#《also look lads we got black paper》

[silent-raven13]

Miles' work husband

Hobby casually walking with Pavtri and Gwen, the three finished a mission from a world filled with fairies. So they were covered in pixie dust that got Gwen sniffing like crazy. "AH-CHOO! Ugh, man! This is worse than pollen!" She sniffs feeling terrible.

"Oh no, you need some allergy medication?" Pavtri asked with worry, "Maybe we should go to Med-Bay and get some pills."

"AH-CHOO!" Gwen sneezed next to Hobie. Luckily they were all wearing all their Spidey mask, which was bad for Gwen. All her snot and spit went her mask making Pavtri give a disgusted look.

Hobie gave a stank expression under his mask. YUCK! "Aye, you good, Gwendy?"

Gwen groans, "UGH! This is so gross. I'm going to Med-Bay. I need some allergy pills!" She remove her masks showing her upper lip being wet.

"Maybe go to the bathroom first, because that looks really nasty." Pavtri hums at her trying to be kind.

"Yeah, I should." She cover her lower face feeling grossed out and embarrassed about it. "God, I wish Kaine was here! At least, I know he would warned me about that place!"

"Oh yeah, he has a cute fanny pack now!" Pavtri giggles.

Hobie's arched his left eyebrow being curious about this new Spider-man. "Kaine?"

"Oh, he's recently new to HQ- um, I'll go wash up. Pav, give Hobie the TEA and DON'T TELL HIM ABOUT WHAT THE PEEPS ARE SAYING ABOUT HIM AND... mm-mmm!" Gwen left at that, she rushes through the restroom.

"OHHHHH! OKAY!" Pavtri nodded at this being excited about sharing some sweet gossip.

Hobie being a laid back person, he never cared about other people business or their own drama in Spider Society. Also, Pavtri always keeps the punker well informed about everything going on HQ. The bubbly guy is an encyclopedia of every Spider-men and their drama. He can tell which Spider-man ate a blueberry muffin at the cafeteria at twelve in the afternoon.

"So," Pavtri's voice broke Hobie's train of thought. The punker finally looks at his friend with interest. "Kaine Parker is a clone of Peter Parker! He was one of the first clones before Ben Riley, and he's so nice! I mean, really really nice!"

"Okay? How does he look?"

"His suit is sort of like Miles' color scheme, black and red. Mostly red." Pavtri said, "As his face? Hmm, I dunno know how he looks. I heard he had a defect so part of his face is disfigured and he's very self conscious about it."

"Ah, poor lad." Hobie simply said.

"Yeah! He's a sweet guy! You should meet him! He's into a lot of nerd stuff like Lord of the Rings, Star trek or Starwars." Pavtri happily ramble, "And he's so awkward, too. I'm glad he got Miles to help him out on missions."

"Miles know him?" Hobie casually asked, he wasn't jealous... yet. He learned to not get his insecurities get the best of him.

"Yeah, they work on the same schedule, and they tend to always team up. I'm surprised you haven't seen him! He's always around here hanging out, and helping as much as he can."

"Sounds like a nice mate."

"Oh yeah!" Pavtri kept talking without thinking about what he was going to say, "Everyone knows him, so you gotta meet him. Him and Miles also does this funny handshake every time they meet."

"So they're friends?" Hobie asked, his magazine body turning into a muted yellow being curious about this. He's okay, no jealousy here.

"Huh uh, everyone thinks they are funny together, even on missions they get each other." The wavy haired Spider-man giggles at the memories, "It's no wonder they called each other work husbands-OPP!." He quickly slap his mouth shut by his own words leaving him out.

"What?" Hobie's whole body turned into a dark grey mixed with red alerted fonts.

"NOTHING!" Pavtri quickly meep.

"Pav, mate...'" Hobie creepily sway himself like a snake to meet his friend's eyes, "What did you say?"

Pavtri nervously stood holding his breath, damn he sometimes wish he sew his mouth shut. Hobie always reacts like this. Oh why he couldn't keep quiet!

Without a second heartbeat Gwen came to the rescue, she came with paper towels wiping her wet hands from using the restroom. Her face refreshed and clean from snot, "Gwen! Oh thank Brahma!" Pavtri quickly hides behind her with a small whisper. "I'm sorry."

"Wha?" Her blue eyes look back and forth between her friend, "PAV, you didn't!" She hissed as she noticed Hobie turning red with black fonts flashing through him.

"I'm sorry! I didn't-" Hobie cut them arguing, "Gwendy, what is going on?"

"Uhhh.... nothing, heh?" Gwen stood nervously with Pavtri hugging her.

"Gwen. Pavtri." A warning sound from their Hobie which they never heard his voice deep and it was rare for him to use their names! "What. Is. Going. On?" His dark eyes on them.

"Uhhhhh...." Gwen looks down the floor to the open space of the hallway, "promise you won't get mad?"

"Mm...." He saw them waiting for him to make the promise. "Fine. I promise." His black and red colors on his were showing more seeing he was frustrated.

Gwen and Pavtri look at each other then decided to tell him. "Okay, so Kaine and Miles been on missions and hanging out for a while...."

"I heard." Hobie crosses his arms across his chest feeling upset.

"So everyone that worked with them since they are friends... they like to say they are each other work husbands... heh." Gwen slowly said.

"Work husbands? And what is that?" Hobie scowls a bit already having a foul mood.

"It's like having a husband, but at work! They just work so well on missions, Hobie. Everyone makes fun of them being so sync- there's nothing wrong with having a bit fun! Hobie, we swear him and Miles are-" Gwen saw Hobie walking off already jealous. "Ah, shit! Pav, I told you to stay quiet about this!" She walks to follow Hobie before the punker does anything ridiculous.

"I'm sorry! But what did you expect! I'm always talking!" Pav defend himself. He follows her with a panic in his mind. "You don't think he'll get upset!"

"Gawd, I hope not!" She said out loud as they follow Hobie.

Hobie follows his watch where he sync with his beloved Sunflower. The moment he got to a room where a lot of Spider-heroes appeared from their portals, he saw Miles coming out of the portal with a Spider-man wearing red and black.

"Wow, man. That was such an awesome world! I didn't know we had to learn magic!" Miles laughs along side the Spider-man.

"Right! The fight with the orcs! I never thought it would be so much fun!" Kaine laughs along being taller than Miles, possibly the same height as Hobie, but with more muscle. The guy accidentally tripped, "OPP!"

"I gotcha man!" Miles quickly caught Kaine in his arms and they were laughing. The two were being goofy. Hobie felt a wave of jealousy seeing his Sunflower smiling with that perfect smile from a Spider-man. No, only he gets to make him smile.

"Haha, thanks man!" Kaine gave him a side hug. "I can't wait for next week."

Next week? Hobie tilted his head being confused.

"Oh yeah, Ganke so want a rematch." Miles giggles.

Kaine was about to speak until, he noticed the famous Spider Punk appearing behind the Miles with one hand around Miles' waist being protective. "Hobie!" Miles turns to be startled by his man.

"Hello, luv!" Hobie pulls Miles close to him, then his eyes stare over to Kaine, "Who's this?"

"OH this is Kaine!" Miles introduce him.

Kaine nodded with his hand sticking out, "Hi, Kaine Parker! Earth 617! I'm sort of a clone of Peter Parker, but in my world he actually died by some complicated stuff and I got to take over.... it's a whole thing!"

"Huh..." The tall punker sounded like he's listening but his eyes would go back to his partner. This time he slouches on Miles making him stumble a bit by his weight.

"Ohfff, baby! You gotta warn me next time! I almost fell." Miles found his stance and stood while holding on to his partners' weight.

Kaine's brow bone arched showing from his mask, "He's a cuddler?" He stood amazing on Hobie's body changing into a soft pink with hearts all over. It's very fascinating to watch. Kaine had more a dark harsh lines like an intense ink comic book style.

"Yeah, always!" Miles giggles as Hobie acted like a toddler wanting his parent to pay attention to him. He rubs his cheek against Miles' soft baby cheeks, he's like a cat. "Bae, I'm talking."

Hobie quickly hugs him being jealous. "Oh, I'm sorry, Kaine!" Miles chuckles nervously, "Hobie is always like this."

"Nah, your good! I didn't know the famous Spider Punk was this friendly." Kaine chuckles.

"Hey, you two!" A Spider-woman with duo chrome of green and yellow metallic spider suit with a black spider printed on the middle of her chest. This one had a high pony tail with long brown hair.

Hobie turns his head looking confused, "Who's this, luv?" He asked.

"Oh this is Kitty Pryde! She's a Spider-woman on Earth XM129, she got sweet super powers like me!" Miles said happily.

"Hahaha, I go through solid objects." She took off her mask to reveal her face. Kitty had such a pretty face almost like angelic doll with brown eyes and soft pink lips with small nose. "Spider Punk?"

"I don't believe in labels."

"Ahh, gotcha." Kitty heard Spider Punk is a pro activist at heart, always going against the government, the system. Not surprised of this introduction. Then she turned to Kaine, "So Kaine, how was your hubby in the magical world?"

"Hubby?" Hobie's head pop up from his cuddle with his boyfriend, he's full on alert. His body turning grey with a flash of yellow.

Miles placed his hand on his boyfriend's chest, "Relax, bae. It's a funny nickname everyone says about me and Kaine."

"Ohh, are you jealous?" Kitty watches at Hobie's body with amusement, "Don't worry it's all a joke. Miles and Kaine are work hubbies."

"Work hubbies?" Hobie turns his head at Miles, then places his hands on his lover's shoulders, "No, this is MY boyfriend, mates!"

Miles rolled his eyes, "Hobie! It's all a joke-" His boyfriend buries his head into his chest, "No, you're my boyfriend, luv!"

Kaine held his hands up in defense, "We get it, but it's everyone that likes to joke about it. Don't worry I'm a taken man!"

Kitty giggles having her arms wrapping around Kaine's right arm, "Hehe, he's not listening, bae."

Hobie already acting like a child about this, "Luv, I thought you and I were supposed to be together forever!"

"We are! Baby, we're just friends that work well on- WHOA! Hobie, put me down!" Miles never felt so embarrassed being picked up like a bride.

Hobie nuzzles his partner's cheeks again, "This is better, Sunflower!" He protectively carry his boyfriend. "Ain't I make a better work husband for you."

Miles let out a loud sigh, "Yeah..." No use now! His boyfriend is already jealous.

"I love you, Sunflower!" Hobie planted kisses on his cheeks.

Kitty giggles, "Awe, so cute! Hobie, you know Miles and Kaine put their names as Hubby 1 and 2 on our logs!" A log where many Spider-heroes sign up to partner up or go in groups for missions.

"AH!" Hobie stood in shock before he whines, "SUNFLOWER!"

"DON'T ENCOURAGE HIM, KITTY!" Miles shouted, "Ahh, Hobie!" His boyfriend began telling him how much he loves him and snuggling him. A whole rant about he never felt so betray!

"Kitty, you know you did that with Gwen!" Kaine said to his girlfriend.

"Hehehe, I know. It's just I heard Hobie gets all cute with his boo when a man comes into Mimi's life." Kitty giggles as she watches the two. Pavtri's blog on Spider So-City was never wrong. They are a cute couple.

[shewhoeatssand]

More Kaneki Headcanons And Ideas!

Kaneki has a very nice puffy jacket with a fluffy hood! It keeps him very warm!

Kaneki loves to wander off! Never go shopping with this boy! He doesn’t do it on purpose, it just doesn’t occur to him that people would look for him

If you taught him to crochet, he’d crochet all day! He’d love the stimmy repetition and softness of the wool!

Kaneki enjoys rice paper wraps with prawn and peanut sauce!

One time he hit someone in the face very hard with insect repellent, but the can got busted and the gas went straight to his face! Thank god he was wearing a mask

Kaneki doesn’t really like fire. Sure, a little is fine because people get scared of it, however, he is also a bit scared of the fire, and he hates how bright it gets

Hide once gave him some worcestershire sauce in a glass and told him it was pepsi and he drank it and fell on the floor

Kaneki is a huge fan of farming in minecraft!

Kaneki thinks axolotls are awesome but also pretty weird. He’s done research on how to look after them, and decided it wasn’t really worth it, which he brings up every time anyone talks about axolotls

Kaneki likes to hibernate through his problems! When he quit being a gang leader to go back to Anteiku, he spent a lot of time sleeping to avoid thinking about things, even though he decided to use this time to find himself. Maybe he doesn’t really want to find himself after all he’s done?

Kaneki is a huge fan of M’n’Ms. He loves the small ones. He tries to restrain himself when he’s around others though

He talks a bit like a book character sometimes, which can be a little cringey on occasions, but he’ll also say really profound things completely on accident that change the vibe of the entire scenario

If you took him to Belle’s library from Beauty And The Beast, his jaw would drop and he’d start running excitedly around the library, admiring all of the collections. This is true regardless of which Kaneki you bring. The only exception is #240, who seems very stiff and unsure but is excited nonetheless and will look through the books with you if you coax him a little

Kaneki really likes things to be clean, Shironeki especially. He uses a lot of water washing all the clothes 3 times a week and all the sheets once a week, but it’s worth it to him to feel clean (“Doesn’t it smell nice? Tsukiyama pays for it anyway.”)

Every Kaneki hugs his pillow while sleeping. He’s not really aware of it

Haise is the only Kaneki who accepts hugs from other people

Black Reaper has a comically fancy case for his glasses, and whenever people comment on it he acts as if they were merely jealous. This is very funny to him somehow. It has his full name and everything, even a fake middle name written in gold

Shironeki doesn’t laugh at anyone’s jokes except his own. Sometimes he bursts out laughing randomly because he had a funny thought, but when someone asks it’s either something completely fucked or the most unfunny dad joke/pun to come out of someone’s mouth (usually the latter). Kuroneki and Haise laugh at everyone’s jokes to be polite. Reaperneki stares and then fake laughs in an obvious way, with his eyes open

Shironeki gets embarrassed about how small he is. On one hand it’s useful to look so delicate since it catches people off guard, but on the other he sometimes wishes he could look as scary as he wants to be. He feels a guilty pride when Banjou says he terrifies him regardless

Kaneki is actually a very pretty boy! He just has shit fashion, doesn’t eat or sleep in a healthy way ever, and a lot of people think he’s kinda weird when meeting him, so he doesn’t look as great as he could. If we fixed up his diet and sleep schedule (Shuu solves his fashion issue) he’s actually a cutie patootie! Idk what we’d do about him being weird though

Kaneki is a soggy lad in more ways than one! This man loves playing in the water. Forest adventure with the ghoulie? He’s going in the creek. You beg him not to, you beg him to stay, but in the end there’s nothing to stop him from leaving - he pads quietly towards the running water. Determined to try. He’s stripping away his shoes and socks, your pleads not reaching him. At first shocked by the cold, but willing to reattempt.

The vibrant moss springs back to its original position as his feet dip fully into the water. “It’s cold in here” “I JUST SAID NOT TO GET INTO THE WATER YOU’RE NOT MEANT TO BE THERE” “It’s kinda nice” “YOU COULD SLIP AND GET WET” “Uhuh. You should try this too, you can feel the water flowing around your legs. It’s so chilly”

He does fall on his ass actually and his butt is wet for the rest of the walk. Only reason he’s not taking off his jacket and shirt to swim too is the fact that someone is with him and he doesn’t want to hold them up for more than 5 minutes

Kaneki has a car but he’s still on his P-plate

[beardedmrbean]

“The founding fathers wouldn’t want this”

“The founding fathers meant something different”

The founding fathers thought women were sex toys and black people should be enslaved forever

Who gives a fuck about what the founding fathers want? They’re ll racists and rapers and are burning in hell for their crimes against god

But sure let’s let those horrible founding fathers guide us through our civilization because they sure know about machine guns/tanks/Facebook/phones/cars/anything at issue in the world

They gave us a framework, one they knew wasn't perfect so they also included a way to change it but made it so changing it would be difficult so it couldn't be done a whim.

As for firearms they likely saw repeating arms becoming a thing as well as many other things, consider some of their ages when they put pen to paper.

My grandfather was born before commercial radio was a thing, when he died he'd seen us go land on the moon and have Dick Tracy's watch radio become reality in the form of smartwatches.

His father saw the birth of the automobile and airplane, electricity put to wide use, served in both world wars, saw man land on the moon, and all kinds of other innovations. Mother much the same except the world wars bit.

I've been around since before the CD, home computers, and the internet and look where we are now with all of that.

Foolish to think they wouldn't anticipate improvements in all walks of life, also several of them were abolitionists just not enough of them sadly.

That sex toy bit is untrue as well, as a blanket statement at least Franklin was a manwhore, but women were partners back then, there was tons of sexism and sexist laws and all that (not so) good stuff, really though who wasn't.

Like I said they left us a mechanism for change and if you can convince enough people that your position is the good one that change can happen.

Good luck given that there's only been 17 after the initial 10 needed to get the states signed on post revolution and one of those was there to cancel out the other (prohibition was a dumb idea)

I see that crimes against God thing there too, got bad news for you about a lot of the people involved in the major world faiths from when they were formed.

Whew lads.

But hey, most of them have abandoned the majorly bad bits, don't stone children for cursing their parents anymore and such, slavery is strongly frowned upon by most of the 10 global religions with the most adherents.

Buck up buttercup, things get better, takes time is all.

[syn4k]

He sat in his chair in front of his newly minted desk with a slight stretch upwards, facing the shining planks and gentle orange glow of the rest of house. A well-worn pen lay on the surface of the desk, next to a new notebook and a small cordial of black ink. Out of a small leather pouch came a small box, inside which rested a nib, which was then screwed onto the pen in place of the old one.

After months of travel, Pixl figured he'd take the long way round with his journaling tonight.

He hadn't had much time to jot things down ever since he'd shown up here- between running from spiders, trying to cobble (hah) enough diamonds together to craft a pickaxe, running from spiders, and visiting the Nether to make some horribly time-consuming roof tiles, he'd been a bit busy. But new worlds were always lots of work, after all, and he'd thrown himself into the hustle and bustle of getting started so many times that the routine was more like supple leather: worn and familiar, the actions practiced and almost a dance.

Ah. There his mind went, wandering again as it often did when he wasn't able to access a pen or paper or (more commonly) a reliable power source to plug his laptop or phone into. Some worlds didn't even *have* electricity as Earth knew it- redstone was just a crude spark of magic dust to them, but he'd gotten lucky this time. At least he'd be able to actually contact people without resorting to magical means.

The pen hovered over the paper, words momentarily forgotten, and with a sigh Pix set it to the paper and starting writing.

"June 6th-

The long gap between this update and the last has an actual explanation this time: I've finally found the world that Fwhip sent the details of, after weeks of getting lost. Walking out of time and space is really weird. I got there in the end, though, hence the new journal and the first entry.

It seems the universe is not done with Pixl the archaeologist, not yet. I arrived- (fashionably) late as I often am) -not in my regular outfit, but something very close to what I'd worn in the second world of Empires. I've discovered that I can pull some rather strange and downright improbable things out of gravel, including lapis lazuli, carrots, and once an entire cake that I refuse to touch. Shelby says it tastes fine, with a faint aftertaste of dirt. I have not asked why she knows what dirt tastes like, nor will I because I do as well.

This world is populated with most of the people who were on Empires but with a couple new faces as well. I'm familiar with Scar, of course, but I've heard of Owen- a pilot who crash landed here and is on a quest to get an origin of his own beyond human. Sausage told me that, and also cheerfully informed me that he blew up the poor lad's camera. I'll have to figure out how to make a new one and also inform him when we inevitably cross paths that being human isn't quite a bad thing.

I myself have spent the past few days seperated from contact with the rest of the world, though, busy running around and gathering samples of literally every cool looking rock I could get my hands on and unfamiliar fauna, including Nether reeds- the lava equivalent of sugarcane- and proceeded to spend the next three days weaving it into roof tiles. No regrets.

I know I'll be here a while, so I've gone ahead and built myself a nice little house on a stony outcrop. It has four wings with things like tinkering tables, my desk, a loft with my bed, and of course, the front door, because I'm not interested in phasing through walls. Again. That was a difficult month and a half.

That's about everything, I suppose. I've been building for two days. I'm going to go to bed now and probably sleep in."

The journal snapped shut with a satisfying thock, glass dinged as the cap was screwed back onto the jar of ink, wood creaked as two feet climbed the ladder, and then the little house was silent for the rest of the night and well into the morning.

[drgmissioncontrol]

You know, been reading through your stuff on changelings, and reminds me of the old jobs I had before DRG, especially before a whole lotta laws and regulations were put in.

it was before I got my kick for mining, worked as a black box/station AI recovery worker. Job was often simple, report to a broken down station, find the stations black box carrying crew DNA backups and the AI for finding out what took out the station, usually both were together, so it was a simple in and out. Though most the time, we were usually tasked with also checking the records of the station as well, just so Data wasn’t lost on the return back if the box was damaged, or compromised.

And in case I hadn’t made it clear, YES, it was those stations, the SS-13 models, the ones that were targeted by practically every major group out there for god knows what reason, even the wizards. I’d seen many strange things from those recordings, wizards, giant spider monstrosities, or even the occasional horror from whatever planet they were working on below the station. But one stuck with me the most, and it was one of the last few black box’s I recovered.

it was a human…. emphasis on the WAS, as the thing certainly looked human at times. But I know humans don’t have chitin armors, nor a blade for an arm so big that’d put a glyphid slashers to shame. Thing went on a rampage, and a false call on the coms lead to everyone carrying stun sticks instead of any REAL weaponry, so it had gotten to wander about a while unposed before it got taken down. Some lucky bastard managed to catch it turning a corner with a shell of lead, popped it’s head clean off.

But than came the most horrifying thing to watch. The guards went to go get body bags, left one of the others to guard the corpse… what should have been, a corpse. Thing got up, took the poor bastards head off, than put their head on it’s own shoulders, and copied the lad down to the molecule, and stuffed the guards body in the bag instead…. Couldn’t tell you what happened after, lotta footage was gone… but seeing that they put out warrants for the guy it copied? I can make a few guesses. Was told it might’ve been a DNA splice… but no one ever answered me if it was a human that got spliced or something else, guess no one knew.

I watched a lot of things from those stations, Whole lotta horrors and nightmares. But the scariest thing? Still a couple thousand of those stations out there… and from the request I get from those asking me for black box recovery? I don’t think the constant attacks have stopped either.

See, this is what I’m talking about. The wizards can make their ethical arguments about sentience and the changelings can say it’s not all of them, but they’re not down in the trenches. On paper, they LOOK like just another society, but anyone who’s ever been near one knows they’re a culture of sociopathic sadists who wants nothing more than chaos.

[voraciousvore]

The Origins of Martin Maneater (1/3)

Author's Note: Martin Maneater is a character from my story Big Corp Inc. I never gave him a backstory or explained his family lineage, so this story seeks to fill that gap. This is intended to be a standalone piece, and can be read even if you haven't read any of my other works. Enjoy! 

Word Count: 4.1k for part 1, 9k overall

Content Warning: Soft fatal unwilling vore (the vore is more for plot/ lore in this story so I tried to keep the descriptions to a minimum)

Today was an exciting day for Martin Maneater. He was turning eight years old. Though the young giant lad didn’t understand the intricacies of adult life or money, he did know that his dad had recently gotten a new job, a job that was much higher paying than his old one. His father had splurged on a fancy new car for himself and lavish clothes and jewelry for his wife. He had promised his son something special for his birthday, so Martin was chomping at the bit all day as he waited for school to end. 

When he got home from school, he was ecstatic to see a big stack of presents wrapped up in bright colorful paper, along with a magnificent cake smothered in sweet layers of frosting. With the permission of his parents, he tore into his presents with glee. His dad had bought him a set of toy sports cars, including a miniature version of the real car he bought for himself, and a model airplane kit. Martin loved his new toys. He was also given money to buy whatever he desired later.  

“Wow, thank you so much guys!” Martin exclaimed with a wide smile. “This is the best birthday ever!” 

“Hold on, son, we still haven’t given you the best part,” his father said as he wrapped his arm around his son. Martin looked up at him questioningly. His father was a tall, strong giant, with dark eyes, neatly groomed, mid-length black hair, and graying stubble on his square chin. Even though he was family, he had a feral intensity to him that always made Martin a bit nervous. 

His mother came over and cupped Martin’s chin in her elegant hands, planting a light kiss on his cheek. “I prepared you a special birthday dinner, sweetie,” she clarified in her tranquil voice. His mother was softer around the edges, with silvery eyes and fine silky hair of a lighter shade that flowed down past her shoulders. She guided her son over to the dinner table and sat him down, then left to serve up the meal. His dad sat down with a knowing smile as he placed his cloth napkin in his lap. 

Martin bobbed with excitement. He was hungry. He ate well enough, but before his dad got his new job, his family hadn’t been able to afford the best food. Like any other giant, and especially one from the Maneater bloodline, Martin craved meat above all else, as much as he loved sweets and other delicacies. He hoped his mom had prepared a delicious steak, or something equivalent. His mouth watered at the thought. 

His mom returned from the kitchen carrying two plates, one for Martin and one for Mr. Maneater. Martin licked his lips when he saw a big slab of meat on the plate with a baked potato and green beans. However, his grin faded when she set the plate down in front of him. He glanced up at his father, who was grinning wolfishly at his own meal. His plate was screaming at him, tiny man screams. 

Martin had never seen a human before in real life. He knew they existed, of course. He’d read about them and seen pictures. He’d overheard his parents talking about how delicious they were, but also how hard it was to get ahold of one. They were expensive, and buying and selling humans wasn’t exactly legal. Humans lived in a separate society, away from giants. Yet, here was a human, on his dinner plate. 

Martin stared at the human with fascination. She was a tiny girl, about his own age, sitting in his baked potato with a dollop of sour cream. She looked like she could be a classmate of his, if she wasn’t so small. She looked up at Martin with terror, her hazel eyes wide enough for the whites to be visible despite her diminutive size. Her arms and legs were wrapped up in thin twine so that she couldn’t run away. Her mouth gasped open and closed, but unlike the man on his father’s plate, she didn’t make a sound. She frantically gestured complicated signals with her hands that Martin didn’t comprehend. 

Martin’s mother walked in holding her own meal, with the squeaky screams of a human woman. The giantess sat down and smiled sweetly at her son. Martin pointed at his plate and asked shakily, “W-what’s this about?” 

“Why, Martin! Don’t you know? That’s a human!” She shook her head and sighed. “We haven’t been able to afford any humans to eat until now, so we thought it would be a special surprise for your birthday!” 

“Yes, son. Today you’ll finally live up to your famous bloodline as a Maneater,” his father interjected, flashing his teeth. Martin was speechless. He looked back down at the girl, who’d been fixated on him the entire time. His stomach twisted up with revulsion at the thought of eating an innocent little girl like her. He could clearly see that she was a person, just like any other, only smaller. He couldn’t possibly do it. He shook his head slightly in disbelief. 

“I know your first time can be a little tricky. Here, let me demonstrate,” Mr. Maneater said. He picked the miniature man off his plate and grabbed his steak knife with his free hand. The man paled, struggling for his life against his bonds. 

“No, please!” he cried out. “Don’t eat me! I’ll do anything!” The giant ignored him and cut through the twine with the knife to free his arms and legs. 

“I’d recommend removing the thread first, so the limbs are free. That way, you can enjoy the feeling of the human thrashing around in your gut after you swallow it. You can, of course, chew your food if you prefer, but generally the joy of live prey is that… well… it’s alive. It moves. If you bite down, you’ll kill it. So I like to savor on the tongue for a while before swallowing whole.” 

Martin gaped in horror as he watched his father put the little screaming man on his tongue and close his mouth around him, muffling his cries. The girl in his potato shed silent tears. The woman on his mom’s plate screeched, “Let him go! Please! Don’t eat him, that’s my husband! No!” 

Mrs. Maneater, unbothered by the woman’s pleas, took her own knife and slashed through the threads with the jagged edge. The woman flinched and fought back but failed to deter the giantess from sliding her between her plump red lips with satisfaction. She sucked the residual flavor off her finger with a dreamy gaze. The faces of Martin’s parents smoothed into expressions of sublime ecstasy as they tasted their prey. Martin felt like he would vomit as he observed his father tilt his head back and swallow. He caressed his Adam’s apple as the lump pulsed in his neck and the man plunged down his throat, gone forever. His mother, too, indulged in a luxurious swallow, sighing with pleasure and patting her stomach. 

Their eyes turned to Martin expectantly and he gulped, agitated. To do such a thing as devour an innocent little human was unthinkable to him. He gazed down at his meal. She stared back at him with pleading, watery eyes. Martin’s heart bled with sorrow. He couldn’t do it. He considered refusing, but then he thought of the images, now burned into his psyche, of his parents heartlessly consuming the other humans like they were nothing more than snacks. If he refused to eat his human, one of his parents undoubtedly would. Martin repressed a shudder. 

He knew what he needed to do, but he wasn’t sure if he could bring himself to do it. His throat tightened as he hesitantly picked up his knife. The girl recoiled and attempted to squirm away like a worm, but Martin coiled his fingers around her, lifting her off his plate. Carefully, so as not to harm her, he removed the twine from her wrists and ankles. Her mouth moved but she made no sound. She signed with her hands desperately. Martin could only assume she was begging for her life. 

He swallowed and licked his lips nervously. He had to do this. He realized, if the tiny man and woman had been married, this girl might be their child. She probably just witnessed her parents getting eaten by giants, burdened with the knowledge that he would eat her next. He couldn’t fathom how heart-wrenching and terrifying that must’ve been for her. He must look like a beastly ogre from her perspective.  

With this accursed knowledge weighing heavily on his heart, Martin slowly opened his mouth and forced the small girl inside. He closed his jaws and felt her squirming on his tongue. He tried to block out how good she tasted, how hungry he was, how his mouth filled up with saliva in response to her presence. With his parents watching, he pretended to swallow, pushing the girl gently against his teeth with his tongue. 

“Mmmmm,” he hummed, feeling like a monster. He made a show of rubbing his stomach. His parents grinned with pride. 

“You’re a true Maneater now, Martin,” his father proclaimed. “I’m proud of you, son.” Martin hid his revulsion with an anemic smile. As soon as his parents looked away, he pretended to wipe off his lips and spat the girl out into his napkin. She thrashed with pure survival instinct, forcing Martin to close his hand around her in a fist. He was shaking. If she wormed her way out of his hand and made a run for it, his parents might spot her and catch her. He couldn’t let that happen. He transferred her to his pants pocket. She tried to climb out, but he covered the pocket with his hand so she couldn’t escape. 

Martin was grateful that the girl was mute; otherwise, she’d probably be screaming her lungs out and give herself away. He could hardly blame her for being frightened, considering the circumstances. Martin outwardly gave no indication that anything was amiss, as he ate his dinner and birthday cake, but the food seemed to have lost its flavor. He felt like a stone was weighing down his stomach with dread. His birthday was ruined; all the joy was sapped out of him. 

The girl in his pocket eventually gave up on trying to escape and stopped fighting. However, he could still feel her trembling with fear against his leg. He did the only thing he could think to do and gingerly cupped his fingers around her through the fabric of his garments. She tensed up. He realized that he was probably just scaring her more and released his hold with a quiet sigh. 

“What’s the matter, sweetie? You’ve hardly touched your cake,” Mrs. Maneater remarked. Martin jumped slightly. 

“Oh, I’m, uh, just full from my dinner,” Martin stammered, stumbling clumsily over his excuse. He placed a hand over his belly self-consciously, as if his mom could see through his body and tell he was lying. She saw the action and smiled. She assumed he must be appreciating the feeling of the human moving around inside his stomach. 

“Can I be excused? I wanna go play with my new cars,” Martin asked. 

“Of course,” his mother replied, playfully shooing him away with her hand. Martin jumped out of his seat with the typical energy of an eight year-old boy, but then remembered he needed to be less rowdy with the delicate human in his pocket and walked with deliberate steps to his bedroom, grabbing his toys on the way. He went in his room, closed the door behind him, and dropped his cars on the floor. 

His heart was beating hard as he climbed up on his bed and reached his hand into his pocket. The tiny girl jerked away at his touch, but she couldn’t elude his grasp as he pulled her out. She bit his finger, but her microscopic teeth weren’t enough to hurt the giant. Even so, Martin could plainly see she didn’t want to be held, so he placed her on his bed. She sprinted with wild adrenaline, but Martin corralled her away from the edge with his hands so she wouldn’t fall off and hurt herself.  

Martin cornered her against the headboard and the wall, in the hopes that she would calm down. He didn’t want to scare her, but he couldn’t avoid it, with the vast size difference. He examined her as she pressed herself into the corner, her tiny chest heaving with panicked breaths. She had shoulder-length strawberry blonde hair and hazel eyes. He felt guilty as he noticed how damp her hair and clothes were from his saliva. He couldn’t imagine how frightening and disgusting it must’ve been for her, to be inside a giant mouth. He wanted to clean her up and assure her that she was safe, but he doubted she would even let him touch her at this point. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” he cooed in what he hoped was a soothing tone. “I’m not going to eat you or hurt you.” No change in demeanor from the girl. “I’m a friendly giant. Um… I’m sorry I had to put you in my mouth and pretend to swallow you. I just did that so my parents wouldn’t eat you instead.”  

He wasn’t sure if she was comprehending anything he was saying to her. Her face didn’t change at all, beyond her tormented eyes looking up at his mouth fearfully as he spoke. Martin sighed. “Here, let me just-” He offered his hand to her. She cowered, turning her head against the wall and squeezing her eyes shut as if he were about to smash her. Tears leaked down her cheeks. Martin retracted his hand with a disappointed frown.  

He wasn’t sure what to do. Clearly, nothing he said or did would calm her down. He couldn’t just release her; she might get captured by his parents or some other hungry giant. He didn’t know where she lived, and she wouldn’t be able to answer any of his questions. He was stumped. He finally decided to just leave her on the bed. He’d catch her if she tried to jump off, but otherwise would allow her to move around freely as she pleased. He lifted his hands in a placating gesture and climbed off his bed, watching the girl the entire time. She felt his massive movements through the mattress and eyed him warily, trembling. 

Martin sat on the floor, waiting to see what would happen. The girl didn’t try to run, nor did she budge from her corner. Martin got bored and eventually started playing with his cars, making car noises as he had them drive around and crash into each other. The human still didn’t make a move. Eventually, the giant child got so engrossed in his imaginary world he forgot about observing her, and focused on his toys instead.  

He really liked his new birthday toys. The cars were incredibly realistic, and even had little doors that would open and close on the sides. His favorite was the sporty silver one that looked just like his daddy’s real car. He created a makeshift track for them and had them race around. He grabbed some of his toy soldiers and action figures and had them join in on the fun too. Martin was an imaginative child who loved to play. 

The little girl cautiously crept over to the edge of the bed and watched him. The giant bed was too high for her to get down on her own, so she couldn’t get away. At first, since she was so small, Martin didn’t notice her. He pretended to run over a few of his little green soldiers with one of the cars, making epic squishy death noises and motor sounds. He looked up with a stupid smile on his face and froze. His expression dropped when he saw the tiny girl observing him. She tensed up and stared back at him. 

For a long, painful moment, neither of them moved. Martin felt his mouth go dry. He bit his lip and let go of the car he was holding, but otherwise didn’t twitch a single muscle. Finally, the little girl signed rapidly with her hands. Martin stared at her blankly. She signed again, the same movements, and then again, slower. Martin frowned, his stormy gray eyes clouding with dejection. 

“I’m sorry…” he apologized. “I don’t understand.” The girl looked sad, but nodded with resigned acknowledgement. She tried a different tactic, pointing down at his toys. Martin traced the invisible line down to his cars, looking at them. He puzzled over what she might be trying to convey. “Um…” 

His eyes lit up. “You want to play with me?” The girl considered his question, then gave a hesitant nod. Martin nearly leapt to his feet with excitement, but he knew he had to restrain himself. He slowly crawled forward on his hands and knees toward the bed in an effort to look smaller and not frighten the little human. Despite her show of bravery, the tiny human couldn’t stop herself from scooting back in fear as the giant approached her. Martin stopped with a frown, then backed up slightly, straightening into a sitting position. 

The girl gulped. Martin could see her little chest pulsing as she breathed hard. He imagined her heart must be palpitating as fast as his right now. He gave her time to collect herself before inching closer again. She stiffened, but didn’t back down this time. Martin came up to the bed with his face level with her, looking over her with wonder as he drank in the finer details that he was able to distinguish up close. She folded her arms around herself self-consciously, shaking as she gazed into the stormy depths of the giant’s gray eyes. 

Martin raised his hand, palm up, level with the edge of the bed and gave the girl a kind smile, trying not to show off his teeth. The girl curled her hands against her chest with anxiety as she stared down at his palm. Martin held perfectly still, hardly daring to even breathe. The girl, after fighting an internal battle with her fear, took a timid step forward. Then another. She stepped into Martin’s warm hand. Her tiny feet sank into his pliant skin, making his heart jump. She sat down in his hand, gazing at her surroundings with undisguised amazement. 

Martin, too, was amazed, to be holding a miniature person in his palm, her entire being encapsulated by his huge hand. She was fragile and precious, smaller than one of his action figures and far more delicate. He almost forgot about his toys as he examined her, but her clear discomfort with the situation convinced him to set her down on the carpet among his assorted playthings. 

The girl resisted the urge to run as her legs quivered beneath her. Martin watched her as she examined the gigantic toys, touching them with her teeny hands and marveling at their size. He held still, so his movements wouldn’t startle her, and tried to speak to her, but she didn’t seem to notice he was talking. He thought it odd that she didn’t respond to his voice at all, regardless of what he said. He subtly moved his hand, outside of her range of vision, and loudly snapped his fingers. No reaction. She didn’t even flinch. 

Martin realized she couldn’t hear. She was both deaf and mute. Martin supposed, if she wasn’t, she’d be dead, since her lack of a voice had saved her. He watched quietly as she ran her hand over one of his shiny new cars. He shifted a bit to get her attention and she reflexively recoiled, looking up at him. 

“You want to ride in the car?” Martin asked. He reached down to open one of the doors and she jolted away at the giant hand descending towards her. Martin paused. The tiny human placed her hand on her chest to steady herself before creeping forward again. He could tell she was struggling to overcome her instinctive fear. He tried to curb his enthusiasm as he pulled open the little door on the car. The girl leaned in and surveyed the plastic interior before sitting in one of the seats, placing her hands on the diminutive plastic steering wheel. Like a gentleman, Martin closed the door behind her, patting it with his hand. 

Martin made sure the girl was settled in before he started to roll the car forward with his hand. The girl’s eyes widened in alarm briefly before she smiled with glee and pretended to drive with the steering wheel. Once he could see she wasn’t afraid, he moved the car faster, making it swoop around corners on an imaginary racetrack. He was having even more fun than before, especially when he could see how happy his new friend was in the driver’s seat. Martin made zooming car noises as he made the toy car go faster and faster. 

Unfortunately, as careful as Martin was with the human, he was still a young child. He didn’t know how to handle humans properly, nor was he very gentle with his toys when he played with them. Although it wasn’t his intention to harm his miniature friend, he tended to play roughly by nature. He made the car race in tight circles, laughing and having fun, oblivious that the tiny girl inside was being jostled and bumped around in the hard, unyielding plastic. Even worse, the girl had no way to tell him to stop, since she couldn’t make a sound. 

Finally, Martin peered into the car’s windshield and noticed something was amiss, so he stopped. He couldn’t see the girl, since she’d been knocked over. He opened the car door with his finger and she crawled out in a heap. She tried to stand up but stumbled over her feet with dizziness and fell to her knees. Before Martin could react, she retched and vomited on the floor. He leaned down over her and noticed she had purple spots on her arms and legs: bruises. She was injured from the car ride. The giant boy felt a terrible stab of guilt when he realized what he’d done. 

Martin gingerly scooped the girl up with his hands and made sure she was facing him before speaking, so she could read his lips. “I’m so, so sorry!” he cried. “I really didn’t mean to hurt you. Are you okay?” 

The girl gave him a weak smile and flashed him a thumbs-up. Martin sighed in relief, rustling her hair with his breath. He noticed she was still wet from being inside his mouth earlier, and he felt even worse. “Why don’t we go get you cleaned up?” he said awkwardly. 

The girl nodded. Martin cautiously opened his bedroom door and peeked out, to make sure the coast was clear, before hurrying across the hall to the bathroom, keeping the human hidden in his cupped hands. He closed the door behind him and did his best to wash the girl off in the sink, fully clothed. He regretted not having any human-sized things such as a change of clothes for her comfort. He dried her off the best he could and returned to his own bedroom. 

Martin prepared the girl a place to sleep out of a tissue box and some folded cloth, placing the makeshift bed on his nightstand. When his parents entered his room to wish him goodnight, he hid the girl under his pillow so they wouldn’t discover her. After they left, he put her in the box bed and laid down in his own bed. He stared up at the ceiling, thinking hard.  

He didn’t know what he was going to do with the girl. He hoped she wouldn’t try to run away during the night, but he doubted she would. Even if she could somehow climb down to the floor from the nightstand, she had nowhere to go, when she was vulnerable and alone in a giant world. Martin realized he needed to find a way to communicate with her, so he could understand what she was saying. He had a few ideas that he could try to implement at school tomorrow. Eventually, Martin fell asleep, unaware that the human was silently crying herself to sleep next to him. 

Part 2

[aquarius-stories-and-story-ideas]

(Here's another screenshot edit I commissioned from @paimaniagalaxia. This is from 'The VVV' episode. Right now, that one is my favorite because we get to see a lot of Black Hat. As you can see, there are stark differences in Esther and Black Hat's facial expressions. Even though she loves her Uncle, she doesn't always condone his actions. For example, making Flug fight Mascara Macabra while he was controlling Dementia. Here's how I think this scene would play out with Esther.)

Dementia straightened up as the mask finally took full control of her. "Yes, yes." She said as she turned back around. Her voice was synthesized and sounded like both her voice and a mans were talking at the same time. "This host is so much stronger. Esto es increíble! This girl is a real monster." She flexed and felt her biceps. She glared up at the screen with a big grin on her face. "Well, Charrito? How many more do I break for you to come down?"

Black Hat merely cocked his eyebrows at her and Esther looked up at him. Everyone else in the arena turned to Flug, who now had a spotlight shining on him. The scientist made some terrified noises as he realized that he was going to have to go up against Dementia. Everyone started laughing.

Dementia briefly look of disbelief on her face. "What? You're kidding me? That lunch bag?" She started laughing as well.

Black Hat threw down his glass of 'wine' and laughed as well. Esther had a look of fear and worry on her face. They couldn't really expect Flug to fight her, right? When she felt her Uncle wrap his free hand around her to hold her in place she knew he ment it. She leaned against her Uncles chest and tried to find some form of comfort in his heaving form.

Black Hat spoke when he was done laughing. "Doctor, be a lad and bring her back."

He gave his boss a nervous look. "Uh, sir. Wouldn't it be easier to put a job posting online instead?"

Black Hat gently nudged Esther off of his lap and she moved to stand beside his throne. He literally phased through the screens with a terrifying look on his face. He glared at Flug and drooled a bit. "OBEY!"

Flug was transformed into a luchador uniform. A purple mask with red accents around the eyes appeared on his paper bag. He now sported a purple tank top with red accents on the straps. A sandwich picture was plastered right in the middle of the tank top. A white elbow-length fingerless glove covered his left arm. Instead of a glove on his right arm, there was a gold-colored wrist cuff. His shorts were also purple with red on the bottom. His shoes were red as well and he hand on white knee braces.

"Sorry, sir." Stammered Flug. "Just getting rattling, sir."

He made his way to the wrestling ring. "Of course, it had to be me." He fumed to himself. "I don't get paid enough to clean up after this lizard brain mess everytime-" He cut himself off when he tried to climb into the ring and briefly got tangled in the rubber wires.

Dementia laughed when he fell flat on his face. "I’ve had tacos with more spice than-"

Flug stood up and brushed himself off. "Shut up, you uncreative parasite!"

"Let's find out if your whole body fits inside that little bag!" She then charged at him on all fours.

Flug flinched. "That must be a metaphor, right?"

The announcer popped in behind him. "No. No, it's not."

He gained a hard look on his face. "Is that so?" He struck a pose. "Hat bots, attack!"

Two huge hat bots landed in the ring. One had on a leopard print luchador uniform and the other had on a green and pink one.

"What a twist, ladies and gentlemen!" Exclaimed the announcer. "Will El Alebrije be able to defeat that pair of mechanical grills?" Flug turned to leave but was stopped when the announcer spoke again. "Aaaand, they're junk."

The scientist turned back around in disbelief. "But, how?"

Dementia laughed on top of the now ruined robots, their heads in her hands. "You're next, bolsa!" She literally ran her tongue over her sharp teeth.

Esther glanced at her Uncle and noticed he was completely engrossed in the fight. She quietly took a few steps back and teleported herself next to the ring. Summoning a small glass platform, she hopped on it and peeked into the ring. She looked just in time to see Flug starting to panic. He turned to the crowd and quickly found 505. "Quickly, 505! Hand me the Tranquilizator!"

The bear turned to him and shrugged. It looked like Flug was trying to not lose it. "What do you mean you don't have it?! I thought we brought it!"

He turned around to see Dementia wrap her hair around him and toss him across the ring. When he sat up she was looming over him.

"What's wrong, chico holgado? Are you scared?" She said mockingly.

Esther couldn't take it anymore. She climbed into the ring and ran straight for Dementia.

"Dementia," Said Flug. "stop this at once."

She wagged a finger at him. “There is no more Dementia. Just Mascara MacabraAAAAHHH!”

She yelled when Esther pulled on her long hair. Flug jumped and his sights immediately went to the small preteen. “Esther?!”

“Esther!” Thundered Black Hat. Fear could be heard seeping into his words. “What do you think you are doing, young lady?!”

“Saving Dementia!” She answered.

Dementia yanked her hair out of her hands and turned to her. “Kid, get out of here. I don't fight children. They’re too easy to beat.”

Esther glared at her and kicked her in the shin. The older woman merely grunted. “Let Dementia go right now!” She made an attempt to punch her, but the older woman grabbed her by the back of the shirt. When she was lifted at eye level with her she took the opportunity to kick her in the chin. “I said let her go, right now!”

Dementia rubbed her chin as Esther tried to reach for the mask. “Okay. I’ll make an exception for you.”

The small preteen was about to say something, but Dementia threw her out of the ring before she could even make a sound. Before she hit the ground black shadows swallowed her and she was dropped onto someones lap. She looked up to see her Uncle.

“That was idiotic and dangerous, young lady.” He scolded as he wrapped his arms around her. “Let the adults handle this. You’re much too young to be getting directly involved with advanced villains like Mascara Macabra.”

Esther sighed as guilt gripped her. “I know. I just wanted to help. I’m afraid for Dr. Flug and Dementia.”

Black Hat briefly petted her head. “I know, baby.”

“Am I in trouble?”

“Not this time. I’m not going to punish you for trying to help someone. But, I except you to stay with me until this is over. Understand? You gave me quite the scare”

“Yes, sir and I’m sorry”

“Good.” He shifted so she would be more comfortable and kissed her on the head. “It’s okay. Now, let’s see how Flug handles this, shall we?”

[muzaktomyears]

Recollections of Liverpool School of Art 1957 - Pat Jourdan

We all gathered at the front hall that September morning and John Lennon, Tony Carricker and Jeff Mohammed were sitting together on the marble steps. John and Terry were wearing their old school blazers with the pocket-badge removed, while Jeff, already about 25 years old, was wearing a speckled tweed jacket. The office window had the register for us to sign, and a small selection of art materials to buy.

We were never taught how to draw, how to create or handle a line, construct shapes via pencil, pen and ink or charcoal or the dreaded Conte crayon which we bought every Monday from the office by the front door. Two colours of Conte - black or terra cotta. Everyone preferred the terra cotta as it made any scratch look as though it was something by Leonardo da Vinci.

We were plunged into the Life Room, Room 73, with no preparation, just with half-imperial sized paper, 2B pencils or crayons. I conscientiously went round the outline of the model (Mrs Dornan or June Furlong?). We were all skating on thin ice, unassisted, only criticised by the lecturer, Phillip Burton, a small Welshman. Most of the lads were embarrassed, they said later.

So I went carefully round the model's edges and produced something like pale tramlines, week after week. Phillip Burton eventually brought me some of John Lennon's drawings, bold black simple lines. "Look at these definite statements. This is what you should be aiming at. See, here and here." He pointed out how one dashing line completed the top of an arm or the slope of a hip - all in one flow, finished. I looked at them and saw the difference. John was not present, he may have finished and gone down to the canteen.

Mr Wiffen's weekly subjects started off with a cup and saucer, then a teapot, a humpback bridge, painted in black and white special poster colour. We were out drawing the Protestant Cathedral on Friday 4th October 1957 (the Catholic one was not yet built). Thursday 17th October we were in Princes Park, hugging trees, to learn that trees - especially winter trees - were not just flat silhouettes. We each had to put our arms around a tree. It was hilarious. It looked like something from the Goon Show. This was 'Elements of Drawing' with Mr Wiffen, who always wore a white overall like a scientist.

One painter, Tony Byrne, had been to the Tate Gallery show of American abstract painters. He bought sheets of hardboard and decorators' paint, and started painting on the floor. John Lennon made fun of him (as he did of many people) and watched Tony painting on the floor. The next evening, John did one perfect floor-based painting and left it at that. He was quick to absorb whatever was new, and then move on.

When we returned in the autumn term, John was wearing a smart black corduroy jacket and I remarked how good it looked. "I'm wearing it because of my mother, the daft git walked between a tram and a car and got squashed," he said sharply. I did not know if he was being his usual sarcastic self, or if it could possibly be true - no one else had mentioned her death. So, I said, 'What a pity, that was really awful' and other sympathetic remarks, being puzzled about what he meant. It was never discussed again at all.

The college suddenly had also had a sort of investigation about our productivity, and John gave me his more outlandish drawings to hide in my locker on the top corridor. "They won't find them here, I've got to show them all my sketchbooks," John said. They turned out to be the foundation of his book, In His Own Write, in 1964.

[ultramagicalternate]

ULTRAMagic Interlude: Shadowland Chapter 10

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Master Post

Two days had passed since the group arrived in Shadowland. Aureolus woke up with energy in his step and was ready to go. The day prior was uneventful due to Barna having to get his plans in order. This left his son eager to start cleaning things up and flex his magic. Making his way through Claudius’ mansion, which was full of decor from his homeworld, Aureolus walked merrily to the dinning hall and took a seat at the grand table. Barna was writing stuff down, Torunn was eating, Albrecht was tinkering with one of his tools, and Dunja was making it clear that she was not a morning person.

“Good morning, everyone!” Aureolus said, with varying responses.

“Buongiorno, Aureolus” Claudius welcomed as he put some breakfast before him. “You’re quite energetic today.”

“Yup, cause we’re going to do stuff today, right dad?”

Barna took off his reading glasses and looked up. “Absolutely, given that there’s reports coming in that someone’s beating us to the punch.”

“Really? What’s happening?”

Albrecht closed up his tool and set it aside. “Several warehouses have been reclaimed by Sten, with witnesses claiming that crystal people were the ones doing the clearing.”

“Crystals? That’s bizarre” Aureolus commented as he ate.

Dunja finally came to, with a realization. “Torunn, refresh my memory: Didn’t Andelin mess around with that stuff?”

“Yup…” she replied as she sipped from her mug. “Barna, one of the crystal people looked like black obsidian.”

Barna slowly facepalmed and banged the table. “DAMN IT. What did I tell that boy?! You can’t suppress hexes, only dispel them…”

“What’s wrong, Dad? Who are you talking about?” Aureolus inquired.

“Weaver…”

“Weaver? Aunt Dunja?”

Dunja took a second to recall a specific event. “Yeah, I remember it all too well: Andelin has a deck of cards she got from some chaos entity that allows her to use her Hex magic. There’s a lot of spells she can use. One time we caught Weaver alone and captured him, with Andelin covering him in crystal as a means of controlling him. It wasn’t really crucial to our plans, just an experiment.”

Torunn rubbed her head. “That brings me back… he gave me a good whack on the noggin before we got him back.”

Barna got up to stretch. “The problem, Aureolus, is that hexes are self-perpetuating and self-fulfilling. If you don’t get rid of them, they can easily reactivate at a later date. This means Weaver is still under Andelin’s spell…”

“Huh, that sounds like what Vex is teaching Blood at the moment… Alright! I need to see this magic in action. Let’s go!”

Scrambling to collect his papers, Barna followed Aureolus out of the room. “Easy, lad. You don’t even know what we're doing today yet…” Both of them trailed off.

“Well, quite the spirit in him…” Claudius remarked as he picked up the dishes.

“It’s probably the ULTRAMagic.” Dunja drank the rest of her coffee and stood up. “So where are we heading?”

Torunn also got up, along with Albrecht. “Corner of Howler and Bolt street. Saul Bonneville has requested us there. Looks like things got pretty heated.”

“Right. Is he doing alright? Because I’m pretty sure his brother is…”

“Saul’s doing fine. Logan on the other hand has been… Well, he’s been out of it for a while. And this hasn’t really changed since you left.”

“Oh dear…” Dunja thought for a second about how she could help. “Alright, I’m going to slip into my armor. I’ll be with you as soon as I’m ready.”

Torunn patted her on the back. “Good. We’ll see you there.” She then left with Albrecht.

Claudius reentered the room. “Dunja, if you’re concerned about Logan, I’m afraid his issue is most likely psychological. I’d even go so far to speculate that it has something to do with Milosh…”

“That’s not good. We need to find Andelin quickly then.”

The commotion over the past couple of days had Sten’s knights all over the place. Compounds and bases for The Eternal Church were falling left and right, primed for reclamation. Captain Saul Bonneville was going back and forth between locations, but Warehouse D was of particular concern. It was the main storage facility for the cult’s weapons. An issue had arisen in the form of holdouts. Weaver had done a good job, but some cultists just did not know when to quit. Fortunately the odds were in Saul’s favor as the knight’s armor and tower shields protected them from gun fire and flames.

Saul had been out on a patrol the day prior when a strange individual handed him a note from the shadows. If he had not known any better, he would have sworn it was Weaver. Regardless, a golden opportunity had been presented to him. He ran as fast as he could to the barracks and rallied his men. The standoff lasted throughout the night, but things were finally coming to a resolution. The captain watched proudly as cultists were dragged out of the warehouse and arrested. The on looking citizenry cheered and applauded as the criminals were hauled away.

“Brother! Need any help on this fine day?” A man called out to Saul.

He took off his templar helm and turned to the man. “Logan! Well I’ll be, what’s got you in such good spirits?”

“I ran into Weaver and some strange fellows with him the other day. The talk we had made me realize I was wasting away and that it was time to get up off my arse. So how goes the operation?”

“Fantastic. There’s a few stragglers, but we’re in possession of most of the warehouse. Are you feeling up to donning your helm again?”

“Not quite, but we’re getting there. Besides, my mace is rusty and needs some fixing up…”

“Captain! Barna and Torunn are on their way!” An officer called out.

Saul tidied up his hair and straightened out his armor. “Could you look after my post while I go fetch our guests?”

“Sure thing, Saul,” Logan replied. “Shape up, men! Barna’s on his way!”

Over at the corner of Howler and Bolt, Aureolus was observing the knights going in and out of Warehouse D. They were a fair distance away, but enough details could be made out. “Dad, how do you think I could help them?”

Barna stuttered gibberish in bewilderment. “Lad, son; I understand you’re eager to stop the cult alongside us, but you should leave this one to the knights…”

“Why, is it dangerous?”

“Very dangerous” someone called out. “It’s no place for children.”

“Saul! Good to see you again” Barna replied as he shook his hand.

“Barna, it’s a pleasure to have you back in Shadowland. I take it everything is alright over in The Iron City?”

“Indeed it is, my boy. And we’re all ready to go. Just tell us where you need us and we’ll be off.”

Saul nodded in confirmation. “Torunn, how’s your hammer arm?”

“Good as always, Kiddo. And the hammer is all clean and ready to go.”

“Very good. Go join the knights as we still have some stubborn ones giving us trouble. Allan, go with her and make sure no civilians were hurt.”

“On it,” Torunn replied. “Oh, and his name’s actually Albrecht.”

“Really? How’d that come about?”

Albrecht shook his head. “It’s a long story. Suffice it to say it’s been a crazy couple of days…” he said as he walked off with Torunn.

“Intriguing…” Saul turned to the doctor. “Claudius? We have some injured back at the…”

“Say no more, I’m on my way” he replied.

“Excellent.” Saul then turned his attention to Dunja. “Well well, ain’t this quite the surprise, your majesty.”

   She felt some embarrassment. “Hello, captain. Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it...”

This warranted a sympathetic laugh from Saul. “For now, let’s head back to the others so we can get you up to speed. And thank you for everything you’ve done so far. I knew you’d turn your back on that creep eventually. Logan was skeptical, but I wasn’t.”

Dunja smiled. “Well I finally had some sense knocked into me. You have no idea how bad I feel…”

“Don’t fret, your majesty. Keep at it and those bad feelings will go away in no time.” Saul then realized something. “Oh! Barna, speaking of Milosh; rumor’s are floating around that he’s in the vicinity, if you want to go say hello…”

Barna immediately caught a whiff of the scent. A menacing grin stretched across his face as his pupils dilated. “Ah, I think I will. Aureolus, stick with Dunja and the captain… I’ll be back later.” He then wandered off.

“Um, is dad okay?” Aureolus asked.

Dunja quickly grew irritated. “Barna!” She sighed. “Captain, this is my nephew, Aureolus.”

Saul looked confused. “Did Barna create another…?”

“Nope, he adopted me after Blood-Wraith got me out of Milosh’s basement” Aureolus answered.

“Oh, alright then. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Aureolus” Saul said as he shook his hand. He then indicated for the two to follow him.

“Are you sure I can’t help Torunn and the knights?”

“Certain.”

“But I have ULTRAMagic!” Aureolus then manifested his soul crystals.

“...That he hasn’t perfected yet” Dunja pointed out.

Saul chuckled. “Sorry lad, but no-can-do. I appreciate that vigor though. It’s a good quality to have for our line of work.”

“So It really is that dangerous then?”

“Unfortunately. If it’s any consolation, some of our reserve mages are getting pretty bored. You could train with them if you like, keep them on their toes and what not. Would that be fine with you?”

Aureolus thought about it for a second. “Sure. Thanks, captain. And Aunt Dunja? Can you teach me some void magic while we’re at it?”

“I don’t see why not,” she answered. “It’d get me ready too.”

Barna was weaving and maneuvering his way through the dirty alley��s, tracking his quarry. He was sure to stay as quiet as possible, although that did not stop him from knocking into a few trash cans here and there. Eventually he came across a dingy, rundown-looking building and snuck in. It was dark, so it was easy to keep to the shadows. He soon found a lit room and peered in carefully. It was host to at least twenty people with one in particular making his blood run hot. Milosh Proch was right there, about to address his audience. It was so tempting to walk up to him and wring his neck until he stopped moving, but Barna held back. He wanted to see what he was up to first.

Milosh was something else, and not in a good way. He was a tall man, yet had a scheming posture with his hands clasped before him. His hair was silver and he had dull, brown eyes that were sharp and focused… for the most part. A beat up tuxedo adorned him, but this show of refinement and dignity was a facade. Just looking at him told one he was nefarious. It was also important to be cognisant around him, as his admittedly handsome appearance could fool the unaware.

“My blessed children, it is another momentous day for we are yet again one step closer to ascension. The thundering Lich awaits our arrival with the holy blood of the beast that my dear son has acquired for us…”

“Oh brother…”

Milosh snapped his head to a bearded fellow in the front row. “You have something to say, Sir Wolfgang?” His voice was passive aggressive, yet lacked the violence it once had.

He gave a low growl and got up. “Yeah, I got something to say…” Wolfgang looked Milosh dead in the eye, with the intent of speaking to everyone. “WE JUST LOST OUR WEAPONS STOREHOUSE.” The rest were shocked and gasped.

Milosh’s head twitched in an uncomfortable manner. “A minor… minor setback, I assure you…”

“MINOR!?!” Wolfgang exclaimed as loud as he could. “Minor, ladies and gents! Completely minor! It’s just minor that all of our munitions just got seized!” The others were beginning to whisper and mutter.

“Silence! This shall all be taken care of…” Milosh was starting to lose it.

Wolfgang scoffed. “With what? The guns we just lost?”

Some chuckled, even Barna (albeit quietly). “Sir Wolfgang, have you forgotten about our secret weapon?” Milosh asked, trying to do a soothing voice.

“You’ve lost it… you’ve completely lost it” Wolfgang said in disbelief. “Alright, let me elucidate all of you, clue you all in on a little something: The Lich is DEAD! Blood-Wraith killed him!”

“THE LICH IS NOT DEAD! SEIZE HIM!” Milosh ordered… but nothing happened.

“Pathetic…” Wolfgang lamented. He then began to leave the room.

“WHERE ARE YOU GOING, HERETIC? STOP HIM!” Milosh shouted… again, nothing happened.

“Give up, Milosh. You’ve lost Torunn, The Lich, Dunja, and Andelin. Gratiana is probably planning to leave and Gummi is going to stab you in the back…”

“HA, and where do you plan to go? The execution block!?” Milosh hissed, expecting laughter. The group remained silent.

“No, I’m turning myself in. I’d rather die in chains than a fool mindlessly following a madman. Thanks for nothing.” As Wolfgang left, he noticed someone in the shadows: Barna. Once his blood finished running cold, he smiled and gave him the go ahead with his thumb.

Back in the meeting room, someone spoke up. “Your greatness?”

“WE. DO. NOT. NEED. HIM” he seethed. Milosh was beyond furious.

“That’s not it…”

“THEN WHAT IS IT?” He snapped.

With a big, evil grin on his face, Barna quietly approached Milosh from behind. “Hey, Milosh. It’s been a while…”

Next: Chapter 11

ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)

[renatedagmarmilada]

COHEN’S THE BAKERS of Sheffield S10..a really nice man,  not Simeon Cohen of lab st barths Human Research and all his family at Golders Green, who use my work..

just spent one hour writing this one, got wiped off and DORER PILUH taken off altogether because someone at Human Research copied and printed it exactly as it stood- about Refugee Train we came to Germany in after exiled from our country, of acorns and oaks glistening in the sun etc..but here goes again..

odd, it takes an hour to write, you click preview and connect comes up again and it wipes it off and then you have to write a not so good version again as you've already spent one and a half hours writing the wiped off version.

.................this began with the fact that I get fed up of hearing just one group of people being blamed for drugs increases etc ...a very famous tv presenter wrote a book about Parliament street in Liverpool where my son and daughter in law, now in aussie lived. The police used to trawl Parliament Street for naughty black boys. If they couldn't find any naughty black boys, they would catch good black boys, take them to a mental hospital, where they were pumped full of heroin for one week. They would then be collected and set free and tabs could be kept on them as drug users.

Before you all start on the cry.....no the police wouldn't..a few things from personal experience. Having come here to a new city, my ex dumped us here, we knew no one and he provided no money, so the boys, my younger ones, went a little wild, not aggressive, just a little wild, bad company so called and missing school and so on. We were always short and money was the key issue. Their elder brother and sister have never been in the slightest bother to the great embarrasement of older about the younger and also younger about older for being such star members of society.

Once when the youngest we'll call him J. was about thirteen, he was acting as look out for some mates, pilfering some stupid toys, videos or some such thing. The policeman got him by the throat and pushed him against the car, J fainted and found himself in the back of the policecar. I got him out of the cells that night on my return from College. I have to say the lad was starving and a nice bobby at the station bought him a Pizza to eat in the cells.

But when it came to our chat from the inspector, in the queue infront of us was a navy pin striped suit dad and son, what do you know, Sir didn't get a  talking to and was treated with the utmost respect.

But J was always in some sort of daft trouble, some totally unintentional: come on mum, we've got to hurry to get to Marks and Sparks, they leave sandwiches on the steps in the evening for us kids.

So we hurried, and sure enough, all J's friends were there to collect sandwiches. Wrong conclusion. Is that stealing?  They refused school dinners as they had to raise their hands to say theirs were free and took sandwiches instead.

Clothes are always a problem for the single mum. We got chittys to go to the council clothes stores for the boys clothes. All the grey polyester trousers were identical, all the grey plastic shoes were identical, all the everythings were identical, except for the polyester jumpers, pink for girls blue for boys, but identical patterns so as you walked the city streets, my lads would say, look he's on the dole, look she's on the dole.

He sold the shoes to the eldest son of the couple next door, a teacher and a social worker who had three sons. The ways he thought of for making money were unbelievable, six paper rounds before and after school, car cleaning rounds. I suppose my fear (refugee who had malnutrition three times) of starvation must have seeped through to him.

I asked the social services to help me, to get them to school. A young man appeared, looked round my tidy terrace and declared with a sigh: you could help me, you appear to manage better than I do!

But the worst was to come, for receiving stolen goods he got three months in a category B prison, he was nineteen then and I have never known anyone so scared as when we went to visit...surrounded by murderers and rapists. That was many years ago, however it did do the trick, though there seemed to be a bit of sadism there methinks.

Elder brother by one year R got one thousand pounds or two weeks in prison for speeding. We were all as thin as rakes, what one thousand..

One day R and Raj, his friend, a mixed race boy, whose white mother had dumped him as a baby and his asian dad in his teens, came home with a sack of cakes. What and where from I demanded...the boys were always bringing unfortunate boys to stay with us, they would stay for a while, relise that I am a disciplinarean and they had to be in at certain times for meals and bedtimes, and leave. Raj eventually left because he could not eat at the table with the boys, but would skulk around eating in corners..and he knew I could not change  my house rules to be relaxed enough for him.  Sometimes three or four boys would just sleep the night and then go.

They are for you and my little brother they said, you never eat anything but toast.

I don't steal, but I admit without thinking I arranged them on the table, and J and I scoffed them. The two elder boys wouldn't touch them, though they too must have fancied them, I think it was my birthday or something.

But after eating I had to know, where are they from.

Over the back, Cohen the Bakers left them out, they are to be thrown away!

Now I had just eaten them, and if they were to be thrown away then I am a dutch man.

So the next day I went over the back, to see Cohen the baker. I spent a long time telling him how sorry I was and I would wash up and wash the floor for him when I return from College for as long as he wanted to me, I really was very sorry.

I cannot describe the look on his face, and even now I can see his brown eyes on me.

Eventually he quietly said, go home ..just go home ...and he meant it, he didn't want anything from us.

But when I think of these things I can't help wondering who has it all right and who has it all wrong.

..............and we are not even considering Palmerston and our governments games in China with drugs, and missionaries and all the rest.

I realised then that not only refugees have their stories to tell but also ordinary citizens and people are just too quick to put the blame on to one group of people, though I am a traditionalist and on the severe side of things.

 It did it again but I was ready for it, copied ..

[the-letter-horror-lover]

Boruto: Darkness Into Light by Marka Ragnos629

Naruto & Star Wars: The Clone Wars Xover Rated: T, English, Adventure & Romance, Boruto U., Words: 713, Favs: 3, Follows: 2, Published: Jul 27, 2018

1

Been watching a few clips involving Naruto's son, Boruto/Bolt, and it got me to thinking. Just how far would he be willing to go to get out of his father's shadow? I mean, everyone expects him to follow in Naruto's footsteps and become Hokage just because his father is the Seventh Hokage. Naturally, this would make him do things that his father would never do just to get it through everyone's thick skulls that he's not his father. So what happens when he's found by Dooku one day, and trained as his apprentice? Seems like an overdone concept, I understand, but I hope you all like my idea anyway.

*I still don't own Naruto, and I don't own Star Wars either!*

*Speech Key*

"May the Force be with you." = Normal Speech

'May the Force be with you.' = Thoughts

"May the Force be with you." = Someone Yelling

"We can't get through their cannons, sir!" = Separatist Droid Speaking

"May the Force be with you." = Demons/Summons Speaking

"DAMN YOU, DREAMCAST AND ALL YE GLITCHES!" = Demons/Summons Yelling

An explosive Opening!

It was the dead of night over Konohagakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and just about everyone was asleep at this hour. The only ones awake would be the night owls who spend their time partying or running night time business ventures. Such as the people in the red light district.

But times have changed quite a bit since the Ninja World was saved by none other than Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, the Child of Prophecy and only son of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki. With Naruto as the Hokage, and peace having been brought to the planet, the Ninja World seems to be changing for the better the way most people see it. However, this is not his story.

No, this is a story about his son. His oldest child named Boruto. The kid's name sounds a little like his father's, so most people just call him Bolt. Oh! Speak of the devil, there he is now, running right out the gates of the village while using the shadows to blend in further with the darkness of night.

Boruto is a fourteen year old boy who seems to have gotten most of his looks from his father, but there are some minor differences caused by his mother's side of the gene pool. His blonde hair is still spiky like his father's, but thanks to his mother's genes the spikes are much thicker and kinda make him look like he has a bunch of bananas for hair. It's also a lighter blonde than his father's. His eyes are also a lighter blue than his dad's eyes, and his skin is a lighter shade of tan. Like his father, however, he also has whisker marks on his face. Two on each side.

Currently, he was wearing an all black outfit with a mask to hide the lower half of his face, a hood up over his head so his hair wouldn't give him away, and he had a katana blade strapped to his hip. The lad stopped on a thick tree branch and looked back at the Hidden Leaf. His eyes narrowed in contempt as he glared at the village he once called home.

Making a single hand sign, the Tiger hand sign, Boruto activated the numerous paper bombs he set up in several parts of the village. The areas were mostly abandoned so as to avoid civilian casualties, but the results spoke for themselves. Explosions rocked the village at totally random intervals, getting the attention of the ANBU Black Ops.

'That'll keep them off my tail for awhile. Now to get the heck outta here!'

With that, Boruto continued on his way. Heading off for parts unknown. But little did he know, a higher power was setting things in motion.

*Who Will Take Up The Challenge?*

[awkwarddystopianwarlord]

Diary of a Wimpy Adult Talking About Childhood Schooldays

Since school season is back in season, why not share some nostalgic school-y things I experienced that, perchance, you did too or currently are? Do I personally have a valid say about this?

*Shrugs*

It’s been half a decade since last I went to school, but I still remember a lot. I also have not really changed as a person since I was born so it’s not like how I was then is wildly different compared to now.

I get reminded of my school days every year when my drug store stocks the back-to-school whatever and I get to look at it and reminisce and relive my simultaneously glorious and torturous past.

When I was in elementary school, where the desks had inner compartments for binders and whatnot, a few of us would make wee houses with erasers and putty and other stupid stuff for small figurines or tiny animals. Because we’d have fun shaped erasers, some would be a table and others would become a couch based on appearance. Putty would be rolled into a ball for a beanbag chair or a log for a pillow. We would secretly invest hours into perfecting our miniature houses and get incredibly pissed whenever our desk was bumped or had to be scooted into a different formation as our furniture would collapse and shift.

When I was in highschool, I thought it would be a grand idea to have one big-boy binder and put every subject for that semester in it. I had dividers that kept the classes organized and separated my assignments and tests in the folder slots inside. It was genius because I only ever had to worry about one binder and it was just my textbooks that I switched between classes. I also started getting lazy with taking my paper out of the binder to write on it, so I flipped the pages and wrote on the back instead. I’m left handed, the binder rings get in my way. Problem was, I never saw the beginning of my notes when I opened the binder so I always had to sift through it backward. My English teacher started recognizing my work just because the hole punches were on the other side, so that was pretty amusing to me.

School shopping was always a colorful, bright, exciting time. It was the day to revamp your entire personality for the new year. Even though I’d always get the same style of things because I liked it, I could pretend that I was gonna stroll into school as a new person. Mind you, half of what I wanted, I was denied. Would I use a sixty-four pack of colored pens to underline everything in a very aesthetically pleasing way like one of my best friends? No. I would just write in different fonts. But I still wanted them. I did get some black pencils instead of the classic yellow ones and they were much sleeker looking. They were also more identifiable as mine, you couldn’t get away nearly as easily stealing my writing device. I once got a new backpack that was pricey but I loved it and used it my whole high school career and afterward (Targus is a quality brand lads, that I will say). I kept the same shoddy lunch kit though for some reason. Water bottle too, that thing is so dented but I still use it every day for work and I’ve had it since the sixth grade (Thermos is also a quality brand). I also used to drop about three hundred dollars on clothes, it was money I saved up from holidays, birthdays, jobs, and allowance. Twice a year we would go to Vancouver and I would stop at all the cheap clothing places and get a stupid amount of shirts and pants and even shoes sometimes because it all ranged from five dollars to thirty. Did I go to school in brand name clothing? Not unless it was hand-me-down. But I had way more outfits, much of which remain in my closet today since I never had a growth spurt.

I always thought that by the time I got to twelfth grade, I would be one of those impressive looking students that towered over the newbie eight graders. Turns out I remained the same height as them, my shoe size never increased from a child’s four/women’s six. I grew in age, but never above five foot two. Alas, I never felt above the younger kids for I was below many of them and I was scared the whole time walking down their hallway.

Why is it that the first week of school is always ridiculously exciting? We do this every year, we get all stoked that we’ll be rolling up to the class decked out in our fresh new clothes and armed with our shiny new school supplies and we feel on top of the world. But then week two comes around and we hate our lives. Every. Year. We should learn, but no, the thrill of going back and flexing on all our fellow schoolmates remains despite knowing that we’ll be sick of this school shit in less than five days.

Homework is stupid. It always has been and always will be. Finish your lesson in the allotted time, teachers. I have other things to worry about outside of school. I don’t got time for more learning. Also my fricken parents can’t help me with my math, as much as everyone likes to say that math doesn’t change, it clearly does, because they have no idea how to do what I’m supposed to. If The Incredibles 2 had a joke about it, that means it’s common enough. I had a math teacher that would not consider your homework done unless you completed every single one of the questions. This wouldn’t just be one through seven, it would have subparts like a) through f). Now I failed math my whole life but that’s, and I’m gonna show my work, six times seven, which is… lemme get my calculator out because I still don’t know my freaking six and seven times tables, FORTY TWO QUESTIONS! Mate, I have ballet after school, and jazz, and modern, and acro. How the bloody fuck am I also supposed to do forty-two questions for a subject I’m shit at and my parents are uselss for help? She said that there was always time to do our homework and extracurriculars and eat properly and rest and sleep. I call bullshit and I always will. I did not have time for that.

Did you know, most people’s brains wake up at around ten in the morning? That’s why by the end of second period, you actually start retaining things. School has no right to start at eight or nine in the morning. I’ve no idea how it would work otherwise since there are only so many hours in the day but I disagree with the decision nonetheless. Also, no, I’m not citing where I got that fact because some kid told me that back in, like, eleventh grade and I could be wrong. I could look it up on Wikipedia but teachers don’t like that website.

I remember getting lockers for the first time and putting up so much hanging bullshit that everytime I opened the door, it would fall. Things like mirrors and little metal organizers, and magnets. It was too much and it was a pain in the ass, but I learned and reorganized over the years. It was always so stressful getting a locker since you’d have to come in at a certain time and you’d try to get next to your friends and also pick out a lock that turned smoothly and had a good combo. It sounds simple in writing but it was a bloodbath every year. You’d also be moving in a ton of locker furniture like the hanging things and the wee table that would go inside for you to add a shelf structure. It was chaotic. My two friends always went at the same time as we were divided into slots based on last name initials and they had B and C. I had H, so I never got there at the same time, we had to be sneaky and they would stay longer or text me the location of our backpack houses so I could claim my territory beside them.

In elementary school, which was kindergarten to seventh grade, us older kids constantly had quarrels with the staff over reign of the playground. The wee ones had their playground portion and we had a more complex version but every time we came up with a game to play, the supervisors would say it was too dangerous since the embryos could see us and copy us and get hurt. Grounders was a no. Climbing on the monkey bars was a no. Going up the slide was a no. Being alive in the presence of seven year olds was a no. We weren’t allowed on their stupid little play ground, that was for them. We weren’t allowed on the field because it was always flooded. We couldn’t go inside to the library and read or the classroom and chill because outside air is important. The basketball court was constantly overrun with confused students that didn’t know what else to do, the four square court as well. Swings had a thirty swing limit which was no fun. Tetherball was okay. But seriously, what was with teachers not letting students inside during recess? It gets cold in the winter! Whether it be Ohio where I grew up or the rainforest part of Canada where I did the rest of my growing up, it got bloody cold in both places. I had this zip up jacket that had two inside pockets as well as outside ones and I would just hamster-style hoard a bunch of snacks in them for the road aka the twenty minutes I was exiled to the outside. I once led a rebellion of about six to eight warriors where we stormed the gates of the school and charged inside due to being fed up with our exile and the chilly weather. Now I like being outside, but not when I’m forced. Hell I even hid in the bathroom with my friends rather than go out into the frozen asphalt wasteland. Supervisors checked those bathrooms so it was very stressful contorting our bodies to hide in a stall whilst making it look empty.

Ah, school was weird. The rules made no sense and everything seemed so much more dramatic than it was. I was a solid C- to B+ student with a few A’s sprinkled here and there. I barely graduated. Despite years of being amongst others, my social skills are still awkward as shit. But in the end, at least I could show up and barely be a functioning person and wouldn’t get kicked out. Can’t say the same about having a job, if I took a day to sloth instead of work, I’d absolutely be fired. So, school had its quirks.

[wrestlezon]

liveblog containment zone for aew dynamite 8/31/22

its aew time. i better see a convincing explanation for this cm punk business. also im 15 minutes behind because i waited for my friend to get home

ooo we startin with moxley ring promo boos!! well, he IS in chicago he sassin it UP OOH BIG WORDS to be honest i think its fine moxley is champ. hes a cool guy. i do want some sort of explanation/resolution for the punk side of things tho. you know, as a punk fan. ooooo paper match contract on the ground… whos gonna get it they should turn the lights out and then have the contract vanish. maximum cliffhanger im so curious… who… OH ACE STEEL POCKETING IT… THE CM PUNK CONNECTION… they cliffhangered it. mad lads wait maybe they'll come back to this tonight. im sitting up in my seat.

backstage promo with jericho okey dokey daniel garcia……….. ooooh hes pledging to the JAS but putting his cards on the table: no cheatery. win legit if you want my respect love to see it. the drama… all is fair in wrestling and romance huh

bryan danielson vs hager whoa table tackle already huh danielson trying SO hard not to kick hager in the dick lets go bryan chants im trying to imagine a crowd chanting for hager and its making me laugh. in what universe would this occur man that slap was loud tho hager doing his heel kiss moves, the crowd doesnt even have it in them to boo him ok now they perked up to boo him for his little walk around flex YOU SUCK chants lol bryan revvin up bryan danielson kick moves! bcc elbow moves! oh theyve been countered flips! grabs! ok lmao hager just casually took his hand out of that hold danielson cant lock him his head is just far too slippery ok he got the lock now hager really does have really long limbs tho. danielson wins with a knee! yay

uh oh its 2point0. time for the big faction beatdown oooo everyone got chased off now its jericho's time to sneak in. for the sneak attack GARCIA!!!!!! OHHHHHHH LMAO garcia's "oh i fucked up again -_-" face LOLLLLL

the wingmen are protesting in the ring huh whos theme is this oh!!! its morrissey! hes back to beat up a bunch of annoying chumps. for community service whoa! stokely is here too hiring morrissey… but for why stokely. to what ends!!! tony schiavone asking the questions i want answers to. what ARE you up to stokely! WOW AGGRO im so curious to see what becomes of the Stokely Faction

backstage with united empire whoa! don callis is here doing evil don callis stuff is he going to turn on omega, or are they both just trying to get ospreay's goat hmm :/c thinking…

whoa! kip sabian video! throwing down against pac

HELL YEAH MIRO VIDEO PROMO!!!!!!!!! darby trying to turn malakai's minions against him whoa. sting is saying stuff even. that black mist did a number on him

AHHHH CULT OF PERSONALITY??? CM PUNK!!!!!!! aww look at this sad boy (staring at a polaroid labeled DO NOT BELIEVE HIS LIES) hmm dang thats a lot of plates and screws lmao crowdguy got owned "i probably shouldnt have said that" hee hee oh youre still trying to be a good guy. keep up the terrible work at it king my foot is fine. turns out my 100% is just weak now sorry punk but also lmao how can punk turn heel he loves the crowd and the crowd loves him he could blame the crowd for encouraging him to do dumb bullshit but i feel like thats too much of what kenny said last or last last week punk in his sadlad era. he is soooooo sad and dejected ohhh!! ace steel is here. pep talk your student mr steel PUNK LOOKS LIKE SUCH A POOR LITTLE MEOW MEOW LOLLLLL ohhhhh PUNK IS GETTING BULLIED AROUND A LIL jacket: OFF nips: OUT cm punk sadlad hours are OVER suddenly. just needed to get pushed around and yelled at a bit lmao ok dude really did just crumbled last week arbitrarily then huh either he oversold it or he is overly gassed up and gonna get owned again or win via the magic of Chicago (which uh. i mean. sounds lame when its just like that. we'll see)

JR arbitrates an argument between jungle boy and christian cage the spooky ambience in the background is making me laugh. opposite effect unfortunately youre not wrestling jungle boy. youre wrestling… JACK PERRY oh my. jack perry…

wardlow + ftr vs uhhhh whoops wait i wasnt looking sorry i tuned out at this point i was trying to get ingredients for lunchables

WHOA MOXLEY IS BACK the rematch is official i hope its a vicious bloody hell match i literally dont care who wins or who loses i just want a good fucking match which is what i THOUGHT i was going to get last week >:/ for dicking me around like this they will have to pull off an EXTRA good match to make it worth it. they could have just had a regular good match, but nooo, they did all this nonsense instead. now they have to make a legendary match to make up for it. is that what you wanted? pressure and expectations from me, the random viewer? biiiiiitch

backstage with the dark order oh no! preston vance is injured! evil uno is filling in to replace him! what the. andrade is here money??? the idea of andrade legitimately wanting to hire the dark order for any ends besides to sabotage them is so funny though they are not even the most competent out of the incompetent goofballs out there (the best friends, imo, are the most competent incompetents) oh i see andrade just has a compulsion, an obsession, about unmasking guys thats so funny because 10 and evil uno are like so not even REMOTELY in his path or field of view so andrade literally went out of his way to find the nearest masked guys and bully them i dont like the unmasking bits though but i can appreciate the concept of stupid badguy obsessions esp when andrade is doing them so incompetently just walking up and is like look money. hey. wanna take your mask off for me baby also 10 is always hanging out without his mask in vlogs as 10 so the privacy violation is less of a thing for him. not evil uno though leave him alone lmfao did 10 just no-sell that TASER

rush vs dante martin vs rey fenix vs yuta a taste of the ladder match on the ppv i see oh! yuta winning with the seatbelt! love to see it

backstage with alex reynolds and john silver oh no… your backups have been taken out. what now :)c oh hiiii hangmannnnn how unexpected

BEST FRIENDS ARE GOING TO LOSE 100%

i hope they at least give us a banger match on the way out though

excalibur forced to announce 10000 matches im glad they gave him more time this time around at least

the big semifinal! the elite vs united empire lmao kenny's entrance just DIGGING at ospreay there are so many crazy moves happening. im trying to pay attention however that spinny frontflip thing on ospreay though, yeowch did he get got for realsies with that "the basic sidestep" is my absolute favorite wrestling countermove ospreay just yoinking kenny's shirt off. im down for it oh kenny omega does cupping too. man's got a case of the pepperonis they pulled out all the stops i thought the elite were actually gonna lose for a hot second there

[ask-tachigin]

Gin, do you know about Tachihara’s other job?

Gin: no? What other job?

[4dtk]

he's gone soft!

hi can u tell i love cats? and i also love hesitant cat owners who eventually warm up to their cats <3 got inspired by grumpy dads who eventually starts cuddling and cooing at the cats they adopted lol. also, adopt don't shop!

"you... you want what?" megumi asks, putting on his uniform as you scrolled aimlessly on your phone.

you were sure he heard you since he was just a metre away from you, but even you knew that the boy had hearing problems sometimes. you could listen to the pleads of his divine dogs at the mention of another pet, curling up to you as a way to win back your heart.

"can we get a cat?" you ask again hopefully, scratching at the white dog's ears as a way to calm their whining while he buttons his top. you're prepared for his reply, anyway, having asked him about this for the longest time.

he sighs, too used to the black and white fur decorating his already messy bed. plus, he wouldn't want to add another animal to the mix, knowing how much he adored his dogs.

with megumi's sigh and delayed answer that never came, you shook your head to your question, putting on a smile so you could head out to a mission without facing your feelings.

"it's okay, babe, i was just trying my luck," you kissed his cheek as you walk past, holding out a hand for him to take. megumi lets out another sigh before deactivating his divine dogs, taking your hand hesitantly as you met up with gojo-sensei just outside the campus.

the exorcising was an easy job since it involved several grade three curses and a terrified child. still, it was nothing uncommon to see in a place where kids willingly skip into abandoned scary buildings on a dare.

"come. let's go somewhere," megumi says out of the blue, dragging you by the hand once you bid goodbye to the kids. you had no idea where the destination lay, only getting grunts and hums from the boy whenever you questioned him of the sudden detour.

the meows coming from inside the building shocks you, instantly bringing a smile to your face as you peeked over the display shelves and products on sale. without much thought, you entered as quietly as you could, greeted by the friendly receptionist with a grin on her face.

"hi! how can we help?" you were so immersed in the cats playing around, as well as the several others in their cages, that you don't hear your boyfriend entering and muttering something that makes you drop your jaw even more.

"we'd like to adopt a cat, please," megumi nods, taking your hand once again as you do a speechless double-take to your boyfriend and back to the receptionist. your puzzled face was apparent, but you lose it all once you see the cats running around in the shelter while she finishes up a document on the computer. soon, she stands, guiding the two of you around the place as she points out some of the dashing felines they had rescued.

"hi! hello! what a handsome boy!" you switched to a baby voice as a cat came up to your hand at the entrance of the cage, rubbing against it affectionately.

megumi watched as you greeted the many different cats, giving them nicknames of your own while cooing or making faces at them. he could only smile gently, letting you pull him every time you saw another quote-unquote 'handsome lad'.

you sigh dreamily, staring at the many cats with love in your eyes, scanning over those you interacted with over the last half 'n hour. as megumi reaches forward to point at one, the receptionist interrupts as if she's just recalled something.

"crap, i forgot to show you our older cats. they're lovely, although they might be less active and would rather chill in the sun," she explains as she walks.

"we don't have many elderly cats here, but they deserve a life with loving owners such as yourself as much as the youngins in here," she smiles, scratching one behind the ear.

you smile in reply, reaching over to pet them carefully. so fragile and wise, but they still looked charming, save for the energetic bursts that the younger cats had.

one cat caught had your eye, despite its shyness and apprehensive nature. she warmed up to you in a heartbeat, claiming your hand as a safe space after a good sniff. she purrs in an instant, headbutting your hand repeatedly as a gesture of affection.

"oreo doesn't interact with our visitors much," she says, "is she the one?"

"oreo... because she's black and white?" megumi asks, not exactly impressed with the name.

"you got it."

"yes, her," you say, cooing yet again with a voice ten times higher than the one you use with his shikigami.

the boy doesn't comment, tugging on you before you could lose yourself in the cat's eyes any longer. with a last flying kiss, you depart from oreo with a grin on your face.

"now, have you taken care of cats before? i'm sure your boyfriend here has more experience with dogs than he does with cats," you look at her in surprise, giggling at the assumption she made.

"how'd you know that?"

"just a hunch." megumi grunts again at the observation, not denying it as you answer her question.

"i have- had a cat back home. i couldn't fathom death again, so i never adopted another one," you frown, signing the papers with ease as you multi-tasked, "but i mean, this man is pretty fetching and a keeper, so it'll be nice to care for a cat together."

the two of you joke like old friends as the raven-haired boy blushes at the compliment, squeezing your hand in response.

within a few minutes, oreo was under your care, completing the process with a few toys, a scratching post as well as some food for the black and white cat.

you spent the whole evening with the new family member in your and megumi's shared room, getting oreo warmed up to the new environment and getting her to do a few tricks. she tired out quickly, but you don't mind as you lay on the floor with her, completing homework like it was nothing.

you had to retire, sometime and somehow as megumi urged you to shower, assuring that oreo wouldn't go anywhere.

you kept the shower short, regardless, dressing back up in record speed before coming face to face with megumi stroking oreo's fur as she curls up on his lap. he mumbles to her, bouncing his legs lightly as the cat rests her head on his calves.

"i just wanted to see (y/n)'s smile, but i guess you're pretty cute too," the corners of megumi's lips turn up at the soft meow from oreo, bending down to kiss her on the head.

"careful, hotshot, i might get jealous," you say, startling the poor boy. oreo doesn't give a shit, snuggling further into the warmth of his legs as he's stuck in the position on the floor.

"are cats always this clingy?"

"oreo might've had a rough time at her previous home, so she's glad to have someone to curl up against. they usually take longer to warm up to new owners but... she's a wise soul!" you laugh, squatting down to peck megumi on the lips.

"thank you."

"for what?" megumi's hand naturally rests on your thigh as you sit down beside him, while your head find its spot on his shoulder.

"for adopting a cat. for giving oreo a home, even if you like dogs a bit more."

he hums, "i like all animals, but dogs on the scale are a little bit higher than everything else."

he turns to you, causing you to lift your head off of your resting place.

"but i think if my love likes cats then, i'm willing to bump it up the scale to match it with my love for dogs."

you shove him lightly, laughing softly at his attempts at flirting.

"did gojo-sensei ask you to say that?"

the answer is clear when he rolls his eyes with a blush on his pale cheeks, but engages you in a deep kiss either way, smiling and speaking through it.

"he did but, i think it's pretty true when it comes to you."

[jae-canikeepyou]

| into you | j.jh

pair: jaehyun x fem!reader

word count: 7.7k+

summary: as the uni campus’ social butterfly, it’s a given you have a lot of friends, invited to almost all gatherings and all adore you. for the latter, jaehyun does too. he’s so into you and likes how you’re his happy place. or; jaehyun— an unsocial, often misunderstood person, finds his behaviour different with you and perhaps wants to keep you for himself, not anyone else.

genre: fluff + elite!au

a/n: i’m back after a while since i’ve been so so busy! this is not proofread again and i’m sorry if there are any grammar mistakes down there :> this is not canon with “letting go” scenario in case there’s any similarities with the characters. hehe anyway i hope you all enjoy reading! ♡ ~j.

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seated at the front row in the amphitheatre-shaped lecture hall, jaehyun frustratingly put his hood back on to hide himself from those who were staring from all around. they were definitely whispering about him, hands by their lips to conceal their voices in case he heard them. he hated this much attention, all because he chose stay of out school and classes— and claimed that it didn’t interest him.

so did coming today.

but the point was his attendance for this class was on the line and his busybody parents were sick of receiving phone calls or mails that kept filling their boxes, all for the same reason; that their son could be expelled despite handing assignments.

he rolled his eyes at the heat creeping up his ears as the whispers grew louder. he slammed the thin granite table, causing everyone to flinch at the sound and his presence. “can i have some quiet?! i can hear you guys talking crap about me!” he turned around at the pairs of eyes, soon frozen like meerkats.

they ticked him off. he couldn’t stand being in the same room with people who repeatedly questioned his existence of being here. he knew that rumours were going around, that the ‘jeong jaehyun’ in high school got into an private elite university— it could be anywhere but never expected it‘d be this campus. it was written in the judgment of their faces.

“chill man,” a guy his age swung his lollipop with legs on the desk. “some are curious why you decided to show up today since first semester’s a week away from ending, while some even wonder why you got into such prestigious and elite university.”

jaehyun’s eyed him slowly from legs to head. “who are you supposed to be?” he snorted at the stranger.

“just a guy who wants to break the distraught you’re trying to start.” he kicked his legs off the desk and stood up on his suede shoes, showing off his pearly whites.

he looked at everyone whose eyes averted from the two of them. “our town’s a small neighbourhood, so everybody knows everybody. we know exactly who you are, jeong jaehyun.”

“excuse me?” he swirled his tongue that it was evident he was pissed. “careful what you accuse me of. you and i both know it’s not going to end well-”

“they’re near they’re near!” a voice echoed the hall, cutting jaehyun’s attempt to intimidate the young man any further.

and with that signal alone, jaehyun could see and observe ladies fixing their hair and make-up, while the guys gave fistbumps to those near them. he rolled his eyes at him returning the favour to them as the guy unbuttoned his collar. “what’s wrong with you?” jaehyun was utterly weirded out. “with everyone?”

the crimson-haired guy only gave a flirty grin with raised brows. “this happens everytime.“

the door swung open with the professor rushing in. the students swifted heads, it wasn’t the first time he ever was late. he was young and good-looking, and it was hard to believe he still a bachelor. he gestured someone at the door, then the held-in giggles and mumbles were soon replaced with whispers of awe, as you walked in carefully with a tower of binder folders halfly covering your view.

clearly the guys around him have been secretly admiring; some had the confidence of taking selfies even if you were far, while others took a picture with their eyes so you were marked in their memories. ladies flocked towards the flustered professor like little chicks and surrounded him.

and that’s when the comments started coming in.

“park seojoon is so hot.” “hey remember to use ‘professor’.” “i guess genes runs in the family.” “his sister is ethereal too.” “i see her weekly and y/n’s a goddess.” “y/n! are you coming to the party tonight?”

jaehyun knew who you were through social media and common friends. and he included himself part of the people who admire you. he also remembered because he bumped into you during orientation. he wouldn’t usually care about passerby’s and strangers and although that was a brief moment and short eye contact, something about you was hard to not forget. you had people and friends under a charming spell he couldn’t describe, and that was in a good way.

you tucked a strand behind your ear and became shy afterwards as they whistled and cheered towards your gesture, making you heat up a thousand degrees higher. you should be used to this but every time it happens, you were just as flustered as your brother.

jaehyun’s legs got up on its own and was surprised at himself for making his way to help you. he picked up the fallen binder files and scattered papers while the whiskers by your eyes creased up in shyness.

he hitched a breath realising that the clumsy you was adorable too.

“thank you.” a smile then appearing at the corners of your lips caused jaehyun to freeze for a while. yuta wouldn’t miss anyone’s reaction. he slid his chair close to jaehyun’s as the he came back, nudging his chair for him to give into your beauty.

“i know a person with heart eyes when i see one. now you understand why we’re whipped for y/n. isn’t she a babe- agh.” he held the back of his head from the smack.

“don’t call me that, nakamoto.” you hissed sharply with how confident and careless he could get, especially with people you weren’t familiar with. you looked at the guy in a black sweater and let out an embarrassed sigh. “i’m sorry about my annoying best friend. yuta tends to be chatty when he feels lonely.” you winked at him.

it was jaehyun’s turn to flash short chuckle, its faint sounds perked not only your ears, but yuta’s as well. “not a problem. i know a lonely person when i see one.” jaehyun emphasised through his gaze.

“i’m not lonely! i have y/n and my men!” he whined and turned towards you. “see what you did y/n?”

“it’s good to finally see you, jeong jaehyun.” you ignored yuta and brought out a hand for a greeting.

you pursed your lips to stifle a laugh, jaehyun’s ears quickly turned from pink to red. he gulped loudly and took your hand in his, eyebrows lifting at how you knew his name.

lost for words and you both locked eyes where he forgot to let your hands go. “we take the same course together? i know your name because you’re the only one missing from the class-” you said, shaking his hands to subtly let him know it had been a minute since your hands felt his vainey flesh.

“okay young lad that’s enough time holding my sister.” seojoon separated your hands and jaehyun snapped out of his admiration, inhaling quite stressfully with how stupid he looked. “get to your class y/n.”

“alright, i’ll see you at tea hour.” you waved at the boys.

“as long as you’re treating i’ll go.” yuta hummed in a monotonous voice, fixing his laces that went untied.

“i’m not talking to you dimwit.” you flicked his forehead, leading to your satisfaction of the nut-like sound from it. “jaehyun, because you missed yesterday’s class, prof assigned me to assist you, along with the other topics you’ve yet to cover. i’ll be expecting you at the café near campus.”

before you stepped out of the hall, yuta pulled your sweater, yanking you back. “are you going to taeyong’s party tonight? you never miss an event!”

you puckered your lips, pinching his cheeks that a cute gummy smile came out from it. “you know my rules. as long as you’re driving me home, i’ll go. see you later.”

jaehyun nodded yet was still in a daze. he realised what you said when yuta pushed him. “gross. don’t act as if we’re already close.”

“hm? was i really? i think it’s normal when you’re making a move on my best friend.” he brought out his laptop and typed his password.

i wasn’t. “whatever.”

and to say that jaehyun didn’t feel butterflies flying uncontrollably in his stomach would be an understatement. they made the intestine churn in ways he couldn’t imagine, and he himself wanted to deny that what he was feeling was just from the influence of others. but wouldn’t that mean his feelings were temporary? because if it were, he should perceive you an ordinary person.

yet here he was outside, still admiring you before he entered the café. he found it was amusing of how oblivious you were of his presence— you were too immersed into this assigned task by professor, but others found it funnier when jaehyun looked stupidly in-love and cowardly the lad looked, despite having the overall aura of a stuck-up.

as the sun’s rays brightened the city and the wind’s breeze made the trees leaves dance, only then had you raise your head to see jaehyun waving at you. ten minutes early, not bad for an actual first impression. “hey,” he greeted, making you smile with his low but gentle voice. “am i late?”

you took your bag from across and asked him to sit down. “no no. you’re just in time, it’s really nice to have an early bird around.”

his dimples deepened at the compliment. “how about the project? is it too late? you think i can still catch up?” jaehyun cleared his throat.

“that depends on your dedication. based on the record professor gets, you’ve been doing your tasks and homework quite diligently. he’s just worried about your habit of not attending his lectures might lead to procrastination when second semester starts.” you gave him a slice of cheesecake to eat. “he’s still teaching us another subject.”

“it’s quite the contrary.” he dove in for the dessert. “i don’t have the will to procrastinate at all.”

“then good.” you twisted the pen in your fingers. “let’s get started?”

for that span of two hours, how he wished it could be more. who knew you would have a lot of things in common with him? that time alone was not enough to talk about vinyl and jazz singers and pretty much everything that were overlooked by people. he brought up his favourite spots in the city and how they became a safe haven to escape the reality.

to cut the explaining short, his shell slowly started to open, bits and new things were showing. if you were surprised he was a good person, jaehyun himself couldn’t believe he was able to converse with people normally. being the awkward and shy type, doing this almost seemed impossible.

was it your magic that caused him to do so?

you learnt that jaehyun was rather special and by special it meant he had gifts that you believed were way beyond human limits. he never studied in a library, rewatched lectures or written his notes. and the professor mentioned how jaehyun received good grades in most of the things he submitted.

to be very honest, you were a little jealous. from how he was sitting in front of you, he didn’t seem to be interested but was definitely listening. and you sort of gave up in continuing anyway. “i don’t understand why i’m told i need to guide you when you’ve already caught up with everything.” you let out a soft chuckle that seemed more of a question.

“i was waiting for you to stop..” jaehyun said quite blatantly and stretched his arms and you were hurt because if he didn’t want to, he could’ve said so. heck, even more so, he shouldn’t have come here and wasted time-

“..because it looked like you were forced to do this by prof.” his smile then faded seeing you mirror the same. “are you alright? you’re a little pale..”

your eyes widened. “oh uh, sorry, i assumed-” you sputtered and probably died inside with what he said. you cursed in your mind. dammit y/n.

jaehyun raised his brows, making you more flustered and panicky. you sighed and waved your ‘its-nothing’ hand. “assumed that i’m brusque and a stuck-up?”

he pierced his eyes at you and you weren’t going to lie, he scared you a bit. but that fear immediately disappeared when a gentle giggle and adorable dimples replaced it. “i get that a lot, but don’t worry. i’m different from what people think. they think i’m not friendly, a-and a loner too.”

“you’re not.” he heard you counter him, slightly slamming the fork down. “if you were, you wouldn’t be here with me. or even bothered to come.”

his heart became warm through your words, that act of kindness torn down his walls of inferiority and his perception towards people changed. “thanks.” he checked the time on his watch and twisted his wrist to show to you. “don’t you have a party to attend to?”

“lee taeyong’s?” you stood up to leave the café. “i feel like skipping it for tonight. i’m not in the mood for parties somehow.”

“because i’m a better company for you?” jaehyun teased and boy was he proud with his remark, you didn’t even deny it. “you don’t have to go if you really don’t want to. it’s better to have time for yourself sometimes.”

“you’re saying from experience?” you asked, putting pressure on your words about his claim of being alone.

“it’s more of an advice for you.” he winked.

you thought he was quite observant even though he barely socialised with others. he noticed the light in your eyes sparkling, in which he felt his chest squeeze. you twirled in your toes as you hugged your laptop. “say.. are you up for a movie marathon?”

—

including now, it’d be the fourth time you both have rewind the specific scene just for that certain song jaehyun kept singing nonstop. and although you loved his voice, having the song on replay would be a little too much and the purpose of the marathon might go in vain. it seemed jaehyun was way into it, so interrupting him would be mean of you so you sang along.

“the nostalgia still hits me ‘til this day.” jaehyun tossed a bag of chips from your kitchen island to you.

jaehyun kept saying it may sound stupid and corny coming from him, but as a child he liked the whole high school musical series; and he pretty much became one when breaking free started to play.

because you both couldn’t decide where to watch the beloved movies by everyone, the marathon ended up being at your apartment. it was subtle, yet quite obvious to you he didn’t want it to be held in his place. you thanked your psychology course for giving lessons to notice even the little things in behaviour.

“how many times do i have to keep telling you it’s okay to like it? not like anyone would tease you for it.” you giggled as you opened the bag and popped a couple of chips into your mouth.

“yeah sure, but i know you would.” he squinted his eyes for you to admit that that was your plan eventually.

“have i?” you singsonged, sipping on the large cola cup.

he pointed at the hairbrush you held and suddenly you bursted out in laughter since jaehyun was obviously— maybe a little— offended with how you mimicked him singing earlier. “okay you caught me.”

jaehyun felt his entire body heating up. still in denial about actually being into you, he took a challenge upon himself and scooted next to you. his arms slightly brushed and touched against yours. “you in for hsm 2?”

“well we are having a marathon, might as well go for camp rock later.” you shrugged and eyed him with a confirming gaze.

“uh-huh.. but i’m still a fan of the trilogy.” jaehyun stole the chips in your hands.

“now aren’t you cheeky.” you gasped at his playful behaviour, and you didn’t dislike it. perhaps you prefer this naught over yuta’s as it didn’t get into your nerves or have the urge to hit him because of the hyperness.

he sat deeper into the beanbag. “i’m comfortable in here. your house feels too homey.”

“so is it my fault that you’re in your comfort zone?” you stated, taking the bag of chips back into your arms.

“yes.” he protested with frequent waves of his palms. “you’re too kind and i might come here to visit often.”

“suit yourself.”

since he arrived here it had him wondering, why did he decide to show up today at campus when there was actually a pure human being like you? he just needed a person— just one— to knock onto his heart. yet with many people in his life trying to do the same thing, none held the correct key. and somehow,

it had to be you.

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you’ve lost count of the number of times jaehyun has been hanging at your crib since then. it became a normal routine but never have you been to his place. it was always yours and you didn’t mind that. though he did promise, you respected his decision.

you found out he could be little dorky and corny but that was the unique trait about him. like friends at kindergarten, you both were still at a get-to-know-each-other stage. so that day, he created a schedule where he would hang out with you on wednesdays and fridays, claiming that he didn’t want to be seen by others, e.g. mr. nobody with ms. golden girl.

however, since then, people close to you have been looking at you rather differently. it wasn’t because they sometimes see jaehyun following you around, they sensed a different aura from you. you could feel their piercing stares from all directions, as if you were the centerpiece of a watch. there was something a little different than usual.

and you tried to ignore this ominous feeling for now.

yuta shook his legs vigorously, in which was an unsightly act to see for someone on the soccer team. you could see him from afar with his hands by his lips, biting it as he waited for your arrival at the university’s sports ground. jaehyun jogged towards you with his bag slung diagonally across his torso. he poked your neck and as a person with severe tickle spots, that caught you off guard into a fight-me position to the doer.

“chill, it’s just me.” jaehyun had both of his hands up, whiskers appearing just by the sides of his nose.

“jaehyun!” you relaxed your limbs. “got a better way of greeting? i don’t like being surprised.” you pulled the hem of his sleeve, missing how he pursed his lips in glee when you both instantly became close, like it was overnight.

he let you grab him as you both walked towards where yuta was standing by the bleachers. “i’m sorry?” he giggled loud enough only for you to hear. “i thought i’d get a priceless reaction from you.”

you rolled your eyes that it almost hurt doing so. “be glad i have enough patience for you.”

“and i didn’t have enough patience last night!” yuta joined the conversation seeing you and jaehyun before him. “where have you been? you said you were coming to my place yesterda- why is he here?” he looked at him then at you. “with you? again?”

“ever thought that i want to have my own ‘me’ time for once?” you took off your cardigan and placed it on the bleachers. you could feel jaehyun chuckling softly when you made reference to his remark.

and boy was he proud. “you’re emphasising on that quite often nowadays.” he helped you carry your bag as you to settled down.

“that’s because i never realised how true it actually is until i say it out loud, since being in everyone’s eyes does pressure me.” you balled your fists to nudge him lightly on the arm, and for him to dramatically receive the attack did put yuta in an awkward position.

“uh hello? i’m still here!” in front of you and jaehyun, yuta snapped his fingers several times to divert attention. “what’s going on with you two? how are you both suddenly so close when you’ve just met for the first time two weeks ago?”

jaehyun swifted his head towards you, and the telepathic exchange of words between you and him had yuta clicking his tongue in disbelief. “you were right, he will react.” jaehyun’s voice prolonged while munching on a corn dog.

“told you so.” you flicked your hair and turned to yuta as you continued talking. “bestie, we’ve been seeing each other since then.”

what the hell? the way yuta’s face turn sour at your smile towards jaehyun, he could almost faint right then and there since he swore he saw mr. dimples smile subtly at you too. “and with just that i’ve been replaced-”

“no i would never replace my best friend.” you held his palms hoping he would calm down from his high emotions, but he immediately pulled his hand away from you, much to your dismay. “hey, i’m here to make amends-”

“yeah?” he clicked on a pen and wrote something on a tissue, soon grabbing your bag from the seat and fished out your wallet. “then you’re treating me my meals for a month. i have another order right now.”

now it was your turn whose face became sour. “a month?! i can’t do that- hey!”

yuta tossed your credit card up in the air and upon seeing his eyes darken— though that was all in your head—you gave in and sighed heavily. you stomped your way to the caféteria while yuta comfortably put one leg on the benches with a satisfied grin. “man she’s easy to tease.”

“is that so? then i know now who she gets it from.” jaehyun said through his chews on his food, making yuta’s ears perk up at the response.

the atmosphere lingering between the two of them invited dark clouds. both could sense the change in their moods, and they both weren’t liking it.

yuta spun and played the ball on his hands then forearms, later let out a scoff when jaehyun raised his brows. he didn’t like the vibe jaehyun was giving and so did the latter. “i do it for fun. it’s natural between us.” yuta said.

“hm? she told me she doesn’t like it when you do.” he saw you on your tiptoes as you struggled to tell the order to the person at the high-levelled counter. but another scoff came out from yuta. “you got a proble-?”

“yeah kinda.”

“i don’t think so. i can tell it really bothers you when y/n hangs out with me.” jaehyun sat up straight at yuta’s comment about him.

“i should be. because i’m her best friend and who knows what type of person you are.” he did a few tricks with his legs. “but if you really want to know then your attitude is what i have problems with.”

“i remember telling you it wouldn’t be good for you when accuse me wrongly.”

he let out a monotonous and rather mocking laugh, taking jaehyun aback but he anticipated this kind of response from him. “and what? you’ll go berserk like you did years ago? as a high school freshman? beating the innocent up or whoever comes your way?”

“look i don’t know where the hell that came from but it’s not what you or everyone else thinks.” jaehyun aggressively crumpled the hotdog wrapper in his palms.

“c’mon you don’t have to hold it all in,” yuta set his ball aside and rested his hands on his waist. jaehyun was getting uncomfortable the more he listened to him. “unleash that side-”

jaehyun rolled his tongue, nodding his head to test him. “alright, i guess i don’t have to when i have feelings for y/n. thanks for the advice.”

what the..? yuta stared at him when there wasn’t a change in his expression. jerk- “now you’re talking. you wanna fight? let’s do that-”

“tsk yuta! the bill’s too expensive!” you whined and gently put down the tray.

while yuta clicked his tongue at your sudden entry and with how quickly you came back, for a moment jaehyun wanted to hug you for being his saviour. he was so close to lose his temper towards your best friend. the relief seen in his tensed shoulders, but you interpreted it otherwise. “are you okay?” you asked while you sat down beside him.

he hummed, folding his arms and looking at the distance, clearly avoiding eye contact with yuta. “mhm, i just realised the deadline is coming up in three days.” he excused.

you managed to utter out a giggle as you finally ate, finding out how jaehyun’s ears always turned red when given attention to. “you’re stressed about it?”

“aren’t you?” jaehyun drank the remains of his soda.

“not really since i finished mine. but, if you’re worried about your progress, i can help you.” you swirled the fork in the air like a wand. jaehyun smiled to himself when yuta took his ball to throw a fit.

“i’m not worried about the project. but there’s an annoying bug i’m trying to hit so help me.” jaehyun’s dimples appeared deeply again and as the darkening ombré sunset shoned his side profile, there you witnessed how pure he actually was— and you missed out on yuta’s frown towards jaehyun.

you gulped and almost choked on your own saliva, eyes still locked in jaehyun’s. his hair caught in the wind, making it look fluffy and his entire demeanour softer than you usually see him. you hitched a breath since jaehyun seemed like he had no plans to avert his gaze too. both of you were definely mesmerised and hypnotised, and for jaehyun it was just like that time. he remembered the colour palette of your makeup while you recalled the perfume he wore.

in the recent marathons with him you’ve never been this close, physically speaking. so this close-up really debunked the impression you heard from people, especially from yuta.

however, as you were oblivious with the pressure behind jaehyun’s words and even smiled back at him, yuta flicked your temple. he was indeed a worry wart and sometimes he would like to flick you just this once for being too much of a social butterfly. he knew it was in your nature to be kind and always on the look out for others. he’s fine when you were with anyone except with this guy you befriended. not him.

he dodged your flying limbs in attempts to hit him. “oi, you’re not going to ask how i am? if i’m worried?”

the pain from the flick remained on your temple. “no? you look fine to me-” you stared at your phone. the message reminding you of the singles elite party a month from today at 8pm. “a party?”

“yeah if you attended the previous party you’d know that there’ll be another one after taeyong’s.” yuta took off his shoes in change for his casual.

“hm. i’m don’t feel like going.” you jumped off the bleachers to dust off your pants. “probably gonna be boring.”

“i’m the one who’s holding it this time!” yuta put you under a headlock in his arms. “you’re ditching your best friend?!”

you giggled and ticked his sides and followed it with a playful hug. “just kidding. i heard from momo! i’ll be there.” you brushed your hair up into a messy bun while spotting jaehyun starting to feel out of place. “oh! do you wanna come to the party, jae?”

yuta mentally facepalmed and it was given he didn’t like what you did. but your eyes were quick to see his reaction and you slapped his chest. he glared at you while his hands caressed it. why did you have to invite him? it was the whole purpose why he decided to hold a party; maybe you’d finally appreciate his hardwork, or perhaps, notice him as someone more and as not a best friend who only worries and teases you.

jaehyun nodded in response, no words needed. a smile crept your lips as if you were given chocolates on valentine’s. “cool.” you pulled him on the wrist after hearing the coach calling yuta, followed with a loud whistle. “ah yuta, we‘ll get going! see you.”

“mm yeah..” yuta hummed, seeing you both vanish in the distance. “see you..”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

your sulking self laid sideways by jaehyun’s lap, head rested on a pillow. it’s been too long since yuta avoided you, purposely ditched your hangouts, seenzoned your messages and ignored your calls. as if these weren’t obvious enough for you to know something was up. there definitely was but you couldn’t put a finger to it. so you forced jaehyun to let you stay at his place, being it your apartment was currently invaded by your brother’s friends from abroad.

but honestly it was also because you discovered jaehyun’s unit was blocks away from yours. fate was gladly on your side.

“y/n, you know i can’t work properly when you’re like this.” jaehyun sighed while he adjusted his sitting posture and lifting his laptop.

you slightly and lazily your body turned upright, seeing his dimples beginning to show themselves. “let me be.” you complained.

jaehyun put down his laptop. “i can’t. you’re in my way of cramming hours. plus, how long have you been coming here? it’s getting too frequent..” he paused when your eyes were no longer on him— rather they were on your phone, staring at the last conversation from yuta.

he couldn’t bring himself to say that he was reason why yuta acting the way he was to you. and for all honesty he would keep this matter to himself. “did i do something wrong?” you asked.

“of course not. he’s probably in his emo phase. guys have them a lot more than you think.” jaehyun typed on the keyboard for the remaining parts of the essay. “but he’ll get out of it eventually.”

“fine i’ll trust on that.” you sat up and scooted over to see his progress. you submitted your assignment hours ago. looking at jaehyun, it seemed he was struggling at some parts. were you unconsciously pressuring him? the beads of sweat began to roll down his temples and that made you giggle if it was the case. uh-huh. he was really feeling that way.

he gulped so loudly that it came out as a weird noise. he hoped you didn’t hear that. but the way you pursed your lips to hold the laughter in only had him discontinuing his report. “d-don’t do that.”

“do what?” you snicker.

jaehyun rolled his eyes and poked your forehead. “you’re too distracting.”

oh how the tables have turned. that comment flipped your head upside down, your heart in a frenzy and stomach churning. it wasn’t “so”, but “too”— that only meant he wasn’t concentrating on his work for a while.

even so, you waited for him to finish despite questionable feelings you’ve been feeling. his coffee cup already did seconds and thirds. and suddenly you remembered the happy hour the local café was promoting and there was a few minutes left until it ends for the day. you had to bring him there.

but you decided that because you wanted to be out of that suffocating air jaehyun caused.

—

the more you walked faster, the more jaehyun’s wrist reddened and hurt. but he let you be as he liked how you were comfortable with someone like him. your hair flowed with the wind, the remains of your shampoo left a sweet scent. was it lavender? and the wind blew stronger, making the scent clearer to the nose. his heart skipped beats, because it was indeed lavender. he swore in his head. scrap aside the frequent marathons and meet-ups. lavender’s all the more reason why fell for you quickly than ever.

and when the local café closed early for the day, you almost lost sight of the pedestrian signs. jaehyun pulled you in as the light emitted red. though you had your emotions get the best of you, you realised how childish you were for something so minor. you laughed in awkwardness, he did too. “i didn’t want anyone to see this side-”

warmth. that was all you thought of right there. you were in his embrace.

“..of me.” you soon mumbled in his chest, realising later of the action he just did. “jaehyun-”

“it’s okay. i don’t too.” his hand gently caressed the back of your head, treating it with care as if he held a newborn baby. “so can i keep you?”

that warmth became hotter, almost boiling that you weren’t able to breathe properly. “i’m sorry.” he said, that must’ve surprised you.” jaehyun chuckled.

surprised? of course you were. how was it natural for him to do skinship? and that smoothly? you both weren’t at that stage yet, let alone have a relationship with mutual feelings. even yuta couldn’t hug you because of how conscious you felt.

but then again, you looked up. you saw his ears. it was red, the usual reaction whenever you were with him. was it normal though? you were never aware of it up until now.

because it was so clear now.

“i’ll see you tomorrow? i have to help my mom with some things.” you lied as you scratched your neck.

jaehyun nodded and pulled away. “alright, go on ahead.”

you poked his dimples because he has been staring at you like he had questions to ask. “what is it?”

maybe he didn’t notice or maybe he did, but he was leaning closer, his head tilting to the side and eyes staring into your soul. you knew what he was about to do, you feel like letting him do so but at the same time you weren’t sure of your feelings.  

just a little more and you could’ve locked lips but..

your phone vibrated.

in panic you looked at your device and eyes widened that brought jaehyun aback.

“ah yuta!” you brought your phone so close to your face, not believing your best friend’s announcement on social media, in which he then followed up with a text message.

the light in your eyes was something jaehyun liked seeing, but didn’t so as well.

“oh! he said the concept for the elites’ party is live wardrobe. all singles will go through a ballot draw. it’s for the clothes to wear for the night..” you locked your phone. “tsk i wanted to wear my favourite dress.”

“i think you’ll look great in whatever gown is chosen for you.” jaehyun pat your head while you were immersed in your phone. “now go. it’s getting late.”

“i’ll expect the same for you.” you replied.

he laughed and that didn’t want to make you leave just yet. “nah don’t. i’m just ordinary in a suit.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

funny how he was so damn wrong.

fate let him draw red, and confidently chose a suit once it was his turn to change. it was as if he knew this attire would go well with him. a suede texture with a black outline on its collar accentuated his brushed up light brown hair, while his black under-shirt contrasted with his porcelain skin. gladly it wasn’t halloween, or else you would’ve mistaken him for a vampire.

he had you feeling all sorts of things, and you didn’t know why when you were nothing more than friends.

an hour ago he was in his usual casual wear. now he was surrounded with ladies who already seemed like they were friends with him for decades. you could see jaehyun was uncomfortable but he kept his cool with folded arms as he leaned against a column. the comments from them irritated you, because at one point they were badmouthing him— and the second he showed up they flooded him with compliments of his good looks and how they named him the “model elite”.

you swirled the wine glass in your hand, the other arm hugged your waist. you rolled your eyes at the falseness these people have towards him. “can’t believe it.” your fingers curled as irritation began to cover your sight. “look at them trying to make a move on him. erlgh too close. they weren’t like that before.”

sicheng rolled his tongue, hands in pockets and walked to be in front of you. “really? you weren’t like that before too.” he pointed out.

“i agree. recently you’re stuck like glue whenever you’re with him.” yuta gestured.

“am so not?” you gasped while your eyes trailed to jaehyun, who was still had patience for the ladies surrounding him. “i just like how he’s a good friend.”

“doubt it.” sicheng poked your cheek. “you wouldn’t feel like this when you have feeli-”

not this again. “i’m grabbing a drink.” yuta suddenly cut the conversation.

“get me one too!” the younger one yelled and after he was satisfied with the gesture, he winced as you pinched his sides from the remark he said earlier. “ow! y/n! it’s true though! i know what i’m seeing!”

truthfully, nothing about sicheng’s words or actions bothered you. but if there was anything that did, it was your own heart. as of tonight, you began to question your feelings towards jaehyun. when did it start? how was it possible to like someone so quickly? “i’m telling you i don’t.” your eyes trailed to him, not realising the rush of heat creeping your cheeks.

jaehyun was approached by yuta, who was giving him a glass of beer. the ladies fled after stealing pictures of the guy and he took the drink in his hands. then they headed towards the garden of the mansion. wonder what he’s here for?

“nice party you have here. concept’s cool.” jaehyun started to break the lingering silence because he knew how awkward this was going to be with your best friend.

“yeah, never knew you’d end up in red. it’s y/n’s favourite colour.” yuta’s voice lowered. there was an impact jaehyun could describe but assuming that would be too rude of him.

“really? i didn’t know.” he hummed. aren’t you a little too happy, jaehyun told himself. he shook it off, for he doesn’t expect him and you to go any further than this.

“now you do. so can you back up for a while? take a week off or something from y/n.” yuta raised his brows.

this was the same feeling from before. he knew this feeling because he felt the exact same way. he wanted to be selfish for once. not like he hated yuta, it was just.. he always had to appear whenever he didn’t want him to. then he would mess his mood. he interrupted his joy of admiring you. jaehyun licked his lips to dampen them. “i’m sorry, who are you to tell me what to do?”

yuta grinned and leaned against the column as he mirrored jaehyun. “don’t you get it?” he asked, his tone rising. “i love y/n. you entering the picture just ruins everything.”

my hunch’s correct. he does love y/n. “if you love her you wouldn’t ignore her.”

“it’s because you’re with her! and she does the same to me! it’s like she’s found someone else-”

“you’re being dramatic.” jaehyun pushed himself off the column and turned to him. “y/n’s sad and moping around because you treated her like she’s all alone. you have no idea how much she waited for you to contact her.”

“what do you know, smartass? you’re just another guy trying to fit in when you know you couldn’t. no matter how much you tried, everyone’s afraid of you. and now you’re telling me you have feelings for y/n? please.” his lips jutted with sounds of disbelief while his body posture challenged jaehyun. “y/n’s kind to everyone she meets. it’s who she is. but to think you have hope to be with someone like her? if you ask me, all i see is a greatest mismatch.”

jaehyun usually didn’t give a damn of the comments about him. he couldn’t care less of any of those. in fact he’d hear them through one ear and out they went. but when he said anything, it irked him.

you see, that was the thing— right now, he actually listened.

he turned a blind eye on yuta’s words and let it off for the night. he was given a drink and maybe the alcohol didn’t work its way on him than it did to guy. in the end, yuta was probably spilling tea even if he didn’t intend to.

“what i feel for y/n has nothing to do with you. just like people can’t control the tides,” jaehyun lightly knocked onto yuta’s chest. “i can’t control mine.”

the footsteps echoed in yuta’s ears, he could hear them despite the noisy hall. “rghhh!” he grabbed hold of his glass and threw it towards jaehyun.

sounds of shattering glass met the ground, as well as catching everyone’s attention. then there was silence. jaehyun began to lose his patience as he turned around. his smirk challenged him. ouch. this was the fight yuta was looking for, seeing jaehyun’s heavy breaths only made him stand on his toes.

jaehyun punched him in the jaw though he knew it wasn’t worth his time. but he wanted to give him a taste of stepping beyond boundaries. yuta punched him back too. he made sure the star of the night was the other— shone the brightest and reveal his true nature. he didn’t count the number of hits he received, as long as jaehyun stayed that way.

“i told you it wouldn’t be good if you provoked me!” jaehyun growled. “you’re asking for show? i’ll give you one!”

“huh..” yuta wiped his bleeding lip. “you sure about that, beast?”

jaehyun held himself for the next punch, feeling all of the pairs of eyes on him. yours included. that was what he feared. “aw. what impression does she have on you now?” yuta’s cooing words caused jaehyun’s eyes to soften.

all bleeding and bruised, jaehyun’s injuries have matched with his suit. he clenched his fists as he frustratingly left the hall.

in your peripheral, your eyes trailed his direction and your legs followed him by heart, without realising yuta calling out your name several times. everything went blank, not thinking things straight because while everyone watched, no one understood. you glared at yuta before heading outside, a more disappointed sigh was the only response he got from you.

yuta was then nudged by sicheng. the latter could see the change in his expression. “what did i tell you?”

“you don’t have to tell me.” yuta dusted his pants.

“i’m still gonna.” sicheng rolled his eyes and poked the lad’s temple. “that’s what you call ‘stupidity’. if only you confessed to her before maybe things would be different between you guys.”

“i don’t want things to be different dude.”

“i’m gonna state the obvious, you probably already know this but.. you lost this battle.”

“crap..” yuta’s voice changed from a nervous chuckle to a soft sob. “i liked her first.”

you spotted jaehyun sitting atop a metal barrier just in front of the carpark— head down to mend his injuries and scratches. he sniffed from the cool night breeze before hopping off. “you’ll hurt your feet.” he pointed at the heels you had dangling in your hands.

his gaze softened when you pointed at his face, especially the black eye. “touché.” he chuckled, later feeling your cold hands against his throbbing flesh. “it’s no big deal-”

“i’m sorry about yuta’s behaviour.” you sighed. “don’t let it get into you. he’s an airhead when he’s drunk-”

“you sure? he seemed pretty sober when he said- ah.” he pursed his lips to speak any further. “nevermind.”

now that gotten you curious. “what did he say? spill it!” you whined, causing jaehyun mouth to curve a little in amusement.

jaehyun prolonged the silence and grabbed your shoes, leading you towards his car. once he unlocked it and opened the door, he bursted out in a loud, healthy laugh. “he said he was head over heels for you.”

you pushed him to the driver’s seat and slammed the door, rolling your eyes at the pun. “that was so lame!” you sat on the other side. “but i know that already if you thought i didn’t. i subtly turned him down ages ago. guess he didn’t take the message.”

“clearly.”

as you tended to his wounds, one question still had your curiosity at its peak. jaehyun was quiet through-out, so it was hard to bring the topic up for a while. until your eyes and his met.

“what did you tell him before he threw the glass at you?” you dabbed the cotton onto the beaten area. “it must’ve pissed him.”

he dropped his car keys and let out a nervous hum. “uh..” he didn’t know what else to say. right when he was finally about to tell you, you suddenly giggled.

“unless you told him you like me and that made him angry, but i doubt that happened.” your lips shrank to a circle, cursing at yourself for assuming too much. girl the guts you have was incomparable—

jaehyun’s large hand held yours while you continued to apply medication. the warmth, the heat and the building tension of skinship made you weak. “you’re right.”

your smile and breaths changed in an instant when he fixed himself on the seat. he smirked a little, finding how cute you were. it drove him crazy.

“i like you, for the longest time, since the orientation. i’m so into you that i couldn’t help myself be selfish and have you to myself— i- i don’t know what i’m saying.” he sighed, pushing himself away in embarrassment with arms above his face.

“t-thanks.” you fiddled with your fingers.

“i’m not asking for an answer. i just wanted to let you know.” he said. “gosh this is a bad timing for confession.”

“then is it a bad timing if i said i’m into you too?” you looked away and out in the distance. you could see his reaction on the window’s reflection. he was shocked, but an uncontrollable smile was forcing itself on the surface. it was written in the dimples.

“no,” his husky voice called you to look back. “you’re just about right.”