#sixth chapter

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

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Bolt Thrower - Sixth Chapter

[falesiastuff]

I finally started to write the sixth chapter of Whispers of Souls! I'm planning to release it during my vacation, from one road trip to another! 💪💪💪

[i-have-zero-social-skills]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 6/? Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Characters: Agen Kolar, Shmi Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker, Mace Windu, Kit Fisto, Saesee Tiin, Ahsoka Tano (cameo), Ezra Bridger (Cameo), Original Clawdite Character (Cameo), Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious, Cradossk (Star Wars), Darth Maul, Original Nekghoul Characters Additional Tags: Infant Anakin Skywalker, Time Travel, The World Between Worlds (Star Wars), Hyperspace Travel (Star Wars), Dehumanization, Slave Trade, Slavery, Planet Alderaan (Star Wars), Planet Coruscant (Star Wars), Jedi Temple (Star Wars), Misunderstandings, Fix-It, POV Alternating, Planet Nanth’ri (Star Wars), Planet Gyndine (Star Wars), Minor Character Death, Planet Nar Shaddaa (Star Wars), Tuk'ata | Sith Hounds (Star Wars), Teenage Darth Maul, Planet Brentaal IV (Star Wars) Series: Part 3 of Time Travel AU Featuring Mace, Kit, Agen, and Saesee Summary:

After several weeks of searching, Agen finally locates Anakin Skywalker and his mother, two months after Anakin was born. He thinks his mission is over now, but there is one more problem he has to solve. Cradossk has been hired by Darth Sidious to kidnap Anakin Skywalker, and Agen has to get Anakin to Coruscant while being pursued by Cradossk.

[nagisadelune]

Promise Rings Chapter 6

(Definitely not edited)

Previous: Promise Rings Chapter 5

ANOTHER ONE! Okay, I'm back with another chapter of Promise Rings! Once again, I apologize that this chapter is late; you know life gets hard with work and stuff you need to, but it is what it is sadly. Either way, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

⭐⭐⭐

Age: 13

A box of Pocky dropped onto my desk as I stared at the paper. I looked up to see Rei-chan taking the chair in front of me.

“You know you should take a break every once in a while,” she advised as she took a drink of water. I rolled my eyes at her as I noticed the small smirk on her face. “By the way, you should go outside and share some Pocky with Kageyama-san. Maybe do the Pocky challenge too while you’re at it.” I felt my cheeks redden, but I brushed off her comment.

“No, it’s fine,” I answered after a long sigh. “Plus, he’s probably busy with the volleyball team.” Rei-chan awkwardly nodded before I heard a knock on my desk. I looked up to see Tobio holding a bento.

“Hey, aren't you going to go eat?” he questioned as he pointed to the bento. Glancing at my paper and back at him, I shook my head, knowing that I needed the extra time to study a little. He scoffed before grabbing my hand to pull me out of the chair. “No, you’re not going to get anything done with no food,” he scolded me. “No food, no fuel.” I closed my eyes and huffed softly, knowing that he was right. I quickly apologized to Rei-chan who had a smirk on her face before I grabbed the Pocky box and let myself get dragged by Tobio out of the classroom.

“Where are we going, Tobio-kun?” I questioned as he continued leading me to a more secluded area of the school.

“Opposite side of the courts,” he answered simply. I looked at him in shock as I realized how secluded we would be. One side of the courts faced the school buildings, meaning the other side faced the streets.

“And why are we going there?” I asked again as I felt my cheeks heat up. He was still dragging me by the hand before we arrived at our destination.

“Is it wrong for me to spend time with you?” he questioned back at me as he sat down on the ground carefully. As I placed myself down beside him, he explained, “Plus, everyone would ask you questions relating to classes which is what we don’t want.” I nodded, understanding his logic.

“Wait, I never grabbed my food,” I realized as I stared at the one basket of food we had between the two of us. He quietly snorted before he started pulling everything out.

“My mom made extra food for me to give to you,” he explained as he opened the tupperware. “Also, I know that you literally only eat a little when you should eat more,” he added as he handed me a pair of chopsticks. As I stared at the food, I felt my mouth salivating.

“Itadakimasu,” we stated in unison, pressing our hands together. We began to quickly eat as the food was slowly getting colder by the second. I didn’t realize how good food could taste at the moment after studying for so long.

As we finished the food, Tobio pointed at the Pocky box beside me before asking, “Is that Pocky?” Following his line of sight, I nodded when he correctly identified the box. 

“Yup, Rei-chan bought me some cookies and cream Pocky while she was buying some snacks earlier,” I answered, elaborating on the situation. He only nodded as he chewed on a cherry tomato. “You want some?” I questioned as I noticed his eyes continuously eyeing the box. He sheepishly smiled before nodding. I smiled back at him before I started opening the package.

“I’m going to go buy some milk really quick,” he announced to me as he stood up from his spot. “Do you want one?” he asked as he checked how much money he had. He glanced down at me before I nodded, and he hurried off to go buy some. I started to space out as my head started running calculations and stating facts, my hand absentmindedly grabbing a stick and eating the sweet biscuit.

“Karin-chan?” a voice suddenly questioned, snapping out of my train of thought. I looked up to see Tobio holding a carton of milk. His hand extended to hand me the carton before he returned to the spot beside me.

My hands were busy opening the carton when I apologized, “Sorry, I was just thinking about some stuff.” I quickly took a sip of the milk before I looked over at him. He shrugged before I held the box out for him to take a stick. We talked a little as we continued eating the box before I realized there was only one stick left. However, I already grabbed it and placed it in my mouth before my brain processed it. 

“Shoot, sorry,” I apologized again as I already had claimed the stick. I scratched the back of my neck, knowing that this was one of Tobio’s favorite snacks. He looked at me for a bit too long before he seemed to react.

“Ever wanted to do the Pocky challenge?” he questioned as he stared me in the eyes.

“Huh?” was the only response that he could get out of me before he bit the other end of the stick. What was happening? Is this a dream or reality? My heart was beating hard against my chest as I realized what was happening. He seemed to move in slow motion as he bit the stick in pieces as he got closer to me. Crap, what do I do? What was I supposed to do? I could only close my eyes for the impact, but I felt nothing against my lips, making me open my eyes cautiously. He had already pulled away and was chewing the segments he bit off.

“What?” he questioned as he stared at me weirdly. “Do you have a fever or something? Your face is all read.” I needed to think of a response quickly; he can’t know that I even considered having feelings for him. Plus, my cheeks were probably only red from just the heat outside anyways.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine,” I answered, my tongue stuttering on my own words. He squinted his eyes on me before he placed his hand on my forehead for my temperature. I felt my cheeks heat up more as I stayed frozen in my spot from his actions.

“Why is your temperature normal even though your face is so red?” he quietly muttered to himself as he pulled his hand away from my head. I could only chuckle nervously at his response as I thought that he would become suspicious of me. He shrugged it off as he seemed to find no answer to my condition. “Anyways,” he started again, “you ready to head back? The bell is about to ring.” He held his hand out for me to grab, and I nodded, placing my hand in his to help me up. We quickly cleaned up the area before starting to walk back to the classroom.

When we arrived at my class, I turned towards him before asking, “Are we walking home together after practice?” He nodded with a smile before patting my head.

“I’ll come pick you up then, alright?” he confirmed, and I nodded at him with a smile. “See you later!” he called out as he started hurrying back to his classroom. He waved at me for a brief moment as I returned it, quickly turning around to get to class after. As I walked into the classroom, I noticed the smirk on Rei-chan’s face. I tried to ignore it as I sat down in my chair.

“Have a nice date with Kageyama-san?” she questioned as she set her chin on the palms of her hands. Her elbows were propped onto my desk as she feigned innocence with her blinking. I rolled my eyes playfully at her before I looked at her clearly.

“We just hung out; it wasn’t a date,” I responded, denying her statement for what seemed like the thousandth time I’ve used this answer. She sighed before she sat up straight.

“Thank me later when you guys actually start dating,” she muttered as I pulled out the workbook from my desk. I rolled my eyes again with a scoff as the bell rang for class to begin.

Age: 14

I watched the ball drop to the floor. That set was perfect, but no one was there to spike the ball. I realized what happened: they finally snapped. Glancing around the court, my eyes watched the coach switch Tobio out as the score gap increased. Nervously, my hand played with my ring.

The game was over, and Tobio gave no effort to give me the signal. On my own instincts, I left the stands and tried to catch up with him at the entrance. Jumping around, I stayed warm despite the spring weather. He walked out of the gym. I quickly reach out for him, latching onto his jacket sleeve. He quickly removed my hand before continuing his way with the rest of the team.

“Oi! Kageyama Tobio!” I yelled at him angrily, my voice attracting the attention of everyone within a few meters of the scene. His steps faltered and stopped before he turned around to face me. I crossed my arms across my chest, expecting him to approach me. “What’s up?” I questioned, making sure he knew exactly what I needed out of him.

“What school have you decided to go to?” he asked, trying to get the topic out of the conversation.

“Don’t change the subject,” I stated calmer, staring into his soul. “What happened out there?” I watched him hesitantly look around the area. I stared at him before he looked down at the floor.

“I broke,” he muttered, “but it’s their fault.” Biting my lip and closing my eyes, I grabbed his jacket and brought him to eye level. I looked between his two eyes and stared into them. Damn they were pretty.

“Boke, cut the crap. You know better than that,” I quietly growled at him. “We both know what’s best for the team, but then was not the time to be so aggressive about your views.” I heard him scoff before he broke my grasp. He stood up straight, and I looked up at his figure. Since when was he taller than me? I watched him look up at the ceiling before looking down at me for a moment.

“So I messed up,” he responded, “It’s their problem for not being able to keep up.” I could feel my blood boil and felt the need to punch something, anything just to get my anger out.

“Tobio-kun, you know better than that,” I responded to him in a calmer voice, still somewhat angered. I started feeling bad that I was letting my anger get in the way of our conversation.  His eyes slowly lowered to the ground as if he felt ashamed of letting his temper get in the way of our conversation. I heard him sigh before he scratched his head.

“Let’s just go home,” he muttered, letting his hand drop down to his side. He turned around before walking away. Staring at his figure, I realized how much of a guy he actually was: his broad shoulders, his long legs, and his toned forearms. Wait, now is not the time to be thinking about that. I snapped out of my daze and ran after him. I could barely keep up with his stupidly long legs. When he remembered my small stature, he turned around and waited for me to catch up. As he was waiting, he took another jacket from his bag and wrapped it around my shoulders. “Don’t think I didn’t notice that you were freezing earlier,” he muttered as we began walking away from the gym.

The weather started to chill as we walked back home from the middle school. My hands felt like they could be chopped off at any moment, and I tried to keep them warm. Blowing my breath into them, nothing seemed to be keeping them warm.

“Oi, Karin-chan,” Tobio called out. I looked up at him, and he silently took one of my hands into his and placed them into his jacket pocket. “You’re going to get lost if you keep putting your hands to your face, boke.” He tugged on my hand to bring me closer to his side as we walked on the sidewalk. His hands and body felt warm against mine, probably from the game earlier. I felt my cheeks and nose go red from all the wind that was hitting our skin. Not from the sudden contact. “Let’s go get some street food,” he offered. “Our parents are probably pretty busy right now.” Giving him a small response, I shifted my attention away from the sidewalk in front of me to the ground. 

Why was I being so shy? This wasn’t any different from all the other times we have walked together. He does hold my hand sometimes, so I don’t get lost, but why could I feel my heart pounding against my chest so loudly? Why did it feel like there was something else that we hadn’t realized? 

“Karin-chan, is everything okay?” Tobio stopped, looking at me carefully. Why does him just saying my name make me blush? 

“Y-yeah,” I answered, “I-I’m fine.” Seeing doubt cross his face, he turned to face me and crouched down to my level, getting a good look at my face. As his face approached mine, I felt myself freeze, my heart skip a beat, and my breath hitch. Noticing my red face, he checked my temperature with his hand. Based on his reaction, I assumed he did not get any major temperature. I watched his face consider his options before reaching his decision. He turned around again before hurrying down the sidewalk.

“I think some takoyaki will solve the issue,” Tobio announced to no one in particular. From inside his pocket, I felt his fingers interlace with mine. Shocked and shy from his actions, I looked up at him, and he’s still just looking forward, moving forward. Were his eyes always that piercing? Was his hair always like that? Maybe I was falling for him. Realization.

~~~

“Okay, I got your text,” I explained as soon as I burst into the room. “What do you want?” Tobio just stared at me in shock as he blinked wordlessly at me. His legs were crossed on the bed as his hands stopped filing his nails. “Did you text me for nothing?” I questioned as I felt my blood boil slightly. We had finals in a couple weeks, and we needed to be prepared for the tests we had.

“Well, technically I texted you because I needed company,” he answered as he blinked at me again. “Plus, you’ve studied nonstop for the past three weeks; you need a break.” As much as I didn’t want to admit it, he was right: all the studying was making me exhausted. He patted the spot beside him, and I walked over to plop myself on his bed.

“What are we going to do then?” I questioned as I knew that he probably didn’t completely think this through and that I needed to get back to going over my tests. His eyes glanced around his room before he looked at the nail file in his hands.

“Give me your hand,” he ordered as he held his hand out in front of him. Hesitantly, I placed mine in his, and I felt my heart pounding against my chest. Sure, he has held my hands a few times when we walk home from school in order for me to stay safe, but this was something different. Without another word, he started to carefully rub the course material against the nail. 

“So what do you want to talk about?” I questioned as I tried to break the awkward silence. For a moment, he trained his focus on my nails as he slowly shortened the nail down. Before we knew it, an hour had passed as he constantly stopped to hold a conversation with me. In the moments that he filed my nails, we sat in silence as my thoughts ran through my head.

“Is practice going well for you?” he asked as he grabbed my other hand to file down the nails. I could only shrug to his question.

“I mean it’s not too bad, but I’m definitely going to need some more practice to sync up with the other girls,” I muttered as I watched his head crouch down to get a closer look at my nails. “Oi, sit up straight and lift my hand,” I scolded as I kept an eye on his posture. He sighed as he complied to my words and readjusted himself.

“You know you can always practice with me,” he muttered as he slightly blew on the nail to blow away any shavings. I smiled at the idea that he offered.

“But the net is pretty high,” I argued, knowing that my practice might get messed up. He looked up at me annoyed, stopping the filing.

“It’s better for you since you could work on your vertical,” he argued back, and I could only sigh at his reasoning. He was right though; I did need to train my jumping a little bit if I wanted to be able to do anything on the court. When I was about to talk about my serving, he mentioned, “Just train your serves when you have your net up, or practice the accuracy of your serves. I know you switch up your serves between jump floating and floating from time to time.” I sighed as I understood that he was correct.

“Fine,” I muttered as he looked up to give me a quick smile, “but we need to get food then.” He finished filing my nails as he leaned back against his arms to stretch his back out slightly. 

“Fine by me,” he answered as he rotated his head on his neck. “It’s nice to go get food with a friend.” I felt my heart drop slightly as I comprehended his words, but I held a fake smile to agree with his statement; eating out with a friend is way better than eating alone. I guess I was still considered a friend, but at least he even considers me a friend after everything that happened in middle school. “Anyways, can you help me with this problem in math?” he suddenly questioned as he lifted himself off of the bed.

“Sure. Which one?” I questioned as I stood up to follow him to his desk. He grabbed the chair beside him and scooted it closer to him before I sat down. He placed his jacket on my legs as he noticed the bare skin. For the rest of the night, he forced me to help him with studying which was honestly a better review for me to explain the topics to him than to just stare at a piece of paper and the computer for a few hours.

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And that's a wrap on this one! Thank you so much for reading, and please give me a like; it lets me know that people actually really do enjoy reading this which makes me more motivated to post. Either way, I hope that you liked this chapter, and I'll see you in the next one!

Next: Promise Rings Chapter 7

[toxicsquad]

[Eng/Esp] The sixth chapter is now officially available / El sexto episodio está oficialmente disponible

St. Gabriel is a city of many attractions: Good life, lower crime rate, a nice scenery and... The angels. After everything that happened in the lab, they may be the best option to answer some of the questions that were left unanswered. Why were they spying on you? Where's Joe? And the most important... Who runs them?

Update of the new episode:

3 CGs.

4 BGs.

3 extra visual elements.

17 sprites. (New expressions included.)

4 new BGMs. 

Other implementations and fixes:

Minor fixes in the spanish version (episode 1).

GUI improvement.

➡️➡️➡️  Go to Itch to download

Twitter​ | Instagram​ | Itch

🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧

St. Gabriel es una ciudad con muchos atractivos; Buena vida, menor tasa de delincuencia, un paisaje agradable y... Los ángeles. Después de todo lo sucedido en el laboratorio quizás sean la mejor opción para responder a alguna de las cuestiones que se quedaron en el aire. ¿Por qué te espiaban? ¿Dónde está Joe? Y la más importante... ¿Quién los dirige?

Actualización del nuevo episodio:

3 CGs.

4 BGs.

3 elementos visuales extras.

17  sprites. (nuevas expresiones incluidas.)

4 hilos musicales nuevo.

Otras implementaciones y correcciones:

Correcciones menores en la versión en español (episodio 1).

Mejora en la GUI.

➡️➡️➡️Ir a Itch para descargar

Twitter​ | Instagram​ | Itch

[itsmyusualphannie]

you had me at hydrangea

Chapter 6/6 - last bud not least

“I want him to see the flowers in my eyes and hear the songs in my hands.” ― Francesca Lia Block, Dangerous Angels

a phan flower shop/video editor au

(read on ao3) - start from the beginning!

previous chapter

~~

Dan kind of hated everything right now. He hated the smudged, scribbled papers on the floor in front of him, he hated the ugly dead bouquet by the trash bin that seemed to be reflecting his own misery back at him, and he hated the goddamn floor for being so cold under his ass.

He angrily scrawled a few music notes down onto the sheet paper before him and stared down at them, then immediately scratched over it. How could he think that that would sound good? He wanted to crumple this paper and throw it away, but he only had two weeks left to finish and then practice his entire piece, so he couldn’t afford to waste any more hated papers.

The unfinished music notes cheerfully mocked him. Dan scowled down at them, running the arrangement briefly through his mind before deciding that it all sounded terrible. This wouldn’t work. This was horrible. He hated it even more.

“Dan!” Louise called from the front room. “How’s it going back there?”

It was going fucking spectacularly, that’s how it was going. He told her as such.

“Oh, Dan,” Louise said. She came through the door, trailing petals with every step. Her hands were piled with limp flowers. She smiled fondly down at him, dropping the assortment onto the floor beside the other dead bouquet. “You know, I have a perfectly good chair that you could be sitting in to work on that.”

Dan spared it a scornful glance. It was ugly and stout, so close to the ground that he’d have to sprawl his legs out in front of him to even sit on it. The small table beside it wasn’t much better. The rickety stool behind the counter in the front room was dangerous, but it was much better than this alternative. “No thanks,” he said. “I like the floor.” He did not. He would like it better if it was comfortable enough to lie down on face-first.

Louise looked like she was considering sitting beside him on the floor and commiserating with him, but ultimately she must have decided that she had too much work to do. “Well. Take your time, I’m just cleaning now that we’ve gotten that big order ready to go.”

Fortunately, the big order was piled and arranged in the front room, not crowded into this already-small back room. Dan had practically been choking on pollen by the time he and Louise had finished preparing them. He didn’t understand how Louise could still be cheerfully cleaning after their hours of work.

His phone dinged with an alert. Dan spared it a glance just to see that it was a message from his talent manager. She probably wanted to know how his piece was coming along. He definitely wouldn’t be answering that right now. He caught a glimpse of the time on his phone and glanced up at Louise, who was still hovering beside him. “Are you going to close up the shop? It’s almost two.” They always closed early on Saturdays so Louise could spend more time with her kids and so Dan could go back to his flat and be pathetically alone in peace.

She glanced at her watch. “Oh,” she said. She suddenly looked so acutely disappointed upon seeing the time that Dan was thrown off-balance. “Hmm. I might stay open for a little longer. Who knows who might pop in?”

“Are you expecting anyone besides the pick-up truck for the big order?”

Louise’s eyes casually darted away from him and Dan was instantly suspicious. “Er, no,” she said, unconvincingly. “I mean…no.” She whirled, ruffled skirt bouncing around her, and vanished into the front room.

“Yeah, right,” he called after her. Maybe she was going to have the babysitter bring her daughters by the shop. Dan hadn’t seen them in a few weeks and, though he wouldn’t ever admit it to Louise, he missed their tiny faces and adorable smiles. They always lit up when he performed his occasional ritual of tying a flower stem into a knot and wrapping it around their fingers like a giant, petaled ring.

“It’s not the girls!” Louise told him, her voice echoing into the room. Apparently, she was now a mind-reader.

Dan didn’t want to think about anyone else coming into the shop. Especially Phil. He certainly didn’t want Phil to come into the shop today. Not with Dan’s fresh memory of that hurt look on Phil’s expressive, open face that Dan had inflicted upon him yesterday.

Yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that had all been...bad days. Dan still didn’t feel completely recovered from them. He didn’t think he’d ever be completely recovered from any of his bad days.

“Fuck bad days,” Dan muttered to himself. He regarded an open space between sprawled, cascading notes on a piece of paper and he scribbled down what he’d just said. He felt pleased upon looking at it. That was how he felt. That was what he wanted this piece to be about. “Fuck bad days,” he said again, more vehement this time. The words echoed in the small room. He squinted as a few notes played cautiously in his mind and he began reluctantly writing squiggles that vaguely resembled notes across the paper. The door to the shop whooshed open and Dan could hear Louise greeting someone, but he ignored it.

The notes stubbornly churned in Dan’s mind, but they began to take shape as he repeated “Fuck bad days,” under his breath. A few fell into place at a time and he scrawled them down, ignoring bars and repetitions to get down the basics of what he was imagining himself playing. It was almost like he’d crossed some sort of hurdle and the notes began cascading from his fingers to dance across the lines of the paper.

His fingers ached after only a few minutes, but he pressed on urgently, desperate not to lose this streak. The half-imagined, distant ideas that he had been forming, yet unable to write down over the past few weeks, had pieced themselves together in his mind with shocking clarity. It wasn’t perfect, but it was more than he’d written without furious back-tracing in weeks or maybe months.

It was four long pages later when Dan finally sat back, hand almost numb, and eyes aching from his fear of closing them, as though he might’ve lost the notes if he'd looked away from the papers. An unfiltered outline of music lay spread before him, the pages crinkled and worn with his handling. It was raw and beautiful and he hated it, but he also loved it a little. It was a start, finally. It was so much more than he’d been doing. Nothing more pressed at him, no more urgent notes that begged to join the piece, so he let himself relax, sitting back and massaging at the reddened indentations the pencil had left in his fingers. He blinked, feeling like his eyelids were scraping against his eyes. Maybe he’d be able to actually sleep tonight.

Dan felt a belated rush of accomplishment. This was something and it was maybe even good. He unfolded his legs and hauled himself to his feet, grabbing the ugly little chair for balance. With a swipe of one hand, he gathered the suddenly-inspired pieces of paper and clutched them to his chest. His head spun as he stood up, either from the abrupt change in altitude or his growing excitement at the breakthrough. He needed to tell someone about this, and since it wouldn’t be his manager, who would likely just be exasperated that it’d even taken him this long, it would need to be Louise. She would certainly be excited about his progress.

It was only as Dan stepped through the open door to the front room that he realized he hadn’t heard Louise bustling around out here pretty much the entire time he’d been writing, and now he could see why. She was standing just inside the door to the shop, blonde curls cascading over one shoulder as she talked to Phil, who practically towered over her. Phil, facing the back of the shop, glanced over her head just as Dan caught sight of him, and his gaze landed on Dan.

“Oh god,” said Dan, without meaning to say it. He backpedalled hastily, almost tripping over the flowers on the floor by his feet. Louise and Phil vanished from sight as he ducked back around the corner. His breaths came short and fast. He was not prepared to deal with this right now.

Now that he was listening, he could hear them both talking. Something about cacti plants. Dan wanted to hide in this back room forever, but he also wanted to go out and somehow apologize to Phil for being an asshole yesterday. He also, kind of, wanted Phil to apologize to him for being so absolutely confusing on Sunday.

Dan heard his own name, then, and his attention snapped back to the conversation in the front room.

“ - Yeah!” Louise was saying. “He’s in the back, gimme a sec.” She apparently didn’t know that Phil had seen Dan walk out, catch sight of them, and then immediately flee back to safety. Her boots clopped against the floor as she walked toward the back room.

Dan allowed himself a few moments to steel himself, dropping the papers in his hands onto the table, then he let out a long breath and stepped back out into the room again. Louise almost collided with him.

“Oh! Dan, hey.” She was grinning up at him, a big, too-convincing smile. “Great timing! Phil wanted to say hi.”

“Hi,” Phil offered, lifting a hand in a timid wave. His eyes looked careful, like he was afraid of spooking a wild animal.

Louise pushed past Dan. “I’ve got to finish sorting these flowers!” she lied blatantly. There were no flowers that needed sorting, and Dan knew it, but he didn’t stop her. He stepped involuntarily toward the counter, meeting Phil’s gaze unflinchingly.

“Uh,” said Phil. He also took a few steps toward Dan, stopping in front of the counter and the slumping boxes of flowers that were waiting to be picked up. One hand was tucked awkwardly behind his back. “Hey, Dan.”

Dan felt his heart judder in his chest. He didn’t know whether to shake Phil by the shoulders and demand an explanation for his confusing actions over the past few weeks - no, months - or to just apologize for being rude to Phil yesterday. He didn’t know what to do, but he couldn’t help but notice the annoyingly perfect arch of Phil’s cheekbones and his unbelievably blue eyes that were even bluer behind his glasses. “Hey, Phil,” he said.

“I wanted to...” Phil stopped and glanced down at the Luigi bobblehead by the till, his eyebrows furrowing. He heaved a sigh and continued, “I, well, I wanted to say sorry for being so weird the other day. Well, I’m weird all the time. You’re probably used to it. I mean...ignore that.” He had looked back up at Dan, and the intensity of gaze, belying his soft tone, made something burn inside Dan. “I thought - never mind what I thought. I just wanted to apologize. And, if you might want to, I wanted to ask…”

“Wait,” Dan interrupted him. He blinked. He hadn’t expected the words to leap from his mouth, but they had. His gaze fell subconsciously to the loose shirt that Phil wore, hanging open over an undershirt.

Phil waited.

“It’s fine,” said Dan. “I mean, I’m sorry too. We were both weird. I was kind of an asshole yesterday. A little bit.”

The wrinkles around Phil’s eyes became even more wrinkly with his small smile. “A little bit, maybe. It wasn't completely undeserved.”

“Maybe,” Dan repeated. His feet moved without his permission, carrying him past the sad, warped stool, the wall full of flowers, the cracked and meticulous counter, and finally, the heaps of boxes piled by the counter. He stopped in front of Phil, barely a foot from him. He could hear the dramatized sounds of Louise crashing through the back room, her way of letting him know that she was giving him time and wasn’t listening in.

Phil had drawn back a little when Dan came toward him, but now he leaned forward into Dan’s space, the one arm still clumsily held behind his back. “I - ” he started, but Dan interrupted him again, not willing to let him spoil the moment with a panicked declaration of friendship.

“What do you want?” Dan asked him, rather bluntly.

Phil blinked, a slow sweep of his eyelashes. “What do you want?”

“That’s not what I asked.” Dan could feel something thudding dangerously in him as he reached up and tugged at the loose edges of Phil’s overshirt, drawing them closer together. He let his fingers linger purposefully, smoothing over the dips of the fabric. There was peril in what he said without saying it, his actions obvious and yet skirting the edge of meaning. If Phil didn’t understand what he meant, then Phil meant something else entirely. Maybe he really did just want to be friends. Maybe so. Dan wouldn’t bet on it.

Phil had gone still and quiet under Dan’s touch. His eyes were dark when Dan glanced back up at them. “Dan,” he said, and then nothing.

Dan waited for a few moments, his breath stilling in his lungs, and then he took a meaningful step backwards, giving Phil space. He wasn’t giving up, though. He remembered the music he had just been writing, the notes that had poured out of him, and the feeling of triumph after getting it all down. “I have a piano recital in a few weeks,” he said, the words tumbling from him, “and if you can, I’d like you to come.”

Dan hadn’t noticed how tense Phil’s shoulders had been until they relaxed suddenly. His whole body was somehow looser, relieved of strain. “You play the piano?” Phil asked, instead of answering the indirect question.

“Yeah,” said Dan. “I write a little, too. I’ll be playing one of my pieces. Do you think you can make it?”

It was no longer indirect. Something was soft around Phil’s eyes as he looked into Dan’s.

“As a date,” Dan clarified before Phil could answer.

“Yes,” Phil said, and it was almost instant, the word escaping from his lips with a suddenness that seemed to surprise him. “Yes, I’d - I’d love to go with you. Of course I do.”

“Of course,” Dan echoed. Something giddy was taking hold of him, burning bright inside of him. He couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at his lips. “As a date.”

“Definitely as a date.” Phil hesitated, the corners of his lips slowly lifting to match Dan’s grin. “I...I really like you, Dan. Like, a lot.”

“Is that so? I happen to like you, too. If you hadn’t noticed.”

“I might have noticed a little bit,” Phil admitted. “But I thought - never mind. I. Um. I got you something.”

Dan was surprised and he didn’t think to hide it. “You did?”

“Yeah, I…” Phil finally withdrew his hand from behind his back, his shoulders twisting with the effort. In his tightly clenched hand, he held a beautiful black lily with arching petals. “Louise told me that it’s your favourite.”

“Oh!” It was a pleasant feeling, this surprise. Dan reached out to let a finger stroke the softness of a petal. “It is my favourite.”

Phil let out a little huff of satisfaction, then lifted the flower and tucked it behind Dan’s ear. Dan could feel the coolness of the stem nudging against his ear and tangle into his hair. The base settled against his ear and the long petals tickled against his cheek. Phil’s face had melted into an open, pleased expression, his gaze warm. He didn’t pull his hand away immediately, however. Dan felt the brush of Phil’s thumb against his cheek and he leaned into the touch subconsciously, smiling helplessly, giddy with the sudden joy of everything.

“I love your dimples,” Phil said quietly, his thumb pressing into one. He leaned ever closer, swaying toward Dan.

Dan knew he did. He’d noticed the glances over the past few months toward his cheeks, and though he didn’t understand the obsession, he knew. He let Phil cave in the dimple, his thumb gentle against the curve of Dan’s cheek.

“Dan,” Phil said. The word was a hot breath against Dan’s lips, so close Dan could almost taste the vibration of the air. Phil’s voice sounded tortured with the effort of staying even that far away. “Can I kiss you?”

“What are you waiting for?” was Dan’s answer.

And then Phil’s lips were on his, and his hands were sliding into Dan’s hair, and Dan was surging up against him, and...it began.

~~

“I must have flowers, always, and always”

~ Claude Monet

[bluestwitch]

“Strongly opinionated, your bride is. Are you sure you want to do this, Harry? You still have seconds to run away.” George smirked, and then grimaced when Angelina elbowed him in the ribs. Both Molly and Fleur rolled their eyes. The latter was opening her mouth to retort when suddenly music blared from Lee’s turntable, and Ginny and Arthur left the house and walked down to their end of the aisle, where the bridesmaids stood, waiting for them. The bride’s appearance caused a stir among the guests, but Harry only became dimly aware of it, for in that moment Ginny looked at him, with the same hard, blazing stare he had only witnessed on a handful of unique moments, and suddenly the rest of the world disappeared for him.

“You’re supposed to wait for her looking straight ahead, not at the aisle, mate,” whispered Ron in his ear.

“I’ve missed a lot of things in my life, Ron,” Harry managed to answer, without taking his eyes from Ginny’s. ”I’m not going to miss this.”

Keep reading it here!

[toxicsquad]

[Eng/Esp] The sixth chapter is now officially available / El sexto episodio está oficialmente disponible

You decide to accept Kyeran's invitation. You are concerned about the state of the people you rescued from the underground laboratory, but the challenges have only just begun. Many problems accumulate and some familiar faces may want to join your journey. Who said that the beginnings were simple?

New chapter updates:

3CGs.

3 BGs.

14 sprites. (New expressions included.)

3 new background songs.

Some other implementations and corrections:

New chapter front pages.

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🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧

Decides aceptar la invitación de Kyeran. Te preocupa el estado de las personas que rescataste del laboratorio clandestino, pero los retos solo acaban de empezar. Muchos problemas se agolpan allí y alguna cara conocida puede que  quiera unirse a tu viaje. ¿Quién dijo que los comienzos fueron sencillos?

Actualización del nuevo episodio:

3 CGs.

3 BGs.

14  sprites. (nuevas expresiones incluidas.)

3 hilos musicales nuevo.

Otras implementaciones y correcciones:

Nuevas portadas de episodio

➡️➡️➡️Ir a Itch para descargar

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