude to bro to sir

- Gotta vacuum the bird

- I’m teaching my rabbit spanish

- Ok, who got the cheese on a bun???

- I feel like a wet lasagna

- You can get a star for Jazz???

- I have 3 bottles of hand sanitizer

- A- We make children cry! B- NO WE DON’T

- A- Can I have chicken on a plate? B- Chicken on a plate? A- Chicken on a plate

- I want to go to band to get sweaty

- Proactive, it helps your face

- The cult meeting is next week from 2-7

- This is so vegany

- I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE SONG! NOT THE BEATLES!

- I have shrimp for later

- It burns my eyes, I love it

- It’s not that we hate you, it’s just that sometimes we can’t stand you

- Locked and loaded for a photoshoot first period

- This chalk keeps following me

- Kinda like a Starbucks atmosphere

- How dare she learn how to drive

- You have to sing our anthem with us

- It fits right into the squiggle

- I’m immune to hot sauce (Downs little cup of hot sauce)

- How was fake meatloaf?

- Can you train a fish?

- I haven’t worn pants in a year

- It smells like yogurt

- I have ties for every holiday

- There’s no laws on the moon, so like, you could kill someone???

- Optional means I don’t do it

- I’m gonna cook your dog!!!

- Is that where we almost went to park jail?

- We don’t condone sporting

- I want to turn orange

- Let’s make a buzfeed quiz that tells you what bridge you are

- (In Spanish) Where is the milk?

- If silence is gold, duct tape is silver

- A: So, what are you guys doing? B: Drugs.

- Young successful jewish boy

- A: I’m fun size! *Friend laughter* B: I’m just short...

- A: Where’s my medal??? B: Up your ass

- I’m a leech

- If anyone’s getting salmonella, it’s going to be me

- Does it involve backflips?

- I get to see all the little children getting confused as you disappear into a chair

- I think someone stole my balls by now

- A- A plastic knife can cut another plastic knife B- Why did you cut a plastic knife? A- Dedication!

- A- Oh my god! B- What does this have to do with god? C- *Whispering* Everything

- You’re probably going to die of liver

- I’m a five year old! You can’t have that profanity in here!

- Hey kids get in the van, we’ve got free wifi

- That’s worse than 10 babies hanging from a tree

- Are you from the piggers of creation???

- A- You’re like an old married couple B- (From the distance) He started it!

- I am a Jesus Christ in a person!

- YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MANY CHROMOSOMES THAT COST ME!!!

- I will implant a chip in your ankle! And you won’t know which one!

- I’M AN AVATAR! AIR! (Nothing happens) AIR! (Still nothing)

- When I was on a plane, we started dropping 200 feet at a time, the funny thing was that half of the plane had just gotten their drinks so half the plane was soaked

- Is Christianity a cult?

- A- Do you have experiences with holes B- (Very Unsure) Yes

- I’m her bitch, not your bitch

- He has the IQ of half a ferret

- A- Did you read the game manual? B- The gay manual??

- I want the pleasure of whipping you

- One time I poured a glass of apple cider vinegar and I drank it

- I changed my name to Johnyay West

- Too much damage done to the duner

- On a scale to 1 to Bill Cosby

- Ariana Grande is a criminal

- A- It’s sticky B- Can I take that out of context? A- No

- YOU ZIP TIED HIM TO A CHAIR?!

- It’s half past a freckle

- I need the crotch

- I don’t have imaginary friends. I don’t have friends.

- It’s like a mini fridge for pillows

- You hurt yourself with a stationary elbow

- My parents met at Burger King

- A- What’s the capital of Ohio B- Arkansas...?

- A- What do you do after school? B- Eat C- Sleep D- Cry

- Ask for cocaine, not Coca-Cola

- HOW HAVE YOU NOT TOLD US YOU MAKE STAINED GLASS?!

- You stole my meme bro

- A- Where you the one who drank chocolate sauce? B- (Seemingly proud) Yes.

- OW! MY CALVES!

- The Kardashians are necessary in our society!!!

- I feel like a homeless prostitute

- Ya wanna share a fork

- Now you have a pile of hot cheese

#random #funny conversations #conversation #i just overheard #overheard #haha #funny #long post

2 notes · View notes

sylvesterlestermanchester · 3 years

Text

Fearfully and Wonderfully

Word Count: 12401

Genre: Humor, fluff, angst. All mixed together. Fun times!

Warnings: Conversion therapy, homophobia, brief allusions to sex and genitals. One puke joke?

A/N: Reuploaded bc Tumblr decided not to let this be visible in the tags lol. This is my first ever published fic-I’ve been writing for literally years little bits and pieces, but COVID has me going crazy and I just wanted to put some effort into an actual thing. Thanks for reading!

What he isn’t expecting is to have an eight-year-old girl bodyslam herself into his legs, followed by a loud groan and a sharp voice scolding “Suzanne, we told you to stop running!”

This must be the Philip Lester on his room assignment form. “Sorry. My family is kind of, erm, excited.” He says with a small, nervous laugh and sets the girl aside before sticking out a hand to shake. “I’m Phil! You must be, um...Daniel, right?”

Dan takes a second to readjust the bags in his arms to shake Phil’s hand awkwardly, trying not to look too overwhelmed at the scene in front of him. “Dan’s fine.”

“You’re rooming with an absolute freak,” Adrian mumbles in his ear with a small smirk. “Karma is a bitch, huh?”

“Shut up.” Dan hisses back through his teeth, trying to look as interested as possible as Phil’s mum keeps talking.

“We saw cows!” One of the kids butts in, and suddenly they’re all talking, any nervousness they had around the strangers suddenly vanishing.

“And horses!”

“We got hamburgers, and there was this huge truck-it had to have, like, forty wheels-”

Phil seems to take after his dad, quietly but quickly unpacking since his siblings have seemingly given up on it in favor of telling Dan’s family every detail of the six-hour car ride. At one point he makes eye contact with Phil, who gives him an apologetic look, his cheeks flushed and an embarrassed grin on his face as the kids chatter along excitedly like they’ve never talked to another person before.

The small space suddenly feels vast and empty, and the silence is almost tangible.

“Well. They seemed...friendly.” Dan’s mum says after a few moments, his dad snorting.

“You’re in for quite a year, huh, kid?” He jokes. Dan laughs weakly, but in all honesty, it doesn’t seem that funny.

Just what did he get himself into?

It’s strange, he finds. But then again, Phil’s pretty strange, after all.

“Oh, I didn’t go to school.” Phil says with a bright smile, before quickly adding “I mean-I was homeschooled. So I just kinda did the work when I wanted to.”

Phil’s last comment was clearly meant to lighten up the mood, but it’s obvious that the subject matter was making the group a little uncomfortable, considering they all just met. Dan’s mentally running through Phil’s belongings in their dorm-were all those books Bibles? Was he going to start hanging crosses everywhere? Or make him wake up early on Sundays?

“Were you allowed...TV?” PJ asks slowly, eyes widening when Phil shook his head.

“Not cable. We could watch DVDs, but they had to be approved, so it was usually educational. I know a lot of animal facts, actually. Did you know hippo-”

“What about the internet?” Louise cuts him off.

“No Harry Potter?” “Promotes witchcraft. Apparently. I haven’t read it for myself, but-”

“Dating?”

“Not without serious intention to marry-and I’m not exactly ready for that, so-”

“Running water?”

“You know what’s funny?” Phil says, giggling a bit and bringing his knees loosely to his chest. “You guys think I’m weird, which is totally understandable. But your guys’ lives before this sound weird to me, too. Like-Chris, you got to play video games as a kid, right? And I was taught that those would turn me into some homicidal maniac. Dan, I saw you have a horoscope app-that’s the occult, so that’s a huge no-no.”

Wow, okay. Before Dan could feel too offended, though, and Chris could jump in, Phil keeps going. “But, like, I get that you’re not a witch, or Chris, you’re not gonna chop me up into little pieces when I’m sleeping. There’s gotta be some middle ground here, right? So...you guys could show me how to live more like you, and maybe you guys would be more interested in what I’m into?”