#shout out to my friend for letting me use our dms | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

babybluebex · 2 months

Text

venus pt.1 | angus tully x fem!reader

summary: after being accepted as barton academy's first female student, you didn't think it could get any worse. as the fall semester progresses, you start to form a friendship with the outcast, angus, but what happens when the holidays come and you are the last two students on campus? PART 1 OF 2 pairing: angus tully (the holdovers, 2023) x fem!reader tags: canon compliance (this is a complete rewrite of the film, just with the added reader insert), lots of swearing, teddy is an asshole but what's new, 70s ideals about feminism (which YES is a warning), mentions of grief/loss author’s note: oof here we go, part 1 of my long-teased angus fic! be aware that this is literally 11k words, so i apologize for the absolute brick wall of text you're about to encounter (but don't worry, i put a read more on it :) ) also, if i missed any warnings/tags, pls dm me and let me know if you think i should add something! other than that, enjoy!

There were worse fates than this, right? There had to be, you were sure of it. You felt every pair of eyes on you as you walked down the center aisle of the chapel, acutely aware of the overwhelming masculine energy that you were drowning in. After all, at Barton, it wasn’t every day that these boys saw a girl. You wondered how long some of them had gone without laying eyes on a member of the opposite sex (a real one; skin mags don’t count).

It also didn’t help that the priest at the front of the room had intentionally brought everyone’s eyes to you the moment you walked in. You had tried to slip in unnoticed, but he had said “Ah, here she is now: our very first Barton lady! Come sit up front with the headmaster!”

You anchored yourself in the frontmost pew, next to the headmaster with a hippie beard, and kept your head still and staring straight ahead. You had known very little about Barton before that school year— you were from nearby Boston, and had gone to a larger high school with, not only a more mixed gender breakdown, but a significantly different economic situation than Barton. You had been shocked, as you took the bus from town to campus, at how many Mercedes and Cadillacs you had seen near the school. You felt like a fish out of water, in more ways than one.

The priest didn’t end his taunting when you sat down, though. “Many of you probably wondered, when you got on campus for the beginning of the semester, what the new building next to the dormitory was,” he began, and you heard a few mumblings from the row behind you, confirming their confusion. “Well, gentlemen, this year… Barton has become coeducational. The new building, Blackwell Hall, named for the esteemed Elizabeth Blackwell, is the girl’s dormitory.”

The mumbling behind you increased to a dull rumble, and you slightly turned your head to get a glance at the boys sitting behind you. All high school boys, kids your age, staring at you and wondering what your deal was. You took notice of one boy in particular, the only one around you not gossiping with his friends, totally uninterested and picking at his cuticles. Before you could even think to wonder about this boy, someone from near the back of the chapel yelled “Is she gonna be in classes with us?”

“Yes, she will,” the priest said. “She is a junior, so, gentlemen, make sure you welcome her warmly to our school.”

You sat and endured chapel while burning from all the stares in your direction, and, as soon as the priest dismissed the lot of you, you shot up and made your way to the doors, clutching your handbag close to your body. The August air hit your face as you stepped out, and you started back to Blackwell Hall, where your things sat, ready to be unpacked, but someone called out to you, demanding your attention.

“Hey, girl!” You turned to see who had shouted, and you were met with the sight of a boy with caramel-colored hair, wearing a sports coat and tie. Come to think of it, all the boys were wearing coats and ties. You hadn’t been told anything about a uniform, and suddenly your jeans felt less than appropriate. The boy had a cigarette in his hand, and he beckoned you over to him, and you clenched your back teeth as you (for some reason) obeyed.

“You’re a junior, huh?” the boy asked, and you nodded. “What classes are you taking?”

You pursed your lips. “Precalc,” you began. “Ancient Civ. Home Ec. Bio.”

“Gym?” he asked, and you shook your head.

“There’s not a girls’ locker room,” you said, hoping he understood your explanation.

The boy ashed his cigarette, and he said, “What period do you have Ancient Civ?”

You tried to recall what you had written down, and you said, “Fourth period, I think. With Hunham.”

“Oh,” the boy said with a winning smile. “I’m in that period too. Maybe we could be study partners.”

You drew in a breath and cleared your throat. “Maybe,” you said softly. “What’s your name?”

“Teddy,” he replied. “Kountze.”

“Right,” you mumbled. “Well, um, I’ll see you around, Teddy.”

“Um, are you going to the cafeteria?” Teddy asked hastily, like he was looking for something to talk to you about. “I-I was about to head there, and, if you wanted someone to sit with, I have a spare seat at my table.”

“I’m not,” you told him. “Gotta get back to my dorm and finish unpacking. I only got in town today.”

“How did…” Teddy started. “How did you get in? Your folks hear that Barton was going coed and got you in?”

You shook your head. “I went to Central High School, in Boston,” you replied. “I was doing a research project and saw in a newspaper that Barton was going coed and having a lottery for the first female student. I sorta put my name in as a joke, and then, when I won, it… Wasn’t really a joke anymore. I had to take some academic placement tests, since Central isn’t exactly a highbrow school, and I got a scholarship that covered a lot of my tuition. The board of trustees waived the rest of it, so…”

“You’re going here for free?” Teddy asked incredulously. “Jesus, I didn’t even know we had scholarships.”

“Of course you wouldn’t, Kountze,” a voice said from nearby, and you turned your shoulder to see the boy from chapel who didn’t give a shit about you. He stood tall, rail thin, a mop of dark curls on top of his head. He had eyes like black holes, his pale skin so translucent around his eye sockets that he had purplish-red bags underneath. “Nobody’s going to tell the bottom scum about possible academic achievements. It’s cruel to tease people with something they’ll never have.”

“Fuck off, Tully,” Teddy snapped. “Don’t you have some porno mag waiting for you?”

The boy (you supposed his name was Tully) pushed his hands into the pockets of his coat and skulked away, and you scoffed under your breath. “Charming,” you mumbled, but you couldn’t tear your gaze away from his back as he left the scene.

“Jesus, yeah,” Teddy said. “That’s Angus Tully. Biggest asshole here, thinks he’s better than everyone else. God knows why, he’s such a fuckin’ loser. He’s in Hunham’s fourth period too.”

You furrowed your eyebrows at Angus Tully’s back, and then redirected your attention to Teddy, who was presently snubbing out his cigarette with the toe of his shoe. “I’ll see you in class tomorrow,” you said softly, and, without another word, departed for your dorm.

You appreciated that Barton had built a separate dorm for the female students, but, seeing as you were the sole resident of the building, you were irked by it. It was too big and empty, too lifeless and soulless. Certainly, they had built it with future generations in mind, hoping that more girls would eventually enroll and prove the building a necessity, but, for now, you found yourself aching with loneliness. You missed your mom and your sisters, in your small apartment in downtown Boston, just a few blocks from your old high school. You missed hearing Linda Ronstadt records playing from your older sister’s room (the one she shared with your mom), or the ceaseless sound of the air conditioning unit buzzing away in the window of your room (the one you shared with your other older sister). Barton just felt too… Good for you. But, it was as your mother had told you: it was an opportunity that you could not afford to pass up.

You didn’t have a lot to unpack, and you hung up your clothes as you chewed your lip. For some reason, the interaction outside the chapel was sticking with you. Not Teddy, although he certainly had made himself hard to forget. No, you were thinking about Angus Tully, apparently the head asshole of Assholedom. You would be seeing him tomorrow too, for the first day of classes, in Hunham’s Ancient Civ class. You had never taken a class like that— your old school didn’t even offer the Advanced Placement program, so obnoxiously pretentious classes like that were out of your realm of understanding— and you were almost worried that you would flunk right out.

You tossed and turned all night, dreading sunrise and morning. Breakfast was served at 7, and classes began at 8, beginning with Precalc for you, then transitioning into Biology. After third period free, you had Ancient Civ, then an hour for lunch, then Home Ec, then your last few hours of the school day were reserved for something that, on the fax paper that you had been given at the front office, was called “Secretarial Studies”. You hated to think what that meant (surely, Barton wasn’t trying to prime you for being a secretary and nothing more), but mostly, it meant that your school day basically ended earlier than for others.

You awoke early, showered and scrubbed yourself clean (the water pressure in the shower was better than the fourth floor apartment that you used to deal with), and you dressed yourself in what you hoped was becoming of a Barton girl. The dress had initially been purchased as an outfit for special chapel occasions, Christmas and Easter or whatever, but you knew that your regular jeans and wrinkled t-shirt wouldn’t be enough for your new shiny academy.

Once again, as you entered the cafeteria for breakfast, you felt all eyes on you. You scanned the room for an empty seat (you didn’t fail to spot Angus Tully, sitting at the cornermost table, not conversing with everyone else) and sighed when you saw an open chair right next to Teddy Kountze. He spotted you and waved, and you made your way over.

“Hey there,” Teddy said. “How was your first night?”

“Fine,” you shrugged noncommittally. “Kinda quiet, though.”

“Yeah, nobody else in the whole building,” Teddy sighed. “No roommates or anything; that must be nice.”

“Nah, not really,” you replied. “I got used to my mom and my sisters, and it was just too quiet. Not nearly enough chaos for me.”

“How many sisters do you have?” A boy across the table from you asked.

“Two,” you said. “Both older. And my mom lived with us too, so there was always something going on.”

“Shit, for sure,” the boy said. “Are you gonna join any clubs while you’re here? Or sports or something?”

You didn’t exactly love the way that the boy said that. “While you’re here”. Like you weren’t going to stay at Barton for very long. “I don’t know,” you shrugged. “I’ve never really been a sporty type. I might see if the yearbook needs help or something.”

“You could join chess club,” the boy laughed, and Teddy (and pretty much everyone else at the table) laughed too.

“Why? What’s so funny about chess club?” you asked.

“Nothing,” Teddy sighed as he finished laughing. “Except that Tully’s ugly mug is there.”

“Tully?” you repeated. “Angus?”

“Do you know him?” a different boy at the table asked.

“No, not at all,” you said quickly. “Just… Heard some stuff about him, that’s all. How he’s apparently a douche.”

“You’ll see,” Teddy assured you. “In class, try to challenge him on something. See how he reacts, and you’ll get why we all hate him.”

You wrinkled your nose at the thought, but decided to not let it bother you. You made your way to class, hanging close behind Teddy and not really listening to him as much as you were admiring the school building. It was so… Old. So was your old school, but Barton was beautifully old, whereas Central was just old. Dark, shiny wood everywhere, framed oil paintings of people; it was a feat. You finally separated from Teddy when you reached the classroom for Precalc, and you hesitantly stepped in. A handful of guys were there, sitting on their desks and chatting, and the room fell dead as you stepped inside. You hazarded a small smile, and quickly made your way to the back of the room, your preferred spot in any classroom, but you were stopped in your tracks.

Angus Tully. He sat in the back corner, close to the window, his tie loose and crooked around his neck. He was looking out the window, but his eyes slid over to you as you approached the desk beside him.

“Hi,” you said gently. “Can I… Um, can I sit here?”

Angus shrugged, as if he didn’t care, and you slung your bag across the back of the seat before you settled yourself down. You tapped your fingers on the desktop for a moment, wondering what the next course of action was, and you mumbled out, “I-I heard you were in chess club?”

“Yeah,” Angus grunted out. “What about it?”

“Oh, nothing,” you said, anxiously smoothing your skirt on your thigh. “Just, umm… I was wondering if there was, like… If you guys were open to new members.”

“Probably,” Angus said simply.

You nodded slowly, waiting for his next words, but they never came. “Right,” you said softly. “Okay.”

To your disappointment, Angus Tully and you shared every class together, except for your free period and Home Ec. His demeanor never changed a single bit throughout the day, sullen and curt. He didn’t speak during class, didn’t answer questions or even seem as if he was paying attention. It was odd. You were thinking about it as you settled into a desk in the back of the Ancient Civ classroom, and you yourself were hardly paying attention to the teacher, a one Mr. Hunham, until he called your name. “Miss?” he said, and you lifted your cheek out of your hand. “Would you like to introduce yourself?”

You blinked a few times, your face positively burning hot, and you cleared your throat. “I’m sure you all know my name by now,” you began. “Know that I went to a public school in Boston, got in here on a lottery and a scholarship… I guess there’s not much else to know about me.”

“Have you ever studied ancient civilizations before, Miss?” Mr. Hunham asked. He seemed well-meaning, if maybe a little sarcastic.

“No,” you told him.

“Any experience with Latin?” Mr. Hunham asked next.

You deflated. Shit. This was that sorta school? “No,” you said, a little quieter this time.

“Well, that’s alright,” Mr. Hunham said. “We’ll catch you up to speed. Now, gentlemen— Ah, and lady— let’s open our books to the first chapter.”

All during class, you felt hot tears pricking at your eyes. You were humiliated. All these words and names that everyone else seemed to know, and you had no fucking clue what any of it meant. It was all Greek to you— Latin, actually, but that didn't matter. As Mr. Hunham was mid-sentence about some sort of war, the bell to end the class sounded throughout the room, and you instantly closed your textbook and began to shove it into your bag. “Read the rest of the section tonight!” Mr. Hunham called over the sounds of your classmates packing up and chattering. “There will be a quiz on Friday!”

You shouldered your bag and tried to avoid eyes as you skated out of the room, but a voice saying your name held you back. You hoped your eyes weren’t red as you turned to see Angus standing limply in the hallway. He had stayed quiet during Mr. Hunham’s class too, sitting again in the back corner, and you had managed to forget about him as you wallowed in shame. “Yeah?” you asked.

Angus carefully walked closer to you, and he said, “The library has tutors sometimes. If you need help with Latin.”

“Oh,” you said softly. “Thanks. I just… Didn’t know people still spoke that.”

“Not really, it’s a dead language,” Angus said. “But it’s helpful sometimes in classes. A lot of Ivy League schools have Latin courses that are required.”

“Well, thank God I’m not going to an Ivy League school,” you chuckled mirthlessly. “I’ll be lucky if community college takes me.”

“You go to Barton, colleges will be fighting for you to go there,” Angus shrugged.

“But I’m not somebody,” you protested. “I’m not a senator’s kid, my dad isn’t a CEO, like… I just go here.”

“But the name is good enough for schools to want you,” Angus said. “They want the prestige, that’s all.”

You thought on it for a moment, and you mumbled, “Thanks, Angus. I’ll, um… See you tomorrow.”

The whole first week of classes progressed at a snail’s pace. Every day was torturous— all of your classes, except for Ancient Civ, were easy. Home Ec was a complete wash, since you already knew how to sew and cook, and Secretarial Studies was just as you had feared: teaching you to type, mostly, but nevertheless skills needed to do office work. You were a little offended; you were the only student in the class, which was helmed by the front office manager Ms. Crane. Obviously the boys didn’t have to take this class, so what was Barton trying to say?

Finally, it was Friday night. Your dorm building was quiet again, and, even though they had provided a rec room with a radio and a few bookshelves, there wasn’t too much for you to do. You curled a loose thread from your sweater around your finger as you considered your next move, and you sighed as you grabbed your keys and shuffled into your shoes.

You pushed your way into the boy’s dorm, and there was a palpable change in energy. The lights seemed brighter, the air thicker, sounds coming from all manner of places. Some doors were open, the residents standing and chatting, and you could distantly hear the sound of a television playing somewhere on the first floor. Much livelier, more lived in; you wished you could have been placed there instead. You followed the sound of the television down the hall, past the chatting boys, and you noticed how conversations paused as you passed by. You despised that.

The door to the rec room was wide open, and you peeked in nervously. The television was playing some rerun of Gilligan’s Island, and boys were scattered to all corners of the room. Some played pool, some sat on the couches, some stood by the open window and smoked, but everything seemed to stop as you crossed the threshold. You made your way to an empty section of the couch and sat down, grinding your teeth as boys young and old watched you. You sighed, and you said, “What’s going on?”

The boy next to you, some kid that you knew was in your Bio class but didn’t know his name, frowned. “Huh?” he asked.

You jerked your head towards the television. “The show,” you said. “What’s happening?”

“Oh,” the boy said, and everyone resumed their conversations. “Umm, don’t you have a TV in your dorm?”

“Just a radio,” you said with a shake of your head. “What episode is this?”

The boy shrugged. “Wasn’t really paying attention,” he said.

You bunched your mouth up and sighed again, and you stood up. You could sense the disappointment as you left the rec room, but you couldn’t stand being in there any longer. You knew that being ogled at came with the territory of being the only girl at a boys’ school, but you couldn’t imagine it would have been anything like this. You slipped your hand into the pocket of your jeans and found a few errant coins in there, leftover from some excursion from God knows how long ago, and you started up to the second floor. In your building, there was a bank of phones on the second floor, and it made sense to you that this building would be the same.

Luckily, you were right. There was just as much business on the second floor as on the first, but the little phone bank was a calm corner. You sighed and examined the phone for a moment, trying to find the slot to put your dime, and you frowned. What the fuck?

“Just dial nine, and then the number you wanna call.”

You jumped in fright. “Jesus Christ!” you seethed, whipping around to see Angus. He sat in a shadow of the phone bank, a book in one hand and a half-eaten apple in the other. He looked a little more casual than he did in class, his tie gone and shirt unbuttoned one or two to show the top of his undershirt. Still looked a little Grim Reaper in the face, though. “You scared the shit outta me.”

Angus huffed a short laugh through his nose. “Thought you saw me,” he said.

“I did not,” you mumbled. “Where’s the coin slot?”

“These aren’t payphones,” Angus told you. “Just dial nine for a non-school number, then dial away.”

You drew in a deep breath and shoved your dime back in your pocket, and you picked up the phone and started to rotate the dial, starting with nine, then going for your family’s apartment number. You felt Angus’s gaze seering on your back, and you cradled the phone to your shoulder as it rang. “Do you mind?” you asked.

“Do I mind what?” Angus asked.

“Scram, man,” you sighed. “I’m trying to call my mom, and I don’t want you listening to it.”

“Well, you shouldn’t have come to a public phone if you wanted a private conversation,” Angus said, and you tilted your head at him in annoyance. “Doesn’t Blackwell have a phone bank?”

“Yeah,” you said. “But I didn’t wanna use it.”

“So you came here instead,” Angus said. “I think you like the attention.”

You swallowed thickly, anger tepid but starting to rise. “You don’t know me at all,” you bit at him.

“Why’d you come to this building to make your call if you knew that every guy would stop to stare at your ass?” Angus asked. “You knew that. You’ve been here a week, you know by now that you attract attention. I think you like it, but you can’t admit it because you have that whole quiet mystery girl thing going on.”

“Fuck off, Tully,” you mumbled. “I’m not here to be some goddamn puzzle for you to solve. And I’m not gonna fuck you if you figure out my backstory, so just go away.”

“Who said anything about fucking?” Angus asked smugly.

You glared at him and that stupid crooked smirk on his face. “Stop staring at my ass first and we might get somewhere,” you told him lowly, just in time for the call to pick up.

“Hello?” your mother said, and you sighed in relief.

“Mom, thank God,” you laughed lightly. “You took so long to answer, I was worried nobody was there.”

“Oh, no, pumpkin, I’m here,” your mom told you. “I was just in the shower.”

“Is Rachel not home?” you asked. “Or Anna?”

“Rach is at work,” your mom told you. “She picked up extra hours at Neiman Marcus. She thinks they might promote her to manager at the end of the year.”

“Oh, wow,” you mumbled. “Good for her. And Anna?”

“Started taking night classes,” your mom said. “She started on Monday too.”

“Cool,” you chuckled. “What’re you doing tonight? I think ABC is showing some sort of movie—”

“I’m going on a date,” your mom said, and your mouth went dry.

“What do you mean?” you asked. “Like… With a guy?”

“Yes,” your mom said carefully. “He’s nice, I met him at work. He’s taking me to a movie and dinner.”

“That’s…” you started. “Cool, Mom. Good for you.”

“What about you?” your mom asked. “Surrounded by all those boys, there has to be someone who’s caught your eye.”

You sighed. Your lip trembled, and you closed your eyes. You were acutely aware that Angus was still sat behind you, and the fact that you hadn’t heard his book turn in a few minutes meant that he was absolutely listening to your phone call, the little shit. “No, not really,” you said. “Everyone here is either too rich, too smart, or too… Asshole-ish. Some are even all three.” You made a point to turn your head towards Angus, and you heard his little huffing laugh before you turned back to the phone.

“Oh, well,” your mom said. “Maybe you’ll find someone. How are classes?”

“Fine, I guess,” you said. “I’m taking a class about ancient civilizations, and apparently I missed the class where they teach Latin, so I’m sorta lost. And Home Ec sucks because I already know how to do all that. And they’re making me take something about how to be a secretary, and that’s so infuriatingly sexist that it makes me angry.”

“It’s a bunch of men, in charge of a bunch of boys,” your mom sighed. “They’re trying their best to adapt to you.”

“I can’t even take gym class because they don’t have a place for me to change clothes,” you lamented. “Not that I wanna take gym anyway, but you see why I’m upset!”

“I know, pumpkin, it’s okay,” your mom said.

“Why would they go coed if they can’t even integrate girls in properly?” you sighed. “I wish I had just stayed home and gone to Central. Would’ve saved me a lot of trouble.”

“You’ll be alright, you’re still just adjusting,” your mom assured you. “But… If, by Christmas, you still don’t feel like you belong there, I’ll pull you out and you can go back to Central. But I have to know by Thanksgiving, so I can start the paperwork in time for spring semester”

“Sure,” you said. “That sounds good to me.”

“Alright, baby,” your mom said. “Richard will be here any minute, and I have to finish getting ready. I’ll be at work until 4 tomorrow, but call any time after, okay? I love you so much.”

“Love you too,” you mumbled, and you held the plastic phone by your face as you listened to your mother hang up and the dial tone drone. After a moment, you hung the phone back up on the hook, and you readied yourself for Angus’s petty insults as you turned to leave the phone bank. But they never came. You eyed him, sitting there on the wooden bench, his dark eyes focused on yours, and you snapped, “What?”

“Nothing,” Angus said lightly, sliding back into the darkened corner and picking up his book. “Nothing at all.”

That was your weekly exercise. Week in and week out, all you did was classes. You wanted to avoid as many interactions with the others as possible, so you stayed quiet during class, kept to yourself, didn’t accept invites to parties or football games or to sit at lunch tables. You took to having lunch with Ms. Crane in the front office, and she seemed to commiserate with you about all the boys. “Some of these kids are real stinkers,” she told you. “But they’re teenage boys. I think it’s a law that they have to be.”

Your saving grace was the deal you had made with your mom. If you could just wait until Christmas break, you could go back to your old school, to your old friends, and you could forget about the hell that was Barton. You kept your grades up, so that Central could see that you hadn’t turned into some kind of slacker, and you consistently got B’s and A’s in your classes. Except for Ancient Civ.

The exam booklet slapped down on your desk, a red F blazoned across the front. You sighed and started to thumb through it, trying to figure out where you went wrong as the other boys also realized their grades were low, and your heart sank when you saw all of the multiple choice questions without a flaw. So it was your essay question that led you astray. On the very last page of the booklet, you found your essay, handwritten yesterday on something about ancient philosophers, and a red note in Mr. Hunham’s handwriting. See me after class.

You could hardly pay attention to the conversation between Teddy and Mr. Hunham. Your mind was racing, wondering what he wanted to talk to you about. You should have gotten a perfect score, but something held that back. Surely he didn’t think you had cheated? Or copied someone else’s work? You thought that you and Mr. Hunham got along (as well as any student can get along with their strict, hardass teacher) and your heart sank at the thought that you had definitely somehow disappointed him.

“... Offer a makeup exam” got your head out of the clouds, and you focused on Mr. Hunham at his podium. “You’ll all get a second run at this after break.” The class muttered and mumbled, only to be cut through by Mr. Hunham’s next words: “Of course, it will not be the same exam. You will now be responsible for new material as well. Your grade will be an average of the two.”

As Mr. Hunham instructed the class to open their books to a new chapter, you were shocked, along with everyone else, when Angus spoke. “No offense, sir,” he began, and you sucked in a breath. You had learned that, whenever any of the boys at Barton didn’t intend offense, that offense was certainly on its way. “But is this really the best time to be starting a new chapter? I mean, we all appreciate the, uh, makeup exam gesture… But our families are here.”

You rolled your eyes. Speak for yourself, Tully. Your mom had to work that day, as did both of your sisters, and you gotten instruction to take a Greyhound into Boston and someone would meet you at the bus station to bring you home. It wasn’t exactly the best plan, but it was what worked. Your mom had arranged with Barton to let you back on campus during break to empty your dorm room, and you sighed a thing of relief. Almost done. You were so close to leaving Barton in your dust and washing your hands of the entire school.

“Most teachers have already canceled class,” Angus continued. “We have chapel in forty minutes, then we’re out of here. I mean, our heads are elsewhere.”

“And where exactly is your head, Mr. Tully?” Mr. Hunham asked, and Angus shrugged.

“Uh, I don’t know. St. Kitts.”

Jesus. Of course Angus Tully was going to fuckin’ St. Kitts for Christmas. You would be lucky if your family could afford to have the heat turned on for Christmas.

Your annoyance turned to dire anger when Mr. Hunham decided to scrap the idea of a makeup exam and dismissed the class without another word. You hurried to shove your exam booklet in your bag, and you glared at Angus as you edged out of your row. “Thanks a lot, dick,” you mumbled, then left the room, not even waiting to see Angus’s response. Your heart raced as you tailed Mr. Hunham, and you finally called his name as he approached the door to his private office.

“Ah, Miss,” Mr. Hunham chuckled. “Yes, yes, let’s sit down and discuss your exam.”

“I-I didn’t do anything wrong,” you said hurriedly as he unlocked the office door. “I didn’t cheat or plagiarize, you didn’t even mark off any points. I don’t understand why I failed.”

Mr. Hunham said nothing as he led you into his office, and you wrinkled your nose. God, it smelled bad in there. Nevertheless, you sat down in one of the chairs across from his desk, and you waited with bated breath as he sat down in his seat. He examined you for a moment, for long enough for you to start to feel weird under his walleyed gaze, and, finally, he said, “In actuality, Miss, you didn’t fail. You got the highest score in the class.”

“B-But I got an F…” you protested. “Angus Tully got a B!”

“I wrote an F on your paper, but you actually got a 98,” Mr. Hunham told you. “Near-perfect score, I only took off in your essay question for misspelling ‘Periclean’.”

“Oh,” you mumbled. “Then, why’d you write an F on my paper?”

“Because I was disappointed in you,” Mr. Hunham said. You felt sick. Your skin was hot and your stomach roiled, and hot tears pricked at your eyes. “I heard from Ms. Crane that you were leaving Barton.”

You nodded silently.

“And why is that?” Mr. Hunham asked.

You sighed. “I miss my old school,” you admitted with a thick throat. “My old friends. Nobody likes me here, and I… Just think I’d be better off back home. I’m not a Barton person.”

“What is a Barton person to you, Miss?” Mr. Hunham asked. His hands were clasped at his chin, his bifocals in his fist. He seemed genuinely concerned about you.

“Someone not me,” you said. “Rich… Smart… Important. All those guys are gonna go to good colleges, and I’m gonna be stuck waiting tables my whole life.”

“You are smart, Miss,” Mr. Hunham told you. “You passed all your classes with flying colors, you made Latin look like a piece of cake. If you wanted to, you could go to any college in the country. Or the world!”

“I wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for that stupid lottery,” you mumbled. “I don’t belong here, sir, we both know that.”

Mr. Hunham fixed his mouth in a thin line and sighed, and he said, “Of course. Well, I do hate to see you go. Your essay on the siege of Troy was… Very good.”

“Thanks,” you mumbled. “Umm, have a nice Christmas, I guess… See you around.”

Chapel that day felt exactly the opposite to your first chapel at Barton. The dread that had filled the air at the beginning of the semester had now changed to an excitement about going back home, and, even though you still felt like everybody was staring at you, you couldn’t shake the feeling. You were done. You had made it. After you moved during break, you’d never have to lay an eye on Barton or any of those boys ever again. You had to admit that you were going to miss Ms. Crane, and maybe even Mr. Hunham too, but the positives far outweighed the negatives.

After chapel let out, you hurried back to Blackwell Hall and grabbed your suitcase and changed out of your nice dress, and you made your way to the front of campus, where a Greyhound bus sat, waiting to take kids into the city. You stepped on board, taking a seat towards the back of the bus, and you looked out the window at one last gaze at Barton Academy. Although, you couldn’t admire the architecture or the pretty way the snow glistened in the midday sun. No, you could only see the tall, lanky, dark-haired kid standing on the steps of the chapel, waiting for someone.

Even though you despised Angus Tully and didn’t really care if he lived or died, it was a sad sight to see him waiting like that. He looked so dismayed and forlorn, his suitcase at his feet, his hands in the pockets of his winter jacket. Maybe in another world, you and Angus could have been friends. Your mind wandered, thinking of meeting Angus somewhere else— your mind conjured the image of a bookstore, reaching for the same book and having a little back and forth on who should have it, before Angus acquiesced, but not before writing his phone number in the book.

The rumble of the bus nearly lulled you asleep on the two and a half hour drive to Boston, and you roused yourself as the bus pulled into the station. Gathering your things, you departed, along with a handful of other Barton boys. They quickly found their families that were waiting on them, and you wandered through the station. Your mother hadn’t indicated who would be picking you up, or where in the station to meet them, and you made your way to a payphone. You were sure she was at work, but you wondered if you could call the restaurant and ask for her. Before you could put your dime in the phone, though, you heard your name being called, and you looked to see an older man smiling at you from across the room.

Fear flashed hot in your face, but you kept your composure as the man approached you. “Hey, you look just like how your mom described you,” he laughed. “I’m Rich.”

“Who?” you asked.

“Rich,” he repeated. “I’ve been seeing your mother for a few months. She’s working the afternoon shift, and your sisters are both busy, so your mom asked me to get you.”

“Oh,” you nodded. “Right, yeah. It’s nice to meet you.”

“You seem tired,” Rich told you. “Long day?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” you chuckled. “I’m just glad to be done with Barton, that place can go to hell.”

“I thought Barton was a boys’ school,” Rich mumbled.

“It’s a long story,” you sighed. “But whatever, that’s in my rearview now.”

“Alright,” Rich said. He seemed confused, but he took up your suitcase for you. “We already put fresh sheets on the pullout, so when we get back, you can take a nap if you want—”

“The pullout?” you repeated. “Am I not sleeping in my room?”

Rich winced. “Ah, well,” he began. “You see, my daughter is sleeping there, and—”

“Your—” you started. “Why is she in my room?”

“The bed was vacant,” Rich shrugged. “She’s lived there for a few months now.”

“And why is your daughter living with my mom?” you asked. “Do you… Did you move in?”

“Well, when your mother and I got married, we figured it was the logical thing to do.”

Your heart nearly stopped. Married. Your mother had gotten married, and hadn’t told you a single thing about it. No wedding invite, no pictures, not even a ‘hey, Rich and I are getting hitched!’ You felt sick and lightheaded, and you tried to take a steadying breath. It just sounded all shaky and unsure, though, and it made you feel even worse. “I, uh…” you began. “I…”

“What’s wrong, pumpkin?” Rich asked, and the camel’s back broke. Nobody can call you that but your mom.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” you asked. “Rolling in here, doing all this bullshit, and for what? Are you trying to prove something? Win an award or what? Let’s see how quickly we can marry the single mom, that’ll go down great with her three adult children!”

“Rachel and Anna said they were okay with it,” Rich said.

“But you didn’t ask me!” you cried. “God, this is exactly what she wanted, huh, throw me in a boarding school and forget all about me? Fuck this, I don’t need this.” You snatched your bag from Rich and turned on your heel quickly, and you didn’t even hesitate when Rich called “Where are you going?”

“Anywhere but here!”

You begged and pleaded with the Greyhound driver to take you back to Barton. He said that he had to stick to a schedule and was really sorry, but he changed his tune when you dug into your bag and grabbed your pocketbook, pulling out a few 20s. You didn’t have a lot of money in the first place, and watching those bills go in his pocket hurt, but, in the end, you got back to Barton just as the sun was starting to set. You knew that whoever was staying over break would be shocked to see you (maybe even elated, depending on who it was), but you didn‘t care about reactions. You just didn’t want to think at that moment.

You followed the low din of boyish muttering to the cafeteria, and you steeled your nerves for entering. You could discern only two voices, maybe a third if you listened through the thick door hard enough, and you quickly pushed on the metal handle in the middle of the door to slam the door open.

Heads whipped towards you. You didn’t recognize a lot of them— some younger kids, and a guy that was on the football team and was a senior— and your heart sank into your stomach when you saw Teddy Kountze sitting at the dinner table. So you would be spending Christmas break with Teddy. Great.

But the bad feeling got worse when you saw who was sitting one seat down from Teddy. Angus fucking Tully. He stared at you with no joy or humor in his eyes, and you huffed out a breath.

“Miss?” Your gaze went to the head of the table, and a little bit of relief washed over you as you saw the face of Mr. Hunham. Was he supervising the holdovers? “What’re you…?”

“Got room for one more?” you mumbled, approaching the table and securing the seat between Teddy and Angus. You instantly reached for the serving dishes, wanting anything to occupy your shaking hands, and you slowed to a stop as you noticed the whole table staring at you; even Angus wasn’t trying to hide it, his black eyes as big as dinner plates. “What?” you barked, and the energy resumed at the table in a snap.

Dinner was finished soon after, and Mr. Hunham pulled you into the hall as the boys were cleaning up. “I thought you were going home to Boston for the holiday?” he asked gently.

“I can’t…” you started. “It seems like I don’t even have a place in my own family.”

“What do you mean?” Mr. Hunham asked.

“My mom got married without telling me,” you told him. “And the guy and his daughter moved into our apartment, which could barely fit me and my mom and sisters in the first place, and now they’re there, a-and she’s in my room! That fucking bitch is in my room, and I-I—”

“Easy, easy,” Mr. Hunham said, putting his hand out to placate you. “Calm down. Listen, I understand that this is hard, it’s awful, but resorting to that is not what’s going to help you. We’ll find a place here for you tonight, and tomorrow we can call your mother and try to get this straightened out.”

“Can I not go to my dorm?” you asked.

“The school shut off heating and plumbing everywhere except the main building,” Mr. Hunham explained. “We’re sleeping in the infirmary.”

“Jesus Christ,” you huffed. You were so angry that you could kick something. “So now I gotta bunk up with them?”

“It’s definitely not ideal,” Mr. Hunham mumbled. “But it’s just for one night. We can put up a partition, if that would make you more comfortable.”

“Fuck it, whatever,” you sighed. Your eyes hurt, and a headache was starting to throb at your skull, and you said, “I don’t care.”

The boys were split into two rooms, the youngers (and Angus) in one, and Teddy and Jason in the other. The only other empty bed was in Teddy and Jason’s room, and you were quick to settle in and start off for the bathroom. Just as you were leaving, though, a beanpole in a white shirt and flannel pajama pants stopped you in the doorway.

“Hey,” Angus said curtly. “Where’re you going?”

“Shower,” you told him. “Brush my teeth, stuff like that.”

“Why did you come back?” Angus asked. “A little birdy told me that you were quitting Barton.”

“I…” you started. You wanted to tell him everything, but you were worried about the leverage he’d have if he knew. “I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

“Nah, I think it is,” Angus said with narrowed eyes. “We know why everybody is holding over. His parents are on a mission trip, his family is in Korea, Kountze The Cunt’s having his house remodeled, and Jason’s dad is waiting for him to cut his hair. Why’re you here?”

“Why’re you here, Angus?” you asked. “I thought you were going to St. Barts or St. Kitts or something.”

“Obviously not,” Angus said quickly.

“Then, I’m obviously not quitting Barton,” you said, and instantly regretted it. “I might be… Haven’t decided yet.”

“What, don’t you like it here?” Angus asked. “Isn’t it a glorious beacon of education and brotherhood—” He stopped himself, dramatically clenching his fist in front of his face. “Oh, that’s right. Brotherhood.”

“Shut up,” you huffed.

“C’mon, man, leave her alone,” you heard Jason start from the room behind you, but Angus either didn’t hear or didn’t care.

“You left, and then came back,” Angus said. “What’s wrong? Mommy decided she didn’t want you anymore?”

You couldn’t help yourself from letting your tears spill over your lashes, and you clenched your teeth. Angus held your eye contact for longer than you thought he would, and he only averted his eyes when your tears gathered at the corner of your mouth. You drew in a shaking breath, aware that everybody was staring at you, watching you cry, and you sniffled and left the room without another word. The showers were empty, and you jerked the handle to start the water, then locked the door to the room.

Your tears flowed freely then, and you sat on the tile floor and sobbed into your hands. You hoped that Angus could hear you crying from down the hall, and you hoped that he felt bad about his words. Knowing him, though, he had forgotten about you as soon as you left his eyeline.

By the time you finished your crying and your shower, the lights were off in both the rooms, a soft snoring coming from Teddy and Jason’s (and your) room. Your pajamas didn’t feel like they were enough for the cold in the infirmary, and you edged by the snoring Teddy in his bed to get to yours. The sheets were crinkly and dry and rough, and you bundled the wool blanket up to your chin as you tried to sleep.

That was destroyed, though, when you heard a “Psst!” come from the doorway.

You sighed. “Fuck off, Angus,” you mumbled sleepily.

“Just— Can I—?” Angus huffed. “I’m trying to apologize to you.”

“I don’t want your fuckin’ apology,” you said. “Just leave me alone.”

“I shouldn’t have said that to you,” Angus whispered. “I was… Out of line. Or projecting or something, I don’t know. My mom and stepdad went to St. Kitts, but uninvited me so they could celebrate their honeymoon. I guess I’m just familiar with how it feels to not be wanted.”

You sighed and rolled over to face the doorway, and you settled yourself up on your elbows. “Can you just…” you started. “Think before you speak? I know it doesn’t really seem to matter to you, but sometimes, words hurt. Like, really hurt.”

“I know,” Angus mumbled. “I’m sorry.”

“You really have to work on not being a huge asshole,” you told him. “You know, nobody here likes you. They all call you names and shit.”

“I know,” Angus said. “I don’t care. But you’ve gotta try to not be so judgmental. I think you write off everyone here because we’re from different tax brackets. Some of us don’t have it easy.”

You pressed your lips together. “Fair enough,” you said finally. “I’ll, um… Keep that in mind.”

“Alright,” Angus said. “Good night, then.”

“‘Night,” you said, and you watched Angus stalk out of the doorway and back to his room. You sat for a few moments more, thinking about how easily Angus had read your thoughts, and you wondered if the other boys could see right through you as easily. You were almost humiliated all over again at the thought that everyone could read you like that, but it didn’t matter. When the morning came, you’d call your mother and work out whatever the problem was, and you would be home in Boston by the next night.

It didn’t work out that way. You called your mother twice in the morning; the first time, she didn’t pick up the phone, and the second, she would hardly talk to you. “Mom, I just wanna know what happened,” you pleaded. “Why didn’t you tell me? I-I would’ve been supportive!”

“Would you?” your mother asked.

“Yes!” you sighed. “I wouldn’t have been happy, but I would’ve accepted it if you were happy!”

“Then, why can’t you accept it now?” she asked.

“Because you didn’t tell me!” you replied. “You didn’t ask me how I felt about it, if I wanted it to happen, if I even like the guy— I hadn’t even met him once before you did it!” You paused, chewing your lip, and you said, “Mom. Tell me the truth. Are you pregnant?”

“No, pumpkin, I’m not,” she sighed, but you could tell she was nearing her wit’s end.

“Is that why you hurried to marry him?” you asked. “I-I’m telling you, I don’t care that you got married, I’m just upset because you didn’t tell me!”

“Okay, stop,” your mom said firmly. “I thought you’d be happy for me, baby.”

Anger flared in your stomach. “Dad hasn’t even been gone for a full year yet,” you mumbled. “And you’re already replacing him.”

“We all mourn differently, pumpkin,” she said. “I’m sorry that you can’t see that Rich makes me happy. I... I don’t feel lonely with him.”

“Well,” you sighed. “If this is how you mourn Dad, I don’t think I wanna come home. I think I’ll stay at Barton.”

“Where are you gonna go after the holiday ends?” your mom asked.

“Staying here,” you said plainly. “I can personally go up to Central and withdraw my paperwork over break. If you want to erase me and my father from your life so bad, then you’ve got your fuckin’ wish.” You slammed the phone back on the receiver with shaking hands, and you turned to leave the front office, only to run straight into—

“Fuck off, Angus,” you sniffled, side-stepping him and starting down the hall, back to the infirmary.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Angus said quickly, snatching your wrist in his hand and tugging you back. “What happened? Are you going home?”

“No,” you sighed. “I’m staying here. I never wanna see any of them again.”

“You said something about your dad…” Angus mumbled. “Is that true? Your dad’s dead?”

You wiped at your eyes, and your chest went hot. “I don’t wanna talk about it,” you mumbled.

Angus sighed, and, for once, he did something nice for you. He pulled you into an embrace, not too tight but not so loose that it felt like he didn’t care, and you pressed your cheek into his shoulder. “My dad’s dead too,” Angus whispered. “You don’t have to talk about it, but… I sorta get it.”

You sniffled again, and you finally let your arms wrap around Angus’s thin body. You sat in silence for a moment, hugging each other, and you only parted when you heard a small scuttle from down the hall, near the infirmary door. Your head turned to see the youngest kid, Alex, standing, watching you two, and you stepped away from Angus and wiped your face. “Guess I’m staying,” you mumbled.

“Guess so,” Angus echoed.

The days were monotonous. Hunham would wake you up when the sun rose with a declaration of “It’s daylight in the swamp!”, and you would go through the routine of studying, then exercise, then more studying, then a little bit of free time. In the absence of gym class for months, the exercising was a little difficult, and you were left exhausted and panting every time, and you felt awkward with the guys around. However, after that brief moment with Angus, he had started to be… Better. He was still a dick most times, but he would do little things for you now; pass you the lunch dishes instead of sliding them in your direction, offer to sharpen your pencil during study time. It seemed that finding a similarity had broken his shell for you a bit, and you appreciated it.

You had taken to helping the cook with meals. Mary Lamb was a good woman that you had minimally interacted with (she had come and given a lesson in Home Ec about cooking, which really nobody paid attention to, but you had made a point to), and you felt a special kinship with her because of her Curtis. She was the only one you told the truth about your father to, and you knew that Mary wouldn’t say anything to the others about it. She seemed as if she appreciated the help in the kitchen, especially from someone who was competent there like you were. You liked talking to Mary, hearing her stories and letting her hear yours.

Just as you were starting to think that maybe break wouldn’t be all that terrible, less than a week into it, things changed. You shivered in the cold library, despite your sweater, and you tried to focus on the textbook in front of you, but it was nearly impossible. Angus was sitting next to you, and, every so often, his hand would inch out and he would doodle a little figure in the corner of your notebook. You rolled your eyes jokingly at him, trying not to laugh so Hunham wouldn’t fuss at you, and you shifted in your seat a bit to reach Angus’s notebook. You began to crudely sketch him, big dark eyes and messy hair, and he stifled a snort. Mean, he wrote underneath your sketch.

Accurate, you countered.

Before either of you could write anything else, there came an odd sound from outside. It was quiet at first, but it grew louder and louder, and you looked upwards, as if the ceiling of the library would allow for any sort of view of what the noise was. It was a loud chopping noise, growing ever louder and louder, drawing the attention of all of you, and even Hunham closed his book and said “What the hell is that?”

But, from across the table, a smile grew on Jason’s face, a knowing grin, and, all at once, everybody stood from their seats and went to the window. You couldn’t see as well as the others, being shorter than everyone else, but Angus put a gentle hand on your side and pushed you in front of him, letting you get closer to the window. His hand, positioned just above your hip on your torso, made a shiver run down your spine, but you attributed it to the sight of a goddamn helicopter buzzing overhead, lowering itself onto the snowy, abandoned football field. “I knew it!” Jason exclaimed. “He finally caved, the big softie!”

“What the fuck is that?” you asked quickly.

“Jason’s dad owns a helicopter,” Angus explained under his breath as Jason pushed away from the window with excitement.

“Any of you guys like to ski?” Jason called as he left the library, and the younger boys gasped with excitement. You all caught onto the idea at the same time, and the boys filed out, following Jason, but you stayed still at the window, watching the helicopter’s blades slow to a stop.

“Miss?” Hunham asked, and you closed your eyes. “Aren’t you going with them?”

You shrugged, hoping to seem less hurt than you actually were. “I can’t,” you said. “I don’t have any skiing gear or whatever, I’ve never even done it before… And anyway, I’m not about to call my mom to ask for permission to do that.”

You sat in the hallway outside the office as Hunham called all of the boys’ parents, being granted permission for the excursion, listening as each boy reacted with glee. It felt like a sick joke; of course you were left all alone again. Before you could ruminate on it for too long, the beanpole came and sat himself next to you, quiet as he scratched absently at his chin.

“Want me to get you anything from up there?” Angus asked. “Fridge magnet or postcard or…?”

You shook your head. “No,” you managed with a heavy, thick throat. “Thanks, though.”

Angus sighed, his eyebrows furrowing together as his jaw tightened, and he tilted his head towards you. His dark eyes looked soft, kinder than you had ever seen from him or thought was capable, and he said, “Sorry.”

You couldn’t help yourself. Your tears spilled and you clawed your fingernails into your palm, trying to stop from sobbing and heaving, and Angus moved closer to you, until his hip touched yours. He slung a skinny arm around your shoulders and pulled you into his body, his hand gently pressing into your head and ushering you to hide in his neck. He shushed you, whispering “If Hunham sees you crying, he’ll think I did it”, which did nothing other than make you laugh a little and sniffle hard.

You quickly parted from Angus’s warmth, wiping your eyes with your hand and seeing your mascara smear on the back of your hand. “Gonna go to the bathroom…” you mumbled, and Angus nodded, keeping his seat as you stood up and hurried down the hall. The women’s bathroom next to the office was hardly used, only ever you, Ms. Crane, and the lone visitor using it, and you clutched the porcelain sink as you gasped for breath. Jesus Christ. Would anything ever go your way? Being stuck at Barton over the holidays with the other boys sucked, sure, but now you were all alone with Hunham and Mary. Alone again. You wondered if you’d always be alone.

You ripped off a paper towel and dabbed at your eyes, trying to fix your makeup, and you pressed cold water to your face to try to calm yourself down. Fuck everything about this. It was unfair. Maybe Hunham would take it easy on you, loosen the reins a little. You trashed the paper towels and adjusted your sweater, trying to seem put-together, and you stepped out of the bathroom to see Hunham and Angus standing outside the office, embroiled in an intense conversation. “... Just one more time, please,” you heard Angus say, and Hunham put his hand up.

“There’s no point,” Hunham said. “The front desk says they’re not answering. He says they’re away on some excursion.”

You started closer, and you watched Angus’s face fall, his eyes narrowing. He mumbled something under his breath, and Hunham harrumphed. “I’m as disappointed as you are, if not more so,” he said. “I could’ve been spending the rest of my vacation reading mystery novels.”

“Angus?” you said, and he slid his eyes over to you. “Are you… What’s happening?”

Angus shot Hunham a deathly look, and he side-stepped your teacher, brushing past you, his arm knocking your shoulder. You locked eyes with Hunham, then quickly turned and started off after Angus. His long legs had carried him down the hall quicker than you were capable of, and you sped up a bit. “Angus!” you called for him, and you finally came up on him at the door to the infirmary, taking his arm in your hand. “What’s going on?”

“I’m staying here,” he said bitingly. “Mom and Stanley aren’t answering their phone.”

On some level, you were glad Angus was staying. At least it wouldn’t be just you there. And you were glad it was Angus, as opposed to Teddy or someone else. “Oh,” you managed. “Well, umm…”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Angus said flatly. He leaned up against the doorway to the infirmary, listening to the other boys packing up, and he added, “In fact, I’d rather you didn’t say anything.”

You sighed, flicking your eyebrows. “Got it,” you mumbled. Your eyes lifted from the floor to see Ye-Joon, bag in hand, and he softly bid Angus a happy holidays, giving you a curt smile as he edged out of the infirmary. Jason lightly touched Angus’s arm as he told him to take care, doing the same to you before he departed, and you made eye contact with Teddy as he shouldered his bag. He didn’t have his sights set on you, though; he spoke to Angus.

“I guess that just leaves you and the chick, huh?” Teddy asked. “Be sure to do all your homework— and no funny stuff while we’re gone.”

If you could have swung a punch at Teddy, you would have. All the boys at Barton were the exact fucking same— Secretarial Studies, sex jokes, it was never-ending and never-changing. You watched Angus’s neck go flushed, and Teddy added, “Oh, almost forgot! I found that picture you were looking for.” Quickly, he stuck a square Polaroid in Angus’s shirt pocket, and a smile crossed Teddy’s face. “Merry Christmas, Mr. Tully. You too, Miss. See you after break.” He winked at you, making your skin crawl, and he departed the room with a chuckle as Angus snatched the picture from his pocket. From your vantage point, you couldn’t see what it was, only the back that read HAPPY HOLIDAYS, but Angus’s mouth screwed up at it, and he flicked it down onto the ground. Your eyes followed it, and you saw a portrait of a family, a mom and dad and a boy, and you recognized the dark eyes and sunken features of the boy. But, in a blank space of the picture, in Teddy’s handwriting, an arrow pointed to the boy and declared “Fuckwad”.

The cold was biting, even through your coat, as you stood on the football field and watched the boys load into the Smith’s helicopter. Your hands were deep in your pockets as you stared into space, wondering if it could get any worse. As the helicopter took off, the wind blew your hair back, and you watched as it rose, up, up, and away. A heavy energy fell over you three, and your teacher let out a heavy sigh. “Well, let’s make the best of it,” Hunham said, flat but trying to put fake life into his words. The look in Angus’s eyes was harsh enough to kill, and Hunham averted his gaze from him over to you, his two little wards, the holdovers. “Shall we?”

#angus tully #angus tully x reader #dominic sessa #dominic sessa x reader #the holdovers

762 notes · View notes

am-i-the-asshole-official · 6 months

Note

AITA for not doing anything about my hiccups? So I (20f) get the hiccups constantly. A few years ago I got a concussion and since then I get hiccups at least a dozen times a day, normally only a few minutes long but sometimes it will last for half an hour. Typically its only that bad if I have been standing for a long time, and sitting down will normally make them stop at that point. I have not found anything to make them stop on my own, I have tried every single trick you can think of and no it doesn't get them to stop. I have gone to two doctors about it and they both found nothing actually wrong, they just think that it has something to do with the concussion. The actual conflict here started this weekend, when I went over to my friends house for our weekly dnd meeting. There was 7 people total and we were all hanging out in the living room before the game started, and I had started getting the hiccups. The DM "Max" (25m) decided that since the last person hadn't shown up yet we would get started, and began doing last weeks recap. Half way through it he paused and asked if i was going to do anything about my hiccups since it was kinda interrupting his flow of speech. I asked what he meant, and he explained that it was really rude of me to just be sitting there hiccupping constantly without even trying to do something, like take deep breathes, hold my breath, drink water, whatever tricks people use. I began explaining to his that those never work for me and letting them stop on their own works best, when he cut me off by shouting BOO as loud as he could, which did actually scare me, and the hiccups stopped. He started laughing, gloating and acting like he was the best, when not even 30 seconds later the hiccups started again, which is what happens every time someone tries scaring me. I got annoyed with Max because he knows this, I have told everyone in the group about my hiccups and to NOT try scaring me because it doesn't fucking work and i hate it. Another played told him again it wasn't my fault, and it wasn't a big deal and to just move on and talk louder over me. The rest of the session went fine, but when i got home I noticed a text from Max asking me to be more considerate next time, and it was a bit of a dick move to "argue with me in front of everyone" and that I could have just kept my mouth shut because it'll make the hiccups stop. I got pissed and just have been ignoring him, but other players have messaged me about it, one of them even mentioned Max asked them to and it is making me feel a bit worried that I am actually in the wrong here

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

136 notes · View notes

hyunjins-orange-slice-too · 30 days

Text

i like your panties

pairing: idol minho x fem reader

synopsis: you drunk text minho and accidentally send him something you shouldn’t

genre: idek- a little angsty? implied smut?

word count: ~1.3k

warnings: drinking.. is that all?

an: this was a request sent to my dms. obviously this is a fictional story, but i feel like i need to preface this one with that disclaimer because if this were real, our sweet minho would be in loads of trouble. 😅

masterlist • part 2

“another!” you shout, holding up your shot glass and clinking it against your friends’

you throw back the shot, scrunching up your face at the taste, before letting out a loud cheer and a giggle. you felt all fuzzy. warm and giddy. you needed this. after everything that happened with your ex, you needed a night out with your friends.

“so tell us everything.” your friend slurred at you from across the table. “what happened with you two?”

normally that question would sting, would feel like a stab in the gut, but you were so drunk that the question only made you giggle.

“he was mad that i like stray kids.” you told them. the table erupted into laughter.

“he dumped you because you like a kpop group?” your friend laughed.

you sloppily nodded. “yeah. he didn’t like that i had them on bubble. he saw a message from Lee Know pop up on my phone and he-“ hiccup “he freaked.”

another round of laughter made its way around the table. “what a loser.” one of your friends said.

“yeah. how insecure can he be?” another added.

“honestly, Lee Know would never treat you that way.” another joked, causing the laughter to grow louder.

ding

“speak of the devil.” you said, looking down at your phone.

“what? does he want you back now? is it him apologizing?”

you shook your head no. “no, i blocked his number. it’s Lee Know.” you giggled, turning your phone to show them his bubble message. it was just an extreme close up of his food and the message ‘맞춰봐 (take a guess)’ soon followed. you typed out your response to him, like he would ever see it, but instead of guessing what food he was eating, you typed out your phone number and the words ‘text me’ with a heart emoji. and before your drunken brain could become aware of the possible consequences to that action, you hit send. locking your phone, you shoved it back in your pocket.

“another shot!” your friend yelled to the bartender.

•

your keys clattered to the floor, jingling loudly in the hallway. “shit” you mumbled. carefully bending over to pick them up, swaying on your feet. you tried yet again, for the fourth time, to shove the key in the lock. by some miracle you managed to do it this time, unlocking the door and practically falling into your apartment. you drunkenly kicked off your shoes and stumbled to your room, falling on your bed.

you lay there, wanting your clothes off, but the room is kind of spinning. you manage to kick your pants off, and somehow you unclasp your bra, tossing it to the side.

now that you’re alone again, and the apartment is so quiet, you notice his absence. his stuff is all gone, his side of the bed empty. the bandaid that the alcohol and your friends managed to put on your wound has lost all of its stick and slowly falls to the ground. your world shatters again, your heart splintering. you think maybe you should unblock his number and call him to apologize. tell him that you’ll cancel your bubble subscription.. and you can put your Leebit in the closet or something. your eyes well up with tears. instead of shoving him in the closet, you pull Leebit closer to your chest and scrunch your eyes shut tight, fighting the urge to sob.

ding

your eyes fly open, your arm grasping around for your phone. you find it on the floor, in the pocket of your discarded pants. you bring the phone to your face, reading the notification.

—private number: hello?

it was your ex. it had to be. he got a new number to text you from because you blocked his old one. but why was it private? your drunken mind couldn’t find the will to care about that question, instead opting to sloppily type out a reply that was almost illegible.

“helo in soo sorry.” you typed.

—private number: why are you sorry? why are your texts so sloppy? have you been drinking?

“yup. k went out woth some friends. i miss you.” you replied.

—private number: are you home safe now? did you eat? drink some water.

you smiled at his message. how sweet. he never sent messages like that before. never seemed to care that much about you before. he must miss you too. you sat up, slipping your shirt off and throwing it on the floor to join your pants and bra. you were nude except for some lace panties. you managed to snap a couple of pictures. scrolling through them, past all the blurry ones, you decide on one and text it to him.

*attached image* “i made ut home safer, see? come over. 😘” you sent. minutes passed with no response. you were starting to get anxious, thinking maybe you should send another picture, maybe he didn’t get the message. but before you can do so, your phone dings again.

—private number: woah woah woah. i’m not sure if i should be seeing that.

you were starting to sober up now, worry twisting in your gut.

“what do you mean? you’ve seen it a million times. you don’t like it now?” you reply.

—private number: i have definitely never seen that before. how old are you? should i be worried? maybe this was a bad idea.

you were so confused. what is he talking about?

—private number: of course this was a bad idea. chan hyung told me not to text a number sent to me on bubble.

it was like a lightbulb went off over your head. just like in the cartoons, it clicked on and buzzed softly. you remembered the message you sent to minho on bubble when you were at the bar. drunk you is very brave apparently. what are the odds that he would have seen that message though? and the odds are even smaller that he would actually text you. this can’t be happening. you’re passed out drunk and this is all some elaborate drunken nightmare your brain is conjuring up. and you sent nudes. you almost laughed out loud at the ridiculousness of it all. did you send Lee Min-Ho nudes?

“Lee Know?” you texted, feeling silly.

—private number: before i answer that question, answer mine.

“i’m 27.” you replied.

—private number: thank god. you can’t just send stuff like that. are you trying to ruin my career? i thought you liked me.

“is this really Lee Know? no way.”

—private number: i assure you, it is.

“prove it.” you say. “send a picture to your bubble right now.”

after a couple moments your phone sounds off with a ding. a bubble message appears and when you click on it, you find a photo of a very annoyed looking Minho.

—private number: proof enough?

your heart dropped to your stomach, which was filled with butterflies but at the same time you thought you may throw up.

“OH MY GOD.” send. “IM SO SORRY.” send. “I PROMISE I DIDNT KNKW IT WAS TOU. I THOUGHT IT WAS MY EX. DONT LOOK .” send.

—private number: ㅋㅋ you’re cute.

“oh my god. i am so so so sorry. i promise i did not send that to you on purpose. i would never put you in that situation. please forgive me.” you rambled.

—private number: ㅋㅋ this is so funny. its okay.

“it is definitely NOT okay.” you argue.

—private number: i didn’t mind the picture. in fact, i may have another look. if that’s okay with you.

what? what did he just say? you read the text again and again. yup. this was definitely an alcohol induced dream.

—private number: i like your panties.

🚨reminder: this blog is 18+ only. i’ve been getting a lot of new followers (which i greatly appreciate) but if there’s no age identifier on your blog, i’m blocking you no questions asked. (for my own sanity and peace of mind.) ik some people don’t actually go to my page to read the warnings, so im going to start attaching a warning at the bottom of all my posts. thanks for understanding. 💕

#stray kids #stray kids x reader #stray kids imagines #stray kids smut #stray kids lee minho #stray kids minho #stray kids lee know #lee know x y/n #lee know skz #lee know x you #lee know x reader #lee know stray kids

61 notes · View notes

lukeevangelista · 1 year

Note

if u have time, can u do luca apologizing to reader cause of that fight. i lone angst but i need closure

Jealousy - L. Fantilli (blurb - part two)

Only bc I was an ass for ending it like I did, here’s part two

I’ve used the pic before but I love it so I’m using it again- sue me

Part one

“Lu,” you hiccuped into the phone, “Can you come get me?” You asked, “I don’t think I should drive home.”

“Y/N, are you drunk?” He asked, letting out a sigh- knowing he shouldn't have let you go back into the house; no matter how pissed you were at him.

At least you'd be home or with him and safe. Not in some frat house with lord knows who.

“No.” You giggled into the phone before you had the phone snatched from you by Rutger, who you were still hanging out with.

“I know you’re not happy with either of us, but she’s with me. Absolutely wasted, but she’s safe.”

“I’m on my way Ruts,” Luca sighed, “And Rutger?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for keeping an eye on her and keeping her safe while I’m not there.” “Always, she's my friend too.”

“You’re here! You came back for me!” You drunkly shouted as you tried to stand up, Luca and Rutger both grabbing an arm as you almost fell over.

“Woah, steady there.” Luca chuckled as he steadied you, making sure you weren't going to trip over your feet again, “Are you ready to go home?”

“Are you still mad at me?” Luca didn’t answer as he tried to guide you out of the house once again. He didn’t know how he felt. He knew he was still mad about how you acted about all of it, but he also knew you’d never do anything to hurt him; let alone with one of his best friends and teammates.

Luca helped you into the car, quickly buckling you in. He went to pull his body out, but you grabbed the chain he was wearing pulling you towards him as you pressed a sloppy kiss to his cheek.

“I love you and thank you for coming to get me.”

He gave you a soft grin before pressing a kiss to your forehead, “I’ll always come get your drunk ass.”

He shut the door, quickly rounding to the other side to get and tried his fastest to get you home.

Luckily, the party wasn't too far from where you were staying for the school year. Luca walked you inside, helping you get ready for bed.

It didn’t take long as he helped get you changed, your makeup off, and your teeth half assed brushed before he helped you pop your retainers in before guiding you to your bed.

“Are you staying?” You mumbled, slowly starting to sober up. You were starting to remember things, the fight and Luca picking you up coming back to your memory.

“Of course, I’m not leaving you alone.”

You swiftly gave him a nod as he grabbed some sweatpants from his drawer he had at yours, quickly changing and getting into bed on the side that was self proclaimed as his.

“I don’t understand why you don’t trust me.” You half drunkenly stated, “I trust you; even when you’re on the road and have girls throwing themselves at you in your DM’s.” you whispered, “It was your friend I was talking to. Our friend. Us trying to do something nice for you.”

“Go to bed baby.” Luca said, “Well talk about this tomorrow.” He pressed a kiss to your forehead, his arms pulling you to his bare chest.

“I wanna talk about it now.” You whispered into his chest, “I love you soooo much and I’d never do anything to hurt you like that. There could be a million people in the room and the only person I’d see is you. No one else.” you stated, “You’re all I want- no one else.”

“I know sweetheart.” Luca said as you felt his arms tighten around you as you opened up to him.

“Then why don’t you trust me?” You asked as you felt your lip slightly quiver. If there was one thing you and Luca knew about you, it’s that you were a sappy and sad drunk.

“I trust you!” he said, trying to put out the fire before it got worse.

“Clearly you don’t.” you whispered as you felt his hands run through your hair, trailing down your arm and back up; something he would do that would always calm you down.

“i don’t wanna lose you, you’re an absolute babe and you could do so much better than me.” he said, diverting eye contact with you. He admitted something that he had never said out loud to you ever and he didn’t know how you were going to react. Whether you were going to agree and tell him to leave or what, but he should have known that wouldn’t be the case. He was just overthinking it all.

“You’re it for me Luca,” You started as you leaned up, “There’s no one else in the world I’d rather be with. No one else I’d rather love on or argue with. You’re it. Just you.”

129 notes · View notes

pfhwrittes · 28 days

Note

Talk Shop Tuesday:

What piece(s) has (have) been most influenced by friendships you've formed here, and how is that reflected in your work?

hi gemma, i love you 💜

(and heads up, this is going to get long)

oh boy, so many of my fics have been inspired by my friends here!

it's absolutely mental to me that i started this blog because i wanted to yell at @391780 on tumblr instead of in her ao3 comments. so i think we can all say thank you to the lovely early for being my entry point into the cod fandom (her work The Arrangement was one of the first fics i read in the fandom - and one of the fics i've mostly recently re-read. i finished it up around 7.30 this morning).

in fact the entirety of the Retail Hell AU was inspired by this ask which came off the back of a post of hers talking about john price working in retail post-141 life.

in fact, a lot of my Masterlist is the result of me going "EARLY I'VE HAD ANOTHER IDEA!!!" in her DMs. she has my eternal love and gratitude for being such a fantastic writer and cheerleader for my writing.

next up, the lovely @kaadaaan is the sole reason i have so many john "soap" mactavish is a Certified Freak posts in my Here Be Kink Masterlist (heed the tags with that one, it's 18+ for a reason). most notably my most recent fics featuring slightly pathetic!johnny x pervy housemate!reader (part one and part two or on ao3 here).

vi is the WORST for letting me run my mouth on her posts or in her DMs. i have a whole document of notes on how i want to expand those fics into a truly depraved universe (rip to kyle, he's about to get put in the middle of the weirdest threesome of his life while simon slowly loses his mind over the fact that his stolen t-shirt is now a cum rag for the most disgusting couple he knows).

then there's @syoddeye. i found For the Record on ao3 and fell in love with the way they write the messy reality of living with addiction and being kind of stalled out in your life. it dragged emotions i hadn't felt for years out of me and i think as a result it's given me the courage to be vulnerable in my own writing in a way that i wasn't confident enough to do when i first started writing for the fandom.

it's really fucking scary to leave parts of yourself in your writing, intentionally or not, but the fact that they continue to pour love on my kyle x transmasc!reader fic from my Binders and Boyfriends series and have called it a comfort fic just means the absolute world to me.

and finally, there's you cariad! yes that's right, you of @gemmahale fame! you have been one of my biggest and brightest cheerleaders for anything involving our beloved kyle "gaz" garrick. it has been an absolute joy to yell in your DMs over The Contract (and some other stuff 😉). i would apologise for going "wait, what about if we did THIS...?" and accidentally turning our lovely self-contained demon au into an entire universe BUT that would be a lie. i am deeply in lesbians with your brain and ideas.

i can't pinpoint a specific fic (aside from some still unseen stuff) that you've had the most influence over but much like sy has, you've encouraged me to trust my instincts with my stories. oh and to never ever scrap a single piece of a wip, just to put it in the odds and ends section at the bottom 😉.

special shout outs go to @greatstormcat, @mortuarywriting, @dragonnarrative-writes, @eilidh-eternal, @ceilidho, @secretsynthetic, @sentientcave and so many other fantastic people that i've seen pop up in my notes just to cheer me on and grace us all with their fantastic writing. every single one of you that i've mentioned (and some people that i'm sure i've forgotten) have encouraged me to keep writing, or to be conscientious and considerate in regards to keeping this little corner of the fandom i inhabit a diverse and welcoming space to ALL readers. from the bottom of my very mushy heart, thank you 💜

Talk Shop Tuesday

#pfh answers #Talk Shop Tuesday #i love each and every one of you that has taken time to read my fics or headcanons and has graced me with likes and reblogs #back in december 2023 i never would've expected to find my way into this community at all #and you've all been so wonderful and welcoming that it makes me a little bit emotional actually #just know that if you're reading this that i love you

19 notes · View notes

kaiowut99 · 3 months

Text

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX Episodes 106-107 Subbed (Finalized)

(Previously: Episode 105 Subbed [Finalized])

(Check out my Subbed!GX Stream Masterpost!)

TURN-106: Judai and Johan of the Gem Beast Deck

A new school term has started at the Duel Academia. Invited to the Academia as transfer students and becoming new friends are the Academy Champions known as Amon, O'Brien, Crocodile, and a mysterious boy--along with one Professor Cobra. Meanwhile, atop the school building rooftop, Judai meets a boy who can see Spirits--who turns out to be the "mysterious boy," Johan. Cobra proposes an Exhibition Match, pitting Judai against Johan. Johan turns out to be a duelist in control of the rare Monsters known as the Gem Beasts.

TURN-107: The Neo-Spacians VS the Gem Beasts

Johan summons one Gem Beast after another, from his Amethyst Cat to his Topaz Tiger. Judai also has Neo-Spacian Flare Scarab and Neos perform a Contact Fusion to take them on with his Flare Neos. Then, Johan destroys Judai's Field Magic and activates a new Field Magic, Ancient City of Rainbows -- Rainbow Ruins, sending his Neo-Spacian back to his deck. Seeing these skillful attacks, Ed begins to speak of the unknown relationship between Johan and his Gem Beasts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

...so, didn't mean to let these take about a month and a half since 105 was all finalized, but heremst we be *sips indie coffee*

Season 3 gets into full swing with these two episodes as it starts us off with a hint of our upcoming big bad right off the jump (RIP Hiromi Tsuru, your Yubel is still fantastic), then introduces us to the big foreign players we'll be seeing quite a bit of going forward. Judai has a nightmare taking place in an area similar to his vision with Saiou--which I'm sure is unrelated to anything--and then opening ceremonies ensue before we're introduced properly to our new transfer students, and the Ancient Roman lore around Johan's Gem Beasts which was pretty cool to include; Judai and Johan then have a fun duel together as we see the Gem Beasts in action facing Judai's Neo-Spacians. These episodes also see the debut of some of my favorite OST tracks from Season 3, like Fervent Duel (used really well in 107) and A Pinch here. Ed coming in for 107 and giving us the background on Johan from Pegasus, featuring cameos of Dark Yugi, Kaiba, and Jounouchi (from the Warriors and Unstopping Overflowing Feelings OP/EN in DM--these nods were kept in the dub, so it was the first time those particular shots of Kaiba and Jou were used in the West), as we learn that he gifted the Gem Beasts to Johan during a tournament in Europe was good, and I still love Johan's little fakeout at the end with the Rainbow Dragon he doesn't actually have yet. A fun duo of episodes with a fun, low-stakes duel that we should enjoy while we can.

Quick side-notes for the dub, but want to take a sec to shout out Jim's dub VA who perfectly nailed his Australian voice for the guy, and who I hope comes back if we're ever lucky enough to get a more accurate GX redub (though I think he was recast in DL? But still sounded pretty good). Dub!Yubel, though... I'm still baffled by the decision made with that voice, and I'm glad they eventually went with a better voice in BBT. 107 also saw them make a bunch of--I assume--time cuts, including most of the cold open which featured our first in-series look at Martin, and other shots as Cobra set up his evil lair in the old SAL lab (continuity!), but also the ending shot as Cobra looks at the duel energy he collected and comments on their impressive duel--most of those are fair as far as time cuts go, though I think the ending scene should've been kept. It's also interesting that, with Johan's southern accent being a thing in the dub (which has grown on me, though I like his later no-accent voice more), that they had Pegasus say the tournament he went to with him happened "down south;" according to a comment on the Crunchyroll upload, the venue's the "All-England Lawn Tennis Club where the Grand Slam Wimbledon" happens in the UK? lol

Animation error-wise, there were just over a handful that I picked up on in each episode that I went ahead and fixed up--mostly quality-of-watching ones along with a couple of card errors, and I also translated the bio on Amon that O'Brien hands to Cobra early in episode 106. As always, details below the cut if interested, along with Translation Notes for the bio.

Anywho, enjoy! The next two-parter features our fiery boy O'Brien, and with some really nice art/animation in 109 that I always love to revisit; I'll begin work on that once I finalize some special side work that I should hopefully get to post about soon, too, though I'll also be going back to episode 1 to fix up a card error I forgot to tackle, lol. Stay tuned!

Fixes/Edits! (106)

Early in the episode, Professor Cobra enters O'Brien's room on the ship and asks who else would be visiting him; he hands him a bio pointing to one Amon Garam. As detailed here, I translated Amon's bio in this shot, first compiling a full image to edit from its later appearances in 111 and 121, then keyframing it into the rotating zooming-out shot that happens here with AfterEffects and Sony Vegas. (The full text of the bio is in that detailed post)

In the next shot, Cobra asks if Amon came to see O'Brien, noting that he seems to be a meddler but suggests that he doesn't pay him any mind, turning to pass the bio back to him--as he does so, a few quick animation errors happen: 1) Cobra's face/mouth glitch for a few quick frames as he shifts his face into a smile (likely his current face being left over his moving face behind it); 2) the bio page in his hand jitters a bit in the frames leading up to his turning towards O'Brien; and 3) once O'Brien's holding the paper and moves it down, there are a quick few frames where a small part of his hair (the one bang on his left) is missing before it comes back. As detailed here, I edited in my translation to the bio while Cobra's holding it and as he passes it back, masking in Cobra and the rest of the frame over it for blending, while also fixing those errors for the Japanese scene by holding Cobra's face pre-glitch over the glitched frames, editing the Amon bio so it's steady throughout, and masking in O'Brien's full hair bang over the frames where it's cut short.

Later, as the Judai/Johan duel gets underway, Judai and Johan give their "Duel!" shouts and draw their hands, but a few things happen as they jump into a split-screen for it: 1) Judai moves a frame before Johan starts to slide in on his split; 2) once the screen pans down to their decks as they draw, the split-screen border seems to have been drawn in oddly, as part of Judai's side ends up just on top of the border (also seems to be slightly cut off in width halfway down); and 3) as they split apart, more of Judai seems to have made it to the left of his split's border. I fixed each one in Vegas by first sliding in Johan a frame earlier as Judai moves, then enhancing the split-screen border a bit to cover up what ends up on top of it and to its left as they split out (I generally try to avoid making redone borders that much bigger, but thought it was the only way to cleanly/consistently fix that).

After Johan plays Gem Beast Emerald Turtle, we cut to the Overseas Champions watching on, with Jim whistling before Amon expresses his surprise at the Gem Beasts--but a coloring error happens in the rapid pan from Jim to Amon, with both having odd coloring spots. A quick fix in Vegas by redoing the panning using a frame of Jim post-whistle and a frame of Amon before his mouth moves.

After Judai summons Neos, Johan laments that he can't ask for his autograph while they're dueling, but notes that he was waiting for him to summon a new Monster--Judai slides in on a split-screen to question that, but a few things happen: 1) Johan starts moving to make room for his split a frame before he does so; 2) a coloring error happens as Judai and Johan then split apart before Johan activates Triggered Summon (more noticeable on Johan), and 3) Judai's uneven slide-out leads to it taking a frame longer than Johan's to get offscreen. Fixed each one in Vegas by sliding Judai in a frame earlier as Johan moves, masking in Judai and Johan's pre-slide-out splits over the frames as they slide out to fix the coloring error, and making Judai's slide-out match Johan's by masking one frame in earlier.

[continued below, just split thanks to stupid text-block character limits]

(6) A bit later, after Johan talks about not having any destruction cards in his deck so he can see his opponents going all-out, Judai notes how neat he finds him; as they split apart and Johan tells him to bring out his new Monster (due to Triggered Summon's effect), there's a quick frame where the border is missing on Judai's split. Quick fix in Vegas as I just added it back on by duplicating the one on Johan's and touching it up as needed.

(7) As Judai then summons Neo-Spacian Gran Mole, we see it pop up in front of him, but Judai has black rectangles on his Disk where Gran Mole, Neos, and Aqua Dolphin should be. Fixed using AfterEffects to slap on proxies for each in one frame, which I then took into Sony Vegas and shook around position-wise frame by frame to add it to the full shot (thankfully, this was just shaking around and not zooming in or out lol).

(8) During the preview for 107, we see Judai on a split-screen jumping as Johan declares an attack with his Amethyst Cat, but as they slide apart, two quick things happen: 1) there's a quick frame where there's just black behind them (and Johan's split's border isn't as glowy as Judai's), and 2) some of Johan's split's border hangs on for two frames after he and Judai slide offscreen. Fixed each in Vegas for 107 proper first, then applied the fixes here, masking in Amethyst Cat behind Judai and Johan as they split apart, then masking in some of the whooshing background behind Amethyst Cat to cover up the remaining bit of Johan's split border for those two frames.

Fixes/Edits! (107)

After Judai summons Flare Scarab, he has it do a Contact Fusion with Neos for Flare Neos, but as he declares Flare Scarab's name for it, we see that the cards on his Disk--for Gran Mole, Neos, and Flare Scarab--are flipped upside-down. Fixed in AfterEffects first by applying proxies as Judai swings his Disk around, then on one frame during the zoom-out on Flare Scarab after he moves--I then took the latter frame into Sony Vegas, where I redid the zoomout on it for the whole shot, masking in Flare Scarab on top of it.

After Johan plays Rainbow Ruins and Judai's Battle Phase ends, we see his Disk as Flare Neos returns to his field, but not only are his cards upside-down again--he also has regular ol' Neos where Flare Neos should be. Fixed both in AfterEffects by applying the Mole and Flare Neos proxies correctly, masking in the orb part of Judai's Disk over the Gran Mole one.

A bit after the eyecatch, as Judai realizes that Johan hasn't played his ace yet, he starts to ask about it, startling Johan as he slides into a split-screen with him to ask as much, but Johan starts to move for it a frame early. Fixed in Sony Vegas by sliding Judai in a frame earlier there.

Later, after Johan explains that Ruby Special-Summons itself and the other Gems in his Magic/Trap Zone when placed there (rude of the OCG to remove that part of its effect), we split out of the split-screen there as Ruby's summoned, but the border on Johan's split hangs on for an extra frame. Fixed in Vegas by just masking in part of the whooshing background over it.

A bit later, Johan declares a direct attack with Amethyst Cat, and Judai jumps as their split-screen splits apart to show Amethyst Cat pouncing at him, but as they slide apart, 1) there's a quick frame where there's just black behind them (and Johan's split's border isn't as glowy as Judai's), and 2) some of Johan's split's border hangs on for two frames after he and Judai slide offscreen. As noted for the preview version of this shot in 106's list, I fixed these here first before applying the fix there, masking in Amethyst Cat behind Judai and Johan as they split apart, then masking in some of the whooshing background behind Amethyst Cat to cover up the remaining bit of Johan's split border for those two frames.

Later, after summoning Air Neos (who), Judai slides into a split-screen to explain his ATK-gain-per-LP-difference effect; as they slide apart, Judai's uneven slide-out causes his side to take a frame longer than Johan's to slide offscreen. Fixed in Vegas by just masking part of Judai's slide-out a frame earlier to even up the slide-out.

A bit later, after Johan hypes up Rainbow Dragon only to end in a "just kiddin'," Judai clicks in for a split-screen in confusion before they split apart to show Air Neos's attack connecting with Amber Mammoth--as they split apart, parts of the border on Johan and Judai's splits hang on for an extra frame. I fixed this by just using the touched-up version of this shot from the recap in 108, which had Judai and Johan's splits slide out more naturally.

After the duel, Cobra walks out to congratulate the two on a duel well fought; he beckons them towards him, but as he walks up to the center of the arena to do so, his still feet jitter as Judai and Johan start to walk over. Fixed in Vegas by masking in his feet from the frame as Judai and Johan start to walk over over the 2-3 earlier frames as he gets to the center of the arena to keep it consistent.

#GX #yugioh #ygo #ygo gx #yugioh gx #yu-gi-oh gx #yu-gi-oh! gx #Judai Yuki #Johan Andersen #my subs #give it up for best directionless boy Johan #god i remember the old April Fools joke on Janime where fake dub names were announced for the Overseas Champions #including one changing O'Brien to Marz Kelvinheit or something--it was amazing lmao #these first few S3 episodes really are the calm before the impending storm; good times

15 notes · View notes

ddejavvu · 2 years

Note

Hi Mei,

If you’re still accepting prompts for your follower celebration, may I please request:

We're engraved in each other's hearts- Eddie Munson, where the reader is dating Eddie but is engaged in a D&D campaign with another DM/group of friends from before they met Eddie? (Sorry if this is too specific, you don’t have to do this!! I just thought it was a fun thought because I picture this man being So Offended™️ about it. Constantly talks about how you’re “cheating” on him, is only 95% joking.)

come celebrate 5.7k with me!

We're engraved in each other's hearts - send me a scenario and a character and i’ll write about what it would be like! (ex. going to an art museum with spencer reid)

"Can't fucking believe you're cheating on me," Eddie huffs, blowing a strand of hair out of his face.

"I am not cheating on you!" You stop at the door of his trailer, your jacket thrown over your arm and your bag on your shoulder, "You're so dramatic."

"I don't get it! I don't get it," He stands, making his way towards you and stopping just behind you, his arms slapping his sides, "What do they have that we don't?"

"Alex's mom makes us cookies," You remind him, one of your eyebrows quirking up, "Plus, they're my friends."

"I'm your boyfriend," He deflates, his shoulders slumping, "I mean, come on, do they have cool t-shirts? Does their DM have a throne? Do they have a-"

"Eddie," You fit a hand over his lips, staring amusedly into his dark doe eyes, "No, we don't have any of those things. But we have lots of history, besides, I can't just ditch in the middle of a campaign!"

As soon as you're done speaking Eddie licks your hand, effectively freeing him as you wipe it on his jacket.

"Well I hope those cookies taste good, baby," He gripes, "'Cause I think I'll just be too tired from planning out our next awesome campaign to make us dinner tonight."

You roll your eyes fondly, gripping his cheeks in one hand and tugging him forward to press a kiss to the apple of one. He grumbles something through his forcibly-pursed lips about you 'abandoning him', but you don't let him get further than that, ducking out the door and waving goodbye to him from the front as your friend's car pulls up.

"Bye, Eddie! I'll bring you back a cookie," You call to him, blowing him a kiss before turning your back and throwing open your friend's passenger side door.

'I don't want a cookie!" Eddie shouts after you, the slamming of your door interrupting his dramatics, "Cheater!"

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson scenario #eddie munson oneshot #eddie munson one-shot #eddie munson one shot #eddie munson headcanons #eddie munson headcanon #eddie munson hc #eddie munson hcs #eddie munson fanfiction #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fic #eddie munson blurb #eddie munson drabble #eddie munson dialogue #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson x reader fanfiction

361 notes · View notes

topguncortez · 11 months

Text

i would just like to say happy one year birthday to the first ever topgun fic i ever wrote.

little did i know that writing this one fic would turn into what it is now. i have built a whole story world. i have built a whole community of devout reads. i have found this amazing community of writers, creators, readers.

a year ago i was in tough place. i had just come home from a deployment, i was in a toxic relationship and friendship. i had no direction. i started using again. but because i had a great community and outlet and friends around me (even tho they are online) it helped me through so much.

i have been able to write out my pain, my sadness, my happiness, my joy, my accomplishments. i have been able to make people feel and let them know that they are not alone. i have made people cry and laugh and smile and wanna tear my head off. i have made a place where people feel comfortable, and welcome and have a sense of belonging.

when i say i love you guys, i mean it. when i say I care about you guys, i mean it. when i say my inbox, dms, submissions, snapchat, what have you is open, i mean it. you guys have been there for me, and it’s only fair that i do the same.

so thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for riding with me this past year. i know we’ve gone through our patches and i’ve bitched out the spam-likers, and the non-rebloggers till i’m blue in the face. but you guys have stuck by me and rode with me and that means so so much to me.

HERE’S TO ONE FULL TRIP AROUND THE SUN 🍾🥂

and i just wanna shout-out a few people who have made this crazy journey amazing: @roosterbruiser @ohtobeleah @a-reader-and-a-writer @mayhem24-7forever @callsign-phoenix @footprintsinthesxnd @marvelandotherfandomimagines @rhettabbotts @sunlightmurdock @jostystyles @lt-natrace @roosterscock @green-socks @hederasgarden @wildbornsiren

and one big ass huge ass shoutout to the bitch who’s gonna have to deal with my ass for three days @seresinsbabe you have helped me in more ways than i can even count. if i were in jail, i’m calling you to get rid of the body. LOVE YOU WHORE

#g mail #y’all got me feeling feelings #i be feelin all the love today

34 notes · View notes

mrs-monaghan · 10 months

Note

the way this fandom have trouble with ANYTHING jimin related is sickening. First, the obvious mistreatment with all of jm's releases. Then, we have "ot7s" accusing focused jimin accs of being solos. When jm's fanbases organizes streaming parties and recomebacks, its hell on twitter. Now, that person who was the guide for the jimin tour on that harry potter place is being accused of being a tae anti. Why the hell people started to search her tweets about tae in the first place, even tho she has the little seven on her dn? Just because she saw jm and said he is the most precious human being? Btw, her tweets about tae werent problematic at all. She just metioned things that TAE DID, like his paris date with jennie. Some "ot7" started to say she was tae anti and boom, people believed it and taes solos started to send death threats to the poor girl. Just because she was saying that we should normalize the members being treated as the grown man they r, men that can make their own decisions. ADULT decisions. If she had been a guide to any other member, i wonder, would she receive this hate?

What the fuck is wrong with this fandom. Why, even the "ot7", have such a big problem with jimin? I really dont get it. I dont think its a exaggeration anymore when we say that the only real ot7s r the ones that have jimin as bias. When we see fake ot7, always is someone who have other members as bias, and that shades jimin. On the other hand, more and more we have jimin biased army becoming solos because of all this hate he receives. And i dont judge them. I mean, i dont like solos, but i can understand the urge to defende jimin of everything and everyone, because, in the reality, we can't even trust the people on our own fandom. This solo bts era is a mess, and i'm so sick of all of this. I'm happy members r happy discovering who they r as individuals, and i'm loving what they r showing to us. But i'm afraid this fandom is worse and worse everyday.

I remember when this lady got attacked. Best believe me and my friends were right there backing her up among other people who were doing the same. She got many DMs all telling her to kill herself simply because she said V is an adult and can smoke if he wants to. Their real issue was that she met Jimin and praised him for being the beautiful, kind human that he is.

This is why this discord is important. More people need supporters in their corner. When 50 tkkrs are attacking you it can be overwhelming and that's why people leave twitter. But if you have other people fighting them off and encouraging you to stay and block them, it can make someone feel better about having people in their corner.

This girl had back up and she's strong so she stayed. The vermin are the scam of the earth. And I for one I'm done watching them ran havoc and get away with it. My friends and I have been fighting them for months and we will continue to do so with or without people's support.

Of course it would be nice if more people joined us but if you let these big tumblrs get in your head just because, then things will continue like they have been and what good has that done? You can yap about Jimin abuse all day. You can shout at the rooftops about JK being used as a shipping tool by tkkrs. You can cry all day about Jkkrs getting attacked and ran out. And u can complain about ot7 accounts being tkkrs that allow Jimin to get dragged. But if you're not doing anything about it then what good does that do?

For everyone who has something to say about what we are doing; If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. You can deal with things your way, that's fine. But if u don't want to join the fight then keep it moving. If you don't want anything to do with this then just, let, us, be.

Anyway anon. Chapter 2 has been a fucking mess. Makes me wonder what will happen when all of the Tannies enlist and the fandom is left without supervision. Then what?

Discord still here. All welcome.

#ask shaz #bts ask #toxic jikookers #Jikookers #the vermin #the fuckery #jikook

36 notes · View notes

cryptidsncurios · 15 days

Text

@cursedfortune sent: belated/early munday question: horror stories you're ride or die for? it can be from any media.

Eyyy, guess what, it’s munday now, so thanks for the question friend! To start, my blanket statement concerning my faves is that I absolutely love any story that explores the unknowable, the unexplainable, and the extraordinarily eldritch. Cosmic and monstrous horror is MY. JAM. I’m into the gore, the body horror, the things that are just TOO. BIG. for our brains to comprehend so they just.. yknow… explode. Bonus points that I am a notorious terato and appealing monster designs are just……. hhhh

So in terms of specifics: it’s sad that Lovecraft was such an asshole, bc honestly some of his stories serve as the cornerstone for a lot of my inspo, primarily his works like Call of Cthulhu, At the Mountains of Madness, Beyond the Wall of Sleep, Dagon, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, and etceteraaa. Thankfully, his ideas have since been better adapted for people who AREN’T raging bigots like himself, which is why I HAVE to give a big shoutout to Lovecraft Country, of which I’ve only read the book but I hear the show is awesome too.

And nooooow let me kinda do this by categories with some of the highlights off the top of my head:

Movies:

The Thing (or anything John Carpenter tbh)

Hellraiser (plus the book Hellbound Heart, and just Clive Barker in general)

The Ritual

The Void (the ultimate love letter to practical effects horror, would recommend 10/10)

Color Out of Space (also the short story, plus I gotta credit Nic Cage, his performance was actually fantastique)

Shows:

EVERY. SEASON. OF. CHANNEL. ZERO. No lie, it's AMAZING. (And it's not like American Horror Story that's like.... icky to me, ngl. Some parts of that are cool, but then others are.... yuck. iykyk

Uuuuh tbh haven't watched too many shows, but I do have every intention to watch The Last of Us (as well as play it)

Books:

Tomie (and like, ALL of Junji It's stuff... so can we get some love for Junji Ito heeere!!)

Frankenstein

Camp Damascus

And I'm working on reading Shadows Over Baker Street now, which is like, if Sherlock Holmes was in the world of HP Lovecraft and so far it's WICKED SICK and Neil Gaiman writes the opening short story A Study in Emerald and I love that man, he is a fantastic human being)

Also since I'm on the subject of Gaiman, Coraline gets a mention

The Turn of the Screw (read in college and the first paragraph is a doozy but the ending HIT ME)

Video Games:

Silent Hill (any time it's foggy I'm like "i..it look..looks liiike....... o_o u know what... O-O )

The Evil Within (both games---they have their problems, but the haunting atmosphere is A+++ (well, in-between all the... horrific dying... pffff))

And like……. whatever it is that’s going on in Kojima’s silly little mind

Also I would like to give a shout out to the comedy/horror genre, like the Evil Dead series (Bruce Campbell, pls slide into my DMs), Dude Bro Party Massacre III (I'm not sure this counts as horror??? but OH lord my brain is still trying to wrap around this insane mess and I need people to watch it), and Tucker and Dale vs Evil.

So yeah, is a messy list tbh and there’s a ton more, but these ARE my ride or die picks and I'm sorry that this got so long but I have FEELINGS for horror aaaaaah

#sooorry i popped off like this i just lov... spoooooookyyyy #cursedfortune #ooc: screamy speaks

5 notes · View notes

mcbabyunderbite · 1 year

Text

Letitia wright x black fem actress reader! Pt 2

Part 2

Warning: none

Words count: I wonder that to?

I really didn’t expect this to be so long but I hope you like it❤️

B/n = brothers name

We pulled back from each other with widen eyes as Eva immediately turn of her live and then looked at us with wide eyes “what was that” “SHIT” me and Letitia says at the same time looking at each other “ what are we supposed to do now” I said looking at Eva and Tish “ I don’t now maybe just don’t say anything and take a break from socials for a while” Letitia says shrugging her shoulders

“are you crazy Tish y’all can’t just take a break after god knows how many saw that kiss and know by now that y’all are dating” Eva says looking at bout of us “ Eva’s right we need to tell them it’s better they hear it from us and not the media” I said looking at Letitia “ okey fine but I’m going to turn of my notifications because I know this is not going to be over any time soon” “alright then let me post a story then I need to go I have a meeting with Tati tomorrow” I said taking out my phone from my pocket.

TherealY/nL/n posted a story

Alright I posted it now just pray for my notifications I said looking at both my girlfriend and Eva “good job I will pray for you, now if you don’t mind I am tired so I’m going to sleep. lock the door after you” Eva said going to her bed making her self comfortable me and Tish looked at each other and then went up to put back the chairs at the table and the plate in the sink. After that we said our goodbyes to Eva and went out of the door and hoped in the car. On the ride home it was just silence but not a awkward silence a pretty much comfortable silence until my phone started to vibrate as hell and I took it and saw all the dm’s, tags and a message from my manager.

Tatiana❤️:why did you not tell me y’all were going to reveal the secret

You:it wasn’t planed it just happened you know

Tatiana❤️:alright but you need to tell me everything

You:hahaha yea I gotcha se you tomorrow

Tatiana❤️: se ya

ONE AND A HALF MONTH LATTER!

Second person pov

Y/n landed at Beverly Hills in California about two days ago and now it’s the night before the event. Y/n and Tish did not take each other as a plus one because both of them where going to be there so Tish took Eva because Eva wanted to go so bad and Y/n took her little brother as her plus one and Tati was there to of course. Everyone stayed at the same hotel so they hung out ever since they got there.

Y/n’s PoV

Me my brother, Eva, Tati and Tish where out and took a night walk together and talked about everything. Since me and Tish came out as a couple to the world it has been more easy to spend time together outside more like lover and not just friends and it feels good but all the paparazzi god damn what they are annoying. Every time after we have been out together weather I’ll be with friends or alone after a day or two there are fotos of us from that day but what can you do when you are famous 🤷🏾‍♀️

“Tati which time are we going to the event” I asked looking at her “ the event starts at 1 pm so we will be there about 10-20 minutes after” Tati said writing something on her phone. I looked at my phone and saw that the time was 10:40pm “ it’s getting pretty late let’s go back to the hotel” Tati says, did she just read my mind anyways, and we all turn around to go back. Back at the hotel everyone went to there own rooms while me and Tish went to my room.

“Y/n I’m taking a shower” she says from my bedroom and is about to go in the bathroom when I shout “I was about to shower wait for me at least!” I said running to the bathroom and there she stood leaning toward the door in a sport bra and some gray Nike shorts, I just stood there and stared at every future of her gorgeous body “are you coming or you just going to stand there like a antelope in headlights” she said chuckling, I then chuckled with her “ sorry your just so pretty” I said going in the bathroom “ I’m going to show you how pretty your are” Tish says smacking my ass and close the bathroom door after her.

I woke up by my alarm ringing from my phone I stretched out my arm to take my phone on the mini table beside my bed, I looked at my phone at it was 7 am in the morning I yawned and looked to my left side and saw Tish still sleeping throughout the alarm. I was about to wake her up went I heard a knock on the door “Y/n it’s me open de door “ Tati said outside the door” “I’m coming” I yelled and that made Letitia wake up “why are you screaming” she said with a tired voice “sorry but it’s time to wake up” I said getting up walked to the other side of the bed to put on some shorts and then kissed Letitia on the cheek and went to open the door.

“Why were you taking so long time to just open a door” Tati asks i just rolled my eyes and went back to my room with Tati behind me “ okey so you stylists will be here at 9pm and your dress will be here at 11pm” she says while looking down at her phone “ “okey god then we have time to eat before they are here” I said “ yea we are eating at 07:30 so be down there don’t come late” yea yea I said looking through my clothes to se what I’m going to wear. “ okey I’m going se ya ” she looked up from her Phone and Then notice that Tish was in bed listening to your conversation “ oh Hey Letitia didn’t se you… mhmm that why you took so long to open the door huh” Tati says with a smirk “ shut up” I said jokingly “ hahaha I’ll leave you guys alone byee” and with that she went out and closed the door after her.

“Good morning did you sleep well I ask stil looking for clothes” “ yes I did what about you love?” ” I slept like a baby” I said smiling at her. “ good- I need to go back to my room to change but I se you downstairs yea?” and with that she went out the bed to put on the same sweatpants that she wore yesterday night and one of my oversized t-shirt and then came from behind and gently spun me around to look at her and our lips immediately connected together I pulled away after over 30 seconds to catch my breath “ I se you later” she said kissing me ” I love you” “ love you too” and with that she went out and again you hear the door lock after her.

Now you are in your room alone just thinking about how you going to talk to people don’t to weird stuff because there are going to be cameras everywhere you looked. You jump out of your thoughts when you remember that you need to shower before going down stairs.

I found what I was going to wear and stood straight up to take a shower Alright Y/n you need to get in the shower now our your going to be late I said to myself and made my way to the bathroom the same bathroom that Tish put her fingers…. Anyways

After I showered I put on some cyan sweatpants and a white cropped top that sucked to my upper body in a perfect way I brushed my hair and then looked at my phone it was 07:35pm “ shit I’m already late she’s going to kill me” I said hurrying up and took my keys my AirPods and my phone was already in my hand and with that I went out of my room and made my way down stairs.

Went I arrived down I spotted my brother taking breakfast so I joined him “ good morning B/n” I said taking a plate he turned around and looked at me “ good morning sister” he said taking some pancakes “ where are the others?” “ they have already taken their food but they siting a little more in to the restaurant ” he said taking orange juice and waited for me I took apple juice and we made our way to the other.

When we arrived I sat beside Letitia and took a sip of my apple juice “ your late” Tati said looking at me while eating her fruits “ yea I know but it was just 5 minutes it could have been worse” I said taking a bite from my pancakes. We all sat and just talked about the award and who we were expecting to win what and more “ Angela Bassett is going to win for sure” I said and everyone nodded in agreement. I looked at Tish and saw that she already was looking at me “what” I asked confused “ nothing can’t I look at you without any explanation” she asked I just playfully rolled my eyes with a little to big smile on my face and shifted to the conversation that Tati hade started with everyone on the table.

40-50 minutes later

“Alright it seems that we are done Y/n I have already told you what you have to do B/n your stylist will be here at the same time as Y/n’s but he will come after we be done with Y/n’s makeup and hair and your clothes as well will be here around 11pm like Y/n’s” Tati said going up to leave her plate I looked at Tish and asked “ when are your Miss M (manager) coming I said smiling at her “ she’s going to be here around 9 with the team” Tish said looking at me and asked if I was done I nodded and we both went up from our chairs while Eva and B/n had already went before us.

After we left the plates we where going to go back to the rooms and chill until it was time to get ready but we got stopped by some girls“ omg Y/n and Letitia can we get a picture with both of you they asked and we both nodded happily we brought them closer to us and then asked Tati to take the pictures she agreed and we did some funny poses and then they thanked us, saying goodbye y’all went in the elevator “ they were so cute” I said with a warm smile on my face “ yea they were but now we just need to wait a bit until those pictures are all on the socials” she said rolling her eyes and we all started chuckling.

Me and Tish made it to our flore and exited the elevator “ I will come down in a bit so you know” Tati said and I could swear I saw a little smirk on her lips “okey” I said and we made it to Tish room she opened the door for me and I went and sat on the couch Tish came right after and sat beside me. I scrolled through TIkTok I stopped on a edit of Letitia and I showing her the video “ look isn’t that us some days ago” and she just rolled her eyes and I laughed damn where do they even find these I said and went to my saved sounds “Tish come we are doing a TikTok” I said going up from the couch “ I just ate can’t that wait” “no it can’t wait come on now it will be fun” I said with puppy eyes “ fine but you can’t post it” “ I’m not damn you think I post everything I know what I’m going to post and not going to post I said.

She came to me and I showed her some other people doing the dance she looked at the phone until the video was done and started over again “ you want me to learn that in some minutes?” “ yea it’s not that hard come on know I learned it in maybe 3 minutes so” and with that she looked back at the phone and started to do the moves and after 5 minutes of me sitting and laughing when she did something wrong and just looking at her she learned the the dance and I jumped in happiness “yessssss okey let’s do it” I said as I fell my adrenaline kick in, I placed the phone at the window and then pushed record.

We danced to the song her way by PARTYNEXTDOOR after more than 5 takes this one killed it I took the phone and looked at the video “ ooo you did absolutely amazing baby” I said smiling at the video “ yea? after what feels like hours of doing it again and again every time I hope I did good on this one. She said going back to the couch but before she could sit down we heard a knock on the door. She went up and opened the door there stood her manager, agent and the whole team “ Letitia are you ready?” Her manager asks looking st Her ”umm yea come in” she said looking at me and then step aside so they could come in “ hey Y/n didn’t know you were here” her agent says looking at me with a smile “ oh yea hey I was actually going to leave so se you guys later” I said going towards the door and kissed Letitia on the lips before going out. Uuuuu I could her them say from behind me “ shut up” Letitia say before slamming the door shut.

I went to my room and walked in to Tati and my stylists preparing everything “ oh I didn’t know y’all already were here” I said making my way to Tati “ yea we say Latitia’s crew so we know you’d be here in an minute. Let’s start with the makeup should we?” “we are done here” the stylist says “okey I’m coming” I said sitting at the chair and they started putting on makeup and fixing my hair.

“And done” they said and I looked at the mirror they made my makeup beautiful it was not to much and that’s what made it stunning, the hair they made it curly at the bottom and some edges it was basic but still beautiful “Y/n the clock is now 10pm and your clothes is not here until 11pm so you can just take it easy and DONT ruin your makeup” Tati said looking at me “ I would never.. I’m just going to watch tv or something don’t know” I said standing up from the chair and stretch my arms out “good we will leave you alone for know and go to your brother and fix him a little” Tati said making her way out with the the male stylist while the female one was packing up. I texted Eva and told her to come down to me.

You: evaaaaa come down i need company🥲

Eva🤪💕: HAHAH where is your little lover?

You: she’s with her team and preparing for the day don’t thinks she’s done yet

Eva🤪💕: Okey I’m coming be there in 5

You: bet

The time was 11:05pm me and Eva sat and talked about random stuff and laughed but our laughs where cut of when we hear a knock on the door “ I have the dress” Eva went up and opened the door and Tati came in with the female stylist(I have known her for a while just to be clear) and a with my customised dress that was covered so no one could se it. “yessss my dress is hereee let me se it gyal” I said jumping up from the couch and made my way to Tati and the dress. She shut the door and walked to the middle of the room, took of the cover and it showed a beautiful diamond dress that shows my curves really good. “ it’s gorgeous Y/n your going to look stunning in it” Eva said looking at dress with wide eyes.

Time passed and it was almost time to leave for the award the time was 12:45am and I sat in my room with Tati and my brother. “ I’m going to the bathroom real quick” I said stand up and made way to bathroom, some seconds later it was a knock at the door Tati went up and opened the door, there stood Tish her manager and Eva, her manager spoke “ we where about to go but saw that we have some seats left in the car and tough that maybe you guys want to come with us to the award?” Come in, I don’t know how many seats are there left” I don’t know I can call and ask” she said going inside with Letitia and Eva coming behind her.

“ where is Y/n” Letitia asks “she went to the bathroom she’ll be back soon” B/n said looking back at his phone “ I heard someone say my name? And with that everyone turned around and saw me standing leaning toward the door to my room “Y/N” Tish says with a sigh and walked up to me with her eyes wide and her hands out “ your looking g- gorgeous” she said looking at me mesmerised up and down before pulling me in for a sweet kiss, god her lips are amazing we pulled back and I looked at her “ and you Miss Wright look stunning as always” I said looking at her gorgeous Prada dress that was white at the top and then it turns orange with some dark spots here and there and in the end it turns white again and it’s just fits her so perfect even though she’s perfect in everything she wears.

“ it only two seats Tatiana” “ what seats” I said with a confused face “ we came here to ask if y’all wanted to ride with us to the award but it’s only 2 seats and you are 3 people, “ oh, well, Tati you and B/n can go with them I just take our ride myself” I said with a convincing face “ “we can’t just leave you here alone” Tati said “ Winston is going to be here with me, I’m fine y’all can go plus it’s give me time to take some photos too” I said looking at everyone with a face that said that I already made my mind and y’all can’t change it.

“alright fine but you need to text me every know and then, when you go out, when your in the car and how many minutes is left until you arrive” “ absolutely I promise” I said and looked back at Tish who had a unsure face “ I will be fine alright? I will call you first when I get there beside Tati because you heard her” I said laughing and she laughed to “ okey I love you she said and pulled me in for a other kiss this one lasted longer than the first one and we could stay like this forever, but we had to pull away to get air, I gasped for air and looked into her beautiful brown eyes that you just wanted to melt in “ and I love you to to the moon and back” I said picking her lips “ sorry to interrupt but we need to go” Eva says standing leaning against the door frame.

We both turned around and notice how everyone had left I laughed while saying “how did we not notice—that everyone left” looking at Eva “ y’all where in your own dreams to think about us. Anyways are you coming? I told Tish to go and she gave me a fast kiss and then walked out the door to Eva “ tell everyone bye from me” I said looking at Eva who Waved at me before she close the door.

After taking some photos it was time to go to the award I took my black handbag, I hade lipgloss, keys, drives license and my card in it. I turned of the lights, went out the room and shut the door my bodyguard Winston standing right outside “Miss Y/n your ride is out side” he said “ okey let’s go don’t wanna be to late” and with that we made our way down the elevator then out the hotel as soon as I stepped out i was meet with cameras everywhere flashing light hit my eyes as I made my way to the car and one of the paparazzi’s said “your looking stunning today Y/n” “thank you so much” i said looking at him with a smile and then continued making my way to the car Winston opened the door and I stepped in slamming the door shut I went and sat at the seat behind the driver and put on a belt “ I’m ready let’s go” I said and with that the car drove of.

I sat and went trough my pictures when I herd Good Days play by SZA “ can you turn up the volume please” and he did.

Tell me I’m not my fears, my limitations

I disappear, if you let me

Felling like ( on your own ) feelin’ like Jericho

Feelin’ like job when he lost this shit

Gotta hold my own, my cross to bear alone

I sang moving my head side to side, we came to a crossing road where cars come from like every where, we where standing because it was red “ we are about 6 minutes from the award Miss” the driver said “okey thank you” after he said that I went in my messages and went in to my and Tati’s chat.

You: we will be there in about 6 minutes so you know

Tatiana❤️: okey I will start making my way to the entre

You: okey se yaa❤️

I looked up from my phone and saw that the traffic light switch to green and we started driving again when we came half way in the crossing road I looked to my right and saw a car coming toward us with full speed OMG is the only thing coming out of my mouth before everything went black.

#letitia wright #letitia x reader #eva apio #black panther #black panther wakanda forever #shuri

39 notes · View notes

greyeyedmonster-18 · 1 year

Text

mutuals marching pt. 2

part one can be found here

this second part goes out to the real ones

@elder-millennial-trash:

ali was one of the first people to speak to me on here, and she was also one of the first people who found my fics and started reading-- i vividly remember her and @squintclover finding Carry Me Away and gushing about it in the comments and here on tumblr. since then ali has adopted me into several discords, and has proven to be an excellent friend to chat with about shopping addictions, sparkly shoes and overpriced bags; conference woes and perks; family trials and tribulations and so much more. she is incredibly smart and kind and a queen of second chances, even to people who don't always deserve them. ali has also continued to be a cheerleader of mine for my writing and has pimped out ten reasons more than i can count. she also works incredibly hard and takes her time to rec-fics and show support to those around her. some of my favs? Thats Not My Name (a hysterical raising harry oneshot); Lost and Found (a heartbreaking grief one-shot ft. our fav sad boy Remus); and uhm BAR REVIEW (come on yall, if you haven't read this, what are you doing? i mean, really).

@impishtubist:

you know when you try to sum up how much you adore someone into like a paragraph and you just like...can't without getting choked up and misty and gushy about truly how much you love this person? yah. that's imp. my chaos brain twin. my favorite person on this hell-site. ALSO one of the first persons to come into my DM's and start shouting at me about raising harry hc's. imp is responsible for probably 50% of my fics at this point-- her creativity and prompt well is infinite. i would've never written fault lines without her prompt, nor some of the other raising harry drabbles sprinkled in my tumblr. Imp is still one of my fav people to chat headcanons-- i still chuckle about how many times we have ended conversations with and therefore harry should just have 8 dads. In addition to being a force of creativity and novelty and queen of rarepairs (starking is all HER fault), Imp is also just a joy to talk with. I trust her with my secrets and my scaries and she has kept them. I trust her with my good news and great news and tiny silly reasons i have to celebrate. we have bonded over our mutual love of Tall Sirius and bones in the human body and teeth jewelry and I will never not be grateful for her ambush in my DM's and never leaving (plot twist: you are never getting rid of me either). Finding Home is a must read for Raising Harry fics. I cannot count the amount of times i have read it and re-read it and circled back to it like its some kind of index for raising harry fics. Also, I have read Sirius/Rita hate sex for her and I wasnt' mad about it. And also, moonchaser. Moonchaser. The Trouble with Quidditch is the jock/nerd romance we all needed . But also-- imp doesn't miss. she simply doesn't. every thing imp does is done with intention (and one of my favorite parts about Finding Home is the care and backstory developed for Lyall-- how does one world build???). all this to say. i simply love you.

bestie andie! @femme--de--lettres

i don't know how we started talking. but i do know that it took approximately 10 minutes (or one all to well (taylors version (10-minute version))) for us to become obsessed with one another. from 0-10000000 in less than 24hours, which is so us, thinking back on it. Two people who have no chill magically run into each other on tumblr? Fate. here's our meet cute. From sharing personal writing to voice memos about our days; to the time you let me hear your music and I listened to it on a road trip the entire way; to co-modding a fest with you (something i wouldn't want to do with ANYONE ELSE), from work stories you would share around a water cooler to academia stressors to morning tea parties and sunday moaning sessions. in the words of Christina Yang from Greys Anatomy-- you are my person. you are my favorite. you are one of the only reasons i am still on tumblr and still occasionally write things. i am indebted to andie, i think. thank you for being 100% yourself all the time. for your silliness and your enthusiasm and excitement and your understanding. for screaming over taylor swift with me and being indignant with me (even if I'm wrong). I am excited for us to write a fic together one day based on reputation and i am excited to ruin everyone with it. Things Everyone Should Read by Andie:

Arsenic and Old Lace "murder, coffee shops, cozy sweaters" really sums up all of it. i am consistently inspired by Andies dialogue, and remus's inner dialogue steals the show here.

867-5309 (For a Good Time Call) fucking hysterical and also so sweet? the true ruler of meet uglies., and sirius's personality is so good here and we love when someone does our boy justice (also love the tribute to pizza rolls in this tbh i think about it far too often).

and i wouldn't be me if i didn't mention Grieving in D-Flat (which like first of all, how clever is andie to create musical movements and wrap it in a bow with the fic??? HOW. CLEVER.) but also this one broke me in half , and i love a good grief fic, and how andie depicts it in every stage of this fic is so cautious and careful and not without moments of levity.

one day i will read fearless liabilities and one day i will read amicus curae, and i am vastly looking forward to it (but until then i will blindly pimp them out because i know they're fantastic because it was made by the hands of one of the great ones).

#mutuals march #ft. me #these are my favorite people here #also a tiny rec list #xoxo #blowing kisses to everyone

21 notes · View notes

savage-rhi · 1 year

Text

Immortal Shield Chapter 40: Allies

**DM or comment if you want to be tagged in updates on tumblr

**To read previous chapters, hit this link

Tagging: @seradyn

“Are you insane?!” Gladio exclaimed.

“Could you not yell at me point blank?” Noctis countered with a heavy sigh. He shook his head, taking a seat at the end of the dining table within his and Luna’s chambers. The queen herself reached out for Noctis’s left hand that was laying against the tables surface. He welcomed the warmth of her touch as Luna sat beside him, briefly making eye contact with her before casting his gaze onto his retainers.

“I know this plan is a stretch, but--”

“Noct, if I may be blunt, this is more than a stretch. This could outright cause the destabilization between our kingdom and that of the other countries.” Ignis interrupted. He did his best to remain composed, but like Gladio, shared the same concern: that Noctis had lost his marbles. He didn’t have the heart to say the actual words.

“Guys,” Prompto interjected. He felt everyone’s eyes staring through him and knitted his brows. “I don’t think it’s so bad. I mean, as long as everything remains between us in this room, we got no problem!”

“You’re being way to optimistic about us risking our heads and kingdom to rescue some assholes warlord girlfriend.” Gladio said bitterly.

“Hey, Cae isn’t just some girlfriend to an adversary. She’s not that bad of a person either.” Prompto said in his defense.

“Oh yeah? And I suppose you can vouch for that personally? What, did you and Cindy have a fall out and Caelan was the rebound?” Gladio scoffed.

“Okay, now you’re just being an ass!” Prompto raised his voice. He rose up from his seat as did Gladio. The two men stared each other down until Prompto blinked a few times, casting his gaze away. He shook his head, then gestured out with his hand to call for peace.

“Regarding Cindy, her and I--we bumped into Cae and Ardyn, at The Solstice. The night we went to see the Vote Abandon concert--”

“What?!” Everyone in unison shouted, interrupting Prompto. He visibly flinched, making a face as Ignis zeroed in on him.

“And you neglected to notify us you saw Ardyn, several days before he showed up at the public forum?”

“W-well, I didn’t know if it was him for sure! The night club was so dark, I drank a lot, and--I chased them! Cae is a client of Cindy’s. She worked on Cae's car, the Scepter. I talked to Cae about it while she was waiting for Ardyn. I guess they were on a date? I don't quite remember. I think they were.”

“That’s irrelevant.” Ignis sighed.

“Prompto,” Noctis spoke up, silencing the mess of the conversation happening and furrowed his brows. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Noctis didn’t have to say a word to convey his disappointment. It was visibly felt from his dark blue eyes. Enough for Prompto to feel the first waves of guilt hit him for not reacting as he should’ve. As a retainer and personal friend of the king, Prompto knew he screwed up his duties in more ways than one.

“I didn’t see the point in wasting resources on something I could’ve drunkenly imagined. With how sick you were Noct, I didn’t want to add more gasoline onto the fire. Everyone was on edge and so pissed off all the time, I--I didn’t want to cause trouble. I didn’t want to burden you. I thought I could handle it myself.” Prompto offered an apologetic shrug. The remorse in his voice lingered as he continued.

"I was scared. If that was Ardyn, I know I'd freeze up. I needed to confront him on my own terms. I don't expect you guys to understand, and I'm owning up to my mistake."

There were several disappointed sighs and disgruntled huffs, yet Gladio ventured over to Prompto’s side. He gave Prompto a few firm pats on the back with Ignis following suit. Ignis offered a caring smile to his friend as an apology for his earlier behavior, then let him go.

“Don’t be stupid next time. We all have each other’s backs, no matter what storms we are in. I’m sorry for what I said, about you and Cindy. That was out of line.” Gladio gently said, then stepped away.

“I know…and it’s okay.” Prompto murmured, giving a nod.

“Let’s move forward.” Noctis let out a breath, and gave a reassuring smile to Prompto. The kings retainers nodded and they all decided to sit down for the rest of the meeting. They took their place at the kings side, all of them processing the plan Noctis laid out. The uncertainty was like a heavy storm cloud, and it lingered over each of the men.

“You guys are my best friends first before retainers,” Noctis began. He gestured out to everyone for emphasis. “What else would you have me do regarding Ardyn? He can’t just remain here under house arrest until the end of his days. If we are successful, this would give him purpose. Something to focus on so he doesn’t go off the deep end.”

“Can you risk the possibility of war, or at minimum, sanctions?” Ignis asked aloud. “There is much danger with the plan you shared with us today, Noct. The repercussions, I don’t want to even grasp. Especially with our current economical standing between both Accordo and Niflheim.”

“Yes, there is risk and with it may come consequences. Guys, I can’t think of a better way we all walk off the board once and for all. Whatever Ardyn chooses to do afterward, that’s on him. We won’t be held responsible. It'll be in the hands of Niflheim.” Noctis said in defense of his idea.

“Even though I think I’m the only one here that agrees with you bud, I gotta say Iggy has a point.” Prompto began. “This plan has chips in it. If something fell through the cracks, we’re all screwed. Even the people we are trying to save.”

“If it were me,” Gladio began. “I’d throw him in prison. Send Ardyn back to Angelgard or whatever. He’s hurt too many, Noct. There’s already calls among the people to have him in shackles. Why not just kill him? He's mortal now as you've said. It would save us all the trouble, and his girlfriend is going to die anyway. I could get the glaive to handle it.”

“That man saved the lives of my wife and unborn son. He saved all of you from me. Bahamut would’ve used me to destroy Eos if Ardyn hadn't shown up when he did.” Noctis’s unyielding tone sent the whole room into silence. He looked each of his retainers in the eye, casting daggers into Gladio’s. Enough to where the shield glanced off to the side, not able to keep meeting the kings hardened stare.

“Now I don’t like him either--far from it--but we are not killing Ardyn. If he is to perish, it won't be at my hand nor any I command. I will not continue to allow generational trauma to fester in my line anymore than it has. Sending Ardyn to his death, is off the table.”

“If I may interrupt, I’d like to offer a different way of looking at things.” Lunafreya piped up, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room to her presence. She gave Noctis’s hand a gentle squeeze which he returned.

“I fear you're all searching too far ahead, scared of what schemes Ardyn may or may not perform in the future. You're not focused in the present. Ardyn isn’t the same man we faced years ago. When the Astrals sent me signs that someone was coming to help Noctis, I was given visions as to the persons character. Initially when I discovered so late that it was Ardyn, I was upset but---I can’t describe it. You must take me at my word as Oracle when I say, I don’t believe Ardyn’s going to pose much of a problem for us, so long as we don’t cast the first stone. He may not act it, but Ardyn's more vulnerable than you could possibly imagine. He's alone and he's terrified.”

Lunafreya offered a small smile towards her husband who looked upon her with so much adoration that she had to look away or else be smitten. She let out a deep breath, reaching with her left hand to pat her abdomen upon feeling the baby kick, rubbing smooth circles into her clothing to soothe both herself and the infant.

“Noctis shared the plan with me before he confided in you all today,” Lunafreya said sincerely. She doubted she could ease the tension in the room, but felt compelled to give it a try. “I believe it’s the right thing to do.”

“As do I!” Prompto chimed in, giving the table top a few strong pats for emphasis that he was game for it.

All eyes fell to Gladio and Ignis. The two men were beside themselves. Alas, Ignis was the first to let out an exhausted sigh and nodded in agreement.

“I can argue with the king all day, but not a queen all night.” Ignis gestured to Gladio that he was the only one left that had the floor. To which the shield didn’t seem to keen about. A growl left Gladio as he resigned himself to fate.

“I guess I’m stuck with you bleeding hearts,” Gladio shook his head in disbelief. He made a face, furrowing his brows as he cast his amber eyes towards the group as a whole. “So, which one of us is going to break the news to Ardyn?”

“Not it!” Prompto exclaimed, flinching at the thought of incurring the wrath of the man who psychologically tortured him years ago. As much as Prompto was game for helping others, there was still much to unpack regarding how he felt towards Ardyn.

“Why don’t we all go together to see him?” Noctis suggested.

“Good thinking.” Ignis nodded with a sigh. “We’re safer in numbers.”

Ardyn squinted his eyes while he attempted to read from an old book he found at random within the chambers. He was able to get through a couple paragraphs until the strain caught up to him. Ardyn's right thumb went to the corners of his eyes, giving both his eyelids a soft rub before trying his hand again at reading.

“Do you need glasses?” Seraphii asked curiously, observing the struggle.

“Hm? Oh no my dear. I’m simply tired.” Ardyn let out a frustrated sigh, deciding to give up for the time being. Not to mention he didn’t want to consider the possibility he needed such a tool to help him see text. It was a minor struggle in the grand scheme of things. One Ardyn could deal with for now. He sat the book down beside him, turning his focus to the child who had been coloring and drawing from afar.

“You see, when you get older you’re more prone to exhaustion from simple tasks.”

“That sounds---boring.” Seraphii’s bluntness had Ardyn chortle.

“It’s a fact of life I’m afraid. One you’ll get to experience yourself when you grow up.” Ardyn mused. He shuddered a little, scooting closer to the hearth. The blanket that had been wrapped around his body adjusted, and Ardyn grasped it tighter to himself. It felt good to be up and about more. He was thankful the IVs were no longer of use to him. Dragging them around was an extra chore his mortal form didn’t need to contend with. He didn't like how unnatural it felt having needles in his arms either. They reminded Ardyn too much of his imprisonment at Angelgard.

Ardyn's eyes stared at the flames and their orange red hues for a time, thinking about the news Ignis had brought earlier. His mind danced around the possibilities of what had become of Caelan. He felt aggravated the retainer didn’t give any more information other than notify that the king would pop in later. Ardyn hoped Noctis had a good excuse for providing so little.

“Whatcha thinking about?” Seraphii’s little voice pulled Ardyn out of the more darker recesses of his mind. He offered a smile, then rubbed the back of his neck.

“A friend of mine who I miss very much.” Ardyn said simply. “Do you have many friends?”

“Nope.” Seraphii shook her head. “Just my uncles and…I think you now?”

“I’d consider it an honor.” Ardyn chuckled. “Though, I don’t suppose your parents would appreciate that.”

“I don’t care!” Seraphii exclaimed. “You pay attention to me. I like you!”

The little one's stubborn attitude reminded Ardyn a lot of Somnus when his brother was around the girls age. No cares in the world but his own ambitions. It seemed that element never bothered to skip a generation. Mors, Regis’s father, retained that trait and then some all the way up to his death. Ardyn didn’t miss the late king one bit, and luckily didn’t have the pleasure of bumping into that descendant in person. There’s no way Ardyn could’ve kept his composure around him. Regis and Noctis were rather tame in comparison to both their father and grandfather respectively.

“I finished it!” Seraphii exclaimed. She got up from the couch and brought the small stack of drawing paper she had along with a pencil. The five year old presented her drawings to Ardyn at the hearth, eagerly awaiting his feedback.

“Well, you certainly have talent!” Ardyn chuckled. His eyes cast downward at Seraphii’s pieces, admiring the scribbles and shapes. He was quick to find a crude portrait of himself among the pile, impressed that she nailed down his unkempt hair and moody expression. For a kid, she was able to grasp the basic foundations of art quite well.

“That’s you!” Seraphii pointed to the one closest to Ardyn. Her small brows knitted. Her excitement faltered when she noticed a mistake in the drawing she made of him. “Eyes are so hard to draw…”

“Hmm, you don’t say?” Ardyn debated with himself, then beckoned Seraphii to approach and hand him the pencil. He smiled at her when she handed it off. After adjusting on the floor and leaning forward, Ardyn grabbed one of the blank pieces of paper Seraphii laid out and started to sketch.

With fascination, Seraphii watched as mere shapes began to take form into something else. It became evident Ardyn had been drawing for years. Maybe at one point in his life, he was a professional himself.

“Whoa, you draw too?”

The awe in her squeaky voice had Ardyn smile.

“Yes, I used to draw quite often when I was younger. A favorite past time.”

“How come you don’t anymore?” Seraphii inquired, tilting her head as she kept her big eyes focused on what Ardyn was doodling.

“Hard to say,” Ardyn made a face, his head canted some while he observed his own work. Occasionally, he’d glance to Seraphii then back to the paper. “I suppose given how busy I am, I simply don’t have time for such things.”

“Maybe when you see your friend again, you could draw them over and over until you want to draw everyday!”

“You're just full of ideas, aren’t you?” Ardyn shook his head. He had to admit, perhaps the little one was onto something. It was definitely a talent Ardyn had yet to share with Caelan. He felt his eyes growing weary and his heart dropped. He missed Caelan so damn much it hurt to even think of enjoying a simple pleasure like this with her company.

“I believe this will help you in the future with your eye problem.” Ardyn blew away some of the leftover eraser he used at the end of the pencil, and handed Seraphii what he finished. There was a portrait sketch of her in the corner, and a five step guide on drawing eyes. The guide wasn’t super detailed compared to the portrait, but it clearly would help her with the shapes.

“Thank you! This is nice!”

“No, thank you for drawing me so well.” Ardyn said sincerely. His right fingertips carefully reached out for Seraphii’s artwork on the floor, and he pulled the piece of paper towards himself. “I’ll be sure to cherish it always.”

“You better!” Seraphii laughed.

“Already making threats are we?” Ardyn raised a brow. He smiled hearing her giggle at the playfulness of his tone. The two looked up upon the door opening. Noctis came through, stopping in his tracks the moment he saw Seraphii was in the chambers.

Before Ardyn could say a word, the king had raised his voice for his daughter to approach him. As much as he wanted to interject, Ardyn decided to let it play out and give space. He got up from the ground in front of the fire place with the drawing Seraphii made, and ventured back to the bed. Ardyn placed the drawing down on the mattress. He made a face, looking out towards the window nearby while he eavesdropped.

“What did I tell you about coming in here and bothering our guest?” Noctis was crouched down, facing his daughter. The intense gaze in his eyes had her shirk back some.

“I wanted to show Ardyn I could draw. Mama said I could see him.” Seraphii murmured.

“You’re not to be alone with him, do you understand me?”

Seraphii nodded.

“I’ll speak with your mother regarding coming here. Now leave us.” Though he was firm, Noctis made certain his tone was gentle. Regardless, Seraphii sniffled and took off running. He furrowed his brows, watching her small legs work hard to get her far away from him. She nearly bumped into Ignis, Gladio and Prompto while the three were on their way to catch up with Noctis.

Sighing, Noctis shook his head and gestured for his retainers to wait outside the chambers. Gladio, Ignis and Prompto nodded and went to their respective spots outside the door. They braced themselves for what was to come.

Ardyn heard the doors shut and the sound of Noctis’s footsteps draw closer. He finally turned his head to face him, furrowing his brows out of concern towards his smaller guest.

“Must she be punished? The fault was mine. I initiated with a kind hello.”

Noctis growled a little, but relented from allowing his emotions to get the best of him. He knew well from his earlier conversation with Ardyn that he wouldn’t harm Seraphii. It didn’t help his nerves nevertheless. Her safety was of the upmost importance, and Ardyn still remained a risk.

“She needs to learn boundaries. She certainly won’t succeed in that if she keeps visiting you.”

“Or visiting a creepy criminal for that matter.” Ardyn playfully jabbed. He nearly snorted seeing the questionable look Noctis threw at him. “Don’t play coy, highness. Everyone in the room is thinking it. I'm aware of how you all perceive me.”

“We should get to the point of why I’m here.” Noctis began, steering the conversation his way. He wasn’t in the mood to correct Ardyn that he wasn't considered such a thing. “It’s about Cahl, and--”

“Has she been harmed?” Ardyn quickly interrupted. His features softened. The concern he had desperately tried to keep under lock and key came forth through his expressions. Ardyn felt his pulse rise, his pupils dilating. These past few days with no word about her had nearly driven him crazy. He was tired of waiting.

“Not exactly. You might want to sit down for this.”

“Please, don’t prevaricate. Tell me. What’s become of her?”

Ten minutes had come and gone between Ardyn and Noctis. Outside of the room, Ignis, Gladio and Prompto were somewhat growing bored. Minus the kings shield, the other two checked their phones. Ignis took this time to catch the palace workers up to speed on certain hospitality tasks via text while Prompto checked his player status on Kings Knight. Gladio yawned, stretching his arms before crossing them along with his legs while his back rested against the wall next to the doors. The three were suddenly snapped out of their relaxed states when they heard a bellowing yell followed by the doors to the chamber opening with a violent crash.

“I’m going to kill them all!” Ardyn’s angered call echoed down hall as he marched away the red phantom limbs of his armiger out and poised to attack as they encircled him.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” Gladio called out.

“I’m going to Accordo! I’m going to stop Cahl’s execution if it’s the last thing I do!”

“Oh yeah, you and what army tough guy?” Gladio scoffed.

“I’m plenty! Fuck off!”

Gladio’s eyes widened. He couldn’t recall ever hearing Ardyn curse before in the past. It seemed almost out of character for the kind of person he was, being haughty and conniving. Gladio had nothing clever to say. He started to begin his chase to stop Ardyn from continuing further, until Noctis appeared at the entryway and beckoned Gladio to halt.

“Wait! Wait! Don’t attack!”

“Are you hurt, Noct?” Ignis called out while Prompto ventured to Noctis’s side to assess for damage. There was not a scratch on him.

“I’m fine. Ardyn’s...a little upset.”

“A little?” Gladio huffed. “I can’t just let him go on a rampage because he’s pissed his girlfriend got arrest---!”

Before Gladio could finish his sentence, all of them stared towards the end of the hall upon hearing a loud thud. Ardyn collapsed. The red pink hues of the royal arms fizzled in and out of reality before they completely disappeared into star dust, going back to the realm from whence they came. Ardyn’s shallow breaths could be heard throughout the corridors.

"Damn it! Damn it, you listen to me!" Ardyn exclaimed. He righted himself, getting onto his knees and tensed his body up to draw in power. Ardyn gestured out his arms, summoning the blades again. The ghost like forms of the swords slowly circled around his body, and like before their bright light crackled with a low buzz that reverberated throughout the surrounding area. The blades of the forefathers were as weak as their master, not able to draw enough of Ardyn's life force out to power themselves in full. Ardyn once again fell forward and the weapons faded.

"I had a feeling this was going to happen." Noctis let out a sigh. There was a part of the king that felt sorry for Ardyn in this moment, watching him struggle because he so desperately wanted to save someone he cared about. Noctis never thought in a million years he'd witness Ardyn perform such a feat. He gestured to his retainers.

“Prompto, Ignis, will you two go help him up?”

“Right away!” Prompto nodded. He didn’t bother to wait for Ignis, running up ahead to check on Ardyn. The closer he got to him though, Prompto could feel his hesitation begin to eat away at his mind. He forced himself down on his knees, and carefully coaxed Ardyn onto his right side, and began to hoist up the upper half of his body.

"Don't touch me!" Ardyn snarled. The harsh reaction was enough to get Prompto to back off. Ardyn watched as the blond nearly fell over himself.

"Do you talk to Cae like that when she helps you?" Prompto scoffed, shooting a disgruntled stare towards his former adversary.

"Shut up you little ingrate," Ardyn seethed still trying to catch his breath as he remained on the floor. "You talked with her once. Don't pretend you know her as well as I."

"I do know one thing about her. She sees something good in your sorry ass. Enough to get Noct into letting you keep living against better judgement." Prompto countered. The glare Ardyn tossed his way could smite the soul out of a chocobo, but Prompto held his ground. Nervously he swallowed, forcing himself to continue.

"You're not going to save Cae with that attitude. Nor are you going to make it to the palace gates much less Accordo if you keep letting those damn swords suck you dry when you don't have a leg to stand on. I know you have a lot of pride, but c'mon, would it kill you to let me help?"

"Why bother?" Ardyn growled. "You have every reason to hate me for what I've done to you. How do I know this isn't a trick?"

Prompto made a face, letting out a disappointed sigh. He offered a shrug as consolation prize. "I could make a big speech about trust, but it would waste both our times. I'll make something clear, I don't like you. Not one bit. However, I'm not gonna let that stop me from being a good person. I see a need, and I'm trying to fill it and right now, you're hurt. It's your call, Ardyn."

Ardyn let out a bitter exhale. He closed his eyes, mentally debating with himself. Prompto's little speech greatly reminded him of the long winded conversations he used to have with the boys biological father, Verstael. Yet it amazed Ardyn, how different they were as people. Even the little nuances didn't match quite solidly. He attempted to rise, but fell just as quick. With surrender and a wounded pride, Ardyn glanced up at Prompto and gestured with his head for the boy to approach.

“C’mon! You got this!” Prompto was mostly saying the words to encourage himself to be brave, but it also worked with offering compassion towards the man he was deathly afraid of. Prompto was surprised when Ardyn muttered a few 'thank yous' in between tired breaths while he helped Ardyn rise the upper half of his body up.

“Give me some space. I can take it from here.” Ardyn waved his right hand towards Prompto, beckoning the blond to stop trying to help him up. Once the retainer was out of the way, Ardyn winced and began to slowly rise to his feet. His balance was off, but he caught himself. Prompto was ready to catch his fall as well. Ardyn brought his arms up around his chest, suddenly feeling cold to the bone. The temperature felt like it dropped to zero in a matter of seconds. He couldn’t remember feeling anything like this before when he had used the royal arms. Not since he was a youth 2,000 years ago and learning the ropes on how to use the weapons without killing himself.

Ignis arrived on scene, having grabbed a blanket from the chambers and presented it to Ardyn. The latter glanced between the material and Ignis. A part of Ardyn’s mind couldn’t help but wonder if this was some ploy. He knew everyone here didn’t much care for him. The cold feeling grew worse, and Ardyn found himself throwing caution to the wind and taking the blanket, throwing it over his shoulders and bundling up much like he had done at the hearth.

“Thank you.” Ardyn muttered.

“You shouldn’t try using the armiger right now,” Noctis said as he and Gladio came into view. “Given that you’re mortal, it's going to cut into your life span. More than what you’re probably used to.”

“I’ll alert the media.” Ardyn said sarcastically. He shook his head, feeling beside himself and angry. Angry at how weak he had become. His grip on the blanket tightened. He wanted nothing more than to punch something, but relented.

“How am I to protect her when I can’t even--” Ardyn was nearly in tears, unable to help it.

“I was going to tell you we have a plan. You stormed off before I could begin.” Noctis said as a matter of fact. He watched Ardyn’s interest pique, and for a brief moment, his sadness seemed to dissipate.

“You have me intrigued. Go on.”

“Let’s first get you back into the chambers. You’ll want to get comfortable.” Noctis calmly explained. He was surprised to see Ardyn nod a few times, and walk back to the room with compliance. It was strange seeing his former enemy in such a precarious state. The king for the first time had a true sense that Ardyn didn’t want to cause trouble. For now, at least. There was still much to be said for later on after the plan was laid out.

This whole thing is a mess... That was the first thought that ran through Ardyn’s mind after Noctis and the boys spent a good hour and a half discussing the plan and its many pros and cons. Blinking in disbelief, Ardyn bowed his head and rubbed the back of his his scalp. It was in a vain attempt to settle down his stress. Sighing soon after, Ardyn lifted his head back up and met everyone’s uncertain gazes.

“What do you expect of me, to leap with joy at this grand proposal?” Ardyn huffed. There was a slight sneer in his words.

“A little thank you for bothering would be a start.” Gladio said as he crossed his arms.

"I'd rather be tempted to thank mosquitos for their services before I compliment your good nature." Ardyn replied bitterly. He heard Gladio growl, and observed Ignis firmly grasp the brute's right shoulder, keeping the kings shield from charging. Ardyn smirked for a brief time before going neutral.

“Even if all doesn’t fail,” Ardyn began. He let out a breath and took his time to look every man in the eye. His brows formed into a glare. “How do you expect me to tell the person I love that we can’t be together once the dust settles? Forgive me when I say this so-called rescue mission feels like a handful of salt to a festering wound.”

“We know how much this displeases you,” Ignis cleared his throat. “However, it doesn't mitigate the facts. There are people in the world who want you dead for the things you've done, Ardyn. You'll need protection. Protection we cannot afford to give without risk to Lucis. Think of this not just in terms of yourself, but for her too. Separation won't be forever, Ardyn. Not if you still wish to remain at her side."

Ardyn shook his head. His fingers began to comb through his hair out of frustration, trying to self soothe and offer a minor distraction to the conflict he had brewing inside himself.

“Everyone wins,” Prompto piped up. “The people get justice, you get to go back to Niflheim, and Cae remains in Lucis until you can figure something out to come back and retrieve her. After her trial is done of course.”

“That, that right there is my biggest concern.” Ardyn shook his right index finger towards them. To say he was pissed was an understatement. “You want me to sit back and allow Cahl to potentially rot in a Lucian prison. Do you see how screwed up that is? I rescue her, only to toss her into another cage. No, no, I won’t do it!”

“Ardyn,” Noctis’s voice was firm. As soon as he made eye contact with his ancestor, he softened his face yet remained grounded. “Even if Caelan is absolved of her past doings, she still must be judged for the crownsguard she slain the day of the public forum. I’m doing everything in my power to appease all parties and the people of Lucis. This is the best I can do for her.”

“It’s not enough.” Ardyn shook his head. “It’s just not.”

“And it never will be.” Noctis admitted. He nodded in agreement and sighed. “I know if Luna was--”

“Don’t you dare,” Ardyn interrupted. His voice became low and steady, like that of an animal weighing out its options before going in with a killing blow. “Don’t you dare make comparisons, boy. If this was your precious Lunafreya, you’d never have the heart to sacrifice Eos on her behalf. Not like I would for my beloved. So don’t even try to appease me in a domain you could never fathom. You don't have the grit."

There was a foreboding silence that filled the room soon after, and a subconscious acknowledgement that Ardyn was right. Noctis knew he was right about that. This is where they both differed as people when it came to core values. Noctis, much like his forebearer Somnus before him, put the collective above all else. And despite 2,000 years having long passed, Ardyn still believed in the value of individual life having a chance to thrive. Both men knew even without saying it aloud, that these were lines not to be crossed. Nonetheless, Noctis knew they needed to meet in the middle.

“The offer is final and absolute. I will not yield to anything dangerous that could cost more life than what has been taken.” Noctis let out a deep breath through his nostrils he had been holding in, and beckoned towards Ardyn. “Tell us, what’s it going to be?”

Ardyn rubbed his eyes and forehead. He sniffled, trying not to give into the weight of his emotions. He had no cards to deal out. No alternatives to offer. He hated being trapped. The only light at the end of this tunnel, was ensuring Caelan wouldn’t die at the hand of strangers. He would see her again. And whatever time was allowed, Ardyn knew he’d cherish it above all else.

Gods above, he had words for the Glacial. So much for peace in returning to life...Ardyn thought to himself then sighed.

“Are you absolutely certain the Niflheim council agrees to this?” Ardyn broke the quiet that began to permeate. He could see the boys and their mixed expressions running amok. Noctis cleared his throat.

“I haven’t spoken with them directly, but I have no doubt they will be open to our offer. At the Summit they were keen on taking you back.”

“This will surely fracture your relationship with Accordo and Tenebrae if they catch wind of our plot.” Ardyn said bluntly.

“So we keep our lips zipped. Nothing leaves this room.” Gladio shrugged. “Even if Niflheim tell us to go kick rocks, they’re not in a position to go off tattling to the other leaders of what we’re up to. It would be like shooting themselves in the foot.”

“Gladio is right.” Prompto chimed in. “And once everybody is back on Lucian soil, Accordo won’t have a leg to stand on.”

“And what do the people of Lucis know about my standing?” Ardyn asked.

“You’re in a secure facility until the king has time to take testimonies to decide your fate.” Ignis replied. “For all everyone knows, we are adhering to the laws. No one will know the wiser you’re staying here and gathering your strength.”

Ardyn nodded to the remarks he received, then got up from the bed. He stumbled at first, still trying to collect his bearings from using the armiger. He waved off Ignis, observing the man was getting ready to come to his aid. That was the last thing Ardyn needed. As much as it was kind of Noctis’s little friends to assist him, Ardyn knew if this-- for lack of better word--shitshow of a plan was to be successful, he couldn’t rely on everyone. He had to be strong enough to carry the weight.

“If it’s all the same to you four, I’d like to be left alone.” Ardyn muttered. He ventured towards the large window within the dwelling, peering out into the city. Insomnia’s night life was beginning to rise as the sun settled down. Ever thankful for hearing the shuffling of feet growing dim by the second, Ardyn allowed the quiet to sink in. He had three weeks to prepare. Fighting Bahamut was hard, but this coup felt much more grievous. Ardyn had a lot to lose this time around.

He prayed Caelan would forgive him.

#ardyn lucis caelum #ffxv ardyn #ardyn izunia #fanfic #final fantasy xv #immortal shield

35 notes · View notes

dribs-and-drabbles · 1 year

Text

My thoughts on the GMMTV 2023 line-up (from what I can remember and from some dms I shouted to @grapejuicegay last night)

I am SO EXCITED for both projects with Perth. I absolutely love him and Double Savage with Ohm looks incredible (I've been longing for Ohm in something dark) as does Dangerous Romance (how long have we been waiting for Chimon to lead?!). With DS, part of me wonders if they're not biological brothers (it's the use of 'blood brothers'...but I'm probably wrong 🤷🏽‍♀️)

Hidden Agenda looks cute...but quite similar to their last project. I'm a huge fan of Joong but not so much of Dunk. I wish they would have paired Joong with someone else (like Perth I guess! Or maybe Sing -> he's another I want to see lead) and in something meatier. But this one has Aou and Boom as a seemingly established couple 👏🏼

Although an office romance, and with Force and Book whom I think go well together, I'm lukewarm over A Boss and A Babe (especially the title). I'm not a fan of boss/employee relationships. Having said that, I do appreciate that Book's character did address the inappropriateness of that in the trailer.

The way I SCREAMED with Milk and Love in 23.5 (and honestly, I love obscure titles like this). And I doubly love that they subverted the stereotypes a little, having Milk as the shy pursuer and Love as the popular confident one. A+ I'll be vibrating till I see this. Oh and it was the only trailer I watched twice. I think that says a lot.

I think Cooking Crush will be cute. It's nice to see Off and Gun together again, hopefully they will be even more comfortable with each other, and Neo is back to his typical typecast it seems. But I'm happy to see Marc getting a few roles this year. I wonder if the 'twist' is that Off's character is already a brilliant chef...but we'll have to wait and see.

It's nice to see Ohm (shirtless) and Joong in Wednesday Club but I'm not so interested in the storyline. Sorry fellas. Also it's kind of funny that Ohm plays a middle child in two series, this and Double Savage 😄 (at least I think that's what he said in the interview after DS).

Oh it's wonderful to see Jimmy again. I hope he pulls out yet another different character. I felt he did so well with Puen being so different from his performance as Wai, so I'm looking forward to seeing him - and Sea - in Last Twilight. I hope they handle the blindness well...but it's Aof directing...so I want to trust it.

My live reaction to Only Friends: "Wait....Force, Book, First, Khaotung, Marc, AND Neo all in one show?! And they're all fu*king each other?! 😂 YES PLEASE!" Says it all really. And: "JOJO!"

I was happy to finally see Nanon in something...but I'm not sure what to make of The Jungle. I may not watch this one tbh. Actually, if it were the case that the women are getting revenge on these players by getting them all angsty and rejected then maaaaaybe I'd be on board. I want power women 💪🏼

I've already mentioned a little about the Cherry Magic reproduction - I think they should wait for a couple more years. It's too close to Japan releasing the movie. Plus I agree with the majority of others -> Tay and New aren't the right casting for this.

Midnight Museum looks intriguing...I like a bit of paranormal, and I don't know Tor Thanapob so it will be interesting to see what he's like...and I really like Ploy from The Eclipse so I'm excited to see her...but I can't get a sense of the plot from that trailer.

And as for Our Skyy 2...I think these screenshots speak for themselves really:

But in all seriousness, I think these will be cute to go back to...or at least some of them - ATOTS, Bad Buddy, Vice Versa, The Eclipse...even Star in my Mind - but it feels strange getting a special episode for some series that haven't even aired yet - My School President, Never Let Me Go, and A Boss and A Babe. The latter being included in Our Skyy makes me think the ABAAB series will come out early in 2023 and then OS2 will come out later...but who can say.

And as for those I haven't mentioned...I'm not really interested, so I'll not waste your time.

The things I'm sad we didn't get include:

Neo as a lead in something serious

AJ in a lead role finally (I think he would be GREAT with Ploy in a het if he didn't want to do ql)

Joong given something serious/heavy

Sing in something meaty, angsty, soul-destroying

Drake to be given something more prominent

More women. Just MOAR

and my very favourite wish...for the actor who played Pran's dad, A Passin, to be in a ql with someone of a similar age (or younger, I'm not fussy...not really)...I mean, the man has to get his tattoos on display somehow 🤷🏽‍♀️ I could see him as a school teacher or librarian, subverting the school setting by focusing on the adults for once...

29 notes · View notes

darklydeliciousdesires · 1 year

Text

Beyond the Blood Tie - Chapter Fifteen.

Huge thanks to the little core group following this, as ever! :)

Previous Chapters - One Two, Part One Part Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Eleven Twelve Thirteen Fourteen

Words - 5,516

Tag list - In the comments. Please DM to be added/removed

Warnings - 18+ content throughout. Minors DNI!

Angel's POV

Opening my eyes at 8.35pm when darkness has finally fallen, I watch the blinds rise automatically, and since I didn't close the curtains last night after they came down it means the lightning flashing across the sky illuminates my whole room. It's the massive rumble and crack of thunder that makes Edie wake up very suddenly, sitting bolt upright in a startled fashion, her breathing erratic.

"It's just a storm," I reassure her, reaching out and patting her shoulder.

"My brain tricked me into thinking it was another explosion for a minute, shit," she pants, so shaken by it that I have no choice but to put my arms around her. 'Don't kiss her, don't kiss her, and furthermore, don't fucking kiss her' I think to myself.

"What did we say about last night being a one-time thing?" she asks, sounding a touch pained.

"I'm just putting my arms around you. Chill," I state, watching and feeling her relax a little bit after that. She leans back again and just watches the storm outside of the window, and I eventually do the same. This definitely feels a little awkward.

"Sorry I got a bit annoyed just then. I just, well, yeah.” I understand exactly what she's trying to convey, even though she can't quite find the words.

"I think we should spend a little time apart, not see one another for a week or so. It'll give us time to feel normal around each other again, and let the blood tie die down," I suggest, watching her nod but at the same time not look like she likes that idea. I can feel she doesn't either, just as she can probably feel that what I just said is truly the last thing I want, even if it is seemingly for the best.

What I feel the most, or rather what I hear that’s most dangerous to the somewhat tense atmosphere, is the fact that her heartbeat speeds up as she looks at me, and it's driving me to distraction. Did I ever truly look at her as just a friend? I need to blink or look away from her, anything to stop those pretty blue eyes pulling me in further. But I can’t. So, I don’t. I kiss her again instead.

"No," she mumbles, shaking her head and sighing. “Damn you. I want you so much.” Despite her pulling away, trying at least to hold back, she knows as much as I do that it’s pointless, falling into another kiss. This one we don't break apart from so easily, both wrapping around each other quickly as we kiss passionately but slowly, eventually with me turning onto her back and lying on top of her, kissing her shoulders and her neck. The little sigh of bliss that slips from her mouth... fuck, my cock would be like iron now, if I’d fed. Her legs wrap around my waist, her body inviting me even closer, our kisses gaining both heat and momentum, the feel of her nails dragging down my back causing my skin to erupt into goosepimples. Shit, the arousal. I swear, I could fuck her for days.

I haven't fed, though, so she's perfectly safe (i.e., I can't even get hard right now, let alone blow my load and kill her in the process) and even though I know I shouldn't be doing this, I just can't help it. Yeah, I definitely think we need some time apart. I say I can't help it, but it seems someone else can. That someone is neither me nor Edie.

"Angel! Get off her, now!" I hear Ursula yell from the hallway, actually making me jump a bit. She scares me when she's stern, and she never shouts. She must have suddenly felt my arousal near go through the roof at finally having Edie underneath me.

"I think you're in trouble," she whispers with a little snicker, pushing her hands against my chest while I move to get out of bed, locating my jeans and pulling them back on. I can feel my creator is waiting for me right outside the door. She doesn't even need to speak it; she's calling me silently. When I emerge and shut the door behind me, Ursula still doesn't even talk. Instead, she grabs me around the throat at speed and drags me down the stairs, pinning me to the front door.

"I only spent five minutes with Edie last night while you were out, but in those five minutes I picked up on quite a bit, and that lovely young lady upstairs does not deserve to die because you're horny. Control yourself, control this and just for once, have some fucking restraint," she warns, grabbing my dick and squeezing it until my eyes water blood. Yeah, we still find stuff like this painful; we just get over it quicker.

"Ursula, let me go, believe me I'm calm now," I grimace, my voice strained since she still has me around the throat. She gives a warning glare before letting go, walking down towards the kitchen. She can be formidable when she chooses to be, and when I'm in danger of going against both my own word and her advice, the fierceness in her will always rise. Looking up to the top of the stairs, I see Edie appear, coming down with Icarus and Thor following along behind her.

"I have to go, I've got to be in work in fifteen minutes. Call me in a week or so, when you've calmed down. Me too, for that matter," she says, while I somewhat reluctantly unlock and open the front door.

"Until a week or so, then. Take care," I reply, smiling thinly.

"Yeah, you too.” Returning a small twitch of her lips, she reaches out to squeeze my arm before turning and sighing quietly as she leaves. She's feeling pretty crap about all of this. Same, Edie. I do, too. Watching her get to the edge of the path and then exit onto the street, I turn and close the door behind me, walking across the large and wide welcome hall of the house to get to the kitchen where my creator is sitting at the table, reading today's newspaper. I sit down opposite her and wait until she’s finished the article and folded the paper again. I know she's angry with me, so I’ll wait for her to address me first.

"I heard what was said at the door. I think it is a good idea to leave a little time between now and your next meet with her. Do you remember how I taught you to control your urges for blood when you were young? You need to apply those methods to this situation. She's off limits, regardless of the fact it's obvious the attraction you have for her has now been reciprocated," she tells me in an even tone, her eyes staring right at me but not angrily any longer. Not as angrily as she did when she had me pinned to the back of the door, at least.

"I keep telling myself over and over, but then I just end up kissing her. Believe it or not, but I'm perfectly content just doing that, or rather I was," I state, raising an eyebrow. I can be mad at her, too, for interrupting something I was enjoying immensely.

"Hah! Angel, the arousal I felt coming from you was akin to that of a silverback gorilla if you locked it away from all the females, and then fed it a thousand tablets of Viagra. Come off it," she challenges me with.

"Be that as it may, I hadn't even fed, so there was nothing else I could have done. Well, there were things I could have done to her, regardless of that," I trail off.

"But you won't!" she warns me sternly, pointing her finger and eyeing me sharply.

"But I won't,” I confirm, with much reluctance. “It'll be difficult, but I have to do it. I think too much of her to put her in danger, when that is the very last thing I want. Anyway, I gotta get to the shop. Hopefully some new windows and door panes got fitted today. See you later.”

"Think about what I said, and think about it well in the time between now and when you see Edie again." Ursula replies, picking up her paper once more as I turn to leave. I go back upstairs and dress properly and then head out to the shop at speed, arriving in just five minutes. I stop and purvey the damage done to the gas station, nothing but a scorched patch of land now with rubble and blown apart plastic, fuel pumps and timber everywhere. The debris littering the road has all been cleared into the area. Much to my bedevilment when I arrive at the shop, though, the windows are still boarded.

"Why haven't the windows been fixed yet?" I ask as I stride inside.

"Couldn't get a glazer until tomorrow morning, bro, oh and careful when you go into your office, the dogs are in there," Sal tells me, sitting at his usual area working on a very skinny guy having colours added to what will eventually be a full sleeve.

"Why hasn't one of their owners come to pick them up yet? And was this place cleaned after they'd been put away?" I ask sharply, still being able to smell a lingering trace of dog.

"Karissa is on her way, and yes I cleaned the whole place after I put them in your office. What's with you tonight?" he snorts, stopping his work and excusing himself to his client to zoom to my side. "Really, what gives? You're being bossy, which usually means you’ve got shit on your mind." How right he is. We walk to my office, Dana and Dobbs barking like lunatics upon entrance, until they actually see it's me and then come running with their heads held low and submissively, tails wagging frantically. They know Sal and me because of course, we've been frequent guests at Eric's nest, where they reside with their owner. I reach out and stroke them both before moving to sit in my chair.

"Nothing you want to hear about. Human issues, shall we say," I mutter, knowing of course, he really won't want to hear it.

"Hmm." He leaves again quickly. Told you so, he's exactly the same as EZ when humans are concerned. He feeds from them, fucks them and has no further interest beyond that. Right now, I wish I could count myself as the same as them. I'd even go as far to say I wish I'd have been given another punisher, Ahmed, Joe or Max, for example, right from the beginning and never met Edie, never been pulled in by her, never imagined sinking my fangs into that gorgeous ass of hers while I was chained up in her chamber. If I'd have fed earlier this evening, she'd have been in so much trouble.

A little later in the night, while both me and Eric are waiting for our respective clients to turn up, he has a few of his own ideas over how I can get around my little murderous problem.

"Why don't you just run to the bathroom when you’re about to cum, lock yourself in there and jerk off until you're done? That'd work," he offers in his usual cheerful way.

"When was the last time you successfully managed to pull out of a woman just before you came, hmm?" I put to him, watching him look thoughtful and then frown.

"You make a very good point there," he chuckles, waving a finger in my direction while nodding, his laughing escalating. "Sorry." He looks thoughtful for a moment or two. What's he going to come out with next?

"You could silver yourself? Lie on your back and get Edie to put a chain across each wrist and one on your neck and then all she's gotta do is bounce on your cock for a while and the job's done!" he then suggests, while I just shake my head at him and roll my eyes.

"Would you be able to enjoy having sex while your skin is burning off?" I snort.

"I'll shut up now," he replies with a nod, making a zipper motion across his mouth.

"I know you're only trying to be helpful, old friend. You aren't giving me any options I haven't already considered in the past, though.” I've known Eric for ninety-three years now, and I know what he’s like. He likes to fix the problems of those he cares about. We used to kill off large numbers of the reanimated together before moving humans to places of safety back in the aftermath of the disaster, where he’d then help them more, securing their dwelling, going out to fetch them supplies. He’s always been a fixer. We're quiet for a while longer, before he speaks again. This time, though, he offers something I haven't thought of before.

"Maybe it'll be different with Edie, because you know her and on some small level, she means something to you? After all, the other women were just one night stand girls you'd only known a few hours," he suggests casually. I really haven't looked at it in that way before, but it still doesn't mean it's a viable option.

"I'm not prepared to take that risk, and I don't wish to discuss this any longer. It can't happen, I need to close the door on that." I grumble with finality, getting up when my client walks through the door, ready to have the side of his neck tattooed. I'm glad of the distraction from talking and thinking about Edie, and I plan not to mention her out loud again. I hope this will be something I can classify as out of sight, out of mind. I keep myself busy, starting tonight after work when there's a certain vampire I visit straight after I'm done at the shop.

"Oh how coincidental, I was just about to head out to find something to play with for the evening," Sissy tells me after opening her door to me.

"You found it." I smirk, before advancing on her hungrily. A second later and her dress is on the floor, a moment after that and she's over my shoulder while I'm slapping her bare ass all the way to the bedroom, and she's squealing her head off with mirth. Sissy's six hundred years old, so obviously a lot stronger than me, but she likes being submissive sometimes. She was only nineteen when she was made, too, with an ass you could bounce quarters off. Speaking of that ass, she loves being fucked up it as well, and by the time I'm doing just that, Edie is finally far from my mind. Well, in the six hours I spend fucking the hell out of Sissy, I think she is, until the vampire herself says something to me a little later on.

"Can I ask you something?" she says to me, her head rested on my chest while my hand plays with a strand of her long, blonde hair.

"You just did.” Predictably, I receive a fist in the stomach for it. "Quit it, bitch. I just made you come more times than you can count." I then add, batting the offending hand away from my abs.

"Thirty-three, actually. As for what I want to ask, who's Edie?" I look at her sharply, wondering how the hell she knows about her.

"Why'd you ask?"

"You don't remember saying her name a few times over the last six hours?" Any other woman would likely be really pissed off about that, but Sissy doesn’t give a shit, by the sound of it.

"No, I really don't," I admit truthfully, because I honestly, have no recollection of calling out Edie's name while having sex with her. "There's only one thing for it. After we've rested, we can go out and feed, then come back here and this time, I'll make sure I get the name right." I then add.

A grin curls her pretty mouth. "I'm not tired yet, are you?"

"Not very, I suppose," I admit.

"Good, that's all I needed to hear." Circling my nipple with her tongue, she then slowly works her way back down to my dick. If I can fuck my way to forgetting about Edie for a while, I'll do it. I really don't want her on my mind any more than she already is, especially when I'm having sex with Sissy again the next evening and I pick up on a flash of Edie's emotions, feeling she's not happy at all. I just hope she knows that I wish it was her I was with, and not anyone else.

Edie's POV

"Edie, are the mashed potatoes stirred enough yet?" Aileen asks me from across the table, as I sit having dinner with her and her family.

"Huh? Oh," I mumble, shaken from my potato stirring, Angel thinking about daze.

"You alright, sport?" her husband, Mike asks me from the top of the table, picking up his napkin to wipe gravy from his thick moustache.

"Yeah, I'm just tired. That doesn't bode well, considering I have work in two hours, but meh." I shrug, pulling myself out of my daze and smiling widely. "So, how's that college paper going, Lewis?" I then ask one of the four boys around the table. Well, at twenty-five, I don't suppose I can lump in their eldest, Sonny, with that, especially since he's currently bouncing his eleven-month-old son on his lap. He's a single dad, his girlfriend Leonie tragically dying while giving birth to Luca. I never saw Aileen cry before that day, when she told us all at the CD what had happened. Mike nods at my answer and goes back to eating the chicken in front of him with gusto, while I at least attempt to eat a little more of my food. Being pissed off and eating has never gone well at the same time with me, though.

"It's really difficult, but I'm determined to get to fifteen thousand words, at least. I'll get extra credit for twenty, though," Lewis tells me. He's an engineering whiz, yet Aileen and Mike didn't have the money to send him to college, since it costs an absolute fortune (less people equal less colleges and fewer teachers in this day and age) and is definitely out of their reach since they still have seven who are dependant on them. He got in on a scholarship, since his aptitude with sciences put him as a front runner, especially since he expressed interest in joining the air force, which is only just establishing itself again. Aviation engineers and pilots are in great shortage.

"You'll get to twenty, son. No sweat! I mean, the way you can gabble on I'm surprised you're not there already." Aileen chirps, making everyone laugh. After eating a little more, I excuse myself from the table, not before clearing my plate and taking the plates from Trudi, Suri and Sonny, who are all finished eating as well. I then excuse myself again and head out onto the back porch to sit down and light myself a cigarette. I'm so annoyed, annoyed that I can feel right now that Angel is obviously fucking someone, I can feel it in his mood, he's aroused as hell, and it isn't with me. I want it to be with me, but that can't happen and I really hate it. What’s even worse? I feel hurt by it all.

He's not even my boyfriend! Why do I feel hurt about him having sex with some other woman when I'm not even involved with him? Oh yeah, that's right. That night I spent with him after the explosion, it made him get under my skin even more than he already has. It probably meant more to me than him as well. Either that or he's taking his mind off me by having sex with as many women as possible, but I find that highly unlikely. Angel did reveal he has just two regular vampire women in his life whom he enjoys casual sex with. He’s probably with one of them, or both, some kind of rotation. It kills me, to think of it, him with someone else, especially since I can feel quite clearly that one thing prevails. He misses me on some level. I think it’s easier for me to try and ignore that, though.

The feelings I’m experiencing are stronger than through the blood tie we had before, but still not all that blinding now I'm away from him. They were intense when I was beside him. Being next to him, a place I miss being more than I ever imagined I would. They aren't all sexual, the things I feel about him. I like being around him, I feel really good when he's there. I've come to realise he is actually everything I'd look for in someone I intend to date. He's intelligent, talented, good looking, he makes me laugh, he makes me feel happy, shallowly, the body is a huge draw, and the fact that he's a vampire now only adds to the charm. Being away from him can only do me good, though. I just wish there was a way to sever this damn blood tie so I don't have to feel what he feels. I hate it.

"Come on, about time you unloaded to Aileen. You've been off for a couple of days, perhaps longer if I'm true. You sure you're over that gas station debacle okay?" the lady herself asks me, coming out with a cigarette in her mouth and a beer in her hand.

"Yes, I'm over that okay, honestly. It's just...” I begin, trailing off with a sigh. “Angel.” Immediately, she nods knowingly, like she expected me to say that. When I told people at work what had happened, of course I had to finally come clean them, that Angel and I had been seeing each other as friends. This'll be the first she hears with regards to those friendship lines beginning to become blurred, though.

"I thought you were going to come out with something like that. What it is with you two, hmm? I mean I know you're attracted to him, but yet you're only friends?" she asks, sipping her beer.

"It's kind of complicated. We are attracted to each other, but there's a big and very specific reason why we can't become involved like that. I can't tell you why, but trust me, it can’t happen, ever. Yet we both want it to be more. After it happened, the explosion that is, and after I was all healed again, we spent a long time lying there on his bed, just kissing. It was nice, but torturous, knowing it can never happen. I don't know how I can go back to being just friends after that. I'm glad we're currently taking a little time apart, because my head is all over the fucking place about it. The blood tie doesn't help, especially since it's much stronger than before," I explain, taking a long drag on my cigarette.

"I'm glad you told me, although I don't think you'll like my suggested remedy for the situation," she replies, giving me an apprehensive sideways glance.

"I'm prepared to listen.”

"Well, since you can't be with him in the way you want to be, and you think you can't ever see him as someone who is solely a friend and nothing more, if I were you, I'd cut him out of my life completely, save myself the worry and the heartache. It's somewhat drastic, but really, what else can you do? Having him in your life and not being able to actually have him as yours is going to be like sitting a type one diabetic in front of a massive stack of candy, and telling them they can look at it all they like, but they must absolutely not gorge themselves on the forbidden treats," she advises, while I sit and think on her suggestion, rather than dismissing it immediately.

Hearing that, it makes me feel sad. Mainly because I know it’s probably going to be the option I have to choose. “I don't like the idea, but you're right. What else can I do? Oh, and I like the analogy you used there, the diabetic and the candy.”

"And I like the fact you just used the word analogy. Word of the day?" she asks.

"Yup, well, Sunday’s" I confirm, smiling as she gives me a friendly shove with her shoulder.

"Proud of ya, I am," she mutters, smiling before sipping her beer. "Really, though, it's your call, toots. See how you feel about it all after you've spent this time away from him, and then make up your mind." She then adds, before she's distracted by her youngest daughter, Chloe.

"Mommy, can we have ice cream with the apple pie please?" she asks. This kid kills me, I swear. She borders on insanely cute.

"Is there enough for everybody, my little cherub?" Aileen asks, flicking her cigarette away and reaching to smooth her daughter's curls away from her face.

"There's one tub of vanilla and one of chocolate. I don't mind having chocolate," she tells us in her super serious four-year-old tones. It doesn't fail to make us laugh.

"Well then aunt Edie and I better get our butts back inside before Chloe eats all the chocolate flavour to herself!" She exclaims, pulling a big, aghast face at her little one before standing and scooping her up, while I stride to open the door, since my friend has her arm full. Nine kids and one arm, and she dressed, bathed and fed them all by herself when Mike wasn't there to help. She's incredible. She lost it in a farm machinery accident back in Mississippi when she was a young teen, so she’s been without it now for most of her life. I still don’t know how she copes.

After eating dessert, I help with the mountain of dishes, and then after listening Suri play us all the latest song she's learned on her guitar, Aileen and I leave for work, Trudi offering us a lift. Once there and down in my chamber, I feel clear and focused, my work meaning my mind is taken off Angel completely for the time I'm there, kicking the shit out of a truly contemptible man who used to beat on his children.

“Come here, you need mad Arab hugs," Ahmed tells me, sitting behind me and wrapping me in his gigantic arms as I sit on the roof smoking during my break a few hours later. I just told him virtually the same thing I did Aileen. "All I can say is, I can only imagine how it feels, since you obviously like him a whole lot. You haven't been like this about anyone since when you first met Sarah, and worried whether she was really interested or not." He then adds, resting his chin atop my head.

"I can't be, though. I just have to deal with it. I hate not getting my own way," I sigh. "I think I need to get laid, that'll take my mind off it. Hell, Angel can't be the only person I want to have sex with. That's it. Next time I go out, I'm going on a man or woman hunt." I then continue with.

"That's a damn good idea, my friend. If he's getting it out of his system, then why shouldn't you? I mean look at it this way; you could have a casual fuck with someone and it could turn into more, and then being friends with Angel wouldn't be as hard, because you'd be sexually distracted with someone else." I have to say, this is something I like the sound of more than Aileen's suggestion.

That really could work, but I'm not about to go and jump into a relationship I don't want just to keep someone as a friend and distract myself from the fact that he's a friend I want to have sex with. Or, whoever said anything about a relationship? Last year me, and a guy named Chris I met had a casual sex thing for about five months. It was good. I make a mental note of this and continue with my evening, heading out with the guys and Aileen afterwards for a few drinks to our usual haunt, and having a really good time, too.

"You know that plan you had? I think it needs to put into action about now. She's been staring at you for the last half an hour," Ahmed says to me discreetly while nodding in the direction of a really pretty redhead sitting at the bar.

"I've noticed, I've been looking back too," I confide, just as she looks at me again and then winks.

"Get your ass over there, Bailey. You got a wink dude, you're in," he encourages, giving me a nudge with his elbow a few times.

"I ain't going right over there! She can wait, or she can come to me," I snort.

"Good game, girl. Good game." As it turns out, I do have good game, since by 4:30am, she's sitting on my lap, enjoying a few drinks with me and my friends. Her name is Katya, she's twenty-five and works as a dance instructor and part time showgirl at one of the big hotels on the strip. She's definitely got the legs for it, and they feel as nice as they look when I begin to run a hand up and down one of them.

"How far away is your place, then?" she asks, giving my ear a little tickle with her tongue.

"About ten minutes in a cab," I reply.

"Your place is nearer than mine. Let's go." She says, before moving to stand. You'd laugh at the speed I just stood up at.

"Edie's scored!" Wilson announces loudly, receiving a shove in the side from Ahmed, even though he laughs, while I give him the middle finger and then say goodnight to everyone. I'm off to enjoy myself a whole lot, and not think about Angel at all. It's decided. By the time we get back to mine, we're bordering on undressing in the cab, and I manage to find my way up the drive backwards while we kiss, stumbling and giggling with her a few times, all the while with this feeling like we're not alone.

Once inside, I take her hand and lead her to the bedroom, pushing her back onto my bed and sitting astride her hips, pulling up her top and unclipping her bra. We begin to kiss as my hands find her tits, circling her nipples with my short nails until they harden, lowering my mouth to suck each of them in turn, while she begins pulling me out of my clothes, until I'm completely naked. Grabbing the top of my arms she turns me over onto my back, kissing my neck with sumptuous purpose, while her hand runs down and into my underwear, her fingertips starting to rub softly at my clit as our mouths connect again. I run my fingers through her near waist length hair, and then around to squeeze her ass before the moment is halted abruptly.

"Shit! There was a guy just staring through the window, through the gap in the curtains," she suddenly shouts, jumping off me and covering her chest.

"Wait here," I tell her, putting my bra and jeans back on and then heading out of the room and around to the lounge to let myself outside.

"I know it's you, you know. I know you followed the cab home. What did we say about spending time apart? Last time I checked, that didn't include following me home," I hiss tersely in whisper to what appears to be an empty backyard. I know he's lurking, though; I can feel him watching me. Also, the blood tie seems strong because right now I can feel his mood perfectly clearly. That mood is burning jealousy over Katya.

"Fine, be a coward and hide." I mutter, trying to deliberately goad him out. Nope, that doesn't work either. Besides, he's too clever to succumb to such. Sighing, I head back in and lock up, going back into the bedroom and closing the curtains fully before returning my focus to Katya.

"No one there, so, where were we?" I ask as I sit astride her, lacing my fingers through hers. She grins and then leans up to kiss me, and we continue roughly were we left off. Angel remains outside until the sun comes up too, because I can feel the jealously pouring out of him for the entire time.

#angel reyes #angel reyes fanfiction #angel reyes smut #angel reyes imagine #angel reyes x ofc #angel reyes fanfic #angel reyes fic #vampire!angel reyes #mayans mc #mayans mc fanfiction #mayans mc imagine #mayans mc smut #mayans mc fanfic #mayans mc fic

14 notes · View notes