Writing Aspirations

also hi! yay 🖤

hi! yay pocket friend!

Sorry that it took me *checks bare wrist* several days to do this, but we have reached the weekend, so it technically counts as WIP Weekend again! Unfortunately, this WIP doesn't have a title, so right now it's just "pairs au" because I hate titling.

Frank scratched at the back of his head. The strands of the undercut had grown up to his second knuckle. He needed to get it cut, if only to keep his head from sweating so much on live international broadcasts. "So," he said, shifting back to lean against the wall bars and crossing his arms, "which lifts do you have the most experience with so far?" Mel opened her mouth, then closed it again quickly. She steepled her fingers in front of her chin and tapped it several times. "I've read all of the books on the mechanics and theory of them that the librarians at the downtown public library recommended, and even the ones from Carnegie-Mellon and Pitt they got from interlibrary loans." Her eyes darted to the foam pit. "But actually executed ... none?" Frank did not know if it was physically possible for the human brain to replicate the Window's blue error screen, but in that instant he felt he had come as close as he ever would, barring his own death.

Mikasa did not expect to be sore. She had gone through her fair share of training sessions, including intense ones that were part and parcel of Olympic sports. There was a time, when she was only a couple months shy of sixteen, that Rico had her repeat the same risk element with clubs for nearly four hours straight in addition to her typical practice session. The following morning, her fingers were bruised from where the catches had been mishandled and there were at least two muscles in her lower- and mid-back that spasmed whenever she tried to move to her left. She had survived, though, and the payoff inevitably led to the bronze medal hidden in her sock drawer. Her lone training session with Pipsqueak, despite only lasting a total of two hours, sparked a sense of déjà vu both in mind and body—and without any of the sentimentality of reminiscence. To add insult to almost-literal injury, his methods for training left her feet with so much lactic acid Mikasa could hardly feel them. She would need to do at least two Epsom salt soaks today if she had a prayer of making it through another session in twenty-four hours.

One.

While Mel extracted the AirPods from her ears gingerly, her face still screwed up like she had sucked on a rancid lemon. "You okay there?" Dana asked, an eyebrow quirked. Mel nodded. "I usually put them in more carefully. Ear drums are very fragile, and we see too many ruptured ones regularly to not take the risks seriously, but"—she inhaled and clasped her hands together—"I needed to hear the ocean track or I thought everyone in the ER would see what a mess I actually am."

Two.

Langdon crossed his arms and leaned back against the edge of the table. He prompted her with raised eyebrows, borderline disrespectful, but Dana figured he had earned a bit of leeway since she practically hogtied and dragged him to the basement. That did not mean she was going to let him control the conversation, earned-leeway be damned. "What's your goal with Mel?" Langdon coughed but managed to keep his mouth closed. "My goal?" "Yeah—goal, endgame, aspirations, white picket fence daydreams. Call it whatever you want."

Three.

"Why aren't you wearing a jacket?" Mel said, tone balancing between concern and annoyance. Langdon made a small sound of surprise. "Oh, uh, it's fine. I run hot." "Dr. Langdon, it's winter in Pittsburgh. The hospital is situated at the intersection of three rivers, so the wind is prone to turbulence that will only exacerbate the wind chill. Not to mention we're on the roof. I don't think 'running hot' is a logical rationale for going without proper attire."

(Sort of) Tagged by @langdonmels (Taking the opportunity to kick my butt into gear)

Comment/send asks with one or more of the emojis below and I'll write 3+ sentences of that fic to share!

❄️ Kingdon through Dana POV (originally meant for 2025 Wishlist)

⛸️ Kingdon pairs skating AU

🪻Rivamika rhythmic gymnastics AU

📷 Gojohime through the years via photography

🔍 Gojohime mystery (canon divergent)