#(he also knew me for FIVE YEARS before i transitioned)

[slytherinslut0]

enemies w/ tension. | slytherin boy headcanons

author's note: feralism inside. readers be advised. eighteen plus.

- your enemies reaction to you bending over in front of them.

Draco Malfoy.

Draco Malfoy, as your enemy, was an absolute arsehat.

He’d purposely go out of his way to make your life a living hell whenever he bloody could.

The teasing and pranking was relentless; from accidentally spilling a particular shimmering potion on your white uniform blouse, rendering it perfectly see-through and exposing your bra to everyone in potions class, to pulling out your seat when you weren’t looking; he’d done it all.

He was an absolute menace, but you also knew there was something more to it than that, something possessive, something obsessive.

And you thought this for a multitude of reasons, but the main one being that he admitted he was into you while drunk at a common room party. which of course he denied the next day, and every other day since, choosing instead to be as annoying as ever.

but on this particular late evening, assigned as partners for a class project, you found yourselves alone together; the tension high and the banter relentless.

“Draco, please stop acting like a bloody child for five seconds.”

He’d roll his eyes, fighting a smirk. “Pleading for mercy are you? How adorable.”

You’d huff, staring at him with your arms crossed out of frustration as he held your quill above his head, just out of your reach.

“No, I’m pleading for you to stop being so goddamn insufferable. Give me my quill.” You’d hiss, entirely irritated.

Of course he’d just laugh, wetting his lips as he analyzed your frustration, revelling in the fact he’s so clearly gotten you going.

“Here.” He’d sneer, all before tossing it half-way across the room. “Go fetch.”

by this point, your blood was boiling, but you wouldn’t miss the glint in his eyes, the one that told you he was enjoying this a little more than he should be.

With a frustrated sigh, you pivoted sharply, seizing the perfect opportunity. As you closed in on your quill, a deliberate hair flip cascaded over your shoulder. Slow and sensuous, you bent at the hips, hands trailing down your sides, tracing the subtle sway of your body reaching for the quill. Picking it up achingly slow, on the ascent, you locked eyes with Draco over your shoulder, a sly smirk playing on your lips.

Draco’s typically poised demeanor faltered as he watched, an involuntary pause freezing his features. His steely gaze, usually cloaked in arrogance, softened into a momentary bewilderment.

The realization hit him like a revelation, and before you could even process it, he was up and out of his seat, one hand gripping the back of your head as he loomed over you.

“What the fuck was that?” His voice was torn, shredded. “Quite the fucking tease, huh?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” You blinked, grinning. “I simply picked up my quill.”

His grip on the back of your head tightened, his pupils blown wide with lust. All his restraint was gone.

“You’re a fucking filthy little thing “ he leaned in closer, wetting his lips as he glimpsed yours. “Do that again and I’ll fuck you right here, right over this desk.”

Blaise Zabini.

Blaise fucking Zabini. Your enemy? You guessed you could call him that.

Mainly because all the guy ever did was sabotage your bloody love life. Every single damn chance he got.

And not even in a traditional asshole type of way, like by scaring dudes off or threatening their livelihoods--oh, no.

he scared them off by just being himself.

You’d known Blaise since first year, being that the two of you are from the same house and share the same friend group,

but, all the two of you have ever done, since day bloody one, was banter and bicker like a pair of fucking first years.

But as you matured, that friendly banter slowly transitioned into something more, something that neither of you seemed willing to acknowledge.

Something that you knew was about to boil over, at any given moment. and perhaps, that moment was today.

you sighed in frustration, watching as the guy you’d been talking to all night began to make his way through the crowd, finally taking the hint and excusing himself after Blaise had just ever-so-kindly invited himself into your conversation.

“Why do you have to ruin everything?” You took a sip of your drink, glancing at a smirking Zabini through narrowed lids. “Do you not want me to find love? Do you truly hate me that much?”

“I did you a favour, trust me,” he’d quip, flashing those perfect pearly teeth at you. “Dude would have bored you death.”

“The great Zabini, doing me a favour?” Your eyes widened, and you’d stifle an amused scoff. “Sure you’re feeling okay?”

As Blaise was poised to respond, you fumbled with your wand, inadvertently dropping it onto the wooden floor of the common room. Acting on instinct, you bent down to retrieve it, sensing Blaise's eyes lingering on your backside for an unnecessarily long moment as you slowly straightened up.

And when you finally looked over, you watched as he brought a hand up to his mouth, attempting to hide his grin as he shot you a knowing, wide-eyed glance, his body tensed as though he was fighting to restrain himself.

but after only a few seconds, he’d step closer, his hand grazing your arm as he leaned in.

“Excuse me miss, but I think you’ve made me drop something,” he’d pause, watching your eyes as you met his.

“I’m sorry?” You snorted. “what are you-“

he’d pull you closer, bringing his mouth toward your ear. “you made me drop my fucking jaw…”

you’d blink, caught off guard. “Blaise-“

“That ass is fucking perfect,” he murmured, wetting his lips. “cant hide it anymore, princess…i want you bad.”

Lorenzo Berkshire.

“Enzo-earth to bloody Enzo,” you emitted an audible groan, sinking back down into the chair beside him.. “can you please at least fucking attempt to help me?”

Enzo was uninterested in your pleas, truthfully, he was uninterested in anything you had to say. Paying no heed, he sat slouched, head nestled in his arms on the desk, seemingly oblivious to your presence.

you sighed. this was going to be a long damn class.

“Enzo, please? you can sleep after class-“

He grumbled softly under his breath, neglecting to raise his head from the desk. However, he pivoted it towards you, his bleary brown eyes meeting yours.

“can you knock it off?” his voice was a shredded rasp. it was clear he was exhausted. “don’t you ever get tired of hearing your own voice?”

You scoffed, irritation evident on your face. This was the typical Enzo conversational experience--a constant exchange of snark and jabs. It baffled you how a man so fucking attractive could also be so damn daft at times.

“i don’t, actually,” you huffed, trying to keep your composure. “but i certainly get tired of your ignorant attitude.”

that managed to get at least a chuckle out of him, even if it was a half-assed one.

“spicy today, i see.” his lids fluttered back closed as he muttered, “bite me, darling.”

“you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” you teased, your voice taking on an arrogant tone. “masochist.”

Enzo emitted a snort, a hearty chuckle escaping from his chest in response to your suggestive jab. Progress was evident, and you sensed the need to elevate things to the next level if you intended to secure his assistance.

Making sure his eyes remained closed, you slyly nudged your quill, sending it tumbling off the table and onto the floor. A mischievous smirk played on your lips as it hit the ground, and Enzo's eyes snapped open, fixing on you.

Maintaining the intense eye contact, you slowly leaned over in the chair, letting the seductive sway of your movements accompany your reach for the fallen quill.

you could feel Enzo's gaze following your every movement as you retrieved the quill with a lingering touch--all while a subtle, suggestive smile danced on your lips.

the second you straightened out, Enzo sat up straight, clearing his throat, tongue darting out to moisten his lips as he fought to collect himself.

“what’s the matter, Enz?” you quipped, unable to control yourself. “thought you were tired?”

“don’t play with me, angel.” he muttered, leaning closer. “please, Merlin, don’t fucking play with me.”

you’d snicker. “help me with this assignment and i’ll let you touch it.”

“deal.”

Mattheo Riddle.

you and Mattheo were enemies for one reason, and one reason only--his suffocating arrogance.

perhaps you were the only girl in the school who called him out on his bullshit, perhaps you were the only girl in the school who didn’t fall flat at his feet anytime he simply breathed.

and Mattheo, well, he wasn’t used to this type of treatment. and he certainly wasn’t keen on the fact he couldn’t get you in his bed with a mere second long glance.

of course, you were fully conscious of the fact he was hot as fuck, but your self-respect and dignity outweighed your sexual desires, which in turn, created fiery spats every-time the two of you were near each other.

And so, here you were, paired with him for a research assignment; the two of you alone in the library on a Sunday night, while he was totally hungover. And as insufferable as ever.

“Mattheo, give my fucking textbook back.”

He’d groan, rolling his eyes as he tucked the book under his arm, hugging it to his chest while seated sluggishly.

“Come and get it back, then.” He’d utter, smirking. “I promise I don’t bite…hard.”

You fought back a scoff. “You won’t be able to bite at all if you don’t cut it the fuck out…it’s almost ten o’clock we need to start this.”

Mattheo rolled his eyes, again, his tongue piercing the inside of his cheek as he pulled the book out from under his arm, and stood up, moving over to the bookshelf behind your chair.

With suffocating snark, he knelt down, shoving the book onto one of the shelves lowest to the ground, all before turning back around and smirking at you, crossing his arms over his chest and shrugging casually as he cocked an eyebrow.

“You told me to give it back.” The arrogance in his tone was nauseating. “You didn’t specify where.”

“First of all, that’s the wrong shelf,” you’d mutter, watching his eyes follow you as you pushed up from the chair, veering closer. “And second of all, you’re not funny.”

Mattheo poised for a sharp retort, ready to counter with his usual biting wit. However, his words stumbled into silence as he observed you drawing near.

With a swift, almost calculated movement, you bent at the hips to retrieve your book beside him. The fabric of your skirt dared to venture higher up your thighs than convention allowed, leaving Mattheo momentarily entranced and rendering his intended response obsolete.

But the second you straightened out, meeting his eyes, lips teasing a knowing smirk, he was on you.

Your back slammed against the shelf as he grappled your hips, shoving you back. he towered over you, his lips pressed directly against your ear as he growled;

“You shouldn’t be bending over like that in front of me,” his voice was torn, shredded, and he finished the sentence off with a sharp “ever.”

your heart was hammering. “Why not, Matty? Didn’t enjoy the show?”

“You have no idea what that ass of yours does to me,” he groaned, his grip on your hips tightening. “Every fucking day I imagine railing it--I imagine fucking the attitude right out of you…you should know better than to tempt me.”

Theodore Nott.

“Look at that,” Theodore quipped, his snarky grin practically evident in his tone of voice. “top of the class again. how does that L feel, huh?”

you grumbled, rolling your eyes so far into the back of your skull that you were seeing white.

“don’t get cocky, Nott.” you nearly snarled, the frustration seeping from your lips like breath. “it’s not a good look on you,”

theodore merely chuckled, knowing that was a complete fucking lie.

cockiness was an infuriatingly good look on him, and that was solely due to the fact that the objects of his arrogance were damn impressive achievements that could make anyone green with envy.

the man was unfathomably smart for an arrogant jock whose life was dedicated to being the best quidditch player to ever exist.

clucking his tongue, he’d shoot you a knowing glance. “you sound jealous, bella. what’s your grade?”

as he tried to lean over to glimpse your mark, you pulled your paper away from him, scowling. “how about mind your own business, hm?”

he’d chuckle. “never been known for that, have i?”

Before you could formulate a response, Theodore snatched the paper from your hands, leaning away to sneak a glance at your mark. Your groan of irritation resonated, signaling your exasperation with his antics.

Annoyed, you reached over to grab your paper back, your low-cut blouse exposing more of your chest than you’d intended.

As soon as Theodore’s eyes fixed on your chest, noting your breasts practically spilling out of your shirt, he paused; his fingers involuntarily releasing the paper without further fight, his lips parting and eyes darkening.

“merlin,” he’d breathe, his voice torn. “you trying to give a lad a fucking heart attack, wearing a shirt like that?”

your cheeks grew warm, his eyes not once breaking from your chest as you straightened back out in your chair, adjusting yourself.

“it’s rude to stare, Nott.” you’d say, fighting a grin. “didn’t your mommy ever teach you that?”

Theodore let out a low groan, edging his body closer to yours. His lips dangerously neared your ear, and he couldn't resist sneakily glancing down your shirt, unable to control his wandering gaze.

“it’s rude to tease, Bella,” he’d purr, his voice a dark murmur. “and truth be told, i can’t quite help myself…”

you huffed, unable to stifle your smirk. “sounds like you need a refresher in manners.”

“Oh, principessa,” he’d retort, his voice laced with need. “you can refresh me in anything you want as long as i can see more of those perfect tits of yours.”

Tom Riddle.

Tom Riddle was an absolute brilliant genius;

a good man. a private, by-the book type of student.

and if you were being completely honest with yourself, this was precisely why the two of you didn’t quite get along.

it seemed as though Tom had it out for you, as though he had some sort of personal vendetta to make your life a living hell.

At every opportunity, he wielded his prefect powers to land you in trouble for something. Perhaps, in all fairness, you should have known better than to sneak into the restricted section of the library or prowl around the castle late at night,

but, gods. couldn’t he just cut you some bloody slack for once?

Admittedly, you were afraid to cross Tom. You weren't eager to be on his bad side, but at the same time, you weren't prepared to entirely abandon breaking the rules and having fun just because you were aware he could catch you.

so instead, you learned his schedule, where he’d be and at what times, knowing how to effectively avoid him.

the man was a cunning genius, you knew he could effectively destroy you if he so pleased.

but, on this particular night, he was set to be patrolling the dungeons for at least another two hours, giving you plenty of time to sneak into the library and do a little research.

and everything was going extremely well, hidden in the restricted section, blanketed by the nights encompassing darkness, when you noticed your shoelace was untied.

Bending down to address the matter, a peculiar sensation tingled through your senses as you completed the task. A subtle shift in the atmosphere hinted at an approaching presence, and just as you straightened up, the hushed cadence of footsteps drew closer.

Before you could pivot to face the intruder, their looming silhouette materialized behind you.

A towering figure, their breath, warm and palpable, brushed over your ear as they leaned in, setting your nerves on edge.

“you shouldn’t be bending over like that in public,” the voice was a deep, dark rasp in your ear, the arrogance in the tone unmistakable. “some people might think you’re a little slut.”

heat rushed you, your thighs clenched. “and what if i want some people to think that?”

immediately understanding your suggestive remark, Tom wasted no time before grappling your hips and spinning you around to face him, one hand slithering around your lower back and grasping a palmful of your ass.

“filthy whore,” he’d growl, his voice shredded now, barely restrained. “breaking the rules and showing off that perfect ass for anyone to see…calls for punishment i’d say.”

his teeth found your neck and you whimpered, clutching onto him. “i’m-“

Tom pulled back, meeting your eyes. “bend over the desk, now.”

#sorry #i got extremely carried away #18+ au.

[wethotcrazy]

LET'S PLAY A FEW

pairing: Zhou Guanyu x Streamer! Reader

word count:

i have been cooking this up in my brain for so long now, like it has been weeks that i've been meaning to writea guanyu fanfic and now here it is yippie also i wrote this because guanyu is very dear to me and i am just gutted that he wont be racing next year

The stream was alive with the low hum of background music and the click-clack of Y/N’s keyboard. Her Tuesday night streams were a familiar routine for her viewers—three hours of CSGO, now smoothly transitioning into Valorant. She’d solo queued, half-focused on the game, half-focused on her chat. It was a relaxed vibe tonight, her soft voice filling the gaps as she responded to questions.

“Y/N, who’s your favorite agent?” one viewer asked.

“Hmm, depends on the day,” Y/N mused, squinting at the game. “But I’m leaning toward Jett lately. Fast, flashy… plus, I’m a sucker for knives.” Her words were accompanied by the sharp sound of her clicking through weapons.

Her team switched to defense. She’d been holding B site alone and wasn’t too concerned. “It’s always quiet until it’s not,” she muttered, eyes narrowing as she scanned the entry points.

And then it wasn’t quiet.

The enemy team pushed hard—four, no, five enemies storming the site. Y/N’s demeanor shifted instantly. She stopped talking mid-sentence, leaning forward, her entire focus honed in. Chat knew what was happening. They’d seen this mode before.

One.

Two.

Three clean headshots in rapid succession. Her chat erupted.

“SHE’S COOKING,” someone spammed.

“Demon time activated,” wrote another.

Four down, one left. Y/N’s crosshair tracked, and with one swift flick—the fifth player dropped.

“ACE!” Chat’s excitement exploded, emotes and all-caps filling the screen.

“Nice ace,” a voice said, calm and steady. Y/N’s body went rigid as a soft kiss landed on the crown of her head. Her breath caught in her chest.

Slowly, as if she couldn’t believe it, she turned her head to see Zhou Guanyu standing there, his face calm as ever, hands in his sweatpants pockets. His eyes met hers with an easy grin, one he’d worn countless times but somehow always made her heart stutter.

“Are you solo queuing right now? Want me to hop on?” he asked like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Y/N’s mouth opened, but it took her a moment to find the words. The situation wasn’t particularly funny, but a wave of giddy laughter poured out of her—that helpless, uncontrollable kind.

“I’m… I’m streaming right now, Bǎobǎo,” she said through breaths of laughter, wiping at her eyes.

Guanyu’s eyes flickered toward her monitor, realizing what had just happened. His gaze shifted to the camera. “Oh. Hi, chat,” he said with a casual wave like it was any other Tuesday night.

Pandemonium.

Chat’s messages scrolled too fast for Y/N to read. Everyone was freaking out. The calm, private nature of their relationship had only left the fans guessing. Speculation had been rampant, but this? This was confirmation.

“NO WAY THAT’S GUANYU.”

“WTF OKAY BOYFRIEND REVEAL.”

“Bǎobǎo?????????”

Y/N’s face was red as she tried to focus on the chat. “Alright, alright, calm down,” she said, fanning herself dramatically. She glanced up at Guanyu, still grinning like a fool. “You’re unbelievable.”

Guanyu’s only response was to tilt his head, his grin never wavering. “You’re the one who’s blushing,” he teased before walking off toward the kitchen.

Three years earlier, Guanyu had been just another viewer in Y/N’s chat—a regular with a verified checkmark that made him stand out. People recognized his name, but Y/N didn’t at first.

“Zhou Guanyu…” she read aloud, squinting at the name in her chat. “That’s… a Formula 1 driver, right? Chat, you’re messing with me.”

“No, it’s actually him!” chat exploded.

Sure enough, he’d donated with a message: “Big fan of your streams. If you’re ever down for games, I’m in.”

Y/N’s eyes went wide. “No way that’s real,” she muttered, half-laughing. But over the next few weeks, his presence became a regular occurrence. Guanyu’s name appeared in her chat, his playful comments lighting up the screen.

Then one day, he sent a Discord invite.

“Let’s play a few,” his message read.

He wasn’t what she expected. His sense of humor was sharp but subtle. He wasn’t loud, but he was confident. Their first few games were filled with banter and easy laughter. Somewhere along the way, it stopped being just "streamer and viewer" and became… more.

Soon, he’d hop into her streams without warning. His voice was instantly recognizable. Their interactions sparked thousands of clips on Twitch. Fans flooded her social media with theories. “Are they together?” became the constant question. They never confirmed or denied it, and after a while, the frenzy died down.

But when Guanyu’s race schedule allowed, he’d appear on her stream. Sometimes he’d just be a voice in the background, sometimes he’d play with her on-stream, and sometimes, like today, he’d forget she was streaming entirely.

Back in the present, Y/N’s chat was still in shambles. Guanyu’s sudden appearance had sent them into a spiral, and Y/N’s notifications were pinging nonstop. She’d read a few messages aloud, fighting the urge to laugh all over again.

“‘Tell him to come back’… No, he’s probably playing with Sweet Corn right now,” she joked, glancing over her shoulder.

“Does he call you Bǎobǎo?’” she read, the grin on her face growing wider. “Yeah, yeah, he does that sometimes. It’s…” She trailed off, her cheeks burning again. “Don’t worry about it.”

A few minutes later, Guanyu wandered back in with a bowl of fruit in hand, offering her a piece of mango. She took it with a raised brow. “You’re a menace, you know that?” she said, still half-laughing.

“Mmm,” Guanyu hummed in response, popping a piece of mango into his mouth. “You love it.”

“Yeah, yeah, I do,” she said softly, her voice quieter this time, almost just for him.

Chat caught every word.

[supernova1885a]

I love angst, make my fav characters suffer is basically a tradition.

So I have all this lore that I made up myself while playing based on confusing events and dialogues, so I decided to illustrate a little bit of what the transition from happiness = tragedy would be like in the relationship of these two. I don't know what the hell I saw in that spider but I love them and that's precisely why I'm going to make them suffer, you're welcome.

I MUST CLARIFY that everything I say in this post is not canon or is partially based on the canon of the game. Don't take this as something official, I just want to share a little of my interpretation of both the story and characters. Also that Shamura is a she/her to me, but I will refer to her as they/them in this post.

After Shamura found the others, they moved together to Silk Cradle and worked out what their new life would be from now on. Shamura made very strong bonds with they new family, but especially with Leshy and Narinder, although due to his insistence they spent more time with the latter.

They used to take him with them to their temple and show him the spider webs that decorated the place, as well as teach him to weave and other things. Being the eldest, they had to impart the learning of their siblings as well as help them assume their places as divinities. All with enormous love and affection that grew with the passage of time.

Years later, the five of them grew up and left Silk Cradle to begin to reign in their respective kingdoms. Because Narinder's kingdom was not earthly, he was the last to leave.

Shamura was the one who made and gave their siblings their robes, it was a last gift from them before not seeing them again for a long time. They could not hide their happiness, although along with it there was a slight feeling of sadness, but they knew well that they could not keep them with them for life and had to let them follow their paths.

Of course, there are times when with bad guidance the paths can go awry. Shamura loved their siblings, perhaps too much and that made them very permissive regarding certain actions that they did. Narinder was fed up with his position and decided to go further, breaking the laws of nature, Shamura had a bad feeling but when they realized it was too late. Narinder felt betrayed when they reproached him, because it was thanks to their knowledge that he had done what he did and now they was angry with him.

Maybe it was the tension of the moment that increased with each reprimand from they that caused him to attack them, maybe it was anger or he just didn't know how to control himself. From one moment to the next Shamura fell to the ground, a warm liquid began to stain their face, the screams of their siblings could be heard in the distance and a sharp pain began to overwhelm them. Fear, anger, sadness, pain, they had never felt so many emotions at once, they didn't know whether to cry or scream, whether to get up or stay there, until suddenly everything went completely dark.

Shamura was cared for by their siblings until they was stable, but the pain from their wound was not the only thing that began to bother them. With it came severe headaches, vertigo, dizziness, and memory loss. Despite all that and the harm their beloved brother had caused them, deep down in their damaged heart, they still loved him.

════════════════════ ⋆★⋆ ════════════════════

I haven't worked on this beyond the main concept yet, but I wanted to share it with you guys instead of just leaving it to writing and my imagination! I'm thinking about making a few comics about it, I have a lot of ideas I want to put down here. Thanks for reading!

[hibiscus-intern]

Fit check for my new internship! This freighter ship is super cramped. You can barely see anything in the mirrors! I'll h- uh. Sounds like the Captain... Curly, I think? Sounds like he broke the news to my new boss. I'd better go check that out. AMA and I’ll get on it after my shift, yeah? Apparently we only get like, five hours of sleep! Aw man, I don't know anything about... Recording ended.

ASK BOX IS OPEN!

A/N and guidelines under cut! Please read before sending :]

Hi and welcome! I haven't run an ask blog in years, now, but this isn't my first go at it so I'll hop right into some rules and guidelines for interaction!

As a canon-adherent Mouthwashing blog, themes of abuse, assault, institutionalized misogyny & violence against women, capitalist and patriarchal hierarchies, rape culture, ageism, etc. can and likely will be explored. I am 21 years old and as such will tackle adult topics! I gently ask that people who interact do their due diligence not only to keep themselves safe but also to respect the severity of the themes in the games when engaging with Daisuke. While lighthearted asks are more than welcome, this is a blog run in earnest and out of a genuine interest (personal and scholastic) in the themes in Mouthwashing. I will tag with trigger warnings as I see appropriate. Thank you!

With this in mind, the blog is canon-compliant, meaning Daisuke only knows what Daisuke knew in-game (thus far, only pre-crash)! For example, he is not aware of Jimmy's true nature. Please bear this in mind when interacting and please do not be too surprised if his answers aren't as critical as a player of Mouthwashing might be. But not all questions have to be explicitly about the game canon! Feel free to ask personal questions or pose hypotheticals--I will tag headcanons and non-canon responses as appropriate. This is still a blog made out of love and for entertainment purposes!

I will periodically update the transit time in the blog description to reflect when in the voyage the questions are being answered from. If you want your ask answered from a specific time into the voyage, just add it in your ask! For archival purposes, the date at which he answered the question will be recorded in the tags :D

My name is Clem (he/him 🇲🇽🇬🇹), feel free to directly ask me things you're curious about!! 💗

Small shoutout! The creation of this blog was inspired by @/ask-anya-anything, whose posts I ran into over on Twitter! Absolutely an incredible writer and artist you should totally check out!

Thanks a bunch! Hope to hear from you soon ☀️

[duskandcobalt]

Everywhere, Everything: Chapter Five

Chapter Summary: On her last night in Velaris before she heads home, Elain and Azriel finally gets a chance to talk about what's going on between them.

Word Count: 5.9k

Missed the first four chapters? You can find the Masterlist for this fic here 🥰

A/N: As always, thank you for all the love on the last chapter of this fic. It's always so much fun to hear what you guys think. An extra thank you for your patience with me in getting chapter five out. This past month has been a rough one and I haven't been writing much because of it but I finally managed to sit down and finish this chapter and I'm happy with how it turned out. I hope you are too. As always, I must remind you that this is a slow burn and we must get through a heavy dose of angst before we can reap our reward. The good news is, the reward is coming very soon.

ENJOY XX

Read on AO3

The first time Elain had sex with Graysen was also the first time he’d asked her about the necklace. 

It was the last week of January and he’d invited her back to his apartment after he’d taken her out to dinner at a glamorous hotel that offered unbelievable views of the city for their fourth date. She’d seen the invitation for what it was. Knew exactly what he had in mind from the way he’d lowered his voice to ask her, the pad of his thumb sliding over her bottom lip. Elain had only hesitated for a moment before she’d accepted his offer, Nesta’s voice in her head from a night years ago when she imparted some wisdom to Feyre after a particularly bad breakup, her hands on Feyre’s shoulders as she looked into her teary eyes. 

“Fey, the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else.” 

Elain had laughed at her sister’s advice at the time but standing there outside the restaurant that night, looking at Graysen as snowflakes drifted lazily from the dark winter to sky to cling to her hair and eyelashes, she’d decided that she wanted to put Nesta’s advice to the test.

She’d spent weeks in a daze, unable to sleep as the memory of Christmas night played on repeat in her mind as if it was some sort of faulty film reel incapable of moving past a certain scene and insistent on torturing her. She had grown sick of it - sick of the guilt that consumed her for still daring to think of Azriel. For wanting him again even though she had been the one to leave. 

Dating Graysen had only done so much to take the edge off, providing her a few hours of distraction each week, but she needed more. She needed to attempt to replace the phantom feeling of Azriel’s weight on top of her, the feeling of him inside her.

In a way, sleeping with Graysen had helped. She’d always liked sex. She enjoyed being close to another person, appreciated the immediate intimacy that came with having a pair of hands gripping her hips and someone’s lips on her skin. In the few times that she’d pondered what Graysen would be like in bed, she’d suspected that he would be much like the other guys she’d been with over the years and she’d been right. 

His initial careful kisses had quickly progressed to deeper, bruising ones. The gentle hands that had slowly undone the zipper on the back of her dress had transitioned into firm hands that held her down and maneuvered her whichever way he liked, taking her how he wanted without taking a second to even check if she enjoyed the things he did.

Elain was used to this treatment. The rough sex. She’d come to like it - crave it, even. But every now and then, there was an occasional moment where her partner would leave and she’d be left by herself in a cold bed, thinking about things a little too long until angry tears welled in her eyes at the realisation that most of the men she’d been with felt entitled to do whatever they wanted to her. That no matter how respectful they may have been towards her or how much they genuinely liked her, they all seemed to get off on debauching a girl that was otherwise quite reserved. Graysen had been no different and because she’d always desired touch, she couldn’t help but take it however it was presented to her. 

Graysen had taken the small golden pendant in between his fingers minutes after they’d finished, propping himself up on one elbow until his shadow loomed over her. His thumb had dragged over the engraving on the front - smoothing over the intricately detailed rose- before he flipped it over to study the back, turning it this way and that until it caught the little bit of dim light streaming in his window from the streetlamp outside. 

“What’s the deal with this?” He’d asked her, the slightest edge to his voice. “You never take it off.”

Elain had tried her best not to freeze at the question but she couldn’t help the way her heart stopped for a split second before her heart rate picked up again, slamming against her chest like an anvil. She gently took the pendant back from him, easing it out of his grip to press it tight against her chest until she knew it would leave an oval shaped indentation on her bare skin. It was a grounding tactic, something she did to bring herself back into her body whenever her anxiety veered out of control.

What was she supposed to tell him? How could she begin to explain the necklace that she’d worn religiously every single day for the last four years? The sentimental value that such a small object held? 

She couldn’t exactly tell him that every time she touched it, she thought of the hands that had made it just for her, thought of the way those same hands had grazed her skin the night Azriel had fastened it around her neck and all the things those hands had done to her the last time she’d visited home before she started dating Graysen. When she’d been propped up on Azriel’s kitchen counter and splayed out in his bed. 

There was no simple way to explain that she’d never mustered up the courage to ask whether the tiny ‘A’ he’d engraved on the back stood for her last name or his first. 

Instead, Elain had settled for the most honest answer she was willing to give him at the time. 

“It was a birthday gift from a friend back home.” 

She’d never thought that they’d get to the point where she’d have to divulge exactly who that friend was, let alone have that friend and her boyfriend in the same room together. She’d been a fool to think that Graysen wouldn’t put two and two together and last night she’d been well and truly caught out. She’d stood in front of him like a deer in headlights, one arm wrapped defensively around her stomach while her other hand clutched the necklace tight in between her fingers as if she was afraid that he’d reach out and pry it right off of her. 

“Is he or is he not the friend that gave you that necklace, Elain?” Graysen had asked her once more, his lips pressed together in a firm line. 

Elain had hesitated for a moment but she knew there was no way around this. There was no lie she could possibly make up to steer him away from the truth. It was plain as day who had given her that necklace and so all she could do was just nod silently and try to keep her hands from shaking.

“Unbelievable,” Graysen ran a hand through his hair, tugging at the short strands. “He’s not just a fucking friend then, is he? Didn’t seem like he goes around making jewelry for all of his friends.” 

He was right. Azriel had never made anything for anyone except her. It was something that Feyre and Nesta never let him forget.

“I don’t know what you want me to say,” Elain took a deep breath, dropping her necklace back down and crossing her arms in front of her chest. “A friend made me a necklace for my birthday. There’s nothing else to it.”

“Did you date him?” He’d asked, his gaze unwavering as he stared her down. Daring her to try and lie to him.

“No.” Elain answered easily and honestly. “We never dated. Never even came close to it.” 

Even if she’d spent plenty of time daydreaming of what it would be like to date Azriel, she’d never pursued anything more with him for reasons that were all too complicated to explain.

“But you’ve fucked him.” 

He hadn’t phrased it as a question. It was a statement, his shoulders squared and his voice sure. 

Elain had hesitated a second too long and she watched as something settled in his eyes that made her realise that he’d been hoping he’d been wrong and was sorely disappointed to find out that his assumption was correct.  

“How many times?”

She had scoffed, shaking her head. Couldn’t believe that he would have the audacity to even ask her that question. 

She’d been about to open her mouth to argue back, to ask him what number would qualify as too many times or if knowing how many times she’d slept with Azriel would affect anything, but the sound of footsteps running down the hallway caused her to pause. 

She’d been saved by her nephew who had popped his little curly-haired head around the door to Rhysand’s study to innocently ask if she’d read him a book before bed.

Elain hadn’t even spared a second to look at Graysen again before taking Nyx’s small hand and allowing him to lead her up the stairs to his bedroom where he spent entirely too long picking out his book for the night. 

She slipped out of Nyx’s room an hour or so later, only padding down to the kitchen to say goodnight to Feyre and Rhys, before heading back upstairs. She’d been simultaneously relieved and disappointed that Azriel had left just ten minutes before with Nesta and Cassian. 

Elain had tiptoed into the room she and Graysen had taken over for the weekend, had quickly changed and silently crawled into bed, facing away from Graysen who excused himself to bed not long after their ill-fated conversation. He’d sidled up to her after a couple minutes, pulling her back against his chest while one hand slid up her stomach to cup her breast. 

“Gray,” she tried her best not to flinch away from his touch. “We can’t. Not here.”

“El,” he muttered into her hair. “Come on.”

“Thought you were mad at me,” she couldn’t help the small gasp that escaped her as the hand that wasn’t circling her nipple dipped under the waistband of her underwear.

“You can’t blame me for being jealous when someone else looks at you like that.” His teeth scraped over the sliver of skin that the stretched out neckline of her shirt left exposed.

“There’s nothing to be jealous of,” Elain whispered, biting down on her lip as he turned her around and pulled her on top of him. 

He ground his hips upwards, letting her feel him hard against her. “Prove it to me.” 

She wasn’t particularly in the mood for this but she relented, allowing him to lift her shirt over her head before she bent down and pressed kisses all the way down the center of his chest. 

This was the opportunity she needed - not to take her mind off anything that had happened that day. There was nothing that could keep those memories at bay. It was simply a distraction, exactly what she needed to hopefully keep Graysen from asking more questions that she wasn’t ready to answer.

She’d give him this, let him have her just how he liked while her mind wandered elsewhere. To a place where the hands on hips weren’t his but someone else’s. To a night that featured her fingers buried in dark hair while a pair of hazel eyes looked up at her from between her thighs. It was wrong - so unbelievably wrong - to think about someone else in a moment like that. But she couldn’t help it. Couldn’t bring herself to feel guilty as she let herself get lost in the fantasy of tattooed, golden skin sliding over her own bare skin.  She was only thankful that Graysen’s hand was over her mouth to keep her quiet because if it hadn’t been, she would’ve had to fight to keep a different name from slipping out from between her lips. 

One more night. She just needed to make it through one more night and then she could go back to her new city and do what she did best - pretend that the life she had in this town, and the person that she was when she was here, didn’t exist at all. 

…

A few months before their wedding, Nesta and Cassian had moved to a sprawling property on the outskirts of Velaris that featured a gorgeous ranch style home complete with the porch of Elain’s dreams - one that wrapped around the entire perimeter of the house and featured a built-in swing to the right of the front door. It was picture book perfect and it helped to ease the loss both Feyre and Elain felt when Nesta moved… even if she was only a forty-five minute drive away. 

Elain had always looked forward to spending a weekend at Nesta and Cassian’s. She and Feyre would pack a bag and head up to their cousin’s house where the three of them would sit shoulder to shoulder on the swing, a thick blanket draped across their laps as they watched the sun set over the mountains. If they were lucky, Cassian would bring them snacks and drinks until either bugs or the cold sent the three of them heading back inside. 

This time, instead of a gossip filled car ride with her sister, Elain and Graysen had made the journey in almost complete silence. She had hoped that they’d made their peace last night but when she’d awoken this morning, it was clear that there was still some awkwardness lingering between them… perhaps at the knowledge that the subject of their argument would be sharing a wall with them tonight.

He hadn’t left her alone for even a second since they’d walked into the house to find Azriel already there, a dish towel slung over his shoulder as he chopped onions for whatever it was Nesta had on the menu for the evening. Even when she went to greet Azriel with a hug, deciding that it would be more suspicious if she greeted him any differently today, Graysen’s fingers had stayed on her back.

She remained patient with him, pushing aside the anxiety she felt at his constant proximity. She did her best to reassure him any way she could that he had nothing to worry about, all the while hoping that maybe she could convince herself of the very same thing in the process.

There had been no ducking out of his arms or dodging his kisses tonight. There had only been soft smiles and reassuring touches at all the right moments. Still, she couldn’t help that as she stood around the kitchen counter with her family - her attention had shifted, catching the subtle flex of Azriel’s forearms as he leant forward, his hands wrapping around the lip of the counter as he spoke to Cassian.

It was the smallest movement, barely noticeable, yet it triggered something in her brain that thrust her straight back into the memory that she’d tried and failed to avoid for the past few months. 

Suddenly, she couldn’t concentrate on anything else, unable to tear her eyes away from the familiar ridges and veins of his hands. The heat of Graysen’s palm flat against the middle of her back faded into nothing as she remembered the taste of cinnamon and cream. Remembered the way she had once been perched on a counter so similar to the one they were currently standing around. The easy way Azriel had slotted himself between her knees, her dress rising up her thighs. The feeling of his fingers dragging up her legs until they slipped under her hem. The gentleness with which he’d touched her. She swore she could feel his breath against her neck. Swore she could hear the things he’d whispered into her ear that night. 

“Helloooo… Earth to Elain!” Feyre’s voice brought her back to reality, her sister’s hand waving in front of her face as Elain’s vision cleared and she attempted to remember where the hell she was and what she was doing. “I asked if you wanted another drink?” 

Elain could only nod, afraid of how her voice might betray her if she attempted to speak. It didn’t help that she was all too aware of the way Graysen watched her, blue eyes once again filled with the suspicion she’d been working so hard to keep at bay as he  tracked her gaze to the pair of hazel eyes that were now staring directly back at her from the other side of the counter.

She readily accepted the margarita Feyre handed her, not wasting any time before downing half of it in one go. She’d never needed a drink more in her entire life. 

… 

Azriel stood directly outside the kitchen. He hadn’t turned any lights on when he’d wandered out a little while ago so it was just him, the stars, and the tiny smoldering ember of amber light flickering at the end of the lit cigarette slotted in between his index and middle finger.

He was utterly exhausted, eyes bleary as he tried and failed to link the stars together to form a constellation. He’d tried to fall asleep but he was too distracted by racing thoughts of the way Elain had looked at him from across the kitchen counter. The fleeting want that had appeared in her eyes - there and gone in a second, a lingering blush on her cheeks the only evidence that he hadn’t imagined the whole thing. He told himself it was just the margarita in her hands that had caused the sudden rush of heat to her cheeks but he knew her better than that. He knew all her tells. 

That’s why it had hurt even more to see her disappear down the hallway and into her room, her piece-of-shit boyfriend in tow. Azriel didn’t know how long he’d lasted laying in bed before he’d gotten back up and stumbled outside, too paranoid about each and every noise that he could hear from the room that shared a wall with the one he stayed in each time he found himself crashing at Nesta and Cassian’s for the night. 

If Graysen had been annoying at Nyx’s party yesterday, he’d been ever worse this evening because he’d scaled up the charisma and had seemed hell bent on befriending Azriel only to then become increasingly quietly irritated when Azriel made it clear that he was completely disinterested in anything that even remotely hinted at any sort of camaraderie.

He’d also taken to being even clingier with Elain. Hadn’t given her even a second to breathe all night, trailing behind her every chance he got, pulling her back into his side any time she strayed more than a few inches away. Even stranger, Elain had seemed intent on appeasing him and had stayed faithfully by Graysen’s side the entire time. She hadn’t even disappeared for a moment alone with Feyre and Nesta to talk about whatever the hell those three talked about whenever they were left alone together. All Azriel knew was that it usually resulted in raised voices, either in the form of an argument or incomprehensible half sentences interrupted by high pitched giggles as they all spoke over each other. 

Azriel saw Graysen’s overbearing behaviour for what it was - insecurity. 

Insecurity that came with a front row seat to the realisation that his prized girlfriend had an entire life before him. Without him. That she had family and friends that cared about her. 

Azriel had a feeling Elain’s life in Meadowview revolved heavily around Graysen. They probably spent time with his friends. Went to his favourite restaurants. Did his favourite activities. He wondered if she’d managed to retain any part of herself when she was halfway around the country, isolated in a bubble with Graysen, with no real escape other than her job. 

Maybe it wasn’t fair to jump to conclusions, to assume that she hadn’t been able to maintain a sense of self. He hoped for the best, desperately wanted to be wrong, but he knew her too well to know that he most likely wasn’t far off.  

He wanted to talk to her about it to try and decipher for himself exactly how she was doing but he hadn’t been able to get her alone - either because she’d been avoiding him or because of the five foot ten, blonde, walking trust fund  who’d been glued to her hip for the past eight hours. 

That’s why when the lamp in the kitchen switched on, the soft golden glow illuminating the window over the sink, it felt like a prayer was answered. 

He didn’t know exactly how he knew that she’d been the source of that light or that she’d be the one to walk outside but he knew when he turned to look, she’d be there - hair gilded by the light behind her. It was something about the gentle way the storm door creaked open, the feather light footsteps against the wooden floorboards. Something about the even, familiar rhythm of her breath.

He’d managed to get in one last deep drag of his cigarette before she was standing beside him, close enough that her arm brushed his. She reached up, lazily taking the cigarette from his fingers. She studied it and for one singular moment, he wondered if she’d surprise them both and take it between her lips. But this was Elain and so all he could do was huff out an amused laugh as she frowned, letting the cigarette fall to the floor until she could snub it out with her slipper covered foot. 

“Filthy habit,” Elain muttered. 

It was only then that he really allowed himself to look at her. He was thankful for the little bit of light from the kitchen lamp as his eyes traveled from her feet and up her bare legs to the hint of lilac shorts that he could only see the ruffled hem of because they were largely covered by the sweatshirt that fell right down to the top of her thighs. 

It was a Velaris University sweatshirt that at one point had been black but now resembled a faded gray and included a smattering of tiny holes around the stretched out collar. That sweatshirt had been missing from his closet for the better part of a decade. She’d had it in her possession for so long that Azriel wasn’t entirely sure that she would even remember who its original owner had been. It’s why he didn’t let himself read too much into her wearing that particular sweatshirt while sharing a bed with someone else. 

His eyes continued their journey upwards, over those full lips and the perfect slope of her nose. All the way up to drowsy, brown eyes and the tousled hair that he hoped and prayed was just the result of a restless night’s sleep and not the other option that sprung  to mind. 

Her eyes were fixed on him, clearly drinking in the sight of him just like she’d done when he’d first walked into Nyx’s party. 

There was a beat of silence between them, neither of them really knowing where to begin now that they were alone together. 

“Hi.” Her voice was barely a squeak, nervous and high and he couldn’t stand it. Hated this awkwardness between them. Hated that she felt any level of unease around him. 

“Trouble sleeping?” He raised an eyebrow, offering her a slow, sleepy smile that he hoped would work to put her at ease. 

Satisfaction settled in his chest when he saw her shoulders relax a little, at least a fraction of the tension she held within her melting into the night. 

He fought the urge to reach out and touch her, to place a hand on the back of her neck and slide his thumb around the knot he knew he’d find there. He resisted the temptation to tuck her hair behind her ear so he could see her face without it being half hidden in shadows. 

“Yeah,” Elain nodded. “Couldn’t get the fan to work and I need…”

“The white noise,” Azriel finished for her, another wave of satisfaction flowing through him at the first upward tilt of her lips. 

“What about you?” Elain asked, her gaze still focused straight ahead. “Trouble sleeping?”

“Something like that,” He replied, schooling his expression into one that would hopefully hide the real reason he was awake. “At least it worked in my favour this time.”

“What do you mean?” 

“It means that I’ve been trying to get a minute alone with you for two days now.”

“Oh,” she bit her lip. “Well, yesterday was so busy with all the kids and then tonight has been a lot as well…• 

“Yeah,” Azriel laughed, leaning into her just enough for his arm to press against hers. It was meant to be an innocent, playful touch yet it still managed to send a spark straight down his spine. “It was the kids that were keeping us from talking and definitely not because you’ve been actively avoiding me.” 

“I didn't think it would be so obvious,” Elain groaned, glancing up at him from the corner of her eye. “I was hoping you wouldn't notice.”

“I notice everything about you, Lain.” He adjusted his stance slightly, pivoting at the waist so he was turned towards her. “Always have.” 

There was another second of silence as she looked away from him, nervously running a hand through her hair. “You can’t say things like that.”

“It’s true, though.” He shrugged, choosing to move on with the conversation before she could ruminate on that any further.“How have you been?”

“Thought you noticed everything about me.” He could practically hear her smirk even through the sleepy rasp of her voice and he loved it. Appreciated the fleeting moment of playfulness. Of normalcy. “Shouldn’t you know the answer?”

“I want to hear it from you.”

“I’ve been good,” Elain still didn’t look at him. Her eyes were focused steadily, stubbornly ahead. “Meadowview is good. Work is good. Everything’s good.”

“Say good one more time and maybe I’ll believe you.” He hadn’t missed that she’d neglected to mention her boyfriend.

“Funny,” she rolled her eyes. “How have you been?” 

“Fine,” he shrugged. Then, before he could stop himself he asked her one of the questions that had been haunting him since last night. “Why have you never told me you didn’t like when I called you  ‘Lain?’” 

Elain paused, her brows furrowing. She clearly hadn’t expected that question from him. 

“What are you talking about?” 

“Last night… Graysen said that you didn’t like it when he called you that. You said that you preferred to be called ‘El.’” 

She ducked her head, the bridge of her nose wrinkling as she looked down at her feet. A surefire sign she was embarrassed by something. “I only like it when it’s coming from you.” 

He bit back a smile, rocking back on his heels in an attempt to dull the sudden rush of emotion he felt at her admission. 

“Thank god.” He pressed a hand to his chest in a show of relief. “I’ve been worried that I’ve been unknowingly pissing you off for the past ten years.”

Azriel chuckled, teeth dragging over his lower lip as she turned to look at him. She gave him a wry smile and a shake of her head and though he wanted to live in this moment forever, he couldn’t put it off any longer, there were far more pressing matters to discuss.

“Lain,” Azriel let out a breath, his smile slipping into something more serious. He spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully. “If you’re upset or if I misread the situation that night, I’m sorry but just tell me so I can -”

“Azriel, we can’t.” She whispered, cutting him off before he could even get out everything he wanted and needed to say.

“What?”

“I can’t… we can’t talk about this.” Her voice was strained, her hands twisted in the cuffs of her sweater.

“We have to talk about it, Elain.” He insisted. “It’s been months of silence and we can’t keep going like this.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” she swallowed, shoulders once again tensing as she turned to face him. 

“You can’t be serious,” Azriel couldn’t keep the exasperation out of his voice. 

Even with such scarce lighting, he could see the blush that crept up her neck as she defensively crossed her arms in front of her chest. 

“Nothing happened. It’s fine.” Elain said, her voice low. “It was just sex. We got caught up in the moment and that’s all it was.”

“Just sex,” Azriel shook his head. “You wouldn’t have left and stopped talking to me if it was just fucking sex.” 

He’d always prided himself on maintaining a mask of cool composure around other people but it always seemed to falter around Elain. He couldn’t hide from her. Had never felt the need to. This was no exception.

“I didn’t -”

“Don’t.” He interrupted her. “Whatever you’re about to say about not cutting me off or about things being fine between us, it’s absolute bullshit and you know it.” 

“Azriel,” Her voice broke, splitting his name into two halves. “I shouldn’t have left and I know that and I’m sorry but I just can’t…”

“Do you regret it?”

“What?”

“Do you regret it?” He asked again, making a point to look directly at her. “Sleeping with me. Do you regret it?”

Azriel watched as she closed her eyes, one hand of hers coming up to clutch at her necklace as she took a deep breath. It felt like a lifetime before she finally spoke. 

“I only regret it in the sense that I can’t stop thinking about it.” He could barely hear her over the crickets and the frogs and whatever other nocturnal creatures occupied the field around his friends’ home. “I only regret it because I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”

He couldn’t believe it. Couldn’t make sense of her saying exactly what he’d hoped but never dreamed that she’d go as far as admitting it. Suddenly, he didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know what to do. It was involuntary, really… the way he reached for her. One arm extending, his hand mere inches from her hip. The tips of his fingers just grazed her sweatshirt before she stepped back, just out of his reach. 

“Az.” The pounding of his heart came to an abrupt stop in his chest as he watched her eyes fill with tears. “It happened and it was good and I promise you I don’t regret it but I can’t do this. We just can’t…” 

“Just tell me why you left then, Lain.” He pleaded. “Full, complete honesty. I just want to know why you left without saying anything. I thought - everything was fine when I fell asleep.” 

“It doesn’t matter now, Az.” She wiped away a stray tear. “What’s it going to solve? What’s done is done.”

“It does. I need to know. I need to understand.” 

“I don’t know why. I wish I did but I don’t...” she started. “I panicked and then I realised how awful I’d been for leaving like that and I thought you’d be upset.” She took another deep, wavering breath. “I thought you hated me.”

Her voice was once again so small, so timid. It shattered every part of him. 

“Elain,” Azriel reached up and tugged at his hair just so he had something to do with his hands. Too afraid that he’d reach for her again. “If I were capable of hating you, this would all be a whole lot easier.” 

“I’m sorry,” she breathed, tears falling faster now. “I’m so sorry that it’s like this between us but I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to fix this.”

“I just want my friend back, Lain.” He said gently. “I’m not asking for anything more than to have you back in my life as my friend. I miss you so fucking much and if the only thing that’s stopping you from talking to me is what happened between us that night then we can forget it. If that’s what it takes, we can agree to pretend it never happened.”

“It’s not that easy. You know it. I know it. It’s been months and I can’t forget it.” She shook her head. “It’s just easier this way, Az. You and me… we just can’t be friends the way we were. Not right now at least.”

“You don’t mean that, Elain.” His nails dug into the palms of his hands. “I know that’s not what you want. Look me in the eye and tell me you mean it.”

He waited for her to seal their fate. To look him in the eye and tell him that she’d meant every word. That she really wanted nothing more to do with him. But she didn’t look him in the eye. Didn’t really look at him at all. She only stepped further back, her gaze fixed on some arbitrary spot above his right shoulder.

“I miss you, Azriel. More than you know.” Her voice broke as she began to turn away from him, walking towards the door. 

“Wait,” he followed behind her, his fingers closing around her wrist to stop her from reaching for the handle of the screen door. 

She didn’t pull away from him this time. Didn’t try to step back. She just twisted around to face him fully, her pulse rapid under his touch. 

“Do whatever you need to do.” The words left him in a rush. “ Go home, think about things. I can handle you being with someone else, I’ve done it for a decade… but please…. please don’t stay with someone that doesn’t make you happy just to prove a point to yourself or to me or to anyone else.”

There was another stretch of silence to accompany the crease that formed in between her eyebrows as she mulled over his words.

“Goodnight, Az.” She stepped forward, her chest against his. He released his grasp on her wrist  just in time to wrap his arms around her waist as she reached up on her toes and slung her arms loosely around his neck. Every part of her pressed against him for a split second. It was over before it began but he felt the cool, dampness of her tears against his cheek as her lips brushed his skin just once before she pulled back from the hug.

He let her go, his fingers slipping slowly from her skin. “Goodnight, Lain.”

Elain disappeared inside the house and the kitchen light flickered off a few seconds later. Azriel turned back around, sitting down on the porch step after pulling a stray cigarette and lighter out of his back pocket. He closed his eyes and counted to sixty. When he opened his eyes again, he was right back to what he’d been doing fifteen minutes ago, before she’d come outside. 

Once again, it was just him, the stars,and the dim light from the lit end of his cigarette. He didn’t know how long he stayed out there going over what just happened but he was still there, staring up at the sky and rehashing answers to questions he couldn’t decide if he regretted asking when the sun began to rise.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA for unintentionally getting my cousin’s number and not tell him i’m not a date

I (24 FtM) came out as a trans queer man to my extended family when i was 18 years old, despite my (queerphobic) parents’ disagreement, fully knowing the reactions wouldn’t be positive for the majority. i was just done with having to hide, and indirectly be ashamed of, this huge part of myself to the people i used to grow up with, and couldn’t bare keeping it a bashful secret any longer, putting myself at risk to lose touch with them all. which happened. gradually, i lost contact, or intentionally cut contact, with most of my family members (close and extended), moved out and started transitioning. i also got top surgery last year, and am now four and half years on T.

so i did change, physically and mentally (for the better), to the point i know some people from my family who haven’t seen me in five years, wouldn’t recognize me if i didn’t tell them.

all this to say: a little over a week ago, i went to this gay club / bar, when i was asked my number by a guy who was there too. i knew i knew him from somewhere else, but i was a tipsy, dizzy from dancing my lungs out, and the lightning was tamed, so i didn’t catch on immediately and couldn’t properly see his face, and so i simply accepted to exchange numbers. nothing else happened with this guy this night, i only added my num to his contacts, talked and maybe flirted a little, and then he had to leave (he was with some friends).

only hours later, back home, will i realize this guy was in fact my eldest cousin (26 M) in with whom i haven’t talked in five years. i remember he was one of the only person who didn’t react badly to my coming out, though he didn’t quite understand it either. i had to cut contact with him when his mother, my aunt, tried to call and threat me through him / by calling from his phone number so i wouldn’t hang up immediately.

we used to be very close, and though i have moved on now from my family life, i do catch myself missing him from times to times, and would’ve like to contact him again. i just didn’t know how, and was scared he might have started agreeing with the rest of the family on my account. but by his presence at the gay club, i suppose not.

i didn’t text him right away to tell him i was, in fact, his cousin, and not just a random dude he met at the bar. i still don’t know how to approach this. three days ago, he texted me first, asking if i would like to meet up again. and, without thinking, i said sure. and still didn’t add on the crucial information. i am scared of what might happen if it tell him. would he suddenly resent me? or worse, call back our family and tell them what happened of me, giving away where i now live. i don’t want to contact with the rest of them again, but if i could gain my favorite cousin back, maybe just as a friend, it would mean a lot to me.

i still haven’t texted him, and i won’t lie and say i haven’t been contemplating the idea of just, never telling him, and just say i’m not ready for more but would love to stay friends. we are supposed to meet at the beginning of next week.

and before you guys start thinking anything weird, i do not, in any way shape or form, want to pursue anything of sexual nature with my cousin! i think this is, as well as being immoral, a disgusting and horrendous idea

What are these acronyms?

[baker-coded]

Barbie and Ken {S.H.}

𝓟𝓪𝓲𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰: Steve Harrington x reader

𝓦𝓸𝓻𝓭 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓽: 870

𝓢𝓾𝓶𝓶𝓪𝓻𝔂: Steve sees you for the first time in a while at the bookstore while getting a present from Robin.

𝓐/𝓝: I wrote this in an hour. Be nice. Also I'm back to writing again so woo fucking hoo. This is set up to be a series btw. And Barbie isn't reader's name but I really hate typing {Y/N} personally. It feels unnatural to me. Anyway. Enjoy <3

Ah yes, Steve Harrington. He goes by many names. "Steve". "Steven". "The Hair". "King Steve". And, sometimes, simply "Harrington" by teammates and coaches... and rivals. Most notably Billy Hargrove.

But this story isn't about those two.

It's about you. And Steve.

You've gone by a few names yourself in your high school years and post-high school it's like no one bothered to learn your name.

"Queen Barbie" is what they called you. "Queen Barbie" was known as a sweet girl by most people and regarded as a bitch to others. But nothing played into your "Barbie" persona as much as your love for the color pink and the smile that constantly adorned your face.

Always smiling even while you worked. It was a job you loved in all fairness. A bookstore. Quiet. Not a lot of people passing through. And you loved it.

The bookstore was a nice change of pace from high school. It was small and family owned. Not by your family of course, you and your family had... issues to say the least. But that's a story for another time.

In school you wore hot pinks and baby pinks paired with white or gold. Working you went for more muted pinks. But pink is pink and nothing has made you less "Queen Barbie".

And nothing made Steve less "King Steve".

Especially when he came in to buy Robin a book for her birthday. If anything that made him better in your eyes. Steve was always kind to you but you never were into him like everyone expected you to be. He was sweet to you but you knew he was kind of an asshole to others.

He came up to the counter with a copy of Patience and Sarah. You saw the book before him and got excited about it.

"Oh this is a wonderful book. Good choice." You said happily as you took it. You turned the book on its back and put the price in the register as you spoke. "It's about a woman and her lover, who's another woman. One of the main characters is pretty masculine and she eventually 'transitions' to a man kinda. Then she goes by- You know what? I'm sorry. I'm rattling on. Uh... it's five nineteen."

Steve just smiled and nodded at you as he got out his wallet. "I didn't know you read that much Barbie."

Your head snapped up to see Steve, in all his glory. His hair was shorter than you remembered, maybe a bit flatter. He was definitely more muscular but you didn't really know what he's been doing to be so much stronger looking.

You hadn't realized how he had freckles in school. They looked good. And he had the prettiest eyes. And he also-

"Uh... receipt?" Your mouth stopped your thoughts. Auto pilot can really be a bitch sometimes.

Steve seemed to be in the same boat. He looked startled when you asked. "Oh, uh, yes please. It's a gift for a friend."

You smiled and handed him the receipt. "I think we have gift wrap in the back. I can wrap it for you!" You offered, totally not still thinking about his eyes and freckles.

Steve's eyes widened as he nodded. "Please. Their birthday is tomorrow."

"King Steve doing something last minute? I'm surprised!" You teased. "I'll go wrap it."

You took the book and went into the back room to wrap it. It wasn't official wrapping paper. It was just brown paper with book covers printed on it. You put a "To/from" sticker on it and came out with a sharpie.

Steve was standing awkwardly by the counter and his face lit up when he saw you with the now wrapped book. He went to grab it from you and you pulled the book back.

"I remember your handwriting." Was all you said to him. You set the book on the counter and took the lid from the sharpie. "Who's it for?"

"Robin Bobbin Buckley."

You blinked at him in confusion. "Is that their name or...?"

"It's more of an in joke."

"Cute."

You could have sworn Steve's cheeks turned pink slightly but you had no idea. You knew he didn't really blush so it was hard to decipher if it was blush or the summer heat was seeping into the store.

Steve rocked back and forth for a few moments as you wrote down what he told you. You had barely finished when he blurted out: "Barbie let's go on a date."

"What?"

Steve stumbled for a second before finally getting out a coherent phrase. "Date. Me. Please?"

You smiled and handed him the book. "How about in two days yeah? Your friends birthday is tomorrow."

Steve smiled and took the book from you. "I can do that. That works. Movies?"

"Just like school."

"Exactly Barbie." He chuckled. "I know how much you love drive-ins and milkshakes."

"It's fun!"

"I agree! That's why Saturday at 8 is going to be the perfect time."

"I can't wait Steve."

Steve left the store as casually as he could before absolutely freaking out in his car. He couldn't believe he got you. And he was gonna do his damnedest to keep you.

[notsocheezy]

Brain Curd #228

Brain Curds are lightly edited daily writing - usually flash fiction and sometimes terrible on purpose.

I awoke with a start from yet another of those dreams. Those dreams, unyielding, in which he is with me. I have always hated those dreams.

Whether I find myself in a diner, or a grocery store, or strolling about my home town, he is always there, whether overtly or lingering in the shadows, hiding beneath the mask of someone else. He relishes being an unwelcome guest in my subconscious, drawing me to his flying monkeys and wannabes.

Long since incapable of finding pure love, I lay alone in my bed, groggy, having slept the night before to the sounds of YouTube on autoplay. Perhaps the only white noise worse than silence. My eyelids are heavy with the burden of lost rest, never to be clawed back from the unmerciful crawl of time.

I force myself out of bed and peek through the curtains. Orange-tinted storm clouds fill the sky. It must be Halloween. I yawn and head for the kitchen to boil a kettle.

I pour my cup of tea when suddenly the doorbell rings. What time is it? I ask myself, to which I reply, time to get a watch. The microwave clock reads half-past four PM. I suppose I slept in.

I look through the peephole and don’t see anyone. I figure it might be neighborhood children playing a prank, but it could be a package I ordered and forgot about. I unlock the door and open it, but it takes a moment to register what I see: my father, in the flesh.

I rub my eyes. This can’t be happening, this can’t be real - but when I open them again he still stands before me. He’s not supposed to be here, not even in my dreams. I pinch my arm, I bite my tongue, but nothing seems to wake me up. I am already awake.

“Trick or treat!” He says, holding out his arms, waiting for a hug.

“How did you find this address?”

“It’s almost my birthday! Didn’t you want to see me?”

“No. You aren’t welcome here. Please leave.”

I close the door but he sticks his foot in it, the sole of his open-toed shoe only barely damping the hit. He doesn’t flinch.

He pushes the door back open and leans inside. “Do you know what it took to get here? I’m not going back.”

Part of me is afraid of what he’ll do if I let him in, but the other part is afraid of what he’ll do if I try to keep him out. That’s the part that wins the argument. I open the door again.

“I’ll make dinner.” He says, as he looks around inside, scoping out a place to turn into a nest. He sets his backpack down on the couch, and I can smell sulfur on it from all the way over here by the entrance.

“I just woke up, actually, so dinner seems premature.”

“Fine,” he says. “I’ll make pancakes for dinner. You’ll love them, I promise.”

This is an uncharacteristic sort of compromise from him, and I get to wondering if this really is my father. After all, I haven’t seen him in five years, and he seems to look exactly as I remember him. The thing is, I’m not sure I remember what he looked like last time I was in the same room with him. He almost looks more like he does in that photo I keep stashed away at the bottom of a drawer, the one we took when I was ten. He doesn’t act much like I thought he did, either, but I suppose I haven’t known him for some time. Maybe he changed?

We stopped talking for the obvious reasons (those are the ones I can tell people who ask): he didn’t support me going to college, or my transition, or any of my passions beyond making him happy. But there were also the less obvious reasons: The chill I felt down my spine when we were alone, a sense of unease to hear his voice, fear when he was even slightly angry. The little reminders of childhood that I’ve learned draw me to other people who end up hurting me. Battle-worn red flags of heritage.

My teenage memories are molded swiss cheese, incomplete and green with envy of the children who were allowed to grow up without a father like him. Whether their father was a good man or a dead man or both, they were better off. I knew even then that the most I had to look forward to was writing and delivering the eulogy.

And now here he was, a trespasser in my home, standing at the stove, burning vegetable oil onto my carbon steel pan. The fishy stench of it chokes my uvula. I want to vomit. He always told me he’d haunt me after he died and here he was, haunting me not only in my dreams but in waking life as a shambling zombie of a parent that never was.

Was… was he?

I ran to my computer and checked the local obituaries of my home town. I scrambled to find anything, anything from the past year, then the past two, desperately searching my brain at the same time to try to recall when it was that via text he threatened (no - ‘promised’) to keep his death a secret from my mother and I. Then I came across the name. There it was, the obituary.

He was presumed dead on his birthday four years ago. The body was never found. There was no service. Nobody would have come anyway. And something - be it a mischievous fae or a demon or the man himself - was piloting his decaying body to make a pancake dinner.

He pushed open the bedroom door and presented the plate. “I hope you like them. I made them with love.”

“I’m not hungry,” I replied, sick to my stomach at the mere suggestion of more of what he called love.

He looked at my monitor and the smile melted off his face. “I keep my promises.”

Please comment, reblog, like, and follow if you enjoyed - I'd love to know what you think! Happy Halloween!

[vorrentis]

Male Reader x Mina - Blind Love (Part 2)

IT'S ABOUT TIME FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER FOR THIS!

Anyway! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, SORRY it took a while to get a sequel and hopefully I did the moments here justice.

Especially the details of Mina being our eyes.

Tried my best to go into it.

AND this chapter isn't what most of you would have wanted as this is more of a bonding experience with Mina. 

Gotta build up that chemistry before we make history.

If it's not your liking well, I 'm sorry and hopefully the next chapter will be, but if it is then great!

SO! ENJOY!

WORDS: 22498

===================================

DING...DING...DING

"Alright class, pages 12 and 13 okay." The teacher called out as the kids ignored the teacher and started to rise from their seats to head to lunch.

You, not having much, placed your slate into your bag and waited, staring down while hearing the conversations going on.

"I wonder what's for lunch?"

"Thank god it's Friday..."

"I want to take a nap."

"I'm gonna need help with homework..."

You heard each want or complaint till the one you were waiting to hear from behind.

"Ready (YN)~"

Sana's voice was heard as you turned to your right.

She got up from the seat behind you with her items and smiled down as you picked your bag up and stood up with Sana.

"Yeah,"

"Hand,"

You held your hand up and Sana grabbed it and started to guide you along as you followed behind, "also we need to go to my locker, that okay?"

"Course," you answered as Sana nodded, and away the two were.

Now you weren't able to, but multiple sets of eyes were on you both walking out of the room, and upon hearing the many conversations and openings, and closing of lockers, you knew you were in the hall.

"You good?" Sana asked.

"Yeah, you would think it would get easier to roam around." You said as Sana, maneuvering the students, held onto your hand tight.

"It gets busy as busy can get, especially with lunch. But we are not going to let you go alone with the stairs." She turned her head to you looking forward.

"I wouldn't either." You agreed as Sana hummed, turned back forward, and headed toward her locker.

This was the norm since Monday and it was doing well as the days went by for the transitions between each of the three girls; meeting after classes to guide you and to sit by you.

Course, being high school, other students were curious about you and being with the three girls.

Some felt as though you were faking and even asked you if they expected a cane or even a dog...yeah, a dog.

You merely chuckled and explained it was no need and the girls, whoever was with you, stated they were your guide...much to the dismay of most of being with three very attractive girls.

Regardless, everything seemed to be going smoothly till this morning with Mina and Reo.

Afterward, Mina informed Sana when she came into class and Momo via text.

Sana loathed bullies and to know that one was picking on you was way too much for her to handle. She was fumid and constantly asked at that class, after, and this past class, and...

"And here we are, just give me a minute, stand right here," you heard her and she upheld your hand after having you move a step to the right and figured she was opening her locker.

You remained still as Sana spun the lock to her combo and opened the rectangular slab of metal, but before she did anything else, she turned to you looking a bit to her left, straight at the lockers.

"So are you really okay (YN)?" She asked as you smiled at her question.

"For the past five times, I'm fine Sana, the two think they're funny. What worries me is Mina." Sana nodded, "I just want to know if she's okay. I wanted to tell the teacher about what he said to her."

"Well, Mina doesn't let it get to her. But with what he was doing to you, I don't blame her for this morning," Sana reached to get her box lunch from the top section, "I still can't believe Reo is like that."

"Yeah. Mina told me he was like that since last year."

"It has. It hasn't been so bad I guess. But he did get more talkative with her when the school year was ending. Momo and I told on him, but other than a conversation, it didn't help since he wasn't really doing anything but chatting. Mina thanked us but said it was nothing to be fed up about. Thankfully he toned it down after that and we hoped he wouldn't after school resumed. Guess not."

SHUT

Sana closed her locker and turned her body to you.

"Why her specifically?" you asked.

"Cause he thinks Mina's attractive," Sana answered, "but he's too dumb to realize that Mina doesn't want anything to do with him."

"Wow, well if he's been trying since then, she must very attractive." You stated as Sana rose a brow as your realized what you said out loud, "uh sorry, that sounded a bit weird."

Sana held in a giggle and smiled at your thought...then figured that you couldn't even know what Mina looked like, neither of the three.

She wondered if you'd been imagining what they looked like in your head at the moment, but not the time to think as she didn't want you to feel apologetic.

"Hehe, it's okay (YN), Mina is very pretty,"

You nodded...and then a thought came up...

"Do you and Momo have issues with him or anyone else too?"

"Not us, Reo seems to only go with Mina. Although his friend tries to hit on us before, he was actually smart and backed off." She trailed as you nodded.

"Yeah? Well then you and Momo must be very pretty as well," you stated, not wanting to make Mina the only one feeling like that as Sana smiled in a cute manner.

"Hehe~ ah (YN)~ you're making me blush~"

You shrugged in response as Sana felt happy that you called her that...but that smile faded as she kept looking at you.

"...But now it scares me that Reo's gonna be messing with you now. Since you're with us three." Sana looked at you as your expression remained the same.

"Well there are people that are going to be like that Sana, I know it's not gonna be all perfect or nice." You shrugged, "don't worry. Reo sounds like a handful, but if anything does happen, I'll let you three know."

"Oh we'll know if he picks on you again, after all, you're stuck with us," and like that, Sana's had a shift in her tone as you smiled at her, "still (YN), I'm sorry that had to happen to you. Especially on your first experience of school."

"It's fine Sana, I appreciate your concern for Mina and me, but hey, at least I have you three to counter him. He's bad and you three are great."

Sana let out a gentle sigh and gingerly smiled at yet another compliment, Mina was right when you saw the bright side in most things.

"Alright," you nodded, "well if he does anything, we're not going to let that slide okay?" you repeated your notion, "good, I got my lunch so hand please~"

She asked and you held your hand out once more as Sana took it into hers and the two were off to meet the other two.

Sana, while slowly weaving her way past the less crowded students as most were already in lunch, smiled at the compliments you gave her.

'Even if he wasn't blind, he doesn't deserve to get picked on. We'll make sure it won't happen again. Still...' Sana stopped for a moment as you did as well, feeling her slowing down, thinking there may have been some obstructions in front, but Sana took a few seconds to look at you, 'he's brave for standing up for Mina.'

And Sana picked up the pace once more.

—-----------------

After a slow and careful walk, you heard the usual talk and laughter in the halls but now added with clashing of plastic and metals, assuming utensils as Sana kept on pulling you.

"We're almost there." Sana notified as you nodded and then...the talks seemed to be lowered and behind you.

"Mina~ Momo~" Sana waved her free hand, carrying her lunch as the two turned to Sana with you behind her.

Both Mina gave a faint smile and Momo frowned while glancing at you.

"And you're here with Momo," Sana guided you to your seat as you patted and felt the table and sat down with your legs going down into the slot and you felt the bench under you.

"Thanks Sana."

"No problem~" She said now joining Momo once you got settled.

"Hey Mina, Momo." You said looking down while gathering your items.

"Hi," Momo spoke up, but...

"..."

Both Sana and Momo noticed Mina simply observing you, almost studying you as Sana waved a hand in front, getting Mina's attention quickly.

"Mina?" Sana called out to her as you heard and slowed your motions.

Mina merely turned to Sana.

"O-oh, sorry, I was thinking of something..." Mina excused herself while picking up her fork and poking at her noodles.

You weren't a hundred percent sure, but your best guess was her thinking about Reo's incident, but you didn't want to budge into her thoughts and continued to lay out your meal.

"That's okay." Sana said bringing her lunch up on the table as Momo took a spoonful of kimchi, "so glad it's Friday. I'm excited for our going out today too," Sana furthered, opening her Tupperware, as Momo nodded.

"...we should do something else on the weekend," Mina suddenly spoke as the three's attention was now on her idea as you opened your Tupperware, "I would like to do more than just shopping you know," she explained and you three nodded.

"I do have an empty weekend to fill up." Sana nodded.

"Let's do it," was all Momo needed to say to be in.

"(YN)?" Mina asked.

"You serious?"

"Course," Mina affirmed, remembering what you said to her as you nodded.

"Okay, though I would have to convince my parents, aka dad," you answered right away, now more excited that it wasn't just today to be hanging out if you were to be able to go.

"Well, he should be okay since the four of us will be together. It's set then~" Sana smiled as the other two nodded, "let's talk about it at the mall, right now, I'm hungry...itadakimasu!"

And so the four started to eat...scratch that, three of you were.

Momo, being next to you, was overlooking you and your spoonful of rice going right to your mouth as you were facing downward.

Momo had a lot of questions for you when they first met, some she didn't think to ask as she figured it may have come out wrong, but you didn't seem to mind answering any and all that she had as days went on and were delighted to be buddies with you as you brought a new addition of humor and interest to the group.

Upon hearing what Reo did, Momo didn't know how anyone would want to pick on you and it hurt her more than Reo went to a new low level to you, a blind person.

She thought people can be despicable.

She never liked Reo or Satoshi and now, she despised him.

She wanted nothing more than to have him be in trouble, but Mina told her what you said and that to let it be for now.

Still...

"(YN)?" She asked as you turned in her direction, not on her but to the left of her, "I'm happy you're with us."

That caused the other two to raise their eyes at you as you smiled.

From what Mina told you, Momo was the most sensitive of the three.

"I'm happy I'm with you as well Momo."

Momo was at ease at the response and nodded as Sana and Mina smiled as well.

"Want some Kimchi for your rice?" She shook her container.

"Thank you, but I'm okay. Arigato Momo."

"Alright," Momo nodded and soon the four resumed eating and started to-

"Hold on," that got the attention of the table to you, "sorry you three, but can I ask you three something before we start?"

"Sure," "what is it?" Two of them asked as you inhaled slowly.

"It's early of me to ask considering I haven't asked my parents yet, but how long would we be out for?" You questioned as the three shrugged at one another.

"I don't know, usually like eight or something, you got something to do tonight?" Sana asked as you smiled and shook your head.

"It's embarrassing, I just wanted to spend a lot of time out."

They smiled upon hearing your statement and even Momo went...

"Aww~ that's cute (YN)~" and for once in your life, you were glad to be rid of sight to avoid the embarrassment of looking at the three.

"Well, then be prepared (YN), 'cause we three can shop like no other~" Sana's tone was up a notch as you nodded.

"Great," you said as Mina turned left.

"And since tomorrow is Saturday, we'll be spending as much time as we can, walking around, the food court, visiting each store seeing what's go-...may I ask about your shopping experience?" Sana questioned as Momo watched and Mina would listen.

"It's in and out. Dad's not really a mall person and mom isn't a clothes person so she would ask a store worker to pick the outfits for me. She describes it and if it sounds nice, it's good for me. Though I'm probably basic looking when not in uniform," you shrugged as the girls figured and no offense to your mom, knew the worker probably threw whatever and called it a sale.

"Well, I'm sure your mom has taste but we'll help you get some new outfits," Sana grinned, "you can trust us (YN)."

"Us three know fashion (YN), we'll make you look great." Momo joined as Mina kept her eyes on you and your smile.

Again, she felt ecstatic to see your emotion like that.

"I do trust you three. Very much."

The three smiled and nodded.

"Then looks like we got work to do ladies~" Momo grinned as the other two laughed with you feeling high-spirited.

—--------------------------------

TIMESKIP

"Hey sweetie," Your mom's voice was heard as Mina guided you to them in front of the school's parking lot.

Rather than waiting inside their vehicle, they stood close to the entrance of the school since Mina would lead you to them.

"Hey mom, dad here?"

"Yeah I'm here, how was it?" He brought up as you nodded.

"Pretty great, I might need some help with homework this weekend."

"You have homework already?" Your dad questioned as you nodded.

"Math and History," you returned as your dad looked concerned.

"Is it possible for you to do it?" He asked as you nodded.

"With Mina's help yeah, but Ms. Vale did say that the school might have something for me to use for homework and even exams. Though because I just got admitted, they couldn't quite get it in time. But Monday or Tuesday for sure." You explained as your mother smiled.

"I'm glad they're doing their best." She stated as your dad nodded slowly, "well then, let's go?" she asked as you turned into Mina's area.

"Mina?" 

"Right." Mina turned to your parents, "Ms. (LN)?"

"(Mother's Name), Mina. I don't mind," Mina nodded, "I'm guessing something's up?"

"Yes, it's sudden, but would you and Mr. (LN) be okay if (YN) joined my friends and I at the mall today?" She asked as your mom smiled while dad...

"Mall?" "That's wonderful,"

"Wonderful?" Your dad questioned her, "honey I don't think it's a good-"

"(Father's Name), he'll be fine." She excused herself as he rose a brow.

"Shouldn't we talk about this first?"

You figured as much.

"We'll take care of him," Mina spoke up to counter, "you don't have to worry," your dad turned to her and then you as you remained looking down.

"When?" Your mom requested as your dad shook his head as well.

"In an hour or less, I'll be coming by to pick him up if he can."

"You got our address?" Mina shook her head, "when you're ready I'll tell you," Mina pulled her phone out to put into text.

"(Mother's Name)-"

"We'll talk about this in the car." She cut your father off while raising a hand as his shoulders fell, and soon as she saw Mina ready, "it's (address)," Mina typed and nodded while putting her phone away, "arigato Mina," you instantly smiled as your dad sighed.

"Thanks, Ms. (LN)." Mina bowed to her and then to your dad and then looked at you and your smile, "guess I'll see you later (YN)."

"I guess so, thanks," you whispered the last part as Mina nodded and unheld your hand after as you walked forward to your folks and your mom patted your shoulder and signaled to have your hand out as she took it.

"Thank you, Mina," she said while giving a slight head bow to her as Mina did the same.

"Thank you for letting him come with us, drive safe," she waved and started to walk away as you and your mom did the same.

"You too Mina." You said back as Mina smiled and then she was off to her vehicle, "thank you for allowing me to go." You said to your parents after.

"Of course (YN),"

"..." your dad was silent as your mom gave a look at him.

"Honey..."

"You didn't think we should discuss this?" Your dad sounded stern.

"What's to discuss? It's not different than him attending here." She replied earnestly, pointing at the building.

"At least the school has safety and protection with staff, the malls a large place with many random people and-"

"Honey relax, that sounds like here as well," your mom countered as your dad licked his lips in tension, "and he's not going alone, Mina with Momo and Sana as well." She listed while remembering what you told them.

"Yeah...okay, but what if something bad happens? They wouldn't know how to handle it?" He looked at your mother, shaking her head in response.

"I'm sure Mina is capable of helping him just as much as any other person." She reasoned to him as he let out some tensed breath, "she's been guiding him around the school (Father's FN), she can certainly do the same at the mall."

"Yeah dad, you can trust her. She's been amazing this past week." You added with your head forward at nothing, encouraging Mina's support.

"..."

"..."

"...is she a good driver?"

Both you and mom weren't surprised by the question.

"I'm sure she's careful." You answered truthfully, obviously not knowing the answer, but knowing Mina, she was.

"'Sure' isn't very positive." He countered as you frowned.

"(FFN)..." He looked to his wife giving off a flat look.

Though it was understandable.

You attending school wasn't easy for him, even with Mina at your side, and now onto another location away from the protective school wasn't making him comfortable.

Your mom alleviated him, but it wasn't as working as she would hope.

"...just...please call us if anything happens alright?" Your dad topped off as you offered a large smile.

"You know I will dad." You confirmed, tilting your head in his direction as your dad gave a few seconds before turning his head and heading towards the car without another word as you both followed.

Silent minutes passed with no conversation happening as the drive happened, but you were excited to be with your friends out and about.

==========================

TIMESKIP

"Okay, you have our card?"

"Yes again," you patted your pocket, 

"Phone charged?"

"And again 100%, Siri is very useful."

"Okay...are you warm-"

"(FFN) he's going to the mall, not out of state," your mom was clearly doing her best to calm her husband down.

"I'm just making sure," your father tapped his knees.

After arriving home, you changed, with the help of mom, and waited in the living room for Mina.

She told you that it would be an hour before she was to be here, but you got ahead in changing so quickly that it was half an hour before the time.

Maybe you were too desperate to-

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"And there she is." You stood up from your couch as did your parents with your mom heading towards the door as your dad went to your side while you walked to the door.

"Remember to call every hour." He mentioned as you waved a hand.

"I will, don't worry dad,"

"And if there's trouble-"

"Honey, he gets it." Your mom interrupted as your dad remained still while you held out your right hand to feel the corner of the couch.

You counted your steps to the door as your mom opened the wooden panel to reveal...

"Hello Ms. (LN)."

"(Mom's Name) Mina."

"Formalities." Mina held her hands together and then spotted you approaching your mom's side, resulting in Mina's smile largened.

"Hey Mina."

"Hey (YN), you ready?" You nodded, stepping forward while holding your hand out with Mina taking it in hers.

Your parents watched as you turned your head in their direction.

"I promise I'll text you every hour dad okay. Bye mom, dad."

"Bye sweetie," "Be safe," they both spoke as you felt Mina's hand pull yours and you followed her down the pathway with closeness till they boarded into their car with two others that they met briefly and watched as they rolled down the street.

"I'm happy he's enjoying himself," your mom said as he nodded slowly, "I guess having him go to school wasn't such a bad idea huh?" She said while patting his chest.

"..."

"Honey, he's going to be okay," He took a moment to view his wife before gazing back at the street's end where you were long gone, "it's not like he's alone."

"School is one thing (Mom's Name), but a mall. Whose to know what will-"

"I know what will happen," she rose her voice and turned to him, "he'll have a wonderful time with his new friends, just like he's been having at school. (Dad's Name)," he swayed to her, "I know you want to keep him safe. But he can't be cooped up here forever. I want him to be safe as well, but he's going to have to grow up and experience the world out there and he wanted to have that experience. One week and he has not one, but three sweet and nice-looking friends. And the way he talked about going to the mall with them; he was just as happy when we said yes to letting him go to school. He hasn't been this talkative or excited since..." she shook her head, "I care for his safety, but I also care for his happiness (Dad's Name). Don't you want him to be happy?"

She capped and saw your father's sight lower to the side.

He offered a hesitant look at her and nodded.

"I do want him to be happy as well." He admitted, "as much as I wanted to say no to him, I couldn't tear that smile he had." He licked his lips and took a deep breath, "you're right about everything, I knew (YN) would want to go out eventually, but I didn't know it'd be this quick."

His wife, again, patted his chest in reassurance."

"It's been thirteen years (Dad's Name). He's growing up," he nodded, "everything will be okay, trust me." He nodded again, "good, let's head inside; I'll put a movie on and you can put popcorn."

She grabbed his forearm and pulled him till enough to close the door behind him.

—-----------------------------------------

TIMESKIP

SHUT- SHUT

"Here (YN) I got you," Mina reached out and grabbed your shoulder as you unbuckled your seat on your own after feeling the belt strap down and pushing the button.

"Thanks," you returned as you felt and grabbed Mina's hand and stepped out carefully from the car.

"Just a few steps this way," Mina asked of you as she gently escorted you a few steps and...

SHUT

Mina shut the door behind you and continued to hold your hand and escort you to the back of the car.

"Well, not packed, but not empty either," Sana looked around the cars in the parking lot as they were parked a moderate space away from the entrance.

DING

Mina locked her car as the four huddled while you held Mina's hand tightly in yours, not wanting to let go.

While incredibly excited, there was a part of you that was scared you would get lost amidst a crowd, since you weren't familiar with the concepts of the mall and crowd.

"Let's do this," Momo said as you three nodded and started to walk to the entrance. 

"Excited (YN)?" Sana asked.

"Course," you admitted, aiming your head in the direction of Sana on your right as Momo was on your right, "hehe maybe a bit too excited,"

You explained as the three gave a soft look at one another before smiling at you, feeling content that they were going to make this a happy occasion.

And Mina, after dispersing from you, informed Momo and Sana of what you said after Reo's incident.

To say they were heartfelt was an understatement.

They too were happy that you were experiencing that and strive to make it remain for the rest of the school year.

"Well we feel the same way whenever sales happen here," Momo added, "not a lot of things actually happen here, but sales are pretty good."

"Yes they are." You agreed as your group walked forward.

STEP STEP STEP

STEP STEP STEP

"And here we are." Mina stated as Sana pressed open the automatic doors, you sighed deeply as the mall was an overload to your hearing as you walked inside the establishment.

The chatter of the mall was bright and refreshing, voices ringing around with many conversations going on at once.

The atmosphere was buzzing with tinges of mystery and excitement.

"Sounds busy." You noted.

You spoke up jolting Mina from surveying her surroundings to take a glimpse of you, and sure enough, your head darting around, with a sparkle of wariness and curiosity.

Mina smiled cheerily at your eagerness. 

It was brilliant for you to be so accepting since she wanted to teach you more about the surrounding world, to let you see the world for yourself after you hadn't in so long.

"Somewhat, there are lots of teens which is understandable since everyone is leaving school." Mina explained while observing the various groups of shoppers, "so I hope you don't mind," she asked as Sana's eyes lit up as she eagerly began to bounce in place, clapping her hands out of excitement.

"but we need to start at the k-pop store, I need to see if the albums of Nayeon and Somi are there," Sana suggested as the others nodded.

"There's a k-pop store here?" You questioned.

"Yes, there's one-wait, you into k-pop (YN)?" Sana pointed at you.

"Of course, I don't have a favorite so I listen to whatever. Some I'm eh on, but most are good, I don't know whose Nayeon though, she new?" You asked Sana back as the four started to move ahead.

"I didn't know that (YN)?" Sana said as you shook your head.

"I don't think we talked about our types of music before, but I'm into K-pop for sure," you answered as the three heard.

True, besides lunch, they didn't really talk out of it and they were focusing on helping you adjust.

But as you were blending in so well, they were getting natural, well some things can be better.

"Great! Then we'll check the k-pop store first, then the latest clothing line, maybe a visit to the arcade, a fragrance for myself, oh so many choices~" Sana chimed as the two girls shook their heads at her eagerness.

"Uhm exactly how many departments are here?" You questioned.

"I think the better question is what isn't here," Sana corrected, "there's a department just about for anything," Sana explained as you shook your head.

"Man, mom and I only go to like two stores..." your tone dropped after hearing as the girls mellowed down at how much you truly are missing.

"Well, we're gonna change that," Mina spoke up, disrupting the flow as the other two nodded after seeing Mina turn to them.

"We sure will!" Sana sure was happy, "so what other music are you into (YN)?" Sana turned to you.

"Well both Pop and K-pop, fast, great beat, and fun to listen to, but ironically, I also love to listen to both Classical and Ballets as well," You listed as Mina was...

"Wait? (YN) you're into Ballet?" Mina asked suddenly.

"Yeah, it's heavily enjoyable to listen to for me," You furthered as Momo and Sana turned to Mina, "sure, pop and k-pop are catchy and upbeat, but both ballet and classical are soft, full of heart and soothing to the mind and it relaxes me in a snap. I listen to it quite a lot."

"What composers?" Mina quickly shifted and asked with curiosity, evident in her voice.

"Tchaikovsky, Ludwig, Prokofiev, Adam, Stravinsky," You rose your fingers, "the list goes on, but those are my top five."

Obviously, you couldn't see, but Mina had a smile on her.

"Well guess you and Mina have a lot more to talk about then," Sana grinned as you heard her comment.

"You into ballet Mina?"

"Oh she's way into ballet, Mina's a ballerina. Top of the country." Sana pointed at her quiet friend as Mina tilted her head.

(AN: In adjusting around Mina's backstory for this one so rather than being into K-pop, she's more influenced by ballet. Same with Sana and Momo as they aren't interested in being idols in this one)

"The country?! That's incredible Mina," You showed your wowness as Mina shook her head.

"No, no I'm not, Sana's exaggerating." Mina excused herself as Sana smiled.

"Don't lie Mina~ You're the best in your class. She is the lead captain and won many competitions, she has the medals and trophies to prove it,"  Momo chimed in as Mina was embarrassed to be revealed as such.

"Wow Mina, it sounds like you're talented." You resulted as Mina, while still embarrassed, smiled at your assessment.

"Very talented, you should see her daaa-...." Sana closed her mouth as Momo and Mina turned to her, "uh be there when she performs." Sana quickly fixed herself.

"That's a great idea," you agreed quickly to dismiss what Sana said, Of course you weren't offended by it, but to have Sana forget about it too, "I would love to go to a performance."

'There's that positive outlook.' Mina had in her mind.

"I can arrange that," Mina spoke up as the two girls heard her, "I'm on break till next week though," 

"That's fine, I can wait."

Mina nodded to your agreement as Momo and Sana, who felt bad at her choice of words, agreed as well.

"Then it's settled...actually...no, never mind, I was just thinking." Mina strang a few words as you and the other duo wondered what she thought, "let's go to the music then, but you have to tell me what ballets you enjoy (YN)." Mina sounded as you nodded.

"Course, so I enjoy...

ONE WALK LATER

"...but I'd had to say Grand Pas Class Classique is one of my go-to." You ended as Mina nodded enthusiastically.

"Ah (YN) that's a really good one. That's one that I really want to perform to, but looking at how others perform, it's intense." Mina said as Momo and Sana were in front of the two as they conversed.

The K-pop store was a while to walk to so the two took the time to discuss that topic as Momo and Sana teased each other about their conversation, even Mina was getting into it.

"Well if you're as good as Momo and Sana say, then I know you can do it Mina."

"Hehe~ thanks (YN)." You nodded, "maybe I should tell my instructor ne-oh," Mina stopped as you felt her halt with you doing the same.

"What's up?" You asked.

"Oh, we uh, passed it..." Mina said while spotting both Momo and Sana grinning in front of the store.

You two were in discussion mode so Mina wasn't even paying attention as she trailed back with you in hand.

"Come on," she said and getting close to her friends, "why didn't you stop us?"

"Hehe~ and ruin your talk?" Momo tilted her head as Mina sighed, "come on, let's get in. Luckily there's not a lot of people."

You could hear the faint music coming from within the store already and knew it was BlackPink's newest song 'Pink Venom'.

"Mina?"

"Hmm?" She hummed while turning to you.

"You don't have to, but do you mind describing the room?" You asked as Mina smiled, "I would like to have an image of what the room looks like."

You didn't have to say why, Mina was going to say yes after your request anyway.

It was easy enough to figure why you would ask: curiosity.

"Course, before stepping in," she turned inside, "imagine a rectangular room. Now there are five dividers that don't go all the way, leaving space on the far left and right sides that separate into aisles that come up to your torso with merch and albums of various idols in between, we're going to step inside," she added as the music was now clear, "now there are posters and wall scrolls hanging on the edge between the roof and the walls and even the ceiling has posters flat facing down as well."

You nodded, taking in each description and Mina was making it easy.

"And underneath the posters and taking up the wall are shelves and each consist of groups with their larger items such as lightsticks, figures, dolls, and more various items."

"Wow Mina, you're very descriptive," Mina hummed, "one question, what's a lightstick?" You questioned as Mina turned at you.

That one question caused Mina to frown. 

It felt wrong to think but the list of what you were missing out on gets longer. 

Hearing a song is one thing, to see that artist perform live is another.

She and her duo have been to a few concerts and Sana has brought her own lightsticks waving around to the beat.

It was incredible to witness a singer or group lighting up the stage with marvelous sounds and attractions rocking to their song.

And for you to not be able to enjoy that...

"...Mina?" Guess Mina was a few silent seconds too long upon hearing your name.

"...a-ah sorry, I'm thinking of how to explain," she excused herself as she needed," Mina needed a few seconds to collect herself.

"Sorry," you excused as Mina shook her head.

"Don't be, so lightsticks are, Uhm, these hand-held objects that have different shapes or ornaments that light up at one end. Think of a flashlight that lights up with a certain color and fans wave that around during a song. It's a way to support that person or group." She explained as you nodded.

"Ah, didn't know that."

"Yeah, it's pretty simple but expensive," she said after, "anyway, there's the cashier on the left of us behind their desk and a couple of screens on top of them showing the video of BlackPink, on the other corner there's a couple of demo stations that have headphones and touchscreens to hear songs." Mina looked at a couple of machines, "other than that, that's pretty much the sto-oh, there's a couple of windows on each side of the door that has the most expensive items on display." She looked and turned to see anything else, but no, "yeah, that's what it looks like."

IF YOU WERE TRYING TO IMAGINE AS WELL, LET'S SEE IF YOU WERE CLOSE TO THE IMAGE BELOW

While Mina explained, images were brought into your mind, laying out the general area of the store.

While not able to tell what the stuff was, various sizes and shapes to place in the helm.

"Hmm, yeah I could lay it all out," Mina smiled as you turned in her general direction, "thanks Mina."

"Of course (YN), glad it's clear for you," Mina then turned to the duo of Sana and Momo in the third row, "hey let's join the other two?" 

You nodded as Mina held your hand tighter and brought you to the duo who was looking down the row.

"NMIXX, New Jeans, NCT...oh! here she is!" Sana's voice was heard throughout as Mina shook her head.

"Relax Sana, the whole store just turned to you," Momo sighed as Sana took each one in hand.

"Ah she's so pretty~" Sana admired her newly acquired albums.

"Huh, she looks like Jennie in this one." Momo pointed at one of them. 

"And both are very pretty~"

"Someone's in love~" Momo grinned as Sana didn't care.

"Based on her yell, I'm assuming she got them," you said, "congrats Sana."

"Thank you (YN)~ I'm lucky they had two sets left. Now to find if Somi is around but at least I got Nayeon...oh (YN)," you hummed, "there's a demo station here, want to hear a bit of her song?" She asked as you nodded and Mina guided you towards Sana.

"N for Nayeon~ and...okay, I put the volume on low so say if you need me to raise it higher," you nodded, "and here's the headset, mind if I put it on you?" you shook your head as Sana was gentle on placing a headset on you as you stood still. You reached up and adjusted to fix and after you rose your thumb as Sana pressed play.

Seollemi meotgi jeonе

"Louder please,"

 Sana pressed the 'up' button twice.

I wanna make it

Pop, pop, pop, you want it

Pop, pop, pop, teojigil wonhae

Gasеumi ttwineun i neukkim

I wanna make it

Pop, pop, pop, you want it

Pop, pop, pop, neol gatgil wonhae

The volume went down to silent and figured it was over as you removed the headset while the three looked at you.

"Catchy,"

"I know right," Sana rose her voice as you chuckled and nodded, "you should get her album (YN), there's a set left,"

"Album..." You muttered and then quickly nodded with pace, "yeah," Sana quickly went away to get the other set, "who knows, maybe she'll be my new favorite to follow."

"Oh yeah, she's gonna get popular for sure. 

"And got them," Sana's voice came in very quick, "there's four so I'm not sure if you want all or just one?"

"How much for all?" 

"Twenty-two each but tax so over ninety," Sana explained.

"Hmm...I'll take one, just pick anyone." You asked of her as Sana looked at the four.

"Tough choice...I'll go with this. She looks the hottest here." Sana explained as you nodded, "So we got that settled, I'm sure this will look nice in your collection." Sana assumed.

"Ah I don't have a collection," you pointed out, "that album will be my first," you admitted as Momo and Sana were stunned; Mina not so much, "I know I said I was a fan, but to be honest, I've never needed or wanted albums or merch or anything of the sorts. Even for non-k-pop groups. My parents have asked, but having stuff doesn't do me any favors if I can't spectate them in my room."

You explained with a normal gesture as the three turned to one another with a noticeable frown on each one.

"Oh..." Momo muttered, "sorry (YN),"

"It's all good." You waved it off.

"So why now?" Mina asked as your head turned in her general direction.

"Ahh hehe...it's silly really, but, I want something to have for today," You presented a gingerly smile looking down at the ground escaping their looks...ironic, "as you know, it's my first going around so I want to get at least one thing for every department we get to."

And those frowns turned to genuine smiles as the three hummed or giggled at your words.

"(YN), it's not like we come to the mall every blue moon, we can come here or anywhere you want anytime you want. We all prefer being out somewhere anyway," Mina voiced while pressing into your hand more.

"Yeah, and any one of us will be happy to be with you." Sana chimed in.

"I would." Momo joined as your smile grew.

'Man...I'm lucky for these three...'

"Hehe, right, thanks."

"Course," "Yup," 

"No prob (YN)," Momo said last and then added, "so, since we're still here, there are other groups around, if you got another group in mind, I'm certain they'd be here." Momo looked around.

"I'll think I'll stick with Nayeon first. I'm not sure if my parents would agree with me getting a haul coming back."

"Yeah I guess that's smart thinking, once you start collecting, you'll only be wanting more and more, right Sana~" Momo cooed at Sana as she huffed.

"Hey it's not a problem, it's a hobby AND she has good music. I want to support her." Momo rose her brows.

"I think more than 'support'~" Momo leaned towards Sana.

"You can say that again, she is hot~" Sana grinned as Momo chuckled, "now imma need to find Somi real quick,"

"I'm gonna check out BlackPink, maybe I'll get their new album." Momo walked from the duo as Mina turned to you.

"You sure you want just the album?" 

"Yeah, I'm sure." You answered.

"Okay, let's join Momo yeah?" You nodded as Mina guided you...though...

'Having stuff doesn't do me any favors if I can't spectate them,'

Mina glanced at you and the smile you had on.

Taking in what you said along with what she thought before.

'I couldn't imagine his life before attending school, but as each day passes, it's more daunting than I can think...you're strong (YN)...you really are.'

You felt Mina's grip in your hand tightened, but you weren't complaining.

-------------

After ringing up the albums, which was just the five Nayeons, the group went out of the department and into the middle of the hall of the mall.

"So what's next?" Sana asked while ensuring yours and her stuff was safe.

"I think it's time we get (YN) some new outfits." Momo poked your shoulder as you smiled.

"I'm excited." You gingerly accepted their help as Momo smirked.

"Oh we are as well (YN), now let's find a spot..." Momo pointed out as the four resumed to walk, "what about (Clothing Store 1), which has decent men's attire." Momo suggested.

"Yeah, but it's like plain clothing, (Clothing Store 2) has some fashionable taste," Sana denied and brought her idea to the fray. 

"Wait you two, let's ask (YN), what are you most into?" Mina asked as you shrugged.

"I don't know really," you answered, "but I guess I enjoy loose clothing. I know I don't like button-up stuff or formal wear or tight clothing."

"Loose huh? Long-sleeve? Hoodies?"

"Long as it's not tight, I'm good." You gave them as Mina nodded.

"Okay, I think we can work with that," Mina said as the other two thought away.

"Hmm...well, what about (Clothing Store 3)? It's not exactly trendy, but it does have a variety of each clothing." Sana fronted as Momo turned to Mina.

"She's not wrong," Momo sided as Mina nodded.

"Then that's our next stop," Mina finalized as the two nodded and you were happy to go along with what they have planned.

"Uh, Mina?" 

"Hmm?"

"If you don't mind, may you do the same around us as well as you did in the K-pop store?" 

Mina could only smile.

"Let's see, think of this place as a long hallway like school. Crowds of shoppers going forward on either the left or right, either resting on the benches and chairs or checking their phones. Most are carrying bags bearing store logos and browsing the glass doors and storefront windows where there are bright store signs announcing sales of retail stores with a variety of products such as clothing, housewares, electronics, and music as we were, uh, games and toys, jewelry, and more."

You nodded along at the list of objects as Momo and Sana listened. 

"And then there are the kiosks in between the stores selling jewelry, skin care products, phone accessories, the smaller products. There's bright lighting, a skylight, hideous tile flooring, plants, and a water fountain in the middle of the mall with an elevator and stairs to connect."

"Sounds nice," you commented.

"It's nothing too special though, let's see, there's the food court, but I'll get to that when we get there...uh, you two want to add anything?" She asked the duo as they shook their heads.

"Nope, I think you got it covered Mina," Sana expressed as Momo approved.

"Yeah, not much to describe besides that (YN)," Mina shrugged as you nodded.

"That's okay, it's a pretty good vision. Thanks, Mina, I appreciate it," you told her as Mina hummed.

"Anytime (YN), anytime."

-------------------------------------

TIMESKIP

Sana happily hummed to herself as she walked through the entrance of (Clothing Store).

"And here we are." Sana looked around with you being escorted in.

"So what's this place?" You asked.

"It's (Clothing Store). It's a variety of clothing here that we can mix and match," Sana explained, "I shop with mom for my dad's clothing here all time for birthdays and such. I'm certain we can find something for you (YN)."

"You're going to dress me up as your dad?" You questioned as Sana chuckled in response.

"Hehe~ don't worry, there's more than grown-up stuff. There's quite a mix of everything here, we just have to find a way to mash you up." Sana explained as you nodded, "first things first, the men's section," Sana led on as Momo followed and Mina turned to you.

"Want me to explain?" 

"It's okay, I know exactly since coming to this type is my usual. I'm certain it's as the K-pop store but with clothes instead." 

Mina nodded at your assessment.

"Pretty much, though instead of aisles, it's racks and clothes rail to hang on them and in squares. No posters of idols, but just the latest 'what's in' pics and writing. Other than that, you're right." 

"And I'm assuming you there know the layout."

"Like the back of my hand~" Sana rose her hand and swirled it to showcase, "now then, the men's section." Sana led the group towards the back of the place as you heard the sounds of metal, chatter, and rustling around you.

Even Mina was having you go left and right rather than a straight path as people's voices came closer and further around.

"Sounds busy," you were moving your head around.

"Quite, the line is even longer too."

Mina looked to her left and then forward.

"Hopefully it'll d-oh that's cute~," Momo said as she was looking at each piece of clothing as she passed, "that's cute too~" Momo played with the fabric of a t-shirt...till she saw the price, "cute to look at though...sigh, if only mom wasn't still mad at me for last time."

"With good reason, your card company had to cut your card off," Sana said in the front.

"It wasn't that much." 

"Not to your parents." Sana retorted while pointing at her friend.

'Wow, guess they weren't kidding when they come here quite a bit,' you thought.

.

.

It was about half a minute of walking when Sana...

"And here we are." Sana looked around the articles of clothing folded, hanged and displayed,  "okay, let me get a good look at you (YN),"

"Hmm?" You hummed as Sana stepped in front of you.

"I'm going to get a visual of you," Sana eyed you up and down as Momo joined Sana and Mina stood there, watching her friends checking you out...interesting.

"Should we start with the lower or upper attire?" Sana asked Momo.

"I'd say lower, it's easier to combine with pants," Momo added as you couldn't say much to the conversation.

"Alright, so for loose clothing, of course not jeans so sweats or something?" Sana asked her friend.

"Joggers?" Mina retorted as Sana nodded.

"Those could work,"

"Cargo pants?" Momo looked behind Sana's left while pointing as Sana looked in the same direction.

"You're onto something Momo," Sana went ahead and looked at each article, "these would look good on him. It's not tight with its elastic band and (YN) can work with it. Plus we can match up anything with a pair of black ones." Sana turned with the pants to Mina and you.

"Sounds nice," you put your opinion, "you mind if I feel the texture?" 

"Yeah, here it's right in front of you." Sana held up the pants as you reached out and felt the garment over your hand as you rose it. 

You adjusted your hand over and felt the material with your fingertips.

"Oh yeah, feels good."

"Right?" Sana agreed as you nodded and carried the cargo pants back to the others, "Okay, what size are you?"

"(Size), or (Size #) by (Size #)." Your mom checked before you left.

Sana searched through and found three pairs of your size and took one.

"Great, that's down. Now I'm thinking of a hoodie," she voiced her opinion as Mina agreed.

"I don't think there's a good selection though," Momo pointed out.

"I don't need anything fancy," you spoke after Momo's comment.

"Well let's see. There are over here." Sana lead the group as Mina aided you towards Sana, "Hmm, yeah no graphics or anything standing out, although let's not get too picky," Sana said as she spotted the hoodies hanging on racks.

It ranged from various colors and sizes as Sana combed through each one.

"What color?" Sana shoved a few hoodies as Mina tilted her head.

"Let's go white, it'll contrast the pants." Mina pointed as Sana took out a white hoodie in its hanger.

"Here (YN), this is the material," you did the same as the pants and nodded.

"Yeah that works."

"Okay, (YN), I'm going to press the sweater in front of you, can you hold it on the shoulders?" Sana asked of you as you nodded.

Soon, you felt Sana press her hands on your shoulders and you rose your hands up and pressed the clothing to your shoulders, feeling the hanger in it still.

"And Momo please hold the pants over him," after handing Momo the lower article, she held it over you as the other two thought about the two together.

"I think it works," Mina shrugged as Sana tapped her cheek, "although there's something that could mix this well..."

"..."

"..."

"Overcoat," "An overcoat," both Mina and Sana said at the same time as they turned and nodded at one another as they both smiled at each other's same idea and Sana rose her hands for a high five from Mina.

CLAP

"Oh, jinx. You owe me a soda~" Sana pointed at Mina who frowned.

"What's an overcoat?" You asked.

"It's a type of jacket, but it'll complete the look for you," Sana answered as you nodded, "now then~" Sana clapped her hands together, "luckily, the overcoats are around here I think," Sana pointed at the left of them and skipped her way to the rack with Mina trailing.

"We'll be back," Mina stated to you and Momo as both nodded and Momo saw them walking away.

"Do I still hold this?" You asked as Momo folded the pants over her arm.

"You can let it down," you nodded while lowering the hoodie, "so besides, music is there anything you're into while you're at home?" Momo sounded curious as you shrugged.

"Not really, I guess the most I do in my room is listen to the radio for sports. I also put on movies and TV too. Audio description is a lifesaver."

"Audio description?" Momo asked.

"When there's no dialogue happening, the TV informs the viewer what's going on."

"That's handy."

"It very much is." You nodded, "other than that, I got nothing."

Momo probably should have known that wasn't a great question to ask.

"Well, luckily for you, we can introduce you to many things we like, do you like dancing?" Momo asked upfront.

"Uh...indifferent I suppose. Are you into that?"

"My sister and I dabble in it. We make videos on Youtube, Tik-Tok, and Instagram," Momo shrugged.

AN: Like Mina, Momo's going to be more into dancing on social platforms rather than idol.

"Oh that's cool, are you famous as well?" 

"I don't want to brag, but we do receive lots of views. Though mostly my sister gets the most, she's far better than what I can do." Momo explained as you shook your head.

"Don't say that Momo, I'm sure you're equally as great as her."

Momo smiled and shook her head slightly. While what she said was true, and the fact that you just learned about her this minute, she found it kind of you to support her already.

"Thanks (YN)," 

"Hm-mh, well would you mind if you make accounts for me to follow you? I would like to support you," you asked of her as Momo...

"You don't have any social?"

"Well, there wasn't any point till last week." You reasoned as Momo nodded slowly, "so now I can follow you and maybe the other two as well if they have any."

Momo smiled at your gesture, though the question of how you use the social came up, and she figured to ask later.

"Of course (YN), I appreciate it~" you nodded, "and just to let you know (YN), I did mean when I said that I would like us two doing something together when you want, I don't mind." Momo encouraged you as you smiled.

"I'll keep that in mind Momo, thank you." You gave a head nudge in response as Momo mirrored your action.

"Yup!"

You counted yourself lucky to meet these girls so quickly.

"Sorry you two," Momo turned as you heard Mina's voice, "we saw other clothes next to the overcoats," she explained as Sana was behind her.

"I think he can work some of these outfits too." Sana showed Momo a few other clothing on hangers as Mina carried the overcoat in hand.

"You picked out other outfits?" You questioned.

"Yup~"

"You were only gone for a minute," You calculated as Sana grinned.

"We are masters of shopping (YN)~" Sana mentioned as the other two ladies smiled at her, "now come on, let's try these o-oh,  want to feel the material (YN)?"

"Sure," you held out your hand, repeating your action as before, and felt the jacket, it felt leathery in a way, though if it was going to be over your hoodie, it wasn't going to be a difference.

"Nice." You nodded as Sana nodded back.

"Great, then I have these couple of short sleeve hoodies that aren't clingy to be-

RING RING RING

Someone's phone rang out.

"That's me." Mina spoke up and slide her phone from her pocket, "Probably my pare-oh? It's my instructor," Mina was confused as she looked at the ID.

'Instructor?' You heard.

"Aren't you on break?" Momo questioned.

"Until next week, I'm gonna have to take this." The two girls nodded.

"Sure, here hand me that." Sana reached out and Mina handed her the overcoat.

"Be right back. He can change, don't wait for me."

And with that, Mina walked away with her phone over her ear to start her conversation as the duo watched her for a few seconds before turning to you.

"Okay (YN), let's get you to change." You nodded, quickly disappearing what Mina was talking about as they guided you to the fitting rooms.

"Hello, how many?" You heard a woman's voice in front of you.

"Three for him," Sana answered, and after a few seconds...

"Okay, he can go in any room." The random person responded while she waved towards 

"(YN) this way, it's a corner. Oh, mind if we go with him to guide him to the door? He's, uh, he's blind," Sana explained as softly as possible, even saying that felt sad for her.

The female store attendant looked at you and then back to Sana.

"Long as you don't do any funny business, you can go ahead," Sana recoiled, you were slightly embarrassed and Momo gave a chuckle.

"Hehe, don't worry, no funny business going on here. Let's go (YN)," Momo remarked as the girls ushered you forward to the left as the worker turned to the trio and shrugged.

"Funny business," Sana mocked after the three got into the hall where multiple fitting room doors were ready to be opened, "can't she tell you're really-..." Sana stopped talking and slowly closed her mouth while looking at the side of you.

"I have sunglasses on so she can't tell Sana." You excused as Sana shook her head.

"Still," 

"Hehe, 'funny business'" Momo repeated...and then you felt something going around your neck and right shoulder, "hmm~ interested (YN)?~"

Momo whispered into your ear as your jaw fell slightly with her arm bringing you closer to her as the trio stopped in place.

"M-Momo!?" Sana screeched as Momo grinned at her.

"Teasing! Relax~, although~ (YN) hasn't answered yet~" Momo cooed in your ear as you gulped.

"I-I'm good Momo..."

"Hehe~ For now, ri- Oww!" 

Upon hearing Momo's high-pitched yelp, you sort of jumped in between the two girls.

"What happened?" 

"Sana just hurt me..." Momo rubbed her forehead.

"Don't be dramatic, I flicked your forehead, wasn't that bad," Sana grumbled as Momo glared at her friend.

"That bad? Well, maybe I should return the favor." Momo rose her arm as you remained still.

"So you're okay?" Upon hearing you, Momo took at your look and her glare softened.

'Oh, right...'

"Ah, sorry (YN), I didn't mean to freak you out, me yelling didn't help," Momo apologized back while nodding in return. 

Sana caught on to what Momo was thinking.

"I'm okay, it's nothing, Sana and I mess around like this all the time. Though this time was a lot more force..." Momo pouted as Sana stared at the back of your head.

"Oh, alright, my bad." You answered as Sana realized that you couldn't even see the flick, even though you were looking right at Momo.

"No (YN), no 'my bad'. You didn't know we were messing with another," Sana said as Momo gave a soft nod, "that must be scary, not knowing what's going on," Sana added as you shook your head towards her area.

"It can be, especially when something unexpected happens and I can't tell what 'happened'. Mainly the reason why I was stuck at home and not able to get out, not that I blame my folks. I get it."

"To keep you safe, honestly I'd do the same," Sana said as Momo nodded, "well we'll make sure not to do anything too drastic," Sana said as you shook your head.

"I thank you, but don't change because of me. I don't want you two to mellow down. It's fine."

Both girls looked at one another as Momo shrugged while Sana sighed mentally.

"...alright," you nodded, "uh, we're in front of the dressing room. Do you need help in there?" Sana asked as you shook your head.

"Nah, thanks though,"

You answered as Momo led you to the room as Sana was behind Momo, "okay, we'll be just outside the door if you need us so you don't have to lock the door."

You nodded.

"In you go~ and there's a bench seat here," Momo guided you to the corner and Sana gently placed your clothes on it, "clothes are there and we're leaving okay," you nodded as Momo stepped out.

SHUT

"Alright," you muttered as you manage to sit after patting for the seat to remove your shoes and started to change.

As you did so, Sana and Momo...

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...hey," Momo came closer to Sana and whispered to her, "you okay?"

Sana nodded slowly.

"Yeah, just..." Sana shrugged and pointed at the door of your dressing room.

"I know," Momo whispered.

Both of them were feeling what Sana said about being scared of not knowing what was going on.

To be in the unknown twenty-four/seven...

At least you were away from harm being in your home but didn't please the two girls. 

"Let's just," Momo did a hand wave as Sana took a few seconds but agreed as Momo nodded and took a few steps back, "so you hungry (YN)?" Momo, now at a normal volume, called you out. 

Sana figured that Momo was wanting to change the mood quickly.

"I could eat, but I could wait as well," you answered as Momo rubbed her tummy.

"Well, I'm starving too,"

"When are you not?" Sana let a soft smile out as Momo playfully shoved her shoulder.

"Is today pick on Momo day..." Momo pouted as Sana now grinned, "but really, you want to get something after?" She asked as Sana nodded, "great we'll wait for Mina then...you know I have to shop for clothes myself," Momo looked out to the lobby, "probably not this store, didn't see anything worth trying."

"Yeah, I have to get new outfits as well," Sana shrugged as she looked outward to the store, "hmm...hey (YN)?" Sana turned to the door.

"Yeah?"

"When do you have to go back home?" Momo turned as well.

"Uh, not sure, not late of course,"

"Course, well guess we do have time then,"

"Sweet~" Momo smiled, "how you doing (YN)?" extending the conversation.

"Doing good," Momo nodded as she took her phone out.

"I think we should go to..." 

And Momo and Sana started to converse about the mall as you changed for a couple of minutes...

One talk later

"...then we can go here because I need a new phone case." Sana pointed at her cracked phone case.

"And you say I'm clumsy, you drop your phone like three times a week." Momo waved at her as Sana sighed.

"I do, I need a wriststrap for this thing." She waved her phone ar-

"Sana? Momo? I'm ready. I'm facing the door, I could feel the lock." They both heard and turned to the door.

"Alright, we're going to open the door then," Sana explained as she grabbed the handle and opened it to reveal your new attire consisted of-

-an overcoat over a comfortable hoodie, with cargo pants down to your white sneakers.

Paired off with your sunglasses and you were good to go as the two girls...

"Oh..." "Wow..."

"Hoping that's a good response?" You asked standing still.

"Very actually, uh here, step forward," Sana instructed while you took about four steps, "stop please." You halted your movement.

"Well?"

"You're looking very fine (YN)~" Momo suddenly commented as you smiled.

"Excuse Momo's frontness, but I got to say, she's right (YN)." Sana stepped on your right, "we're next to you so be still okay," you nodded as the two girls roamed around you, "oh yeah, you really pull this off well, a job well done right Momo?"

"Very well done Sana. I mean it (YN), you look hot," Momo grinned as embarrassment shrouded you.

"Momo..." Sana shook her head.

"Hey you agreed." Momo pointed at Sana with a headshake in return once more.

"Whatever, anyway, you do look great (YN), maybe we can style your hair as well," Sana placed a hand over your head, "we could maybe spike it just a bit with gel to get something going, but that's up to you."

"Do whatever you want with me." Having your permission, Momo grinned.

"Oh~ Does that mean, anything~" Momo grinned as Sana burrowed her brows.

"No. Bad Momo. Don't listen to her (YN), Momo's being silly as al-oh Mina!" Momo turned in the same direction as Sana and spotted Mina approaching them.

"I'm so sorry, my instructor wanted me-...(YN)?" Mina excused herself while coming closer.

"Yeah?" You called back as Mina stepped closer to you.

"Heh, wow, yeah you, you look good." Mina gave her opinion but it wasn't as high volume as the other two were.

"Do I really?"

"Very~" Momo grinned as Sana shook her head and you chuckled awkwardly in response.

"And we're thinking about giving his hair some style, would complete the look," Sana suggested while tugging a few strands of your hair.

"And new shoes too." Momo pointed at your feet as Mina nodded.

"Yeah, I think that's a nice idea. Anyway, sorry about stepping out for a bit, it was my instructor." Mina explained.

"What did she want?" Sana asked.

"I guess my break got shorter. She wants me to come in next Saturday and Sunday."

"The whole weekend?" Sana's shoulders fell.

"Yeah, but a few hours in the morning. She wants me to be a part of meetings for the upcoming performances."

"Can't she e-mail you?" Momo spoke up as Mina shrugged.

"The struggles of being the best I suppose," Sana sighed as Mina smiled at her.

"Cheer up you two, not like we had any plans for next weekend."

"We could have," Momo cut in as Mina shook her head while smiling, "oh well, guess it can't be helped."

"Nope, anyway," she turned to you, "you do look good (YN). This suits you very much," and then Mina spotted something...

"But your hoodie isn't over your overcoat," you were halfway on reaching your arms u- "I got you," Mina said as you stopped and felt your hoodie being fixed, "your hoodie must always be over whatever you're wearing," Mina explained.

You figured Mina was behind you or at the side, but from the direction of her voice, she was right in front of you.

Your faces were half a foot from one another as your arms circled around your neck adjusting your clothing, feeling her forearms patting your shoulders

Both Sana and Momo were watching her adjust, and when it should have been a quick pull of the clothing, she seemed to be taking her time.

The best part about it-

-was the smile that the two others saw on Mina and of course, thoughts ran through their mind about it and the constant teasing that they were about to unleash on her when the three would be alone.

'Oh, Mina~' Momo grinned as Sana...

'Interesting Mina, very interesting,'

What you were thinking was far from theirs with Mina was in close proximity

What did Myoui Mina look like?

You knew her long hair and slender frame and pretty (from Sana), but no other physical traits came to mind.

And as much as you wanted to picture what Mina looked like...

That's what you could imagine.

That's it.

It wasn't a dire need to know, but the more with these three, the more the question lingered.

'It wouldn't be weird to ask them what they looked like right?'

"There, now good went to great," Mina whispered and you could smell her minty breath of her as her arms held over your shoulder, holding onto the helm of your hoodie just for a few seconds longer than what it should have been before lowering her hands.

And it was that that point that Mina caught the other two staring at her and now that she was mirroring them, Sana winked at Mina as Momo rose her brows in teasing manner as Mina's eyes flashed and looked down; embarrassment evolving very quickly as she covered a part of her face with one hand as if it would accomplish something.

"So how do you feel (YN)?" Sana furthered as you moved around a bit, lifting your legs up to feel the pants fit and shifting your shoulders for the top half.

"It feels great, I feel different...is that silly to think?"

"Not at all (YN)," Sana stepped around while observing, "no offense to your mother, but it's a much more improvement than what you came in with." The girl's opinions boosted your confidence majorly.

"Alright, then I'll take this then." You were excited to get a new set into your wardrobe, even though you have no idea what your initial wardrobe even looked like.

"Great, then we have two more outfits for you." Sana spoke as you nodded.

---------------------------------------------------

TIMESKIP

"Well I'm stuffed..." Momo rubbed her tummy after finishing her burger combo.

"When you order the extra large, yeah we would imagine." Sana poked Momo's tummy as Momo swiped her hand away, "you should have eaten the pizza alone, but nooooo, you needed to get another combo as well, wasn't the pizza enough?"

"I'll make it up with my dancing..." Momo leaned back in her chair as Mina shook her head and saw you finishing up the last bite of the crust of your pizza combo too.

"How was it (YN)?" Mina asked as you nodded.

"I enjoyed it, you?"

Mina looked down at the teriyaki bowl she ordered that was wiped clean, along with Sana's.

"Very good as well," Mina looked at Sana as she and Momo were poking one another with both hands.

'These two...'

Mina looked around at the tables being filled with teens and families and couples.

It's been three hours since they arrived and they've been around eight department stores. More so for you, some for Sana and Momo; Mina didn't really see anything she wanted but ended up buying a lavender sweater.

"Well I think it's a great time to get these back in the car so that we don't have to carry much around." Mina suggested as you three nodded.

With cleaning up and bags being carried, the four backtracked towards the entrance of where they came.

...

...

That is until...

"Oh oh oh wait! Look!" Momo pointed forward, "we have to get some!"

"How do you still have the stomach for that I'll never know Momo," Sana folded her arms as Momo shoulder-bumped her.

"It's dessert Sana, it's a law to not skip it." Momo retorted as Sana snorted.

"Dessert?" You asked.

"It's an ice cream stall, instead of round balls of ice cream, they roll it up," Momo explained as you hummed, "I'm getting a cup, no one is going to stop me."

"I'm getting one too," you spoke up with the three eyeing you, "Momo's right, it's ice cream, I ain't gonna say no to that either even if full." You butted in as Momo pointed at you.

"Thank you (YN)! At least someone agrees with me," she looked towards Sana as Sana sighed with Mina smiling and laughing inside.

"I guess I could get a cup, small though," Sana agreed as Mina nodded as well.

"Alright let's go then, luckily there's no line. Then, we'll put our bags away." Momo suggested as the group followed her toward the stall.

Upon coming closer, the cashier noticed and smiled at the newly arrived customers.

"Hello, just let me know if you're ready to order." She said to the group.

"I know what I'm getting." Momo already started, "I'd like a small cup of vanilla with sprinkles and oreo bits." Sana ordered first.

"I'll take medium strawberry please with whipped cream and fudge on top." Mina went and Momo leaned forward.

"I'll have a medium with chocolate and vanilla," Momo pointed two fingers up, "with extra chocolate syrup and cookie bits please."

"Course...alright anything else?" She asked as Mina turned to you.

"You got a flavor (YN)?" Your guide asked as the cashier was ready to input.

"Do you have (favorite flavor)?" You asked the worker as the worker nodded.

"Yes they do," Mina answered as the cashier caught that.

(Unless your companions said your flavor, then...)

"I'll take (Chocolate/Vanilla/Strawberry) as well."

"Small, medium, or large?" The cashier asked.

"Uh, how big are the cups?" You asked back.

"Four rolls in a small, six in medium, and eight in large." She answered as you didn't know exactly how big the rolls were.

"How big are the rolls Mina?" You asked.

"They vary with the size of the cups. Can he hold onto a couple to get an estimate?" Mina asked as the lady arched a brow but took a small and medium-sized cup from the side of her and showcased them.

"This is small and medium." She explained.

"I'm sorry, but can he 'feel' them?" Mina emphasized again as the cashier gave her a strange look.

"Why does-"

Soon as both Mina and Sana pointed at your eyes, it didn't take long for her answer.

"Oh, here," she handed Sana the cups, "I'm sorry," she apologized as you wondered why she did, but quickly figured that your friends signaled your sight.

"It's fine," you said.

"Here, this is the small," Sana took your other hand and placed the small cup and watched you squeeze to get a measurement.

It was a palm-sized fit and while you did eat, it probably wasn't enough to fill that dessert craving, though large might be too much if you didn't like it.

"That's small?"

"Yup. Here's medium." Sana replaced the size and you felt another cup in hand, course it was bigger as it reached more toward your wrist and fingers.

"I'll take a medium," you answered, "chocolate syrup as well please," the lady nodded and entered the order and Sana returned the cups as the lady took the medium and threw the small into the recycle.

"And we have gummy bears, whipped cream, cherries, strawberries, sprinkles, cookie bits, and nuts as toppings as well." She furthered as you appreciated her explanation.

"Just the syrup will be enough thank you," you finalized the order as she inputted the last order.

"Anything else?" All four of you shook your heads, "right, now it'll be fifteen minutes to get your orders out. Would you like them all together, or one at a time?" She asked as you were quizzical.

"We'll get them at a time, and we're paying separately too," Mina answered as the lady nodded.

'That's long for ice cream ain't it?' You didn't want to say it out loud for rudeness as you felt your hand being pulled away.

"Over here (YN), we're going to wait on the side of the stall." You followed Mina's words-

CLAP

-and awakened at the sudden noise.

"Now for the best part," Momo started to shift her hands together.

"Eating it?" You figured Momo liked ice cream, but she seemed to like them a lot more than usual.

"They make your order in front of you," Momo explained to you being quite amazed.

"Make? Like literally?"

"Yup, they mix and mash cream and certain items to whatever you ordered in front of you. Momo's always excited to...be here when they make them," Sana adjusted her wording.

"That's unique," you said afterward, "in front of us?" 

"Yup, the clerk hands the order to another couple of workers who makes them in front of us behind a panel," Mina explained while watching that interaction happening in front of her eyes with the cashier handing a label to another female and male worker, "it's pretty popular, though guess we got lucky and got a no line, they're about to start," Mina watched the ice-makers nod while reading the paper and gather ingredients on the left from a fridge.

"Guess they're starting with Mina's and mine," Sana pointed as the girl maker had a cup of strawberries and a guy with vanilla bars.

"Ready to listen (YN)?" Mina questioned as you nodded, "Okay, first there's a metal pan with two spatulas on it, first-"

CLANK

CLANK

CLANK

"-she cuts the leaves of the strawberries and tosses them away, leaving only the fruit," you nodded, "now she's pouring cream over the berries and-"

CLANKCLANKCLANK

CLANKCLANKCLANK

CLANKCLANKCLANK

"What the..."

"She's chopping them with the two spatulas," Mina explained while hearing multiple taps on the metal pan.

SCREECH...SCREECH

"Now she's scooping them in the middle and..."

CLANKCLANKCLANK

CLANKCLANKCLANK

CLANKCLANKCLANK

SCREECH...SCREECH

"She's doing the same thing on repeat and it's starting to harden to look like ice cream. It's pink cream now because of the strawberries," you nodded as Mina kept watching.

You heard the scrapes and pounds of metal still.

"She's rolling it up into a ball while chopping," Mina added, "now it's looking like pink paste...and she's flattening the cream out and spreading it out on the mat into a rectangle while smoothing it down."

SLIIINNNG

SLIIINNNG

"She's cutting sections of it and rolling it into rolls," Mina said as she watched the lady roll six strawberry ice cream rolls, "now she has a cup and gathers the rolls into it vertically like columns in a circle and leaving the middle free."

The lady reached to her right after finishing up the positions and...

SHHHHHH

"Oh that's whip cream right?" you guess from the sound.

"Exactly, she's pouring it in the middle of the rolls.

"I know that sound anywhere," you said as Mina hummed and Momo nodded.

"I'm with you there (YN)," Momo joined in while the maker placed a lone strawberry on the cream, "oh and the fudge~ oh and plenty of it~" Momo watched the drizzle of chocolate fudge on the rolls, berry and whipped cream.

"That's the best part," you said as you felt something heavy over your shoulder.

"Oh I'm liking you more and more (YN)~" Momo grinned as Mina looked at her while leaning forward.

Momo caught her eyes and winked while unheeding you and dropping her arm while you stood still.

"Right, uh, now the lady is placing a spoon in the cup and that's it,"

AN: Below is the actual video

The lady arrived and placed the strawberry ice cream rolls near the register as well as the male with Momo's still in the making.

"It'll be around eight minutes for your two other orders," she stated.

"Looks like (YN) and my order now," Momo spoke up, "Mina, can I explain my order to (YN)?"

Mina nodded as Momo took your side with Sana scooting over.

Even though it would be literally the same, you didn't want to say no to Momo.

"Okay so first she..."

---------------------------

LONG TIMESKIP - Sorry for skipping the other

"And here we are," Mina parked the car in front of your home and unbuckled her seat belt, "I'll escort you (YN)," as she opened the door with you unlocking your belt as well.

"Alright," you then turned slightly to the right, "Momo, Sana, thanks for the day, it's been a blast."

"Same," "Course (YN), don't forget to ask about tomorrow." Sana reminded you as you nodded.

"I'll text you when I get an answer." She nodded as the door next to you-

SLIDE

-was opened and you felt the cold breeze of the night.

Yes, night.

You four were out for three-twenty-four to nine-forty-five.

From shopping at various clothing departments and a majority of all random departments like a candle, perfume, lego, arcade (even though it was impossible for you to actually play any of the machines, but you tried), etc.

And each one was a pleasure to be around.

After that, you all headed to a restaurant for dinner and enjoyed a(n) (Food Theme) meal and discussed what they can do tomorrow. 

Which was a trip to a lake.

Nevertheless, you were wanting to go so a quick ask was needed.

Plus it was the weekend, not like you're not doing anything else.

"You got your belt off?" Mina asked as you nodded and rose a hand up for Mina to hold it.

"You need help with the bags Mina?" Sana asked.

"No thanks, besides, I need to talk to (YN) for a bit," Mina said back as Momo rose a brow and Sana tilted her head as Mina turned to you, "you don't mind (YN) do you?"

"Not at all,"

"Thanks, I'll tell you two in a bit okay, be right back," Mina said towards the girls as she moved you aside.

"Alright, goodbye (YN)~" "Byeee!" Both Momo and Sana sounded as you waved behind you and-

SHUT

-the door was closed slowly and Momo and Sana turned towards one another while Sana twisted in her chair.

"Talk?" Momo looked behind her to see you and her opening the trunk, "bout what?" Sana looked back as well but turned towards Momo who was looking at her now but saw the trunk is opened.

"Most likely what happened this morning." 

"Will she tell his parents?" Momo asked as Sana shook her head.

"No, I think she really wants to make sure he's alright knowing her."

SHUT

The trunk was closed as the two waited a few seconds and saw the duo walking towards your door.

"...is he going to be okay?" Momo had a hushed tone as Sana sighed mentally as Momo looked at her.

"With Reo?" Sana assumed.

"Yeah." 

"He will be Momo, we'll make sure of it."  Momo nodded, "for now I'm glad that he enjoyed today, I'm happy we're able to give him this."

Momo nodded.

"Me too, especially Mina," Momo pointed towards the home and Sana turned to see you both gone, figuring the two were inside your place.

Your place...

"..."

"..."

"...to think he was here for more than a decade," Sana spoke up while giving a sad look towards your home, "I understand the circumstances, I do," she swayed her eyes to Momo, "but it's understandable why he wanted to be out too," Sana muttered as Momo knew the reasons why as well.

"Well, at least things are changing for him." Momo countered as Sana nodded, "I'm gonna try to spend as much time as I can with him." Momo nodded her promise in her mind as Sana smiled at her.

"You and him alone? He'd probably die of embarrassment." 

"Scoff oh please, what would I do to embarrass him?" Momo questioned while leaning back in her seat as Sana rose a brow.

"The whispering in his ear? The sudden tight hugs? Or maybe asking him to do THAT in the changing room?" Sana pointed at her as Momo leaned forward, arms crossed.

"My my Sana~ are you jealous?~"

Sana hung her head and sighed.

"Why do I bother..."

"Cause you're my best friend~"

Sana giggled while giving a cheeky smile.

"That you are Momo, and you're right, I'll spend a lot of time with him. I'm sure Mina is in agreement too." Momo smiled at her friend as Sana mirrored the emotion.

---------------------------------------------------

MEANWHILE

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Coming...SQUEAK...(YN), Mina," your dad opened the door fully, "how'd it go?"

"It was incredible dad! We did a whole bunch of stuff," you shook your bought bags, "the three were amazing to be with." You declared gazing forward as Mina smiled at your assessment.

She spotted your dad's shoulders lowered as well, as if weight was dropped off.

"Good, no that's great to hear, I'm glad you had fun," you nodded and your father turned to Mina, "thank you, Mina, we really appreciate it."

"You're very welcome Mr. (LN), (YN) is pleasant to be with." Mina turned towards your side and smiled, "if you don't Mr. (LN), may I chat with (YN) for a few minutes while putting his items away?"

He shook his head, though having someone over with you was a new concept.

"Not at all," he sidestepped his way, "come in, here let me get-"

"I got it dad, don't worry, but thank you. Where's mom?" You assessed while stepping forward.

"Napping, I was waiting for you here." He answered.

"Alright, I'll tell you all about it dad in a bit okay," he nodded while pulling Mina, "I'll lead you to my room Mina."

"Su-...lead?"

"Yup." You spoke with earnestly while moving forward and pulling Mina's hand, "come on," you stopped when Mina didn't budge.

"He knows his way around, we'll talk after." Your dad stated as Mina looked at him and then at you.

"Alright..."

Mina took a few steps forward and you continued forward as you guided her...yeah, Mina had to double take her position being the one PULLED by you.

Following a few steps, Mina observed your living room and surrounding walls.

Nothing too fancy, but it wasn't low either.

A perfect cozy setting.

"It's to the right here," you said as Mina spotted a hall going right.

She was going to tell you to be careful, but instead, you turned with ease as Mina slowed herself to comprehend that you just turned on your own, but sped up to catch your pace down the hall.

"Wow, you turned like nothing,"

"Living here for years, I memorize the layout, my room is the far right door." You nudged your head as Mina was dazzled at your navigation, even if it was one turn, but she really was amazed when you turned in place and reached feeling around, feeling the door frame, but not stopping before heading inside the open doorway.

"And here we are. Room sweet room."

You turned in spot, looking nowhere near Mina as she toured your room with her eyes.

It was simplistic as a room can be.

Plain.

Unlike hers, Momo's, or Sana's; no pictures, no posters hanging, no figurines or miscellaneous items around, no stuffed figures or any collectibles that she can see.

Imagine checking into a hotel room with the bare necessities.

'Guess what he said was true. Still, it's pretty sad not having any decor...' Mina shook those thoughts out and turned her attention to you who was standing still, staring forward.

"It's nice." You nodded and pointed at your bed.

"We can leave the bags there and-"

SQUEAK-SHUT

-you heard the door, while barely audible, close behind, but you still felt Mina's hand in yours.

"Mina?" 

"I'd rather talk in private," Mina spoke up as you assumed what she wanted to talk about when she asked you to come towards the front door of your place, but now you were certain.

"Okay, let's sit on the bed." You gestured and turned towards it and walked a few steps along with Mina as you two sat in comfort after placing the bags down.

You decided to take initiative.

"If it's about Reo-"

"It is." Mina effectively went in, "I'm not going to lecture you or him, I just want to know something." You nodded, "This morning with him, it's not that he just teased you, it's that he did so about your sight. I know you don't want to take it further than it has to and we'll stand by that," you nodded in appreciation, "but I need to know that you're okay with what he said. It was harsh (YN)," she whispered as you shrugged.

"I mean yeah, it was offensive, and I appreciate you checking, but it didn't bother me a bit, Mina." Mina stared for a few seconds as you didn't move expressions, "I've told you and the other two that this," you waved a hand in front of your eyes, "is who I am. Mom even said to be prepared in case of someone like that is in school, of course, I won't tell her or especially dad, but all that emotion about me being blind is long gone and done. He can make fun of me all he wants, it's not gonna affect me."

Mina released a soft sigh.

'I can't tell if he's that mature, or he's really well in hiding it. Either way...'

"He shouldn't in the first place." Mina cut in, "...are you sure you don't want to tell the teacher?"

You shook your head in response.

"No, because I'm certain Mina if we do, my dad is gonna hear it, and knowing him he'll do everything to-" 

"Pull you out." Mina finished as you nodded.

"He wasn't on board with this originally since he wanted to keep me near him and mom. I don't want him to freak out and keep me here again." You muttered as Mina offered a frown, "I get that it's for my safety and I don't blame him, but this short time in school and with you, Sana, and Momo has been what I wanted for a while. And If he feels that even school is bad, he's not gonna let me out anywhere." 

Mina understood you, be it she couldn't understand completely, she knew well enough that was enough reason.

'I understand him completely and I don't want to go against him, but I don't want to sit back either...'

"...well, even 'if' that does happen (YN), I assure you that we'll do our best to convince your dad not to get that far," that brought a bit of confidence in you, "but we certainly don't want to get to that. So if you're really okay, then we'll keep it to ourselves, but if Reo gets too out of hand (YN), we'll-" 

"Then we could tell." You agreed right away Mina was relieved to hear that you weren't swaying away from that, "sorry for this Mina, I know you three want to help-"

"It's okay (YN), I get your reasoning, honestly I'd be asking the same," Mina intruded back, she'd be fighting to get out as well in your predicament, "alright, that's all I wanted to know (YN). Thank you," you nodded.

"Thank you as well Mina, I mean it." 

Mina hummed in acknowledgment, "hey, before we go, can you do something?" You asked.

"Course."

"Can you lay out an outfit on the bed for me to wear tomorrow?" You pointed towards your left, "just in case we leave."

"Hehe, yeah, let's see what you can wear," Mina stood up and started to rummage through the bags...though she did stop and took a look at you gazing in at her direction, though not at her.

She didn't know what to feel about all this, but one thing was certain is that she'll do whatever to keep you in safe hands.

For now, it's doing your simple request.

"Well, if we are going, you'll pack light so..."

--------------------------------------------

After a couple of minutes of placing your outfit on the bed, you walked out on your own, Mina still baffled by this, with her walking close just in case and into the living room.

There Mina spotted your dad on a lone chair as his head turned towards her from his phone, as well as your mother on the main couch, both turning towards her and now standing up.

"Hey, done chatting?" He asked as you both nodded.

"Hi sweetie," she spoke up as you waved, "sorry I was taking a nap."

"Hey mom, it's fine. And yeah dad, Mina wanted to talk about things about today and future plans while helping me with what we bought," you informed your parents as Mina didn't even think to come up with something if either asked.

"That's nice to hear, you know you can stay longer if you want Mina, your friends as well. We can make a quick dinner too if you're hungry." Your mother added as Mina waved her hand.

"Thank you Ms. (LN), but our parents are wanting us back home. I appreciate the offer though," she nodded at her.

"Of course, it's the least we can do. You've been a major help to us. All three of you," she stated and Mina shook her head.

Though the Reo incident popped into her mind, Mina forgoed it.

"No thanks needed, we're happy to be with him," she turned to you, "he's fun and nice to be around, my friends think the same." 

"Mina..."

You muttered in embarrassment as Mina smiled at you with your folks were delighted to hear. 

"And just to let you know, your father and I talked and since you were talking about future plans, (YN) can tag along as well, if he wants that is." 

Both Mina and you were glad she said that since that'll make tomorrow's plan guarantee, but more importantly...

"You too dad?" You asked as he nodded.

"Yeah," he joined the conversation as Mina nodded and you smiled, "before you head off Mina and to you too (YN), I need to apologize for the negativity when you asked us about your plans, it's all new to me with you going out and-"

"It's understandable why you were Mr. (LN)," Mina intruded, "any parent would be looking out for their child," Mina added the last part, not having a talk with your parents alone, she'd figured to give her sympathy, "but I, Sana and Momo promise you that he'll alright with us,"

"Yeah dad, it's fine, you don't have to feel sorry." You joined as your dad, once again, shoulders dropped and Mina saw him looking to the ground, smiling and then looking up.

"Thank you," he returned as Mina couldn't imagine how much guilt and woe your dad must have, "and she's right about you staying Mina, if you need anything, we're here and you're welcome anytime, that goes to your friends too," Mina nodded in appreciation as your dad walked towards the door, "I'll get the door for you,"  as Mina turned to you,

"Guess I'm off (YN),"

"Alright, drive safe Mina." 

"Thanks, I'll call you and let you know when we're heading here okay?" You nodded as Mina started to backstep towards the door as you stood there, your head in her direction, "have a good night (YN),"

"You too Mina," 

"And to you as well Ms. (LN)."

"Same to you Mina."

With one last look, Mina turned 180 and headed towards the opened entrance where your dad was ready to close the door behind her.

Upon stepping out, the door closed behind and Mina waved at Sana and Momo, both waving toward her as well.

"Good night Mr. (LN)."

"Night," He nodded as Mina stepped out, walked a few steps and-

SHUT

-the door was closed behind as Mina walked her way to her vehicle.

..

..

CLICK

"Hey," Mina spoke as she stepped into the driver's seat.

"You good?" Sana asked as Mina buckled up.

"Yeah, I asked (YN) a question about Reo." Mina straight up said while turning to Sana and then Momo, "if he was okay. He said he was. That's all."

"We figured," Momo said back.

"I asked him during History as well. You know you could have asked him here Mina." Sana returned as Mina shrugged.

"I know, I'm sorry I didn't tell, but, being there and seeing what Reo was doing, mocking his blindness as a joke," Mina gave a cold stare while defending her reasoning, "even though he pressed back, words can hurt just as much as anything physical," Mina muttered and looked at the steering wheel as the two nodded slowly, "(YN) is strong though, he didn't care, he still didn't, but I just wanted to make sure."

GRASP

Mina felt her shoulder being pressured as she spotted Sana's hand and followed the limb to her gentle smile.

"It'll be fine Mina, don't worry,"

"Yeah, we got his back," Momo said from behind as Mina turned to the two once and smiled at the close bond of her two girlfriends.

"Thanks, girls,"

"Yup~" "No prob Mina~ now can you drop me off first cause I want to sleep." Momo ruined the moment as Sana rose her brows and Mina giggled just slightly.

She then started the car and proceeded to tell them what you said to her as well as your navigation skills.

--------------------------------------------------------

MEANWHILE

"So? How'd it go (YN)?" Your mother asked as you felt the couch, walked around, and sat down.

"Everything was amazing. It was a crazy, entertaining, and enjoyalbe day." You leaned back on the couch as your parents smiled, "thank you for allowing me to go you two."

"Of course sweetheart, we're glad you had fun," you nodded.

"..."

"..."

It was mute afterwards as your smile faltered and left confused.

"Guys?"

"...sweetie, your father and I would like to talk to you." Your mom spoke with the sudden question.

"Everything okay?" You asked as your mother sat near you and father still standing.

"Yes, everything is fine. Seeing you the past week, going out today and to school, we just wanted to let you know that before all this, having you here since 'then' was for your safety and well-being."

"I know that mom...did you think I didn't see it that way?" You countered-asked as your dad stepped in.

"Of course we did. We're not saying that it's bad or anything, but we also know that living in a bubble isn't exactly how most kids or teens would like their lifestyle to be. And since you've asked us about attending school, wanting to go out and be with others. We've talked afterward and today as well and we don't blame you if you've been wanting this for a while now and held something against us." 

You leaned forward.

"Well it's for a long while, but I promise you that I didn't think of anything ill about this. I mean, sure it can get boring, but it's not torture or anything. Me wanting to be out had nothing to do with you two. I wanted to experience what it would be like to be normal," your expression changed to panic, "wait that came out wrong, I-I didn't mean to say-"

"Don't worry, we get it (YN), there's nothing wrong about wanting to feel that way." Your dad assured with your mom nodding, "we want you to be happy (YN), happy and safe and we, well, I wanted to tell you that me having a hard time with all this isn't because I don't want you to want what you want, but because of me being worried about you."

"I know dad and I can't tell you how much I appreciate you and mom for everything you've done, especially for letting me be at school. And I am happy, with you two, being at school and having already amazing friends and experiences. This is what wished for and it couldn't be any better nor could I have asked for such amazing parents. Nothing in my life would have been without your strife and nothing I say or do could truly convey my appreciation and gratitude for you two. And dad, this goes double for you; you have been there day after day since to make sure my life turned out great this way with you showing me new ways to get around and entertained here and you still are with positivity and passion and no matter how bad things were, you were always there to help. Thank you, dad, really."

Your mom covered her mouth and smiled at your words and turned to your father; as expected, he was on the brink of crying.

Your dad had his eyes flutter and she could see the brimmed tears forming underneath as his lips were worming with a flatline.

Obviously, he was refusing to cry, but your mother couldn't let him refuse that.

"I think your dad needs a hug (YN)," 

You chuckled and stood up as your dad couldn't refuse that notion and gently hugged you into his body.

"I-I love you (YN)...t-thank you..."

"Love you too dad, love you too." You held him back, feeling the shakes from him as your mother joined the family hug of three.

=====================================

TIMESKIP 

THE NEXT MORNING

...

...

...

"Woof! Woof! Woof!"

The sound of a dog filled a tidied bedroom of soft purple walls, and dark carpeting with multiple collectibles around the room and desk as a lone person groaned at the canine's piercing calls.

The dog then hopped onto the bed with the person as the individual felt the four-legged friend's action and sighed while opening their eyes and feeling the sniffles around their head.

They rose a hand up and petted their dog as they sat up with a fatigued look.

"Good morning Ray..." Mina yawned smiling tiredly at her dog aka alarm clock.

Ray returned a few licks to a tired Mina, as she sat up on her bed, stretching, while Ray reclaimed his sleeping spot on her pillow and out of the sleeping girl's hair. 

She chuckled at the sleeping dog and shook her head at how lazy he can be. 

Ruffling his hair, Mina gave a quick glance at her charging phone and saw the time.

8:12 AM 

"Well, guess it's time to wake up anyway," looking away to rub the sleep from her eyes, Mina turned to Ray who was lying down in a circle formation already, "alright, time to get up," she reasoned, as a smile quickly forming on her face. 

She jumped out of bed scaring Ray awake again and walked out into the hall and towards the bathroom to freshen up.

"Morning Mina." Mina perked her head at her mom's voice coming out of her room from behind as Mina turned towards her.

"Morning mom," 

"Heading to the kitchen?" Mina shook her head, "well your dad is making quick eggs and bacon,"

"Alright," her mother nodded and walked past her as Mina made her way into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

-----------------

It wasn't long before Mina freshened up and headed into the kitchen to spot her mom sitting down on her phone and dad in front of the stove taking care of two pans with his signature apron on.

"Morning," she welcomed herself as her parents looked towards her.

"Morning Mina," "Hi sweetie, had a good sleep?" they welcomed as Mina nodded, "good, I got a plate coming for you soon," Mina nodded and sat down, "you want a drink? Coffee?" He asked while she waved her hand.

"Juice," she answered as her dad went to get that.

"Woof! Woof! Woof!"

Ray joined the group as the three heard and dad saw his tray.

"I'll give him his breakfast too." He said while resuming his action.

"So how was yesterday?" Her mother asked since she was at work and came home late, though her dad was there to hear about it.

"It went very well, Momo course wanted to buy an entire closet again and Sana could start a fragrance store with what she owns now." Mina joked as her mom smiled, "and (YN) really enjoyed himself. We were glad to see him so happy enjoying his time, even if he couldn't-...well that didn't stop him from being ecstatic, no matter what it was, he gave his whole energy into it. You should have seen him, mom," 

Upon hearing this, her mother frowned.

"You said it was his first time going out?" Mina nodded, "how happy he must have been. It's pretty sad to think that after all this time he was cooped in his home." 

"Well it's understandable (Mina's Mom's Name)," her husband spoke up while delivering the cup of juice to Mina, "if Mina was in that position, we'd do the same." Mina grabbed the cup after a thank you.

"True, but I don't think I could have Mina stay for twenty-four seven, something about it just doesn't feel right," her husband shrugged, "no offense sweetie," Mina shrugged as well while taking a sip.

"Maybe, but it's for the best. Moving along, how's he adjusting to school?" Her father questioned while getting a bag of kibble from under the sink and pouring the contents into his food bowl of Ray as he started to eat up.

"Very well, if he didn't tell me, I'd say he's been in school before. For someone whose first week of it, he's not fazed by the sudden atmosphere. Of course, he asks us about notes and what the teacher write, but he's catching on quickly, his mom was a very good teacher it seems." Mina sipped another time as her dad nodded.

"To lose a feeling at a young age," her mother started, "I can't even begin to imagine the change in his life," her mother looked off into the distance, "to suddenly just stop seeing..." her mom seemed to be into the thought now till she turned to Mina, "...well I'm glad he's doing well,"

"Me too," her dad spoke up, "it may be wrong to say, but if anything it shows that he's adaptable, tough, and brave to go through all that and to persevere and keep going," Mr. Myoui spoke up as Mina agreed a hundred percent, "and we're happy that you're helping in that Mina." 

Mina nodded at him.

"Me too dad...do you two think that maybe he can come over sometime? You two should meet him?" Mina asked as both parents smiled at the suggestion.

"Of course, we'd be happy to." Her mom said back, "...but..." her mother started as Mina's smile went down as a 'but' is always a negative, "now I'm not saying it's wrong, we both want what's best for him, and with you helping him, we know he does have that," her mom said as her dad turned his head, "what I want to say is, and it please don't take it wrong sweetie; don't let the responsibility of helping him take over 'your' necessities of the school and your ballet." Mina rose a brow and an expression of a 'what' face, "I know you have a flawless (grade system) and are remarkable in your dances, but it's almost your last year of high school Mina. I know it's two years away till you graduate, but the time when grades, studies, career, and your life starts to take shape. We want what's best for you as well." Her mother laid her hands on the table as both studied Mina's expression.

Mina can't be mad at her parents for that explanation.

However, they don't realize the extent of how or who you were by not being or talking with you like herself.  

Plus it wasn't like it was anything too demanding and since it was your first week, you had to adjust to it as well, but you were fairing very well Mina had to say.

At least they aren't saying that she shouldn't help you, just to take care of herself too.

Maybe they could have worded it right better to begin with but Mina didn't want to upset them and she was glad that they understood the situation and embraced her role.

So with a nod...

"I understand," both parents were grateful that she didn't overreact, "but helping (YN) isn't going to overtake anything. It's only for school and when we go out. I assure you that I will step up my studies and work but I want to help (YN) in what I can as well." Mina put her words forward with a more serious tone as her mother smiled and dad nodded.

"And that's fine. As we said-" Her mom started but dad came over with a plate and presented it to his wife, "thank you, dear," she picked up her fork and started to pick up her eggs, "as we said, we do feel for him and we're glad that you and your friends are helping him out. And if he wants to come over, poke he can," She finished and started to eat her eggs as well, "Hmm~ this is good, thank you," she said covering her mouth as her dad gave thumps up, "I would love to meet him,"

While what she said kind of dropped Mina's morale a bit, she nodded.

"Thank you, mom. I'm sure (YN) will love to hear that. You too dad," Mina capped it off as her mom and dad nodded back.

"Course," he said while returning to the pan, "your usual Mina?" He asked as she nodded.

"Yes and if you can help me afterward pack for the trip?"

"I sure can." He answered.

"Trip?" Her mother questioned as Mina neglected to inform her.

"Ah, we had this planned yesterday. We're going on a picnic to Suma Beach, (AN: it's near Nishinomiya where Mina resided) sorry, I know it's sudden."

"That's fine, it's what half hour away?" Mina nodded, "I'm assuming with your friends and (YN)?" Mina nodded once more, "wear lots of sunscreens," her mom advised.

"Of course, both Momo and Sana are arriving at ten or something then we pick up (YN)...oh right, my instructor called, and said that I'm to start training this weekend."

"Really? You excited?" Mina nodded.

"Course, can't wait to see my group again. I'll be weird now that a handful left and new ones in." 

"Well with you there, I'm sure you'll put them in shape." Her mom joked as Mina hummed.

"I'm sure my instructor going to put me in that too. Anyway, how's was work mom?" Mina asked as her mom started to tell her about her night at work.

-------------------------

TIMESKIP 

TWO HOURS

"Alright, Ray. You've gotta me help out. What about this one?" She asked throwing a pink shirt and white shorts on the bed. 

Ray looked and didn't give a reaction at Mina as she gave the outfit a good look and agreed with her dog, "Hmm you're right. How about this one?"

This went on for about ten minutes till she found an outfit they were both satisfied with, well Mina, Ray didn't really give any response.

"Well? What do ya think Ray?" She smiled showing off her new outfit over her.

Sporting a white no-sleeve top with a graphic in the center with her jean shorts and dark leggings and finished off with a pair of vans. 

Ray kept his gaze as Mina nodded.

"I agree," as she looked at her outfit in the mirror, "hmm, well maybe-"

RINGTONE RINGTONE

Mina heard her phone ring out and figured Sana was already at her door.

So she fast-walked towards the door...

"Coming!" She smiled and opened the door, "hey," Mina smiled seeing her friends striking a pose.

"Hello, Mina~" "Mina~" Both girls adjusted their sunglasses while Sana stroked a pose.

Momo wore a red and white striped long-sleeve over jeans shorts that reached to her thigh with white sandals while Sana had the same idea for the lower half except for a white and aqua striped top.

"You two look ready," Mina eyed her friend's fashion as they nodded.

"Indeed we are~" Sana let her hand down, "you look cute too Mina."

"These are my PJs..." Mina pointed at her shirt.

"Still cute~" Sana winked as Mina rolled her eyes.

"Well come in, I'm gonna get ready, and then we can head out." Both Momo and Sana joined her inside as she closed the door behind.

"I'm excited for today," Sana spoke up while the three headed to Mina's room.

"So am I." Momo joined, "it's been a while since we been there." 

"It sure has, and the weather is perfect today too." Mina pointed out as the two nodded.

"Woof!"

"Hey Ray~" Entering the room, they spotted the dog on Mina's bed as Sana added her baby voice and patted his head, "whose a good dog~"

"He was helping me pick an outfit, though I can't really make a decision." Mina eyed her laid out clothes as Momo came closer to the fabrics.

"Well good thing you got us here." She was already shuffling through the items.

"I think I'm more excited for (YN) if I'm being honest," Sana spoke up while sitting next to Ray as the other two girls turned, "he's getting to explore more of the outside world."

"I agree," Mina agreed with Momo nodding, "I can't think of the level of excitement and maybe nervousness from him."

"Must be high," Momo joined in while deciding between two shirts, "though he was 'relaxed' at the mall yesterday,"

"Probably didn't want to be too excited in front of us,"

"I like excitement," Momo said after Sana's remark.

"Well he is more of a 'taking it in' than an 'explosive' nature like you are Momo," Mina smiled at her friend as Momo chuckled.

"I guess so, he's more like you then," Momo pointed out, "he's even into your ballets Mina. I can tell you that no guy in school would be like that," Momo added as Sana nodded.

"Who would have thought," Mina smiled.

"Anyway, I think I found your outfit," Momo said after as Mina joined her side while Sana played with Ray. 

--------------------------------------------------------

TIMESKIP

41 MINUTES LATER

In the horizon, the vast ocean lay calm under the bright sun. 

Golden sandbanks lay spread around the beach. 

The temperature was hot, the water was clear, and there was hardly any in sight.

It was a perfect day for an outing.

The car ride had been fun with Sana and Momo singing along to songs on the radio. 

You joined in from time to time, singing along to whatever song you heard before and knew the lyrics to as Mina sat with you in the back with Sana driving.

SLAM

Sana stretched her hands up as she shut the car door behind her.

"Wow, we got really lucky, no one is here at all." Sana looked left and right down the beach, ", especially for a Saturday."

"It is the evening, so most likely most families are working or still waiting till the afternoon." Mina came out as she opened the door for you on the other side.

Momo appeared from the front of the car to join Sana.

SLIDE

"I got you (YN)," Mina spoke from behind as you stepped out with her.

Sporting a white graphic short sleeve top that Sana bought for you, athletic shorts and black flip flops, and with your dark glasses on, Mina would say you were prepared for the beach. 

"Thanks," you said as Mina hummed in response.

"And the sun feels just right," Momo felt the heat on her skin, "I really want to build a sandcastle,"

"Oh yes! We'll build the biggest castle!"

"I call the princess." "I call the princess."

Both of them said at once.

"Eh!" "Eh!"

Both chirped at one another.

"I'm more fitting to be a princess Momo, no offense."

"Oh no way, I'm the princess here." Momo pointed at herself.

"Do they always get into a bicker?" You asked Mina.

"You get used to it." Mina shook her head.

"Fine, Mina, (YN), who's the princess here?" Sana and Momo turned to you two as Mina shook her head.

"I'm not getting involved. Help me with the stuff." Mina let her hand go and went to the back of the car.

"Well then (YN), it's up to you," Momo then came forth and held your shoulder as you felt her being soft on the touch, "pick me and I'll give you an IOU, and I'm good for anything you want~"

Your breath hitched.

"Nonono! You can't seduce your way into the role Momo, no princess does that!" Sana came on the other side of you, "that's an automatic disqualification."

"Oh like you weren't going to do the same."

"O-okay enough you two," You spoke up, "just be co-princesses. It's your own castle, can't you just make up all the rules?"

"..."

"..."

Both girls looked at one another...

"He's got a point," Momo shrugged.

"True, I agree, co-princesses," Sana rose her hand as Momo returned it.

You were glad that was settled though Momo could lessen it... 

"Great now can you two "princesses" help me out," Mina huffed as the two looked at her with a backpack in one hand and a bag in the other.

"Sure," "Yup,"

"Anything I can carry?" You asked.

"Yeah, I got a bag and pack here."

"I'll carry the bag." You asked as Mina saw your outstretched hand and proceeded to hand it to you.

You felt the strap and fiddled around to get it over your shoulders.

While waiting for the other two, you opted for a little chat.

"You don't mind if I don't get in the water right?" you replied.

You weren't an avid swimmer and well, being blind didn't help.

"Course not, we'll stand in the waves." Mina answered, "let's start getting on the sand yeah?"

"Yeah, it's hot I'm assuming?" 

"Sand always is." 

Obviously, anyone who's been to the beach knows this, but you, of course, haven't been here at all.

You stated that you've been here once with your parents, but before the incident and after, it wasn't a thought to come here at all.

That had the trio think of the extent to which you could be missing out.

Nevertheless, it didn't falter them.

"So let me get your hand," you did what Mina asked as you both reached out and held hands, "and we're going to start stepping on the sand."

"Let's do it,"

"Alright, it's going to be a bit tough to walk on so be prepared." 

"Yup," you replied, some excitement filling your voice, "mind if I take my flips off?"

"I wouldn't recommend that since it's going to be hot."

"Just for a feel?" You furthered as Mina eyed your foot and then the sand.

"Alright, it's not going to be that hot, but just a warning."  

You removed your one flip-flop, moved to the left of it, and slowed a bit before sticking your foot on the rough sand.

You gasped as a warm sensation coursed through the soles of your foot. 

It was a soft feeling as you molded the ground, yet firm the more you pressed and you felt the little grains of sand surround your toes along with tiny rocks.

Problem was that it was hot.

"Wow, that's hot," you said before Mina laughed while you slid your foot back in the flip-flop.

"So, how did that feel, other than hot?" Mina asked.

"Soft yet firm, grainy like salt."

"That's sand for you," Mina replied and turned her head to see Sana and Momo joining the two with Momo and Sana both picking the cooler up and with bags on the other hands.

"We'll need to make another trip for the parasol, we'll get it after we put these down," Sana said as she locked the car...

DING

...and put the keys in her bag.

"Need help Momo or Sana?" You offered.

"We got it (YN), thanks," Momo answered.

"Thanks but we're good," Sana answered as well as you nodded. 

"Right then, where should we go? I guess it doesn't matter." Momo searched the grounds.

"Let's go in the middle of the trees and the water." Sana pointed as the group nodded and you followed.

Mina was right when you were treading on the sand. Your feet dug into the pile as you pulled with more force.

"You're right Mina, sand is tough."

"You good though?"

"Yeah."

You could feel the intense heat yet warm breeze brush up against your skin and heard...

SQUAWK SQUAWK

The high-pitched squawks seemed to invade above you.

"They sound close."

"Seagulls, they can be annoying," Sana looked up to see three of them circling them.

WOOOOOSH...WOOOOOSH

You also heard the sound of the sea as what you assumed were waves crashing onto the shore, as Mina told you before. 

"That the water?" 

"Yeah, it's coming in with some force. It'll be a nice time in there." Momo eyed the waves coming in and out.

Apart from that, it was some kids yelling, but those two previous sounds overtook those as you enjoyed the air, heat, sounds, everything to enjoy...till...

"Okay, let's set up here," you stopped moving as Sana and Momo plumped the cooler down in the sand to ground it, "now let's get the parasol, Momo?," Sana added as Momo nodded, "We'll be back," Sana said as they went back.

"Okay, I'm setting up the towels to lie on. (YN) you can put the bag down."

Soon Mina, who let your hand go, gathered the blankets in her hefty bag while you lowered the pack gently as you felt the ground make contact and stopped.

You stood up straight and adjusted your head.

The beach felt amazing so far. 

Course nothing was done, but in the presence of it, it felt grand.

Mina side-eyed you while flapping the towels.

"Want me to describe the beach?" She asked as you turned into her area.

"Actually, yeah...though, can you do something while doing so," you said as Mina stopped her actions and stood up.

"What is it?"

"Well, it may be difficult, but can you describe the colors to me too?" You asked and Mina blinked at your want.

"...you don't know colors?"

"I know colors since mom taught them, though I wouldn't mind if I got a refresher on them. And with the way you described everything yesterday, I enjoyed it." you smiled as Mina couldn't say no.

However...

Describing colors would be difficult, especially for a person who hardly remembered what they looked like.

Still, she didn't see a reason not to try.

"Well," Mina started, "I'll do my best,"

"Thank you," you said quietly, clearly a bit embarrassed for your lack of knowledge on colors, "And don't worry, you don't have to try to give great detail, just whatever you think you can get."

She hummed and looked outward.

Mina only smiled in return. 

Though she could not see it, you could almost definitely feel her smile.

"Okay, open your palm, I'm going to put a shell."

So with that, you held your hand up, palm side up as Mina dropped a quarter-sized shell.

"Describe the texture," Mina asked of you as your fingers pringled around it like a bug.

"Rough and hard," Mina hummed her approval in response. "That's what grey is like. It's strong and sturdy, like a rock. But at the same time, it's lifeless and cold like when there's a rainstorm, though some people enjoy that."

You nodded.

"Now then-"

"And we're back." Sana's voice was heard.

Mina turned to see her and Momo carrying the parasol together and Sana holding what looked like a sack.

"Need help?" Mina offered.

"You could dig a spot," Sana asked as Mina asked you to hold on as you waited there while she made a decent hole for the parasol to be put in.

Some teamwork later and the parasol was opened up to have a large shaded circular area to lie in.

"Nice job girls." Sana said, enjoying their 'hard' work, "so what's first?" She asked as Mina returned to you.

"Here (YN), get in the shade and we can resume." Mina held your shoulder and you nodded as Mina guided you.

"Resume?" Momo asked as a few steps was needed for you to be under the parasol.

"I'm explaining (YN) the scenary and the colors of them." She told them.

"Colors?" Sana repeated like Momo.

"I asked Mina if she could describe colors for me," You mentioned Momo and Sana turned to you, "and yes I do my colors, I wanted more detail." You assured as they might have the same thought as Mina, "and Mina was explaining what grey was by this starting with this shell," you showed a shell in your hand to them.

Both girls looked at it, then you and finally Mina as your main guide nodded.

"I get it, what color is next?" Sana asked.

"I was going to start with tan or brown of the sand. I would say it's that feeling you get when you sit in your room and just meditate or when you're feeling lazy?" You nodded. "I kinda think that's how I could describe tan. Neutral, a slight warmth and soothing," you nodded at that, "here, you can drop the shell," Mina bent down and grabbed a handful of sand as you dropped the shell, "I'm going to put sand in your hand, don't worry, it's not hot." You nodded and you felt droplets on your palm as they gathered and soon overflowed from your palm, "that's sand or tan."

You nodded.

"I agree with that," Momo snapped out of her thoughts mid-way as Sana nodded, "continue Mina."

"You could join in too." Mina offered.

"I don't think we'd be great as you just described it. You got this." Sana nodded at Mina.

"Alright, let's see," Mina looked around and found her next target, "the sun, it's a mix of red, orange, and yellow," she went on as Momo and Sana caught the sun but didn't stare at it for long, "we're standing in its sunshine and just soaking in the warmth. Though the same feeling, each of the colors is different: orange is vibrant and comforting, red's bold and hot, and yellow's the brightest and most energizing of the three." You nodded, smiling at the thought of the description, "I'm not sure if we have anything that describes that now."

"I could say it's you three," you spoke up as Sana and Mina smiled as Momo giggled, "I'm serious: Momo's red, Sana's yellow, and Mina is orange." You said as the three repeated their actions.

"Hehe, I like that~" Momo pointed at herself.

"You are the very definition of red," Sana agreed, "I'm yellow all the way, and Mina is very orangey, keep going, Mina,"

"Yeah, talk about the blue of the ocean," Momo spoke up as Mina turned to her, "I'm enjoying this." Sana nodded.

"Hmm...the blue of the water, feeling the water touch your ankles and hearing them coming in and out on the shore but it becomes a deeper shade of blue the more it goes on and...and even the green of the trees is a very down–to–earth color with the rustling of the leaves in the air is just like the water. I guess the best to describe the two is calming, refreshing, and relaxing. We'll show you those in a bit,"

You liked the way she described green and blue, though it wasn't your favorite colors as your mind was vivid with the colors, and while your parents had simple descriptions of what Mina had, Mina did it with such ease.

Mina took such care in describing them to you as if she really wanted to get it perfectly right. 

"What about the sky?" Sana asked as Mina was fully into this.

"I would say the sky is light blue, thankfully there are clouds to cover the sun, but when there aren't many clouds and the sun isn't burning us, the day itself is bright and lively...speaking of clouds, they're white like snow or milk: a pure and clean color,"

You hummed and rose your head upwards as Mina watched.

"Interesting, what are your favorite colors?" You questioned.

"Pink," "Pink," Both Momo and Sana answered as they nodded at one another.

"Purple," Mina answered.

"Can you describe those too?" You infringed.

"Well pink," Sana started, "umm, is a nice, bright, and sweet color that pops out. Seeing the color makes me warm and calming like flowers or cotton candy!" You nodded. 

"Purple is unique in my opinion, it's a very elegant color I would say. I could say it's like listening to classical music and what it brings." Mina pointed out as you smiled.

"Soothing then,"

"Yes, very soothing indeed." Mina nodded with you.

"Hmm...so the hard grey, lazy tan, comforting orange, energetic yellow, hot red, down-to-earth green, calm blue, pure white, sweet pink, and elegant purple...those all sound very nice."

"They all sound really cool," you said, full of awe.  

And it was. 

At that moment, it was almost as if you could see again, but not in a literal sense.

You almost saw the beautiful hues and shades Mina had told you about. 

The colors that you hadn't been able to remember or imagine had been replaced by a series of sensory-focused descriptions that gave you a sense of how to feel when you heard the names of the colors. 

They weren't perfect and they certainly didn't replace the faint black-and-white memories of colors you'd had from before you went blind, but they were better than nothing and you quite enjoyed hearing about them.

"Thank you three. Hearing those colors were wonderful to hear." 

"Hey it was all Mina," Sana pointed at her, "even I was touched by it,"

"True and I didn't say anything." Momo had to admit.

"You didn't to Momo, I'm sure you would do your best. And I'm saying thanks for everything prior to this. I've told Mina, but you and Sana are very kind for the past week."

"Hehe, no thanks needed (YN), we're happy to help." Momo returned as you nodded, "and I'll  be happy to describe the many other colors and stuff to you as well when we see them." She added.

"Me too."

"Same." Mina and Sana joined as you nodded afterward and now you wanted to get to the fun.

"Thanks, now then, I think it's time we start enjoying yeah? Shall we start building a castle?" You suggested as Sana was happy you said that and brought out her tools of buckets and toy shovels from her bag in swift motion.

"Yes! Let's do this!" Sana was happy that's for sure but before she could leave.

"Wait, our sunscreen," Mina spoke up.

"Momo and I already did before we left the car," Sana said.

"Then we'll catch up, you two can go ahead," she pointed at the shore as both Momo and Sana started to go.

"Hurry up! Come on Momo!" Sana with her child like antics was already running as Momo chased her.

"I call making the river!" Momo rose her hand as Mina shook her head.

"Their energy is high," you noted as Mina nodded.

"You can say that again. Here I'll get the sunscreen," Mina went into her bag and pull out a bottle, "hand out please," you did so and felt a cold liquid squirted onto your palm, "there you go,"

"Thanks." you said while rubbing your visible skin, you weren't going to take your shirt off and neither was Mina as the two finished after forty seconds or so.

"Ready?" She asked while you nodded, "hand," you held your hand as Mina grabbed it in hers and the two of you started to walk towards Sana and Momo already playing in the moist sand of the shore.

"..."

"..."

"...hey Mina," you said to gather her attention.

"Hmm?" She turned to you looking right at you and for a second, Mina felt like you had your sight, staring right at her.

"What color are your eyes?" You asked, thinking back to the time when they first met and you wanted to know what she looked like.

"Black," she replied, "I guess it can be described as...hmm...dark and mysterious." She nodded at her answer.

"...and pretty."

Mina stopped in place as you did as well.

"Pretty?" She repeated as you turned your body to her.

"Yeah, black is all I can see and I've grown accustomed to having it go from a negative to a positive. Since I can't see anything, I'd have to go with my imagination and figure out what the item, person, place, or anything really looks like. Of course, I know some stuff, but getting introduced to new things, it's sort of fun."

Mina kept her gaze.

"It's like a...what's the word that we draw on stuff?"

"Canvas?" 

"Yeah, my sight is essentially a blank, black canvas. The way everything is described to me, heard, felt, everything is shaped in my 'canvas' and rather than trying to be realistic, I sometimes tend to exaggerate or go with what I think. And sometimes those exaggerations lead to being cool, memorizing, and pretty and...and that's why," you turned towards Mina and was almost dead set on her eyes, just a couple of inches to the right of her, "so sure, black is mysterious and dark as you say, but I think your eyes are pretty too."

You didn't falter in your words as you meant what you said and Mina...Mina felt her heart swerve.

Boys have complimented her before, but she knew it was just to be a lucky night with her, but from you, it felt...genuine.

True.

Real.

You weren't trying to flirt, but giving Mina a boost in her self confidence and while she didn't think her eyes were dull, hearing what you said magnified her opinions. 

And now, Mina couldn't control her smile and even chuckled, not from embarrassment, but from the warmth and flattery you gave her.

She didn't say a word for it and instead...you felt something heavy on your shoulder and ticklish on your neck and side of your head.

It wasn't hard to figure that it was the top of Mina's head laid on your shoulder and you didn't mind either as you smiled forward.

"Thank you," 

"Of course Mina," you returned as the two slowly made their way.

Mina knew that she would get teased to oblivion if Momo and Sana saw the position but honestly...she didn't care.

Also...

If this was one week into the school with you, she couldn't wait to see what the rest of the year would consist of.

=========================================

AND THAT'S THAT!

Part 2 is done and now part 3 is in the works. 

I promise it won't take long as I have ideas ready to put down like our school experience, Reo/Mina/You, Mina's recitals, and a future situation!

Oh I can't wait (rubs hands)

No spoilers though.

Thanks for pausing your life to reading this! Vote/Comment and thanks again! 

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Lisa Selin Davis

Published: Jul 5, 2023

“Have you seen the latest study?” the psychologist asked me. 

I had called Dr. Ken Zucker, a man who had spent decades working with children and young people with gender dysphoria, to talk to him about the history of that diagnosis. I wanted to know who got to decide when something was a variation versus a deviation; who got to decide when a way of being gendered in the world was abnormal, and required treatment. 

By this time, I’d been writing about gender issues full time for about four years, since I published an op-ed in The New York Times about people assuming my masculine daughter was transgender and required social transition. Why, I asked, would we create so much meaning from a child rejecting the gender role associated with her sex? Isn’t that what GenX kids like me, reared with the soundtrack of Free to Be, You and Me, were raised to do?

The op-ed was supported by many, but vociferously objected to by some who accused me of transphobia. I was shocked and stung by that reaction. In the piece I said that I supported trans kids, but wanted to encourage children to explore both sides of the pink/blue divide without it reflecting on their identities—how could that be hateful? I reached out to some of my detractors to ask them to explain their views to me, and perhaps because I put in the subject line “What I got wrong,” some of them—including very prominent trans activists—agreed to do so.

I won’t name him, but one person who’d written a response to my piece, which had also gone viral, was a lawyer for an influential non-profit law group. He spent an hour-and-a-half at a coffee shop in the Financial District explaining to me that nuanced arguments like mine were dangerous. Deviating from the script, he said, always provided fodder for the right wing that wanted to oppress trans people and take away their rights and healthcare. Indeed, to my shock, Breitbart had written about my piece as an example of “slamming transgender ideology.” And Laura Ingraham’s people had reached out to me to appear on her show, even though I was clearly a full-throttle liberal. This confused and frightened me. I didn’t want to play for the other team. 

Others reached out to me, too, including a healthcare lawyer, and lesbian, who lived in my neighborhood. We met for coffee, and she explained the issue from her point of view: pharmaceutical companies were conducting experiments on gay kids. Though it sounded too wild to be true, ringing of conspiracy theory, her idea dislodged some doubt inside me. Two years before, a friend of mine had made a documentary about trans kids. I’d said to her at the time, “Why do they all seem gay?”

I powered through my doubts, writing a book about gender nonconforming girls, trying to represent diverse points of view in the project. Well, some diverse points of view. My friend who’d written a book about trans teens five years before told me that I should never mention detransitioners; I’m sad to say I took this advice to heart. It was too dangerous for trans people, she said, and I didn’t want to make life any worse for people struggling to be understood and accepted. 

Still, I questioned why so many of the people identifying as trans seemed to be rooting their identities in stereotypes. I was nuanced, but not in a way that could excite Tucker Carlson. I knew, like so many people, that something was wrong with the increasingly pervasive narrative about trans kids. I just didn’t have the knowledge and the language to articulate it. (This is something many people identifying as trans also say: they had a feeling. They didn’t have information, or a name.)

Then, almost a year after my book was published, I called Dr. Zucker. He showed me the study, and it was then I knew I’d allowed myself to be captured. The study followed young boys with gender dysphoria over a 15-year period. Almost 90 percent of boys desisted during or after puberty—that is, their gender dysphoria subsided. And almost 70 percent of them were bisexual or gay. Left alone, and not socially transitioned, almost all young kids now labeled as trans would not grow up to identify that way, and most would be same-sex attracted. The only time the media mentions this and the other studies with similar results is to discount them. Kids are routinely taught that gender and sexuality are not connected, but in fact, they are deeply intertwined.

From that moment of awakening, I allowed myself to look at the mountains of disruptive evidence that I had blinded myself to in years before. Once I saw it, I couldn’t look away. The mainstream media narrative about conversion therapy, detransitioners, puberty blockers, trans kids—it’s all deeply distorted and leaves out information that every person—especially every gender dysphoric kid and parent of one—deserves to know. 

One reason so many gay and lesbian adults are concerned about the medical treatment of gender dysphoric youth is that they experienced that condition as children. Like so many, they grew out of it, and later identified as gay. There is overlap between childhood GD, and childhood gender nonconformity, and later homosexuality; thus they see these medical interventions as a kind of conversion therapy. The media and medical community’s refusal to acknowledge that has left a generation misinformed. The left wing, and especially the left and center press, have gotten this story very, very wrong.

Perhaps the most shocking thing I learned is that the medical protocol used to “liberate” trans kids is the same protocol once used to treat or cure homosexuality, and still used to chemically castrate sex offenders. What if every brochure, every children’s hospital gender clinic website, every activist organization, led with that fact? Would more of us wake up, and faster? Would more of us covert to be on the side of evidence, truth, and nuance, rather than thought-terminating clichés? 

Let’s find out, shall we? Let’s inform people on the left properly, and see if we can push past the culture war to do what’s best for kids.

==

More successful at "fixing" gay kids than the Xian Right ever was.

[cinderswife]

because i love nothing more than worldbuilding and inventing contexts for Why Characters Are Like That, i've designed cinders' immediate family! the last royal family of perrault was an absolute nightmare politically and socially. it might've been sorted out okay if they weren't being invaded at the same time, but things didn't work out that way.

infodump under the cut <3

cinders' father, king alixander grimsnarl, was the only son of a dwindling dynasty. he was not a very good king; he had the backbone of a sea sponge like his forebears and was a bit too proud of his crown. he'd bend to whoever bribed him the best and let corruption fester among the court (a problem that had been in the family for generations; perrault was the weakest of the five trader planets).

he went through many wives trying to produce an heir, unwilling to acknowledge that the fault was his own or even consider infertility treatments. he wanted his family to live on beyond him; there were many who wanted the throne and he could not allow them to have it.

enter eleanor blazekiss. as the youngest granddaughter of one of the most notable crimelords in perrault, she was ambitious, tired of being overlooked for her siblings and cousins, and knew the grey market witches of the lands quite well. so, at 20 years old she marches up to the 58 year old king and goes "marry me and i can solve your heir problem." alixander, intrigued by this bold and beautiful young woman and desperate for a solution, agreed. they were wed and within months she was pregnant with his heir.

however, the tale isn't as clear cut as one might think. eleanor stole away for the night with a sample of his sperm and his spit and made a deal with a witch to produce a gmo baby. because alixander was fully infertile and trying to make gametes from other dna sources was a nightmare, it was determined that it would be much faster just to clone eleanor and make a few changes to match his dna instead.

basically, cinders is a clone of her mother aside from the color of her eyes, the fact that she was amab, the ability to sprout golden antlers (cinders will discover this much later in her life), and a handful of other purely internal changes.

alixander was overjoyed by his "son" of course and doted on cinders. unfortunately, as old men are wont to do his health got steadily worse. eleanor tried very hard to care for her child, of course, except that she was young and distractible and found she cared far more for the whims and gossip of high society than for the duties of queen and mother. cinders was raised by her nanny and the royal advisors and was somewhat involved with the government since age 5.

also, she fully reneged on her deal with the witch. she thought she'd gotten away with it too! things were going well for her. alixander was retiring and she was going to be given the keys to the kingdom until her "son" was of age to take the throne. however, the day before her coronation she died unexpectedly and tragically.

the public, already on edge due to everything from the king's health to the threat of impending war with king cole, couldn't take this tragedy. what were the advisors supposed to do? well. they have a child who looks exactly like "his" mother and has a decent grasp on politic. also, this 12 year old has been raring for the chance to transition into a woman almost her entire life.

so, they put a child on the throne and lied to the king and the public about everything. queen eleanor the second, later known as cinders, was a decent queen. she had a much stronger backbone, was fully capable of living a double life as prince and queen, and cared deeply about her people. she was also a child, so there were many things she didn't understand and couldn't quite grasp.

well, alixander began to get suspicious. his son was growing into his wife who might or might not be dead, someone was on the throne who wasn't him and he didn't know who, and his former advisors were cagey as fuck. he also didn't get out much.

however, there was someone who could help. (at the time) lady marguerite tremain-moontear was from a lesser noble house that had fallen into ruin. she had two daughters, a husband who'd run off with a younger woman, and a thirst to build a better life for herself and her children.

she met with alixander in secret at first. she was clever and ambitious and found out a key piece of information: queen eleanor the first was dead, and had been for several years. who was on the throne? the gods only knew, she kept her face covered at all times though she was popular among the people.

they decided to marry. not out of love, but because it would be an easy way for them to be in close contact and her daughters would get royal treatment. if she played her cards right, she could even get one of them on the throne.

the only trouble with that was the "prince." see, cinders was Not happy with the new stepmother or her bratty children. they made her home life miserable by making her do all sorts of demeaning tasks and getting on her ass when she didn't complete them herself in a reasonable amount of time when a) they had staff to do that and b) cinders was 15 and rapidly learning what it meant to lead a war.

basically, everything went to hell in a handbasket for cinders when she was 15 because cole's forces had determined that perrault was the weak link in the 5 trader planets and were going really hard on the invasion. at home she was withdrawn and irritable, tired of having to pretend to be a prince forced to entertain the whims of a terrible stepfamily while grappling with decisions that she made where her people were destroyed either way. as queen she became waspish and difficult to work with even when her people's very lives were at stake.

this would last for four years until the truth of her and her advisors' deception became known to king and court. alixander took the throne again, but the court became split between him and the now fully out princess.

they did not survive six months. lady tremain-moontear took advantage of the chaos to betray them to king cole and 19 year old private rose grimm accidentally discovered some secret tunnels into the capitol, the combination of which allowed king cole to win perrault, kill the king, throw cinders into jail, burn down the planet, and make the house of tremain-moontear into the newest noble family of his empire.

at present, the now countess marguerite is working very hard to try to rebuild the ashes of her kingdom. she has the power she wanted, but at what cost? she's been forced to work with the grand duchy of delinore and the aid offered her by grand duchess snow grimm to rebuild. she hates this.

her older daughter belin has stayed loyal by her side, though their relationship is contentious. belin believes she could do a far better job than her mother but is terrified to disobey her. after all, her younger sister yulie has disappeared and now all the weight is on her shoulders.

yulie is... actually doing pretty okay. she, along with abigail stardust (the last living knight of cinders' reign), have taken advantage of snow's refugee programs and are currently living out a quiet if rather broke life on the planet of delinore in a mediocre one bedroom apartment. she's been doing temp admin work and abigail has been doing whatever manual labor she can get her hands on. that being said, yulie has just gotten a job offer as snow's second assistant... things might be looking up for her after all.

[theuniversitychallengereview]

No Use Crying Over Smashed Mugs

Leaning too far to the left while sitting on my sofa, I nudged my prized blue coffee mug over the edge. If someone had been filming, it would probably have looked like those videos of cats slowly knocking items off of tables, except I did it completely by accident rather than by mischievous design.

A loud smashing sound was the only indication that something had gone wrong. That’s quite a big indication, to be honest, and when I peered over the side I knew what to expect. The mug had landed on the metal base of a standing lamp and been shattered into approximately 15 pieces. This is functionally no different than it being shattered into 1000 pieces, but I was denied the poetic image of such a platonically ideal destruction.

For a moment I decried the loss of the mug, and indeed I recall being far more upset for far longer for the loss of mugs in the past. But this mug was gone. There was nought to be done, and I had, only the day before, come into possession of a new mug. One in, one out, it seems. Such is the way of things.

I bought this mug from Ikea, and it cost me about £2, but it had served me well, and I would honour its memory with a 250 word eulogy.

You Wait Ages For A Bus

Something else which cost £2 and which does deserve a longer period of anger is the £2 price cap on bus tickets, which Labour have announced will be defunct from the start of 2025.

Aside from the fact it will increase the commuting cost of a bus rider by close to £500/year, it will discourage people from using the bus system and drive people into the arms of their cars. At a time when we should be moving towards a world of universal mass transit, this is a deeply regressive move in many ways, and it makes you wonder what the point of this Labour government is.

It is also starkly irritating how governments of all stripes are unable (or unwilling) to see things in any context at all. The bus subsidy will also likely reduce car accidents (fewer cars on the road) and increase economic activity in city centres among a bunch of other potential benefits. So looking at the raw cost of the subsidy doesn’t take the full picture into account, not even slightly.

But its no use crying — it only cost £2 didn’t it?

Special Episode, 1999 - Tabloids vs Broadsheets

Subscribe for weekly reviews of University Challenge, an irreverant take on Britain's quirkiest quiz show

t.co

Edinburgh vs Leeds

I have used the bus in both of the cities represented by the teams who faced off in this week’s University Challenge, Edinburgh and Leeds.

Leeds is a historically underrepresented insitution on University Challenge. It has a student body of nearly 40,000 yet has only been on the show 5 times since 1995, with its last appearance coming in 2011.

Here’s your first starter for ten.

Edinburgh skipper Myles takes the opening points with mist, and they take a full set of bonuses on films with scores by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood. He (that’s Myles, not Jonny Greenwood) takes the second starter too, but they only managed a single bonus on the 1924 general election, which was 100 years ago.

I’m now imagining an episode of University Challenge in 2124 in which the contestants are asked about this year’s election. Will someone born in the early 2100s know who Rishi Sunak was? Will they remember that Keir Starmer got rid of £2 bus tickets?

Aiton drops five points with an incorrect interruption before Myles makes it a hat-trick with nit, not, nut on the follow-up.

Edinburgh lead 55 points going into the picture round, which is on gears and it goes to Leeds’ Patel for their first points of the night. One of the bonuses asks for a gearing system named after an invertebrate.

Dadaism gives Aiton redemption and earns Edinburgh a bonus set on the League of Extraordinary Gentleman.

A guess of Dutch by Thomson gets Leeds going again, but they cannot build any momentum and general relativity hands Edinburgh the reins once more. Myles nominates Self to give Zinedine Zidane as an answer to one of the bonuses, which is a wise nomination. If one is not aware of the name Zinedine Zidane then one probably shouldn’t risk trying to pronounce it.

Mellor smashes the music starter with the Eurovision winner Loreen and Edinburgh manage two of the bonuses, giving them a lead of 95 points at the halfway stage.

Is The Comeback On?

Tan starts a Leeds comeback with James II, and they maintain their impetus with strange courtesy of Thomson. Prince Edward Island gives them a third consecutive starter, and they’ve halved their deficit.

Self takes the second picture starter for Edinburgh, but Banerjee Marvin is quickly back on it with the Bloomsbury Group on the next question. Could Leeds complete this unlikely comeback?

Cardinals for Patel closes the gap to 25, and Swansea for Thompson makes it 15. Their work on the bonuses isn’t good enough though, and Edinburgh stay ahead.

Mellor and Myles grab a couple of starters for Edinburgh, but they too struggle on the bonuses. A neg from Myles then opens the door for Leeds, but they can’t go through it and end the game 50-points adrift, tied on points with two other high-scoring losers.

No, it isn’t on.

Leeds 125–175 Edinburgh

The Scottish quartet slacked off a bit towards the end, but did enough to get over the line. Rajan tells Leeds that they have a chance of going through, but I don’t think they do.

The other sides who scored 125 points lost to teams scoring 240 and 275, so surely a 175–125 loss won’t be enough, regardless of what happens in the final two first-round matches.

Thanks for reading, and subscribe if you aren’t already to help me defeat the algorithm and stop me crying about the price of bus tickets and/or coffee mugs.

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[hudine]

This came into my head, just a snippet really after playing Baldur’s Gate 3 while listening to Witcher fanfiction I downloaded from AO3 and get a screen reader to read for me; all the while with a temperature of 102.3F or roughly 39C. This is when you are supposed to gather allies during act 3…. No real spoilers for BG3 but one for The Witcher 3. This is also a Fae!Jaskier snippet of a fic

In the flickering light of the campfire, Jaskier the bard stood slightly apart from the rest, his mind racing through realms of possibilities, not all of them confined to the world of music and poetry. Tonight, he had a different kind of audience in mind—Jergal, the Lord of the End of Everything, who had manifested on this plane as Withers.

"Jergal," Jaskier began, his voice confident yet infused with a respectful tone, as he approached the ancient god. The camp was quiet, the rest of the party attending to their gear, oblivious to the conversation that was about to unfold.

"Indeed," replied the god, his voice as dry as the dust of forgotten tombs. "And to what do I owe the honor of this direct address, Prince of the Fae?"

Jaskier smiled, the title echoing with irony even here, in a realm so distant from his own. "I come to discuss a matter of balance and transition. You preside over the fate of souls, guiding them to their rightful afterlives. But what if a soul's rightful place is not within the confines of this world or its celestial realms?"

Jergal's empty sockets seemed to deepen, considering. "Continue," he intoned.

Jaskier stepped closer, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "These Witchers, they belong to another reality. Their souls were never meant to traverse the pathways of this world's afterlife. By resurrecting them here, aren't you merely adjusting their course, redirecting them to continue their fight in a different form of existence, akin to an afterlife?"

Jergal paused, the skeletal fingers of one hand tapping against his chin—a gesture almost human, thought Jaskier. "Your words are woven with the cunning of your kind," Jergal finally said. "But they hold a kernel of truth. These souls, if unclaimed by other deities or powers, might indeed be considered for such... relocation. What do you propose?"

Jaskier's eyes glinted with the thrill of the gamble. "For every Witcher's soul you agree to resurrect, I will pay two hundred gold pieces. Their names will only be offered by those who knew them in life, and there must be no other claim upon their spirits."

"A novel form of afterlife," mused Jergal, a ghost of amusement in his tone. "Very well, Prince Jaskier. Who will you name first?"

"Vesemir of Kaer Morhen," Jaskier replied promptly. "Slain in the defence against the Wild Hunt, a mere five years ago."

With a gesture from Withers, the air shimmered, and the form of Vesemir coalesced by the fire. His eyes, sharp and clear, flicked from Jaskier to the god standing before him.

"Where am I?" Vesemir's voice was rough with confusion.

Jaskier stepped forward, quickly explaining the situation and the role Vesemir could now play. Understanding dawned in the old Witcher's eyes, followed by a spark of determination.

"Then let's begin," Vesemir said, turning to Withers. "I can name quite a few who deserve another chance to swing a blade."

As Jaskier and Vesemir listed names, Withers, bound by the terms of their agreement, summoned each Witcher back into existence. The gold piled by Jaskier dwindled, but with each resurrection, the camp grew louder, more boisterous with reunions and disbelief.

By the time Geralt returned with Tav, Astarion, and Gale, the camp was transformed. Witchers long thought lost to the world were now laughing, sharing stories, and yes, liberally sampling the camp's stock of alcohol.

"What's happened here?" Geralt asked, his voice a mix of shock and awe as he recognised familiar faces from his past, some from his very childhood.

"Jaskier happened," Vesemir chuckled, clapping the bard on the back. "He's found us a new kind of afterlife—one with a bit more fighting and a lot more drinking."

Geralt looked at Jaskier, a mix of emotions playing across his face. Finally, he smiled, the tension easing from his shoulders. "Only you, Jaskier, could orchestrate the resurrection of an army and turn it into a festival."

Jaskier bowed slightly, his face alight with mischief and pride. "Well, we have battles to fight, and who better to fight them with than brothers long thought lost?"

The camp buzzed with energy as the newly resurrected Witchers swapped tales with their saviour, making plans for the coming conflict. Geralt moved among them, every so often looking back at Jaskier with a shake of his head and a grin. He always was good with loopholes and pushing boundaries.

Finding out he was actually a Seelie Prince who got himself stuck without access to his magic within Geralt’s world honestly didn’t surprise him when he thought about it. He had always suspected Jaskier had some fae ancestry especially once it became obvious that he wasn’t aging. Also no bard, no matter how talented, could write a song like Toss A Coin and have it spread so far and so fast and actually make people believe that it’s good luck to toss coins at Witchers. At least it was better than rocks. Coins hurt just as much sometimes but at least you can spend a coin unlike a rock.

[liminalmemories21]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love❤

Thanks!

1 - The Knave of Hearts . . . he said he'd steal no more - because I think the best thing I've ever written. Also, I love this AU - and only 25% of that is because it lets me ramble about art I love.

2 - A home isn't always the house we live in - because I love Judd, and because I am firm in my belief that Carlos and Judd have known each other for years, and Judd is so incredibly older brother/dad shaped that there's no way he doesn't glom on to Carlos's desperate need for a stable male role model.

3 - through sames of am through haves of gave - because I love my Enzo, and because TK's relationship with Enzo is this massive lacunae of almost no information. (written before we knew Gwyn died, and Jonah's name)

4 - a phoenix first must burn - because I love an outside POV on a relationship, and Gabriel and Carlos's relationship is so complicated and heart breaking.

5 - Your nemeses will defeat themselves before you get a chance to swing (Gabriel) - because see above about outsider POV, and Gabriel and Carlos - and also because this is the first thing I ever wrote for LS, because I watched the transition from 'Mom and Dad, this is my friend from work' to inviting them over for dinner and everything is fine and went, yeah okay no we can do better than that ;) And then I wrote six stories and 27,000 words about it.

[phoebe-delia]

if I could fall into the sky

Hello! So here’s the thing. I saw this art by @lilbeanz a long while back and was hit with the sudden, stark realization that I have been here well over a year and somehow NOT written a songfic to "A Thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton. I have finally decided to rectify that.

This takes place in the "this is me trying" universe, because it remains probably my favorite thing I've written and also this song is perfect for a scene I've got in mind. You don't need to have read the fic already to know what's going on. I’ve also changed it to fit Draco’s POV.

Also. This is a late birthday gift for the incredible @ihopeyoubothstaysafefromharm. Joy, you are fucking incredible. As a person and a creator. Thank you for sharing your light with us for a few trips around the sun.

Here’s something pensive and brooding. I hope it makes you feel even a fraction as dreamy and floaty as your creations do for us all.

This was one of the best parts of his day, the walk to the tube station after work. When Draco first got the job, he tried to make the entire journey back to his flat on foot, but he was cursing himself for going on a twenty-minute walk before and after a several-hour shift on his feet. But the tube station was a solid five minutes away from the diner, and figuring out the transit system wasn't too daunting once he figured out the few routes he needed to know.

Riding the tube felt like a cross between the Hogwarts Express and the Knight Bus. Besides, he quite enjoyed the commute once Lindsey showed him how to get music on the little device she'd made him buy once she'd realized he was utterly clueless about popular culture—at least, her kind.

And Draco's kind, now, too.

As he clicked the headphones around his neck, easily accessible once he boarded the tube, he wondered whether Potter had one of these; f he carried music with him wherever he went. If he, too, needed to quiet the voices in his head with someone else's.

He scowled to himself. Fucking Potter.

One of the bright points of his de facto exile from the Wizarding World was the fact that he'd thought he might not ever have to see Potter again. Draco was more than happy with the cool politeness they'd maintained in the last year at Hogwarts. He'd left the school flooded with relief that he and Potter were finally, blessedly, neutral.

And he felt he'd earned it, too. He'd done his best. He'd paid reparation, tried to read about and experience parts of the world he'd never known or considered before. He was working at a Muggle diner and went to Muggle university for fucks sake. The diner was frustrating work—certainly not the kind of job he'd ever expected to hold, but still gave him a strange sense of satisfaction at the end of each shift. Certainly not the kind of rush he got during his classes during the day, but it was enough.

He was fucking proud of himself, truth be told.

Until Potter had shown up at the diner the previous night and seen Draco in his uniform, and Draco absolutely could not handle it.

So he'd fled, hoping Potter would get the message that Draco did not want to see him at all. That he simply wanted to live his life. To move on.

When Potter arrived again tonight, Draco'd thought Potter either could not seem to comprehend that Draco wanted nothing to do with him, or didn't care. He'd worked his shift half distracted trying to figure out whether Potter was malicious, or just plain stupid.

Neither, as it turned out, or so it seemed. Potter seemed to take a genuine interest in Draco, and that could bring nothing but chaos into the life Draco had so carefully crafted for himself. With his small flat, his job, and his writing classes, Draco was sure his posh, sneering Father would have a heart attack if he knew.

Draco had never felt richer in his life.

His past and present were separated; starkly different. Draco had been careful to carve his new life away from the Wizarding World. Leave no trace behind.

And then Potter—with his crooked smile and impossible hair and startlingly green eyes—just had to blur the lines. He had to mess with the boundaries and walls Draco had put in place.

But then—Potter had seemed so deeply earnest. He’d looked at Draco with that same spark of determination he had when they were kids—but this time with an open hand instead of a clenched fist. Draco shivered at the memory of it; at the feeling of Potter’s eyes on him in that burning, almost predatory gaze. His childhood fantasies were nothing compared to the visceral lived experience of being on the receiving end of Potter’s tenacity.

It hit Draco then, as he neared the tube station, the moon staring knowingly at his back, that he couldn’t wait to feel it again.

[aquilathefighter]

Fluffbruary 7: Routine

This one got away from me a bit! A prose poem/character study wherein I pour my heart out about Routines As A Form Of Love and also Dream is autistic because I Said So.

Check out all my @fluffbruary ficlets on AO3 here!

Fandom: The Sandman (2022)

Relationship: Dream of the Endless/Hob Gadling

Dream hears the rush of the kitchen faucet as he appears in Hob’s living room.

Right on time, he thinks, smiling to himself. He was glad Hob liked routine as much as he does. Routines are calming. Routines are secure. You don’t have to think about everything all at once when it’s already been planned out for you. Routine is important for one who contains the collective unconscious, otherwise he’d break down in overwhelm. Too much, too much, too much. He knows it well, knows the strain of holding it back for millennia, Atlas under the weight of his own emotion. But now he has someone to lift the dam, easing the rush of emotions little by little rather than a flood.

His Prince Consort. Hob.

Wearing loose silken robes, Dream treads into the kitchen to meet his favorite person in the world. Hob. Hob. His heart hops in his chest at the vision before him. His Hob with a wet spot on his jumper from the splash of water on the dish, his Hob with a laser focus on the sauce clinging to the fork, scrubbing with a ferocity not often seen in the man before him these days. Long gone is the mercenary Dream met six centuries ago, the man who called his sister stupid to her face. Hob’s gentle nature shines in the classroom, his excitement palpable as he listens to students discussing medieval events. Dream wonders how the same Robert Gadling was a sellsword those long years ago. If Dream reflects on their meetings, he knows the tender gentleman had always been there, behind the rowdiness, the showiness, the desperation that obscured Dream’s view. Had he been less egotistical, he might have fallen for him centuries earlier. No matter, time lost is time that cannot be recovered. If Hob is to be believed, they have the rest of eternity to spend together, every night as easy as this. The routine of loving someone.

Dream presses his arms to the counter, resting his head in his elbow. He smiles at Hob, who grins right back, washrag in hand stuffed into a glass.

“Hello, Hob.”

“Hello, Dream. Almost finished with the washing up, then we can go through the routine? ‘Bout five minutes?”

Gentle, gentle Hob. Dream sighs an easy sigh, nodding awkwardly from within the cradle of his arms. So patient with him, learning his language so easily. Never blowing Dream off at his busiest, always estimating how long the task will take so Dream’s agitation is eased. When their relationship had just begun, he had noticed Dream’s antsy nature waiting for anything. In the Dreaming, he could bring anything to a close instantly, could even hurry along his subjects in a task. Dream in the Waking… well, he understood why Hob had thought Dream faerie all those years ago, insulting as it was. Time passed so differently Dream found it difficult to understand how long it had been between activities. Hob had noticed. And Hob had made a change. All for Dream. All to ease him when in Hob’s realm.

Their evening routine was an important one in the transition between the Waking and the Dreaming. With Dream spending more time than ever in the Waking, it became jarring to re-enter the Dreaming. Tiny holes peppered the dam, leading Dream to more meltdowns and outbursts and scared help too much no stop too loud—and Hob had noticed. How he knew, Dream had no clue. But knew he did nonetheless, and such proposed the Bedtime Routine.

The Bedtime Routine built up over time, as all routines do. It started with Hob asking Dream to tuck him into bed before he fell asleep at night. Simple, but the few minutes this action took weren’t enough. Dream was greedy for time with Hob, ached to leave him to attend to his duties. In the weeks where this was all the routine was, Dream was on edge. This is when Hob noted Dream’s sudden silence during The Routine was abnormal; different from Dream’s quiet, he did not speak. Could not speak. The transition was too fast, too fast, too fast. So, Hob began to incorporate more of his bedtime routine into Their Bedtime Routine. Pajamas then shower then brushing teeth then chamomile tea then washing up after dinner. If Dream asked Hob (which he still was reluctant to do), he would find that Hob loved their Routine just as much as he does.

It’s easy, getting ready for bed together. Even though Dream must leave once Hob enters the Dreaming. The constant cacophony of the unconscious is curtailed through the Routine. Every step of the way is part of the transition. It takes the same amount of time every time until Dream presses a kiss to his lover’s forehead and vanishes in a swirl of sand.

Hob dries his hands after refilling the kettle, flicking it on with a click-brrr. He produces Their chamomile tea (never for guests) uncapping the canister—hiss—and scooping dried buds, leaves, flowers—crick-foom—into their individual tea strainers. Dream reaches for Their mugs (one yellow, one black) and sets them onto the counter—clink—next to Hob. Hob turns and takes Dream into his arms, two heads nuzzling into shoulders swaying back and forth until—clonk—the kettle shuts off. Hob slips his arms out from under Dream, pouring rising tones into Their mugs.

Five minutes. A duration of time he can finally grasp in the arms of his beloved. Dream reaches for Hob again, tucking himself under his chin. He takes the time to smell the earthy musky Hob scent of the day before soon that scent will be washed away. He feels Hob’s warmth, Hob’s softness, Hob’s clothes, Hob Hob Hob HobHobHobHob. He nestles himself closer, if closer is possible, groaning. Nowhere safer than here. The egg timer goes off. They take Their mugs (one yellow, one black) to the couch, Hob’s arm wrapped around Dream, opposite hand holding his mug. Slowly draining the liquid from the mug, Dream’s body becomes the liquid. Smooth, relaxed, warm, safe. He leans his head on Hob’s shoulder. Hob removes the now-empty mug from Dream’s hand. Places it next to his on the coffee table, where they will stay till the morning.

Scrubbing their teeth, the rhythmic susurration of the bristles and the lemon flavor of the toothpaste Dream bought just for him Them bringing even more calm to Dream’s mind. Soon they are in the shower, warm water loosening Dream’s body further. Although he has no need for bathing, he washes. He washes because Hob washes. Because they are together. And it is The Routine. They step out, toweling each other off with the tenderness of one who is yours—not just for sex, or company—but because you are theirs too. The pair move to the bedroom. Hob opens the wardrobe, tossing two pairs of underwear, two pairs of pajama pants, two well-worn t-shirts onto the bed. Each dresses himself, the fleece of the pajamas gentling the skin. T-shirts no tags Hob’s scent ingrained into the warp and weft of the cotton. Dream breathes deep as it passes over his head. Hob flicks the overhead light off as Dream dresses, bedside lamp already alight. He peels back the sheets, two pairs of pillows for two heads, two bodies to embrace each other with two arms. Hob lies down, watching Dream round the corner to lie on his side. Their bed. They face each other as Hob covers their bodies. Dream entangles his hand with Hob’s, caressing it back and forth until Hob begins to slip. He raises their hands to his lips, pressing not only a kiss but his wish, the same wish he makes every night to Hob’s skin. Because they are together. And it is The Routine.

And it is Love.

Dream feels Hob fully enter his realm, the cue that it is finally time to leave. One last brush of hand to hair, and he is gone.