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Writing Example 1

Ducktales; First chapter of multi-chapter peice. 882 Words

Huey is pulling away.It’s something that Louie is able to notice, but unable to stop. After all, they’re older now. Freshmen in high school, or at least, they should be; Huey had been bumped up two grades after some protege level testing scores. But even then, aren’t they supposed to pull away? Aren’t they supposed to branch out? Become their own people?Except Louie doesn’t like it. He doesn’t like the way Huey avoids them at school, and disappears during lunch. He doesn’t like how when they get home he goes right up to his room to do homework, hardly coming out for dinner most days.He doesn’t like how it’s his room now. Not theirs.Theirs had ended when they were thirteen, each separated to different parts of the manor. It had seemed like a good thing at the time. A little independence, a little space. They were still best friends, but they were best friends with some distance.
Huey had put up the biggest fight, but it had been overshadowed by Louie and Dewey’s excitement to pick out their own rooms.He wishes he could go back in time and punch that Louie in the face.Or something less strenuous, but equal in getting his point across.Instead, all he can do is watch as Huey starts up the stairs to the fourth floor tower he had chosen as a bedroom. For the one who had put up the most fuss, he picked the bedroom the farthest away.“Hey, Hue, did you want to maybe… I don’t know… work on some homework together..?” It’s weak, and even Dewey thinks so. He can tell by the way he looks at him before heading into the kitchen for a snack. They have to do it now before Beakly locks the kitchen down for dinner preparations.Louie’s risking his opening, but… it’s worth it.Huey looks over his shoulder, already half-way up the stairs.“I have to work on an English assignment. I don’t have time to write your history report.” He tells him in a voice that dares Louie to tell him that’s not exactly what he wanted.And for once (okay more than just once) Louie doesn’t just want Huey to do his work for him.“Actually, I was hoping that maybe you can help me with some of my science work..?” He tries to give his brother a pleading smile, one that usually works. “They put me in bio this year and you know I’m better at physics.” Not a lie, actually, and hopefully that works in his favour.Huey pauses for a moment, looking back down the stairs before he frowns.“I really need to work on my English paper… And you know I work better when it’s quiet.”It’s a nothing excuse. Huey has accomplished amazing things under more pressure than Louie could dream of. He doesn’t need the quiet to focus, he needs a task and it happens. That’s how his brother has always been.But that’s the excuse he gives, that he needs it to be quiet.And Louie doesn’t know how to call him out on it.“Oh, okay… Well, if you get the time, maybe… maybe after dinner?” He asks, a silent plea. At least come to dinner.It’s met with a shrug as Huey continues to head up the stairs, the red sweater he’s wearing slipping off one shoulder before he reaches up to fix it.“Yeah, maybe..” He says, and Louie can’t tell if his voice is sad or indifferent.He used to be able to tell.
As Huey disappears upstairs, Dewey comes back from the kitchen, holding a frozen burrito that had no doubt been nuked in the microwave.“There’s something wrong with him… right?” Louie asks with a frown as he looks over to Dewey, and Dewey shrugs.“Hasn’t there always been?”There’s a smirk on his voice as he says it, as if Huey is still down there to tease and Louie immediately pushes a pout onto his bill.“I’m being serious, asshole.” He tells him, and the smile drops from Dewey’s face as he looks back up in the direction that Huey had gone in. “Since school started. He’s been… off..”At least since they started highschool.“I don’t know. You know I’m bad at this kind of thing.” Dewey tells him as he pulls his bottom lip into his mouth to help him think. His frown gets a bit more pronounced as he mulls the thoughts over, his eyebrows narrowing into a look of concern.“Well, I mean… He’s in classes two years above us… Maybe it’s just keeping him really busy?”It’s as likely an option as anything, but it makes Louie’s eyes narrow in annoyance.“I am choosing to involve you in this, do not disappoint me.”It takes Dewey another few seconds before he raises his eyebrows and tries again.“Maybe it’s a mystery worth digging into?” He says, just a bit unsure.“Thank you.” Louie tells him, still frowning. “God, I thought you were going to make me say it myself." He stalks off, headed for the kitchen, only for Dewey to call out after him;“Beakley’s already in there.”Louie lets out a groan. “I never get anything I want EVER.”

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Writing Example 2

Single shot featured in a Ducktales Zine. 2232 Words

Bright headlights flood the empty road as the van the three ducks had rented cruises down the interstate.The sun moves steadily towards the horizon. They should have stopped over an hour ago, but the request had been met with Dewey being sure that there’s a good stop just up over the hill. The “hill” in question had so far spanned 57 miles by Huey’s count, but Dewey just so happens to be the one in the driver's seat, so who is Huey to say anything?Besides the one with the map, of course, but what does that matter when Dewey has driver’s intuition?“I swear to God, Dewford, if we don’t pull over soon I’m going to vomit.” Louie not so kindly informs the middle brother from where he’s sitting in the backseat. He looks a little green, and Huey looks over his shoulder from the front seat, shooting him a sympathetic look.“Yeah, yeah I heard you twenty minutes ago. I swear it’s like, right around this next bend, okay?”Louie rolls his eyes but shuts his mouth, rolling his window down a bit more to try and fight off his motion sickness.The cross-country road trip had been Dewey. Some coming of age thing now that they’re eighteen years old. Not their first adventure on their own, but their first one as adults since Huey had been almost completely focused on college prep for the past few months.A few more minutes pass, Huey’s eyes wandering up to the sun once again, orange streaks flowing over the desert ground. It makes everything look warm and dusty, like it’s stuck in time despite their car continuing to move and the sun continuing to set.“Dewey, seriously, if we don’t stop somewhere soon we’re going to be setting up our tent in the dark, can you just pick a spot?” Huey tries to goad his brother into stopping somewhere this time, either a roadside camping place, or even at a motel at this point. Huey definitely wouldn’t say no to the opportunity to shower.“Yeah, I heard you.” Dewey says again. “It’s literally right here.”
After what seems like an eternity, Dewey takes an exit off the interstate, and when they finally pull off the road entirely Louie jumps out of the car to go lose his dinner somewhere in private.Huey steps out next, stretching out his limbs, and he has to admit that the spot Dewey has chosen is a lot better than the endless miles of desert the Nevada interstate had to offer. They’ve found some trees, making a nice, shady overhang for them, and it’s far enough away from everything that as the sun sets lower and lower, more and more stars appear overhead.“Okay, this spot is pretty nice, but we have roughly 24 minutes to set up our tent and get a fire going before the sun sets entirely.” Huey wastes little time in going to the back of the van and pulling the tent out.“I mean, yeah, but with the world’s greatest ex-senior junior Woodchuck with us, it’ll take no time at all.” Dewey says happily, leaning against a tree and gesturing to the spot it’s made to be set up in.“I take it to mean that you won’t be helping me.” Huey asks in a deadpanned voice.“Do you really want me to?”“No, I can do it faster by myself.”Huey manages to get the tent set up in just under ten minutes, and starts a fire in five. Louie had returned from somewhere in the trees halfway through looking a little worse for wear but considerably less green.Louie lets out a huff as he sits down in front of one of the fire. “Glad to see I missed all the work. I guess I can thank Dewey’s awful driving for that.” Louie jokes, only to get hit on the back of the head by his older brother.“My driving is amazing, you just can’t handle being in a moving vehicle and looking at your phone at the same time.” Dewey sits down next to Louie as he smirks at him.“Maybe next time we should take that into consideration before we decide to drive across the country.” Huey speaks up from where he’s pulling out the food from the back of the truck. “We should also maybe think about dividing up the work a little more, since I currently feel like I’m taking care of two children instead of my adult brothers.” He drops the cooler and the bag of food down in front of them, an eyebrow raised.Louie rolls his eyes. “Yeah, we’ll think about it next time we’re switching drivers and you can’t because you don’t have your license.” He shoots back. Louie has very few one ups over his perfect older brother. Being able to drive is one of them.Huey’s cheeks tinge red. “I could get my license if I wanted to. I just don’t want to.”“Uh huh.” Dewey says, smirking at him now for similar reasons to Louie. “And why’s that?”Huey frowns at them, his eyebrows narrowing as he kneels down to start pulling out some food. “Because cars are expensive death machines, I cannot trust other people on the road with my life, which is exactly what I need to trust them with, and driving doesn’t factor into my plan. So it doesn’t matter.”Louie laughs at that. “Yeah? What plan is that Mr. Still Hasn’t Chosen a College?”At that question Huey gets a bit quieter, rifling through the food and pulling things out. Both brothers notice the change immediately.“Wait, did you choose a school? Why didn’t you tell us?” Dewey asks, Louie looking similarly intrigued at this turn of events.“I haven’t told anyone yet.” Huey says in a quieter voice, shrugging his shoulders.Louie sits up straighter. “Yeah, which is exactly why you should tell us. We tell each other everything, right?” Louie raises an eyebrow, watching their oldest as he runs a hand through his hair. It’s grown out now, curlier, easier to hide behind when he doesn’t want to tell the truth but can’t come up with a lie.“It’s not important right now.” He eventually says, his face blocked, and Louie doesn’t buy it.“It feels important.” He looks over at Dewey who has gotten a bit quiet. “Right, Dew?”Huey disagrees, turning it back on him. “Well, what about you? What’s your plan? If it’s so important.”Louie frowns, he wants to fight Huey for a moment, but he won’t get anything if he doesn’t give anything. That he knows.He leans back, an easy smile on his face. “My plan is simple, dearest, dorkiest brother. It has but three steps.” He raises his hand, raising a finger with each step. “Step one, sit back, relax. Step two, wait for Scrooge to croak. Step three, profit.”It’s a joke, a terrible, horrible joke and he knows it. One that hides away how useless Louie feels, how out of place in his own family he is. They’ll all do extraordinary things, and all he can wait for is a payout from his great uncle’s funeral.Well, him and Dewey at least. They both know what it’s like living in Huey’s shadow. The genius, eldest triplet who can do everything he tries in a single go while they try to cling to what little they have. Huey’s been receiving college offers in the mail for the past two years while Louie and Dewey sat back and watched it happen. Watched their guardians fawn over him.They’re happy for him, but it’s a bit much, isn’t it? And now to know that he accepted one without even telling them? Anyone would be at least a little bitter.“Louie-” Huey starts to chastise him for his joke, only to get cut off.“Now, where are you going to school?”Huey frowns, looking at his brothers for a moment before lowering his head.“I… I haven’t accepted it yet but… Juilliard… I want to go to Juilliard.” The words are quiet and hesitant, and he refuses to look up.Louie and Dewey are both shocked to say the least.“But… Juilliard doesn’t have an engineering program…” Dewey says, thinking he had misheard. Huey had been speaking about becoming an aerospace engineer since he was eleven.Louie, however, grabs onto another aspect.“Julliard is in New York.”Huey ducks his head down further at both points, unable to look at his brothers.“It… it doesn’t, and it is.” He says to each brother in turn. “I don’t want to be an engineer… I don’t… really care about it that much. It’s fun when I’m working with Fenton in his lab, but… outside of that…” And he had only really enjoyed that because it meant he could spend the day with the superhero. “So I sent an audition tape to Julliard and they accepted me into their strings department. I haven’t told anyone yet.” He’s afraid to. It’s not what they had planned.There’s a long pause over the three of them that settles in the air like a heavy weight. No one knows what to say or do. If Huey accepts, they’d be losing one of their trio come September, and Huey would be a fool not to accept. But where does that leave them?Dewey speaks up first.“I mean, it’s not like we were all going to live together forever…” He says with a little shrug. “We all have to like… live our lives, right? I applied for school, too.”That pauses both Huey and Louie, Huey’s eyes looking up at Dewey in shock.“You what?”Dewey shrugs. “I mean, I had to do something… Can’t just sit around the old mansion forever…”“Well, out with it, where’d you get accepted?” Louie asks.Dewey shrugs. “It’s not Julliard but um, a flight school. Mom always said I was good at it, so figured why not, y’know?”He doesn’t know if it’s what he wants to do with his life, but everyone is always pretty impressed when he flies. If he’s good at it he can somehow find a way to be great at it, right? He can live up to the family name, too.Louie stares at his immediate older brother, a sense of betrayal running through him. They always knew that Huey would go to college, but he thought they were in this together. The family disappointments. Never able to live up to the impossibly high standards set by the McDuck Name.He thinks back to his joke, about Scrooge dying being Louie’s only plan and his face gets red. He thought Dewey would relate to his joke, but now that he thinks back, he hadn’t laughed either.His face gets more and more red and he pulls up his hood to try and hide it.“Well, I bet you nerds are going to have a grand old time getting some quality education.” He says, and he can’t help the bite in his words.Can’t help but feel betrayed and abandoned, even with the summer left between then and now.“Lou…” Huey starts sliding forward so that he’s sitting in front of him, leaning down to try and see past his hood.“No, it’s fine, it’s whatever. You two have your plans. You have it all figured out, and I’ll just keep living in the manor and being a disappointment to everyone who crosses my path. It’s fine.”“Louie, I- I haven’t even been accepted yet.” Dewey tells him.“Y-yeah, and I don’t have everything figured out, Louie.” Huey says, and he can see the look on his brother’s face. He can see the disbelief. “I changed my entire life plan on a whim back in January. I didn’t tell anyone and I’ve been terrified to. That I’ll be disappointing them and that they’ll tell me I’m being an idiot. Banking on a career in music when I already had a job lined up with Scrooge. I’m- I’m so scared of what’s going to happen, I feel like I have nothing figured out and that everything is falling apart and the future is coming too quickly for me to stop.”He reaches out, taking Louie’s hand. “It’s why I waited so long to tell you two. I was so afraid that I’d lose you if I told you I was going, so I couldn't. I don't have it all figured out, and it’s okay if you don’t either. You’re not a disappointment for going at your own rate.”Louie stares at his oldest brother, eyes wide and slightly wet from hearing him pour his heart out. He doesn’t know what to say, he doesn’t know what to do. Huey is just as scared of the future as Louie is. That Dewey sitting in silence next to them, moving closer and taking Louie’s other hand, means that he probably is to.He sniffles, rubbing his eye on his shoulder since he doesn’t have his hands to use.“I’m going to level, I don’t know where to go after that…” He admits, and Huey smiles while Dewey nudges his shoulder.“We don’t have to worry about it. For now, all we have to do is drive.” Huey tells him.“We have until the end of the summer.”

Writing Example 3

Single shot for Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. 1303 Words

He can’t breathe.Metal arms around his throat.No- they were purple vines.Metal.Vines.Metal.Vines.He can’t breathe¬Donnie eyes shot open and he gasped for air, still unable to get any oxygen to his lungs as his heart pumped too fast in his chest. He furiously untangled himself from his bed sheets and threw his feet over the side of the bed once he was free. The cold of the floor helped ground him if only a little, but his throat still felt constricted.He reached up and tried to pull away whatever was restricting his airflow, but he only found his pyjama shirt’s collar. He undid at least half of the buttons of the shirt, ignoring the sound of a button hitting the floor as he was a bit too rough with the fabric. It was fine, he could fix it later, all that mattered right now was that he could breathe.He yanked the shirt down to sit loosely around his upper arms, too distraught to bother with actually taking it off. He sucked in a lungful of air, desperate to be rid of the burning in his chest. He sat quietly, the only sound in his room his ragged breathing.His voice was course as he tried to reassure himself.“It was just a dream…”But it wasn’t. Just months ago, he had felt the same desperation for air as one of Draxum’s vines had closed off his throat. And just before that, the feeling of his own tech constricting his airways by Kendra’s hand still haunted him.Clearly, it still haunted him.His head felt clearer with the oxygen now returning to his lungs, he finished unbuttoning his shirt, letting it to sit open over his shoulders.His head was pounding, and his throat felt raw despite it only being a dream, this time anyway, and with the memories of the not actually just dreams still fresh in his mind he felt that his chances of getting back to sleep that night were slim to none.Donnie grabbed his phone, noting the time only enough to recall that it was very early morning, before he left his room.The halls leading to the main atrium were dark, his family having gone to bed even before he had earlier that night.Though, he wasn’t as surprised as he should be to see lights shining into the hall when he finally got to the atrium doorway. They flashed in that way only late-night TV in a dark house could, and when Donnie rounded the corner, he saw Leo curled up in front of the TV with a hot drink and a blanket wrapped around his legs. The TV was set to what seemed to be a foreign film, with the volume down low and subtitles flashing across the screen.They made brief eye contact as Donnie made his way across the atrium and into the kitchen.He made quick work of getting a glass of water, which he downed immediately following a painkiller, and then used the water left in the electric kettle to make his own mug of tea. For once he made the healthy decision to forgo coffee late at night.Once his own tea was steeped, he disposed of the bag and went back to the living room to see that Leo had readjusted his position so that there was room for Donnie on the couch.He said nothing as he set his mug on the coffee table and laid down beside his brother, resting his head on Leo’s lap and pulling the blanket from off the back of the couch over his body. It was only a moment before Leo’s hand was rubbing Donnie’s head, massaging gentle circles over his temple. They stayed like that for a while, only the dull sounds from the TV breaking the silence as neither of them followed the movie. Donnie had deduced the film was in French after realizing he understood the what the quiet voices of the characters were saying as a dying man’s son spoke about monetary affairs to a group of doctors.Donnie would occasionally move to take a sip of his tea, and every time he’d curl back up with his head in Leo’s lap. Leo’s idle ministrations a continuous reminder of where Donnie was whenever his mind would wander back to his dream.As the main character was escorted from a hospital to a cabin by a lake, Donnie spoke up.“Insomnia?” He asked. His voice was nonchalant, tired, but Leo knew him well enough to catch the amount of care behind the single-worded question.“She’s a bitch.” Leo replied just as simply. “Nightmares?” He added afterwards.Donnie felt a tightness in his throat as his mind flashed back to the moments from his dreams, but he was quickly brought back by the feel of Leo’s hand on his forehead.“Yeah.”“Do you want to talk about it?”“Not really.” Donnie’s voice was barely above a whisper, and he moved from the topic. “Is the tea I got for you helping at all?”“Not really.”And then it was quiet again.The two brothers laid together, cast in the gentle glow of the TV, and watching as a man died surrounded by his friends and family.Donnie finished off the last bit of his tea, feeling little to no affect from something that was supposed to help induce drowsiness and he made a mental note to try a new brand.On screen the main character finally passed away, and the quiet, melancholy tone of the film's current scene offset the comfortable silence between the two brothers. Each took the moment of reprieve in their usually very loud home. They were so used to the rooms being full of sounds and life, if not music, or movies then laughter or yelling, and the quiet of the night with the more rambuncious brothers soundly sleeping was enjoyable. But the middle brothers would both be lying if they said the lack of sleep wasn’t starting to get to them.“Maybe we should consider therapy.” Leo broke the silence as the credits begun to roll over the screen. “You can do it online and they don’t even have to see your face anymore.”“I think the lies we would have to come up with to justify your intense fear of the lair getting broken into and the events leading to me being strangled twice would be a bit hard to explain to a psychiatrist. Not to mention our daddy issues.” Donnie was only half joking about the last part.“As long as our nights get a bit shorter is that really such a heavy price to pay?” Leo’s voice was humorous, but Donnie could hear a note of desperation behind it.The ease at which they had fallen into this routine was from countless nights of similar outcomes. Donnie falling asleep only to be woken up mere hours later to find Leo hadn’t been able to sleep at all. While the nightmares about being strangled were new, they were only the newest in a long list of nightmares he had suffered from for years. And Leo had suffered from insomnia for about the same period of time.“Maybe I’ll look into it.” Donnie eventually said. “Or maybe there’s some Yokai group therapy session that we can sign up for.” He joked.“I do know at least one portal into the mystic city now, though your germ-hating butt will not appreciate it.”“I’d swim in garbage if it meant getting a few more hours of sleep every night.”“Noted.” Leo replied as he begun scrolling through the lists of movies for something new to watch.“Wait- you chose that movie?” Donnie asked.“I was in a French mood.”

Writing Example 4

First chapter for longer AU fic for How to Train your Dragon. 1353 Words

A night without any attacks, dragon or otherwise, was a rarity in Berk, so with the unusual case of a quiet night, the people slept peacefully in their houses. Unknown to the people, their own chief’s son slept fitfully, tossing and turning throughout the night despite the silence of the village outside.Sweat lined Hiccup’s forehead and a low moan escaped from his throat as his body shook throughout what might have appeared to be a horrendous nightmare. Despite his obvious discomfort it would be hours until he woke.It wasn’t until the sun was high in the sky, and the entire village was already well into their routines that Hiccup’s eyes blinked open. He folded an arm over his eyes once he was cognizant enough to be irritated by the bright rays of light coming in through window above him. His head and body were aching, though he couldn’t remember why that would be. As far as he could remember, the day before had been nothing out of the ordinary.Regardless, if it was the sun waking him it was already far past when he should have been awake and he was sure Astrid was somehow to blame for that, always accusing him of over-working himself now that he was chief.He re-opened his eyes, happy to find that the sun was now blocked by clouds and no longer shining directly in his eyes. He looked to his side, expecting to see Toothless but instead staring at the empty corner of his room, Toothless’s bed missing along with the dragon.“Toothless? Bud?” He called and moved to get out of bed before his breath caught in his throat. He was quick to throw the blankets off of himself and found himself choking on his held breath.Why did he have two legs?He reached down, pulling his sock off of his left foot and staring at it in shock. When a few moments passed, and it was still there he attempted to wiggle his toes. It took another moment of figuring out the right muscles before the five digits were moving on his command, then working up to rotating his left ankle.“This- This isn’t possible.” His voice was barely audible, and it was all he had not to fall right to the floor as he rushed to get out of bed. The feeling of the cold, wood floor was foreign on his bare foot and sent shivers all the way up his spine.The nearest piece of metal he found was an axe lying in the corner of his room, and he dropped to his knees in front of it. He lifted it by the handle and held it to the level of his face. In the hazy reflection staring back at him wasn’t the 20-year-old man he had come to expect. Instead, it was the face of a 15-year-old child.“This isn’t possible.” Hiccup restated. He dragged a hand down the side of his face. “Did I dream it all up? How do you just dream up six years of your life?” He turned to look towards Toothless’s bed and was shocked a second time when the dragon wasn’t there.He set the axe down and limped back to his bed to put his sock back on, followed by his boots. His head was spinning as he tried to figure out what had happened that sent him years into the past, because there was no way it had been a dream. It had felt far too real to have been a dream, and likewise, this also felt far too real to be a dream.He was jolted out of his thoughts by the door downstairs being opened and for a moment every problem being presented was moved to the back of his head.“Dad.” His father would be alive.He got up as quickly as he could, making his way to the stairs only to be disappointed at who stood at the bottom of them. “Oh, Gobber, it’s you.” Hiccup walked down the stairs with caution, unsure of how his foot was going to hold up.Gobber looked unenthused at the greeting, rolling his eyes.“Yeah, it’s me. Try to hold back the enthusiasm if ye’ would.”“Sorry, I just thought it was my father.” Hiccup apologized and cleared his voice. He reached the bottom floor and had his world shaken again by the massive height different that now stood between him and Gobber.“He won’t be back yet, lad. He only just left for the nest a few days ago.” Gobber told him, then shoved his shoulder. “You, on the other hook, have no such excuse for why you didn’t show up for work this morning. Not that I was overly worried, o’course, but I figured if ye’ went missing dragon training your dad would’ave my throat for it.”“Dragon training, right, I- uh- I was just heading over now. I didn’t really sleep right last night, I guess. Slept right through the morning.”“S’not the end of the world. Now let’s get going. The last thing I need is for that pack of wild animals running loose around the arena.And they’d probably let the dragons out’a their cages, as well.” Gobber joked and Hiccup couldn’t help but laugh.As they made their way to the arena they were joined by the other teens and Hiccup slowly found himself being pushed to the back of the group. He trailed along behind him, trying to ignore the pointed ostracization from who he considered his closest friends, he thought back to this point in his life. Dragon training, clearly early on as he had eventually made a name for himself out of it.He tried to ignore the small jump in his heart at the realization that if they were already in dragon training, then that meant that Toothless was already shot down in the cove. He tried to shove down the joy he felt at that realization, as it meant he had already shot down and crippled his best friend.The entered the arena and were greeted by a maze of walls set up and now Hiccup had a current date.“The Nadder.” Hiccup said to himself, though not quietly enough for Gobber not to hear.The older man looked back at him with a confused look, “Er- yes, Hiccup. Today we will be dealing with Deadly Nadder.” He walked ahead of everyone, introducing the dragon and the setup of the arena for their exercise while Hiccup avoided eye contact with the other kids.At least he hadn’t called her by name.Hiccup followed the other teens to the weapons rack as Gobber made his way back out of the arena, locking the gate behind him. He picked a shield and a smaller than average sword, his thoughts wandering. If he wasn’t convinced before that he had been sent back in time than he was now. There was no way he would be able to dream up the exact activity Gobber had planned for them. And while he didn’t have the same strength he did as an adult; he had the muscle memory of holding both a sword and shield and how to do it correctly.He weighed the sword in his left hand, and while it was much heavier than Inferno was it wouldn’t be as big of a difference as an axe of mace would have been. Not that he had any intentions of using it, only holding it for self-defence. Astrid would kill him if he actually attempted to hurt Stormfly.Maybe.One day.If he ever got himself out of this situation.Satisfied with his choices he turned to see the rest of the team eyeing him, all holding their own weapons. Hiccup suddenly realized that just holding a sword and shield at the same time was far more advanced than anything he could have done at age fifteen. He weighed his options before dropping the sword back onto the holder and walked away with only the shield.Who needed a sword for self-defence anyway?

Writing Example 6

Original work featuring mythological creatures living in modern times. 4518 Words.

The world was far from what humans thought it was. Hidden away from humanity magic lived, both inherited through family lines, and taught to the people with the rare ability to learn it should they be lucky enough to find a teacher. Long ago it had been decided that humans, with their inability to preform magic creating a deep jealousy towards the craft, weren’t to be trusted with these secrets. So, magic in all its forms was hidden away from them behind a powerful barrier, creating an illusion of normalcy.Which, of course, meant that no one recognized a Fae when one was stood behind the counter of a small New York coffee shop not two feet in front of them.The barista in question was at the cash register taking orders. He was a half a head taller than any of the other employees, and the customers as well for that matter, with thin limbs which only made him look taller. Instead of mulling along, covered in sweat and lips turned down in an annoyed grimace like his co-workers, he met every customer with a cheerful smile. His skin glowed under the soft lighting of the shop, the thin layer of perspiration only enhancing his attractiveness.Steven watched him from his position by the door. Steven was a mage; someone with an inherited magic passed down through his bloodline for generations, which meant that the protective mist that hid other-worldly creatures from mortals did nothing to hide them from him. Steven’s eyes trailed over the barista, resting momentarily on the pointed tips of the barista’s ears and the larger than average canines. To the humans in the shop, he was no more than a beautiful man, someone they would feel compelled to listen to if not obey directly, and worst of all, give him their name without question.“Alright, can I get a name for your order?” The barista asked and Steven watched helplessly as the college student at the cash register easily handed over her name, unaware of the power she was giving him.“Okay, Lacey, just wait at the end of the counter and your drink will be right up.” The barista smiled pleasantly before turning to label the paper cup.Steven watched as Lacey’s face turned blank, compelled to listen to the Fae who now owned her name and therefore her will. She walked to where she had been directed to, and as the task was complete, her face blinked back to awareness, confusion spreading across it as to when she had taken the five steps away from the counter.Admittedly, Steven didn’t know much about Fae, but he had read enough about them and had taught himself enough identifying spells to recognize one when he saw it. He had also read enough to know that they were largely found in forests and in hidden valley colonies, so finding one hanging out in a coffee shop in Manhattan, where the nearest woods were an hour away and completely man-made, was quite unusual.Steven was momentarily caught off-guard when he noticed the shades of gold and brown that swirled around the barista’s pupil but quickly realized he could only see them because the barista was now looking back at him. Steven found that he was now the only customer in front of the counter, and the barista was staring at him expectantly.Steven spun around and walked out the door without his order and into the frigid, winter air. He pulled his scarf up to his nose as he made his way back to his apartment.***Jess wasn’t nearly as shocked as he thought she should be.
His best friend and roommate watched him pace along their living room. Power sparked from his fingertips as he tried to decide the best plan of action and she was not being the kind of helpful he had hoped she would be.“Maybe he’s not bad?” Jess suggested. She ran a hand through her long blonde hair to get it out her face as she leaned over one of Steven’s books. The page was opened to a description of Fae’s powers. “I mean, nothing here says that Fae are inherently bad, just tricky. And a bit selfish, but let’s be real these books are both dated and incredibly biased. Like, I know for a fact that no siren worth her salt has lured a sea captain to their death since pirates were a common threat. Well, except the ones in the Bermuda Triangle, but we don’t talk about them.”Jess was a Siren, a deadly breed of mermaid known for singing ships to their deaths. These days most used their talents and beauty for more Instagram followers if they found a magic user willing to conjure them up some legs. Jess had been lucky enough to find someone to help her, though it had been a few years before she had met Steven.“Also,” Jess pulled up her laptop from the coffee table and set it on top of the book on her lap. “It says here that Fae don’t really interact with humans very much. Maybe he just wanted to see what they’re like. On the plus side, it also says they can’t lie, so worst comes to worst, just ask him direct questions if you end up talking to him.”Steven stopped pacing to look at her. “Jess, he’s collecting names, his inability to lie isn’t going to screw up his plan! Even if he just started there, he must have hundreds stockpiled already. That’s hundreds of people he can control. ‘Not inherently bad?’ Not likely!”Jess sighed and put her laptop back on the table. “Steven, I think you’re over-reacting. It’s probably just a job. Fae or not, nobody chooses to be a barista. And if you’re so worried, talk to him. Like a person. Don’t just come home and shout your problems at me.” She punctuated her sentence by closing the large book on her lap and got up to slip it back onto the bookshelf with the rest of Steven’s collection.“Talk to him? Are you nuts! He has the power to control people whenever he feels like it!”“Yeah, if he has your name, which he doesn’t, so he’s really just some hot barista.” She paused as if in deep thought. “Oh, now I see why you can’t talk to him.” Jess looked smug as Steven bristled.“Jess.”She stood up, dusting off her pants. “Maybe this can turn into a fun video for your channel. ‘I Thought My Future Boyfriend was Going to Enslave Me with My Name.’ Not super catchy, but a great draw.”“I’m not vlogging about this, Jess.”“Then just talk to him,” She said once more before she made her way to her bedroom and shut the door behind her.“I’m not talking to him!”***“Fuck.” Steven said as he stood in line at the same coffee shop he had run out of the day before. The same barista, the same Fae, stood behind the cash register taking orders again. It was taking everything in him to not head right back out the door.“Hi, what can I get for you?” The barista greeted him with a friendly smile, and for a moment Steven had to remind himself that he was there on a mission, for lack of better word.“Um, a flat white,” he said, then looked down at the nametag pinned to the barista’s shirt, frowning at the words ‘In Training’ staring back at him rather than a name.“One flat white coming up. Can I get a name for that order?”Steven momentarily panicked and said the first name that came to mind.“Charlie.”He inwardly cursed that he had used his little sister’s name.“Alright, Charlie. You can just wait at the end and I’ll have that right up.” The barista smiled and Steven breathed a sigh of relief that he felt no need to follow his order blindly, rather walking to the counter on his own.He waited the few minutes for his drink. He was anxious about attempting to start a conversation, trying to find something to say that wasn’t awkward or hinted at him knowing what the barista was. By the time his drink was set in front of him there was another customer waiting in line, and it was too late to make an attempt.***“So, you gave him the wrong name and then did nothing,” Jess summed up his experience as she ran a towel through her wet hair. Steven frowned but nodded. “Well, I hope you didn’t accidentally give away Charlotte instead of yourself.”Panic flared up in Steven’s mind, power crackling around his fingertips as his anxiety sparked.“That’s not a thing. That can’t be a thing.” He was already running back to his bookshelf and hauling out the same book from yesterday.“You never know. Fae seem like old-fashioned types. Maybe the men of the family can give away the women.” Jess watched him from the doorway to the living room as he scoured over the pages of the heavy text and she rolled her eyes. “I’m kidding, dude.”“Yeah, but what if? My parents will kill me if I just handed over their youngest kid to a potentially malignant Fae!”“You’re over-reacting,” Jess sighed before leaving the room.***The next day he went back following his morning jog. There was a small line in front of him, but it was otherwise quiet in the small shop.The barista greeted him with a smile. “What can I get for you?”“A flat white.” He ordered again, and the barista’s smile seemed to widen, his canines poking out from the corners.“Coming up, and the name for that?”Steven had been prepared this time, throwing out “Peter” with little hesitation and the barista’s smile faltered slightly. Steven handed his debit card over the counter to pay and when the barista looked back up, he was smiling again.“Alright, Peter, it’ll be down at the end when it’s ready,” he said as he handed Steven’s card back to him.Steven got back to the apartment a few minutes later. He kicked his running shoes off and ran a hand through his hair, pushing the slightly damp curls away from his forehead. “I think he recognized me. He gave me a weird look when I gave him a different name.”Jess was lounging on the couch with her laptop on her stomach. “I bet. Three days ago, you ran out of that place like your ass was on fire and then gave him a different name two days in a row.”“Yeah but how many people must he see a day? And he recognized me? What happened to white people thinking all Asians look alike?”“Maybe he’s a fan,” Jess suggested without looking up at him.“Obviously not. He’d know my name if he was a fan.”“Maybe he thought you were cute.”“Can you be serious for like, two seconds?”“I could, but then I’d actually have to start charging you for counselling.”***Steven walked into the coffee shop the next day around mid-morning and was surprised to see someone else at the counter.He didn’t know why he was so surprised, realistically the Fae couldn’t work every day, but it still threw him off slightly. He tried to cover, going up to the counter and giving his regular order.“Can I get a name for the order?” The girl behind the counter asked, writing his order on the cup.For a moment Steven debated on giving his real name but thought better of it as he handed his card over.“Ben,” he said, and she wrote it down on the cup.“You didn’t really strike me as a ‘Peter,’ anyway.”Steven jumped as the voice sounded behind him and he whirled around to see the barista leaning up against a broom, a half-smile on his face.Steven was surprised at how much more he had to look up to meet the barista’s eyes standing as close as they were. With the counter usually between them the height difference hadn’t seemed quite as large.
Steven floundered for a reply and the barista’s smile faltered momentarily before Steven found his words again.“Peter’s actually my middle name.” Steven lied and he watched as the smile turned into something almost annoyed on the barista’s face before he fixed it once again into a pleasant smile.“So, that’s Ben Peter? Or is it Benjamin?” The barista asked, and Steven shrugged as he was handed his coffee.“Guess you’ll find out tomorrow.” He said before making his exit.***“Okay I get that he’s not human, but honestly, who has the right to be that fucking tall?” Steven asked as he walked into his and Jess’s apartment.Jess, who was in the middle of making herself brunch, rolled her eyes. “Remember that time you almost ditched me at a convention because a guy was 6’2 and you thought you could get some?” She asked him and Steven choked on the coffee he had taken a sip of.“It was not because he was 6’2!”“Yeah but it definitely didn’t hurt his chances with you.”Steven continued to frown at her, and she eventually let up.“Have you at least uncovered his evil plan yet?” She asked, and his frown only deepened.“No. I’ve barely spoken to him. I was thinking of maybe asking him to do something outside of work, but-”Jess’s eyes lit up. “Steven Choi, are you going to ask him on a date?” Her smile turned downright feral.“No!” He was quick to throw the idea away and Jess didn’t try to hide her disappointment. “I was just going to try to get him away from the public to talk to him! But- How do people even find the gull to ask servers out on dates, let alone just to hangout. It feels gross, since he technically has to be nice to me.”Jess turned her attention back to her laptop, slowly losing interest in the conversation. “Yeah, when I was a bartender, I was asked out like 5 times a night and it was gross every time. Like, ‘No, random dude, I don’t want to get dinner with you. Read the room.’”“Exactly. I need to find some other way to get him somewhere alone, but I’m coming up blank.” Steven exhaled loudly as he sat down on their couch.“I’d watch it. Talking about getting him alone makes you sound like the nefarious one.”“You were so close to being a supportive friend, why did you have to ruin it?” He asked and she only grinned widely in response.***It took half a week before Steven showed up to the café at a time that Sam wasn’t working.Steven hadn’t realized how much he had come to enjoy their daily interactions until he felt the disappointment curl around his stomach as he walked up to a different barista. He still gave a fake name, borrowing his brother-in-law’s name after ensuring that no harm had come to Charlie.He entered his apartment ten minutes later, his coffee in one hand and the one Jess had requested today in the other.She came and took it out of his hand before he even had his shoes off.“So, how was our little Fae today?” Jess asked.“He wasn’t in today.” Steven tried to hide his disappointment but by the frown on Jess’s face he was sure he was doing a poor job.Jess chose not to comment, instead she took a long sip of her coffee.
He would have rather she just made fun of him.***

“And what’s the name today?” Steven no longer had to give his coffee order; the Fae was already ringing it in as he entered the store.“Jae-yong.” Steven had started picking his names out before he got to the café. Today he used the name of one of his guilty-pleasure film directors from Korea.“I like it. That’s J-A-E, yeah?” The barista asked and marked the name on the cup.Steven took a quick look around and noted that there was only one other person in the café, and elderly woman eating a scone by the front window. He guessed that was the reason that the Fae was the only employee behind the counter right then, both taking orders and making them. He slowly followed him down the counter, taking the rare moment alone as a chance to start a conversation.“So, ‘In Training,’ were your parents that hard-pressed for baby names?” Steven asked, gesturing to the name tag pinned to the barista’s shirt.The barista laughed, causing Steven to smile brighter than he had been before, though he quickly fixed it back into a casual look. “Actually, my boss said I’m not legally allowed to have a name until I’m competent enough at making coffee.”“That’s a pity, you seem alright to me.” Steven gestured to the perfectly executed coffee that was being handed to him.“Thanks, I’ve only had to make a few hundred a day for the past two weeks.” He shrugged and looked down at the counter to wipe it down.Steven wasn’t sure exactly how to continue the conversation, so he turned to leave before the barista caught his attention by speaking again.“It’s Sam, by the way.”Steven was caught off guard."What?”“My name. It’s Sam.” The smile on the barista’s, on Sam’s face, was almost shy, he seemed nervous about offering up his own name. Steven held his gaze for another moment before he returned the smile with a small one of his own. He gave a curt nod and made a hasty retreat.He was sure the look on Sam’s face was disappointment when he had turned to leave without comment. He chastised himself for his guilty feelings. He had to keep reminding himself that he wasn’t trying to be Sam’s friend; he was trying to make sure his presence wasn’t putting anyone in danger. It wasn’t anything personal. Even if he did find him cute, it was just their biology, good looks made it all the easier to trick unsuspecting humans.As nice as he seemed, it had to be a ruse. He had watched him control that woman just a week and a half ago. Even if nothing had come of it, it proved that he could be dangerous.***“And his name is fucking Sam. What kind of name for a Fae is Sam? Like what dumb shit does that have to be short for?” Steven asked out loud through a mouthful of spit. His toothbrush hung out of the corner of his mouth as he lamented about his interaction to Jess. His roommate had been out all day, and he hadn’t had the chance to tell her anything about that day until she had gotten home that night.Steven hadn’t explained how he had learned Sam’s name, but he had a nagging feeling that she had a good guess that it had been offered up in response to Steven’s supposed interest in the Fae. Steven was still trying to ignore the pit of guilt that was forming in his stomach, rather pretending it was annoyance.Jess watched on with an unimpressed look as Steven went back into the bathroom to continue brushing his teeth.***Sam was in the next day, standing behind the counter taking orders with his usual smile. When he noticed that Steven had entered the shop his smile faltered, and Steven was suddenly having a hard time swallowing. He didn’t know why he felt as bad as he did for hurting Sam’s feelings. He had only been doing this for so long because he was certain the Fae was up to no-good, but the look that had been on his face the day before had seemed genuine disappointment and it matched the frown, as brief as it had been, that Sam had greeted him with that day.Clearly, Sam had taken Steven’s reaction as some form of rejection, and Steven wasn’t sure why the thought turned his stomach. It was rejection, in a way. Or at least, Steven wanted it to be. He was hard pressed to admit even to himself that it was unease, over blatant rejection. Did he like Sam? He didn’t want to, but he was starting to feel a certain draw to the Fae. He just still couldn’t be sure it was by his own volition.His thoughts continued to run rampant through his mind as he progressed in the line.“Flat white?” Sam asked before Steven could and Steven nodded. His voice was devoid of its usual humour.“Any special requests for the name today?”Steven opened his mouth to reply only for someone to interrupt him.“Hey, Steven!” He looked over his shoulder before he could stop himself, realizing his mistake just seconds before his friend, Aisha, entered his line of sight. “I didn’t know you came to this coffee shop! Though, I guess you and Jess live right around the corner, huh?” She smiled but Steven was barely processing her words.He looked back at Sam and saw him clearly processing the interaction. Their eyes met, Steven’s full of fear and Sam’s with what almost looked like resignation.“I-” Steven tried, his voice getting caught in his throat as fear took over his mind. “I- um- I’ve got to go.” He turned to say it to Aisha before he all but ran out of the coffee shop.Behind him he heard Sam yell out to someone, “I’m going on break!” before the door swung shut behind him and he was trying to make his way through the busy sidewalks of New York.“Hey, Steven!” He heard Sam yell out behind him and turned his head to see Sam attempting to catch up with him. He sped up, trying to make it home before Sam decided to make him stop.He turned down another road before he realized he was one turn too soon and came face to face with a blocked off alleyway. He turned on his heel to get back into the open, but Sam was already standing at the opening.Steven took a few steps back, painfully aware of the concrete wall that stood up behind him. “Stay away from me,” He threatened and held his hands down at his sides, sparks of power already springing to life around his fingertips.Sam’s eyes trailed to the sparks of light before he sighed and looked back up at Steven’s face. “You know, at first I thought the name thing was just some weird flirting but obviously you know what I am, huh?” His voice was attempting to be nonchalant, but Steven noted the disappointment lingering on his face.Steven took a deep breath. He couldn’t be distracted by something that could be easily faked, he had to stick to facts. Fae couldn’t lie, he could at least be sure of that, so questioning Sam was all he had now that he was alone with him. Aisha calling out his name might have ruined any plans Steven could have come up with, but it at least got them alone, and Sam didn’t seem keen on using his powers. Yet. He kept himself ready, sure he could throw his hands up before Sam got out an entire order.“Yeah, you’re Fae. Now why don’t you walk yourself back to the dark, decrepit woods you pulled your musty ass out of and just- just leave the humans alone.”“Weird way to describe Ohio but I’ll bite. What, pray tell, do you think I’m doing to these poor, unknowing humans?” There was a lilt to Sam’s voice, like he was trying to make everything into a joke and Steven didn’t care for it.“You’re collecting their names!” Steven shouted, and Sam looked thrown back, then very confused. Steven ignored him, continuing on. “Do you think no one would notice some Fae working as a barista just so hundreds of humans a day would give you their names?”“Collecting names?” Sam repeated incredulously. “Buddy, I don’t know what I’m doing.” Sam looked exasperated and tired suddenly. “I wasn’t raised by other Fae; I was raised by some woman in the backwoods of Ohio. And, yeah, sure, technically I know how to control people, but I never really learned how to control it right. And I’ve never even met another Fae before.”Steven listened carefully, trying to find the trick to his words. Fae couldn’t lie, but there were lots of ways to get around telling the entire truth. He just had to ask direct questions to get direct answers.“So, you’re not trying to control humans?” He asked, flexing his fingers as he started to let up on his magic.“No. I’m not trying to control the humans. Not on purpose.”“And you’re not going to use my name to control me?” Steven asked again and Sam rolled his eyes.“You didn’t even give me your name. I overheard it. I barely know how any of this works, but that’s not how it works.” He explained and Steven closed his fists, cutting his magic off completely.“What, and you couldn’t have found a better job? One that doesn’t involve asking people for their names?” Steven took a step forward, his voice somewhere in between serious and joking.“In this economy?” Sam replied, his lips curved up into a half-smile and Steven found himself returning it at the joke as they walked together back onto the sidewalk.Steven let out a long breath, “You know, this really isn’t how I saw this confrontation going down.” He said and Sam raised an eyebrow.“You planned on confronting me?” Steven couldn’t quite place his expression, but he was sure somehow the taller man was teasing him.“Eventually.” Steven said and at Sam’s eyebrow only raised higher. “I thought you were some malevolent Fae attempting world domination one coffee at a time. I was eventually going to confront you. I just, hadn’t figured out how yet.”“Man, all this over a job, huh?” Sam stated. “I can’t imagine what you would have done if I had gotten a job as a nurse like I planned on doing.”“Speaking of your job, didn’t you kind of just run out on it?” Steven reminded him, gesturing down at the apron wrapped around his waist and Sam’s smile dropped.“Oh, right, shit. I should probably get back to that.” He turned to get back to the café but hesitated. “Uh, see you around?” Sam asked and Steven’s smile widened.“Yeah, I’ll be around.”Steven watched Sam as he started back to the café and continued smiling as he turned to head back to his own apartment. He felt energized even without the coffee he had left without.Until he got back into the apartment and came face to face with a smiling Jess.“So?” She asked and Steven groaned.“You were right.”

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Writing Example 7

Original work following a characters realizatin that he's in love. 1239 Words.

There were still moments of anxiety that littered Sam’s days since he made the move up to New York. He didn’t consider himself an overly anxious man, but it was there, and it would linger whenever he thought too hard about what he was doing, and about what he had left behind to move closer to Steven.His mother, though she was buried six feet underground in a graveyard back in Ohio, still made her presence known, shouting from the far reaches of his own mind. She would throw insults and vulgarities, demean his choice of venue, his choice of studies, his choice of company. Most of all she would berate him for leaving her behind. Keep him up at night lamenting on how he had left her to rot. On nights when he managed to fall asleep, she would send him jolting awake with memories of cuts and bruises in the shape of a cane.Mornings like this, where his eyes shot open to discover the ceiling above him and the sounds of Steven breathing beside him, far too deeply asleep to be roused by Sam’s mild panic. He allowed himself to lay still long enough to calm his racing heart before he slowly rolled out of bed, careful not to jostle his boyfriend or the dog lying at their feet. He quietly made his way out of the bedroom, grabbing his glasses off the bedside table on his way.He tried to push the lingering thoughts of his nightmare away as he reached the living room, keeping quiet to not disturb Steven’s roommate, Jess, sleeping in the other bedroom.The space was illuminated by the lights of the city shining in through the large balcony doors that had been left uncovered and the lack of darkness at this hour was still something he was getting used to. Even several floors up he could hear cars driving past, the sounds echoing off the buildings that surrounded their apartment complex. If he listened closely enough, he was sure he would hear voices, people out and about even at this early hour, either on their way home or already waiting for the bus to start their commute. Even at four in the morning the city was alive.Sam made himself comfortable on the couch, grabbing his book he had left on the coffee table the night before and opening it back to where he had left off. He tried to get himself invested, but it was assigned reading for an English class, and he wasn’t finding it as compelling as he thought he was meant to. He managed to distract himself for a few chapters, the room slowly getting brighter as the sun rose behind him.As his attention wandered away his eyes drifted up from his book and to the boxes stacked neatly next to the kitchen island. They were all full of Jess’s things as she was set to move out in just another week and Sam would be set to move in.Another pang of anxiety shot through him at the thought, worried that they were moving too quickly.They had only known each other for just under a year, and Sam had only moved up to New York six months ago. It had been around the time he had started school that Jess had put the idea of her moving out into Steven’s head and he hadn’t been able to help himself from agreeing when Steven had excitedly suggested it to him that night with a bright smile.Sam found he couldn’t help himself a lot whenever Steven threw a smile in his direction.His eyes blinked away from the boxes and towards the hall as he heard a door opening. He expected Jess to appear around the corner but was surprised to find Steven blinking tired, brown eyes at him. Sam felt his heartbeat quicken at the mere sight of him, a bodily reaction he usually connected to nerves, but now he wasn’t sure.“How long have you been awake?” Steven asked, voice rough from sleep as he rubbed one of his eyes before dragging his hand up the side of his face and through the mess of curly black hair on top of his head.“Not long.” Sam replied, admiring the way the early morning sun filtered through the room, illuminating his boyfriend in a way that made him softer than he usually did. He could hear the sounds of the city below as they grew louder, more and more of the city waking up to start their day. He must have been lost in thought for a while.“Another nightmare?” Steven asked, his voice quiet, subdued in the way that showed sympathy rather than condescension.Sam nodded, setting his book aside. “It’s fine, I just couldn’t fall back asleep.” He hadn't tried to.As Steven moved towards the couch again Sam felt his heart racing now. He easily stretched his long legs out to allow Steven to lay down on top of him. His cheeks flushed brightly as Steven wrapped his arms around his stomach and rested his head on his chest. Sam gently rested one hand to place it on Steven’s head, running his hands through the dark curls.“It’s not fine if you can’t sleep. You should’ve woken me up, I keep telling you that.” He mumbled into Sam’s shirt, his eyes were closed, and he was sure he would fall back to sleep right there if Sam let him.“I- I didn’t want to be a bother.” Sam could feel the gentle rise of Steven’s chest and wondered if Steven could feel how quickly his heart was beating.“You could never be a bother. I want to know when you’re hurting, I want to be there for you.” He turned his head to look into Sam’s eyes and the taller man was overwhelmed with a flurry of emotions at Steven’s soft smile. “I care about you, dummy.”Though it had just been beating rapidly he felt his heart stop, staring down with wide eyes as he tried to organize and sort out his emotions.He tried to recognize the unfamiliar feelings; excitement, joy, anxiety, and more all mixing together in a concoction that had his stomach in knots but at the same time leaving him feeling as if he could fly.He wanted so badly to recognize them, wanted so much to figure out what was going on in his head and in his heart. As he smiled back at Steven only to get an even larger one in return it dawned on him.Oh.He felt the noise of the city fade away as he stared down at Steven, a deep contentedness settling in his chest as the moment sat with him. The dull light shining down on them as Steven turned his face away again, burrowing it into the soft material of Sam’s shirt as he made himself comfortable.Sam could feel his anxieties waning, moving to the back of his mind the longer he sat there. He sunk deeper into the couch and underneath Steven, moving his arms to wrap around the smaller man’s shoulders and hold him closer.He felt suddenly tired, not how he usually did, in the way that exhaustion from lack of sleep would settle into his bones, but a contented tired. Heart and body full in a way he had never felt before, that made it easy to close his eyes and sink into a deep and restful sleep.

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