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What Normal People Do

John 'Soap' Mactavish and Simon 'Ghost' Riley have routines. They have also each other, the truck, the dog, and their flat. That is until the dog practically manhandles you into their life. Changes ensue. please be warned this is very self indulgent and probably not in character at all. i have never played MM2, i haven't watched a single playthrough (unless countless tiktok edits count) and I only know what I do about their characters from a lot of tumblr posts and fics on ao3. speaking of- ao3! ghost/soap/gn!reader (established ghoap)

I'll Run Away With You

Simon Riley is not known for being tender and soft-spoken- he wasn’t a lieutenant because he spoon-fed soldiers and tucked them in on cots in the middle of a war field. He earned his stay on Earth, earned his title, hell, earned the clothes on his back. God would have had his head if he hadn’t made sure the younger, more incompetent kind didn’t have to, too.

It was hard for him to find that balance between the harshness of his job and the still bad but significantly less thorny outside (or inside?) world. Sometimes, while on the field, old injuries from years past would randomly decide to rear their heads. Maybe it would be an old knife wound that felt like it was bruising all over again or his ears would ring like he was hearing gunshots in the middle of a Marks and Spencers.

He was a valuable soldier, he knew. There were bunches and gaggles of people who wanted his head mounted on a stick- too many to count, and properly address. He was only one man, though. It would make sense that after all those years, it would weigh on him.

When he was younger, newer to the military, he tried to be normal when he was off duty. What his mam would have wanted for him, had she not been a deadbeat and dead. Polo shirts that stretched around his wide frame tucked into jeans, taking care of the flat he rented somewhere in the countryside-city (it’s not really a suburb but he calls it that anyways because who cares?) and pretending to debate about vacuums and silverware. Because that’s what normal people do.

But as time went on, it got harder to separate work from his life, and he just… let it consume him. Now that same suburb-y flat is in a place more urban than sub, “prime real estate,” he overheard in a decent pub with a pint once in between missions. Rent’s gone up, that’s damn sure. He offhandedly considers buying the whole building sometimes- he’s got bloody enough money, more than enough from saving absentmindedly, as the money had nowhere notable to go- but he wouldn’t be present enough to be a landlord and that shite. The flat he tried to furnish when he was twenty-something is still furnished the same way, if not a little more touched up by Johnny and his never-ending energy, and sometimes, it feels like being in a dead person’s house. It’s lived in but in a state of perpetual disrepair, never feeling like an actual home (at least for him).

The fridge was rarely ever stocked with anything but condiments and beer during their military days- he and Johnny never really had the energy to cook, preferring to use their free time elsewhere- but the bed had a frame (better than what he can think of some of his friends, bleedin’ Johnny and bringing girls back to a mattress on the floor before he moved in with Simon) and a rug underneath it and even a potted plant on a side table that is 100% plastic. It catches the light nicely in the wee hours of the morning, though, so it’s worth dusting the thin, leathery material of the fake lily now and again.

The flat is more furnished now, now that they’re officially in retirement. Knick knacks found at thrift stores or random handouts from the festivals and fairs that they go to every season, just to feel a little human again. There are more plastic plants on the side table now and Simon even tentatively tried a spider plant six months ago. It’s still alive, flourishing even, and now Simon has a couple of gardening books. Sometimes, when neither of them can sleep, Simon reads them out loud while Johnny fiddles with some new craft. Johnny says out loud once that they should get a house, for Simon and his plants.

Johnny came home with him every time they got some leave time together. The two of them are one in the same, really, feral animals without an off switch. It makes it easy for a relationship to foster, their understanding of the other in such an intimate and vulnerable way. It lets them open up guarded and bruised hearts, letting the other shine a flashlight on them and deciding to love them anyway. It’s the same as the hopeless romantic shit that you see in movies but plays out a lot dirtier in real life- it’s all the love and passion and borderline insanity that comes with a real first love mixed with the obsession of two retired soldiers who had been in the game too long and longer still without anyone normal to add some perspective to their lives.

That’s how it’ll always be, Simon thinks to himself as he stares at Johnny, hulk of a man he is, curled around Simon like a docile little thing- he surely looks it, as he was dwarfed by the extra five inches and the fifty pounds Simon had on him. He’s asleep- man sleeps like the dead, anywhere and everywhere- mohawk unruly and sticking up every which way. Getting long, Simon thinks to himself as he runs a hand through it- slightly sweat slicked but soft from a shower that night. It’s the right on the cusp of summer, the AC working hard- in this old flat, it doesn’t work the best but gets the brunt of it done. Simon’s opened up a window, (hesitantly- but between him, Johnny, and the dog, it’s sweltering and he fears he might get heatstroke) the one closest to his reach, so that the mesh covering can ventilate the room. They’re three stories up, but neither he nor Johnny enjoy having windows open. Too many weaknesses. He takes advantage of the window, though, lighting up a cigarette with a Zippo Johnny got for him a year ago.

His life is full of opposites, he finds. Johnny tends to take up a room, but Simon moves silently, just like his callsign. Johnny sleeps like a log while Simon struggles with his insomnia (right now he hopes the cigarette will help quiet him enough for sleep).

It won’t, Simon thinks to himself as he watches the moon move through the window and sinks below where he can see and eventually, the sun makes its appearance known. He puts his cigarette out sometime between the sun bleeding to view and the first rays of dawn because time keeps on moving and then Johnny is shifting awake at 0800. Johnny blinks, eyes already bright, ready for the day. He’s always alert when he wakes up, force of habit, Simon supposes. He doesn’t sleep enough himself to be so put together when he wakes up.

Then their day goes as follows:

Johnny puts the telly and the kettle on while Simon makes them brekkie. After two cups of tea are made (one with enough creamer to strangle a cow and the other black and simple, the way God intended it, as Johnny’ll tell Simon) and toast and egg sandwiches like the ones from cafes that Johnny learned how to make on a whim are put together, they sit for a while, just enjoying their company. Johnny fiddles with something- today it’s the newspaper- and Simon reads a book, and every once and a while, there’ll be a fair advertised in the paper. The fairs have always been there, in the city, but the two of them never really had the time while in the military. Now, they have more time than they can think to do with it, and so Johnny dragging Simon to them is now a familiar routine.

“‘S strawberries thi’ year,” Johnny says out loud.

“Mm?” Simon hums, immediately knowing what Johnny is talking about.

“Shite, 't started tae days ago.” He puts the paper down and puts his hands on his knees, and Simon puts a bookmark in his book before getting up.

They work cohesively around each other while getting ready to go to the fair. Johnny searches through the walk-in closet for a shirt and Simon digs through their dresser for socks. Johnny fixes his mohawk while Simon hooks a surgical mask around his ears. Johnny laces his sneakers up and pulls Riley’s harness on and Simon pulls on a hoodie, and then the three of them are in Simon’s truck, chugging along to the Town Center, where there are tents and stalls and people with strawberry hats. They get strawberry cider, strawberry pound cake and strawberry-shaped pasta to take home and strawberry cider that the both of them conclude is just Sp

rite in a pink glass bottle. Simon has to talk Johnny down from buying a big, ugly strawberry hat for Riley and compensates with a ceramic strawberry planter. There are strawberry-printed picnic blankets spread underneath trees with strawberry lanterns connecting them, lighting up the public park as the sun dances in the sky. Simon watches idly while Riley bites at a chip Johnny offers her.

They have a moment of peace there, on the picnic blanket, before Riley loses her shit and starts pulling on her leash, her distress signal- usually for Simon, but obviously for someone else now, if the desperate way she’s struggling against her harness is anything to go by. Simon gets up begrudgingly, the metal plate in his knee protesting as he jogs to meet Riley’s speed as she practically sprints behind one of the stalls. There is you; half curled on yourself with your phone in your hands. Riley rips herself out of Simon’s hold and barrels into you, calculating her speed so she’s at a trot when she lays her weight across your lap. You blink, phone forgotten, and Simon watches, silent, as you flinch away. Riley’s nothing if not persistent though, and eventually her weight forces you to calm down. Huh. Simon thinks offhandedly. You still haven’t noticed him, big and hulking as he is, just focused on Riley’s comforting weight as you calm yourself, slow, stuttering breaths evening, phone forgotten. DPT, Simon thinks to himself. When you calm entirely, you spot Simon. Your eyes go wide and you immediately try to wiggle out from underneath Riley.

“Oh, no, I’m sorry, your dog sort of- um, trapped me here, I didn’t mean to-“

“No.” Simon says, and his gruff tone matched with his physique is enough to quiet you. “She wanted to help you. ‘S fine.” He says.

“Um,” you say. “Okay. Are you sure?” Simon just grunts in response.

"Are you okay?” He asks, his voice softening just a little.

“Oh, um. Yeah.”

Simon doesn’t believe you.

He stares down at you for a long while, and your expression gradually grows more anxious.

“I just, um- I have an, um. A thing.” You say quietly.

“Are you okay?” He asks again, giving you a chance to tell the truth, to redeem yourself. “Riley doesn’t start DPT on total strangers for no reason.” This time, Simon’s insistent, giving you no wiggle room. He stares two holes through the back of your head. You look uneasy.

“No, I’m OK. Just… got a little upset.” You say, giving him a little smile. Simon stares longer than necessary. Just as he’s about to answer, Johnny comes in running.

“Si, ‘ave found a strawberry sex stall-!“ Johnny starts before his eyes land on you. Pleasantries are exchanged before you squeak out an excuse and you make a point in scurrying out before Johnny can even start his main charming event. Johnny pouts but watches you go.

“Bonnie, that one,” he murmurs, if a little mournfully. Simon only grunts in agreement.

Later that evening, the interaction is forgotten about. Passed off as just a weird event, perhaps an endearing story to tell about Riley- (sweet girl, always so concerned for others- took off running for a stranger once, she did)- and nothing more.

That night goes as follows:

Johnny and the dog watch telly until Simon is done with dinner. They eat together, their little family, Riley eating her generic shepherd’s meal through her slow feeder, chowing loudly while Simon and Johnny talk about everything and nothing at all. Then they all sit together on the sofa to watch a random movie. It’s time for bed after, which means brushing their teeth, showering, washing hair and getting the last of Riley’s jitters out. Then the three of them settle in bed- it’s barely past 1100 before Johnny’s out like a light.

This is where the routine of retired life varies:

Sometimes Simon will sleep. Sometimes he will stay up for a night, then two, then twelve. Sometimes he’ll take the medicines he is supposed to and others he will wake with night terrors. Sometimes he’ll wake up and feel so broken he’ll wake Johnny up so that can cuddle and fall asleep together and sometimes the dog will wake Simon before an especially bad nightmare.

Yes, his life really is full of contradictions, Simon thinks. Because knows he is in love with Johnny but somehow cannot get his mind off the brief meeting he had with you. He takes after his father in more ways than one, it appears. The heart of a cheater hidden in the skin of a new mind. He and Johnny have had thirds before- but Simon’s never felt so enraptured by one before. Not so quickly, not so strongly, not so potently. He finds himself craving to know more about you, to learn everything about you- the same way he felt about Johnny when they first met. The revelation makes him stay up and smoke and watch the moon bleed to the sun, with Johnny curled to his side and Riley in their bed.

Then their day goes as follows:

Johnny puts the telly and the kettle on while Simon makes them brekkie. After two cups of tea are made and omelettes are put together, they sit for a while, just enjoying their company. Johnny fiddles with something- today it’s a new paper craft- and Simon reads a book. Sometime during that, they'll part ways. Maybe the dog needs a walk or Johnny takes a piss- it's a little like a game of wills, looking for who will tap out of just sitting there first. Today, it's Johnny. He gets up to get his laptop before settling back on the couch with the TV buzzing lowly. Johnny job hunts. Simon reads. Johnny feeds the dog. Simon ponders their pension. At some point both of their minds wander to the same topic- you.

Then their night goes as follows:

Johnny and the dog watch telly until Simon is done cooking dinner. They eat together, their little family, Riley eating her generic kibble, chewing loudly while Simon and Johnny talk about everything and nothing at all. Then they all sit together on the sofa to watch a random movie. It’s time for bed after, which means brushing their teeth, showering, washing hair and walking Riley to tire him out. Then the three of them settle in bed- it’s not even past 1100 before Johnny’s asleep.

Then the routine of retired life varies:

This night, Simon lays on his back like a log before curling into Johnny's back. He sleeps that night.

What Normal People Do - 2

Simon and Johnny have a new neighbour. cw for implied sexual content/aftercare. skip to 'The next morning' <3 ao3! ghost/soap/gn!reader (established ghoap)

Show Me Yours, I'll Show You Mine

The guilt isn’t all-consuming, he finds.

He and Johnny had explored having more partners together more than once- but usually, the third was only interested in a fling, nothing serious.

Simon obviously had no reason to think that you would be different. Obviously. But that night when Johnny presents to him a strawberry-printed jockstrap with a sly smile,- “Strawberry sex stall, remember?-“ Simon just can’t help but imagine if you were there.

It’s wrong of him, he knows. The only time he had seen you, you had been distressed. Enough so that Riley, a trained service dog, had noticed a way away and practically sprinted to you.

…But something about your demeanour had lured him in. So after he gets a cool rag and cleans Johnny and himself off, curling around Johnny’s back like he's a planet finding its orbit, he murmurs what he was thinking about. He knows Johnny won’t shame him- they’ve done much worse than absently think about someone else watching in during their intimate time.

Johnny looks over his shoulder at Simon with a crooked grin.

“Me tae.” He says. Somehow, Simon is not surprised. “Wish ae’d gotten bon’s number.” He grumbles.

Simon shakes his head.

“It probably wasn’t meant to be,” Simon says. “So distressed. Hard to imagine they’d’ve taken kindly to it.”

Johnny groans.

“Tae reasonable. ‘D’ve fallen for mae charm!” He protests.

“Unlikely.”

“Ae don’t like ye.”

Simon grunts.

“Sleep, Johnny.”

——————

The next morning, Price and his wife are supposed to be coming over to the flat and so Johnny is tasked with taking the dog out to a local coffee shop while Simon cleans the flat.

Riley is quiet on her leash while Johnny mills about, waiting for the overworked barista to shake together the coffees.

He doesn’t realise until he’s halfway through the counter that he’s been casing it.

Bad dog, he chastises himself, slumping against the wooden panel of the wall.

He manages to rein himself in for maybe five minutes before he inevitably looks around again- but this time he is rewarded.

Standing a little to his right is you, smiling down to your phone. Like a sane person, he slides right next to you.

“Seems like ye’ve got a love-hate relationship wif’ that thing,” Johnny says, nodding to your phone.

You look startled and confused as you look at Johnny and then recognize him.

“Oh! No, um. I got broken up with yesterday.” You say, bashfully. “Had to move out and find a new place on short notice.”

“And ye got the place?”

“Yes. It’s very lovely. Rent’s maybe a bit much but I’m sure I can budget it… It’s such a great stroke of luck that I’ve found it under 24 hours.”

Johnny nods.

“O’ course. ‘M glad fer ye.”

“Thank you.” You say with a shy smile. Johnny grins at you.

“Och, no need tae thank me.”

Johnny watches your pretty mouth open to refute him when the barista calls out your name. He rolls your name around in his head for a while before the barista’s tired voice calls for a ‘Tommy’.

He takes the coffees, grumbling under his breath about how Johnny wasn’t a hard name, actually, and rather easy to hear, thanks, Riley loyally at his side.

It’s only halfway through brunch and Simon’s scones that he realises he hadn’t even gotten your number.

He glumly retells the events of the morning once the Prices have left to Simon, who ruffles his hair a small bit.

“Not meant to be, Johnny,” Simon echoes.

A new tenant is moving in, Simon offhandedly tells him shortly after. Johnny only thinks about you and your ex a little.

——————

Johnny nearly wants to call Simon to laugh in his face. Oh-ho, ‘not meant to be’ his arse. Bonnie is right there, in the produce section, frowning down at a list. For the second time, he slides up next to you.

“Well, lookit tha’!” Johnny exclaims. You look up from your intense staring and blessedly at him; earning a grin from him and a friendly clap on the shoulder.

“How’s the new flat?” He asks.

“Oh, it’s better than the photos,” you say, pleased.

“‘M glad, bonnie.” He says.

“Bonnie?” You ask.

“Don’t worry about it! How about this weather?” Johnny all but yells.

You spend perhaps more time than you should with Johnny; chatting about absolutely nothing and everything at all. At some point, grocery shopping leaves your mind and Johnny ushers you to a nearby café so you can converse in peace.

——————

The next day, as Simon leaves the flat with Riley in tow, he sees you pulling a few boxes into the flat next to them.

Oh, Johnny’s going to love this.

He leaves you alone because he is not Johnny and his unlimited confidence, opting to take Riley out on her walk the long way around the building. 

By the time he's back, you are outside, fiddling with the locks on your front door.

He decides to talk to you; it'd be the neighbourly thing to do, right? Surely he can spare a little time to get to know Johnny's self-proclaimed bonnie.

"Need help?" He asks, materialising behind you and making you jump out of your skin. You whip around and then Simon understands the appeal you have to Johnny.

You're golden hours outside and fresh fruit in dinky plastic cups; you're like summer before it's too miserable and when spring is still lingering by. You're domestic and perfectly so- not heavy-handed, no, done with a perfect sort of delicacy that he can still imagine you hard-faced at a PTA or an HOA meeting or whatever it is normal people do in their free time.

The time it takes for him to decipher what it is in you that Johnny adores is the same amount of time it takes for you to recognise him.

"No, I'm okay. Um, thank you, though." You say, almost shyly. Simon thinks he likes you, too.

"Did you just move in?" He asks. By then, Riley has recognised your scent, making her tail wag rather aggressively.

“Yes.” He sees you hesitate for a moment, and then: “Do you… live here?” You ask.

Simon grunts. “We’re the flat over.”

“Oh!” Your face brightens. “Well. Thank you for offering to help, neighbour.” You say with a beaming smile which is so bright he can’t help but let the corners of his lips quirk up into a little smile, too.

He says goodbye and you do too, and Riley gets one more head butt before he leads Riley over to their flat.

Johnny is already there, sprawled out on the couch while watching some cooking show on the TV. He gets up when he hears the door open, though, to give Riley some pets. She borfs and Johnny borfs back.

“Dogs, the both of you,” Simon grumbles as he takes off Riley’s harness and throws his keys onto a little table by the front door Johnny had bought aeons ago.

He slides all three deadbolts into place while Johnny leads Riley to the kitchen for her dinner.

“Oh, Johnny,” Simon says as he hooks up his coat. “Your bonnie moved into the flat next to us.”

Johnny stops pouring kibble into Riley’s bowl.

“Yer kidding?!”

“No.”

Johnny honest to God shrieks and forgets all about Riley’s dinner, racing to the door like a cartoon character. Simon stops him with a firm hand on the shoulder.

“No. They just moved in. They’re probably tired. Let’s be considerate and wait till tomorrow, yeah?” He says, and Johnny visibly droops. His expression softens and he presses a kiss to Johnny’s temple.

“We can bring them food tomorrow. How about you make your muffins for them?” He suggests. That, at least, makes Johnny settle.

——

The next morning, Johnny and Simon are at your door at an acceptable time. Simon forced Johnny into waiting a full two hours after they woke up before they went to your door.

It was a little like a child on Christmas morning; so excited that they can’t think of anything but that one thing.

Johnny practically sprints out of their flat when Simon just sighs after he asks if they can *go see the wee bonnie, please, Si?* for the umpteenth time in an hour.

He’s standing outside your front door now, muffins in tow and a still-tired Simon hovering behind him. He knocks for the second time and then lo and behold is his bonnie. Maybe a little ruffled from sleep but just as bonnie as the last time he saw you.

“Hello, you two.” You say, smiling.

“Hi! Ae made ye muffins. Tae help settle ‘ta the new flat.”

“Wow, thank you. You didn’t have to. Here, come inside- I’m sorry, it’s a mess,” you apologize. There are boxes strewn about, dragged around, things overflowing from inside.

“You got here last night?” Simon asks as Johnny sets his muffins down on your kitchen counter. You nod.

“Can I make you some tea?” You ask, already rummaging in a box labelled ‘kitchen’ for your kettle.

You chat idly while the water boils and you look for tea bags and mugs.

“Sorry, no sugar. Or creamer.” You say as you pour them two generous mugs.

Then you talk about leasing dates, the landlord, the best parking areas, the cheapest takeouts, and things to do around.

At some point, their mugs run dry and you go to their flat over for lunch and even more conversations.

By the time you leave, it’s half past five and you have a full feeling from companionship.

What Normal People Do - 3

You've been, frankly, having a shit day. Your boyfriend (whom you don't even like that much) breaking up with you was your final straw. Then two very attractive young men and their service dog walk into your life and can't seem to leave. bit of a rushed chapter- not as finely tuned as i would like it to be. the reader kinda took me by the ear and wrote this chapter themselves, lol ao3! ghost/soap/gn!reader (established ghoap)

Lately, I've Been Crying Like A Tall Child

You have, frankly, been having a pretty shit day. Firstly you had three difficult patients back to back with varying degrees of Bitching Mothers™️ that insisted on you throwing safety to the wind for a small payout. You heard a lot of:

“No, can we skip that vaccine? I heard from my nail girl that they have red dye 40 in them,” one had said, her springy six-year-old doodling with the crayons and colouring books provided. You feel your jaw tick as you put on your best customer service smile.

“No ma’am, we can’t because the diphtheria vaccine is meant to help her. She’s at risk right now of getting it. She could die, ma'am.” You say. She frowned, a little convinced, but still stubborn.

“I don’t know if I want red dye in her bloodstream-“

“There’s no red dye 40 in any vaccine she'll ever get.” You grit out. “Ma’am.” She sighed as if she was being forced, but she nodded her head anyway.

“Well, I’m trusting you here.” She said, dramatically sighing.

Another was upset you had given her son a purple band-aid after his vaccine. The last openly talked about her tween daughter’s problems- ‘blightin’ useless, she is, scored dead last in her class- surely there’s something you can do to her, lovie?’- she had said while the said tween sat, mortified, on the table after you had told her through gritted teeth that that wasn’t related at all to your job.

After all of that, you were done with your job. Like, ‘I’m going to punch my next patient kind of done’.

You make it through the last bits of your shift with no more rude and/or stupid patients and without assaulting anyone. You make it to your car before texting the one person you trusted to not overwhelm you in your fragile state ; your friend from uni, Emma.

                                                                                                                        Today 2:28 PM

                                                                                                                   - can we hang? please? abt to commit second degree murder

     - always, babes 😘

     - St. James’ Park

                                                                                                                                                       -   give me an hour

And that’s how you found yourself in a strawberry festival with Em, laughing at her as she tried to throw strawberry-shaped bean bags into strawberry-shaped corn holes while wearing a strawberry-shaped hat that was frankly ridiculous. Actually, this entire thing was ridiculous . Perfectly so because you could barely remember why you had been murderous earlier.

When you’ve both got strawberry scones and are walking to your next destination- a strawberry jewellery stall, at her insistence- two very hot, very large men with a dog pass by you. One of them is wearing a black surgical mask that does nothing to hide how pretty his deep brown eyes are, framed with pale blond eyelashes that almost blend into his porcelain-pale skin that’s marred by multiple scars. The other one, who was shorter than the blond but still tall in his own right, had bright blue eyes, a friendly smile and short, spiky brown hair cut in a mohawk. The German shepherd trotting along with them has a harness that reads ‘SERVICE DOG - DO NOT DISTURB’. You’re snapped out of your thoughts by Em whispering in your ear:

“Hunks galore.”

“More like a one-way ticket to pound town.” You whisper back. Em smacks your arm and then you cackle together because the two hunks are surprisingly very fast walkers and have already left you in the dust.

Maybe an hour later, Em gets a text from her girlfriend.

“My maiden!” Em exclaims as she looks down at her phone while chatting with you about nothing over strawberry tea cakes.  “Her car broke down!” Em says. “Oh, I’m sorry babe, I’ve gotta dash. I’ll see you later, mmkay?” She kisses your cheek and then she’s off.

Thinking of Em’s girlfriend reminds you of your significantly worse love life. You have a boyfriend right now, but it isn’t like you’re head over heels or anything. He’s nice but a little boring- admittedly, you’ve dated worse. Maybe that’s why you’ve stayed for half a year.

You decide to wander around the fair for a little longer, needing some extra cheer to make it through the work week and you more or less get pulled into getting your hand read by an elderly woman in a strawberry dress unwittingly. She’s small, definitely shorter than you, but her eyes are wise and her smile is knowing.

“Come, sit,” she frets, pulling out a wooden chair for you. So you do. Then she demands you give her your hands. So you do. She puts on reading glasses while she hunches over your outstretched palm, peering down at the fine lines. She makes a contemplative noise before tracing a wrinkle. “Misery soon,” she observes. “Oh, dear, within the hour.” She stares down some more. “It’ll be repaid tenfold with good karma, don’t worry your pretty heart.” Her face brightens. “Oh-ho, companionship! Soon! Oh- my, very good friends.” She says, gaping for a moment at your hand. “Hmm. Maybe some bumps on the road but that’s to be expected. It’ll be worth it, dear.” She pats your hand with one of her old, withered ones, slipping a strawberry bonbon into your hold with a wink. “Now shoo!” 

You leave feeling a little confused. Just an old lady with a complex, you rationalise. And just as you’re finishing up making your last rounds, passing by stalls, your phone rings with a text. So you pull over and read the text from your boyfriend.

                                                                                                                             Today 6:52 PM

     -  hey

                                                                                                                                                                                                        - hi babe

     - i need 2 tell u smth

                                                                                                                                                                                                        - okay?

     - i wanna break up

     - idk i feel like things hv gotten stale

     - u dont mind right

     -u can come get ur stuff 

So surely it’s no surprise to anyone when you turn into an alleyway, slump against a concrete wall and start ugly crying while staring down at your phone. While admittedly you weren’t that upset about being broken up with, you were upset about so suddenly moving out. Going out onto the housing market, so soon and so late in the day, no less, was sending you down a panic-induced spiral.

Then there is a large, comforting weight on your lap, like someone had covered you with a weighted blanket. You open your eyes a little, tears still falling, and you see a German shepherd on your lap, nudging your elbow with its muzzle. Then you see the service dog harness and remember the dog as the one that had been side by side with the hunks that passed you and Em. You gawk for a moment before determinedly trying to stop your tears; if the dog is here, surely the very hot, otherworldly hot owners are nearby. You’d hate for them to see you snivelling.

You focus on the big, fluffy body on you and, damn, whatever the hell the dog’s doing is working because you no longer feel like the world is ending. You just need a new apartment. Worse has happened.

Once you take some deep breaths, you immediately see one of the hunks standing there. Just… watching. You panic, because you can’t fully read his expression from under his mask, and surely he must be mad that his service dog had pounced on you. You try to convince the dog to move but it’s having none of it.

“Oh, no, I’m sorry, your dog sort of- um, trapped me here, I didn’t mean to-“

“No.” The hunk says (he’s hotter up close). He’s gruff and big and truth be told he does not seem like the kind of person you wouldn't want to argue with, so you stay quiet. “She wanted to help you. ‘S fine.” He says.

“Um,” you say. “Okay. Are you sure?”

The hunk merely grunts. “Are you okay?” He asks, and perhaps you’re being persuaded by his sheer mass and your new-found single status, but you swear his voice has softened a little, to not spook you more.

“Oh, um. Yeah.” You say, internally wincing at your overuse of ‘oh’.

The hunk stares down at you for a long while. Did you do something wrong? Shit. Maybe he does really mind. You shift underneath his dog awkwardly and feel the urge to explain yourself.

“I just, um- I have an, um. A thing.” You say quietly. It’s not an entire lie- yeah, you were half-convinced you had a ‘thing’ from Em’s insistence that ‘you’re not okay, babe!’ multiple times over. You can’t help the guilt of telling a lie when you weren’t diagnosed with anything, however.

“Are you okay?” He asks. Again. “Riley doesn’t start DPT on total strangers for no reason.” He sounds dry, but… insistent. Somehow. It leaves you with no way to squeeze out a lie. His pretty eyes stare two dead holes into yours, and you’re sure you’re gonna get vaporized, Terminator style. Unease creeps into your gut.

“No, I’m OK. Just… got a little upset.” You say weakly, forcing out your best smile. You’re proud that you don’t grimace instead. He just keeps on staring at you, showing no inclination of answering. Then, just as you’re about to force the dog off, the other hunk- an Amazon gladiator, holy hells- walks in, excitement in his eyes.

“Si, ‘ave found a strawberry sex stall-!“ He says, but then he notices you and his expression goes into something you can’t read.

“Well, hello, there.” He says. You surely must look like a deer caught in headlights.

“Hello,” you squeak out, because not one but two superhumanly hot men are paying you attention. You gently push the dog off of you, mumbling a ‘bye’ before you scurry away and straight to your car. You don’t look back.

——

The next morning, you’ve just packed up your every belonging from your ex-boyfriend’s flat- he didn’t even bother to help- and rented out a storage cube, packed in everything single-handedly, and then got the best sleep of your life in a hotel. You had woken up and then gone to a coffee shop because your entire day would be filled with hunting down an affordable place to rent. You had Em help you fill out a few applications while you were driving from the ex’s flat to the storage cube to the flat and then storage again .

You’re reading through an email one of the landlords of one of the nicer apartments sent you this morning as you walk inside, give the barista your order and pay. Your reading quickly becomes scanning- you got the place!- for payments to make, forms to fill, people to contact, etc. But you’re stoked! This new apartment is better than the ex’s, and the one you had before him, so you really can’t help yourself from smiling like a dork.

“Seems like ye’ve got a love-hate relationship wif’ that thing.” A masculine and not too unfamiliar voice says from your right.

You startle, almost ready to throw hands, and then remember that the voice is familiar. You stare at him- shit, it’s the Amazon from yesterday. Everything had been so chaotic you had forgotten about that embarrassing encounter with the hunks, but you had no such luck. It’s fine. He doesn’t seem too disgusted with you. 

“Oh! No, um. I got broken up with yesterday.” You say, reading his expression to see if there’s any hatred there , that you accidentally made his service dog sniff you out and take him away from his boyfriend. “Had to move out and find a new place on short notice.”

“And ye got the place?” He says, pretty blue eyes soft and inviting. It’s like he cares.

“Yes. It’s really lovely . Rent’s maybe a bit much but I’m sure I can budget it… It’s such a great stroke of luck that I’ve found it under 24 hours.” Ouch. Overshare. You cringe inwardly.

The Amazon nods.

“O’ course. ‘M glad fer ye.” Hot and nice. If he wasn’t a taken man….

“Thank you.” You say, smiling shyly. He smiles- big and bright and genuine.

“Och, no need tae thank me.”

Your brow furrows and you’re about to explain how your thanks are very much deserved- you should be thanking him for breathing the same air as you, much less hold a conversation with you- and then the barista calls out a poor butchering of your name and you leave because you’ve got some new-apartment paperwork to do.

It’s only halfway through scanning PDFs that you realise you hadn’t even gotten his number.

——

You’re going grocery shopping because it’s been three days and you’re frankly getting sick of takeout. You had written a list and you were considering if you needed apples when, for the second time this week, a masculine voice shocks you out of your train of thought.

“Well, lookit tha’!” The Amazon exclaims (you haven’t even gotten his name). You look up from your pondering. He smiles the way he had at the cafe; big and bright, and he claps your shoulder with his big hand.

“How’s the new flat?” He asks.

“Oh, it’s better than the photos,” you say. Just thinking about how pretty the flat was during your tour yesterday was enough to make you smile again.

“‘M glad, bonnie.” He says.

“Bonnie?” You ask, confused. Did he think that was your name?

“Don’t worry about it! How about this weather?” The Amazon says loudly , making you blink.

You chat with Johnny in the produce section about whatever comes to mind, and then at some point the Amazon- Johnny, as he introduces himself- shifts your focus from the groceries and he ushers you to a new cafe right next to the grocery store. You buy your drink and find a booth and you spend at least two hours talking with Johnny. At some point, you had to leave because you truly did have other things to do, no matter how nice the conversation was.

——

The next day, you’ve gotten your keys and are moving your boxes into your new flat. The neighbours seem quiet, you think, as you heft a box of plates into the apartment.

It’s been about half an hour before you get all the boxes inside and start fiddling with some deadbolts you’d bought on Amazon, just in case.

"Need help?" A voice asks, materialising behind you and spooking the living hell out of you. You then recognize him as the blond hunk- Johnny’s boyfriend, Simon. He’s staring- waiting for an answer, shit.

"No, I'm okay. Um, thank you, though." You say, still feeling remnant fear from his sudden appearance.

"Did you just move in?" He asks. Blunt, you think. The dog from earlier is there, too, tail wagging.

“Yes.” You hesitate- no way you have enough luck in this world to bag a beautiful apartment and beautiful neighbours. You decide you just have to know. “Do you… live here?” You ask.

Simon grunts. “We’re the flat over.”

“Oh!” You smile. “Well. Thank you for offering to help, neighbour.” You say, cringing a little- 'neighbour'? really?- but you put on a smile that must coax a smile from Simon from underneath his face mask. Then he says bye and you’re quick to reciprocate while the dog trots over to butt its head against your leg, and then they go into the flat over, just like Simon said.

——

The next morning, Johnny and Simon, your new, beautiful neighbours, are at your door at ten. Thankfully, it’s your day off, otherwise, they’d be knocking in an empty apartment.

When you open your door after the second knock, Johnny is standing in front of Simon outside your front door, holding a platter full of blueberry muffins and a still-tired Simon hovering behind him- almost protectively, you think. You probably don’t look the best as your plans today were to rot in bed.

“Hello, you two.” You say, trying to subtly fix your appearance while smiling .

“Hi! Ae made ye muffins. Tae help settle ‘ta the new flat.” Johnny says proudly.

“Wow, thank you. You didn’t have to. Here, come inside- I’m sorry, it’s a mess,” you apologise, inwardly panicking. After you’d gotten all the boxes in, you hadn’t even considered unpacking anything but the essentials yet. And you’d gone digging for certain things, leaving a few boxes open with stuff falling out.

“You got here last night?” Simon asks gruffly while you direct Johnny to set the muffins on your kitchen island.

“Can I make you some tea?” You ask, scrambling for your manners- God, it’d been a while since you last had new people over. You start looking for your kettle.

They start a conversation with you about the weather as you look for mugs and tea bags.

“Sorry, no sugar. Or creamer.” You apologise, making up for it with more tea than normal in their mugs.

Then you talk about leasing dates, the landlord, the best parking areas, the cheapest takeouts, and things to do around.

They manage to get you in their apartment once you become immersed in the conversation enough, just picking back up where you left off on their rather comfy couch. Johnny is more talkative than Simon is, but that’s not to say that Simon is a hulking statue (though that’d be hot, too). He grunts when appropriate, asks you questions, rags on Johnny and seems genuinely interested in the comings and goings of your life.

By the time you leave, it’s half past five and you have a full feeling from companionship. —— You come to realise that Simon and Johnny are the sort of friends you can rely on. You were putting your brand new bed frame up when you realised you didn't have a single screwdriver, so you had tucked your tail and asked the boys if they had one- and to your surprise (and delight) Simon came right over with a toolbox and made the entire frame without being asked to. He even put the mattress atop your new frame. He was just about to fix the hinges on your door before you had to stop him and make him lunch before he remade the entire flat. "Really, you didn't have to do that, Simon," you fret while putting a sandwich together for him while he stares at you, toolbox sitting on the kitchen island. "Sure I did." He says. It's like in their mind they've made up that they have to take care of you- like earlier this week. You'd just gotten home from work and decided to get groceries while you were out and about- you needed milk, anyways. But between the shopping bags and your work bag, your arms were a little overloaded. You didn't want to go through two trips, either, which resulted in you holding five bags and fumbling around for your keys. It was inevitable, really, that your work bag would slip and fall.  You had groaned and just began to bend your knees before you here an 'och, le'me!' from behind you. Johnny is there, taking your work bag and then three of the remaining bags from your arms. "Johnny, it's-" "Nae, I dinnae hear it. Open your door, bonnie." He seems intent on calling you that, too. Even though he knows your name. You'll have to ask about it soon. You just sigh and unlock your door before putting one of the grocery bags down, Johnny following suit.  "Thank you." "Nae sweat o' ma back." He says with a boyish grin before leaving and closing the door behind you. The attention is nice, really. It feels good to be so close to some people you could trust.

What Normal People Do - 4

Dinner at Simon and Johnny's!

totally didn't mean to forget about this for two weeks.... hopefully this is enough sustenance! i recently started school again, so updates will likely slow.

also i'm a firm adhd (and dyslexic) johnny/autism simon truther so if something doesn't make sense, it's probably because i'm thinking of them as neurodivergent. ao3! ghost/soap/gn!reader (established ghoap)

I Promise, I'll Be Worth The Wait

Simon and Johnny have been learning your schedule.

For a few mornings in a row, while Johnny is still asleep, he can hear you in your room, just a wall over, shuffling out of bed and putting your kettle on before he hears the hum of your TV going, presumably keeping you company as you get ready for the day.

You get back home every day around 1650. Johnny pokes his head over to say hi quickly before leaving you to decompress. You’re always asleep by 2300. Then you wake up at 0600 the next morning, and you’re out of the flat by 0730.

They know your whole schedule by the second week. By then, they have become fixtures in your life, as reliable as the old Honda Civic you’ve been driving for five years. You can easily knock on their flat with the knowledge that they’d be happy to help, whether it be a cup of sugar, advice on how to fix your blender that somehow got broken in the move, or just a little company.

It was no surprise when they invited you over to their apartment for dinner, making sure to plan it perfectly so you aren’t fatigued or grumpy from work.

Johnny is keyed up during the two days following the dinner, constantly asking Simon questions at the worst times possible. Such as how the other night while Simon was awake and Johnny, for once, couldn’t sleep:

“Si.” Johnny shook Simon’s shoulder, earning a grunt from Simon. “Do ye think bonnie likes pasta?”

“Fuck if I know.” He grumbles. “Go to sleep.” Johnny mutters something about being discriminated against but he does, eventually, go to sleep.

Or when they were going grocery shopping:

“Oh, oh! Bonnie’ll love these!” He said, holding up a pack of digestive biscuits, making Simon sigh.

“Yeah, Johnny. I’m sure they will.” He says flatly before looking back at the bread. Five minutes later, Johnny shoves a roll of Smarties into his face.

“Nobody don’t like Smarties.” He says, almost proudly.

“Justify it however you need.”

Johnny is still not satisfied when they’re making dinner (together, as Johnny had insisted), rattling off about every piece of information he’s gleaned from you so far- where you’re from, your favourite colour and food and your birthday, too. No doubt, Johnny is smitten with you.

If he’s being honest, he doesn’t know how to feel about his boyfriend getting a crush on someone new- he was falling hard and fast while Simon would only really call his attraction to you surface level. Sure, you seem like a rather intelligent person and potentially someone he could dare to trust, but he isn’t as outgoing as Johnny is. He can’t know someone for a month and then want to know everything about them- it just isn’t how his brain works.

And if he’s being really, really honest, he’s scared. Johnny’s never been so enamoured before. It’s always been a fleeting attraction, long enough to last a week or two. He feels a little sidelined, jealous, even. Enough so that while following this line of thought his hand slips as he’s cutting carrots for the shepherd’s pie and accidentally nicks his thumb, snapping both Johnny and himself from their thoughts.

“Aw, Si!” Johnny exclaims, immediately putting his potato masher down and reaching for the first aid kit they keep stored underneath the kitchen sink. He coos all about his poor Simon while running Simon’s thumb under cold water and then delicately putting a bandaid over the wound, his warm hands over Simon’s cool ones. It’s then Simon acknowledges that maybe he simply missed Johnny, as all of his time recently has been spent obsessing over you. He can’t help it, Simon knows, but still.

“Gotta be more careful,” Johnny says when he’s satisfied with the condition of Simon’s thumb. He grunts and that is that.

Johnny is like a dog that night, chasing his tail while he waits for Simon to join him in bed, mad with excitement. He needs a steady hand when he’s like this, Simon finds- something mindless and easy enough to tire him out.

Tonight that means that Johnny is cradled to his chest, two burly arms keeping him in place. Pressure on the body helped regulate, as he had learned in a seminar he had dragged Johnny to once.

That pressure now works wonders, because Johnny is out like a light despite all of his fidgeting. In some ways, it feels like he has a magic off-switch for Johnny, which really shouldn’t be as cute as it is.

He hums under his breath while Riley noses open the door, jumping onto the bed and curling right in between their legs. Maybe she could smell something coming off of Simon and came in as a precaution. The thought makes Simon look up at the ceiling.

“Yeah, alright. I didn’t need to sleep anyways.” He whispers.

The next morning Simon makes the finishing touches on the menu for the night. Johnny’s been texting you since he woke up, probably distracting you from your job. Even still, he doesn’t have the heart to make him stop. At some point you stop texting Johnny because he gets up just to start bothering Simon- “What’s that, Si?” or “Gimmie a kiss, ye’ve been ignoring me,” or “Did ye take the dog fir her walk?”.

When Simon is content with the state of their house at 1300, Johnny jumps his bones and drags him to the bedroom out of sheer boredom. Simon keeps his entire 95 kilos on Johnny for the better half of some three hours, out of spite, mainly, boring Johnny to the point where he fishes out his phone and does… whatever it is Johnny does on his phone. Simon never really took to newer phones, nor what the younger people did on those phones.

(Because he could never enjoy the mindlessness of a screen. He’s weary and old, he feels it in his bones, his bad back, his knobbly knees, and he knows that emptiness of those ‘TickTacks’ that Johnny’s endlessly showing him will only serve to agitate him. He knows logically he only has a year or two on Johnny, really, but they were such opposites he rarely ever felt it. Johnny has reassured him multiple times about it, but it never stopped Simon from thinking (knowing) that Johnny deserves better than an old sod like him. They might be feral dogs together but Johnny has more humanity than he, easier to nurture and to be put back into society than him.)

Maybe it’s a force of habit but he uses a flip phone that can only call and text (if barely). It suits him just fine, though, making it hard for any distractions.

So maybe he feels a little smug when Johnny goes:

“Shite, they said they gonn’ be here in twenty.” A pause. “Fifteen fecking minutes ago!” And then Johnny is off like a rocket, rolling Simon off of him and then wiggling away and rushing to put on the clothes he set aside for the occasion, cursing rapidly while trying to fix his hair while putting on his slacks. Simon watches lazily before deciding to follow suit and put on his clothes, too.

“Mask or no mask?” He asks absentmindedly. Johnny doesn’t respond, too preoccupied with fixing his bedhead. He decides on no mask.

By the time Johnny deems himself decent, the doorbell rings and he curses before scrambles to open the door for you. Simon takes longer than Johnny to leave the bedroom, taking care to not rush, so when he inevitably enters the living room, you’re chatting with Johnny while pulling off your shoes. It looks like you’ve come straight from work, if the sterile hair and scrubs are anything to go off of. You wave hi to him, a tiny smile on your face.

He and Johnny pull the food from the oven where they’d been keeping warm while you sit, so politely, on the couch. Hands in your lap and feet tucked to the side, you’re a vision, Simon thinks as he puts a plate full of cobbler on their dinky little dining table.

You sit in a circle, the three of you. Simon serves you and Johnny your plates, letting you talk in peace while he listens, maybe chiming in gruffly when he knows what the conversation has shifted to. The conversation flows and ebbs in a way that Johnny alone couldn’t manage- it’s refreshing, having someone new, someone normal at that. Someone who understands the mundane process of civilian life, who, better yet, has only ever known civilian life. There’s a spark of amusement in Johnny’s eyes as he listens to you talk about work and your college and friends and the gruelling weight that is existence. You are heart-breakingly normal and they simply can’t get enough.

When Johnny leaves the table to use the restroom, though, you go quiet. It makes sense, as he has barely said a word to you for the hour and a half you’ve been here. He decides to change this by:

“How do you stop a baby from choking?”

This startles you.

“Uh, CPR?”

“You let go of its neck.”

It shocks a laugh from you, your eyes widening, caught off guard. Simon’s face stays stony but it softens by a fraction just from the sound of your laugh.

“That’s terrible.” You say when you’ve regained your senses, still giggling a little. He shrugs.

“It’s funny.” He counters.

You promptly shovel a bite of pie into your mouth, but it can’t hide the small smile on your face.

Two hours in, Johnny breaks out the wine. It’s not good, per se, but it goes nicely with the food Simon’s made. The wine loosens you up and makes your laughs come easier. You’re so beautiful when you smile; neither of them can help but try to coax more from you. When you’re more properly eased, maybe another hour or two in, you’re laughing at everything.

(“I went to the zoo last week, but there was only one dog in it.”

You’re already giggling in anticipation. 

“It was a shih tzu.”)

By then, dinner is over, and you can’t be trusted to handle with washing up the dishes. Instead, the alcohol made you curious; you had wandered over to their record player and plopped yourself right before the crate full of records they kept. You could hardly recognise any of them, admittedly. You end up being drawn to an album that’s just sickeningly 80s- there’s a wispy, almost hypnotic landscape of a beach with a random red electric guitar to the right while a guy wearing a pinstripe suit with very strong shoulder pads stares off to the distance with a very motivational look on his face. It’s so silly that it makes you laugh quietly before putting it on the turntable.

It’s jazz, you find. It’s comforting and smooth and, wow, you’re feeling quite tired. Maybe they won’t notice if you just close your eyes for a minute.

(They do.)

Johnny coos at you and takes a few pictures of you curled up against the table the record player’s on, nodded off. Then Simon picks you up, Johnny fishing through your pockets for your keys. They carefully deposit you on your bed, tucking you in, before Johnny pens a little letter for you when you wake up.

Hi bon, you fell asleep when me and Simon were doing dishes. i think you were listning to one of our records. it was lovely, though, thank you for coming!!!!! :D xxxxxxxx Simon and Johnny

What Normal People Do - 5

Art fair! sorry to the ghost truthers i just realised simon has brown eyes and not blue… i changed it in chapter three. idk how i got it in my head that his eyes are blue :’) ao3! ghost/soap/gn!reader (established ghoap)

I Need You Here

Johnny has been looking for a job.

Simon knew this day would come, admittedly. Crafts from Hobby Lobby would only tide Johnny over for so long before his hands grew a mind, taking him away from the private little paradise they’ve built together.

Now, Johnny often sprawled over Simon’s laptop, searching for any hands-on job nearby. It wasn’t uncommon for him to come to Simon, asking questions about the workforce since all he’s ever known is the military. They talk about handyman jobs, which Johnny seems most attracted to, assisting artists at a nearby college or even teaching an art class at the college, which revolts Johnny.

“Ae don’t ken anythin’ about art, Si!” He protests when Simon taps into the job listing.

“Sure you do. Your sketchbooks, Johnny.”

“That’s nae college level!”

He does half of the application just to fuck with Johnny.

Johnny finds a listing at the clinic you work at for a janitor. He froths at the mouth while thinking about working in such proximity to you for four days a week, but the pay brings him back down to earth. While technically they’d be fine forever with their retirement money, having extra cash could never kill them. For twelve pounds an hour, Johnny decides he can do better.

Johnny calls it quits after a week of searching for jobs. Everything he found started too early or too late, had too many days or not enough. He was either overqualified or underqualified and he was beginning to think that maybe he should go back to the military and take a civilian job because nowhere else seemed to understand his need for flexible hours. He tells Simon as much.

“No, Johnny, you just need to find your thing,” Simon says, rubbing Johnny’s shoulders reassuringly as they curl up on the couch together, Riley asleep by their feet. “It feels discouraging now, yeah, but you just might not be looking at the right stuff, y’know?” Johnny huffs.

“I’m dyin’ of boredom here, Si,” he gripes.

“I wasn’t joking about teaching that art class, you know.” He says, quietly, after a second.

“There’s no way, Si. A’m not like that. I dinnae know value from shade.” He grumbles back.

“Well, it’s the twenty-first century, love. You can sell your work. Or teach an amateur class online.”

Johnny goes quiet for the rest of the movie. He’s quiet as he takes a shower, brushes his teeth and gives Riley her last walk of the day and quiet as he crawls into bed.

He spends the next day researching things about a platform called ‘Etsy’. He barely takes breaks to eat or drink and Simon has to manhandle him to wash his hair. He spends most of the night doing whatever the hell on Etsy and Simon gives up on forcing him into bed and just falls asleep.

By the time he wakes up at 1000, Johnny is slumped at his desk, the laptop dead in front of him and covered by some of Johnny’s old charcoal figures. He sighs and cleans up the mess on the desk before putting a pillow under Johnny’s head and throwing a blanket over him. Then he makes breakfast and puts a full plate underneath Johnny’s nose, to help him wake up.

He takes Riley for her morning walk after breakfast and they detour to your apartment to say hi. You’re chirpy, finally fully recovered from the breakup as it seems, and genuinely happy to see them. Riley loves up on your legs like usual while you idly chat.

“There’s another fair coming to town next week,” you bring up.

“But didn’t we just have the strawberry one?”

“Yeah. But the college nearby is opening a new museum so they’re hosting a tiny version of one of the exhibits in a fair and bringing a bunch of local artists in.”

“Really?” Simon says, mind already churning into high gear when you mention local artists. “Johnny’s gonna love that.”

“It sounds like it’ll be his speed.” You say.

Simon nods. He has something to chew on now and he says an abrupt goodbye before going back to the apartment, hanging up Riley’s leash. Johnny is quick to pounce on him, immediately yapping about the Etsy page he made and all of his old art he put up for sale and how he’s already sold five whole pieces and needs to go ship them out.

Simon praises him, because he’s done such a good job- because, well, he’s doing something to occupy himself without leaving the relative safety of their apartment and that alone is enough to soothe him.

He tells Johnny about the fair during dinner, and Johnny lights up like the sun.

“Oh, oh, Si, can we go wi’ the bon, please, Si?” He begged with his biggest puppy eyes.

“Nn. You’ll have to ask them yourself.” He says, which makes Johnny immediately jump up to go and do just that. He’s stopped, obviously, with a sharp tug on the neck of his shirt.

“It’s ten in the night, Johnny.” He says. “Eat your damn dinner.”

“But ye said-“

“I didn’t mean right now, you bloody maniac. Calm yourself.” He says. Johnny pouts and pokes at the rest of his mashed potatoes like a child.

When Johnny does get to ask you the next day, though, he looks fully prepared to guilt trip you into agreeing. You agree without resistance, only ever so gently coaxing Johnny into going on your off day next week as opposed to that very second. He agrees only because it’s you.

Needless to say, Johnny is nothing but unbearable during the wait; talking Simon’s ear off to the point where he thinks he’ll get a permanent migraine. Thank bloody hell he’s so easily distracted by shiny things- most of the time, he was able to redirect questions about you to a collection of cross-stitch sets he had bought years ago. That, and helping Johnny pack and mail the odd dozen or so artworks that he's sold for a good dollar help keep him occupied. The works are mostly charcoals on fancy mixed media paper, all of them vaguely an unmasked Simon or the dog. It doesn't seem to matter much to the people who're buying his stuff, though.

The day finally comes, though, and Johnny sniffs you out. It’s very bloodhound-esc. You don’t seem to mind all too much, looking content to be dragged around.

Johnny first takes the three of you to a little make-your-own painting stall hosted by an oil painter located a few hours out. Johnny is utterly concentrated, leaving Simon and you to foster a quiet conversation while you paint on the provided canvases. When Simon goes to pay, Johnny shows you his painting proudly; it’s a portrait of you and Simon hunched over your portraits while engaged in a conversation. He’s somehow captured the essence of the summer afternoon and you’re entranced by how he’s painted you; the sun is almost right behind you, in his painting, and it makes your hair glow and eyes shine, even as they’re downcast.

“Wow….” You murmur, and Johnny beams, proud. Suddenly the still life you had done of the stall is no longer impressive. Johnny still insists on seeing it, forcing you to show it to him. He might be a little too generous, but still. It seems as though he means it, so what else could you ask for?

Simon comes back and he nearly mirrors your response, but he doesn’t seem as surprised as you had been. Johnny also manhandles Simon into showing his painting, but Simon is a lot more resistant. It takes Johnny squirming under one burly, hoodie-clad forearm for Simon to relent and begrudgingly show him a heartfelt landscape of simple green grasslands. Johnny still seems earnestly honest, nattering about how natural the few flowers look.

Then you’re toted to a make-your-own pottery stall, which is a lot harder than it looks. Johnny (obviously) takes to it like a fish to water after one or two bad first attempts, but neither Simon nor you take to it as quickly or smoothly. You end up coaxing a few deep chuckles from Simon with your poor attempts, but you’re not afraid to laugh at him, too, when he doesn’t do any better. Johnny makes an elegant, tall vase and Simon manages a lumpy yet characteristic mug. Your bowl is cute and has a swirly design you're rather proud of. Again, Simon pays and registers the group to be notified when the pots (as poor as yours and Simon’s were) are finished with glaze and firing.

Lastly, since by this time it was beginning to get dark, you take photos in front of painted backdrops done by different artists. They're all unique and beautiful, each done in their own, unique style. Johnny takes twenty minutes to just appreciate the artistry before making you take photos in front of his favourite backdrops with him. It’s another twenty until you’re able to rope Simon into taking one photo.

Johnny looks so utterly inspired, clutching the tote bag that holds his and Simon's oil paintings with a starry-eyed look as he takes one more look around the fairgrounds. It's awfully adorable. He begs you to just peek into a few more stalls while you wait for Simon to go to the person who ran the little photo area and get the photos printed out for you, so when you inevitably parted ways at the doorways of your apartments, you had a small 3x6” souvenir- ready to be pinned up on your wall.

What Normal People Do - 6

Art... and more! gird your loins, people! hold onto thy merkins! if i can pull it off, this should hopefully be the last fluff chapter before shit gets kicked to high gear. ao3! ghost/soap/gn!reader (established ghoap)

My Head Is An Animal

Johnny’s career is rapidly expanding.

The art fair had helped make Johnny excited about making art again. That, combined with the compliments you had so freely given to him yesterday and a new round of about twenty orders has him ecstatic about maintaining his storefront.

Enough time has elapsed that the first person who made the first order Johnny ever shipped had written a review- perhaps making it fancier than it needed to be when they saw how barren Johnny’s Etsy page was, but that didn’t exactly matter. Not when they had raved about how you could feel emotions behind every pen stroke! Or how they went and bought a frame for the small piece of paper! Or how it was probably hung in the reviewer’s art gallery!

It was nearly enough to make Johnny print the review out and paste it on a wall somewhere if he was being honest.

The Etsy soon turns into a TikTok page he pesters Simon into helping him set up once the storefront has gained enough traction to warrant it.

Things happen, and somehow the TikTok account gains half a million followers. Somehow, someway, Johnny finds himself in a community within Tiktok. It happens suddenly with duets and slideshows(Simon thinks, at least). Still, Johnny is soon reporting back about online friends, art trades, and after a while, being invited to local art fairs after being sniffed out by organizers, even.

Johnny is very much excited. He’s getting busier and busier, and though Simon doesn’t enjoy his time away from home, it is good for both of them, he thinks. Something to focus on. And brings back a decent amount of money, too.

You’re obviously invited to the art fairs Johnny gets stalls at. Johnny’s always over the moon to see you and sneaks free trinkets- like a bookmark or postcard- into your bag when he’s sure you’re not looking. Of course, this earns him a stern talking to when you notice, but your worries are easily quarried by puppy eyes and matching pout; “but Ae wanted to give you sa’thing, bon?”, he’s said before, and it doesn’t take very long for your resolve to crumble again. Sure, you could have argued that you could have bought it yourself, but you know that would only be matched with an offended glare from Johnny.

Truth be told, Johnny’s becoming really rather fond of you. Simon as well- such as when you had come to the third art fair Johnny showed at and had gotten lost after leaving Johnny’s booth. You’d gotten turned around a lot and were just about to ask someone when Simon caught your shoulder. He had called you a few times and when you didn’t answer, he went to find you. He corrals you back with the gentleness a shepherd must have with a lamb.

You’re starting to notice that Johnny has really started to take off. He’s gone to café’s and art podcasts and presentations at colleges and now cons and he has even been invited onto live stream with other art content creators on TikTok that he can now solidly call his friends. He gets along with them well and is even able to make meaningful friendships. For example, he meets a man who makes beautiful knitted mixed media work named Sammy who’s nothing short of a sweetheart to Johnny, talking to him via DMS and supplying him with inspiration when he gets stuck in a mood. Sammy is there, talking to him in his silly American accent and showing him the new knitted beanie he made out of recycled plastic bags for his 60-pound Maine Coon cat.

Then there’s Gloria, a cross stitcher. She’s well into her years, with her TikTok account being run by her great-grandson who kept her young with his quips and jokes. She quickly establishes herself by cursing like a sailor when her grandson jokingly insults her works from over the years. She also makes quite a few phallic pieces which, to no one’s surprise, the grandson rather likes. She’s so charming to Johnny because she sort of feels like his grandmammy.

Gloria reassures and encourages Johnny about his artwork over calls, which her great-grandson sets up and orchestrates because there's no way Gloria’s little arthritis-stricken claws would be able to navigate modern technology.

Simon likes his new online friends, too. Simon has become a staple in Johnny’s fanbase’s culture and his livestreams, oftentimes poking in to say hi or leave a coffee while Johnny draws on stream. He becomes prominent; it's easy to say that his fanbase adores the two of them especially when they get to hear their backstory, learning about how they met. It's enough to make him even more endearing to the public eye.

Life’s going awesome for him. He’s been going to art fairs in the area every other week, and even though fall is rapidly approaching, he's never been in better spirits. The cool weather usually means Johnny stops making art for a while because the warm weather helps keep him springy and stops his bad elbow joints from aching terribly. Now, he feels more than willing to tough it out.

Life just gets better when a rather large creator on the platform, someone named Jessica Johnson, invites him to an ‘ArtTok Conference’ about 50 miles away from Johnny and Simon’s flat in Manchester, so they plan to pack themselves up for the week with the dog. The venue itself is beautiful, all natural light, sleek marble and wood, and Johnny’s there to talk on a few panels to fans and do some live art as an installation; he’s going to be paid for his work, to just sit down in the gardens of the venue with Riley and do his art stuff while people walk around and observe and enjoy his art. He’d do it for free, honestly.

After he accepts the offer, he starts packing after he tells you, and it’s the happiest you’ve ever seen him. His cheeks are glowing and his smile lines have just become more defined as he's grown with his online career. When he announces that he’ll be at the con later that month, his Etsy shop completely sells out.

When the conference starts, Simon is attentive, caring and comforting. When Johnny gets ready for the first panel, Simon helps him steam the shirt he's gonna wear on the panel. When Johnny is signing prints at an M&G and his pen suddenly craps out, Simon’s there with an extra. When Johnny does his first day of sitting in the gardens and drawing, Simon stays with him, just standing there until one of the staff members brings him a chair. At the end of the first day, when Johnny face plants into the hotel room’s bed, Simon is quick to work out the knots from Johnny’s back. 

Johnny, if he’s being honest, is still a little sad that you weren’t able to make it, what with it being held in the middle of the work week and being an hour’s drive. You’re apologetic, of course, but he knows better than to be hurt terribly.  He feels better when you leave comments on all of the clips that he posts on his TikTok, and you still text whenever you can. He’s happy to be at the con and he’s thoroughly enjoying it, too. Simon’s like his own support system, leaving the conference building for coffee and bagels, and during the con, he’s like his own attraction at Johnny’s stall. People who don’t know Johnny are allured over by the six-foot-something man with the happiest-looking service dog ever and usually end up buying one of the many prints of Riley Johnny has done before.

Later in the week, he gets a panel all to himself where he talks about his charcoal art and how he made his style. Surprisingly, there’s a large turnout. He thought that nobody would want to listen to him ramble about the art he’s been making since high school or, even less, talk to him about his art. After the panel and a lengthy M&G, he starts planning when he’s going to release more things on his Etsy shop, just from how many of his prints he signed in less than three hours. In the time he has between panels and his live art installation, he finds himself doing thumbnails, just as an outlet for all the excess creative energy he has. It’s so fulfilling to see something he’s only ever seen something as a hobby grow into a whole community of his own, grow into a career and a plausible one at that.

Still, like all good things, the con comes to an end. He finishes the live art installation and then he and Simon say their goodbyes before making their way back home. Back to you.

In the space between, everything moves on in a peaceful sort of bliss. He’s restocking the Etsy regularly now, because of how much demand has ramped up. The art fairs are slowing as the cool weather sets in and he goes to his last one right as you get some free time, so it’s perfect timing for a little catch-up outing.

You get dinner at the art fair together, eating traditionally made pasta dyed colourful colours by plants while Johnny tells you everything about his time at the con. It just makes you sad that you missed it, just from how *happy* he sounds from the… Well, everything. He shows you pictures with fans and the highlight reels said fans made of his panels and endearing videos littered over his TikTok feed. You’re fully caught up in no time.

You’ve just finished dinner when Johnny gets the invitation. Johnny looks down at his phone while both you and Simon are engaged in conversation while he stares down at his screen. Then he gasps; loud and cartoonish.

“Ae- Ae go’ invited to a residency! In a gallery! Holy *hells*-“ he says, before a long and very animated string of curses as he finishes the email.

“Residency?” Simon asks.

“Gallery?” You ask.

“Yes!” Johnny says. “Oh, bleedin’ Mary. Look!” He says before he shoves his phone screen in your face, before passing it to Simon.

And, for the first time ever, you hear Simon laugh. It’s husky, like a smoker’s, but it’s endearing in a way. He wraps his arms around Johnny’s shoulders and kisses his temples.

“Yeah, I think this counts for another.” He says, flagging down the waiters for another round of drinks.

@polkad0t1 hi ^_^

Boombox was just walking back home after an exhausting phight. It had long since become dark, but he wasn’t too worried because usually Playground’s streets were quite safe during the night. Though, Boombox has heard of murders happening recently. Most likely related to the feud between Playground and Blackrock. He wasn’t too worried about it though, because he could just phight off whoever tried to attack him.

However, to be honest, he was kind of too tired to phight right now, considering he just phought for more than two hours with short breaks here and there. Anything to get bux, right? Anyways yeah, he was excited to get home so he could just pass out on his bed for like two days.

As he walked, he started humming a tune, bopping his head slightly to the music he was creating. Eventually, he slid on his headphones and pulled out his phone, scrolling to find a suitable song to listen to as he walked, since he still had around twenty minutes to go. Soon enough, he found a song he liked, clicked on it, and put his phone back in his pocket.

Because he had his headphones on, he couldn’t hear his surroundings. Which meant he didn’t hear when someone started following behind him. And so he wasn’t prepared for when someone pulled him into some random alleyway.

Boombox spluttered and tried pulling his headphones down, only for them to fall onto the ground, alongside his boombox. He could still faintly hear the music coming from his headphones as he was shoved to the ground and the barrel of a gun was pointed to his forehead.

He stared up with wide eyes showing up on his visor. “Playground pest.” Spat whoever was holding the gun. And as Boombox was about to say something, the assailant pulled on the trigger, instantly shutting down all attempts to speak from the green phighter.

this took me like two weeks to make because i kept doing anything but this (playing dead cells)

The Winners Toll

Summary: The aftermath of third life, from the winners point of view.(With a slight cannon rewrite)

760 words

Warnings: Major character death

———————

The dust has settled. The excitement he once felt was gone. He stood silently next to the body of the man who was once his friend. This was supposed to be a fun series, working with the rest of his friends to survive against the elements. When did it all go wrong? When did it became a battle to the death? When?

———————

Grian scraped together some bandages from the base and attempted to wrapped up his broken wings. It was a cold summer night, with the soft glow of a torch being his only source of comfort. It was a struggle to reach and bandage them properly so they hung uselessly.

Maybe Scar could help. Any help is better than none. He’s about to call out his name but he stops.

Scar is gone. There’s no one left. He’s all alone in this world.

He shakes his head. He did what he had to. Only one of them could win after all…

Since when did it become a competition?

Frustrated, he didn’t bother to properly clean his other wounds. Fortunately, most of the injuries were bruises, some already turning purple. His knuckles being the worst of it, they were raw and still weeping blood.

He climbed up to the second floor of the blown up base. The first floor was mostly gone but the second remained intact. It should keep him clear of mobs during the night. Not that many would spawn due to the desert being fairly well lit. He lays a blanket down and tries to get some rest.

But the events from the day replay in his mind, haunting him. His bruises ache as though they’re freshly made and not from hours ago. He tosses and turns, trying desperately to think about anything else. Searching for any sort of distraction.

Then a warm breeze flows through the decrepit home. As well as a lullaby being softly hummed by a familiar voice. As if he’s under a spell his mind starts to clear. The warm air feels comforting, and lulls him to sleep.

“Goodnight G.” The voice whispers as he falls into a deep slumber.

———————

The next day he wakes with the sun glaring in his eyes. Everything seems as it was the night before. He drops down to the lower floor and drinks what little water he has left. Making a mental note to get more later. Out of instinct he begins to look for Scar, only to remember when he sees the cactus ring in the distance.

Something is strange though. All he sees is a ring of green and Pizza’s tombstone. No body to be seen. Against his better judgment he goes to investigate. No matter where he looks, Scar couldn’t be found. He searches the area around the ring for a bit before sitting down to rest. Why was it suddenly so hard to breathe?

Looking over at the cacti he realises he hasn’t yet checked inside the ring. There was a suspicious, large mound of sand in the middle, but his head began to hurt so he preferred not to move. A warm wind blows, almost urging him not to go near. The heat must be getting to him. He’s starting to imagine the wind to be a person.

He continues to stare at the cacti. It seems, almost shorter than yesterday, as if someone is trying to cover it up in a mountain of sand.

He sighs. The sweltering heat really is getting to him now. He considered taking off his shirt but he doesn’t want to risk damaging his wings further. He gets up and stumbles back to the shade. The base doesn’t have much to offer in resources but hopefully he can find something to eat.

———————

While rummaging for food he starts to feel lightheaded. And tumbles from the second floor.

He lays there in the sand, crushing his wings. It sends a wave of sharp pain through them and into his back, but all he could do was lay there. As he struggles to breathe, all the more. Unable to move, unable to scream, he feels his throat going dry and his stomach rumble. When was the last time he ate anything? Even in this state he manages a glance at his wrist.

Three hearts in a vertical line, only one of them still beats. Two black and the last one, red. His rapidly beating heart eventually slows, until they come to a complete stop. The last thing he feels is a warm comforting breeze, blowing through his hair.

———————

Inspired by this drawing I made:

Humans can be heard yelling from one of the bedrooms. An alien crewmate, nicknamed Bob, goes to check it out, fearing the worst.

"plus 4, Uno."

"you bitch!"

the humans are gathered in a circle on the ground with colorful cards. one of them notices him.

"oh hey Bob, wanna join us? we're playing Uno."

Bob shakes his head and backs out of the room carefully.

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part2

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"that's literally impossible for me to pronounce, I'm calling you Bob now." The new human, Mia, stated looking at the repair man of the ship. "Y'know, like Bob The Builder?"

The newly dubbed 'Bob' did not infact know. Their technician, another human named Kaya, seemed to find this amusing.

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“Okay, I know I said to take the cheapest flight we could find, but I'm starting to have… thoughts” said a spindly alien to another, both holding suitcases. Said ‘cheapest flight’ was sphere shaped and literally rolled up to the station, sounding like a speeding remote control car. “Hello hello,” said a voice with no source. “Apologies for our improper greeting, but we need to make sure you don't have any potentially deadly diseases for any of our other guests or staff” A door, slightly rounded, suddenly opened and dropped down to become a ramp. A biped in a head to toe gray spacesuit walked down and pointed a scanner at them. “Alright, you’re all good! Welcome aboard!” The biped took off their helmet to reveal a smiling human face, and gestured toward the entrance. The two spindly aliens looked at eachother, one shrugged and the other smiled tensely, then walked into the ship.

~Extra~ “Did you see the new passengers? They look like endermen, all lanky and made of void” Mia gushed. She immediately went and found Kaya after letting said new passengers in and handing them off to the hostess.

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Barbatos' Envoys

Genshin au idea:

Barbatos' envoys. Lookalikes, appearing every now and then, meant to help the people when the archon couldn't. Reintroducing old songs to remind them of any forgotten pasts, and crafting new songs to tell them of the future. They often take it upon themselves to also keep people from putting words into barbatos' mouth, and debunking any false information. Just like any citizen, an envoy is free to do as they please. It would be weird to chain down a symbol of freedom with unnecessary duties if they do not wish to do it. They may look human, but so does barbatos. The people have decided envoys are basically spirits. No one has ever seen an envoy look younger or older. No one has ever seen one be born or die. They simply appear and disappear with the wind.

The origin of this is that people long ago (before cannon/ in-game time) noticed that venti is practically identical to barbatos. Rumors started to spread, and to keep people from guessing his true identity, Venti came up with the envoy idea. He didn't want to make the people feel stifled by the presence of their archon, to walk on eggshells around him and offer their first born when he trips.

hold on! I'm putting my two brainrots, genshin and lu, in a blender! bthpbthpbthpbthpbthpbthpbthpbthpbthpbthpbthpbthpbthp 👁👁

k now imagine this as some sort of book given to the chain:

Ancient Teyvat History

Long ago the kingdom known as Hyrule broke into the seven nations we know today. The three goddesses who rule over Celestia– Din, Nayru, and Farore– created the Archons. Semi-immortal beings granted a seat on the elemental thrones, and a Gnosis to rule their nations with.

Anemo, Geo Electro, Dendro, Hydro, Pyro, and Cryo. Mondstadt, Liyue, Inazuma, Sumeru, Fontaine, Natlan, and Snezhnaya.

Now, the Triforce is still present in our current world, but it has faded. Perhaps been hidden, if you will. Gannon is no longer a threat. The sacred name of Zelda is not passed down, as the royal family is no longer about. The Hero needs not arise. We unfortunately do not have much information on The Heros, no names, no mention of family or home have been mentioned in the records. But it is undeniable the link they have to the Triforce of courage, their adventures forever remembered. 

A human crewmate, Mia, held a long thin box. It seemed to have paper and plastic peices inside, based on the sound. A puzzle perhaps? A few other crewmates trailed behind them.

"Hey Bob! Wanna join us? We're playing Clue, it's a board game from earth."

Bob nodded and joined the others trailing after Mia. He had no idea what a 'board game' was, but it seemed fun. They eventually all gathered around a table in the cafeteria.

"Okay, so it's a murder mystery and we have to figure out who killed Mr. Body. We're all possible suspe-" Mia started to set up the board and explain, but was cut off by Jli'yan.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but why do humans have a game centered on murder and distrust?"

"Cause it's fun, thrilling. Good for poker face practice." Kaya answered, shuffling cards. They then nodded towards Mia to continue explaining.

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Comfort on New Year’s Eve (FengQing oneshot)

Summary:

Mu Qing is sad that his mother isn't here to visit him for New Year's and laments it on the balcony. Feng Xin comes to take a breather but ends up comforting Mu Qing instead. They talk about their feelings and this ends in a kiss

Notes:

Lol I wrote this in the middle of the night and published it at like 3 am, so it's very bad compared to my other fic and I didn't beta read it cause I was too tired to. Enjoy tho. Constructive criticism welcome as always.

Btw, translations for the text messages in Cantonese will be provided at the end of the paragraph.

“Why did I ever agree to this?”

Mu Qing asks himself as he stares up into the night sky, the loud noise of people partying behind him echoing to where he was standing on the balcony.

Mu Qing sighs and takes out his phone, unlocking it and staring at all the messages that his mother had left him.

Mama

Mama: 我個乖仔點啊? 喺大學讀得開唔開心啊? 識咗新朋友未啊? (sent 11:27 pm, Hong Kong time)

Mama: 新年快樂啊! (sent 11:27 pm, Hong Kong time)

Mama: 媽咪今個新年離唔到英國探你真係對唔住啊, 我喺香港好忙, 連新年過嚟搵你嘅時間都無,但喺你生日嘅時候我一定嚟探你!媽咪應承你! 希望你可以你可以原諒媽咪啦! (Sent 11:28 pm, Hong Kong time)

(Translations:

Mama: How’s my good boy? Are you happy studying at the university? Make any new friends?

Mama: Happy New Year!

Mama: Mami is sorry she can’t come to England to see you this year, I’m very busy in Hong Kong, and can’t even make time to visit you on New Year’s, but I will come to visit on your birthday! Mami promises you she will! I hope you can forgive Mami!)

Mu Qing stares at the last message, his mom hadn’t made it to England to visit him for New Year’s this year, but she’d promised him that she’d make it for his birthday.

The thought that she isn’t there for him this New Year’s made Mu Qing feel… sad? Ever since he was born, Mu Qing always celebrated New Year’s with his mother, making niangao, going to the park to look at the lanterns at night, playing with fireworks at night, those were all the things that they did together, and though it wasn’t much, it made Mu Qing happy, and the fact that his mother was there with him made it ten times better.

But ever since he started college in London, he hasn’t been able to see his mother much, and while she still visits him for New Year’s, Christmas and his birthday every year, the fact that she isn’t here this year just made Mu Qing feel awful.

He wipes away some tears forming in his eyes and takes a deep breath.

It’s just one year, Mu Qing, she’ll be here for your birthday. He tells himself.

But that doesn’t make it any better.

Mu Qing tries to wipe away more tears forming in his eyes and looks towards the sky once again.

“Hey.”

A voice rings out from behind him. Mu Qing turns around to see Feng Xin, carrying two cups of what he assumes is tea and looking at him curiously.

“What are you doing out here?” Feng Xin asks.

“Could say the same for you.” Mu Qing responds, trying to keep his voice as steady as possible. “What are you doing here?”

Feng Xin sighs and leans on the railing of the balcony.

“It was too chaotic in there, had to come out to take a breather.”

“What? Can’t take a bit of noise?” Mu Qing teases him.

“Hey-” Feng Xin opens his mouth to protest, but stops himself when he sees that Mu Qing is shaking slightly.

“Hey, are you cold?”

“No.” Mu Qing says, voice trembling. “I’m fine.”

Feng Xin sighs. “No, I can see that you’re shivering.” he takes off his jacket and drapes it over Mu Qing.

“Hey, what are you-” Mu Qing flushes a bit when he feels the jacket being put on him. “I don’t need this.” he glowers at Feng Xin and hands the jacket back to him.

“No, you do.” Feng Xin puts the jacket back onto him and shoves the cup of tea in his hands. “You’re gonna catch a cold if you don’t cover up.”

“Quit mother-henning me.” Mu Qing rolls his eyes and takes a sip of the tea. The tea is warm, not too bitter, and warms him up the moment it touches his tongue, and he could feel the warmth spreading from his stomach to the tips of his fingers.

It reminds him of his mom.

Tears start forming in Mu Qing’s eyes again and he wipes them away.

“Hey, are you okay?” Feng Xin asks him, concerned.

“Of course I’m okay, what makes you think that I’m not okay?” Mu Qing says dryly, but there’s a tremble to his voice and Feng Xin notices that Mu Qing’s eyes are red and there are tear tracks running down his face.

“Yeah I’m not buying it.” Feng Xin says. “What’s going on?”

“I said I’m fine, don’t you have better things to do?” Mu Qing rolls his eyes, trying to appear as apathetic as possible.

“No, no I don't.” Feng Xin says and scoots closer to Mu Qing. “You can tell me what’s wrong.”

“I told you already, there’s nothing wrong-”

“Mu Qing I will literally not let you leave this balcony unless you tell me what’s wrong, right now.” Feng Xin says firmly, and locks Mu Qing’s wrist in a tight grip.

“What the- let me go!” Mu Qing tries to yank his arm out of Feng Xin’s grip, but to no avail.

“I told you, I’m not letting you go until you tell me what’s wrong.”

Mu Qing struggles to get out of Feng Xin’s grip, and he tries and tries for a long time but to no avail. He eventually gives up and just sighs.

“Alright, fine.” he sighs in defeat. “I’ll tell you.”

“Hm.” Feng Xin says, satisfied, and lets go of Mu Qing.

Mu Qing takes a deep breath. “You know how my mom always comes visit me on New Year’s Eve?”

“Yeah, I know, she won’t stop fussing over us.” Feng Xin sighs fondly, reminiscing about Mrs Mu’s last visit to their campus, where she fussed over how Feng Xin and Mu Qing kept their dorm room and cleaned and reorganized everything.

“Yeah well, she didn’t come to visit this year.” Mu Qing hangs his head low, trying to not let Feng Xin see the tears in his eyes. “She promised that she would come on my birthday, but I’m still kinda bummed that she didn’t come for New Year. She always comes to visit, yet this year, she didn’t come. I know it’s silly and kind of stupid, but I haven't seen her in so long and I miss her, you know what I mean?” he sniffs and wipes the tears away. He uses a moment to muster up the courage to look at Feng Xin, fully expecting him to laugh at him or otherwise be weirded out, but once he raises his head, Feng Xin’s expression is unreadable.

“Don’t, I already know what you're thinking.” Mu Qing turns to the side, expecting Feng Xin to burst out laughing.

But what he didn’t expect was for Feng Xin to wrap his arms around him and envelope him in a tight hug.

Mu Qing is startled at first, but eventually melts into the hug and wraps his arms around Feng Xin’s waist.

“Mu Qing, it’s okay to miss your mom.” Feng Xin says as he rubs circles on his back. “It’s completely fine to be sad about your mom not coming to visit you on New Year’s. You can talk to us about it. Xie Lian, Shi QingXuan, me… We’d all listen.”

Tears spill out of Mu Qing’s eyes and he cries into Feng Xin’s shirt, but his mouth can’t stop morphing into a smile as he cries, and once he faces Feng Xin, he’s fully smiling.

That sight makes Feng Xin’s heart leap.

“I-I know, thanks.” Mu Qing wipes the tears away and looks down. “Feng Xin, there’s something I need to tell you.”

Feng Xin’s breath hitches. “What is it?”

Mu Qing takes a deep breath. “I don’t know how to tell you this, but since we’ve known eachother long enough, I might as well tell you..”

“10!”

“What do you mean?” Feng Xin asks nervously.

“It’s kind of stupid, and you might hate me for it.”

“9!”

“But,” Mu Qing prepares himself. “I think it’d be better to just tell you instead of hiding it.”

“8!”

“Feng Xin,” Mu Qing begins, staring into Feng Xin’s eyes.

“7!”

“I have a crush on you.”

That takes Feng Xin by surprise, and he is frozen for a split second. “W-what?” he says weakly.

“6!”

“It means that I like you, romantically.”

“5!”

“And I would like you to be my boyfriend.”

“4!”

Feng Xin has to pinch himself a few times just to make sure he isn’t dreaming. “You’re serious?”

“Yes.”

“3!”

“Well then,” Feng Xin puts a hand on Mu Qing’s cheek. “I’d like to.” he says as he stares into his eyes.

“Oh.” a pretty blush floods Mu Qing’s face. “Well then would you want to-”

“Yes.”

“2!”

Mu Qing raises a hand to caress Feng Xin’s cheek, and takes a deep breath. He dives in, lips fitting onto each other perfectly, and touching as soon as the crowd chanted 1.

“Happy New Year, Feng Xin.” Mu Qing smiles as he presses his and Feng Xin’s foreheads together, fireworks going off in the background.

“Happy New Year, Mu Qing.” Feng Xin says before diving in for another kiss from his boyfriend.

Notes:

Thanks for reading this train wreck of a oneshot! It's definitely not as good compared to the other one I have and I think I'll rewrite it one day to fix the mistakes, but for now, happy new year and I hope 2023 will not be as bad as the previous 3 years (I do not have high hopes tho.)

Link to OG on ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/43982388

Through Cold Stone

Words: 499

It was a cold, dark morning of 1976. The clouds plumed high above oppressively: they folded over each other as if in thick rivulets of crude oil; the rare gaps between the smog were still ashen and abrasive; and the slow march it took across the vast expanse rallied the despair of a war march.

Madame Smythe reached up to her husband's hat that was the same noir as the sky above. She straightened out the cap and then adjusted the flower she had pinned to his lapel. Kissing John's cheek she composed herself and looped her arm around his and off they went into the church.

The ornate arch of the church doors greeted them as they entered Maria's funeral. John's mother was a ferocious woman who fought hard in her last days and had a very powerful husband. They were wealthy with a high standing in society - they even had a telephone and had gifted them their own for their matrimony.

Not a soul within the church was anything less than upper class besides the clergy. The effigy of the virgin mary prayed right over where the Ma'am Smythe's cast lay closed tight. Candles flickered all over the church, casting dark blankets upon the mourners within. Everything about the day mimicked the solemn attitude of those within these cold marble walls.

The heavy scent of incense hung in the air, masking something sharper beneath - polished oak, perhaps, or the faint bite of winter creeping through the stone walls. The air was thick, almost choking, as if Maria's presence still weighed on everyone, even in death.

John's face remained as rigid as the polished pews before them and his jaw clenched not just with sorrow, but with years of bitterness he dared not show. Maria had ruled the household like a queen over her court, her voice the final word in every argument. Helena Smythe felt her husband's tension in the way he gripped her arm a little too tightly, his body an unmoving fortress beside hers. She couldn’t remember if he'd cried at all since the news of his mother’s passing. As for herself, she’d long given up trying to decipher whether the hollow pit in her stomach was grief or relief.

As they took their seats in the front row, Helena noticed the eyes of Maria's friends and allies upon them, cold and calculating. The Smythe fortune had always attracted envy, but today, it was something more. Whispers lingered like snakes in the pews behind them, slipping in and out of earshot. A glance from John's estranged sister across the aisle spoke volumes: Maria's death might have ended one chapter, but it had sparked the beginning of another, one that promised no peace.

The stained glass windows of the church glowed dimly under the pale light, depicting scenes of virtuous suffering that seemed ironic. It was as though no colour or warmth could escape the weight of this day, no matter how hard the candles burned.

-----------------

This was for a multi-school event my little brother was tasked to do for homework but I promised him I would write one as well if he did his. The max word count was 500. This was the photo you had to write a story about:

Hope anyone who bothered to read this enjoyed it!

ᴅᴏ ᴅᴇᴍᴏɴꜱ ʜᴀᴜɴᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴀʀʟɪɴɢ? ᴄʜ.1

Hi guys here is the first chapter, of my soukoku fic where Chuuya goes back in time to stop Dazai from leaving the Port Mafia. This is not going to be accurate to canon timeline, since this is my own fic it will follow whatever crazy plot/ timeline I create lol. I will be doing my best to keep the characters not OOC, however if there are some OOC moments sorry! Without further ado enjoy!!! Let me know what you think! ~Lighting 24680

It was a dark night on the streets of Yokohama. Fog covering the stillness of the water under that fateful bridge where a certain bandaged soul had found a men-tee of who with that encounter had found a family and a home. This bandaged soul of course has a name, a name both feared and respected even in the darkest parts of the city where only the dangerous and gifted go. That name is Dazai Osamu, and for Dazai's men-tee Atsushi and co-worker Ranpo it was a name invoked to aggravate the dark and dangerous such as a certain Port Mafia executive and the Port Mafias "dog". Of course for a person as calculating and broken as Dazai he was given a title to fit after all as the former youngest executive of the Port Mafia he didn't make it with nothing to show for it. The Demon Prodigy didn't make it there without memories that haunt even him.

Only one person had ever come close to understanding the complicated and hidden mystery of the person behind the mask of the Demon Prodigy. Of understanding Osamu. That title was a facade hated by it's owner as much as it's owner hates himself. For all his faked exuberance and mischievousness with a smile perfectly crafted to never slip, Dazai is disturbingly emotionless with an intelligence that had and will save him and the agency from destruction countless times. He's emotionless in the way that a mirror in a dark room will always show you a reflection but it will be shrouded in shadow. Until with no warning the door to the room is opened and cracks of light shine on the mirror and suddenly your eyes that were dull and blank now have light in them and for a moment you can see into the mirror before the door is slammed shut again.

There was only two people who had been able to open that door before and only one remaining who still can. This person as you can imagine is special to Dazai, not that he'd ever willingly admit to his rival being able to see him in a way only one other person has, not that he'd ever admit to caring for the Port Mafia executive he'd once called his partner. No he'd never admit to caring for Nakahara Chuuya...at least not by saying it outright.

Currently said executive is speeding along the roads in a red glow telling of his ability "𝕱𝖔𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖙𝖆𝖎𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖉 𝖘𝖔𝖗𝖗𝖔𝖜" a set look laid upon his face as he drove on his beloved motorcycle to the looming tower of the Port Mafia headquarters where he had been summoned from a mission by his boss, the bastard leader of the Port Mafia Mori Ougai. As Chuuya slid off his motorcycle and sped through the doors and into the elevator,blood left over from his previous mission slowly dripping down his coat he wondered what his boss had called him for he'd asked well not really it was more of a demand than anything to come meet with him immediately. Chuuya's face went hard with wondering what was so horrible that his boss had demanded him to immediately meet him.

As the elevator dinged and opened letting him onto the floor where his boss' door faced him. As Chuuya opened the door he found his boss sitting at his desk awaiting him. Before Chuuya could sit down or ask Mori what was happening and what he needed to do three words left Mori's mouth that left Chuuya stiff and shocked still, dread and irritation filling him. "It's about Dazai".

A Different Kind Of Story - Some Tea And Chess

Now that everyone had gathered in the Ramshackle dorm and have met the unexpected guest, Yuko, she decided that it would be time to fulfil her promise; Showing her world to the others.

A Different Kind of Story: Chapter 2

The mirror started to glow again, the figure of the female disappeared. Instead of Yuko, the Main Street of NRC with the statues of the Great Seven. Along the path walked Yuko with a gremlin following her.

"Yukoooo~ It's Saturday! Why do we have to go Heartslabyul~? " The cat-like monster asked, mostly complained, in an annoyed voice while climbing on the girl's shoulder. "Oh, come now, Grim, cheer up! Rosehearts-senpai was kind enough to prepare a little tea party for us. Only our friends from Heartslabyul and us," they explained to the creature on her shoulder.

An unmotivated 'Nyaaa~' was the only answer she got, though.

They both stepped through the mirror leading to Heartslabyul and headed straight towards the dorm.

"Hello? Why is nobody here?" The Prefect of Ramshackle said out loud as she entered the building. She looked around the twisted floors but saw no one. Abruptly, a giggle echoed through the deformed floor. They quickly looked around, seeing nothing again. In the next moment, she felt two hands on her shoulders and could hear the giggles right next to their ear.

"YOU ACTUALLY CAME!"

Yuko and Grim both froze in place. The one who surprised them had her hair in a high, messy ponytail and had cherry red eyes with a red heart painted on her left.

It took a moment for the Ramshackle students to gain their composure again. Yuko then laughed a bit at her friends 'joke'. "Of course, Ace. First of all, I wanted to come. Second, I don't want my head taken." Yuko joked. The other one, on the other hand, answered completely serious. "Yuko-chi, you know god damn well this could've happened. By the way, don't you mean 'Our'? We aaaaalllll would've lost our heads!" The student gestured dramatically. Yuko just shook her head with a sigh, which got her a happy laugh from their friend.

"No, I mea-"

"I hate to admit it, yet Ace is right, you know?"

A second girl with long, navy hair and a spade on her right eye suddenly appeared behind the Ramshackle dorm leader. Yuko and Grim scream in fear, the scream echoing through the halls of Heartslabyul. Why does everyone here scare them or popped out of nowhere? "Deuce, you dumbass, don't scare us like that!" Grim fussed.

-

Together, the four of them walked to the dorm lounge.

As they open the door that leads to the lounge, welcoming came from two students. One had leaf green eyes, orange, long hair -with the top portion tied back into a ponytail while the rest hung straight- and a diamond painted under her right eye. The second one had golden eyes, with her green hair was in a side braid, with a clover painted onto her left cheek. It was pretty easy to tell that they were Trey and Cater.

"Yuko-chan! Grim-chan! Rosehearts-san already awaits you two!" The orange-haired schoolgirl cheerfully said and walked over to the first-years while taking her cellphone out. "Say Cheese~," She said and took a selfie with her underclassmen. "Greetings to you too, Cate-senpai. Also to you, Trey-senpai."

A fifth figure joined the talking girls.

A small girl.

She had long, wine red pigtails, those formed two open flowers, along two strands of hair making a heart on top of her head and slate-grey eyes. Her big gown made her look even more petit.---

She looked adorable.

-

The girls have moved to the dorm lounge to have tea. But the odd thing was they were upside down.

Meaning the table, everything on the table, and the girls themselves were on the ceiling, without falling. As if physics didn't exist.

-

It was so unexpected that Vil even cut in.

"How is this possible? Even the tea doesn't fall!"

Yuko, unfazed, answered the Pomifiore leader in mere seconds.

"Oh, trust me, I would like to know myself. So I can't really explain it to you. I apologize."

"Yuko-san, not to be rude or anything, but you do know the laws of physics and many more things should prevent occasions like this from happening, right?" Azul tried to explain.

The girl knew that Azul didn't mean it in a mean way. Everyone would question what they were saying.

"Fufufu, of course, I do. When I first saw this, I thought I was mad! It turned out they were the mad ones. But this is a topic for a later time. Let's get back on track," Yuko waved the conversation off. A few complaints came with this decision.

-

By the time Yuko managed to convince them that they'll find out what she means, later on, the girls themselves finished their tea. "Thank you very much for the invitation, Rosehearts-san. But Grim and I have to go now. I have promised, Kingscholar-senpai a round of chess yesterday."

"It's quite alright Yuko-san, I hope you'll have a pleasant day", the dorm leader of Heartslabyul dismissed the two visitors. Grim and Yuko said their goodbyes to the others and left off to Savannaclaw.

-

On the way to the second dorm, the boys met another friend of Yuko, Jackie. The beastman (woman?) Already awaited her at the mirror leading to the Savannaclaw dormitory. She looked pretty much exactly like Jack. The only significant change was that her hair was in a low ponytail. The wolf-girl accompanied the two visitors on their way to the dorm leader in an appreciated silence.

-

Currently, Yuko was in the middle of a chess match against her senior.

Grim laid asleep beside Yuko on the enormous bed of her upperclassman, not caring a bit about the chess game.

And in all honesty, they were only waiting until their opponent fell asleep as well, who already was halfway there.

"C'mon, Leona~ Don't fall asleep yet. You don't want to lose against a magicless first-year, don't cha?" As a response, Leona just grumbled something inaudible and flicked her tail.

The Prefect didn't take the magicless part too hard. They knew Ruggie only said that to rail Leona up.

Yuko silently smiled at themselves at the thought.

"You're head is up in the clouds again, herbivore." She quickly snapped back into reality and placed her figure.

"What the hell are you doing? Did you hit your head or what?"

"What do you mean, Kingscholar-senpai?"

Irritated, the lion motioned towards to playboard.

"This. You play like shit today. You're just lucky that you've always realized when I was able to defend you and stopped me." The only thing the third year got was a laugh.

"You may see it like that, I admit. Still, sometimes you have to take a step back and look at the whole picture in front of you."

Leona said nothing at this and decided to drop the conversation at that.

"Ugh, it pains me sometimes to know that you just leave stuff like that on the ground without fearing that somebody steals it!"

Both turned around to Ruggie holding an emerald bracelet. It was absolutely gorgeous. And expensive.

"Why should I? Nobody dares to enter my chambers, and if I'd find out that you've been stealing from me, I would force you to pay me all of that stuff, and you'd have to find a new job."

Ruggie just rolled her eyes.

"First of; That is the sad part: That you can threaten me by firing me and not pay me. Second; As of you'd care so much. I bet you wouldn't even notice if one of your accessories would disappear. You'd solely buy a new one. Enough money for you to do that is providing."

The two continued to argue as if Yuko wasn't even there.

She also didn't even try to do something against it since they knew it would do nothing.

The argument ended by Leona being annoyed and just telling Ruggie of and bringing her attention back to the chess game.

"Wow, I've been arguing and didn't pay complete attention, yet you still suck," the lion said with a smug smile.

"You only look onto the surface of things, don't you? Ignorance isn't a good look on you. Checkmate," Yuko said as she placed her chess piece back onto the board.

Leona's smug smile fell immediately.

"W-what? How?!"

Yuko only smiled while she explained her strategy.

"In conclusion, you've lost your chance at winning after I've made my first move." The second princess eyed them intensely. The Prefect's smile never more falling during the process.

After a minute of staring, the third-year broke the eye contact, rolled on her side and closed her eyes.

"Tch. Don't you herbivores have some other things to do? If yes, leave. Just make sure to put the board aside, and that quietly, got it?"

Yuko gave a recognition hum before moving off the bed, putting the board aside, taking Grim into their hands and making their way towards the door.

"Oh, before I leave." They turn around to their senior to face her. "I find it quite funny that this is one of your ways to handle failure. Just ignoring it. I may respect you, yes, yet you are a sour loser."

After that, she left without another word.

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[A/n: Sorry for any grammatical or spelling errors, English is not my first language!]

A Diffrent Kind Of Story - Buisnesse

After showing her capability of beating the second princess of the Afterglow Savanna in chess to her new acquaintance, they proceed to show them how things are with her and the Octavinelle trio.

A Different Kind of Story Chapter 3

"You have quite some sass, don't you?" the vice of Octavinelle said, very amused.

"I mean, why not. Just because she's royalty doesn't mean she shouldn't know how to take criticism, right?"

'Criticisms'. A kind way of phrasing it. It was obvious that it wasn't a question., yet it got an annoyed huff out of Leona.

"Would you like to continue, Leona-senpai? Or would you like to go back to your dorm and take a nap?" the brunette smiled innocently.

"Shut up, herbivore. Don't tell me what to do. Just continue," he said as he dismissed the girl with a swift hand motion.

-

The reflection of them began to go hazy again.

The next thing that was seen in the mirror was Yuko and Grim, seated in one of the chairs of Mostro Lounge. The restaurant was filled with many other guests, who chattered without a care in the world. Besides the chattering of the students, quiet and relaxing jazz music could be heard.

Yuko and Grim just finished their dishes and talked about this and that. Grim mostly complained about the other first-years of their little group, with Yuko just listening. The two haven't left yet, since Azul wanted to meet them for something.

"Hello, Koebi-chan~" Yuko looked up to see two mismatched, droopy eyes and a lazy grin.

"Hello, Floyd-chan. How yo-" The seconde-year suddenly lanched her arms around them and squeezed her. They let out a choking sound for suddenly getting the air squeezed out of her lungs.

"F-Floyd, please let me go. I-I can not breath", the younger one choked out. As predicted, she didn't listen. The Ramshackle Prefect, still struggling, tried to free herself while their upperclassmen just laughed. Even Grim complained. That got some heads to turn.

"Floyd, please let her go," a gentle voice said. Floyd let out a quiet. disappointed 'Aww' before, finally, letting go. "Good. Now apologies to Yuko-san."

"But Jade-"

"No buts. We do not squeeze any of our guests. No matter how close we are to them", the calmer twin scolded. The second twin turned around to face Yuko again and apologized before getting sent off to the kitchen.

"I'm sorry, Yuko-san. You know how easily carried away my sister can get."

Yuko just waved it off, saying that it was nothing. And if considered how bad Floyd's mood can get, it was. Jade, as always, smiled politely.

"Anyways. I was sent here to show you the way to Azul. I suppose you two have some kind of business to discuss."

"Ah. Thank you, Jade. Are you coming, Grim?" Still angry about what happened, the feline jumped onto the prefect's arm so they can get going.

-

By now, Jade, Yuko and Grim were standing in front of Azul's office's door. Jade then knocked on the door, asking for entry. From the other side of the door was a 'come in' audible. Jade opened the door for Yuko and Grim to enter, then closing it again so they could talk in private.

"Hello, Yuko. I'm glad to see you here again." The dorm leader got up from her office chair to greet her guests.

"I'm also delighted. Especially since we can talk without any... unusual circumstances," Yuko said as the two of them, awkwardly, shook hands. Azul quickly cleared her throat before offering Yuko a seat. They took the offer and gently placed their companion on their lap.

"So. What did you want to talk about?"

The other took a seat as well, opposite of Yuko. "Don't worry. I don't want to make a deal with you if that's what you thought. I already learned that I can't fool you to sign one." The dorm manager took one of the snacks that were on the little table in the office.

"So you admit that all of your deals are a scam? Or am I misinterpreted that?" The younger one also took one of the snacks as a dessert.

"I never said that. But sometimes, if my clients are foolish enough, or other reasons, I may bend the contract in my favour."

"So all of this 'being professional' is also nothing but talk if things like that happen here."

That certainly struck a nerve in Azul. Now the fun can begin.

"So your saying I can't be professional? Hah, you have a silver tongue, I give you that," the octopus said amused, as she took a bite from the snack in her hand.

"Never said that. I learn more and more about this school."

"Such as?"

Bingo. "Why would I tell you? It certainly would be good fuel for our little talk, but there is also plenty of other stuff to talk about."

A little 'tsk' escaped Azul's lips. "So that's where this is going. Is there at least anything of value that you 'learned'?"

"What do you consider of being 'of value'? Maybe then we'll get somewhere."

Azul put her hand under her chin in thought. "Well, some secrets or things of that sort would be of use, I suppose." Yuko, who was petting Grim (already asleep again), reached for another treat, curious where this is heading.

"You are a scammy one, aren't you? Even though, I expected nothing else if I'm honest. To refresh your memory, I am very close to the headmistress and other dorm leaders, right?"

"My, my, you're right. So I suspect there are something I could use for... 'businesses'. What would you like for that kind of information?"

Yuko hummed in the thought. "Well, I do require some money for the interior of my dorm. It would also be of use if you'd have some favours to pay back. So how about this." They pulled out a piece of paper, wrote a sum of madol and slid it towards Azul. "I offer you some information. In return, you give me money and some favours. How does that sound?"

The businesswoman eyed to piece of paper, considering the deal. "Are the twins also involved in the 'favours' I'd own you? And how many are we even talking about?"

That got Yuko thinking. Azul was mostly the brain of the group, while the tweels did all of the hard work. It would allow more options if they're in the deal. "Mmh, since you three are often together, it would be best if they are involved in our little deal. About the favours, how about 4?"

"I actually couldn't care less if these two play a role here. It would mostly affect me anyway," the other thought out loud. "But only 2 favours."

"3 favours."

"Deal" The head of Octavinelle snaped once, and a golden contract appeared out of thin air. She then laid the piece of parchment on the table, in front of Yuko, waiting for it to be signed. "Just sign here the matter is sealed."

And Yuko happily obeyed. Azul smiled contented after it was signed gracefully.

"Then this is finished. I'll hand one of the twins the things you want to know." Yuko got up, taking Grim in their arms before bowing. "It was nice to make business with you. Until next time," she said as they left the room.

-

"Little question", Riddle chirped head in hands. "Did you just promised Azul to tell secrets from others? Others who have an actual influence on the student body? Just for some money and three favours?!"

Yuko chuckled slightly, Azul glaring at him, clearly offended. He knew what others thought of his schemes, but he still liked to play the victim.

"Let's just say it would've been of use for her to clarify what kind of secrets."

Riddle looked up, who did not expect this kind of answer.

"In other words; You scammed the scammer."

"Haha, you could say that. In the end, I just gave information that wouldn't be of great use. Yet, she was not able to say that I cheated since I just promised her some secrets, but not what kind of secrets," the girl revealed with a small, devilish grin.

"Moving on to Scarabia, shall we?"

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[A/n: Sorry for any grammatical or spelling errors, English is not my first language!]