#marriage speedrun i guess
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“I’m going to be late for work, Wright.”
“Well, that’s just too bad, isn’t it?”
#fuckin#gay lawyers#got me in a chokehold#marriage speedrun i guess#cannot imagine a world where they aren't disgustingly in love#actually i can but i would not like to live in it#narumitsu#wrightworth#narumitsu fanart#ace attorney#ace attorney fanart#phoenix wright#miles edgeworth#my-art
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Y'all out here finishing the main story and shit, meanwhile I'm just out here building space ships because this Aurora isn't gonna sell itself!
Side note: me and Sam are taking a break because I accidentally sold some Aurora in front of him and now he's mad :( this game is crazy tho I've never had a digital man threaten to divorce me (twice)
Anon you think we're bad, I've seen people already on ng+10! But also damn it, Sam! Support your spouse's aurora empire!! How else will they keep you in your finery, delivering packages (of things other than aurora)? Pshh.
But yeah I am honestly impressed that your misdeeds do have actual consequences on your personal life too! Hopefully Sam forgives you soon!
#answered#starfield spoilers#fr though how are people on ng+10 how do i do that#i guess speedrunning#keep me updated on your marriage drama anon I am so invested
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It only took me 40 days to get to 8 hearts with Shane. Marriage speedrun I guess /hj
#stardew valley#sdv#sdv shane#i swear i wasnt trying to get him all the way to 8 this fast#i really did want to give some attention to everyone before i went super far with anyone#clearly that has not happened here
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I don't know how it works in Canada, but in the US, you can get your name changed back after a divorce. You can also change it for free after a marriage.
Which, I guess means LO was never legally married, which then makes me wonder if she paid to have it changed? But then she's "married" to MO now? WTF?
You would think she would change her nMe back just to avoid the hassle of having to keep up with the lies, but this is LO we're talking about here....
she never waited to being married to Lizzy before she legally changed her name. that was money that she decided alone to waste on a relationship with a 19 year old who never said was going to move in with her.
it's my personal theory that LO was seeing even then that Lizzy was not speedrunning their marriage as much as she did, because unlike MO Lizzy actually didn't want to abandon all of her life to live with her, so she thought that by changing name legally she could bind Lizzy to her and guil trip her into marrying sooner.
thank heavens that didn't work.
but yes, if LO had just waited until they were legally married LO would had her name changed legally for free.
i think we have established plenty that she's awful at handling money.
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Since you’ve already made alternative versions of Tanjiros “first encounter” with having him meet Rengoku or Kanroji(kinda) instead of Tomioka, I was curious if you have any headcannons for the other pillars too?
I imagine that not every pillar would work well meeting in the forest. (Lord knows Shinazugawa wouldn’t hesitate to kill Nezuko the second he sees her near Tanjiro) So I’m guessing a few of them would have had to meet him in the village beforehand so that they would have a reason to pause. I just like the idea of one of them coming across Tanjiro while interrogating the villagers for information and being absolutely blown away by how kind and beautiful this boy is and immediately jumping on wikihow “how do you speedrun a marriage proposal” and realizing one of the steps is “don’t kill their siblings (yes, even if they are a demon)”.
Since I have a fic in which Tanjirou meets Tengen first, then I'll go with Sanemi this time.
***
Sanemi has to stay in the village during a mission, however, the people there are scared of him and refuse to give him accomodations or food. He's about to threaten a woman when a beautiful boy (Tanjirou's older in this version) steps in and decides to help him.
He doesn't seem intimidated by Sanemi's aggressive attitude or his looks, he even keeps smiling at him when he notices the katana the wind hashira is carrying.
Since Tanjirou is very much beloved in the village, he convinces a married couple to allow Sanemi to stay with them; they even give him food.
It's still early in the day; Sanemi knows he's not going to find the demon he's looking for... So he follows Tanjirou, he tells himself it's because the boy looks weak and needs protection but the truth is that he likes him (he doesn't know how much yet and he's not going to think about it to find out).
He helps Tanjirou carry the basket with charcoal he's planning to sell as Tanjirou tells him about his siblings.
At some point Sanemi finds himself smiling and wanting to run his fingers to through Tanjirou's red hair but stops just in time before he does something stupid.
After that mission is over Sanemi comes back, he doesn't even think about why because he knows he can't come up with a believable excuse this time.
Tanjirou's mother knows what's going as well as one of Tanjirou's sisters, the one named Nezuko, and Sanemi knows they don't approve of him yet, but he plans to make an effort this time.
The next time he goes back to the village (after a couple of difficult missions) Sanemi finds pain and sorrow: Tanjirou is desperate, carrying his little sister Nezuko who got turned into a demon and telling Sanemi (with tears in his eyes) that the rest of his family is gone.
He asks for help, he pleads... And it's too late to do what's right because Tanjirou is so deep inside Sanemi's heart now the wind hashira will do anything for him. Even though part of him thinks keeping a demon alive is the worst mistake of his life.
But Sanemi feels guilty for not being there with Tanjirou and his family... He can almost feel Tanjirou's suffering like it's his own and now he's going to protect him no matter what.
"Thank you, Sanemi-san!" Tanjirou smiles at him, jumping into the hashira's arms and even giggling for a moment when Sanemi bites his cheek in response.
The tragedy has sealed their fate and the wind hashira is glad for once because he's is not going to let Tanjirou go ever again.
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F!Revan: “I am physically unable to back down from a challenge.”
Carth “the day I open up is my autopsy” Onasi: “I don’t trust anybody, okay?! It’s nothing personal, it’s just how I am, so deal with it!”
F!Revan:
F!Revan: “Well, I guess I’m speedrunning marriage now.”
#my headcanon for female Revan is yes she is a tactical genius but if someone dared her to lick the swingset she’d do it#she is physically unable not to#kotor#revan x carth#f!revan#star wars
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This is an Awfully Slim Book to Talk about Everything...
This book was a Christmas gift from my family a bunch of years ago, and to this day it's one of my favorite popular literary analysis books. The juxtaposition of this slim little tome and the big "EVERYTHING" in the title is enough of a visual tension to make you jump in. And I did. Voraciously. And repeatedly. And then when I started teaching and tutoring, this book was a huge help in that it was an unintimidating entry point into thinking about the Shakespearean corpus and its impacts on life. I even let one of my tutor students borrow this book, and I do NOT let people borrow my books. So let's talk How Shakespeare Changed Everything.
...do...do I...do I need to put a spoiler for Shakespeare here? I really hope I don't, but I guess SPOILERS BELOW THE BREAK?
I think the best way to do this is to just briefly go over each of the ten chapters of this book, because each one takes up and different topic and gives an overview of it.
The book's introduction introduces the conceit of the book and essentially reasserts that Shakespeare was the popular media of his day, before alluding to the power of popular media to change, well, basically everything. We also get just an amazing cross-section of some of the wilder ways people engage with the bard, including the Shakespeare Mas (google this or read the book, I promise you won't be disappointed). The introduction ends on this just incredible line: "All that strange power, all his world-shaking, reality-transforming impact begins from a simple but mysterious truth: His stories sound good to everybody." And honestly? I don't think I can disagree with that.
The Fortunes of the Moor
This phenomenal first chapter is a stunning overview of the performance history of Othello, and particularly highlights Paul Robeson and Ira Aldridge, two of the famous historical Black actors to play Othello. This chapter also speedruns the history of racism in American theatre, whether or not the play is racist, and the role of mixed-race sex in the play. This chapter is a fantastic introduction to both Othello and race in Shakespeare, and it grounds itself in performance history anecdotes that never fail to be fascinating.
Words, Words, Words
This chapter does not focus so much on a single play as it does on the words Shakespeare added to the English lexicon, and what the knock-on effects of those added words are. It also brings up two words that we just...straight up don't have definitions for: prenzie and scamels. This is a more linguistic-focused chapter, but it's still fun and has a ton of excellent examples of how to close read Shakespeare passages for linguistic purposes, and it's a fabulous teaching tool for that.
The Beast with Two Backs
Oh yeah. It's the sex chapter. Sex in Shakespeare is way more prevalent than school boards are aware of--as evidenced by the fact that not even the avid book banners in Florida in the year of our lord 2024 seem to have caught on to the fact that Shakespeare is transgressive AF and tried to ban him (as far as I know). This chapter explores how Shakespeare uses sex and sexuality, how people have tried to censor and liberate Shakespeare because of it, and author Stephen Marche asserts that, "If you've had sex without shame, sec for pleasure, for fun, for any reason other than procreation within marriage--Shakespeare, more than any other single figure, is responsible for the climate of permissiveness that made it possible." So I'm sorry if this is how you have to find out that Shakespeare is all about characters doing the sex at each other, but you cannot approach these plays without understanding that sex and sexuality are a huge part of the plays.
Flaming Youth
So strictly speaking, the word "adolescent" has been around since the Middle English period, and the OED cites the earliest instance of the word in 1440. That said, adolescence as we know it wasn't necessarily something that Shakespeare knew. That, of course, did not stop him from writing about teenagers. This chapter is all about teenagers, teen culture, and Shakespeare, and honestly this was the chapter that had my student asking me if he could borrow this book. If you are teaching teens and they're reluctant to see how Shakespeare relates to them, this is my recommendation for a short reading to change their minds.
All Honorable Men
In this chapter we focus back in on a specific play: Julius Caesar. This book predates the 2016, 2020, and 2024 US presidential elections, and this play and its relationship to US politics and presidents have been well trodden since, but this is still a solid look at how Shakespeare is inevitably tangled up in US politics and how we relate to them. We also get some super juicy details about John Wilkes Booth and his theatre career prior to the Sic Semper Tyrannis event. It also is a good entry point to how how Shakespeare uses (and abuses) political rhetoric in ways that are uncomfortable similar to modern politicians.
To Hold a Mirror Up to Nature
The moral of this chapter is to not use your fandom as an excuse to low-key commit ecological terrorism. *massively side-eyes Eugene Schiefflin*
Give Me My Robe, Put On My Crown
If "All Honorable Men" focused on US presidential politics, this chapter expands Shakespeare's political reach globally, showing how world leaders and politicians have used and appropriated Shakespeare for all sorts of purposes.
Not Marble, nor the Gilded Monuments
This is the English major chapter of this book. It does a beautiful job of beginning to contextualize Shakespeare's place in the western literary canon, and more than a few famous writers' relationships with him. It even gives a nod to Shakespeare's relationship with more modern popular culture (Shakespeare is best in the original Klingon, anyone?).
A King of Infinite Space
Previous chapters have been heavy and serious, which Shakespeare absolutely is. But that's not ALL Shakespeare is. This chapter focuses on the mundane and profane that is Shakespeare. It asserts that Shakespeare is anyone's who wants him, however they want him. And as a Shakespeare scholar who has herself been a bit of a snob in her younger years, this is an IMPORTANT reminder. Yes, Shakespeare is heady themes, tragedy, and important topics of discussion...but it's also three butt jokes in a trench coat that turns to the audience, farts, and immediately begins pelvic thrusting. A king of infinite space indeed...
To Be or Not to Be
This chapter explore Shakespeare, the man, the myth, the legend. Quite literally, because we don't really have all that much hard historical knowledge about Shakespeare, and his plays are such that trying to argue anything about the playwright from the plays is deeply problematic at least. There is also a really interesting discussion about the extant portraits of Shakespeare and which one Marche thinks might be the most accurate. This chapter is a wonderful reminder that Shakespeare is both man and myth, and the man and the myth have blurred and merged to become legend. (And this is why I straight refuse to play the author question game. It's not worth it.)
Overall, I adore this book. It's a great introduction to the breadth of the field of Shakespeare studies in a deeply accessible way. The writing and the tone are light, playful, and deeply entertaining. This is one of my FUN reads about Shakespeare, and I think that if high school or early college students want an accessible, fun way into the wider world of academic Shakespeare studies, they could do a lot worse than starting here.
#shakespeare#shakespeare studies#academic shakespeare#book review#books and reading#books#books and novels#book recommendations
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Thoughts on Manhwa adaptations
I have no objective evidence, but I suspect the more the popular a series is, the more the studios want to keep it popular and serializing, so they'll milk it for all it's worth.
The complaint that Matriarch is dragging is a valid one: it's been 120 chapters and they're still kids. I'm not sure, but I think they're still following a roughly 1:1 adaptation with the novel and manhwa. At this rate, they won't finish by chapter 200 or anytime soon. It's a super hit at 1 billion views, so they're keeping it strong.
Villains are Destined to die ended Season 3 with episode 124. This is also roughly a 1:1 adaptation with its novel. The novel has about 230 chapters, so it'll likely have a volume 5 IMO. It's also massively popular with 67 million views.
Actually, I was the Real One (54 million views) is still ongoing, but it has quite a bit of manhwa original content so I'm not sure if it has enough content for a season 4. Its novel is about 180 chapters, and it's currently at about chapter 110 and nearing the end.
Father, I don't want this marriage (55 million views) just finished at chapter 123, it's novel had about 230 chapters. So it went at a quicker rate than the others. I was honesty surprised they didnt' drag it out.
Villain Duke's Precious One (26 million views) - another one of Eclair's novels adapted to a manhwa by Luna-Heng. The main story ended at novel 181 chapters, and the manhwa ended at chapter 113 (?) I think? I noticed that they rushed the end, doing a 1:2 speedy adaptation.
I noticed newer serializations of manhwa start off with a rapid pace to hook readers in (makes sense, with all the competition around), but that very much depends on the studio).
YM (20 million views) - Main story 234 chapters, epilogue 11 chapters, special side story 8 chapters. I noticed the rate of Chapters 1-65 was about 1:1, then starting near the end of season 2 the rate went crazy to about 1:1.2 to 1:2.4 for an adaption (basically about 1 manhwa chapter adapts 2.4 novel chapters). Officially, the announcements say they were going for for "more dramatic and exciting events", so I hope it's not a sign that they want to rush to get it finished with. I do agree it's hard to adapt all of that internal monologue to make it interesting and exciting....
Anyways, the current rate is about 1:1.5 right now, which is.. OK I guess. I can see them speedrunning it back to about 1:2.4 though.
Depending on how the rest of season 3 goes, I suspect chapter 117 will end with RupeLali reuniting (pt 1). Which makes sense because it gives some sort of reasonable ending (anywhere else is a massive 5 month cliffhanger of separation).
After that, if a season 4 is greenlit, then ~ chapters 118-140 would adapt the rest of the main story.
If we're super lucky, chapters 141-146 would be the epilogue, which is where most of the rupelali sweetness and couple moments are.
If we are the luckiest readers on earth, they'll adapt the special side stories, which is like another 4 chapters.
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I don't know if anyone said this yet but I just want to point this out.
Before Clouds in the Horizon, we keep comparing Luz's new outfit to Alador's when he won the Bonesborough Brawl. And well, this episode pointed out the foils between Lumity and Odalador?
Like, in this episode we see Lumity's relationship blossoming by that kiss. They only grew stronger because they CARE about each other. They actually love each other, support each other.
Odalador meanwhile was just, at least I think, was a marriage of convenience? They didn't care about each other, or at least Odalia didn't care, or maybe at some point in their relationship she ran out of love. Either way, there comes a time that it'll all fall out. And Odalia's nonchalant attitude toward the Day of Unity, I guess?, triggered that. Hence, the Divorce Speedrun.
I sincerely hope that that wasn't foreshadowing for Odalia being more of a pain in the ass for the Main Squad. But, at least we got Alador. I hope he actually becomes a better father, Titan knows the Blight siblings deserve better parents.
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I got peer pressured (/lh) into speedrunning marriage with harbor so. Uh. Everyone told me to make the wedding on my birthday which is in FOUR DAYS so uh. Look forward to that I guess?? 😔😭
#fastest marriage speedrun besides venom#he’s too powerful#man#I uh#lol#lmao#:’’’’)#ren never shuts up#my post#ship: ocean man take me by the hand
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helloooo ela 😊✨!! glad your week has settled down a bit, hopefully you have an enjoyable weekend ahead of you!
i loved reading about your spotify wrapped, i haven’t listened to most of those artists/songs, so i will have to give them a try! i just listened to runaway by AURORA and i loved the way the song kept building and building, it felt almost cinematic 🎥💫. do you have a fav song by AURORA that you’d recommend 👀?
ahhhhh, your tea box sounds so cool!! is it designed to keep the tea fresh/preserved while you’re traveling, or just as a means of storage?? i’m a coffee girl through and through 😌 (and hot chocolate too, aksjsjjj that’s how i survive the winter months, but it can be our secret 🫶)
the 9-1-1 gay firefighters are also my blorbos-in-law 😂, i have yet to succumb and watch it but sounds like it might be inevitable! it looks like there was just a new season? did you enjoy it??
i looked up the summary for graceling, it seems very compelling! i haven’t read any fantasy since i was much younger but i’ve had a few recommendations for it recently, and i remember absolutely loving getting lost in those worlds as a kid 🦄
also, btw, i adored the cute animal gifs 🥺🥰, sending love your way 💙❄️✨
Hi yes hello,
This brightened my day for sure, thank you 🧡
Oh, you've asked the million dollars question lmao AURORA was my favorite artist this year (unsurprisingly) and I do love all her work. So much. It's hard to recommend her songs so I will try my best with 3 good vibes songs, 3 heart-wrenching songs and 3 in between.
Positive
1) Queendom (the YouTube video is so good!?!)
2)
3) Exist For Love (because that music video came out way earlier than planned because “her fans needed something to be happy about” and it is just so damn beautiful)
In between
1)
2)
3)
Heart-wrenching, tears possible
Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1) (yes, that specific live video for ultimate tear potential. Also tw murder as a significant plot point of the lyrics lol)
Through The Eyes Of A Child (yeah, that version is stripped back. Yeah I cried the first 3 times listening)
Boy In The Grass (it's live, I can't listen to it often cause the raw emotions rattle me every time because of the event the lyrics are based on tw gun violence and child death if you research)
Hehehhe you activated my trap card called “asking about something im passionate about”! This was so hard my dude, it took half an hour and I nearly made the list longer again.
It's just a habit I took over from my mum I guess? It's one normal teabox that gets the designated job of traveling tea box (a little bit like the jeans of teen girl book fame lmao) and then I've also bought some small one that I can use if I don't have much space to work with. It's a certain comfort to know you've got your favorite tea with you at all times...the bigger one is for loose tea leaves and the smaller one for tea bags btw hihi
Omg omgggg, friend, the gay firefighters have taken over my shipping juices since February and won't give them back for nothing 😅 Not gonna lie, a big part of my enjoyment comes from the way it's more of an ensemble show and how they incorporated canon gay and lesbian couples in the main cast (yes, you heard right! POC lesbian main character firefighter!!!!! I am still crushing on her and her wife omfg) and those two blorbos with the most excellent little boy (Chris 🧡) made me read the trope friends to husbands (as in “24hrs marriage speedrun” lets get married - why not right now - alright then) with glee and acceptance of in-character choices that got them there. They are so idiotic sometimes but also so so intelligent 😂✌️
Do you have a favorite artist? Favorite ice cream? (mine is ben and Jerry's cookie dough lol) is there a favorite holiday sweet you always Es eat this time of year?
All the best and warm greetings from a little blanket burrito called Ela ✨🧡
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Beeduo marriage plot relevancy
I deleted this on accident time to speed run this, I may only partially know all the plot and I’ve probably forgotten most of it but I care about them much and my mutual dared me so let’s go
On February 23rd ranboo and tubbo joked about their characters being married, and while at the time it was a joke we all know how joke or improv lore can turn into something much bigger. This post can split into two parts how the relationship affects the characters and plot points that happened because of it.
Let’s start off with characters, in an smp where we can see most povs and the actors write for their characters all the small things can really be built upon a lot more than if it was one person writing for all the characters, including how the people they interact with affects what they do.
This section can also be split in two, how seeing the effects of the world on the other affects how they see other people and how having someone they now they can rely on changes them
Seeing how people close to you have been affected by things plays a very important role in your view of other people, especially in ranboos case where he wasn’t there for a good portion of the world’s history, he hadn’t even interacted with schlatt or Wilbur before he was revived, so how tubbo (and tommy but this ain’t about him) has been affected has a massive impact on his sight of things. Which is convenient cause tubbo was in most lore things. We can see the impact of what ranboo has seen from how it’s affected tubbo most in his feelings on dream and Wilbur. He has seen how dream has pressured and hurt (and tried to kill) tubbo which causes him to have the most negative opinion of someone he’s ever had, on multiple occasions choosing sides against dream, something he admittedly doesn’t do often.
When it comes to Wilbur ranboos first impressions of him before he was revived boiled down to the founder of l’manburg, and the person that left tubbo with a very stressful job after blowing up the whole place. So it’s understandable why at first ranboo was cautious about Wilbur shown in the stream where he was revived by putting himself between Wilbur and tubbo and asking what tommy had done after it. But I’m the end ranboo did what he usually does give Wilbur a second chance, which was made easier to do by the fact that Wilbur and tubbo didn’t seem to be on bad terms. And now for some fun speculation, while I do believe that the main reason ranboo is working with Wilbur is because he likes giving people second chances, I also do believe that there is an added bonus to it, the same bonus that working with the syndicate gives him, the chance to make sure they don’t go after tubbo, the hope that he can protect his family by being part of the other side.
Along with those ones there’s so many others, such as how ranboo turned to tubbo for his opinions on quackity because he wasn’t too close to quackity but tubbo was so he could rely on tubbo to know what to do
Speaking of relying that’s the other section of this section! Segue! It is a very good thing to have someone to rely on which is what ranboo and tubbo do, they know that when they’re having doubts or are in danger they help eachother. And I will admit you can rely on people too much which I do think they do. But it’s mainly more good, having someone to walk with you through hard times. And it also comes with making sure that the other can’t get hurt or used, so say if someone is trying to use ranboos bad memory against him tubbo can call out how it’s wrong
That sounds vaguely plot related so segue! This will also be split in two cause I’ve decided to be consistent, first it will be a list of things that have happened because of it, then a list of things that may happen because of it
Let’s start with things I’ve already mentioned, Ranboo joining the syndicate was in part to protect tubbo, while it wasn’t the only reason it still influenced it so I say it counts. Then there was the cookie post conflict, in which ranboo has roped into it just by merit of Ranboo trying to help his husband, and probably quackity recognizing that Ranboo was associated with tubbo. Which also brings out the fact that with most conflicts that happen if One of them is part of it the other is often roped into it as well.
In my notes I have “have you seen the making sure the syndicate doesn’t find Michael scene” I don’t know where to fit that in so it goes here do with it what you will.
And now the segue one that between the two and really out of left field, the mansion was made for the underscore-beloved so if the marriage wouldn’t have happened they wouldn’t have commissioned foolish (also ranboo payed for it so Tubbo couldn’t even get it if he wanted to lol) to make it which correct me if I’m wrong was one of the main connections between them and I have a feeling that the connection between tubbo and members of las Nevadas could play a huge part in it, it also plays a huge part in that foolish knows about the nukes because of it and told quackity about them which will have an affect on how it will continue to play out
And now more speculation,
If techno ever finds out that ranboo hid his kid from him (and Phil helped) and married the dudes worst enemy, it could impact techno some way, I’ll be honest I don’t keep up with techno stuff much so I don’t have any idea how it might go
Quackity having a connection of ranboo being with tubbo might screw things up, especially with Wilbur dragging Ranboo into things and quackity may associate it with tubbo
I find it hilarious how Wilbur doesn’t know about it and him not knowing will have some impact which is unknown to me
And that is the end of my analysis sorta thing, there is so much more probably but I do not feel like writing anymore so enjoy this, maybe some day I’ll add more.
#tubbo#ranboo#beeduo#bee duo#dsmp analysis#I guess I’ll count it#I leave this for you and I run#anyway shout out to G cause I am motivated by other people only I would not have done this if they didn’t ask for it#I didn’t proof read this I finish then did barely anything to it other than putting in a read more#fun fact I did this in three hours half of it was me trying to get started and then accidentally deleting it#then the other half was me being in the groove and speedrunning it#more added tags cause I realized this is more how beeduo affects the plot not how the marriage specifically I feel like I’ve misled people#including myself
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Love is Blind (Part Two: Mexico)
Remember when I was like, the next parts will definitely be shorter! Yeah, I lied.
E/R, Modern AU, Love is Blind AU (bad reality TV AU for anyone unfamiliar with the source show). Developing relationship speedrun, with all the misunderstandings that follow.
Read Part One Here.
In the pods, our couples fell in love and got engaged – sight unseen. After finally seeing each other for the very first time, they’re now with us in Mexico for a romantic getaway.
Here, they’ll discover if their physical connection is as strong as their emotional one. Up until this point, the only thing that’s mattered is who they are on the inside. Now, their love will be put to the test.
Their weddings are just four weeks away. Will their looks, backgrounds, and real world insecurities be too much for them to overcome?
Or will love be enough to get them to the altar – and to their happily ever after?
Enjolras didn’t even bother trying to stop his grin when he saw Grantaire get out of the cab at the resort. He ignored the producer off-camera trying to get him to wait for Grantaire to come to him, instead crossing the lobby of the main hotel building in three long strides and pulling Grantaire into a hug. “Careful now,” Grantaire said, his voice a little muffled against Enjolras’s shirt. “My fiancé might see you.”
“Careful yourself,” Enjolras returned, still grinning, “I resemble that remark.”
Grantaire smiled crookedly at him before leaning in and kissing him, a sweet, gentle kiss. “Yeah you do,” he agreed. “It’s really good to see you, Apollo.”
Enjolras wrinkled his nose. “Still on the nickname thing?”
Grantaire shrugged. “Well, the last time I called you that, the conversation ended in a marriage proposal, so I figured it couldn’t hurt.”
“Maybe we’ll have to work on finding a better nickname while we’re here,” Enjolras said, frowning slightly as he looked down at Grantaire. “Did you get taller?”
Grantaire arched an eyebrow. “Beg pardon?”
Enjolras flushed slightly. “I just remember being a little taller than you, that’s all,” he said. “But we’re almost the same height.”
“You just like the idea of me looking up to you,” Grantaire teased.
The producer cleared her throat. “Why don’t you two go check out your suite?” she suggested, in a tone of voice that suggested there was a schedule, and the longer Enjolras and Grantaire stood making small talk in the lobby, the more delayed that schedule became.
“We might as well,” Grantaire told Enjolras, his smile turning dirty. “I want to see what our options are, after all.”
Enjolras rolled his eyes before offering Grantaire his hand. “Sure,” he agreed, “let’s go see how much unusable footage we can film for them.”
Grantaire laughed, and Enjolras grinned, leaning in to kiss his cheek.
This was just like the pods, only better, because now he got to see Grantaire laugh instead of just hearing it through the wall.
He could definitely get used to this.
— — — — —
“I could definitely get used to this,” Grantaire said with a happy sigh, leaning against the railing on their balcony, the sea breeze tousling his hair.
Enjolras wrapped his arms around his waist from behind, resting his chin on his shoulder. “The suite, the view, or the free drinks?” he asked.
Grantaire turned to face him, grinning. “All of the above,” he said. “Though I think the view is better from this angle.”
Enjolras laughed, leaning in to kiss him before letting go of him to cross over to where the hotel staff had brought their suitcases. “So which bedroom do you want?” he asked.
Grantaire made a face as he picked up his drink, some tropical monstrosity in a tiki glass, from where he had left it and took a sip. “Kind of strange of them to give us a suite with two bedrooms, don’t you think?” he asked. “Considering I doubt most couples will be spending their time doing much other than consummating their relationships.”
“Consummating their relationships?” Enjolras repeated with a snort. “Well, when you put it as romantically as that, I guess it does seem a little strange.”
“On the other hand, I suppose it is practical to have one room to bone in and another to sleep in,” Grantaire said evenly. “Less messy that way, though I sure hope the show is tipping the cleaning staff extra.”
Enjolras nodded slowly. “Are you ever actually going to get to the point where you ask if we’re spending the night together or not?”
Grantaire’s expression didn’t so much as flicker. “I’m not the one who decided to broach the question by asking which bedroom I wanted in the first place,” he said, taking another sip of his drink.
Enjolras’s lips twitched and he shook his head slowly. “Should’ve known better than to try to pull one over on you,” he said, a little ruefully, sitting down next to Grantaire.
“You would think, after the crash course in the pods, yeah,” Grantaire said, nodding. He offered Enjolras a sip of his drink, and Enjolras shook his head, his stomach already doing somersaults without the aid of rum, or tequila, or whatever liquor was disguised by sugar and fruit. “So what are you thinking in that pretty head of yours?”
Enjolras hesitated. “Honestly?”
Grantaire arched an eyebrow. “That’s pretty much all I’ve asked from you, yeah.”
“I’m not a prude,” Enjolras said, unsure if he was trying to convince Grantaire or himself. “I’m definitely not a virgin. I’ve had sex on a first date many times over.” He hesitated again. “But somehow this feels too soon.”
“Even though we’re literally engaged?” Grantaire asked, not looking at Enjolras as he stirred his drink. “And have spent countless hours talking to each other?”
Enjolras nodded. “Yeah.” He glanced at Grantaire. “Is that – is that going to be a problem?”
Grantaire pursed his lips. “You know there’s no way for me to say yes to that without sounding like a complete asshole, right?”
“Sure there is,” Enjolras said. “Because all I want from you is honesty, too.” Grantaire didn’t quite look convinced, and Enjolras sighed. “And if you’re worried about pressuring me or whatever, it’s not going to change my mind to know that you’re, I don’t know, disappointed that I’m not ready yet.”
“I’m not disappointed,” Grantaire said quickly – a little too quickly, and when Enjolras gave him a look, he added,
“I’m not! I’m horny as hell and would really like to have sex with my incredibly hot fiancé, but I’m not disappointed that you’re not ready because I want this to be good.”
Enjolras couldn’t quite stop his smile. “Oh yeah?��� he asked, pitching his voice low.
Grantaire nodded. “Yeah. I want this to be better than good, especially since this very well may be the only dick you get for the rest of your life.”
Enjolras snorted. “Again with the romance. Stop, a man can only take so much.” Grantaire laughed and Enjolras took his hand and squeezed it. “I want it to be better than good, too. I want it to be perfect for you.” He leaned in to kiss Grantaire. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” Grantaire told him before setting his drink down. “Ok, so sex is off the table for tonight. How about sleeping together?”
Enjolras frowned. “Didn’t we just have that discussion?”
Grantaire rolled his eyes. “Not euphemistically sleeping together, literally sleeping together. You know, sharing a bed. Maybe some spooning if we’re feeling up to it.”
Enjolras nodded slowly. “That depends.”
“On what?”
“Are you the big spoon, or the little spoon?”
He said it teasingly, but Grantaire looked like he was considering it. “I can go either way, depending on what my partner feels like,” he said, before nudging Enjolras. “Speaking of, big spoon or little spoon?”
“I don’t know,” Enjolras admitted. “I’m honestly not sure I’ve ever spooned with anyone.”
Grantaire blinked. “Wait, really?”
“Really,” Enjolras said. “I’m not opposed to it or anything, but very few of my past relationships were really like that.”
“Like that meaning…”
Enjolras shrugged. “Openly affectionate, I guess,” he said, suddenly feeling self-conscious. “I – well, this probably won’t surprise you but I don’t exactly have a reputation as a warm person, and I suspect that discouraged my past partners from trying to be physically affectionate with me other than when we were having sex.”
He said it plainly enough, but something in Grantaire’s expression darkened. “That does surprise me, actually. You’ve been nothing but open and warm with me.”
Enjolras barked a laugh. “That is entirely untrue, or else you have a pretty selective memory.”
“Well, that may very well be, but I stand by it.”
Enjolras just shook his head. “As much as I appreciate the perhaps misplaced loyalty, you should know that I can be cold. Indifferent to the point of being borderline cruel. Capable of being terrible.”
He meant it to sound joking, but judging by the look on Grantaire’s face, he hadn’t quite succeeded. “You say that as if you’re quoting someone,” Grantaire said quietly, and Enjolras nodded. “If I ever meet whoever told you those things—”
“What, you’ll kill them?” Enjolras asked, with another sharp, dry laugh.
Grantaire smiled slightly, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “No, but I will hurt them,” he said, almost pleasantly. “And I will enjoy doing so.”
“Why?”
“Because I have known you for less than two weeks and I already know you’re a good man,” Grantaire said simply. “A man whose sole question after I brought up trying to kill myself was to make sure that I’m ok now. A man who cares so much about strangers and friends alike, and has an equal desire to protect and fight for them.” He shook his head. “I don’t think someone like that could ever truly be a cold person.”
“Maybe not, but you haven’t spent any time around me when I’m focusing on other things,” Enjolras said quietly. “I meant what I said in the pods: I haven’t always prioritized romantic partners, and that can absolutely make me come off as cold to someone who expects more.”
Grantaire shrugged. “Then that’s a problem of expectation management. And believe me, my expectations are not that high.”
Enjolras rolled his eyes. “Yes, but as we’ve established, it’s because you think you don’t deserve to be showered in love and affection so you therefore don’t expect it.”
“And on the flip side, I rather suspect that since you seem to think I do deserve to be showered in love and affection, you’ll try more than you may have in the past which will subsequently exceed my expectations and make us both happy,” Grantaire told him, a little smugly.
Enjolras just shook his head slowly. “Well, we’ll see about that.”
“Yes, we will,” Grantaire said firmly. “And now that we’ve gotten thoroughly off-track… Big spoon or little spoon?”
Enjolras laughed again, but it was a gentler laugh. “Honestly, I don’t think it’ll matter much. Because no matter which way we go, we’ll find a way to make it fit.”
“Sap,” Grantaire whispered, but he was grinning. “Still, I admire your confidence. And if it’s all the same to you…” He hesitated, suddenly shy. “I’d really like to be the one to hold you tonight. To feel you in my arms, so I can remind myself that this is real.”
Enjolras swallowed around the sudden lump in his throat. “I think I can manage that.”
“But we’re not going to bed yet, right?” Grantaire asked. “Because it’s still sunny out.”
“Very true,” Enjolras said. “Which is why I thought we could sit out on the balcony and engage in some good, old-fashioned necking.”
“Goodness gracious me,” Grantaire murmured, his grin turning dirty. “I just didn’t think you were that kind of man.”
Enjolras leaned in, whispering in Grantaire’s ear, “How about I show you just what kind of man I am?” before sucking almost languidly on his earlobe.
Grantaire let out a noise like a mixture between a moan and a growl. “I like the sound of that.”
— — — — —
Enjolras rolled over in bed the next morning, blinking sleepily at Grantaire, who was already awake, lying on his side in the sunlight streaming through the window. “Good morning,” Grantaire murmured, leaning in to kiss him.
“Good morning to you, too.”
“You know, I’m surprised,” Grantaire remarked. “You always struck me as an early riser.”
Enjolras shifted to be closer to him. “I am when I need to be. But we’re on vacation, so I figured it couldn’t hurt to sleep in a little.” He ran a hand through his curls. “How’d you sleep?”
Instead of answering the question, Grantaire drew his fingers up Enjolras’s side, smiling slightly when Enjolras shivered at the touch. “Remember how you said we would work on finding you a better nickname? Well, I think I have one.”
“Do tell.”
Grantaire grinned. “I was thinking maybe foghorn.”
Enjolras’s eyes narrowed. “Foghorn?”
Grantaire nodded. “Yeah, or, like, freight train.”
Enjolras scowled. “Do I want to know?”
Grantaire’s grin widened. “I’ll take it that you had no idea that you snore?”
“I do not,” Enjolras said, affronted.
“You really, really do,” Grantaire told him. “Don’t worry, I find it cute…mostly.”
“Cute enough to put up with it for the rest of your life?” Enjolras asked, only half-joking.
Grantaire pretended to consider it for a moment. “Well, let’s just say I find you cute enough to put up with it until I’m able to buy myself a pair of ear plugs.”
“Ass.”
“Yeah, but you love me.”
Enjolras sighed. “Yeah, I do.” He kissed him once more before asking, “So what’s on the agenda for today?”
“Agenda?” Grantaire repeated. “Didn’t you just say we were on vacation?”
Enjolras sat up and stretched. “Yes, which applies to things like sleeping in. But it doesn’t mean we need to throw all order out the window.”
Grantaire followed suit a little slower, shaking his head almost ruefully. “Wow you really are a control freak, aren’t you.”
“No!” Grantaire gave him a look, and he amended, “Ok, well, maybe a little. I just don’t like being bored. And to be entirely honest with you, the idea of doing whatever it is people do at a resort, of sitting in the sun doing nothing is kind of my worst nightmare.”
“Well, yeah, look at how pale you are,” Grantaire said reasonably. “You’re bound to get sunburned even with some SPF 200 applied every half hour.”
Enjolras gave him a look. “Inevitable sunburn aside, I don’t do well when I have nothing to do. I go a little stir crazy.”
“So I guess a trip to the beach is out of the question?”
“Not out of the question,” Enjolras hedged. “I’m sure I’ll find something to do.”
Grantaire nodded. “You know, I bet the hotel has a library or some books that you can borrow, and you can bring something with you to read.”
Enjolras brightened. “That doesn’t sound terrible,” he said. “But what will you do?”
“What else?” Grantaire said, grinning. “I’m going to sketch you.”
— — — — —
At first, Grantaire’s plan worked.
Emphasis on ‘at first’.
But by the second hour of sitting on the beach, Enjolras so bored that he was tempted to shred the shitty novel he’d grabbed into confetti just to give himself something to do. “Are you allowed to talk to us?” he asked the cameraman hopefully, having already been shushed four separate times by Grantaire.
The cameraman hesitated. “We’re really not supposed to,” he hedged. “I mean, we can offer suggestions for what you should do if we think it’ll help your story arc—”
“Our what?” Enjolras asked.
“You know, like what kind of story the show is going to tell about you.” Enjolras stared blankly at him, and the cameraman sighed before elaborating, “Like if you’re the couple that fights all the time, we can suggest a good shot for shooting an argument or something like that.”
Enjolras nodded slowly. “And what is our story arc?”
“I’m pretty sure I’m not supposed to tell you that,” the cameraman said. “It might make you act differently.”
Enjolras just looked flatly at him. “Isn’t it mostly about the editing anyway?”
The cameraman laughed and shook his head. “Fine,” he relented. “At the moment, the producers are leaning towards you two being the ‘meant to be’ couple of the season.”
“Meant to be, huh?” Enjolras nudged Grantaire. “Did you hear that? We’re apparently meant to be.”
“That’s nice,” Grantaire murmured, not looking up from his sketchbook.
Enjolras sighed. “Can I ask how much longer you’re planning on doing that?”
“Sketching?” Grantaire asked, finally looking up. “Honestly I could do this all day, provided the drinks keep coming.” He glanced carefully at Enjolras. “But I’ll take it you’re about 30 seconds away from losing your mind?”
“Something like that,” Enjolras muttered.
Grantaire nodded and added one last bit of shading to his sketch before closing his sketchbook and tossing it down onto the sand. “Ok,” he said, stretching. “So how about we take advantage of the sun and the heat and the proximity to the ocean and go swimming?”
Enjolras made a face. “I’m not a huge fan of swimming,” he said.
Grantaire winked. “For what it’s worth, by swimming I more meant making out in the water, but if you’d rather not get those gorgeous curls wet…” Enjolras scowled and Grantaire laughed, holding his hands up defensively. “Point taken. How about we go for a walk, then?”
“Walk to where?” Enjolras asked, knowing that he sounded petulant but unable to stop himself. “We can see a mile down the beach in either direction and there’s nothing to walk to.”
For a brief moment, a look of frustration flashed across Grantaire’s face, so quickly that Enjolras half-thought he might’ve imagined it, especially since it was replaced by Grantaire’s usual smile. “Well, in that case, there’s only one thing left to do.”
He leaned in, kissing Enjolras, cupping his cheek and opening his mouth against Enjolras’s to turn the kiss hot and heady. For a moment, Enjolras returned the kiss, but then he saw the cameraman shift out of the corner of his eye and he was suddenly keenly aware that they were surrounded by other people.
Ordinarily, this wouldn’t have bothered him – ordinarily, he’d enjoy the moment even more knowing it would undoubtedly make some homophobes squirm – but something about it threw him off and he pulled back. Grantaire frowned, searching Enjolras’s expression for a moment before asking, “Everything ok?”
“Yeah, fine, just – not here, y’know?”
This time there was no mistaking the frustration in Grantaire’s expression. “So is there anything you would like to do here?” he asked, a little sourly.
“Right here on this beach?” Enjolras asked. “Not really. I’d kind of rather be anywhere else than here.”
Grantaire recoiled, his expression darkening. “Wow, ok,” he muttered.
Enjolras frowned. “What?”
Grantaire shook his head, reaching for his sketchbook. “Nothing. Just, you’d rather be anywhere else than here with me.”
Enjolras rolled his eyes. “That’s not what I said—”
“You know what?” Grantaire interrupted. “I have an idea of what you can do. You can follow me as I go to the bar and get a fucking drink.”
The sudden change in tone took Enjolras by such surprise that Grantaire was on his feet and twenty feet down the beach before Enjolras scrambled to follow him. He trailed silently after him, trying to find something to say, but he couldn’t seem to find the words.
He waited until Grantaire had ordered a drink at the bar and taken a sip before asking, his voice low, “Are we going to talk about what happened back there?”
“What do you mean?” Grantaire asked.
“I mean you getting irritated and needing a drink to deal with it.”
Grantaire rolled his eyes. “I always need a drink, Apollo.”
Enjolras hesitated. “Should we talk about that, too?”
“No.” Grantaire’s voice was sharp, and Enjolras flinched. “This is not a cry for help. This is an acknowledgment that sometimes life is shitty and sometimes it’s easier to deal with that shittiness when you’re not fully sober.” Given the look Grantaire gave him, Enjolras could only imagine what his own expression looked like. “And I can see I’ve done exactly nothing to put you at ease.”
Enjolras shook his head slowly. “Not to much, no.”
Grantaire made a face. “Well let me put it to you this way – of all my coping mechanisms, my shrink isn’t particularly concerned about this one, ok?”
“I’m not entirely sure that’s as reassuring as you think it is.”
Grantaire held his drink out to Enjolras. “Have one yourself and maybe you’ll be more reassured.”
Enjolras frowned and shook his head again. “No thanks.”
Grantaire shrugged and took a sip before asking, “What are you, some sort of teetotaler?”
“Not really, no,” Enjolras said. “I just personally don’t enjoy being drunk.”
Grantaire let out a dry, humorless laugh. “And I don’t enjoy being sober, so I’m not entirely sure where that leaves us.”
Enjolras jerked a shrug. “About the same place we started in, I guess.”
“Yeah. I guess so,” Grantaire said noncommittally.
They weren’t, of course. The day had started so well and now it felt like there was a mile of space between them, and Enjolras wasn’t even sure how they’d gotten to this point. He cleared his throat. “Well, I think I’m going to go back to the hotel room, maybe take a quick nap or something.
Anything to get away from the situation.
Grantaire took another sip of his drink and leered at Enjolras. “Want some company?”
In past relationships, Enjolras might’ve taken him up on it, attempting to clear the tension with sex, but he had meant what he had told Grantaire yesterday. He wanted to do this right. And this certainly wasn’t it. “Not when you’ve been drinking, no.”
“Wait, seriously?” Grantaire said, incredulous. “I’ve had like a sip, it’s not like I’m too drunk to consent.”
“Still,” Enjolras said, his tone leaving no room for argument. “I would just prefer that we were both sober for our first time.”
Grantaire let out a low whistle. “So I guess we’re just never going to have sex, then.”
He said it almost snidely, and Enjolras flinched. “At this rate, probably not.”
Grantaire’s expression hardened. “Well, if it bothers you so much to be around me when I’m drinking, I’ll make myself scarce.”
Enjolras sighed. “I didn’t say that—”
“And I can sleep in the other bedroom tonight.”
Enjolras felt stung. “I– That’s your prerogative,” he managed, even though he felt like he’d been punched in the gut.
“Yeah, it sure is.” Grantaire raised his drink in a mock-toast. “I’ll see you later.”
Enjolras stared after him as he walked away, completely at a loss for how they had gotten to this point, and, perhaps more importantly, how they were going to find a way to move forward. He glanced over at the cameraman, who had followed them from the beach. “So much for the meant to be couple, huh,” he said, his own voice sounding hollow to his ears.
— — — — —
True to his word, Grantaire spent the night in the other bedroom, not that Enjolras would have noticed since he stayed out well past when Enjolras finally went to bed.
Given how late he’d stayed out, Enjolras was surprised when he got out of bed the next morning and found Grantaire sitting in the kitchen of their hotel room, cradling a mug between his hands. “Hey,” Enjolras said, a little cautiously.
“Hey,” Grantaire returned.
“How long have you been up?”
Grantaire shrugged. “A half hour, maybe,” he said, jerking his chin over his shoulder as he added, “I made coffee.”
“Thanks,” Enjolras said. He poured himself a mug before joining Grantaire at the table. He took a long sip of coffee before asking, a little hesitantly. “Do you want to talk about yesterday?”
“What’s there to talk about?” Grantaire asked mildly, before making a face. “Ok, dumb question, I guess.”
Enjolras took a deep breath. “We promised each other honesty, so I have to tell you: yesterday was the first time I thought we might not make it.”
Grantaire’s eyes snapped to his. “Because of my drinking? Because no offense, but you already knew about that.”
“No, not because of that,” Enjolras said, though he paused before adding, “Or at least, not just because of that.” He shook his head. “You shut down and you shut me out, and if you do that everytime we don’t agree on something—”
“I won’t,” Grantaire said, a little too quickly, and when Enjolras gave him a look, he told him, his voice low, “I promise. Yesterday was just…it was a lot.”
“You’re telling me,” Enjolras muttered. He took a deep breath before asking, “So we’re ok?”
Grantaire gave him a hesitant smile. “We are more than ok.”
Enjolras nodded before asking, a little awkwardly, “So what did you do yesterday after we…”
Grantaire shrugged. “Not a whole lot. Went for a walk, sat in the hot tub for a bit…and I signed us up for sightseeing tour of Chichen Itza.”
“You – what?”
Grantaire managed a real smile. “Well, I got the message yesterday. You’re not really a sit around and do nothing kind of guy, so I thought at least this way, we could look at a cool pyramid while roundly abusing the conquistadors for ruining everything.”
Enjolras laughed. “That does sound like a good time.” He hesitated before adding, “And to be clear, I’m perfectly happy sitting around and doing nothing, at least, when I have my phone or my computer. Believe me, I can doomscroll with the best of them.”
Grantaire laughed. “Now that I do believe.”
Enjolras drained the rest of his coffee and stood. “Well then, I guess we should get showered so that we don’t miss our tour.”
“Good call,” Grantaire said. “Do you want to shower first, or…”
Enjolras shrugged. “I was thinking we could save time,” he said casually, and when Grantaire just stared blankly at him, he added pointedly, “And share.”
A slow grin spread across Grantaire’s face. “That’s the best idea I’ve heard yet.”
“I thought you’d be amenable,” Enjolras said smugly.
Grantaire rolled his eyes so hard it looked like he pulled a muscle. “Amenable, Jesus Christ, who the hell talks like—”
He broke off as Enjolras pulled his shirt off. “Are you joining me or not?”
“Oh yeah,” Grantaire said, stariing at Enjolras’s bare chest. “I’m right behind you.”
He stood, crossing to Enjolras in two long strides and kissing him hungrily. Enjolras just laughed as he and Grantaire stumbled down the hallway to the bathroom together, unable to keep their hands off each other, the events of the previous day at last behind them.
— — — — —
Between the shower and the trip off of the resort, Enjolras felt much better when they returned to their room that afternoon, in no small part because their trip had been entirely unaccompanied. “You can’t just leave the property without telling us,” one of the producers had told them, exasperated, as they waited to board the tour bus.
“Not according to our contracts,” Enjolras had replied, just a little smugly. “There’s nothing about not being allowed to take resort-sponsored trips offsite.”
“But we don’t have permission to shoot offsite!”
“Damn, that sucks,” Grantaire had said, in a tone that suggested he could not possibly care less about their filming permissions. “See you when we get back, I guess.”
To his credit, their cameraman didn’t look too put out when he rejoined them after their bus returned and followed them up to their hotel room. Enjolras pulled out his key card, glancing back over his shoulder at Grantaire as he opened the door. “I was honestly half-expecting them to kick us out,” he confessed.
Grantaire laughed. “What about our contracts?” he asked. “You sounded so sure earlier.”
Enjolras waved a dismissive hand. “Yeah, I mostly made that up, but—” He broke off as they caught sight of the gift basket waiting for them on the table with a bottle of champagne and a note. “Oh, boy. What do you think that says?”
“Only one way to find out,” Grantaire said bracingly, picking the card up and reading out loud, “Gentlemen, now that you’ve gotten to know your partner, it’s time to get to know the other couples. Please join us for a party by the beach this evening.”
They both looked at each other. “Could be fun,” Enjolras said cautiously.
Grantaire made a face as he tossed the card back down on the table. “Relaxing on the beach may be your idea of hell, but this is mine,” he said.
“Really?” Enjolras said. “I’d’ve thought you’d enjoy the free drinks.”
Grantaire shrugged. “Free drinks, sure, but a cocktail party means small talk. And I hate small talk.”
“That surprises me.”
“Why?”
“Because normally you love to hear yourself talk.”
Grantaire gave him a look. “Ha, ha,” he said dryly. “What about you? I can’t imagine small talk is something that engages your mind.”
Enjolras just shrugged. “Maybe not, but I’m used to it. In my line of work, I have to attend a lot of networking events, campaign fundraisers, and the like, so mastering the art of small talk was kind of necessary if I wanted to actually get anything accomplished.”
Grantaire looked like Enjolras had just told him he enjoyed getting bamboo shoots shoved under his fingernails. “Well then in that case, you can do the small talk for me while I just stand there, looking cute and drinking drinks.”
Enjolras laughed. “Deal.”
An hour later, both men were showered, dressed, and ready to head to the party. Grantaire had managed to finish the entire bottle of champagne in this time, but Enjolras knew he was trying to calm his nerves and so decided not to make a comment about it.
And when they arrived at the party, he began to regret that he hadn’t had the same idea.
“I need a drink,” Grantaire muttered, eyeing the tiki bar set up in the corner, and Enjolras took his hand.
“For once, I agree with you,” he said, letting Grantaire lead the way to the bar.
Once they both had a drink in hand – some brown liquor in a glass with no ice for Grantaire, something bright blue that tasted like coconut for Enjolras – they made the rounds, introducing themselves to the other couples. Most were folks that Enjolras barely remembered even meeting in the pods – and in one case, someone he had hoped to never meet in real life, which, judging by the side-eye Grantaire gave the man as they brushed past, was a sentiment he thankfully shared. But then they stopped to introduce themselves to a couple hovering in the background, and even before he spoke, Enjolras knew who one of them was.
“Feuilly?” he asked, and the man in question lit up.
“Enjolras? Oh, man, I didn’t expect to see you here!”
Ordinarily, Enjolras wasn’t much one for hugging, but Feuilly was the person he had spoken with in the pods most besides Grantaire, so he couldn’t help but reach out and pull him into a one-armed hug. They had realized within about the first fifteen minutes of talking that there wasn’t going to be a romantic connection, but Feuilly’s life journey was fascinating to Enjolras, and he had assured him that he was going to track him down once the show was over so that they could be friends in real life.
“I didn’t expect to see you here, either,” he said, releasing him. “How are you? How have things been going?”
The person next to Feuilly cleared his throat, and for the first time Enjolras looked at the frankly menacing-looking man standing at Feuilly’s shoulder. “I’m Bahorel,” he said, holding a hand out for Enjolras to shake, “since it seems like my fiancé doesn’t plan on introducing me.”
Feuilly rolled his eyes, but it was with obvious affection. “Last I checked you didn’t need anyone to speak for you,” he said, and Bahorel laughed.
His grip was surprisingly gentle as he shook Enjolras’s hand, and Enjolras quickly added, “Oh, and of course, I should introduce my fiancé, Grantaire.”
Bahorel looked Grantaire up and down. “You box?” He asked.
The question seemed entirely out of left field to Enjolras, but Grantaire just half-smiled. “Sometimes.” He nodded toward the empty glass in Bahorel’s hand. “You drink?”
“Sometimes,” Bahorel shot back, his smile widening. “Refill time?”
Grantaire threw back the remainder of his drink. “Refill time,” he agreed. He wrapped an arm around Enjolras’s waist and leaned in to kiss his cheek. “You’ll be ok?” he asked, glancing at Feuilly, an unreadable look on his face.
“Of course,” Enjolras told him with a smile. “Feuilly and I will just catch up while you’re gone.”
Grantaire’s smile seemed brittle. “I’m sure you will,” he muttered, and was gone before Enjolras had a chance to ask him what that was supposed to mean. But he put it from his mind as he and Feuilly started talking again, picking up exactly where they had left off in the pods.
In fact, they were so caught up in talking to each other that it took them both an embarrassingly long time to realize their respective fiancés had never returned with their refills. Enjolras glanced down at his watch, surprised to see that well over an hour had passed, and he glanced at Feuilly. “Any idea where they ran off to?”
Feuilly shrugged as he finished his beer. “Knowing Bahorel? Nowhere good, that’s for sure.”
Enjolras laughed. “You seem to know him pretty well already.”
Feuilly shrugged again, a slow smile creeping across his face. “Yeah, well, he’s…” He trailed off as if looking for the right words. “Honestly, he’s kind of my best friend already, which is insane considering I didn’t know him all of twelve days ago.”
Enjolras nodded slowly. “I know what you mean,” he said. “I genuinely didn’t think that feeling like this was possible in this timeframe, if ever.”
“Well, I’m happy for you,” Feuilly told him.
“Me too,” Enjolras said. “And now I suppose we should go try to find them.”
“Probably,” Feuilly agreed, before adding, a little archly, “Good luck.”
For lack of anywhere better to look, Enjolras headed back to their hotel room, fully expecting to find Grantaire either passed out or waiting for him, but to his surprise, the room was dark and Grantaire was nowhere to be seen. For half a moment, he considered going to look for him, but considering how large the resort was, and without having any idea where he’d gone, he figured his best course of action was just to wait for Grantaire to return.
He wasn’t particularly worried, at least not at first, but as the time stretched from fifteen minutes of waiting to a half hour to an hour to three, Enjolras had surpassed worried and gone straight to panicked. He was just about to contact the production team and demand that they hunt Grantaire down when the door to their hotel room opened with a bang. “Oops,” Grantaire said with a laugh, a little too loudly. His smile faded slightly when he saw Enjolras sitting on the couch. “Thought you’d be in bed by now.”
“And I thought you’d be back here long before now,” Enjolras said, frowning slightly. His frown deepened when Grantaire stumbled into the light, revealing the beginnings of what promised to be a magnificent black eye, as well as a split lip. He was up on his feet before he knew it, crossing to Grantaire’s side instantly. “What the hell happened?” he demanded, reaching out to cup Grantaire’s cheek, surprised when the other man jerked away.
“You know, it’s not the good of a story,” Grantaire told him, and for the first time, Enjolras recognized the stench of alcohol that seemed to emanate from him. “And if it’s all the same, I’d rather it waited until morning.”
“And I’d rather you explain why you smell like a distillery and look like you got your ass kicked,” Enjolras said sharply.
Grantaire rolled his eyes. “Please,” he scoffed. “I gave as good as I got.” Enjolras didn’t look remotely amused and he sighed, brushing past him to flop down on the couch. “If you must know, Bahorel and I went down to the beach and, after several more drinks, we decided to beat the shit out of each other.”
He said it casually, as if it was as normal as deciding to play video games or watch a movie, but Enjolras just stared at him. “You – what?” he said in disbelief. “But you two seemed to hit it off.”
“Oh, we did,” Grantaire assured him. “Though obviously not as well as you and Feuilly.”
Something about the way he said it made Enjolras pause. “Feuilly and I are friends,” he said cautiously. “And I don’t see what that has to do with deciding to get in a physical altercation with each other.”
“Well,” Grantaire said, drawing the word out slowly, a horrible smile twisting his expression, “it seemed like a better idea than watching our fiancés flirt with each other all night.”
Enjolras stared at him. “What are you talking about?”
“Spare me,” Grantaire practically spat. “You could barely take your eyes off of him.”
“I – that is not true,” Enjolras spluttered.
“Oh yeah?” Grantaire said, smiling that horrible smile again. “How long did it take before you realized that I was gone?
“That’s – that’s not—”
Grantaire barked a laugh. “Sure it’s not.”
Enjolras took a deep breath, trying very hard not to lose his temper and make the situation even worse. “Look, I don’t have to defend talking to a friend to you, but even if we were flirting, which we weren’t, that doesn’t excuse you getting drunk and getting in a fight. I mean, Christ, do you have any idea what I’ve been through, not knowing where you were or if you were ok?”
It was the wrong thing to say. Grantaire’s eyes flashed as he snapped, “And do you have any idea what I’ve been through? To watch the person you love flirting with another man without even sparing a second thought to the person he’s committed to spending the rest of his life with?” Enjolras flinched and looked away as Grantaire added, “Because if this is what the rest of my life is going to feel like, I’d rather get the shit beaten out of me, thanks.”
“And if this is what the rest of my life is going to be like, sitting at home and waiting to see if you make it back alive or not, maybe we shouldn’t bother.”
The words were out of his mouth before Enjolras could stop them, and he knew from the look on Grantaire’s face that he had crossed a line. “Then maybe we shouldn’t,” Grantaire said quietly.
Enjolras sighed. “I’m going to bed before I say something that I regret,” he said, before adding, “You should put some ice on that eye.”
Grantaire’s expression twisted. “It’s not like a black eye is going to detract from anything my face has to offer.”
Enjolras threw his hands up in frustration. “You know what – do what you want. You always seem to, anyway.”
With that, he turned and left Grantaire in the living room, heading for the bedroom he had claimed as his own. It took all his self-control to not slam the door after him, and took even more self-control to stay in bed staring up at the ceiling for the next few hours without going to check on Grantaire.
— — — — —
Needless to say, Enjolras didn’t sleep well, and was out of bed well before the sun, making a pot of coffee and waiting for Grantaire to join him.
Eventually, the man emerged from his bedroom, looking even worse in the morning light than he had the night before. “Good morning.” Grantaire just grunted, and Enjolras watched him shuffle over to the coffeemaker to pour himself a cup. “Are you ready to talk about last night?”
Grantaire groaned. “Can I at least get some coffee in me before you start yelling at me again?” he asked.
“I wasn’t planning on yelling,” Enjolras said, as evenly as he could. “But we do need to talk.”
Grantaire rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he huffed, “then talk if you want to so fucking badly.”
“That’s now how this works. I’m not going to sit here and lecture you. This is a conversation.”
Grantaire took a sip of coffee. “Sure sounds like a lecture to me.”
Enjolras ground his teeth together. “Then maybe it is a lecture, because maybe a lecture is what you need. I was scared last night, Grantaire, and if this is going to work—”
“Maybe we both need to be honest about the likelihood of this working,” Grantaire said flatly.
Enjolras stared at him. “What do you mean?”
Grantaire shrugged. “I mean, maybe we are just too different. Maybe the things that you thought you found charming are actually just irritating now.” He took another sip of coffee before adding, “Maybe we’re not actually meant to be.”
Enjolras swallowed, hard. “Is that actually what you think?” he asked quietly.
“I don’t know. But at this point, maybe it’s worth discussing.”
Enjolras’s chest felt like it was being squeezed in a vice, and he took a moment before telling Grantaire carefully, “I know we both said some things last night but that doesn’t mean—”
“Then what the hell does it mean?” Grantaire asked tiredly. “Because you knew what you were getting into and for you to say last night that you don’t want to spend the rest of your life like this—”
“I don’t!” Enjolras snapped, frustrated. “But I also don’t think that things have to be like they were last night. How things were last night was, I don’t know, not normal for either of us, and I don’t think we—”
“Was it, though?” Grantaire interrupted. “Abnormal, I mean? Because thus far, outside of the pods, we’ve spent more time fighting than anything else. Maybe that’s not what a lifelong relationship is built on.” He shrugged. “Besides, you seemed pretty ready to end things last night.”
Enjolras took a deep breath. “If that’s the impression that I gave you, then I’m sorry, but—”
Grantaire’s expression hardened. “It’s not the impression you gave me. It’s exactly what you said.”
“No, it’s—” Enjolras broke off, frustrated. “I need a break,” he said. “This conversation is clearly not working, so—”
“So you’re done,” Grantaire said, his expression twisting. “Great. Well, do you want the ring back now or later?”
He stood, not waiting for a reply, and Enjolras rolled his eyes. “That’s not—” he started impatiently, breaking off when Grantaire ignored him, heading toward the door. “Grantaire. Grantaire!”
But Grantaire was already gone, the hotel room door slamming after him. Enjolras swore under his breath before running a hand through his hair.
Half of him was tempted to just let Grantaire go, to just call it quits and go back to his life without having to deal with this. And truthfully, if it was anyone but Grantaire, that’s exactly what he would do.
But it was Grantaire, and despite everything, Enjolras knew that if he let him go, he would regret it for the rest of his life.
Which meant the only thing left to do was to go after him.
— — — — —
It didn’t take long to find him, perched on top of a sandy dune down by the beach. It was too early for the beach to be crowded yet, which Enjolras thought was probably a good thing as he trekked over to him.
Grantaire didn’t look away from the gulf as Enjolras approached. “What are you doing here, Apollo?” he asked tiredly.
“We didn’t finish our conversation,” Enjolras told him, sitting down in the sand next to him. “Should I read anything into you once again trying to use that inane nickname?”
Grantaire glanced over at him. “Only that you looked more like a vengeful God than ever before, coming down from on high to smite a mere mortal.”
Enjolras didn’t smile. “I didn’t come here to smite anyone.”
“Then why did you come here?”
“I told you, we didn’t finish our conversation.”
Grantaire huffed a sigh. “It sounded pretty final to me.”
“Well, it wasn’t,” Enjolras said, drawing his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. “That’s not something you get to unilaterally decide. And from here on out, you don’t get to just leave when things get hard or complicated. Not if we want this to work.”
Grantaire shook his head. “And as I told you, maybe it’s time we were honest about the likelihood of this working.”
Enjolras gave him a look. “And I’m telling you that I am. I’m not saying this is going to be easy, but I still think it can work.” He hesitated before adding, “Provided you still want it to, anyway.”
He didn’t know what he expected Grantaire to say, but it warmed his entire body when Grantaire looked over at him, surprised. “Of course I still want it to.”
As much as Enjolras wanted to leave it at that, he knew he couldn’t. “You have a funny way of showing it.”
Grantaire sighed. “Want it to and think that it’s going to are two very different things.”
Enjolras nodded slowly, beginning to see where Grantaire was going. “So you want us to work but you don’t think we’re going to?”
“I haven’t seen a whole lot of evidence to the contrary,” Grantaire said, looking back out at the water, his shoulders tense. “So I guess I just figured…I don’t know. Maybe it’s easier this way.”
“Easier what way?”
Grantaire jerked a shrug. “If we just call it quits now.”
Enjolras took a moment to answer. “I know you’re a cynic, but I never got the impression from the pods that you were this self-defeatist,” he said finally. “Don’t you think this is worth fighting for?”
Grantaire shrugged again. “Only if this is a fight we can win.”
“What makes you think that it’s not?”
Grantaire managed a faint smile. “Where do you want me to start?”
“At the very beginning, a very good place to start,” Enjolras said, though he sighed when Grantaire didn’t laugh. “C’mon,” he said, nudging him. “Why do you think that this isn’t a fight we can win?”
“Because I know I’m not good enough for you!” Grantaire burst, and Enjolras stared at him. “And I have just been waiting for you to figure it out and leave.”
Enjolras felt like he had just been blindsided. “What are you talking about?”
“On the beach, and then last night—” Grantaire shrugged miserably. “I’m not enough for you. You were bored hanging out with me, and then you were so excited to talk to Feuilly. And you barely want to even touch me in public, and you don’t want to have sex with me—” His voice broke and Enjolras was so tempted to reach out and hold him, but he he hesistated, not sure if it would do more harm than good. “I told you, in the pods, that I was scared that you wouldn’t be attracted to me when you saw me and I guess, I guess I just feel like maybe that worst fear is coming true. And so I figured I might as well help it along.”
“No,” Enjolras said fiercely, and now he did reach out, pulling Grantaire to him and wrapping his arms around him. “Oh my God no, no, absolutely not.”
Grantaire shook his head, though he didn’t try to pull away. “It’s ok, you can be honest with me. I want you to be honest with me. I know I’m not exactly a catch.”
Enjolras clenched his jaw. “Remember a few days ago, when I was quoting what someone said about me, and you said if you ever meet them…”
Grantaire half-smiled. “What, if you ever meet whomever told me that I wasn’t a catch, you’ll hurt them?”
“No, I will kill them.”
Enjolras said it unflinchingly, and Grantaire’s smile faded. “Be serious.”
“That’s my line.”
For a moment, it looked like Grantaire might smile again, but he settled for shaking his head. “Look, whoever said that to me isn’t important. What’s important is that they weren't wrong, especially compared to someone like you. No one in their right mind would find me attractive or want to be with me.”
His words had turned bitter, and Enjolras took a deep breath. “I really wish you wouldn’t talk that way about me.”
Grantaire looked at him, startled. “What?”
“Saying that I’m not in my right mind,” Enjolras said gently. “Because I do find you attractive and I do want to be with you.” Grantaire opened his mouth to argue but Enjolras didn’t let him. “I love you.”
Grantaire’s expression flickered. “In spite of everything?”
“Because of everything.” Enjolras stated it plainly, like he was stating a fact instead of trying to convince Grantaire. “I fell in love with you in the pods and that hasn’t changed since getting to finally see you. The only difference is that now I can kiss you whenever I want.”
“But you haven’t seemed to want to do that very much lately.”
For the first time since they had started talking, Grantaire sounded unsure, and Enjolras’s heart clenched. “Look, I’m not good at this,” he blurted. “At relationships. I don’t always read the signs correctly, if at all, and I’m really bad at knowing without being told when my partner needs more from me. So you have to tell me, at least at first. You have to tell me when I’m doing something that makes you feel bad, at least at first. It’s the only way this is going to work.”
Grantaire nodded slowly. “I’ll try,” he offered, a little tentatively.
“And I will try to be better,” Enjolras told him. “But you also can’t just walk away or pick a fight when things get hard. We have to both put in the work to keep going.”
“I know,” Grantaire said, hesitating before adding, “but when you said you needed a break, I thought you meant from this, from me, from us.”
Enjolras winced, regretting his previous choice of words. “Maybe break was the wrong word to use. I needed a time out.”
Grantaire managed a shaky smile. “To keep from throttling me with your bare hands?”
Enjolras returned his smile. “Something like that.”
Grantaire leaned over to rest his head against Enjolras’s shoulder. “So where does that leave us?”
“At the moment?” Enjolras asked. “Well, right now I’d very much like to kiss you. And past that, I meant it – I love you and I want to make this work.”
“I love you, too,” Grantaire said quietly. “And I also want to make this work.”
Enjolras glanced over at him. “And do you actually think that it’s going to?”
Grantaire hesitated. “I think that it could,” he hedged, and when Enjolras just arched an eyebrow, he laughed and said, “It’s as good as you’re gonna get from me.”
“That’s ok,” Enjolras said. “If I have to, I’ll believe in us enough for the both of us.” He laced his fingers with Grantaire’s before raising their joined hands to his lips to press a kiss to Grantaire’s knuckles. “I love you.”
Grantaire smiled. “I love you, too. Now about that kiss…”
Enjolras laughed, leaning in and kissing him. It was almost tentative at first, both men holding back, but then Grantaire sighed against Enjolras’s mouth and Enjolras cupped his cheek, licking into his mouth as if he was trying to drink him in.
Because he was. Because he wanted this – because he wanted Grantaire.
And he wanted Grantaire to never again doubt that.
But Grantaire pulled back, just slightly, just enough for Enjolras to hesitate, though he stopped when he saw the soft look in his eyes. Then Grantaire leaned in again, his nose just brushing against Enjolras’s before he again captured his lips in a soft, unhurried kiss. As if they had all the time in the world, as if they could live forever on that beach in Mexico, the warm sea breeze as their only companion.
Grantaire nipped lightly at Enjolras’s bottom lip and he let out a groan that was probably not appropriate for a television audience. That thought was enough to ground him, and enough to force him to pull away before they went too far. “You know what I’m thinking?” he asked, a little breathlessly.
“What?” Grantaire murmured, his eyes not leaving Enjolras’s lips.
“We should move this somewhere more comfortable.”
Grantaire’s eyes darkened. “Your room or mine?” he asked.
“Ours,” Enjolras told him simply. “Let’s go back to ours.”
The time for sexy beach parties and cocktails is over – we’re throwing our couples back into reality. They have their devices back, and they’re headed home, where they’re going to be living together in a new, shared apartment.
Will they judge each other based on what they discover in the real world? Will looks, age, race, family, even financial circumstances matter?
They started with love, a true, emotional connection, and now they’re just three weeks away from the altar. Will they prove that love is blind?
We’ll find out – on the next episode.
#enjolras x grantaire#enjoltaire#exr#enjolras#grantaire#fanfiction#les miserables#love is blind au#reality tv au#modern au#developing relationship#misunderstandings#light angst#part 2
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NGL............I love the idea of Naruto and Sasuke's relationship developing in the fake dating au and a gossip magazine follows them for a while and takes photos and is like "Sasuke Uchiha playboy to the stars?!?!?"
Naruto having awkward family dinners with his parents too hopeful eyes. And Itachi crying and asking him if Sasuke has to get tested and Sasuke the virgin is standing there like "this is very cool. I'm having a fun time"
Nejisasu fake dating AU pt1 pt2 pt3
a brief summary for everyone who hasn't read the rest:
In this au the uchiha are still alive. Neji and Sasuke started fake dating to piss off their clans, and all of konoha was living for the drama. In the end Fugaku and Hiashi drew up a marriage contract for them, and they both went with it. In pt2 we have Naruto being jealous and slowly realizing that he has a crush on Sasuke.
Oh but can you imagine the drama? It wouldn't even be fun drama, it would just be sad. Poor naruto is not in on the joke and thinks Sasuke is in a relationship now. So he has no chance with him! But he loves him so much ...
Naruto is speedrunning through his gay awakening, gay depression, gay yearning and gay self loathing in like, one week.There are nights where he's crying with a bucket full of ramen on the couch. That's how bad it is.
The day that Sasuke breaks the news to team 7,
"Guess what everyone!Neji and I are getting married!"
Naruto still doesn't know that it's all fake. His face just crumbles and he can't hide how crestfallen he is. Naruto, who always wears his heart on his sleeve, with his big expressive eyes ...
Naruto starts crying and runs. Just runs into the woods behind the training field, because now everything is over, sasuke is getting married, and Naruto is going to be alone forever, just like he's always been-
Kakashi, who actually is in on the whole thing and just sees the big fuck up they have on their hands now, urges sasuke to go after him.
So Sasuke follows Naruto, to ask him what's wrong, and why are you crying dobe???
What follows is a panicked and heartwrenching confession from Naruto. He tells Sasuke that he loves him, has loved him for a long time, and that he is so so sorry for ruining their friendship like that because he knows that Sasuke is married, and he completely understands if sasuke doesn't want anything to do with him after this and-
Sasuke makes use of the only way he knows how to shut Naruto up: he kisses him. Oh, it's magical. And it feels so right.
He explains everything to Naruto. no, he isnt actually in a relationship with Neji, and yes, he is officially married but it's more of a marriage of friendship and political convenience than anything else. He doesn't feel anything romantic for Neji. But he does for Naruto, promise. And he's so sorry for hurting Naruto this way.
And because Neji and Sasuke both agreed to an open marriage (they're not going to ruin their love lifes for a damn prank), Naruto and Sasuke get together. Sasuke , of course, still wants to stir shit up, so he has no intention of keeping his new boyfriend secret.
'discreet'? Sasuke Uchiha doesn't know that word. And let's be real, naruto couldn't be in a secret relationship even if he tried.
So they go on public dates, hold hands and everything, kiss right in the market square- and the gossip mill goes absolutely crazy.
Sometimes all three of them are seen together, and people are picking their jaws off the floor- a threeway relationship?
Sasuke gains quite the reputation as a playboy, proudly flaunting his husband and boyfriend in public. The more conservative members of the community are outraged of course, because that's infidelity! he's whoring around where his husband can see!
But Sasuke actually thinks it's hilarious, and Naruto cannot resist a good prank. Neji makes a point of showing bis approval of the relationship by inserting himself in their public appearances, so people cannot put him into the shameful and pitiful position of being cheated on. It's all going perfectly.
Their families though... Naruto has a hard time gaining their approval at first. The dinners with the Uchiha family are awkward, to say the least. But in the end, who could resist Naruto's sunshine personality and disarming smile?
Fugaku knows this will be much work for him, and he anticipates the yelling matches he's going to have with Hiashi over this with dread. His son is such a headache sometimes.
Itachi is having a bit of a crisis. He doesn't take well to people calling his baby brother a playboy , or worse, a whore. The conservatives of konoha suddenly find themselves with the most curious afflictions: from indigestion from poisoned food to genjutsu induced nightmares.
But he also tries to be a responsible brother, and pulls sasuke aside one day. He tells Sasuke that if he is going to be so... active, he should please use protection, and go to a medic to let himself and his partners get tested for diseases, and what does he know about consent, does he need any help or information?
the awkwardness... They're both read like tomatoes throughout the whole conversation. Sasuke barely gets a word out before he flees out of the room. In hindsight though, he thinks it's all absolutely funny, and also kind of sweet of his brother.
@depressedhatakekakashi we are moving steadily into sns territory lmao
#jjajsjsjsjsjjs i wish i could've written this more elaborately#i don't actually like this summary style of writing where you just say like 'and then this happens'#but it's appropriate for a post like this i think. like it's only the outline of an au and not a full blown fic so it's fine i guess#still hope you can read it without cringing at the style#sns#nejisasu#sasuneji#fake dating au
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wasn't it like 2 episodes into the first season that some guy that was with steve on a mission asked him if he was on the phone with his wife when it was danny & steve was like "my partner" like THE CONNECTION IMMEDIATELY
that’s 1.07 and then even before that there’s a prisoner in 1.04 going “yo, how long have you two been married?”, so yES, it’s just, zero to “well i guess this is kind of like a marriage now” in absolutely no time flat. they really met and did a deep meaningful relationship speedrun
#while simultaneously making snails think their relationship is moving kinda slow#ten years! it takes them ten years to realize they could sleep in the same bed if they wanted#overagardenwall#ask#*#mcdanno
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Baby Bump 2, Ch. 22 AKA Wedding Received
What happened this week:
The reception in the dance hall involves cake, dancing, talking about feelings, and a party game, so I guess we’re one step away from having a full-blown slumber party. It’s chill though. Made me think of real-life wedding receptions. And their drinks. God, I miss their drinks.
With the twins in Anna and Bao’s care (oh, they've also started looking into adoption, which is awesome!) , you are free to consummate the marriage. Congratulations.
The children are a whole year old now, which is actually insane, because after all that buildup we’re speedrunning parenting. I guess so much only happens between burping, feeding, crying, and shitting every day. Man, what a life it must be to be a newborn.
Thoughts:
Remember weddings? Remember receptions? I actually haven’t been to that many, but one of the venues had the fanciest washroom I’ve ever seen. Remember gatherings, at least? Ah, fun times. Fun drinks.
Cassandra making up with MC gives off huge Olivia Nevrakis energy, except a discounted yeehaw edition. That whole dialogue about being friends and the hug thing? I love that dynamic. I seriously can’t believe she’s had a successful arc like that, and even better: I’ve turned out to like her!
Ever since the hiatus, it seems like the writers knew the direction that they wanted to take this book. It’s been pretty solid up until now, and I think that next week will be a pretty satisfying conclusion. I have the slightest of expectations now, but not too high, just in case they pull an unnecessary third book out of their ass. This sequel has gotten so much better since Book 1 and even the first half of this book; it’s fun, it’s chill, it’s sweet, but it’s definitely run its course.
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