Zach Hadel X Reader - Blog Posts

A Quarter to Something

‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

Masterlist

Pairing: Zach Hadel x gn!Reader

Warnings: Depression; Burnout; Mentions of Alcohol; Drug use (weed); Angst with happy ending

A/N: Song fic spotted! I guess you could count this as a vent fic? It's a little all over the place but I still hope you enjoy! (Translated lyrics are at the bottom ^^)

‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

It was okay that no one noticed that you weren’t doing alright. 

At least that’s what you kept telling yourself.

You didn’t want to bother them, where were you even supposed to start? Most of the stress that had befallen you was due to your own procrastination anyway. If you were just a little more ambitious- no. 

You WERE ambitious. 

The problem wasn’t a lack of motivation for the matter. But then again, you couldn’t figure out what the actual issue was. 

“Alright, I’m tired as fuck. Think I’m gonna head home.” 

Chris’ voice snapped you out of your spiraling thoughts. A quick glance at the monitor nearest to you told you that they stopped recording. 

You weren’t an active part of any of the episodes. More so taking the role of a regular viewer that just happened to also be in the room and occasionally joining in on the conversations. 

No one forced you to be a part of the channel but you liked just spending time with your friends in this way. Especially if, like today, Tomar, Chris and Zach were playing a horror game. The tension in the room and the nervous jokes or Chris’ attempts at spooking Zach were able to take your mind for a little vacation. Away from all the deadlines and responsibilities. They seemed to melt away in the dark of the room and the soft couch. 

For the most part at least. 

“Sure, me too, I think. (Y/n), you need a ride?” Tomar stretched after standing up. The session today had been going on for like 8 hours. So naturally his back made a sound which caused everyone to collectively ask if he was alright. 

“Uh, no I think I’m gonna stay a little longer. Don’t really wanna go home into my cold room.” 

This year’s winter had been surprisingly tough and of course right when you needed it the most, your heater malfunctioned. The worst part is that your landlord was on vacation and like landlords often are, he didn’t want you to call a professional and would rather look at the issue himself. “That’d just be additional costs that aren’t necessary.”. With an eye roll and a shiver you had turned off your phone after he sent you that message. 

So that is why you spent the majority of your time at the office. That and the fact that you didn’t feel like being alone. 

“Alright then.” 

And with that, Chris and Tomar said their goodbyes.

Left were you and Zach. A comfortable silence filled the room as he turned off the game consoles and put everything away as neatly as possible. Meanwhile you stayed on the couch, watching him intently. As if him tidying up was anything special. 

“You know, I could take a look at your heater.” 

“Huh?” 

His back was turned to you as he made his offer. You could only make out his silhouette in the dim moonlight that now flooded the room after Zach opened the curtains and opened the windows for a bit. The air in here was probably horrible now that you thought about it. 

“Your heater. I mean, I’m no electrician or whatever the fuck you call the guys that fix heaters but the internet is free so…” 

You laughed a little at his ramblings.

“As much as I’d appreciate it, you’d have to look at the whole unit. It’s not just mine that’s broken.” 

“Oh” 

Again, silence. Although now it was a little more awkward since Zach had already put everything away. Leaving him to awkwardly stand in the room, looking straight at you. Who was awkwardly sitting on the couch. 

He looked kind of pretty like this. 

“Uh, you wanna like, smoke something?” 

“Gods, yes.” 

And with that you both left the recording room and opted for the shared kitchen and living room. 

You sat down again on one of the black bar stools, waiting for Zach to get his bearings. It had been a long time since you two smoked together. Not just a long time ago.. Almost half a year. 

The realization hit you like a truck. Has it really been that long? 

“Alright, you want me to roll one for you?” You just nodded. He stood across from you now, getting busy with the joints while you still pondered over what else you had neglected. This whole train of thought seemed surreal although not extraordinary. Most days did feel like a blur after some time. 

“Here you go.” He handed the joint to you and you absentmindedly took it from him and put it between your lips. 

Your head felt empty as you watched him take the lighter that was on the counter and bring it up to you. 

His gaze was unwavering as he lit up the joint, you stared right back at him. A strange melancholy washing over you. 

Why did you suddenly have to feel this way? Nothing really changed. Sure, university did get harder sometimes but that wasn’t anything new. Why did you suddenly buckle under familiar pressure?

A shiver ran through your body. Even though the heater in the office worked, it was still cold. The snow outside becoming a visual representation of that very feeling. 

Suddenly, Zach sighed, pulling you back to reality. 

“What the fuck is going on (y/n)?” He sounded angry. Why did he sound angry? Did you do something? 

Of course he was angry. You hadn’t spent time like this together for half a year and now you’re pretending like nothing is wrong. He probably felt like you were just avoiding him. 

Tears started to form in your eyes. Why did you always have to mess everything up? Even your friendships you couldn’t properly care for. It wasn’t enough that you were on the verge of missing a dozen deadlines, you also had to push away everyone around you that supported you. 

“Hey? Fuck I didn’t mean to- what’s going on?” 

His hand was now gripping your arm that was laying on the counter, softly caressing the skin with his thumb while his other hand still held the joint. 

You didn’t even notice that you started crying. Frantically you tried to wipe away the tears that were running down your face with the side of your hand that was free. 

“You can talk to me, you know? I’m sorry I sounded like a douche just now.” 

His thumb never stopped gently going back and forth on your arm. He patiently looked at you and waited for your sobs to quiet down. Waiting for you to be able to speak. 

“I’m sorry..” 

It was barely audible but it was enough for another wave of sobs to start. 

“Shh, shh it’s fine I’m- uhm, just, try to breathe.” 

You felt horrible for doing this to him. Overwhelming him and dumping this breakdown onto him while he probably just wanted to have a chill session with the two of you. Why couldn’t you just leave things as they are? 

“I just- I hate that I feel so empty.” You said, taking a shaky breath. Your eyes were averting his. 

Zach’s hand left your arm and that is when you finally looked up again. He walked around the counter to sit beside you, his body turned to you and his hand finding your again. Touching it lightly, asking you to keep going. 

“All this university stuff-” you gulped down another sob. “And I haven’t been handing in work for so long, I think I’m failing so hard right now.” 

You took an unsure hit from your still burning joint, hoping it would ease the feelings if only for a little bit. 

Zach nodded carefully. “Can I help you with anything? I’m no scholar but maybe if you-”

“No, it’s not that I have difficulties understanding or doing any of the work, it's just that I- I can’t.” You cut him off. Maybe it was rude but you didn’t want him to waste any energy in trying to help you when he couldn’t.

“And I have so many messages from professors and whatnot that are asking me why I haven’t handed something in or why I am so late with everything but I can’t even answer them.”

Zach nodded again, his brows furrowed in an expression of deep concern. 

“And the worst part is, I can’t even bring myself to care.” You finished, tears forming once again. 

You had no idea if it was burnout or just seasonal depression or both at the same time but it was bad. You felt so empty inside for such a long time that you didn’t even realize how bad you were hurting. 

The sudden breakdown in front of one of your friends was the thing that now made you realize how bad you actually were. 

For the first time in half a year, you felt something. Even if it was hurt, you were thankful. 

“I’m sorry.. I can’t do much to help you then.. If it makes you feel any better though, I noticed.” 

You looked up at him and his eyes were meeting yours in a way which was almost too much to bear. “Don’t think I didn't care or just chose to ignore you. I see how you come in here. How every interaction just feels like I’m talking to a shell or a husk or whatever. I just- I didn’t know if you wanted to speak about it at all.” 

Now it was his turn to look away. 

“You know, I think you’ve just been trying too much. You always try to put like 200% into anything when even 50% would be more than enough.” 

It wasn’t funny but it made you chuckle and you could see the little smile which tugged at the corners of his mouth once he heard you. 

“I’m sorry I came onto you this strongly before. I just missed you.” 

His eyes met yours again and in that moment something clicked. 

“Zach?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Can I do something?” 

He nodded with a confused expression. 

You slowly leant forward until your lips met his cheek, giving him a small kiss. It was an innocent gesture. The fact that he sat here with you and listened was enough. That is what you had needed for so long and even if it wouldn’t magically solve all of your problems, the fact that there was someone like him that you could turn to, made everything much more bearable. 

You noticed the blush that crept onto his face, but you only smiled. 

After a second of silence he spoke up. 

“Fucking- gay ass interaction.” He huffed, causing both of you to giggle. 

You sat there for a little longer, the conversation shifting from one topic to another as you finished the first joints. 

Throughout the evening you found yourself actually laughing. And not a forced or pitiful one but actually having the urge to laugh out loud. 

You were glad that the high resulted in a giggly one and not circling back around to a melancholy horror trip. 

“Fuck dude that’s- no that’s actually so horrible.” You were trying to catch your breath, your body bending over as you were laughing. 

“Well- I wasn’t popular I guess, drinking alone wasn’t so bad though.” 

Your hand found its way to Zach’s leg, trying to stabilize yourself while also trying to show empathy after the heartbreaking story of his 16th birthday. 

“If I had known you back then I would have come!” 

“No! Now that would have been sad, imagine inviting like seven people and only one shows up, that's even worse than no one being there.” He was also giggling at the thought. 

“Thank you though, I would have shared my bottle that I wasn’t legally allowed to drink.” 

“What a gentleman.” You feigned, raising your brows at him. 

Zach then stood up, preparing to roll two new joints for the two of you. 

As he stood there, you couldn’t help but stare at him. 

The shirt that he was wearing was unbuttoned at the top, showing way too much of his chest for your gaze to be an innocent one. You rested your chin on your hand as you continued watching him. 

“What?” His fingers were still busy rolling as he questioned you. The slight smile on his face as he spoke looked way too good on him.

“Hm?” Your eyes shot up from his collarbones up to his face, a smug expression now adorning it. 

“See something you like?.” He grinned at you.

Fucker. 

You snatched the second joint from his hands, earning an amused ‘hey’ from Zach. Quickly lighting that one as well, you tried to block out all of the images that suddenly flooded your head. What a weird thing to think about a friend. 

“I know it’s freezing like a bitch out there but do you wanna go outside?”

He almost sounded like a child when he asked that. And who were you to deny him that excitement? 

Both of you quickly put on your winter clothes. The emphasis was on ‘tried’ because the both of you were not smart enough to make the process easier by simply putting aside the joints. 

As the both of you stepped out on the snowy balcony, you were immediately met with a biting cold. Climate change didn’t come to play it seems. 

“Holy shit- when did we go back to my place?” You joked, rubbing your hands together in an attempt to create some minimal warmth. 

“I wish you were joking but I genuinely believe you.” Zach laughed but was immediately distracted by the condensation when he spoke. 

You stepped over to the edge, arms resting on the railing and looking out into the street. The snow looked really soft in the dim light. 

Zach came up right beside you, out of you peripheral vision you saw his face turning to you and him taking another hit from his joint. You didn’t pay any mind to it until you felt him blowing the smoke right back at your face. 

“Eh! Fuck you man.” You laughed and returned the gesture, causing his head to jerk back and giggling at you. 

You had definitely missed this. Although the atmosphere was different now that it was winter. Usually in summer, Zach and you would sit on the balcony for hours, Adam joining in 99% of the time. Now though, with the silence brought by the dead of night and the noise dampening snow it felt a lot more.. intimate. 

“Thank you for opening up to me by the way. It means a lot.” 

You nodded, a quiet ‘thank you for listening’ leaving your shivering lips. 

Again, you saw Zach’s head turning to you. 

“I swear to god, if you blow more smoke into my face I will throw an entire snowball into yours.” You giggled, your gaze still lingering on the snow-covered streets beneath you. 

“I didn’t wanna do that.” “Yeah right.” 

You could see his smile.

You couldn’t help but blush. 

“You’re cold.” He stated, his deadpan delivery causing you to chuckle. 

“No shit, sherlock. Got any more wise words of wisdom?” Now you turned to him, a challenging look on your face. 

“Hold your horses there buddy, just wanted to ask if you wanted to come closer.” 

He removed the hand which wasn’t holding his joint from his jacket’s pocket, slightly lifting his arm- inviting you. 

And there it was again, that dumb smug grin that made you instinctively look away in embarrassment. 

“C’mon, I know you’re freezing to death right now.” 

Fucker.

You sighed internally. You knew that you didn’t have to. You could just ask to go back inside but the choice didn’t really matter. Cause you didn’t want to have the choice.

Without a word you stepped closer to him. Probably the closest that you ever were to him now that you thought about it. 

His arms rested on your shoulder and pulled you closer into him. Hopefully he couldn’t hear your heart because you felt like it was gonna jump right out and strangle him in a fit of emotional overload. 

It got quiet again and you felt warmer. His smell was intoxicating and as you took the last hit off of your joint you let out a sigh to which Zach looked down at you. 

“I like you.” 

You forced yourself to look up at him. You swore that you felt him trying to pull you even closer to him when your eyes met. 

Maybe it would be okay. Maybe if he stayed with you it would get better. 

“I like you too.” 

He smiled down at you. No matter how long it would take for you to feel better he’d be there and he’d listen. 

You didn’t kiss that night.

Because all that mattered was that you and him stood there, losing yourself in the moment.

 For once willingly losing the concept of time as the clock struck a quarter to something. 

‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

(Translated by me so it's rough)

It’s a marvel

How the birds

Sit there on the power line

It surely is a miracle

But somehow 

It doesn’t really matter

It’s scandalous

That they’re tearing down the house right here

It surely is a disgrace

But what was here to begin with anyway?

A city demonstrates

But I don’t care

Everything passes by me

I am the epitome of boredom

The only thing I know

Is that I can’t stand myself when I’m alone

A warm breeze blows

It gently lies down on your forehead

A warm breeze blows

Blows through your window at night

And somehow

I wish that I could be that

But it’s all over

I am the epitome of boredom

The only thing I know

Is that I can’t stand myself when I’m alone

When I was at your place 

For the very first time

We laid there on the carpet

It was a quarter to something

I can’t remember how it happened

But from then on, nothing else mattered

And now it’s all over

I am the epitome of boredom

A glance at your eyes is all it takes

And I can’t stand myself when I’m alone

A Heartstruck Collision - CH3

‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

Masterlist

Pairing: Zach Hadel x f!Reader

Warnings: None

A/N: Wanted to post this way earlier but oh well- This Chapter features a little more coworkers and a little introduction to Zach

Tags: If you wanna get tagged for the next chapters, just let me know!

‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

You had survived the 30 minute walk to the office, albeit you ran out of breath in an embarrassingly short amount of time, you’d just blame the hot california air for that though. 

You were on your first break as of now, another few frames already finished and Raphael already started to clean up the first few opening frames to get a look at how it would turn out. 

Just as you were about to take a sip from your coffee, you were startled by a voice coming from behind you.

“How are my favorite animators doing!?” Luckily you didn't spill the hot liquid over yourself. You turned around to watch Arin lean over Hayley’s shoulder. “Whoaaa, Arina looks so good dude!” Ross was laughing at that, of course that’s what Arin would pay attention to most. 

“Damn, you guys are working crazy hard on this.” Dan seemingly appeared out of nowhere, the cup of coffee now tightly clutched in your hands. God, they seemed like entities that just popped up whenever. 

Ross suddenly jumped up from his seat: “Oh by the way, good that you guys are here now.” Arin and Dan’s heads shot up immediately. “So yesterday we bumped into Chris and he made the suggestion that we could maybe make a deal with Adult Swim in terms of where to stream the show.” 

“What do you mean?” It was funny seeing Arin go into Business mode. His whole demeanor switched up and you once again realized that while yes, he was the funny internet video game boy, he was also your boss now and the owner of quite a big company. 

“Cause’ Netflix takes everything from their creators.” Ross argued.

“And Zach and Michael made Smiling friends on Adult Swim and they never had any complaints.” He continued, Arin furrowed his brow. 

“Well I guess you’re right but like- we can’t just call 'em up and ask about it, I’d have to do meetings and tell them about the premise and ughh..” Arin groaned. Not the kind of groan which wanted to shut you down but rather one that just acknowledged how annoying the process would be.

“But we did all that with Netflix already, just didn’t file a contract yet.” Dan looked over at Arin, his voice was positive as usual. “Yeah but I’d have to do it all over again.” He whined, earning a sarcastic eye roll from Dan. “I mean we can help out as well you know..” Hayley chimed in. 

“That’s true I suppose, I’ll give you guys an update as soon as possible alright? Did Chris say anything about talking to Zach?” 

Ross nodded.

“Who is that Zach guy by the way?” You turned around to Dan who was now sitting on the corner of your desk. 

“Oh he’s like a friend. Maybe Psychicpebbles rings any bells?” You slowly shook your head, raking through your brain to possibly find a file labeled something similar. 

“He’s so fucking funny dude.” Arin said, stepping closer to you to get a look at your screen as well. “Also he has a very interesting manner of speech.” 

Dan laughed at that statement. “Yeah he has like this super nasally voice, the guy’s awesome.” 

You let out a breathy laugh. The kind of uncertain laugh that was only used when you weren’t sure about something but everyone else was apparently getting a joke. 

“And he made, what was it called? Smiling Friends?” “Yep.” 

Smiling friends..

Yeah that you had heard before. You even vaguely remember to have briefly scrolled past it yesterday. If your memory wasn’t betraying you that is. 

“Is ist popular?” You felt rude asking that question yet it was more or less meant in a way for yourself to evaluate whether or not you were actually familiar with the entire L.A. scene.

“I'd say so.” Dan answered with a shrug. Popularity wasn't really something that mattered to him, as far as you knew from his band and what he has said on Game Grumps on many occasions. 

You leant back in your chair, the drawing you had made yesterday night popping into your mind. 

Could this be counted as a weird obsession? You'd hope not, after all you were more curious than anything to find out who this Zach guy was. 

Maybe you should look up Chris’ channel? Nope, that would definitely feel like stalking. But then again, you wondered, why? It’s a public channel, probably a big one as well. 

Grabbing the pen from where you had left it, you just decided to get on with it and simply wait until you met him, if you even did. 

Dan stayed next to you, intrigued about the process and so you distracted your mind by drawing and explaining everything to him in grave detail, which he attentively listened to, occasionally asking questions. 

*** 

You were happy with your work today. if it weren't for Ross’ fear of all of you getting a burnout you would have continued for another three hours at least. 

“Hey (y/n)!” 

You turned around, bag already slung over your shoulder. 

“Oh, you were about to go home now?” 

Hayley held a deck of cards in her right hand. 

“Uh I mean yeah, what's up?” 

“Thought we could play a game of cards real quick?” 

Raphael peeked up behind her, sitting at the little coffee table adjacent to your workspace. 

‘Why not?’ you thought and shrugged. You put the bag down beside you and sat next ro Raphael. As Ross had said before: Team Building and stuff. 

***

Raphael had won three out of three rounds and Hayley was growing frustrated. What was especially amusing though was to see the otherwise shy guy gain more and more confidence with every good card he put down. Then again, watching Hayley bite her lip excessively while trying to figure out what cards you both had was equally funny. 

“I give up.” She said dramatically, throwing her hand open onto the table. 

“Does the fact that the French made these cards give you some kind of buff?” she groaned into her hands, earning a laugh from Raphael. 

“Nope, just got luck on my side.” 

You were truly happy about the fact that you had basically landed a jackpot with these coworkers. The conversations that had started up while you had been playing didn't feel forced, not like anyone was trying to force themselves to get along. 

“(y/n)?” Hayley spoke up again. “Hmmm?” 

You had been absentmindedly shuffling the cards through your hands, one falling down as Hayley startled you. 

“You just moved to L.A. right?” You nodded with a strained noise as you tried to reach for the card which had fallen under the table, hair falling into your face. 

“We could go to this cat café that opened up! it shouldn't be too far away from here I think. We could go next Thursday, I should be free by then!” 

You had finally found it, victoriously you held it up before putting it in a random spot in the deck. 

“Sure, I'd love to!” 

A cat café did sound nice. The town next to where you grew up had one but you had only gonewent there like two times before they had to close up. The cats had been very cuddly though. 

“I have an appointment on that day..” Raphael said with a disappointed tone, seemingly sad about his own schedule. 

“Well then it's a girls date- we can go there again though.” 

The ease with which Hayley said all that was truly baffling to you. If you had been in her place you would probably have tried to make ends meet immediately which would have just resulted in an unoriented mess where you would never end up going anyway. 

Raphael agreed to your plans and then was quick to be on his way home. You and Hayley stayed behind for just a little, saying bye to everyone that was still left along with the two of you. 

You were happy to finally drive your car back home this evening and fell asleep with the thought of a nice day of getting to know L.A. next week.

A Heartstruck Collision - CH2

‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

Masterlist

Pairing: Zach Hadel x f!Reader

Warnings: Alcohol consumption and a weird hypothetical

A/N: Zach is mentioned for the first time let's goooo

Tags: If you wanna get tagged for the next chapters, just let me know!

‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

“Ughh, that is disgusting dude..” Ross closed his eyes, trying to shield his mind's eye from what Chris had just said. 

“Hey don’t shoot the messenger, I’m only re-telling what Zach asked me!” Chris said with a fit of giggles accompanying it. 

“Yeah but that’s like- No dude, I wouldn’t!” Another giggle from Chris who now looked over at you:

“Alright, (y/n) what do you think?” You really tried to ponder over the hypothetical but the alcohol in your bloodstream was telling you that ‘yes, and’ couldn’t be the answer to everything. “No, I wouldn’t!” 

The hypothetical stated that if you were alone in the world and the only other person was a relative, whether or not you’d sleep with them to save the human race. Nope, there was truly no comeback to counter this one.

“I’m still not convinced that Zach isn’t a social experiment.” Ross said, rubbing his eyes. You didn’t know who the guy was but apparently he had more of these theoretical situations which he regularly posed as questions to his friends. 

At this point, the bar was practically empty. Hayley and Raphael had left about an hour ago and if you were honest, you were growing quite tired as well. 

“By the way, what was that about Game Gyaru? Like where is it gonna be streaming?” 

Chris asked, clearly suppressing a yawn himself. 

Ross, Jackson and you looked at each other, Jackson just shrugged and returned the focus to his drink. “Well I guess for now the plan was to have the Pilot air on youtube and then i dunno, I think Arin said something about having talked with Netflix?” Ross frowned, not entirely sure if he was right about the thing. 

You nodded along, that was about what was written in the mails that went around.  

“Ugh but Netflix sucks with this kinda stuff. You won't even get any profit off of those media vampires.” Chris stated, the alcohol definitely turned him more confrontational. 

“Well what do you propose we should do then?” You asked.

“I mean, adult swim is like pretty fucking good with their creators. My friends also have a series on there and they never complained about anything.” 

Ross suddenly appeared to be in thought, Jackson had also perked up again. 

“Welp, anyway I think I'm gonna head home, tired as hell.” Chris stood up, you copied. Going home was definitely in order now. 

“We should talk to Arin about reaching out to Adult Swim, might be a good idea.” 

You agreed absentmindedly but that was a thought for tomorrow. 

Chris and you walked outside, the air hitting your lungs in a weird way. 

“Aw fuck..” you whispered. 

“Huh?” 

You truly were smart sometimes. Drinking alcohol when you still had to drive home. It was a short drive, yes, but still a bad idea. 

“I just realized I still gotta drive home, guess walking for 30 minutes is gonna sober me up nicely.” you let out a laugh realizing that getting angry about the situation wouldn't solve it regardless.  

“Oh shit, yeah you're right.” 

Chris probably wanted to go home but with your confession, he probably felt bad or that it would be awkward if he left now. Instead he put a hand on your shoulder, lightly tapping it with an apologetic smile. 

“I know we don't know each other but I could walk you home? Just for safety and all that. Or maybe Ross and Jack-” 

"Chriiis!" 

A car pulled up and stopped right in front of the bar. There was no traffic going on so there was no urgency to find a parking spot. 

“Lyle you son of a bitch- you're like what-” Chris looked at his phone. 

“1 ½ hours late! You stood me up man..” 

“Oh shit really?” The guy inside the car seemingly looked at the time and then started laughing. 

“Holy fuck I’m sorry!” He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. Talk about time management. 

“You could drive us home though, that's (y/n) by the way. We've both got alcohol in our system so we need a ride.” 

Part of you wanted to protest, you didn't want to be a bother on your first day of meeting all of these people. The rational part of your brain decided against it though, Chris surely wouldn't have made the offer if he thought it would be a burden. And Lyle also seemed like a sweet guy. 

Without wasting much time, the both of you got into his black car. 

Quickly you gave Lyle your address to which he thankfully replied with a: “No problemo.”

The smile was apparent in his tone of voice. 

The car ride went by in a comfortable silence, Chris here and there talked about who you were and about the Game Gyaru Series, saying he'll talk to Zach about it, the guy who was still faceless in your head. You wondered if you'd ever get to fill in that gap.

***

You waved them goodbye as you got out of the car, having thanked Lyle about a hundred times already to which he simply replied with a genuine smile. 

Waddling over to the apartment complex, you realized that they drove off only when you had actually entered the place, ‘how nice’ you thought as you walked up the stairs. 

When you entered your apartment, the first thing you did was throw your shoes to the side and drop down on the couch. Although you had been tired and ready to sleep for the entire duration of the drive, now you felt more awake than ever. You groaned, thinking about how you had to walk to work tomorrow and quickly grabbed the remote, trying not to dwell on it for too long. 

“What did he say the show was called?” You mumbled to yourself, clicking through the shows presented on your smart tv. Did Chris even say what it was called? That guy, Zach, made the show, that was all you knew. No last name and no face. Exhausted, you turned the tv off again and slumped over to your desk. 

It was one of those weird states of mind where your body was tired and ready to collapse and yet your mind had that last little ounce of ‘can't sleep’ which could keep you up for who knows how long. 

Perhaps doodling a little might help tiring your mind? Pinterest was opened multiple times and closed just as many times. Nothing you were in the mood for was showing up on your front page and you didn't have any ideas on what to search up for inspiration. 

Maybe draw the evening? 

And that is what you did. You tried your best to draw a little sketch of Ross, Jackson, Chris and you in the booth. Jackson's head was resting on the table, at that point he had been very out of it. Meanwhile Ross and you were arguing with Chris about the strange hypothetical. A little speech bubble coming from Chris, a man whose face was replaced by a question mark was in it. 

Maybe it hadn't been your best drawing but it definitely was a fun addition to your sketchbook. 

Finally feeling tired enough, you slumped over to your bed, practically falling into it after setting your alarm for an hour earlier.

Lyle Rath Core

Next chapter coming this friday 6pm CET :D

(Also, I plan on re-writing the fic for male readers as well but that will obviously take some time. The reason i wanna do this is because I have found that a lot of people in this fandom identify as men/male and I wanna make them feel welcomed on my blog as well as everyone else :3)

A Heartstruck Collision

‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

Masterlist

Pairing: Zach Hadel x f!Reader

Warnings: None

A/N: This is gonna be a slow burn fanfiction and Zach won't show up til some chapters in so I hope you can have a little patience for me :> This is super self indulgent btw as you can see from me making Game Grumps an intrinsic part of the story

Tags: If you wanna get tagged for the next chapters, just let me know!

‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

Living in L.A was.. different, to say the least.

Don't get it confused, it wasn't horrible but it certainly was a different experience from what you had known of a “normal life” up until that point.

If you had to use just three words to sum it up, you'd probably say: loud, busy but fun.

You had moved there a few weeks ago after landing a job as an animator at the Game Grumps Company. Your bosses, Arin Hanson And Daniel Avidan, had, after years of only talking about it and never acting on it, started working on an animated Series called “Game Gyaru”.

The ad hadn't just drawn you in because you had been a fan of them for many years, but also because of the style that they were going for. 90's anime with all the good stuff: Magical Girl Transformation, feel good humor and beautiful sparkly, saturated images.

Not only the job offer was great in and of itself but the pay you were about to receive would definitely make up for some of the left over student debt as well as the fact that your apartment was being paid for you by Arin or rather, his company.

They say “never meet your heroes” but in this particular case, you might've just gotten extremely lucky.

You had your first meeting with the Grumps just a week ago. It hadn't been anything special. A few awkward handshakes, tripping over your own words and an introduction to your new workspace (which featured one of the most expensive and fancy drawing tablets you had ever seen by the way) and of course, a brief meeting with your future colleagues. Well- a brief meeting with their names so to speak.

Apparently Ross O'Donovan, which you had been following as well, would be working on the project alongside you in addition to some other names that you haven't had a face in mind to connect them with.

They were most likely cut from the same cloth as you, other kids who just graduated from an art school that totally drained them and that have been begging for a stable job and finally getting a chance to put their degree to something useful.

As you had gotten home after your first day there, it had felt surreal. It still did even a week later and the mere thought of what your younger self would say if they saw you working under their favorite content creators was definitely tripping you up (hence the periodical screeches you had let loose whenever you thought about the matter at hand)

Much to your dismay though, all of the excitement for your new job was not enough to get you to finally properly move into your home. There were still about a dozen boxes standing around, just waiting for you to finally confront all of the useless stuff you had bought and acquired over the years.

Then again, you justified the leftover boxes by saying that you had already unpacked all of the very important stuff like dishes or clothes and yet you knew that someday you would have to face the consequences of your own procrastination.

“Did you just move in?”

“Oh no I uh.. I've been living here for a year now”

You could already hear the conversation happening in real time if there ever came a moment where you invited someone over.

‘Not today though” you thought, a sleepy yawn accompanying It. The last few days had been spent wandering around L.A or doodling various characters to try and get yourself in the right headspace for the coming months. An Art-Block would definitely be the worst thing that could happen right now so drinking in the entirety of a new city should hopefully keep your inspiration going.

Deciding to wrap up for today though, you finished your glass of water and closed your sketchbook, letting the pen collide with the hardcover of the book.

The apartment wasn't really big, yet that was absolutely fine. It meant that keeping the place clean was going to be significantly easier and the chances of losing your keys or important letters sank by at least 5%.

Just as you closed your bedroom door behind you, your phone vibrated in your pocket.

>>Hey there! Arin wanted to text you himself about tomorrow but he got kinda caught up so I just wanna make sure you're ready for tomorrow? :D<<

The text you had gotten was from Ally. She often aided Dan and Arin with their endeavors and all of their projects so it was no surprise that she also assisted with this one. Your encounter with her last week had been quite short lived yet her welcoming personality had you immediately feeling like this was going to be a comfortable working environment and one of the first things she had said to you was:

“And if there is anything you need, you can always come to me, I've got an ear for everyone”.

If that wasn’t the sweetest first thing you had ever heard while being somewhere completely new, you didn't know what was.

>>Hi :) Yeah I'm good, a little nervous but I'm sure I'll manage o7<<

You threw the phone onto your bed, pulling out your pajamas and putting them on, another vibration from your phone telling you that Ally had probably responded.

>>Oh yeah I totally get that dw! Just for your own peace of mind though, you really don't gotta get caught up with putting on a show or acting super professional, we're all friends here :D<<

You couldn't help but smile at that message. That interaction alone contradicted everything that you had heard about working life. Your parents and teachers had done a great job with the whole “that won't fly later in life” and yet here you were, using emoticons while speaking with one of your superiors.

Part of you was excited to rub it in their faces the next time you would call and yet you knew that they probably wouldn't look at animation as being a serious job. At least not if you weren't working for an actual company that had their shows playing on public tv.

Even though it was a sad thing to think about, they'd probably be more impressed if you were working on Family Guy.

With a tired sigh you plopped down on your bed, the slatted frame squeaking beneath your weight.

You contemplated for a second about whether or not you should cover yourself with your blanket. Another aspect that needed adjusting was the heat.

Luckily your apartment had air conditioning but you didn't want it running the whole time. Just because someone was paying for your place didn't mean that you had to max out every cost as much as possible.

Before drifting off to sleep, you decided on the old “one leg covered and one not”, using your body's built-in AC system (which actually worked quite well).

As you slowly succumbed to your own tiredness, your head was filled with all kinds of different images. Some were familiar, clearly influenced by the events of the past days but there were some which didn't quite fit into any picture.

You had met one of your, up until now unknown, colleagues. His face was obscured, your mind clearly leaving out the one part which would make it realistic.

You couldn't really make out what the conversation was about, only the feeling of butterflies to indicate what it was about.

Your hands had touched briefly as he took the pen from your hands, leaning over your shoulder from where you were sitting at your desk. You swore that your body actually started to heat up from what was just a random dream.

He was correcting your drawing a little and then he looked at you, his face so close to yours now and even though he had no face you just knew that he was smiling at you, his gaze softly looking at your lips and back into your eyes.

Gently, he put the pen down onto your desk while you were slowly closing the distance between you.

You felt his breath on your skin, his lips ghosting over yours, almost, finally touching-

“Ughhh what the fuuuck…”

Alright, your first paycheck would buy you an alarm that doesn't sound like an army drill.

Rubbing the sleep from your eyes, you slowly sat up in your bed. Motivation to start your job wasn’t necessarily the issue, of that you had enough. Sadly though, your sleep schedule had a mind of it’s own. Still remembering all the nights you had spent up and working on your portfolio only for some company that ended up using the Chairman’s son (who had no degree or any creative abilities whatsoever) to design their new bougie logo.

Some might say that there was bitterness attached to memories such as those.

Deciding that huffing and puffing over previous job opportunities wouldn’t get you out of bed though, you finally stood up. Immediately regretting it as you felt your head spin from the sudden movement.

Maybe a little less motivation?

You slowly made your way toward the small kitchen, coffee being the only thing on your mind when it came to the matter of waking up. As you waited for the old machine to get started, you went back into your bedroom. Opening the wardrobe and looking at it. Contemplating.

You wanted to seem put together but also not too much - didn’t want to set expectations that you would only be able to hold up for a week maximum.

A simple t-shirt and jeans. Yeah, that is business casual, right?

In a way you felt stupid for even having to think about the whole thing. It would most likely be no issue if you showed up in sweatpants and a tank top for your whole time being there, as long as your work was good nothing else mattered.

Especially working as an animator, you had learned from personal experience that after 30 minutes your body seemed to magically shift into the most absurd positions anyway. So better be comfortable than not.

After donning on the not so carefully planned outfit, you walked back to your now steaming coffee. One look at the watch on our wrist told you that you had about 20 minutes left. Downing the beverage in a span of time that would definitely result in stomach issues, you opted for the bathroom. The mantra here was the same as with the clothes: Not too much but not too little.

***

The office was nicely cooled, a stark contrast to the humidity outside. You already heard many unfamiliar voices coming from your workspace, nervousness bubbling up inside you. ‘What are these other people like?Would they be way better at this whole stuff?’ Would they fire you if they saw that the others were more qualified? Usually you wouldn’t talk so negatively about the degree that you had worked so hard to get and yet in moments like these you always felt so inferior.

“Yeah, (y/n) should be here any minute now as well.”

As you heard Ally’s voice, you took one last deep breath. ‘It’ll be fine, just play it cool. You’ve come this far’

Turning the corner to the animator’s space, you were met with three unfamiliar faces. They weren’t scary looking or anything, the whole scene itself just felt comical and intimidating. As if you had been intruding on something even though they had been waiting specifically on you.

“Hey, sorry, hope I’m not late or anything?” You glanced at your watch once agin. Just on time.

“Oh no, we all showed up more or less right now so nothing to worry about!” Ally showed you a sympathetic smile to which you couldn't help but reply with one of your own.

The introductions luckily went by quite fast, leaving little room for any awkward silences that you always dreaded when it came to meeting new people.

For one, there was Hayley who seemed to come straight out of the hipster era from the 2000’s. She had long blonde hair that went far past her shoulders and was contrasted starkly by the red beanie which she had pulled halfway over her head so that a lot of the fabric was casually hanging down at the back of her head. It was already clear as she introduced herself that she was an energetic type of person. That and the fact that she had been living in L.A for 3 years now, definitely made you feel a little inferior, even though she seemed friendly.

Jackson, a tall brunette guy whose style was very normal (in a good way), had also been living here with his girlfriend for about one and a half years now. The way he talked and the ease with which he spoke made him appear confident and yet there was something very humble about him. Perhaps a sort of ‘gentle giant’?

Lastly, there was Raphael. He came over to the USA all the way from France and although his english was as good as that of any foreigner who dismissively says that their “english wouldn't be very good” (which was the universal sign of their english surpassing even shakespeare), he still had a french accent which drew everyone in as he was talking. It sounded so much more fancy even though it was just a regular introduction. His hair was tightly coiled at the top and what especially stood out about Raphael was the white tattoo on his right forearm. The white ink stood out like it was some magic seal and depicted a moth breaking out from its cocoon, one wing already free'd.

Out of the other two, he was the most timid one and the only one that felt like he felt as out of place as you did.

“Alright, now that all of us are here, I just wanna make sure that all of you got the mail about the concept for the Pilot?”

Everyone agreed in a half-unison “yeah”.

The Idea for the Pilot was quite simple in and of itself. It was no secret that the whole series was heavily inspired by shows like Sailor Moon or Cowboy Bebop which is why it was set in a sci-fi world which still felt all retro-y. The episode was supposed to start with a little sequence in which Arina was playing an arcade game in their little spaceship and of course, she was losing and punching the machine. Then, Daniella was supposed to come into frame and tell her, in typical Dan-fashion, that it was alright to which they’d have a little banter.

Afterwards, the actual story of the series was supposed to begin. Their superior, a man who coincidentally had a lot of similarities to Barack Obama, informs them about a mission. A woman apparently paged them because her son was acting strange.

The whole episode basically forms about one bit where Arin pretended to be a monkey child called Franklin that was out of control. With the crucial detail that this behavior was caused by some cursed jewelry. The Pilot should end by Arina and Daniella stopping the main villain's henchman who was hexing said jewelry - meeting the big bad guy in the end as well. Typical foreshadowing.

After the brief recap of what was about to happen, all of you sat down on your desks, getting comfortable with the new equipment. Since Arin and Dan had already evaluated some of your concept art and decided upon which would be the best way to start, it was basically just piecing together the puzzle. Well, a puzzle which had to be drawn up and then cleaned multiple times but still.

After a while of experimenting and Jackson and Hayley actually getting somewhere with their segments, Ross also entered the office.

“Sorry I’m late everyone, I had to work on this other thing as well. I'll try to be on time in the future.”

All four of you reassured him immediately, partly also because you all had immense respect for the guy and his abilities.

“What have you gotten so far?”

“Me and Hayley just finished sketching up like three frames of our scenes.”

Ross nodded, trying to see where he could fit into the picture.

“You guys are still getting used to the program?”

His gaze fell onto Raphael and you who could only reply with a sheepish smile in return.

Was it bad that you weren't working as fast?

“If we have to hurry up you can tell us, it's just like new and all. I for one never worked on an actual series up until now.” Raphael spoke up, his accent naturally swallowing up certain letters.

Ross immediately put up his hands:

“Oh no, no, all good! I just wanted to check where everyone was at.”

He scratched his chin, seemingly in thought.

“Okay, this might sound super stuck up and shit but should I maybe take on the role of director? If I remember correctly from your portfolios, none of you have worked on a series so far, which isn't a bad thing-” he hastily added in between.

“I'm just saying cause I've been here the longest as well. Might make things a tad bit easier for all of us.”

It really didn't sound arrogant, it was just the truth after all. No one opposed the idea of having someone as an actual director, seeing that it would probably help the entire flow of the team in the future.

After a brief discussion of how the program worked and how to approach the whole project in the best way, the tension that had been present in the room before practically dissolved immediately.

Ross, having worked with multiple animators already, was definitely educated in how to make beginners feel alright with their abilities and there was a silent aura of thankfulness surrounding all four of you as you continued to work.

***

“Whew, good job everyone! Holy shit that is like so much for one day!” Ross looked at your screens with an astounded expression.

Very much exhausted from concentrating and your hand having cramped up like five times today, you finally stretched. It was one of those that made you feel dizzy and like you were ascending into another plane of existence.

“Do you guys have any plans now?” Ross asked, cracking his fingers one by one.

“Nope, not really. Well, aside from sleeping.” Hayley let out a breathy laugh and got up from her chair.

“I’d invite you guys out for a drink if you want to, some team building and what not.”

That offer would definitely not be turned down.

Ross had mentioned a pub that was actually in walking distance (a miracle from what you knew of American cities). And so, after telling Arin that you'd be finished for today, you guys made your way over there.

The conversations were held light, except for Jackson who saw this as a great opportunity to shower Ross in compliments about his works. The Australian seemed to be slightly overwhelmed by the onslaught of support but he hid it quite gracefully.

You stayed behind everyone as you walked, your social battery needing to be refilled a little before entering a place where conversation was inevitable. You weren't opposed to social interaction, you pretty much appreciated it and realized that you needed it and yet being in a new environment with what were basically just strangers (no matter how famous they were online), was absolutely draining.

As you entered the bar, you were immediately hit with the smell of alcohol and sweat. It wasn’t irritatingly strong but it was recognizable by everyone as you entered, faces twisting for just a split second.

Ross sauntered over to the counter, it was clear that he knew the barkeeper behind it. She vaguely gestured to a corner of the establishment, a little round booth where you were supposed to sit down.

You were leaning back against the soft cushioning off the wall, stretching your legs beneath the round table. The bar looked quite nice, you had to admit.

The whole place looked like it came straight out of another century but not worn out or scuffed. No, it looked fairly well looked after and it seemed that there was definitely no shortage of customers. If anything, you had gotten lucky that Ross had connections or otherwise the plans of a drink after work would have been quickly snuffed out.

The conversations started flowing once again after everyone had gotten their drinks. You mostly decided to listen, chiming in here and there if you had anything in mind that you thought would contribute nicely to the conversation. Otherwise you just sipped on your beverage from time to time, letting the alcohol relax you a little bit more, your fingers still hurting a bit from the way you were holding the pen the entire day.

“Yeah, my parents weren’t really happy with me moving across the entire world.” Raphael confessed, a look of guilt on his face. “I can imagine, you gotta tell us what it’s like in France, I’ve always wanted to go!” Hayley exclaimed, interest clear in her voice.

“It’s not super special, although the cities look nicer, no offense!” Raphael giggled. That you had to agree with. The beach was about the nicest thing in L.A that you had seen so far. Not to mention, walkable cities, who?

“I’ve been to europe once and yeah, it’s like entirely different with how the streets are and all-”

“Ross?”

You all looked up to the voice that interrupted the conversation.

“Oh Chris, what the fuck? What are you doing here?”

Ross got up and hugged the guy whose name apparently was Chris. Could that be the guy from DoodleDoods back then? You remember enjoying the creepy things he used to draw up seemingly on the spot. Didn’t he also have a gaming channel? What was the name again? Oney or something?

“I wanted to come here with Lyle but I think the fucker forgot or something cause I can’t find him anywhere.” He half laughed, he didn’t seem to actually be bitter about it.

“Aw that sucks, well yeah I’m here with my new animation team!” He excitedly pointed toward the four of you now awkwardly sitting in the booth. You gave a little wave to Chris who showed me a little smile in return.

“Animation- oh yeah right! The Game Gyaru thing I remember.” Ross nodded.

“Yup, that’s Raphael, Hayley right next to him and there are Jackson and (y/n)”

“Awesome, nice to meet you, I’m Chris!”

“Wait, you do OneyPlays right?” Jackson spoke up to which Chris threw up his hands in a gesture of feigned defeat. “You got me.”

After another minute of standing around had passed, Chris decided to simply sit down along with all of you, Lyle wouldn’t be showing up anymore anyway - his own words.

What surprised you about him was that talking to him felt very.. normal.

With the Grumps for example there was this feeling of “Oh my god they are internet legends” and although they were just regular everyday people, it still felt surreal talking to them.

The atmosphere in the bar was casual, like you couldn’t make any mistakes and as everyone was agitated in conversation, you realized that living here and working with all of them might actually turn out to be a really fun experience.

post that zach fic !!

You asked and I shall deliver! <3

(Hopefully tomorrow)

Got a multichapter Zach Hadel X Reader fic in the drafts.. c.c

should I post it?