#(or worse it was a project for them that obviously never got done)

[jonathanbyersphd]

No because really, what in the world is Jonathan driving as his next car?

[androdetective]

As a poc, I have a complicated relationship to vbros. On one hand, the world is really immersive and the characters can be really great, on the other hand it is a very white show and has a racism problem. Many of the white characters have done racist things when characters have gotten punished or killed for less. There's also barely any side characters of color. And even then, many jokes get made at them regarding their races, because they're not seen as the norm. Also because it's an adult swim show made by white guys.

Off the top of my head, there are 4 side characters of color (Orpheus, Jefferson, Kano, and Dr Z). If we want to be generous, we could include Al. Maybe even Triana with her being biracial, albeit entirely passing as white. Even with those characters, Orpheus became whitewashed over the years.

However, ironically enough, he's the best written character of color. He's a very nice, multifaceted character. He's even become a fan favorite. He's also had no racist comments made towards him in the show. Which was a pleasant surprise. Especially since he lived on the compound with Rusty of all people. As happy as I am with that, it feels off because why did they spare only him but not others? I'm not sure if his race was ever figured out as the writers. It never got brought up, unlike other characters. I won't lie, that gives me a feeling they didn't write him as a brown man in mind. If they did write him with that in mind, he probably would've been written worse. It feels like they could only relate to him and made his character good by thinking he's white like them. Hell, they even projected their weird breakup feelings onto him.

With Jefferson, his character is a mixed bag. He's a cool character and very capable. He's a solid character, all things considered. It's just that he gets racist jokes thrown his way. And just, the show has one black side character, and they can't even act right. Why is racism, the hatred and otherness of one's entire existence, so funny. I noticed that each episode except one that he was in had at least one antiblack joke. That's an insane ratio. The worst joke was in the Halloween episode, where he was at the party. They specifically made his character open the door to a side character, red mantle, doing blackface. It was to make a shitty reference to some niche movie and just oh my god, can you stop being shitty white nerds for a second? People who think shit like this is funny makes me want to project years of racial trauma into their brains so that they could finally Get It. Again, this is the best black character they have, but they to make him go through cheap antiblack jokes.

At least with Kano and Dr Z their skin tones stopped being yellow. The other times we see characters of color are when they're background characters. They're either there to make a scene feel full or they're labor workers. The worst is when they were what I'd describe as background antagonists. One-off antagonists that aren't really villain villains. Moreso regular criminals. These tend to be depicted as black and latino. This was more common in early seasons and stopped happening over time. Which obviously great albeit bare fucking minimum, still doesn't change that it happened.

For a world that critiques the old mentalities from previous generations and even specifically denounces generational toxic masculinity. They don't say shit about the blatant racism of the Johnny Quest times they parody. And the times they try to, it's just showing racism and doing nothing about it. Princess Tinyfeet is the worst example of this. She's a blatant racial stereotype. Who for whatever reason, used to be married to Sgt Hatred, an American soldier. And Sgt Hatred is a whole can of worms.

With Dr Z who was apart of the Quest era, at least they tried to give him a character. The thing I will say is that he's voiced by a white guy (Publick) doing a stereotypical vaguely Eastern Asian accent. Something I wished when watching the show was for Dr Z to mention the old racist era he lived through, and maybe even how the present is still rough. The toxic masculinity of the era got mentioned, so why not that too. It would've been so obvious too.

I won't lie, a part of me is glad they didn't try to handle the racism because it would've been a horrible train wreck. I can get why they didn't delve too into it, they're white after all. I just wish there were more poc in the team and sensitivity writers because they were desperately needed. But for a show that can't even handle white women, I'm not surprised they can't handle people of color. For a show whose best thing they were able to tackle was toxic masculinity, I find it ironic how misogynistic they still were. Like quick, why were the side effects of misogyny that affect you 🫵 handled the best.

The thing is, if they did try to critique the racism, they'd alienate the audience, and it'd also be strangely hypocritical of them. Venture Bros'/Adult Swim's main audience is white cishet men. The ones least affected by bigotry. They're able to laugh at bigoted jokes, and they're the most marketable people. White guys will appeal to other white guys. In the early 2000s, white creators were able to get away with much more. Not because it was alright but because it was easier for them to shut down minorities calling them out. Despite how "normal" it was, that doesn't change how that fed into a very toxic, bigoted culture. Despite today still being hellish for minorities, it was even worse just a couple of years ago.

Venture Bros obviously did not invent racism/bigotry. The show is very much a product of their time and environment. And whenever I think about that, it feels draining. Especially having had to live through the 2000s. The show can be amazing when it wants to be. There's so much potential and a lot of charm and character. I really enjoy it, and that's why I'm so critical of it. Not only because I want it to be better but because I want something better for fans of color. We barely get anything, and the least we should get are characters that look like us and are respected. Just like their white counterparts. It's like, how am I supposed to feel when Sgt Hatred gets redeemed and made a main character before we got a character of color that didn't face racist jokes/got whitewashed. Or even before we got a female character whose existence didn't hinge on their relationship to a man. Obviously, the show doesn't hate people of color. They've tried to better over time, which again great. But it barely felt like they respected poc enough.

With the movie, despite its own problems (not helped by Adult Swim screwing them over), you could tell they were trying. And it was really appreciated. Jefferson had a big spotlight, and there weren't jokes against him. We even got to know a bit more about him. It was genuinely his best. Ignoring Orpheus still looking like he's in a perpetual state of winter, that aspect of the movie was alright.

I'm very glad to see fans who are critical of these aspects. It makes me more happy seeing them vouch for poc. However, there's still a large majority that ignores or even excuses the racism. Unsurprisingly, these tend to be the white dude bro fans. But I've seen even the more liberal fans excuse/ignore stuff. The fanbase is very white, just like a lot of other fanbases. I can get why a supportive white person feels they wouldn't be best to call out the show's shit. I just wish they'd mention it more with a simple "oh there's xyz in this episode and it wasn't alright." Something as simple as that carries a lot of power in very white environments. Also, of course, uplift other fans of color, especially when they talk about or face racism. Things as simple as that make me breathe sighs of relief. It personally encourages me to interact with communities more.

I'm unsure of how to close this off. This feels like a topic you could talk about all day. All I wish is for things to be better, you know? Hopefully this all makes sense. I just wrote shit off the top of my head. I'd love to hear thoughts expanding or adding on to stuff. Really hope this reaches the right people

[minervas-hand]

Right to fear, wrong to believe

Just had a horrible realization and needed to meta it out.

How different they were before Edinburgh, when Crowley was sucked down into Hell.

Look at this flirty babygirl in the Bastille:

I mean could he climb that tree any faster?

(This is why I really like fics that place a more physical relationship here, pre-Bastille or just post-Bastille, because c'mon look at them. )

In S1 the next thing is 1862 and Crowley asking for insurance (with a cane ffs). And Aziraphale freaking out with his "fraternizing" BS. It's jarring, until we get 1827 filled in for us in S2.

@takeme-totheworld notes in this post:

Crowley sure went from "our respective head offices don't actually care how things get done" and "nobody ever has to know" to "walls have ears" FAST after Edinburgh. And Aziraphale went from looking at Crowley with hearts in his eyes to "I've been FrAtErNiZiNg" just as quickly. I'm more convinced than ever that Edinburgh was the first time Crowley ever actually got caught and punished for fucking around with Aziraphale/doing good deeds/whatever it was they yanked him back down to Hell for, and it scared the absolute shit out of both of them and changed the whole tone of their relationship after that.

Yes! - it's clear to me as well that the Edinburgh graveyard was a very bad turning point, where they both saw that Hell was listening and would intervene. And it did change their relationship drastically, for over a century and a half (really, until looming Armageddon loosened up the stakes for them).

But what about Heaven?

See the thing is, we know Azi's been worried about Heaven watching him for the past 6000 years.

But they haven't.

[GIFs posted by starrose17]

All this time, and Heaven had not seen them together. Hadn't noticed. Had not even LOOKED.

I want to mention what @starrose17 says about this here in this post:

What I love about this is her choice of words, “went back through the Earth Observation files.” This implies that these photos were already filed somewhere meaning somebody had to have been watching them which meant somewhere in the depths of the bureaucratic heaven there’s an underpaid angel clerk tasked with watching angels on Earth, and he’s been hording photos of his favourite Angel/Demon couple not reporting them to Michael because he wants to see what happens.

And that's exactly what this fic covers!: Spying Omens by @ednav

(Give this a read, it's fabulous.)

While I am here for this being exactly how that happens, the other scenario is colder and worse - there's no one watching, at all. It's just filing automatically and never seen until some Scrivener is called to pull a file.

From @fuckyeahisawthatat's comment here :

I found this scene to be quite chilling, actually. Not only is the idea of Heaven as a surveillance state brilliant (way to make “God is always watching” sound way more ominous) but this is exactly how modern surveillance states work. They don’t actively watch everybody all the time. That’s not physically possible for humans, and even if it is metaphysically possible for Heaven, it’s not a very efficient use of resources. Surveillance states watch people they deem “suspicious.” And once you’ve been put in the category of “suspicious,” they have massive amounts of data that they can comb through to collect a lot of information about you–to retroactively build a case justifying why you’re suspicious, to collect information about where you go and who you associate with, etc.

Yes.

So we either have secret collusion in the rank and file, or we have a surveillance state that is constantly reinforced to its subjects for fear's sake, for control.

(Well, it obviously could be both.)

BUT my point is… Up until Edinburgh, Hell has not been watching (or caring at least). And up until near the end of Armageddon't, neither has Heaven.

Oh, my poor Angel. Thousands of years, of denying yourself, of pushing Crowley away, of carrying around a tension that is it's own constellation.

After 1827 you might have reason, but for the 5000+ years before that?

Thousands of years and Heaven was not watching nor cared.

You were right to fear. And you were wrong to believe.

And that just breaks my heart.

[ranticore]

About the kid raised by harpies, we have a rough story to explain how they ended up there (it got a lot longer than I thought it would omg): A pen has her eggs stolen, she is able to see the man who steals them but he ends up escaping. This event causes her partner to completely lose faith in their king, believing she could do a better job, and she eventually turns into a king herself, defeating him and taking the pen as a tiercel. As the pen has always been very active, and could barely keep herself still in the tiercel nest at all, they make a deal: she will be allowed to patrol the areas around the eyrie, as long as she's never far enough to disappear from view, never hunts and immediately comes back at any signs of danger. One day, as she's observing a human caravan passing by, she sees a very familiar face… With him, a woman, and in her arms a baby, who they lovingly look at. She follows the caravan further and further, waiting, watching… when an opportunity arises, she snatches the child and flies away with it, back to the eyrie. Her king is incredibly worried when she's back, looking for any sign of injury. What happened? What were you thinking? What would I do if you- wait what is that She explains what happened, and argues that it's only fair that she keeps the human's child after he took hers. She wouldn't be doing anything vital anyways, as it would only take away her time and resources from the flock, but it would be a great distraction from her boredom, keeping her closer to the eyrie. Besides, what other flock has a human in its midst? What a novelty for him to show off! His flock is so prosperous that they can not only keep tiercels but also raise a being from a completely different species just for the fun of it! In the end, he gives in, letting his beloved keep her "hobby project". btw we've thought of calling the kid "Five Talons", since, well, five fingers and all (also it sounds cooler than Five Digits). The first name we came up with was "Stolen Goods" though, I really liked it but friend noticed that it sounded a bit mean dskmfd What do you think? :] I would appreciate some help with naming the pen and the king as well... I'm almost done drawing the first one, may I send you the drawing through a message?

Ahh so sorry it took me a while to get to this!! Yes of course you can dm me any time and I can help with the naming if you like

This story is so funny honestly I'm completely on board... I especially like the angle of "well look, isn't it kind of a flex to raise a human child as well as we're doing?" because that's really. That's just how they think all the time, you always have to be showing off it's just like the law.

Also I'm thinking of this sort of almost parent trap (?) type situation going on here where both stolen babies are sort of being raised in parallel in a sense, by parents who have had their true child stolen from them, so I wonder what types of experiences they may have in common (and whether they might ever be able to meet and bond over it? Like here's a sibling you never knew you had... or instead would they hold the other responsible for their own situation, the hurt of their parents, etc. Much to consider!!!).

Bearing in mind that a stolen harpy is likely not going to a very prestigious town flock, otherwise there'd be no need to resort to theft, it would likely be in more of a similar situation to the human kid than you'd think - raised entirely by a different species, lacking a 'role model' of a sort, potentially not even knowing that other harpies/humans exist, and thinking of themselves as perhaps uniquely weird (in either a positive OR negative sense, i could see both). The difference being that the baby harpy would be raised into servitude, and the baby human is being raised to show off. Both ways are dehumanising (or deharpyising?) in different directions, obviously one has it worse but being placed on a pedestal of your adoptive parent's rage and pain can't be fun either.

[askthefamous8]

Even if I haven't been very active lately, 9 years is still pretty significant- happy birthday to the blog!

So like Percy up there I'm gonna do so dome reflecting. This blog's where I've often done that for some reason, but here's the tl'dr for blog related stuff.

• I would like to keep drawing stuff but feeling generally unsure in myself, and I'm wondering if all the years of fandom harrassment have caught up with me • I have one big project in mind, I've been dipping my toe into what I'd need to do it. No spoilers but it was one of the first things I played around with this series, so do with that what you will • If I can keep myself drawing, I want to use more of the original source material since I'm struggling with original ideas. So stuff like redraws, hOpEfULlY even animatics, just like what originally got me so into trains yknow? Because that's fun and sparks joy. And that always goes down a treat with you guys so bonus • As always I appreciate you guys not coming after me for being so inconsistent

The rest of this is me doing what Percy's doing in the drawing and reflecting, as there is indeed much 2 think about. It's also a little sad and venty so, there's your warning there.

.

Ok so obviously a busy year, we moved into our new house that we actually own, I spent most of the year planning our wedding, and then got married. Big stuff. Also! I came off antidepressants in the summer. I've been on them for...basically as long as this blog, 6 months after I started it I think. Which also means I'd been on antidepressants my entire adult life. Feels like a big deal and I guess I'm still adjusting.

Another big thing, but sad, is that my dog died about two weeks ago. If you follow me on twitter you'll have seen her but she did make an appearance here a few Halloweens ago

I got her when she was 13 and had her 8 years after that. So that's been difficult. Unrelated to that (probably), but I just feel...really mediocre. And before you point out the obvious, this has been present even before I came off antidepressants. But yeah just... mediocrity. In myself as a person, how I look, what I draw, my whole life really (barring my marriage thankfully). What have I achieved? I'm 26, I'm not working, I don't feel well, my art isn't good (I don't think so anyway- like yeah it's technically fine I guess but it's not, and has never been, very stand-out or impressive). And lately art doesn't bring me the same joy it once did, and I'm wondering if all the years of harrassment from this fandom (mostly the twitter side, tumblr's been pretty good to me) has finally caught up with me and put me off the whole thing. Or worse, that I just don't have as much of an interest in it anymore. I don't think I'll ever be like "ok yep I'm officially done with this blog" because I'm so stubborn but idk. I want to make things and be creative, I want to make more train art, but it doesn't feel the same. I don't know what's wrong. What do you listen to? What you want vs what you feel? I still enjoy train stuff, I love going to Awdry Ex every year. It's been like this for awhile. It's not even like I have a strong feeling of what I'd rather be doing as far as careers go. And even if I did, oh yeah I'm sure my two degrees in animation will be very relevant in another field (sarcasm). I feel adrift. My sails are open but there is just no wind. Planning my wedding gave me something to do and work on and just, feel useful but now that that's over I feel lost again. Losing my dog, who had become the center of my life because of how vulnerable she had become, hasn't helped.

On the more creative side of things, I also don't really know what to do with this blog's story either. The show's ended as far as most people are concerned, and I kiiinda wrote myself into a corner because once Thomas turns 18 he's going to leave for university, and that sets off this whole arc with James but basically the problem is it involves characters leaving and for some reason that feels like a no-no here. Don't get me started on the timeline lol. But Thomas works on a railway on Sodor, that's how it has to be...right? I guess I'm sort of at a crossroads of, ok do I want this to be close to the source material, and thus easily digestible to newcombers? Or do I want to make it more and more my thing and distanced from the source material? I doubt there's many new people coming since the series ended. And even then, there's a lot more humanization artists around now than when I started, so it's not like I'm filling a niche anymore. Just to be clear it's fine and also good that there's more humanization artists, variety is good, I just don't feel as "needed" anymore (which is 100% in my head and not an actual role that belongs to me or something). I started this blog when I was 17, so my interests and what I relate to have changed obviously. The character designs certainly have. It's never followed a super rigid story plan, but the core of it has always been the central cast doing things on Sodor. I however have always had a scene/project/animatic/whatEver in mind for when this 'series' would '''officially''' ''''end''''. But then what comes after that? I've always tried to run this blog like they are Real People that You interact with. But in real life there is no ending to the story, there's always more stuff to come. You get married, and it's wonderful, and then life goes on. The credits never roll. So maybe that's what I'm having trouble coping with...the progression of time. Ah, my old nemesis. I've always had trouble with letting go of things. There's nothing to say that I couldn't still draw stuff after the series "ends". I guess any story after Thomas leaves could be like... a sequel series or a spin off or something. Spin-off of a spin-off. Famous 8 All Grown Up. Famous 8 Qurter Life Crisis. Who knows. I certainly don't.

I've also been really into an original project unrelated to this but those don't get as much attention and while I'd like to do something with it one day, I don't feel very confident in being able to make that happen right now. But you know... as far my as art not being super spectacular goes... I think my individual talent has always been is my ideas, like the writing side of things. And then brought to life with my art, which normally isn't anything to write home about but is good enough to convey the idea and be not-awful to look at, lifts both of them beyond what they were individually. Maybe that's what I should focus on. Maybe that's wishful thinking.

So....idk. Idk what I'm doing but I'm trying to be gentle on myself and just let myself continue to drift, to heal from this heavy loss, and then in the New Year I'll try and pick myself up. Then there will be no more big once-in-a-lifetime events coming up, no more just-moved-into-a-house-and-oh-no-there's-a-bunch-of-things-that-need-attention-NOW scenarios, and no more big holidays for awhile. I guess we'll see.

If you read all of this I am so sorry but also thank you for reading my ramblings. And thank you for being around, whether that's been for a few months or for several years, but especially if it's been several years

[kibblbread]

TRANSFORMERS ONE FANFIC IDEA INCOMING!

Yeah it’s optimus x megatron, sorry not sorry i want to explore their relationship as lovers instead of friends/brothers because I’m a hopeless romantic although i may or may not do that eventually too???

Anyway this fic is being dubbed the Transformers one alternate timeline fic! You can look at the basic premise by clicking the embed link 🔗

You can call it whatever you want the nickname is mostly for me lol

Anyway here is more headcanons and basic outlining for my writing if anyone is interested. I know what its like to be in a small fandom with hardly any fic content for your personal otp 🙃 cries in redhood fandom

So lowkey I want there to be roles within the relationship, I just don’t want to type cast or define either Megatron or Optimus by assigning Top & Bottom. Like people they’re complex and often switch in accordance to what the other needs.

I noticed D16 throughout the movie was a bit more easily stressed and anxious while Orion usually tried to stay more level and optimistic. Pax truly is a good leader. However D16 definitely is also very capable of taking charge, especially when he starts getting fed up with a specific circumstance cough, cough. D16 is very emotional though, and allows that to fuel his motivation and in turn his actions as well.

In my fic I plan to make alt Megatron emotional too! He’s protective and a bit impatient but he’s happy with routine and the mundane of everyday. Also still a nerd and is actually very kind/gentle to not only Optimus but the citizens! Well, outside of the gladiator ring at least.. Megatron never truly gets used to younger bots idolizing him like he does a past Prime. Yes he does become a gladiator, kinda like in the tfp continuity but in this timeline he is still leader of the high-guard as it operates under Optimus Prime’s will. Think basically Cybertron’s army for lack of better terms!

Optimus does his best to be hands on as possible but thats kinda difficult as he is essentially Cybertrons assigned leader and protector. Most operations under his own orders go without the bot ever truly getting to be involved. However, he still takes just about any scrap of time he can to spend with Megatron. It’s pretty obvious to anyone that sees them interact that they’re whipped for one another lol.

Some kinda pivotal moments (spoilers ig??? They’re not too bad though i hope) 🤞🏾

A proposal from Optimus to alt Megatron. It’s pretty early in the fic, and will probably be after I’ve set the stage and done some world building.

Alt Megatron taking on an aircraft form for his transformation! It was just easier for him while leading High-Guard operations but his size, lol, the difference between them is so cute. I’m gonna have so much fun writing

Sentinel being marched through the mines like Megatron originally set out to do. Optimus wasn’t exactly happy about it but never questioned or interfered despite Sentinel’s pleading

Both Megatron’s being partial to holding grudges and indulging in rage. Although alt Megatron has trouble controlling other emotions as well, his mood is contagious for better and worse tbh. Both versions of their auras are captivating and fill any room no matter how big.

Canon Megatron trying to kill alt Optimus on sight because that boy ready to square up 🤭

Shockwave figuring out the switch situation and switching things back without even consulting anyone, spoiler alert — he fucks up

Megatron being disgustingly cute with either Optimus in either timeline because he’s dangerously persuasive and sincere

Yeah that’s really all i got for now. It’s very otp centric but obviously Ill flesh out the others to an extent later.. or not idk if I’ll complete this project or not. But it’s maybe gonna be around 10-15 chapters???

Wish me luck and we’ll see how it goes 😝

[bked0n-lorazepam]

"Hot, Cheating Bastard"

“No, because why would Jordan ask me to the movies if he isn’t going to ask me to be his girlfriend? Like, hello? Ask me out before trying to make plans with me, you feel me?” The dark haired girl licked at her melting ice cream as she looked at the other girl next to her, scoffing and bumping her arm.

“Y/N! Are you even listening to me?” Rosita yelled, and Y/N broke out of her trance. 

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Sorry, I was thinking ‘bout Mrs. Daire’s homework.” Y/N cleared her throat and looked away from the small cafe across from the ice cream shop where her and Rosita were eating their ice cream.

It was an awful hot day in Derry, and Rosita wanted to talk about the new guy she liked while cooling off. So, naturally they decided to have ice cream outside the shop while they did.

But Y/N wasn’t very present as Rosita complained about how Jordan wasn’t doing what she had hoped he would, and Rosita started to notice.

Rosita hummed suspiciously at Y/N as she tried to look at where she was looking, and she had found Y/N’s target. She gasped and whisper-yelled her name, which caused the girl to shush her quickly.

“Him? You’re into him?” Rosita said shocked, her mouth agape and not even caring about the ice cream dripping down her hand, “Of all the hot guys in this town, you choose Patrick Hockestetter?”

“Shut up, Rosie! And no, I don’t think of him that way!” Y/N knew she was lying to her best friend, and she felt bad for it. She always told Rosita about the boys she was seeing, but Patrick wasn’t one of them she could ever say.

Patrick and Y/N had been messing around for weeks, maybe even months, but there were no feelings in any of it. It was just a bit of fooling around when one of them would get bored, nothing else. They agreed to it.

But she knew she was slipping when she was watching Patrick at the cafe with Vivien, both of them laughing and enjoying their time together. Y/N and Patrick weren’t like that, ever.

He’d slip through her bedroom window, they’d sleep together, and they’d be done. Or she’d pull him into one of the alleyways behind the school, and then that was it. 

Y/N was jealous, no matter how much she hated to admit it. It only got worse when she saw Vivien kiss some of the pasta sauce off his cheek that they were eating at the cafe, and then kiss his lips.

Even though Patrick and Y/N had done so much with each other, he’d never kissed her. Y/N pursed her lips and looked at a confused Rosita, and apologized to her. 

“I’m sorry, but I need to go.” Y/N stood up abruptly and threw her ice cream out in one of the trash cans as she made her way over to Patrick, who had been making out with Vivien in public. Outside. For everyone to see.

Which was gross, but she was too blinded by her rage to care. Stomping her way to both of them, she smiled tightly at Patrick when he noticed her presence. 

“Y/N! It’s so nice to see you! Gosh, I haven’t seen you in like, forever. Oh my goodness, we need to catch up.” Vivien spoke to her cheerily, seemingly forgetting about Patrick.

Y/N sighed at her in pretend happiness and agreed, her right hand resting on her hip as she leaned against Vivien’s chair. 

“Yes, we really do! And I hate to be such a bother, but do you mind if I steal Patrick away? I really need him for a project Mrs. Daire’s making us do with partners, and I haven’t been able to reach him all day long.” She pouted, locking eyes with Patrick in anger. He looked at her the same way, obviously upset that she had interrupted. 

“Oh, of course. Patrick, we can pick this up later.” Vivien winked at him, and stood up. She said her farewells to both of them as Patrick and Y/N just stared at each other, not paying attention to her. When Vivien was out of their sight, Y/N grabbed Patricks hand and made him stand up.

“Pay the check, and come with me. Now.”

Y/N slammed Patrick’s car door when they both got in, and then blew up at him when he drove to a secluded spot in the park. 

“What the fuck, Patrick!?” She shouted, turning to face him fully. Patrick snorted at her, bringing his hand to his face to rub at his temple. 

“What the hell are you talkin’ about?” He had an amused look in his eyes, as though he expected this from her. 

“What am I talking about? What was that little date there? Huh? I thought we had something going?” Y/N interrogated him, becoming more and more outraged with every second. He had laughed maniacally then, throwing his head back and resting his hand on his stomach.

“Oh fuck, are you serious right now? You actually thought we were dating? You know we aren’t, right?” He spoke when he calmed down, and then wiped away the tears that had formed when he was laughing. Tears were forming in Y/N’s eyes, though, she had obviously not found the situation as funny as he did. 

“Yeah, Patrick. I did,” She was sniffling, and holding back the waterfalls that would be dripping down her cheeks soon. She looked down to her hands and fiddled with her rings, and she scoffed out a laugh. “I guess I thought you had actual human feelings too. Or at least enough to care about me.” 

Y/N let the tears fall and she wiped them away, shaking her head and reaching to pull the handle of the car to leave. When she did though, the car locked. She looked back at Patrick and then to his hand, where it sat on the lock button.

She grit her teeth and pulled up the lock clip and tried again. He grinned as he locked it again, and the exchange went on for a bit. She cursed him out each time, and then faced him.

“Let me out, Patrick!” She yelled at him, and noticed he had moved his seat to a lying position and that he had put his right arm underneath his head while smiling at her. 

“You done with your tantrum yet, dollface?” Patrick asked her mockingly, putting emphasis on the pet name that she hated so much. She groaned, threw her hands to her face and pulled them down, and then tried the door again. His left hand was still on the button, and he moved his other hand to readjust his jeans.

“We’re both not leaving here until we both get what we want.” He said matter-of-factly, still grinning like the Cheshire Cat. She looked at him in disbelief, and then to his pants, where there was a noticeable tent. 

“Oh, fuck you, Hockstetter.” Y/N spat out, frustrated with him. 

“That is the plan.” He watched her eye his jeans, and they both knew she couldn’t stay upset at him for long. She rolled her eyes, and moved over her seat to sit in his lap and she started to undo his belt. 

“If it helps you feel any better, you’re the only bitch in this Godforsaken town who gives good head. I don’t let anyone else put my cock in their mouth.”

“Shut the fuck up, Patrick.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

[dragondemoness]

Hey!! It's 🌼 Anon again ❤️! (Here with angst as you have wanted 😈)

I wanted to know if I could request fuyuhiko (a bit of a new thing for me 💀), mondo, Chihiro, ryoma, and Akane with a s/o that has horrible luck when it comes to dating. (projection 😯) like everyone they've dated ended up being horrible, it didn't go well or work well, something s/o couldn't control was an issue, ect.

And it's to the point thier scared of being with someone, going out with someone, ect. Or feel like it's the world telling them that they shouldn't date anyone or that they'll never be loved. Kinda a hurt/comfort but I don't want you to hold back on the hurt part 🥹 (still want some fluff though 😣💕 obviously)

Your wish is my command >:3

Warnings: Yelling, swearing, minor arguments, insecurities

Fuyuhiko, Mondo, Chihiro, Ryoma and Akane With an S/O Who Has Bad Luck with Dating

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu

He doesn't get why you're so anxious around him

Sure, he's a yakuza boss, but it's not like he's killed anyone

Recently

He's been as gentle as he can be, but you're still so stiff when you're out together

You can barely even make eye contact with him

It kind of frustrates him honestly

On your fifth date, he planned to make things official

But you stared at your lap and fidgeted with your fingers anxiously

At that point, he had enough

"Look, I've done everything I can do for you, and you can't even look me in the fuckin' eyes! What the hell is your problem?! You're lucky I even asked you out, and you're just gonna sit around like an ungrateful little--?!"

He stopped himself before he could finish

That unfortunately made things worse, and you stood up and rushed out with tears in your eyes

He internally berated himself for being stupid before going after you

"Hey, uh... Look, I'm sorry for blowin' up at you. I just don't get why you're so afraid to date me. I've been trying to be gentle, but like... I-Is there something I'm missing?"

"...What's the point?"

"Huh?"

"Every date I've been on, everything went to shit. It either ended right in the middle, something came up and we had to stop, or my date turned out to be a gigantic asshat. And this one didn't go well either, so what's the point in trying anymore? The universe clearly doesn't want me to be happy."

Fuyuhiko looked at you in sadness

He felt even worse for lashing out at you before

He awkwardly approached you and placed his hand on yours

"...I'm sorry. I had no idea."

After that, he asked to give it another shot, and you agreed

He promised to be gentler and more patient with you, and he delivered

He got better at containing his anger, and you started feeling more and more comfortable with him

Once he officially asked you out, things only got better from there

He really likes you, and he doesn't want to ruin it, especially after so many of your other dates had gone wrong before

Chihiro Fujisaki

He doesn't have a lot of experience with dating

The few crushes he did have were put off by him, either by him "being weak for a boy," or by dressing as a girl

But you were sweet to him, and you never judged him for anything

So naturally, he got feelings for you and asked you out

He made conversation with you, but you seemed really uncomfortable for some reason

He was worried that he did something wrong, and he got anxious too

"Hey, um... Is everything okay? Did I do something wrong?"

"Huh? No, it's just... Every date I've been on went wrong, and I just don't seem to have good luck with these things. And I like you a lot, so I really want this to work out, but... The universe doesn't seem to want that for me."

He looked at you sadly before taking your hand in his

"I'm sorry to hear that, (Name). I know it might feel that way, but you deserve to be happy. And if you don't want to continue this date, I understand. But I'll never do anything to hurt you, I promise."

He then gave you a reassuring smile that helps ease your doubts

He seemed genuine, so you agreed to keep it going

And ever since then, he treated you with nothing but kindness

He understood your worries and was very patient with you

And you ended up developing a nice relationship

Mondo Owada

He's also not the most gentle guy

He's loud, he's scary, he's angry

But he fell for you, and he asked you out

Even the way he approached you was intimidating, but you gave it a chance, even though you knew it was probably gonna go to hell

While you were on the date, you kept your gaze away from his and only spoke when he spoke first

He doesn't remember acting like a jerk to you, so why are you so weird around him?

Eventually, he got frustrated and slammed his hands on the table

"Hey! What the fuck's your problem?! I took time out of my day to take you on a date, and this is the thanks I get?! I didn't do a damn thing to you, and you're clearly into me, so why don't you fuckin' act like it?!'

That caused you to tear up and bail on the date, leaving Mondo there alone, feeling angry at himself

He left you alone for the rest of the night before approaching you the next day with a bouquet of flowers

"Hey, uh... Look, sorry about yesterday."

You looked at him in surprise

Anytime someone bailed on a date or lashed out at you, they never apologized or tried to reach out to you

You could only stare at him in surprise, making him feel even more awkward

"Jeez, what's that look for? I'm tryin' to make it right."

"But... Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why are you trying? Every date I've ever been on ended terribly, and so did ours. The universe clearly doesn't want me to date anyone, so why are you here?"

He looked at you in surprise, and he finally understood your behavior from the night before

He felt even worse for lashing out at you

"Hey, look. I'm sorry for yelling at you last night. I was just mad that you were acting so weird, but now I get it. It's not gonna happen again, I swear. So... If you wanna give this another shot, what do you say I pick you up at 8:00? I swear this date will be better."

You were hesitant, but you agreed

And true to his word, Mondo was much more gentle with you

The date went much better, and as you kept going out together, you started to find hope again

Ryoma Hoshi

He's not loud or angry, just really quiet and awkward

He's not really the type of guy who chooses to socialize in his free time

But he still ended up falling for you, and after he came to terms with it, he asked you out

For some reason, you were even more stiff and awkward than he was

He found himself trying to start the conversation, in sharp contrast to his usual quiet demeanor

Eventually, he just asked what the issue was

"Hey, kid. Did I do something to make you uncomfortable? If you're just awkward, I get it, but is there anything I can do to make it easier?"

"No, it's not you. I just don't have great luck when it comes to dating."

"Oh."

Is that all?

He's not gonna ask what happened, but he lets you know that he's really into you, and that he's not gonna ditch you or treat you badly

You're the only one who's ever made him feel this way, and he's damn well not gonna screw it up

Akane Owari

She's not terribly aggressive, but she's not the most gentle either

She's well-known for her strength, and for getting violent on occasion

But she has a gentle side, and it caused her to develop feelings for you

She was confident when she asked you out, but she didn't know just how nervous you were

Seeing you so stiff and uncomfortable confused her, and she didn't ask about it until you tried to make an excuse to leave

"Hey, what gives? Aren't ya havin' a good time? Come to think of it, you've been actin' weird this whole time. What's your deal?"

"Sorry, it's just... I've gone on dates before, and none of them went well at all. It was either the person I was with, or something came up that I couldn't control. I just don't have good luck with these things."

"Ohhhh. Well, you don't hafta worry. I'm not gonna hurt ya or anything like that. I'm really into you, ya know? And I'm definitely not gonna screw over a sweet person like you!"

With that, you continued your date, and you grew more comfortable as you did so

Now that Akane knew about your past unfortunate experiences, she made sure to be patient with you, and not to get too aggressive with you

And your relationship only got better from there

[venusorbits]

DOUBLE TAKE | CHAPTER ONE

pairing ; cho gue sung ( 조규성 ) x female! supermodel! british-asian! reader

summary ; You have been invited once again to the Korean TV programme 'I Live Alone' alongside the World Cup Heartthrob, Cho Gue Sung ( 조규성 ). Simple guests, who had to take double takes from each other, who could have seen it coming? No one was. Certainly, neither were the both of you.

genre ; romance, fluff, established relationship ( by second chapter cause i hate writing slow burn, i like reading them though ), angst.

masterlist

❝if you've got a girlfriend, i'm jealous of her. but if you're single that's honestly worse 'cause you're gorgeous it actually hurts.❞

You began your stardom career at the mere age of 17 years after an agent saw your photos posted through social media. The said photo was the cause of the tumbling domino effect, igniting and bursting into bold bright orange flames, into dipping your toes into the window of opportunity and universe of high fashion, colourful red carpets and long hallways of runways.

You were on your own. You were no kid, anymore. You’re moving onto big girl things like moving to the big city; flashing lights, fast-paced times, overwhelming anxiety-filled environment, big mysteries and savouring new moments. Tom Ford, catapulted your career further way beyond the horizon.

Chest squeezing. Heart thumping. Bright lights. Everyone’s attention turned to you— the clicks of their cameras. Gaze is fixed on the end of the runway. Conscious of your steps. God, you felt awkward. With the slight rock and sway of your hips, this movement didn’t come naturally as the other models did. You felt tiny. How were you supposed to showcase the intricately designed clothing when they might be snickering about how you walk?

A fellow model reassured you, ‘There was no such thing as perfection when you’ve only begun..’

Fake it till you make it they say. Well, years have passed at the age of 22, and you are now one of the most recognisable faces in the industry. You’ve walked for many runways on endless fashion weeks, been on the cover of Vogue, Elle, Harpers Bazaar, the face of Versace, representative of Swarovski and many more. Some even dare say, up and coming It Girl. You’ve accomplished a lot, all on your own.

Though, one unexpected thing came into your life, living in Seoul, South Korea. The thought never crossed your mind once. But you came to South Korea for a photo shoot with Vogue Korea back in 2019. Needless to say, you fell in love with the culture, the country’s generous and kind residents, the language, the atmosphere and — Well, obviously, the city itself. You have dedicated learning the language and culture in order to live smoothly and in harmony.

It was difficult having to fly out to New York thousands of miles away, the epicentre of jobs and Fashion Week. But, what can you say? You were used to it. Hopping onto planes needing to be somewhere by Friday? Oh, London Fashion week ends on this day but, Paris starts that day. No worries. It was painfully exhausting but that’s the life of a Supermodel.

Your life in Seoul didn’t change much. Though this time you’re receiving twice the jobs than you did before, many Korean designers have reached out to you to model for the clothing they have designed such as Rok Hwang, Eudon Choi, the duo Byungmun Seo and Jina Um and finally, Youngae Lee and Happly for their project ‘Hanbok Wave’. Not only were you attracting attention in the fashion industry but it extended to the entertainment industry, you’ve been invited to many varieties of shows to be featured in.

As your schedule began to fizzle down, you found the time to film for the TV programme you were featured in ‘I live Alone’. Dressed all chic and feminine, opting for the chunky loafers with a pair of long white socks instead of your Versace heels. Your hair is all done so beautifully. Smiling so brightly at all the familiar faces and jogging up to them for a quick embrace. A light chatter followed along with it, ‘how are you?’, ‘I’ve been doing well’, ‘It’s nice to see you again’. Strings of compliments flowed through.

“안녕하세요. I’m (First name).” You greet the man. Undeniably gorgeous, you couldn’t even focus much on what he was saying as he reaches in for a handshake, he introduces himself as— 

“안녕하세요, 조규성.” The beautiful angel marks dotted all over his face like starry stars across the wide peaceful sky. But, goddamn, he’s so bright like the sun and his beauty is also so blinding it hurts. His beautiful carved nose and the sharp angles of his jaw, high prominent cheekbones. Everything about him was a piece of art. He’s a delicate and classic painting deserving to be in a museum.

Heartbeat was skipping across the street. 

Filming starts at any second now and you couldn’t tear your eyes away from him. The soft fluffy brush glides across your face for the final touch-ups. Unbeknownst to you, Gue Sung also had to take a double take also stealing sweet glimpses, you had an addicting kind of beauty. It was much more than a drug. The kind of one that makes Aphrodite green as envy and red as rage. Eyes trail to every detail of your face. The way your eyes brighten as you joke lightly with your makeup artist.

“Please everyone get ready! Filming will start in 10!”

That was months ago. Time flies quickly; your home became littered with traces of him. He was everywhere you looked, in every corner, you breathed him. Gue Sung has now integrated well and was a part of your being. You have made space in your extensive closet just for him, he has his very own mug for his coffee in the morning, framed photo of you together on your bedside table, his own toothbrush and his very own corner for all the things he leaves.

Those months spent together have nothing been but elated, fondness and love. You have never been this happy, your whole entire life, you have never expected for him to come into your life at such an unexpected time. But, you thank God every day.

The sound of the familiar beeps and the sound of the front door opening echoed in your small apartment. 

“자기야, I’m home!”

Immediately, you tossed your phone aside, jumped off the sofa and came barreling. Gue Sung was kicking off his shoes as he slips his face mask off, he puts his bag down and his arm stretched out wide open. No hesitation, you crashed right into his warm loving embrace.

“Hi.” You mumbled nuzzling your face into the side of his neck and inhaling his scent. He awkwardly shuffles with you still practically glued onto him and clung onto him like a koala bear, Gue Sung peppers your temples and hairline with kisses. Running his hands up and down your back. You only snuggled further onto his neck tightening your grip around his large frame.

“Did you miss me?” He whispers softly voice dripping in honey, you pull away enough so, you could stare deeply into his eyes, and you rest your head on his shoulder. Gue Sung couldn’t resist but placed a quick kiss on your lips.

“Not even a little bit.” You tease, poking your tongue out at him playfully.

“Oh? I know you did. You can’t even think about not having me by your side that’s why you asked for my number when we first met.” Not exactly a lie but, not exactly the complete truth either. You gasped dramatically,

“I don’t appreciate you lying about my name like that.”

Gue Sung hums. 

“Did you eat yet?” You asked.

“No. I knew you were waiting for me.” It tendered your heart.

“Let’s go eat then. I’m sure you’re starving.” However, Gue Sung didn’t want to let go, his grip on you only tightened squeezing you against his torso. No matter how many times, you brush his arms away it would always ends up back circling around your waist.

“What? I can’t set the table if we’re like this.” You laugh light-heartedly,

“Have you always been this pretty?” Gue Sung almost coos, “우리이쁜자기 ( My pretty baby ).”

“Go take a shower! You stink.” You ushered him away towards the bathroom. Your ear pick up the sound of water splashing, you move around the kitchen, hands everywhere all at once to get the food reheated, plated and on the table before Gue Sung gets out of the shower. 

It has been a long day for him, you’re sure. You take upong yourself to sit while you await for your beloved, occupied by your mobile phone. Food all laid out on the table; all simple and quick whipped up meal, thankfully your boyfriend was no picky eater. He enjoyed a variety of dishes and scarfed everything down with gusto… Except meat. He’s particular about how it should be done. Not long after, he emerges from the shower.

You held out your hand for him to hand the towel. It’s a unspoken ritual at this point; he sits down and you dry off his hair. There was something weirdly intimate about it. Running the soft towel through his damp hair. Once his hair is relatively dry, you carded your fingers through his hair brushing it off his forehead, slicking it back. He lets out a sigh of relief and softens under your tender touch. 

You were so deeply lost in your task, you fail to notice Gue Sung’s blatant fond, affectionate and loving stare. He admires everything that you are from your head and down to your toe. He likes everything that you do to him.

“What?” You ask with a stupid smile on your face leaning to his level.

“Nothing.” Gue Sung shook his head.

He cups your face peppered kisses. From your forehead. Eyes. Nose. Cheeks. Finally on your lips.

One love, one house.

[msp9]

WHATS HAPPENING IN CASA DE CHAOS #part 1: YAZ/Yasmina (mostly her ptsd, analyzing screenshots)

⚠️SPOILERS⚠️

This is gonna be my series of me yapping about each character, for example what have they been up to, hopes, speculations, theories... etc. (from the info we have from the clips and ep 1)

So Yaz, or should i call her doctor Yaz? Get it? Bc she's a phycology student.... Career: Never mind so as i said apparently, Yaz is studying psychology in college, for what i assume like around 3 years depending when she started. This is such a big step for her character's growth. After everything she's been through, including her mental health struggles and internal conflicts, she's switched gears and is now pursuing a degree in psychology to help others who may have experienced similar traumas. Also in the clip, she seems excited to show Sammy her new project, which suggests that she's genuinely enjoying her studies and feels passionate about the field. She went from a she's-a-runner-she's-a-track-star to a mature phycology student. Overall, this shows that Yaz is now dedicated to making a positive impact on others through her education and future career. I'm so happy for her. It makes sm sense for her character to pursue this specific career. Overall, looks like shes been fine on the island. (not) .

Ptsd: So Yaz seems to have moved to a non-dinosaur island of some kind. Personally i assume that is for her trauma and struggles when the dinosaurs got to the main land. (and obviously safety) She is obviously the most effected one from jwcc.

Now in trailer 3 we can see 1 moment that could possibly be connected to her Ptsd:

Here we see Yaz on the ground, she obviously looks scared but i wanted to point out the lights hitting her. They dont really look that "connected" to the scene? Im not sure how to axplain this... Just the way it shines on her clothes and hair and the fact that we cant see the backround clearly, looks like it could be some kind of illusion, or one of her dreams. To stand with my point is the exact next scene:

We see, a what I'm 99% sure is a dinosaur, attacking her. The coloring and environment is similar so we can assume this is from the same scene. It ofc cuts off before we can see anything else, to me it looks as if the camera shows Yas's point of view. Which makes me believe this is in fact a nightmares of hers. Another point i want to make is just how much darker this whole dream is. Just look at it!!! Its super darker compared to the season 4 ones. Plus in another clip they showed blood. So i wouldn't question if the nightmare were a lot worse then they used to. And the way the Dino attacks its dark yk? you don't even have time to react.

Basically where i want to get to is that, she is not done with ptsd yall.

3) Yaz and Sammy :Okay even if the clips don't showcase much. They have definitely not lost contact as Yasmina states "this is the project I've been talking to you abt". So obviously she has been talking abt it a lot. When it comes to why Sammy was acting out of character when Yaz was showing her project . My personal theory is that Sammy is just trying to make Yaz come with them and leave the island. and from what i speculate here we will probably get a yasammy argument. Overall they are probably together and from what we've seen we might get some tension between them. I'm all in for that. (As long as they don't breakup)

Thank you for reading my big Yaz rant, am i going to make more of these with the other characters? We'll see. Probably yes.

[chilaios-bi]

Title: To Love a Thing With Teeth

Author: Lilmia_Casand

Rating: General Audiences

No Archive Warnings Apply

M/M

Fandom: ダンジョン飯 | Dungeon Meshi | Delicious in Dungeon

Relationship: Chilchuck Tims/Laios Touden

Characters: Chilchuck Tims, Laios Touden, Marcille Donato, Senshi (Dungeon Meshi)

Tags: Fluff, soft, monster laios, pre-relationship, cuddling & snuggling

Language: English

Words: 1446

Chapters: 1/1

finished my first chilaios fic, just a short sweet one shot! now I can get started on some bigger plans... Fic under the cut

“Everyone stay back,” Laios said suddenly, drawing his sword as three large blobs slowly started inching towards the party from the far end of the corridor.

“What are those things?  They don’t look like slimes.”  Chilchuck asked worriedly as he stepped into a more hidden position behind Laios.

“They don’t have an exact name, but they’re not exactly monsters.” Laios started.

“They’re the result of a spell,” Marcille cut in grimly, “I’ve never encountered them myself, but I know what they do.”

Laios nodded, “We don’t want to run, they can sense movement.”

“Well what are they then?” Senshi asked curiously.

“They were meant to be small enough to carry around in the dungeon, to provide whoever had one superhuman abilities for a short period after they touched them.  The idea was that when getting attacked by a monster, the person would think of a specific goal, such as defeating the specific monster, and then they would be transformed temporarily and have the powers needed to accomplish the goal they’d been thinking of.”

Marcille nodded, “They were made using pretty powerful spellwork, and it’s suspected dark magic as well simply because of how effective they were.  The first problem was that they didn’t stay small forever, they fed on ambient mana so that the caster didn’t have a constant drain keeping them active, but this led them to grow over time.  Once one was too big to reasonably carry around it would be destroyed.  Unfortunately several escaped in the dungeon, they were designed to return to the caster if the container they were in broke, which meant they could move.  It’s unknown if a party was wiped out, leaving the blobs to wander aimlessly and get lost in the dungeon, or if a few that got too big were left in the dungeon instead of destroyed.  Their use was outlawed shortly after they were found roaming the dungeon.”

Chilchuck gave Marcille a nervous glance, “So they temporarily turn you into someone with crazy powers?  What’s the catch?”

Laios was the one to answer, “They don’t do that actually.  They transform whoever touches them into something that can accomplish whatever goal the person is thinking about at the exact time they touch them.  But they can latch onto stray thoughts instead, or the transformation isn’t self-explanatory, meaning that the person has no idea how to use any of their new powers.  The transformations were also inconsistent, lasting anywhere from 20 minutes to 16 hours.  Lost in the dungeon, feeding on the abundant mana, they just keep getting bigger, and worse, something about being in the dungeon without the person who cast them warped them.”

“They specifically latch onto a kind of thought depending on the individual blob, mostly negative ones.  Selfish thoughts, angry thoughts, depressive thoughts.  And the transformation no longer just gives you powers, it temporarily rewrites your brain so that your only goal is to accomplish whatever you were thinking about when you transformed, so you can’t be reasoned with or anything until it wears off.  The danger is mostly one party member to other party members, imagine you say something sarcastically, something violent, obviously you don’t mean it at all, but you had to think the words to say them.  If you’ve done it recently enough when you transform, the blob could latch onto that thought and make it a real goal.  And some larger blobs can even use multiple thoughts so you could end up with conflicting goals, which either leads to the person ripping themselves in two to try and accomplish both tasks at once, or they end up permanently mentally injured by whichever goal fails to be the ‘main’ goal.” Marcille explained.

The blobs were getting closer.

“How do we kill ‘em?” Senshi asked.

Laios frowned, “With magic you can overpower the spell or somehow suck all of the mana out of them.  With the size of these I’m not sure it’s an option.  With weapons, you need to destroy the core, which will be difficult to do without touching them, especially at these ones’ size.”

“You said they can sense movement?  The plan is to stay still and hope they move past us, isn’t it?” Chilchuck muttered.

Laios nodded.

And so the party stood as still as possible for several minutes as the blobs slowly approached and started to move past.  And then Chilchuck must have breathed too deeply or something because one of the blobs started moving towards him at a much faster speed than he’d thought them capable of.

Chilchuck dodged out of the way, but his movement attracted the other two and suddenly it was a fight.

Senshi managed to destroy one with his ax, and Marcille had frozen one in place somehow, but the third one was still after him.

Chilchuck was good at dodging, but when the blobs had a goal they were fast!

Laios leapt forward, stabbing through the blob with his sword, but he missed the core.  Chilchuck rolled out of the way, the blob somehow launching itself after him, he couldn’t dodge—

Laios sliced through the thing, having jumped in front of Chilchuck, destroying the core.

“Chilchuck!!  Are you okay?” Marcille cried as she made the blob she’d frozen somehow disintegrate.

“I’m okay, thanks Laios—” Chilchuck cut himself off as he realized something was wrong.

“Marcille, Senshi?  Step back, I think the blob managed to touch Laios before he—” Chilchuck started.

Laios was shaking, he’d dropped his sword and seemed to be having trouble standing up, before something seemed to shift and Laios wasn’t Laios anymore.

The creature, no, monster, still looked like Laios, but with sharp teeth and large claws, the metal armor fell away revealing armored scales, a tail whipped out wicked fast, tipped with a sharp blade.  Laios’s ears were tipped with spines and his golden eyes had slit pupils.

Laios turned to Chilchuck, the world moved in slow motion.

Chilchuck realized a second too late.

“Chilchuck!” Marcille screamed as those claws scooped him up and clutched him against Laios’s chest.

And then as Chilchuck thrashed in Laios’s hold, the monster with his friend’s face launched itself down the corridor, racing away from the rest of the party, racing away from Chilchuck’s only chance of survival.

“Fuck fuck fuck!” Chilchuck shouted, he tried biting down on the clawed hands holding him against Laios’s chest, but it only made his teeth ache.

Suddenly Laios came to a halt, turning down a new hallway that quickly led to a dead end.  Well, not exactly a dead end, there seemed to be a weird nest of blankets and pillows covered in dust.  Chilchuck heard what almost sounded like a purr rumbling from Laios’s chest and the monster paced closer to the nest.

Laios gently set Chilchuck inside the nest, making an odd chirping sound as he blocked the hallway, his eyes locked on Chilchuck, smiling brightly with sharp deadly teeth.

Chilchuck stayed absolutely still.

He didn’t know what the blob had latched onto, he didn’t know what Laios’s goal was.  But so far he hadn’t been killed, and Laios had been protecting him when he touched the blob… maybe this was just the extreme of that?

Chilchuck hoped so, but he knew his luck.

Laios made another cheerful chirping noise at him before he stepped close, dropping onto Chilchuck, wrapping himself around him like a protective blanket.

Chilchuck squirmed, attempting to escape what was very clearly a cuddle session, Laios beamed at him.  Chilchuck glared at the stupid idiot for a moment before sighing and letting himself go limp.  Laios purred again, somehow managing to entangle their limbs together even further.

At least Laios was warm.

Chilchuck found himself relaxing against his will, the soothing purrs rumbling from Laios’s chest didn’t help the matter.

He probably wasn’t in danger from this idiot.

Chilchuck blushed as Laios squeezed him tighter.

After a while Marcille and Senshi showed up, clearly ready to fight, only for Laios to blink lazily at them as Marcille barely held back an ‘awww’.  Chilchuck scowled.

Several hours later, Chilchuck had yet to escape Laios’s clingy grasp, Laios shuddered and suddenly reverted to his normal tall-man form.  For a second he held Chilchuck just as tightly, before Chilchuck squirmed loose and started cursing.

“Sorry.” Laios said sheepishly, but he didn’t look very sorry, staring at both his hands and Chilchuck with an odd sort of wonder.

“Well, at least you didn’t try to eat me.” Chilchuck concedes as he finishes cussing Laios out.

Laios gives him a brilliant smile, and Chilchuck ignores the warmth blooming in his cheeks as he realizes Laios’s teeth are still just a little too sharp.

[pepsiiwho]

I've been re-listening to Brandy's Cinderella and I am, unfortunately, incredibly weak for the Cinderella story now that I'm older and done being an edgy teenager at all times. Now that I am an adult who is drinking and mildly tipsy, I can combine my favorite current thing (HADES 2) with my favorite princess trope right now (CINDERLLA)

So theres the Hypnos version and the Melione version. Honestly, I'm a bit more taken by the Mel version right now because reverse love stories just move me horribly. So that'll be the focus.

WaxWitch under the cut, no spoilers for Hades 2 other than characters who appear and possible canon interactions compared to this au. Long post WOOP WOOP...

So obviously Cinderella in this au is Icarus and The Prince, now Princess, is Melione. Icarus wouldn't really be the step child under the wicked step mother but just because I'm iffy on the actual lore of the myth and his canon relationship with his father during life in the game, I'll be taking to liberty to say it wasn't great and he very desperately wants to get out of his house and 'spread his wings', so to speak (crowd loudly cheers because I said the thing).

Anyway so similar to the plot of the film, Melione is the princess and daughter of the king and queen. This could be a simple, "Mom, Dad and Brother are back and life is good" set up or "Mel is all that's left of the royal line with her tutor/ god parent turned Adoptive mother as queen" either works, doesn't reeally make a difference. whatever,

So they meet in the main square and Melione is instantly taken by the tinkering boy who dropped his basket of apples or whatever he was doing. They get to talking and eventually one of them has to go but they promise to meet again.

So they do. Again and again and again. For years they continue meeting once a week, every week, regardless of everything else. Melione finds someone soft and kind, someone with a mind that never stops moving and expects nothing from her in terms of revenge or strength. She finds someone painfully mundane and it's refreshing, at first, to be around someone so simple. As they grow together she wishes her dearest Icarus could have more, could have everything this world has to offer. Everything he deserves and more.

Icarus is instantly in love with her. First because the pretty young princess is talking to his pitiful self, both of them the tender age of 15 with nothing to show for it but difficult personalities and a need to prove something, but his love for her just grows and grows with each passing day. He pushes himself to create more and more to amuse Melione with little bobbles and simple wooden figures, then to help Melione ease the day to day humdrum of her classes with paper weights and dynamic knife sheathes, then to aid with her trainings then to help rest her mind. He loves how she laughs and how humble she is even though she of all people need not be humble. How she insists on cleanliness and everything being in its rightful place. How she's such an ass about gardening and how specific soil must be and how seeds are placed. She has a mole on her wrist and she always blushes and groans when her aid called her 'minnow'. How she would have these moments of contemplation, of grief and mourning for a family she never knew. Everything about her entranced him and it somehow just got worse with each years they knew each other. And with that longing came the gap between them widening. Eventually her royal training lessons began, to prepare her to take the throne one day, and that only solidified the distance between them. Maybe that's why things went wrong.

Shit hit the fan during their last day together. He flew too close to the sun with one project, inviting on strengthening himself with her help. Maybe he knew, even then, that he was too weak to be hers. Maybe he was just a headstrong child. Doesn't really matter either way. She got hurt, lost and arm, and he made himself scarce. It was pretty cut and dry (ha) by that point.

A few years later and Melione is at an age to find a consort. Continue the line. No one catches her eye, no one can after the one boy who had her heart left her without even a final goodbye.

So her mother plans a ball to find her a consort. Any and all eligible youth in the kingdom are invited. It's a massive affair. Icarus wasn't going to go, how could he in his ratty ruined inventor's clothes and scorned name. Why, the guards would probably pierce him dead the moment he walked up to the steps of the palace. Rightfully so, of course, but he can't shake this feeling that he needs to go. To see her again.

That's when his fairy god mother appears, [I am not at all picky about who, I think Aphrodite because LOVE idk, but anything works] and she convinces him to go even though he thought it was impossible. He's dressed to the nines, perfectly clean and gorgeous. He barely recognizes himself without the grease one his clothes and bags under his eyes. He rides a wax carriage, and is warned that by 12 everything made for him will melt, leaving him bare, wanting and painfully himself. He sets off at once.

Somehow, Melione doesn't either. A few years and a change of clothes does a lot clearly. But the moment they lock eyes as he comes down the stairs, clad in blue and glass slippers she's entranced. They dance and dance and almost struggle to share words because they're too busy basking in each other's company. It's just so easy. Melione hasn't felt ease like this since... well.

After hours together they escape to the garden, to enraptured with the other to allow another suitor to steal a glance, let alone a dance. They begin talking about their lives and what they want from this ball, and they get close as they speak in hushed whispers between them. Eventually the moment gets too tender, too sweet and they kiss, lulled into each other. Its heavenly.

But, it's late. Too late, even. Icarus can't bare to say who he is and Melione can't bare to let him go. Time, unfortunately, cares for neither. With a final kiss Icarus leaves and Melione is left watching as he runs away, leaving nothing but a single shoe on the steps...

[asocialangel]

hey!! i was wondering if you could do sitting on itzy’s lap headcanons? kinda like your recent skz one ^ thank u <3

LITERALLY A YEAR AFTER i'm soo so sorry, maybe u don't even use your acc anymore, maybe you're not even a midzy who knows ?! I just stopped writing for a year, but when i came back to it, your request was still inspiring. I hope you like this, lovely anon <3 (it's acc worse than a year, it's 14 months lol)

Other verions: Yeji - Lia - Ryujin - Chaer - Yuna

sitting on itzy's lap out of habit.

Yeji - 422 words - fluff

Each member will be published separately (over the course of few days, i just need to finish writing one girl) because the post would be too long otherwise For a little twist it won't be exactly like skz, I'll make it "sitting on their lap as it is a habit of yours". Hope u like it and i hadn't forgotten u <3 lots of love

Yeji: would play along with it, hugging you from behind, until she'll realize what she's actually doing. Then she'd have a sudden moment of realization, and ask what you're doing here. Seeing how relaxed you are, she'd go back to her activities, accepting her fate, maybe even enjoying it. 

"Neeext". The monotonous voice of the make-up artist resonated in the busy waiting room, and despite all the noise and movement, the seat previously occupied by Lia found a new model. As everyone got swift and active, preparing for the showcase, you were the only calm one. Maybe, obviously actually, it was because you weren't involved in it, so the stress couldn't get to you. Itzy were the ones getting ready. Each member was immersed in something, and the professional staff too. Make-up, hairdos, outfits checks. The room was as busy as an anthill. Apart from you, only one girl was now calm: Yeji. She was peacefully scrolling through her phone, one remaining hair clip in her hair. She barely paid attention to her surroundings. She had been the first to get readied up, so she was enjoying left over time to destress and get her mind on something else. 

๑

"Sooorry? Sorry !" Yeah... Obviously when in a busy room, people like you, just standing in the middle, get in the way of others. If you were gonna stay here with your friends and be useless, at least don't be bothersome. So while excusing yourself, you walked towards the couchy bench Yeji was sitting on. As she was the only one done, the whole bench was empty. But without even thinking about it, you walked up to her, laying your hands on her shoulders, and sat on her lap. She looked up startled. This had forced her to lift her eyes from her phone. And as she realized what just happened, a pinkish color started filling up her cheeks. 

"Uhmm-h-hey what's up? What are you doing?" 

"Uhm, sitting ?" You answered naturally, unbothered, not even realizing how awkward Yeji had gotten. "What are you even doing on your phone ? Sending bubbles to MIDZY? I swear you're always thinking about them~" you continued, clueless. Your body was perpendicular to her's. And while you still latched on to her shoulders, looking down to her phone screen, she stared at you right in the eyes for a couple seconds, while you remained unfazed. "Yes I do love them" she finally replied, lifting her phone up again and getting back to typing. "You wouldn't need to get jealous though”.

A\N is this good ? I really liked this request, which was my second ever request i got so i was over the moon, but for some reason i had stopped writing. I think it was because i was very busy in April of 2022. I had exams etc, and i never came back to it ! Until i had an awakening again, this April of 2023. Idk why. Who knows, maybe in a month i'll get bored of writing again (i wish not). But the idea of starting to write again came to me in late December. So basically this project is all over the place, but it's fun ~ ( i was writing the headcanons in a lodge in Hwange hahahah). Will my BLLK followers mind me posting this ? K-pop stans and animes fans are cousins anyways <3

[recurring-polynya]

Writing/Art Update (but not really) 8.29.2024

Well, that went worse than expected.

My summers are never good for creative activity--I'm off my schedule, my house is full of people, every week is some new thing to get ready for. I know this, and I tell myself to lower my expectations and just get through it, and then I always end up disappointed with myself anyway. So that's where we are.

Anyway, thank you to everyone who sent in requests for me to do! I didn't do as many as I had hoped, but I did do six of them (including one that I basically just pulled out of my drafts and dusted off, but at least I did it). I do want to reiterate that quite a few of the ones I didn't do was because they were specifically things that I have planned to show up in my regular fanfic. There were also two that I started and couldn't manage to finish, so there's always the possibility that I could finish them someday.

I actually got inspired and wanted to write a B-part for the last one I did, which I started the day after I posted that one, but then I left for vacation, and a whole lot has happened since then. I've gotten, like 1300 words of it written, but I just haven't managed to finish it yet. I'd been kind of hesitating to call the requests "done", because I wanted to get that out first, but I haven't managed to, so I'm calling the requests done, and if I finish that other thing, I'll post it, and if I don't, obviously I won't.

I'm frustrated because I had big plans to get back to writing this fall: I am steeling my nerves to finish a little in love, now and then, which has lingered on far too long without being finished. I was going to be all ready to go by the time my kids were back in school and...well...I am not yet ready. Everything just took a little longer than I expected and then my grandfather passed away (the funeral is this weekend), and it's all just been a lot at once, and I don't feel at all ready to take on a new project. I mean, I had a number of "getting ready" activities I was going to do, and I haven't done them, and I can still do them, it's just not where I expected to be right now. Kind of like last year when I got covid and took all of September having covid and recovering from having covid and being exhausted. How does anyone get anything done in this crummy world?!!

Also, I guess Bleach Returns is coming up sooner than I expected, in the sense that if I want to do anything for that (which I do), I should be working on that in the near term, except that I've put off a little in love for so long and I don't want to keep putting it off. I think maybe the answer is to try to do some drawing for BR instead of writing this year, and try to keep my efforts low-key.

The upshot of all of this is just that I'm not ready to get back to work even though I thought I would be by this time. I do intend to start these updates up again soon, but I just wanted to put this one out there so no one is expecting anything from me. I want to want to write, but I simply do not have the time or the energy or any ideas whatsoever, so I'm just trying to get thru the stuff that's in front of me, and we'll see what happens after that.

[demigodsanswer]

(An AU of an AU -- how Annabeth's life could have gone differently if there were just a few changes)

In the middle of September, Annabeth missed pas de deux class .

Percy and Annabeth had danced together for the first three weeks of the year, practicing until her weight and balance were completely familiar to him. 

Annabeth was the best one in their class without a doubt. During the final workshop performance at the end of last term, she’d been cast as the Russian Girl in Serenade. She’d done such an amazing job that everyone thought she might be pulled into the company at fifteen. But Chiron had asked her to come back this year. 

And Percy was glad he did. He finally got to dance with her. She was so strong, and so smart; she really helped Percy improve his partnering work. 

Before dancing with her, Percy thought she was as serious as she was pretty, which is to say … very. But Percy was sure he could make her laugh. 

He spotted Pride and Prejudice in her dance bag. 

“English class?” He asked, pointing to it. “Or just for fun?” 

“English class, but I know the story. My dad showed me the BBC version when I was little, and it was my favorite,” she said, her eyes wide and sparkling, the same way they looked when she danced. 

“You’re a bit old fashioned, then?” Percy asked. 

She shrugged. “Maybe a little, but besides the ballet and the Jane Austin, not really. I like having basic human rights, and stuff.” 

 “My last girlfriend left me because she said I was too old fashioned,” Annabeth raised an eyebrow. Percy said the next part of his joke with a phooey British accent, somewhere between Lady Diana and Burt from Mary Poppins. “But I bet you one shilling she returns by nightfall.” 

Annabeth blurted out a laugh that got some heads to turn their way. She covered her mouth with her hands, but kept giggling behind them. 

“Oh, I don’t know what was worse, the joke or your accent,” she said. 

“Made you laugh, though,” Percy said with a smug smile. 

“Where did you hear that joke?” She asked. 

“My step-dad. He and my mom just had a baby, so, as step-son I’ve become his unwilling dad joke test subject,” Percy explained. “Got to find the good ones before she can form memories.” 

Annabeth gave him a look of obviously faux-annoyance. “Well, and now you’ve gone and roped me into it.” 

“Sorry,” Percy said, “is there anything I can do to make it up to you?” 

Annabeth thought for a minute and then said, “Just tell your stepdad that the old fashioned joke is very funny.” 

“Oh, don’t encourage him,” Percy said. Annabeth laughed again, and Percy realized he’d do just about anything to keep making her laugh. 

That had been two weeks ago. He’d made her laugh maybe half a dozen times since then, no thanks to Paul’s other dad jokes. He was pretty sure they were actually friends. 

Still, he tried to push any thoughts of a crush on her out of his mind; he didn’t have time for that, and she’d never be interested in him. 

But he couldn’t help but look forward to every pas class. 

“Percy, you’ll be with Rachel today,” the teacher told him. Rachel walked over to him. 

“Where’s Annabeth?” He asked after class. 

"She crunched her foot during petit allegro this morning," Rachel said.

"She's out?" Percy asked. 

"Probably. Something tore. You could hear it across the room."

Percy shivered at the thought. He hoped she was okay.

~

The next day, Annabeth was sitting at the back of the class, her foot in a boot. Being injured didn't give you an excuse to miss class. You still needed to sit there and watch. Percy had a minor foot injury last year that kept him out for three weeks. It had been hell. And he could see it on Annabeth's face: she wasn't happy.

After class, Percy snuck to the back of the room.

"Hey," he said to her, picking up her bag as she maneuvered her crutches, "how are you doing?"

She shrugged. "Tore some ligaments," was her only answer. They headed out the door, her bag over Percy’s shoulder as they headed to her next class. 

"How long do they think ..." Percy started. 

"Over a month at least,” he could hear the sadness in her voice, “but they don't think it needs surgery," she said.

"That's good!" He said, trying to make his voice sound cheery so she might look on the bright side with him. 

"Yeah," she agreed half-heartedly as they hobbled to their next class.

~

Annabeth was still stuck in her chair a month later. Percy had started texting her a new dad joke every day, and while only 20% made her laugh, 100% of them made her smile. She was worried he’d stop talking to her once they weren’t dancing, but she’d summoned her courage to give him her number once she was injured, hoping that he might text her. 

He had, almost right away. Her heart fluttered every time he messaged her, and it almost made her forget about her stupid ankle. 

PERCY:

orion's belt is a huge waist of space

get it? like a waist?

ANNABETH

It's not a great joke.

I'll give it three stars

She was doing her best to pay attention in class, but being confined to a chair made her ADHD act up. She could pick up choreography and technique quickly when she was on her feet. But being on her feet was prohibited right now. 

And then, Chiron rolled into class and sat next to her. Annabeth's heart raced. He was always around the school, scoping out new apprentices, but she hadn't spent much time with him one-on-one. She tried to be casual, mature, and professional.

"How long have you been out?" He asked her after a minute of silence. 

"A month," Annabeth said.

She could see the frustrated disappointment clear on Chiron's face.

"Well you rest up, okay?" He said. That was all he said to her. He sat and watched for a few more minutes, before leaving without another word to her or anyone else..

The next day, word went around that four girls and one boy had been taken into the company for Nutcracker. Annabeth wasn’t one of them. 

~

There was a spot at the top of a stairwell that purported to have roof access, but that door was always locked. So someone could sit at the top of the stairs on the landing by the door to the roof, and cry without anyone ever finding them. It was one of Annabeth's favorite spots.

Annabeth struggled up the stairs, grateful to finally sit down and sob when she reached the top. Chiron wanted to put her in the company, that's why he was interested in her injury. And she missed it. All because of her stupid, stupid ankle.

She heard the door to the stairwell open, and she tried to quiet her crying while whoever it was made their way down the stairs. But the footsteps were coming up. She wiped her eyes, but she knew it was hopeless. If someone found her, there'd be no excuse for what she'd been doing except I was crying my eyes out and throwing a pity party.

A familiar mop of black hair came up the stairs, and Annabeth felt herself relax. Percy was nice, so much nicer than most of the boys she knew. When he said: "Annabeth? Are you alright?" She knew he really cared about the answer. And when she shook her head and started to cry again, he just sat next to her on the stairs and gave her a hug.

When Annabeth was starting to feel all cried out, she pulled back.

"Thanks," she said, "I'm sorry, it's just," she gestured at her ankle.

"That's gotta be tough," he said.

"I think Chiron wanted me for Nutcracker, but I can't do it," she said, tears starting again.

"It's alright," he said, taking her hand. "You're going to have so many Nutcrackers in your life."

"But what if I missed my chance completely?" She asked.

"I doubt it. You're the best dancer here," Percy said.

Annabeth smiled. "Thanks."

"Want to get pizza or something? I'm starving." 

Annabeth rarely got to eat pizza. Especially now that she was injured, she shouldn’t eat something so fattening when she couldn’t work it off. But she was pretty sure Percy was asking her out on a date. And so, before she could count calories or anything she just nodded. 

"Sure."

~

Percy bought her a few slices of pizza, and they both reveled in the chance to indulge like regular teenagers. Percy peeled back the paper from his straw, leaving most of the wrapper still on the other end. He put the straw to his mouth and blew, sending the paper sleeve right for Annabeth's face.

It landed in her blonde curls, and she laughed in disbelief. "Oh, it's on," she said, picking up her own straw. She managed to nail Percy right in the eye.

"Alright, uncle, uncle, you win," Percy conceded. 

They talked for two hours, long past when their pizza was gone, and long enough for the guy behind the counter to give them the stink eye. Percy just gave it right back.

“Wow, Virginia? How come you don’t have a Southern accent?” Percy asked. 

“My dad is from Boston, and Richmond is pretty urban. Most people don’t actually have that classic Southern accent where I’m from,” Annabeth explained. And then, she put on her Southern accent. “But my dance teacher was from Alabama, so I can pretend.” The accent made Percy smile, so she kept it up. “This was how I learned ballet. Tombe pas de bourree, and Roll Tide!” Percy laughed. The French sounded ridiculous in the accent. “I had no idea what steps people were talking about when I got here,” Annabeth joked. It wasn’t true. Mostly. 

“It’s better than my British accent,” Percy said. 

“Well, that’s a really low bar,” Annabeth said. 

“I’ll have to watch that fancy Pride and Prejudice show and take notes,” he said. 

“Or count your blessings that you’re in a career where no one has to hear you speak,” she said back. 

“Hey!” He protested with a smile. “I’m stealing your crust for that,” he said, reaching towards her plate. She let him take it, but not without a fight. 

When they were done, he walked her back to her dorm. "Where's yours?" Annabeth asked.

"Oh, I'm from New York, I live a few blocks away with my family," he said.

"That's nice," she said.

"Is your family still in Virginia?" He asked. Annabeth looked sad again.

"For now. But they're moving to San Francisco over Winter break. They're so busy doing that that I'm not even going home. Kind of hoped I might have Nutcrackers to do, but ..."

"I'm sorry," Percy said, before pulling her into a hug. 

Annabeth let her crutches drop to the ground as she wrapped her arms around him. He was warm. When they pulled away, Percy picked up her crutches for her. 

"It's okay, I'll just go see Nutcracker one hundred times," she tried to joke, "and will my foot to heal."

"I believe in you," Percy said.

~

When Percy got home, he asked his mom about inviting a friend for Christmas.

"Would he stay over?" Sally asked.

"She," Percy clarified, "it’s Annabeth."

His mom looked surprised. He was sure he’d talked about Annabeth before. Or maybe that was the surprise, that his crush was coming to Christmas. 

"Oh, would she stay over?"

"I don't know. She lives in the dorms. I don't know what kind of rules they have," Percy said, trying to be chill. 

"Well, the more the merrier. She's always welcome, just let me know," Sally said. “She’d have to stay on the air mattress in the living room,” Sally added. 

“No worries,” Percy said. Sure, he was horny pretty much all the time like any other sixteen year old, but the idea of Annabeth staying in his room made his palms sweat in a bad way. 

Percy went back to his room and gave Annabeth a call. All of their text conversations had mostly been dad jokes, so calling her out of the blue was strange. 

" Percy?" He heard her voice on the other end. " What's up?"

"Hey, I hope this isn't weird. And you don't need to say yes or anything, but you mentioned staying in New York for Christmas. Would you ... want to spend it with my family? Instead of being stuck in the dorms?" He said. 

"... Really?" She sounded hopeful.

"Yeah, my mom said you're totally welcome. You could stay over on Christmas Eve if you're allowed to. Or my step-dad can pick you up. Whatever," he said, trying to sound casual about it.

" Percy that really means so much to me," she sounded like she was going to cry again. " I would love to. "

Percy waited for a "but," but there wasn't one. Percy strutted out into the living room and announced that Annabeth was coming for Christmas.

~

Pizza might have been a date. But taking her to the MoMA to see Starry Night had definitely been a date. The MoMA was free Friday afternoons, so it was perfect for two sixteen year olds, but Percy had paid for their subway ride, and his mom gave him $40 to buy something warm to eat. 

Annabeth was still in her boot, but she was able to actually put weight on her foot now, so she could go around without crutches. Even booted up, she’d kept up with Percy, overtaking him at some points. She pointed out famous paintings and rattled off facts about them. And then she kept going, giving him facts about the building itself, the area, and Rockefeller Center. Percy just listened; his ADHD usually didn’t let him focus for that long, but when Annabeth talked, he wanted to listen. 

Her gray eyes went so wide when she saw Starry Night, and Percy wasn’t afraid to push them both through the crowd of tourists to get to the front. She took out her phone -- a fancy iPhone -- and snapped a picture, while Percy took out his phone -- not a Smart Phone -- and took a picture of her. 

“Did you take a picture of me?” She asked as they moved out of the way. 

“Yeah,” he said sheepishly. “You’re …” really pretty, he almost said. “You look really happy.” 

She nodded. “I am,” she promised. 

~

"That was so cool!" She said as they stepped out into the cold New York winter. There was a week left before break. Annabeth's dad had sent her presents to Percy's house, and Sally had even bought her Christmas pajamas to open on Christmas Eve with everyone else so she would match the family.

"Want to go see the tree?" Percy asked.

"The native New Yorker is willing to brave the tourists for me?" Annabeth asked. Percy shrugged; he'd maybe complained about tourists a little too much.

"Yeah," he said, stepping in front of her. "Hop on?"

She followed his lead and jumped on his back. He carried her the whole five minute walk to the tree.

~

Percy was nervous about something, she could tell. When they got to Rockefeller Center he kept leaning in, then pulling away, grabbing her hand, and then letting it go. Annabeth had a strong suspicion about what he was trying to get the courage to do.

"What's up?" She asked finally. Percy had pulled her to a less crowded spot. It didn't have a great view of the tree, but its rainbow lights were still visible behind him.

Percy ran a hand through his hair, making his dark mop all the messier. Annabeth’s heart raced. 

"I ... uh …” he started, trying not to look at her, “brought you over here to kiss you, and --"

Annabeth didn't let him finish before she leaned in and kissed him first. It was mostly just a peck, but she let it linger for a few seconds. She didn’t know what else she was supposed to do. She’d never kissed anyone before. She hoped it had been okay. When she pulled back they were both smiling like fools.

~ 

Percy had never kissed anyone before, but he was pretty sure that was perfect.

~

Annabeth started back at barre after Christmas break. She still had a few weeks of PT and retraining before she would be back in her pointe shoes, but she was determined not to let her chance in the company pass her by again.

Christmas break had been completely perfect, and had included way more kisses from Percy. They were really going out now. She’d taken him to the movies over break, and back at his apartment, he’d made her cookies and hot chocolate. In between ballet classes, they were attached at the hip. 

But in class, Annabeth worked with a fierce determination, drinking in every word from her coaches, and trying to prove that she wasn’t going to just give up. 

After a few days in class, her ballet masters pulled her aside. Annabeth's heart raced, worried about whatever bad news they were about to give her.

"We want you to know," they started, "at the end of the year, you are going to get your apprenticeship." 

Annabeth's eyes went wide, and her heart beat fast the way it did when Percy kissed her. It had to be a dream, she thought. That wasn't how they gave out apprenticeships in her experience. Students were told at the end of the year, usually all at once. Her heart beat faster as they continued. "Don't tell anyone, but Chiron wants you to know that he is taking you. So just ..." the ballet master gestured down towards her foot, "take it easy. Don't hurt yourself."

Annabeth nodded. "Can I tell my dad?" She asked.

The ballet master smiled. "Yes, of course." 

~

Annabeth asked her roommates for some time alone so she could call her dad. They agreed; Annabeth hardly ever called home. They must have thought something terrible had happened. 

“ Annie ?” Her dad said. “ Is everything okay? ” 

“Yes Daddy,” she promised. And then she choked up. “I --” 

“ Is it your boyfriend? Are you okay?” 

“It’s not Percy,” she promised. Percy had only ever made her cry from laughing. “I got news from Chiron Bruner today,” she said. “He’s going to give me my apprenticeship,” she said, her smile wide, but her voice low in case her roommates were listening at the door. 

“ Really? Annie! That’s wonderful! Are you starting right away?” He asked. 

“No, no. They aren’t making it official until the end of the year. He just wanted me to know so that I didn’t hurt my ankle more,” she said. 

“ He must really want you in the company, then ,” her dad said. 

“I guess so,” she confirmed. 

“ You let me know when your first performance is, sweetheart, and I’ll be there,” he promised. 

“Are you sure?” She asked. “I know it’s a long way from San Francisco.” 

“ Nothing is too far for my favorite girl, ” he said. 

“I’m your only girl,” she reminded him.  

“Still my favorite, ” he promised. “ I love you Annie. Get some good rest, okay?” 

“Love you too, Daddy. I’ll … I’ll call you soon?” She offered. Percy had been encouraging her to reach out to her dad a little more. She’d been trying. Every time they talked, it got a little easier. He only answered the phone with what’s wrong about half the time. And saying “I love you” to him felt more normal than it had in years. 

“ I’d love that. Any time, sweetie .” 

“Bye.” 

“ Bye bye. ” 

~

Annabeth made it two weeks before she told Percy. "You can't tell anyone," she said.

He was hugging her so tight. "I won't, I promise! But once it's official, I'm going to tell everyone in New York."

"Goofball," she said.

"And proud of it!” He let her go, and crawled out onto his fire escape. “My girlfriend is gonna be in the New York City Ballet," he yelled into the air. Annabeth just laughed. So much for waiting until it was official. Not like anyone in New York cared though. 

A moment later, his door opened. Sally was there, wide eyed. “What did he say?” 

So, she’d told a few more people than she was supposed to. But her secret was as safe with the Jackson-Blofis family as it was with the Chase family, she was sure of it.   

~

When Sally learned Annabeth would have to move out of the SAB dorms and into an apartment of her own, she asked: "Will you have a roommate? Another apprentice girl?"

Annabeth shook her head. "My dad is looking for a studio for me, close to the theater."

"You can't live alone in New York at your age," Sally said.

"I'll be alright," Annabeth promised.

Sally took her hand. "Let me talk to your dad, okay?" 

"Sure," Annabeth said, giving Sally his phone number. Annabeth snuck into Percy's room while Sally called her dad. Percy loaded up Mario Kart, she got ready to kick his ass.

Sally was on the phone for a long time, nearly an hour. Finally, there was a knock on Percy's door, a quick come in confirmation, and then Sally was handing Annabeth the phone. Percy paused the game, and she could hear her dad's voice on the other end, still saying things like " I really appreciate it, thank you."

"Hi Daddy," she said.

" Annie ! I talked to Ms. Jackson, she's so nice. She's your boyfriend's mom?"

"Yeah," Annabeth said.

" We agree that you living alone is risky. She's offered to let you stay at her place."

Annabeth looked at Percy, who had his ear close to the phone to hear. "Really?" Annabeth said, excitedly grabbing Percy's knee.

" They are your host family. So you'll have to live there even if you and Percy break up, okay?” Annabeth looked at Percy as if to say like that would happen.  “You won't be in your boyfriend's room either. And there will be rules."

"Okay, okay," Annabeth said.

" But I think this is for the best, if you're comfortable with it."

"I am," she promised.

~

Annabeth's contract didn't start until the Fall, but she moved out of the dorm at the end of the year. She and Percy were doing the SAB summer program together, and in between, they were helping Sally and Paul rearrange the apartment. Annabeth was staying with Estelle, Percy's adorable two-year-old sister, but that meant Percy had to give up his bigger room for Estelle and Annabeth to share. There was a lot of stuff to move.

Fall season was already a dream. Annabeth lived for performing, far preferring long rehearsal days to days in class at SAB. She was in the corps of so many great ballets, and Chiron even had her learning soloist roles as a backup already. Two weeks in and she was giddy.

Her dad had come down for the first week of performances. She had been in the corps of Serenade, one of her favorite ballets, and in the corps of “Emeralds” and “Diamonds” in Jewels. (“Those are some of my favorite ballets,” Percy said, as if Annabeth didn’t know. She was excited to be in them in part because of Percy). 

Percy had managed to charm her dad. He was a perfect gentleman, a little goofy, but just enough to make Annabeth laugh without being over the top. 

“It was great to meet you Percy,” her dad said, as he left for the night. He’d be flying back in the morning. 

“Great to meet you too, Dr. Chase.” 

“Keep Annabeth out of trouble,” her dad said. 

“I’m doing my best,” Percy promised. 

New York City Ballet had a huge repertory, so there was always something new to learn. They were rehearsing Walpurgisnacht now, a ballet with two dozen women and one man. 

 "Are you one of our new apprentices?" A blonde man asked her one day. He was the lead in Walpurgisnacht, she realized.

"I am," she said. "Annabeth," she held out her hand.

"Luke," he said. After rehearsal, he introduced her to a few people, and gave her his phone number in case she ever needed anything.

When she texted him to make sure he had her number in return, he rested a hand on her shoulder. "You're doing a great job," he said. The leotard she was wearing had spaghetti straps, so his hand was against her bare skin, and his thumb rubbed gentle circles on her collarbone.

Annabeth pulled away, a little warry. "Thanks," she said. "But I should go. I have Stars and Stripes. " Luke gave her a mock salute, and Annabeth took off down the hall. That was odd.

~

When Annabeth got home, she and Percy did a second shift of ballet. He told her the things she'd missed in class. She'd never made it to the highest level at SAB, where he was now, so there were still things she had to figure out on her own. But he was able to help her. And she told him things she'd learned in company rehearsals. There were so many little details, tips and tricks they didn't get in the classroom.

Annabeth had watched the Walpurgisnacht pas de deux so many times that day that she and Percy were able to piece together the choreography themselves, practicing in the small ballet studio Paul and Sally had made for Percy (and now Annabeth) in the living room.

On the kitchen table, Annabeth's phone kept buzzing.

"Sweetheart," Sally called, "someone really wants your attention."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Ugh, it's just some guy from the company. He keeps trying to talk to me. I told him I have a boyfriend," she said. Percy kissed the side of her head.

"A company guy?" Sally asked. "Another apprentice?"

Annabeth shook her head. "No, he's a principal. He just got promoted."

"A principal, " Sally asked, horror clear in her voice. "What does he want from you?"

"Who knows," Annabeth shrugged.

Sally handed her the phone. "You don't need to show me, but ... could I see what he's sending you?"

Sally seemed genuinely concerned, so Annabeth unlocked the phone and handed it to her. "You should stay away from him," Sally told her.

"Trust me, I'm trying," Annabeth said.

"If he's making you uncomfortable, you should tell Chiron, or one of the ballet masters," Percy suggested.

Annabeth nodded. "That's a good idea."

Sally was typing something. She handed the phone back to Annabeth before she hit send: This is Annabeth's guardian in New York. She is seventeen . Please leave her alone.

Annabeth hit send. Luke didn't bother her any more after that.

~

An apprentice's first Nutcracker was meant to be 46 shoes of Snow and Flowers. And Annabeth was ready to do that, even though it meant she’d be dancing on her and Percy’s first anniversary. 

But, a few weeks into rehearsal, Chase started to show up in Dew Drop and Sugar Plum rehearsal spaces.

"What does that mean?" She asked Charles Beckendorf. He had a few months on her in the company; he was pulled in last Nutcracker season while she was injured. Chiron had rehearsed them as partners in a few things in the Fall. They never did any of them on stage, but she liked him. He was nice, and they were solid dance partners.

"It means you're learning some Principal roles," he said with a smile.

"Oh my god," Annabeth said.

It was one thing to be a back up during the season when plenty of Principals and Soloists were around. Nutcracker was another thing entirely. It was all hands on deck, and dancers dropped like flies.

She didn't need to learn the choreography. She'd watched the PBS recording of Nutcracker so many times in her life she could dance it in her sleep. And Lee Fletcher was a really experienced partner. ("And how old is this one?" Sally asked. "Twenty-nine, but he's gay, and just really nice, I think.")

They hadn't rehearsed it much. Annabeth didn't expect to actually go on, but --

"Annabeth we need you for Sugarplum tomorrow afternoon," Chiron said. She was still in the big Flower skirt, having just bowed after the night's show.

"What?!" Annabeth said.

"Head to costumes first thing tomorrow morning to get situated. You'll have one more rehearsal with Lee, and then go on at two," he said. "You're going to be fine," he promised. She could see his total trust in her written on his face. Annabeth nodded. She had this.

Chiron was able to find four extra tickets for that show, totally comped so the Jackson-Blofis family could be there, even little Estelle. It would be her first Nutcracker. Annabeth was determined to make it a good show for Stella. A girl’s first Nutcracker was a special thing. 

Annabeth swore she could hear Percy's cheers the loudest when she stepped out in the pink costume.

"If you forget the steps, just make it up," Lee said, comforting her before she took to the stage. "If you forget them in the pas, make it up, and I'll follow you."

But she hadn't forgotten it. She'd been just about perfect. Every muscle in her body knew exactly what to do without thinking about it. The cheers were loud from the audience after her variation, and when she stepped back into the wings, there were congratulations from the other dancers, the stage hands, and the ballet masters. 

Her pas de deux went just about perfect too. Lee was a completely reliable partner. He was good at anticipating her needs, and he knew the ballet inside and out after eleven years of doing it. Even as her lungs burned and her legs ached to get through the coda, Annabeth couldn’t help but smile. Something told her it wouldn’t be her last Sugar Plum or even her last Principal role. 

"Amazing, my dear," Chiron said to her when it was over. "Can you bring the costume back downstairs? We need you on for Snow and Flowers tonight." Annabeth smiled and nodded. 

~

She didn't get home until eleven. Paul picked her up from the theater and gave her a big hug. "We're so proud of you. Don't tell anyone, but I got a video of it. I sent it to your dad. He's devastated he couldn't be here."

"I'll call him tomorrow," Annabeth promised. "Thanks Paul."

There was a short, quiet celebration. Sally and Paul promised something bigger once Nutcracker season was actually over. Annabeth just smiled the whole time.

Annabeth was feeling a little brave. She had too much energy to go to sleep, and she’d hardly gotten to see Percy at all this past month. She missed him. 

Once everyone was asleep, she snuck out of her room and into Percy's. He was still awake too. She wasn't exactly sure what she was planning. They'd done plenty of stuff before, but never ... but she knew Sally kept condoms in his drawer. And Annabeth had started birth control that Fall to keep her periods light and regular now that she was a professional. The two of them had talked about this step a lot, but they hadn’t planned when it would happen. With their schedules, and sharing a space with his whole family, finding time was basically impossible. She didn’t know why they hadn’t considered just waiting until everyone was asleep. 

It didn't last long. But it didn't hurt either. She didn't bleed -- weren't you supposed to bleed? she thought. It felt right . They whispered “I love you,” over and over, until it became a refrain and the words stopped sounding real. When it was over, they were both so tired, especially her, that all they could manage was to fall asleep wrapped up in each other.

Sally caught her leaving his room early the next morning, but she didn't say anything about Annabeth breaking her rules. Sally just rolled her eyes and smiled. 

~

In the Winter, Annabeth and Beckendorf were cast to do the Romeo and Juliet Balcony Scene. First cast. Annabeth beamed, even as other company girls gave her the stink eye. But they couldn't deny that her reviews were immaculate. 

“You two are the perfect Romeo and Juliet,” he told them when the run was over. “Keep it up, and we might just need to stage a full run,” he said. “You know, I’ve always wanted to choreograph my own version …” and then he wheeled off, leaving Annabeth and Beckendorf to stare at each other and wonder: is he going to choreograph something for us? 

~

In the Spring, Chiron called Percy in for his annual meeting. Percy sat nervously, but Chiron and his ballet masters just gave him some things to work on. They told him his partnering skills had really improved, but still needed some work. Percy didn't tell them he'd improved so much because Annabeth was teaching him choreography at night. They also told him that he could be a little more confident. Use his length more. His jumps were good, but work on hitting fifth when you land. And that was it. No word of auditions or apprenticeships. They asked him to do the Summer course again, but nothing else.

He told Annabeth the conversation beat by beat, still dazed, but she was smiling.

"They didn't tell you to audition anywhere else?" She asked.

"No," he said.

"Did they ask you to do another year at the school?"

"Just the Summer course."

"Percy ..."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

One of these days, he'd learn that his girlfriend was literally never wrong. Four days later, he was one of the group of eight of students, six girls, two boys, to be brought into a studio and told they'd been chosen as apprentices for the New York City Ballet.

As happy as she was for him, Annabeth could help but say "I told you so!" first thing.

[historicfailure]

Love Notes - How bad at flirting can you be?

2nd chapter: He just gets worse

You just wanted to keep your head down. You really did. Unfortunately, Kakashi's mere presence makes your blood boil; though, his actions are even more infuriating.

Hey there ^^

Second chapter, and I'm really happy how the first chapter worked out. Let's see if you guys like the second chapter as much as the first one :D

~ X ~

The notes continued, after you pinned a bright green stick-note to the upper rim of the monitor, making sure that everyone passing by could see it. You even drew a little smiley in the middle of it. When you left, you gave your note an encouraging nod. The next day, the note was gone, replaced by another, innocent note with a few more encouraging words which made you smile into your hands, before you looked around to see if you would catch someone in the act of watching you.

No one was even looking into your vague direction, too busy doing their assigned tasks.

Over the weeks following, you had lots of time to assemble a little pile of beautifully written, carefully folded and nicely worded small letters. You kept all of them in the small box in your desk, secured and only opened when you added the latest one. These messages of positivity, shy compliments and sometimes even little doodles oozed some kind of old charm to you. The writer obviously didn’t want to tell you his identity, and as far as you were concerned, you had no idea if he even hinted at it either. Too new, too inexperienced on inside jokes between the older colleagues. Sometimes, the notes were just a sentence long, a simple compliment to your work or wishing you a good day. Sometimes, they would be longer, describing little habits of yours and becoming nearly poetical in their compliments which would’ve been creepy if you hadn’t given the writer permission to send you further notes and if the compliments weren’t always borderline cute and innocent, never distasteful or bordering on crude.

On really special days, you would open a note and find a little drawing doodled on the paper. Mostly different dogs in funny little vests, sometimes flowers, and sometimes even rough sketches of people around the office in different poses. These were your favorite. The doodles, despite looking rough and like they were done in great haste, had a distinctive style and beauty to them.

While your bond with the secret note-writer grew and blossomed, the relationship with the goddamn arrogant bastard (a personal favorite of yours when you complained about his newest idiocy to Anko, Kurenai and Shizune) worsened and the already hard feelings between the two of you only seemed to harden with every argument. Your compilations of information on other marketing bureaus, reports, files, past campaigns you worked on, every little bit and piece of work you ever had done, Hatake seemed to know about and use it to get on your nerves, criticizing and making sly remarks at every opportunity he got. Sometimes, you even had the feeling he went out of his way to be a massive, annoying inconvenience especially for you when it came to your workload, but you couldn’t believe Kakashi would really sabotage any work-related tasks. Not even he would stoop that low, and you also had the feeling that the bastard respected Minato too, more than to actually mess with any of your files. He just criticized them, plucked them apart bit by bit, until you second-guessed yourself more than actually doing what you were paid for.

You hated Kakashi even more for that.

Not only that, though. No, that would’ve been too easy for the massive pain in your ass (a close second insult).

~ X ~

Every good office had this one room. This one room, praised and frequently visited by every person on the same floor and, sometimes, even several floors. Often small enough to not fit more than four or five people inside, but big enough to have a little kitchen counter, a microwave and the holiest grail: the coffee machine.

At Konohagakure Marketing, the coffee machine was an old and clunky thing. On a regular basis, the monstrosity would spit hot water while brewing a new can of coffee, the sounds the thing omitted in general could be described as ‘devilish’ and ‘unearthly’, and whoever had the misfortune to have to clean the coffee machine when it wouldn’t budge nor move (mostly happening in the afternoon, when it already had a few hours of work on its back), would have to deal with some kind of unidentifiable grease and coffee grounds stuck to their hands. Of course, that meant no one exactly wanted to deal with that particular task. Eventually, though, when the coffee wouldn’t flow anymore, it had to be done.

When you stumbled a few days after the headbutting with Kakashi into the small coffee corner, you prayed to the heavens that there was still enough coffee left. Cleaning the monster would take some time; time you definitely didn’t have today.

Luckily, there was still enough coffee left for approximately two more cups. Unfortunately, when you stepped into the room, someone else was already in there, a coffee can in one hand and one cup in the other.

“Hey.” Your smile couldn’t have fooled the blindest of blind people, and surely not Kakashi. He didn’t seem to mind, throwing an unworried, undisturbed smile back at you.

“Hello there. Also on the hunt for coffee?”

“Yeah.” The kitchen cabinets were almost overloaded with porcelain in different states. Most cups were just boring; white and with the stylized leaf of the office printed on one side. There were a few personal cups, though, and hell was raised if anyone else, but the owners of these cups were spotted using them. Quickly, you angled yours out of the cabinet, a huge and bright-red cup with white polka dots printed all over the surface.

Someone had moved your cup, though. Usually, you kept your cup on the lowest shelf of the cupboard, comfortably in your reach. Today, someone seemed to deeply hate you, placing the cup on the highest shelf and even pushing it a bit back. From your position, you could barely make out the edges.

You could feel Kakashi’s amusement in your back as you stared full of deserved hatred upwards, at the porcelain so far out of your reach that it also could be on another planet. Alright, that was a bit far-fetched, but still.

“Need a hand?” he asked.

Help? From him? Before you could control yourself, you snorted. “Thanks, but no, thanks.”

Kakashi shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

You could hear his smug grin even over the pouring of coffee into porcelain. Like every so often, whenever he even looked into your direction, your eyes would automatically roll into the back of your head. Damn, you really couldn’t believe you used to look up to him. Sure, his work was without a doubt marvelous and praise-worthy, but all in all, humanly speaking, Hatake was just one of millions of douchebags. Nothing worthy to be sad and hung up over.

Fine. Fine. You would get your mug. No problem.

Thankfully, you wore a pair of jeans today. This would’ve been even more embarrassing with a skirt or dress. Like you had done so every single day of your life, you swung your knee onto the kitchen counter. One testing jump, then the other knee followed. Instantly, your head was at the same level as the highest shelf. From there on, it was child’s play to get your mug and safely slip down to stand again full of triumphant satisfaction in front of the pain in your neck.

“Impressive.” Hatake’s voice was just as impassive as always. “Now, a sideways flick-flack with a screw-landing backwards.”

“I’m still working for a marketing company, not for a circus.”

“Strange. You look like a clown to me.”

How dare he-! Biting heat swirled through your stomach, rose into your chest and up into your head. You could feel your heartbeat in your ears, drowning everything else out. How dare he insulted you like this! That was it, he couldn’t insult you like that and not expect you to run to Minato like…

Like a schoolgirl running to the teacher and snitching on her classmates.

As the new one, that wouldn’t shine a good light on you. Not a team player, you heard a mock-version of Minato’s voice say, deep in the back of your mind, not able to take a little jest.

Minato would never say that. He would take an official complaint seriously, even when it would come from you. However, the doubt was planted in your brain. Like that, you just gripped the handle of your cup tighter, tensing your jaw until you could nearly feel your teeth crack.

Hatake raised a single eyebrow, lazy in his execution and mocking in his expression. “Nothing to say? How disappointing.”

Before you could retort something, anything would be great, he stepped into your personal space. No preamble or warning. Just an invasion, straight up, unbothered by the close contact. Damn, his chest was nearly molded to yours! How could he do that without an inkling of shame or embarrassment?

Instinctively, you drew your shoulders upwards, cupping the mug close to your chest. Hell, his legs were softly pressing against your upper thighs, the rims of his hoodie were falling around your body! Was he doing that to ruffle your feathers? To unnerve you?

Well, if that is his intention, then it’s fucking working!

With wide eyes, you only stare at Hatake, how he reached upwards, behind your head. Caught between the kitchen counter and the man, you couldn’t escape, only look up at the neckline of his dark V-shirt, the long, pale neck, the sharp jaw, the little dark spot just below his mouth… All of that was so close, pleasantly accompanied by the warm, slightly sharp, slightly sweet scent of some kind of deodorant and natural smell.

Suddenly, he looked down, little creases around his eyes, amusement curling his lips into the sliver of a smile. “Is that here a problem?”

You could only shake your head in a terribly weak manner (only later, you would realize that and scold yourself).

His little cocky smile widened, the corners of his mouth curling even further. And wasn’t that a dimple in his cheek? “Good.”

And then he was gone, while you could only stand there and cling to your mug like your life depended on it. Your brain seemed to be paralyzed, short-circuited, simply frozen without a chance to recover soon.

Hatake now held two mugs instead of one in his hands, placed one of them beside you on the corner, and raised the can to the empty mug. “Nice. How kind, that you let me empty the can and want to clean the coffee machine. Such a collegial coworker.”

The curtain lifted. Quickly, you rewind the conversation you just had, trying to find out when the hell did you give permission to Hatake to take all the coffee?

Wait… Is that here a problem? Did he really…?

You jerked up. “Wait! I never agreed to this!”

“Too late.” Surprisingly fast, Hatake had emptied out the can to the very last drop. With both of his hands occupied as he grabbed the other mug, he waved with one of his little fingers at you, all closed eyed, fake smiles and sheer arrogance. You really wanted to break the stupid finger in the exact moment when the fucker left the kitchen, the smugness radiating from him in fucking waves.

Slowly, you released your death grip around your mug. Finger for finger, until you placed the porcelain with an audible sigh on the counter. Then, your eyes wandered to the coffee machine, the empty can, and the unmistakable sign right above the machine: Please refill the coffee for everyone when the can is empty!

Kakashi planned this. You were halfway sure. And when the darn thing didn’t want to work, and you had to suffer through the excruciating cleaning process (the grease was everywhere, beneath your fingernails up to your wrists, some spots even made their way to the sleeves of your jacket) you wanted to scream and shout, trash this stupid machine and trash Hatake with it in the next best trash bin.

~ X ~

I know it sounds sappy, but when I see your smile at any time of the day, I instantly feel better. I could have the shittiest day ever, and you and your smile would always be able to brighten it up. I never had a reason to be excited to come to work, but since you work here, I’m actually looking forward to coming in. Even the boss is surprised to see me so much, when I usually work from home.

Be prepared to be swamped with Thank-You cards from him.

PS: Your cursing at the coffee machine could be heard on the entire floor. It was terribly cute.

~ X ~

This morning was such bullshit. First, the train line you used to commute was late to begin with, then the train you waited twenty extra minutes for broke down three stations before you would’ve jumped off and on top of that, it started to rain five minutes into your walk. Soaked, with blisters at your small toes from running in shoes you weren’t used to run in, and with a coffee spot on your jeans you hadn’t noticed when pulling this pair over your legs this morning, your day couldn’t get any worse.

You instantly revised that opinion when you entered the foyer of Konohagakure Marketing. Yes, this morning still had the potential to become even worse, just by the sight of Kakashi lingering around the front table and flirting with the secretary there. One arm casually draped over the glassy surface of the modern, cutting-edge counter, his entire body leaning against it and his bored, black eyes instantly flying over to you when you entered; a personified, wet, dripping mess. In total comparison to his outer depiction of calmness, coolness and charismatic self.

Gods, you hated this man with every fucking fiber of your frustrated, late and exhausted being.

“Oh, (Y/N).” If possible, Kakashi leaned even more onto the counter, while the blonde secretary couldn’t rip her eyes away from the view right in front of her. “What’s up?”

“Nothing which would be your business.” With a growl, you brushed past him. Though, steps in your back told you that today, Hatake only wanted to add to your terrible mood.

“You’re so mean to me,” he whined, yes, whined at you, all the while dramatically gesturing around like he acted out one of the great Shakespearean tragedies, “when I just politely inquired to know how your day has treated you so far.”

“My day,” you started, growling lowly in the back of your throat and still trying to hang onto your control to not snap at your senior like he deserved, “has been a little bit stressful. Thank you for asking.”

“Maa, no problem.” He had the audacity to shrug, hands in the pockets of his tight-fitted jeans and the edges of his black knitted cardigan revealing the soft-looking fabric of the grey t-shirt underneath. You hated this outfit. Yes, you hated how much you liked to see it on him. Kakashi looked comfy, drowning in the soft wool, ready to fall asleep or walk over the runaway of Paris. One of these things, at least. One look at the secretary, and you knew she was of the same opinion. Her eyes were still glued to Kakashi’s back, sparkles glittering in her iris and something akin to childish wonder radiating from her.

You turned around again and snorted under your breath. Yeah. Pathetic.

Hey. Only a few days ago, you would’ve made the same heart-eyes if THE Kakashi Hatake would’ve talked to you.

At the end of the room was an elevator and to the right the door leading into the staircase. Most days, you would take the stairs, as the bureau was only two levels above, but some days, you were as lazy as you could be and called the elevator. Today was definitely such a day. You deserved this elevator ride. Before you could reach out to the button to call it, Kakashi had pulled a hand from his pockets and pushed it, all the while smiling.

Suspicious. Your eyes squinted, but you let it go. “Thank you.”

The smiling wrinkles around his eyes deepened. “No problem.”

Silently, you waited for the elevator. Only a low hum of Kakashi vibrated in the air. If you weren’t mistaken, it was In the End by Linkin Park.

You hadn’t taken Hatake as someone who would listen to Linkin Park. Another suspicious glance into his direction, then you concentrated onto the closed door of the elevator once more. Just a few more seconds, then you could hopefully dry a little bit in the security of the office. Just a tiny bit further, you could already hear the whirring of the elevator coming closer, the tiniest bit of luxury on this terrible, exhausting day.

A soft ‘ding’ alerted you, and really, the doors slid open. But before you could only take a single step inside the elevator, the shuffling in your back told you something was coming and that you wouldn’t like it.

“Kakashiiiiiii, let me come with you!” Apparently, over the last few minutes, you became invisible. Otherwise, you couldn’t explain how the secretary just pushed quite rudely past you, knocking against your elbow. Your bag, already slightly askew on your wet shoulder, completely lost its footing. In slow motion, you could feel how the bag dropped to the ground, but were still unable to stop it. Only when the noise of splattered food, water and the miserable rest of your good mood of this day reached your ears, you looked down. There, your personal life spread out on the floor, while the chatty secretary just wrinkled her nose at the chaos she created, before grabbing Kakashi’s arm, who stood wide-eyed at the crime scene.

“Let’s go,” the dumb blonde whined and tugged at his sleeve, “you still have to tell me about what happened with the butter and the…” She giggled in an apparently cute way, but the only thing which happened was that you had the feeling a little tinnitus pierced through your brain.

Surprisingly, though, Kakashi didn’t immediately take off. Instead, as you crouched down to hastily collect your stuff while worrying what you would eat for lunch today, he also sank to his knees.

“Don’t bother,” you growled as his hands reached for your soaked purse, “better stay with your new friend to make sure she doesn’t get lost upstairs.”

The subtle hint wasn’t lost on Kakashi. If you weren’t mistaken, small wrinkles of amusement formed around his eyes, before he nodded and moved upwards again. “If you insist.”

“Yes, I fuck-! I insist.” You were already raking through the mess, trying to make out what was still usable and what wasn’t, but only the quick shuffle of feet and the continued whining of the dumb secretary suddenly stopping, cut off by the soft closing of the elevator doors, told you that even the little bit of luxury you hoped today for was lost.

And even though this time, he wasn’t completely at fault, you couldn’t help it. You loathed Kakashi even more for being the flirtatious, obnoxious piece of shit he was outside and inside.

~ X ~

I’m sorry you had such a shitty morning. I’m sorry, but I think nobody didn’t hear how you complained to Anko about all the misfortune happening to you. Rightfully so. Maybe tomorrow though, the world is a little bit brighter. And even though I hope my notes are a small window to some sunshine of tomorrow, I wouldn’t dare to assume that.

I just hope the coffee I made for you warms you a bit up after all you’ve been through today. No worries, it’s just like you take it. I asked around. I swear, I’m not stalking you! >-<

~ X ~

However, it didn’t stop at taking the last bits of coffee or stealing the elevator when you already started into a shit day. No, Kakashi’s pettiness knew no limits and unluckily, you hadn’t experienced the true extent of said pettiness yet.

Every day, work would start with a meeting to discuss ongoing projects, clients and other things which came along with marketing. Sometimes, there was nothing to discuss and Namikaze would use these meetings to congratulate everyone for their hard work and would send his subordinates on their merry way, with a just as merry smile on his face.

Today was not such a day.

These kinds of meetings were usually held inside one of the bigger conference rooms, where most of the marketeers, designers and whoever worked even remotely at Konoha Marketing would find a place to sit. Namikaze would usually stand, while you preferred to find a seat at the other side of the room to melt into the rows and rows of faces looking up at him. Usually, Kakashi wouldn’t even be present, and if he was present, he wouldn’t even try to hide the earbuds playing eerily loud music.

As stated, today was not a usual day. Already when you came into the room, chatting with Anko and Kurenai over your shoulders, you spotted Kakashi. The asshole was silently whispering with Namikaze, earbuds nowhere in sight and a stack of papers in front of him. Immediately, a nauseous queasiness spread through your stomach. Something wasn’t right here, and the feeling only intensified when Kakashi suddenly looked up and met your eyes. A teasing little grin tugged at the corners of his mouth, and when he nodded, merely a little lift of his chin, your heart plummeted right through the floor.

Panicked, you reached for Anko’s arm while she went ahead to grab your usual seats. “Get me out of here!”

She turned her head. “What the fuck?”

“Kakashi schemes something, I can feel it!”

“Since when are you an antenna for his brain?”

With the desperation of a dying woman, you tugged at Anko’s sleeve. “I just know,” you hissed, “I just fucking know he’s up to something, okay? Please, get me out of here before Namikaze starts the meeting, I don’t want to-!”

However, you realized it was too late when Namikaze stood up from his chair and coughed, catching easily the entire attention of the room. He just had that little special spark which was able to entice an entire room of energetic, creative adults.

Paying someone’s salary did that.

Jokes aside, Minato Namikaze was just that charismatic. He had the expertise, the skills and was still humble, despite having founded one of the leading marketing companies in the entire country. Not the fake-humble some people loved to put on to show off at charity events and publicity stunts. Namikaze still felt real. Just one of the reasons why you didn’t hesitate when you noticed there was an open position on his team.

“Attention, please.” Even his smile was like the sun itself as he looked around the room, seemingly looking at everyone around like he was their friend, and he was in the middle of hosting a potluck dinner. “Alright, we have lots of work to do in the next few months. We finally got the confirmation that Akatsuki will work with us again for their next spring campaign, there are three rebranding tasks fresh in our care and the city council also wanted to talk with us about possibly creating an internet presence worth following, but I digress. Lots of work, that’s what I’m saying here. Kakashi, Akatsuki wanted you again on board for their campaign. I expect only the very best.”

Unusually serious, the younger man nodded. “Yes. I’m on it.”

“The team around you and Akatsuki will consist of Kurenai, Asuma, Gai, Genma, Anko and (Y/N). Any questions?”

Working on the same team with Hatake. For a brief moment, you closed your eyes and tried not to cry out in sheer and utter frustration at the thought of having to work with the adult-sized toddler that supposed genius actually was. It would be hell, you were already sure. More of his constant criticism of your work, more “funny” pranks he considered nothing but a joke but would be a massive pain in the ass to deal with, not to talk about the antics he would throw while he was supposed to seriously work with you.

Then, you opened your eyes from the short reprieve and coincidentally found yourself looking at Hatake, who just happened to scoff weakly and roll his eyes. His eyes met yours and once more, his eyes rolled upwards.

Your stomach sank, and you could feel heat rising up to your face. And to top it off, you realized Minato also heard the quiet scoff and had stopped to look at Kakashi with a slightly concerned, slightly disbelieving stare.

“Care to tell us your concerns?” your boss asked.

This does not end well. I can feel it.

Kakashi leaned back into his chair, all calm confidence and superiority complex at once, arms crossed and chin raised. “Just some worries when it comes to the accuracy of the necessary information. I have to say, the reports which I’ve received lately were peppered with inaccurate details and unnecessary parts I personally don’t agree with.”

An attack directly aimed at you. If possible, you grew even redder and slouched into your chair. There was just no other way to see it; you were the latest addition to Konohagakure Marketing, the newest member, the weak link so to speak. Not to talk about that some of Kakashi’s complaints had been heard by other people already who weren’t exactly stupid and probably were figuring out in this very second who exactly Kakashi was talking about.

It wasn’t exactly hard, anyway.

Minato merely raised a single eyebrow. “Really? Personally, I think the quality of the reports have improved over the last months. Also, I think you also mentioned a few days ago how one of these “unnecessary” new parts actually helped you to add a nice little detail to an ongoing campaign the client liked and pointed out. So, I can’t quite understand your criticism now.”

You couldn’t believe your ears. Very carefully, you peaked up from your lap and looked around. More than one person looked at Kakashi and almost all of them had not-so-sneaky grins on their faces at seeing the aloof man getting smacked in the face with his own hypocrisy. Well, you didn’t expect Minato to speak up on your behalf, but now that he did, you couldn’t be more grateful. When his crystal-clear, blue eyes quickly flickered over, you nodded sharply. Minato nodded back, merely a weak twitch of his chin, before winking at you.

Yes, you weren’t above admitting that your boss was a good-looking and also happily married man. Nevertheless, that wink added a few years to your lifetime, which Hatake had stolen before with his stupid antics.

Fuck him. Fuck Hatake. He really tries to make me look stupid in front of the entire team!

Nothing came back from the lanky man, who lowered his hand not quite in shame, but to stare at his notebook with an unreadable expression you didn’t know if you should be worried about or not.

“Any more questions?” Minato looked around, his cornflower-blue eyes daring anyone to speak up. No one did. “Alright. Now, with that out of the way, I would like to turn towards the rebranding tasks-!”

You stared blindly at the top of the table, unable to see anything. Even Anko’s slight tugs on your sleeve didn’t disturb your intense concentration, nor did the glances all your colleagues gifted you from time to time, still curious about the bureau drama Kakashi started. The realization only sunk now in, what exactly he had done.

He doubted your work in front of everyone. And even when Minato defended you, even if Kakashi disproved his own doubts, the other colleagues would probably always keep his complaints in mind while working with you. A stigma you would carry with you for as long as you would work with all of these people.

Only barely, you managed to keep your tears inside. It took your sharp fingernails digging into the soft tissue of your palm, but you managed, and that was everything which counted. One thought crystallized itself clearly out of the emotional mess inside your head.

Fuck Kakashi Hatake. Fuck Kakashi Hatake. Fucking fuck Kakashi fucking shit-stained Hatake.

You had no idea if he was still hung up on your little act of defiance of not bringing him coffee when it wasn’t part of your job description. It definitely seemed like it. However, it was a matter of fact that he took it too far. He attacked you in front of the entire room of colleagues and your boss, doubted your work morale and results and thus, tried to push you off of his group which would work as a highly influential marketing campaign for Akatsuki. Experience, connections and the chance to see your ideas on the biggest billboards around the city. There wasn’t a better stepping stone for a marketeer career, and Kakashi fucking knew that. He knew, and took it upon himself to put you in a bad spot from the get go.

He had been nothing but an inconvenience up until now. Nothing but an annoying asshole, bearable despite all the tricks and traps he was planning to make your life at Konohagakure Marketing miserable. But now, he went for your job, and that was unforgivable.

Mentally, you made a note to write a statement for Namikaze, maybe even report Hatake for harassment, bullying, whatever. Just a paper trail would be good at this point, to prove you tried to use official means to fend off his stupid pranks.

Only Anko noticed your inner turmoil. Not a lot of people knew she was quick in picking up the smallest of cues, shrugged her even off as a mere brash woman who laughed too loudly and made crude jokes, but underneath all of that was a perceptive and almost annoyingly sharp, loyal friend. She noticed your sudden silence and how you withdrew from the meeting inside your own head.

A finger softly poked into your folded hands. “Hey,” her whisper was for once silent enough to only be heard by you two, “everything good?”

You nodded weakly. Of course, Anko didn’t buy that.

“You sure?”

Again, you nodded. Merely a faint lowering of your chin, but you nodded. Anko threw a last worried glance into your direction, poked your hands again with a tenderness which almost made you cry out loud, before turning back her attention to the meeting and Minato.

At this point, you were through a whirlwind of emotions and probably would’ve gone through many, many more. However, you made the mistake of looking up, right up into Kakashi’s face. His silver eyebrows were drawn together, dark eyes set on you and met yours when you glanced at him, arms crossed in front of his chest and like always effortlessly looking like he just fell out of bed, in the unbearably attractive kind of way.

When your eyes met, your dread and sorrow suddenly turned into fiery-hot rage and anger. How dare he. How dare he look all concerned and worried now, when the damage was already done. He couldn’t take his words back, nor could make the people around him forget he had spoken them. How dare he look like he regretted now what he had done.

You sent Kakashi your best “I would kill you if it was legal”-glare. Immediately, he whipped his head away, ears red and long, elegant fingers spinning an expensive looking pencil round and round.

A paper trail. Preferably yesterday. Your fingers shook ever so slightly as you wrote a short note for yourself in barely readable chicken-scratch onto the very edge of your notepad. Right after this meeting was over, you had to speak with Minato in private. You just had to. Who knew what Kakashi was also capable of when he was also willing to endanger your career over some kind of petty revenge he was hellbent on pushing to the maximum level. This was ridiculous, to be completely honest. There was no reason for him to be such a little bitch, for the lack of a better word, about something so small as disturbing him at the wrong time once and not immediately falling to his feet.

No one else had this kind of problem with him. Was it because you were new, maybe? To show you your place once and for all?

At the silly thought, you snorted to yourself. Again, Hatake’s eyes instantly flashed over, flickering up and down and getting stuck at your hand still holding your pen.

Fuck him, you thought. Ever so gently, you uncurled and curled your fingers until only your middle finger was holding the pen, the other fingers balled into a tight, white-knuckled fist. You knew he understood, just by the way the wrinkles in the corners of his eyes deepened by a margin, before Hatake turned his full attention once more to Minato.

Fucking bastard. Arrogant prick. Stupid asshole.

For the rest of the meeting, you tried to concentrate on your boss explaining and relaying more crucial information about incoming jobs, but your mind kept on drifting elsewhere. More specifically, to the confusing, infuriating, annoying man who continued to rob your last nerve.

Not like there was much to understand.

It was no coincidence you were idling a bit around after the meeting, shuffling your notebook over the table and playing with your pen to the point Anko threw worried glances at you as she stood up.

“Everything alright, girl? You’re starting to worry me there. Is it a psychotic breakdown?”

“Not yet, Anko. Not quite there yet.” Banter with your colleague came easily to you, but your eyes always followed Minato’s movements. He was still talking to the bastard, all smiles and sunshine and bright happiness. Seriously, it was almost unbearable to watch them both.

How unfair was that? Both men were ridiculously attractive. In fact, all people in this marketing firm were ridiculously attractive, even Gai a level above! In his own special way, but he also got a little fan club as much as you were aware (and Anko was part of it, you were pretty sure).

Made you wonder a bit why you were hired, as it seemed that there was a hiring requirement you didn’t fulfill.

Finally, Hatake just nodded while turning away from his boss. Strangely enough, he gave you a last lingering look before leaving the conference room as well. Time for you to attack, or more like, speak with Minato yourself. Who knew what kind of unreasonable concerns he would bring up now?

“Hey there,” your boss smiled warmly over the table while you gathered the last bits of your belongings, “Is everything alright?”

“Why shouldn’t it be?”

Minato clicked his tongue. “Ah, just a little bird told me about a certain tension in my office. And that you and my s-! Kakashi are involved.”

“You heard us.” Just a flat statement, because there couldn’t be another way. Fuck, his office was right there, right beside Hatake’s, and the “tension” between you and him were really not a secret anymore.

Never was, to be exact.

You tried to look ashamed, even when a small part of you just wanted to defend yourself. It wasn’t your fault Hatake was an asshole. It wasn’t your fault he always tried to rile you up. It wasn’t your fucking fault, Hatake thought endangering your job was funny or something.

In comparison, Minato was more open than you. Blood creeped up into his face as he smiled once more, clearly ashamed for spitting the truth just out instead of clothing the harsh words into nicer clothes. “I admit, Kakashi is sometimes… difficult. Only the gods know what goes on inside of him, and I won’t even pretend that I will ever understand some of his antics. But I also won’t tolerate him bullying new employees. That is not alright, nor would I ever accept that kind of thing in my company.”

Reassuring, kind words. Definitely what you needed from your boss, but that alone didn’t seem like it would be enough.

“Are you sure that will work on Hatake?” The question was faster out than you intended. When Minato’s piercing blue eyes met yours, you held his gaze, but quickly moved on before his gaze would burn you on the spot. “I mean, I don’t know. He seems like he won’t take any criticism seriously.”

At that, Minato’s gaze darkened. Darkened to the point, he didn’t seem like the same relaxed, happy person you knew for a few months now. Goosebumps peppered their way down your arms, and you barely kept yourself from rubbing them through the sleeves.

“Believe me, (Y/N). I will make sure he will stop his behavior from now on. Rest assured.”

You decided further discussion wasn’t worth the potential trouble. So, you merely nodded and fled the room, not sure if the talk went well or disastrously wrong.

~ X ~

You couldn’t believe it. Again, your eyes raked over the slightly disorganized rows inside the fridge. Like every morning, you had placed the Tupperware with your soup right in the top row, beside Shizune’s salad, Anko’s massive bowl of pasta and Kurenai’s elegant box with her healthy bento, lovingly prepared by Asuma (even though he always denied any involvement).

It should be there. You were absolutely sure you placed it inside the fridge, like every fucking day.

Again, you closed the fridge, only to open the door immediately after. Like your soup would magically appear out of thin air, even though you already tried that particular move two times already.

Well, three times were the charm. But yet again, you had to stare at the suspicious gap between Tupperware boxes and did not know where your soup went.

“Fuck,” you grunted under your breath as you closed the fridge for the final time. Someone just straight up took your lunch. Your labeled lunch. Just… fantastic. Very unlikely to see it again.

However, just when you went back to your desk to get your purse to go out and buy an overpriced lunch at one of the small hip cafés downstairs, you spotted something disturbing. Something which made your blood boil, to the point of stopping right in your tracks, staring wildly for a second, only to charge forward like a bull who just spotted a red flag.

“I’ve had enough! I fucking have it!”

Shaking in anger, heart pounding in your chest, you stormed over to Kakashi’s desk. This absolute fucker had his shitty headphones on, innocently staring at his asshole-PC while spooning some goddamn soup into his mouth.

Your soup. Out of your Tupperware. Which you placed in the office fridge, in your labeled area of the fridge.

Enough was enough. There was a fine line which Kakashi just crossed, which his previous offenses didn’t. The coffee, the elevator, even the fucking meeting where he had to begrudgingly accept your presence on his team by his boss’ order were still inside a very specific area you could forgive to an extent. Were you holding a grudge against him? Hell, fuck yes. Would you like to screw him over like he deserved? Of course not. You talked with Minato, he nodded and said he would speak to Hatake, but that was it. Nothing came out of it but tense, clipped conversation between you and him in every damned team meeting he held over the new Akatsuki-campaign.

But stealing your food? The one thing you brought from your own home, placed in your area in the fridge, and he had the fucking audacity to steal it with his grabby little lithe hands.

(The attractive asshole.)

Right in front of his desk, you came to a stop. He didn’t look up, even though you just knew he noticed you. Instead, he continued to intently stare at his screen, swirling his spoon through the soup you cooked and prepared and sweated over to get it just right.

You crossed your arms over your chest. No reaction, despite him sneaking a glance into your direction.

One twitch of your eyebrows upwards. “Is the soup tasty?”

That caught his attention. The asshole shrugged, while you had to keep yourself from reaching over the desk and strangle him until that stupid disinterested, bored expression was wiped from his face forever. “It’s alright. Nothing special. Too little salt.”

Too little salt!? How dare he??

Only by a margin, you managed to keep the outrageous scream of pure, unaltered rage inside your chest. Your jaw felt like snapping into two though from biting your own tongue so hard. “Yeah?” you hissed out. “Very unlucky for you. Where did you get it from?”

With the spoon, he gestured over into the direction of the office kitchen. “Just grabbed it out of the office fridge.”

“Mhmm, interesting. You know,” you leaned forward, “as huge as this coincidence might be to you, this morning, I filled a really similar looking Tupperware with a really similar soup. And – again! – coincidentally, my Tupperware went missing when I just went to check my labeled place in the fridge…”

To your eternal satisfaction, Kakashi stopped around the middle of your little speech. His eyes were stuck on the screen, staring blindly into the brightly lit monitor, the spoon with another mouthful of soup lowered itself slowly, oh so slowly back into the bowl, before his head turned just as slowly around to look at you with the biggest puppy eyes you had ever seen on any man.

Unluckily for him, he had ruined any goodwill for any kind of puppy eyes in you weeks ago.

Uncrossing your arms, you clicked your tongue. “Seriously, fuck you Hatake. Fuck you sideways. The only thing I did to you was annoy you one goddamn time, and you instantly set out to make my entire life here at work hell. This is the last straw. I’m going to Namikaze to file a complaint against you and I don’t give a flying fuck if you’re his little pet or whatever, or if I get thrown out for insulting his top marketeer. You hear me?” You couldn’t hold it in any longer. A single tear which had burned in your eye for some minutes now finally fell. Quickly, you wiped it away, before hissing again at Hatake, who stared wide-eyed and with something akin to panic on his face at you. “I will fucking take the loss if that just means I get away from you. I’ve had enough. You’re the worst person I’ve met so far and if I could rewind time and stop myself from ever going up to you, I would fucking do it, just to spare me the utter disappointment of having the displeasure of knowing how much of an asshole you are.”

The last string simply snapped for you. A last scoff at him, then you turned away, towards the office of your boss. Not even five steps later you heard the clutter of his chair being pushed away, so quickly it fell over, hurried steps running after you, only for his hand to reach for your arm.

“Don’t fucking touch me!” With a sharp hiss, you flinched away from Hatake. How dare he! How dare he even try to hold you back now, only to maybe not be scolded by Namikaze! How dare he had the guts to look at you with big, pleading eyes, how dare him for being the attractive bastard he was and for knowing exactly how attractive it was! And the audacity he had to try and use it for his advantage!

Right in front of Namikaze’s office, you stopped, Hatake right on your trail, swiveled around and hissed again into his face, the fury burning right in your throat and down into your chest. “I said,” with gusto, you jammed your index finger into his chest, and the short lightning of pain was even worth the shock flashing over his features, “I don’t care about your puppy eyes or your excellent marketing campaigns or the many people you take home. I don’t care about you, Hatake, and your pitiful attempts at stopping me!”

“Please, can you let me explain-?”

“This is far beyond explaining! I don’t owe you anything! Nothing at all! I just want to get away from you, so leave me the hell alone!”

The entire office was staring. Kind of hard not to notice the loud fight, with the room being open and all desks loosely gathered in front of Minato’s office. The poor Iruka tried so hard not to look, even though you stood merely one meter or so away from his front desk.

You couldn’t bring yourself to care. The stolen soup – your missed lunch! – was the last drop in this ever-filling bucket.

There he stood, the smug bastard of a man-child. Wearing a pair of loose, washed-out jeans with holes at the knees, a wide cardigan in the same shade as his gray hair and a dark shirt with some silly, almost destroyed print. Though, the longer you stared at him, you couldn’t help but to notice that Hatake didn’t look smug at all. No, under no circumstance you would describe the drawn-together eyebrows, the hard tug around his mouth and the nervous twitch of his hands as smug.

Feeling sorry for him wasn’t an option. Gosh, you were such a pushover, already feeling sorry for him when he was the one to make your work life miserable! No, not today! You would make Minato listen to your complaint (if he didn’t notice the ruckus right outside his office already) and this time, you would demand some action. Talking obviously did jack-shit to change Hatake’s attitude.

Though, before you could knock at Minato’s office, the door was pushed open. To your unending shame, not your boss peered outside, but his wife. Kushina was just as beautiful as a rose, with her fiery-red hair and her even features, yet her temper was quick to anger and slow to cool down. And right now, she looked at Hatake and you with the same intent as a wolf on the hunt.

At least, that was how you imagined a wolf on the hunt. Not that you ever had seen one, but you felt like a small rabbit as you shrunk under her intense glare.

“Both of you,” she jerked the door wide open, revealing nothing but an empty desk and chair inside, “get in here. Before I forget myself.”

Like scolded children, you followed her into the office. Heads lowered, steps hesitant, sneaking angry glances at each other when Kushina wasn’t looking. This was truly ridiculous! This wasn’t your fault, Hatake could just stop being such an asshole and leave you alone and foremost, not eat your food! It was unfair you were cited into the office like a child who misbehaved!

But I did misbehave. I lost my shit, screamed around, threw a tantrum.

What a shitshow. I should be ashamed of myself.

Shit. Does she want to fire me?

She does. Oh god, Kushina will fire me. She’s Minato’s right hand basically, she can just suggest she doesn’t think I will be a good fit for the company. Oh, fuck. Shit, shit, shit!

Tears burned in your eyes at the mere thought. Your heart pounded in your chest, your knees were trembling. For a moment, you thought you couldn’t take another step forward, too terrified to face your fate. But your head and body were disconnected. Your legs carried you further, right before the desk of Minato where Kushina sat down, with the same grace a true empress would use to claim her rightful throne.

You didn’t dare to look at her. You also didn’t dare to move your eyes away from the ground. Better be safe than sorry. 

“Kushina,” Hatake had the nerve to speak up, even though the silence was icy to the point of freezing, “this is ridiculous. It was a simple misunderstanding, nothing to get angry-!”

“I decide,” Kushina  snarled, her mouth curled into a growl, “what I get angry over and what not. And this shouting match you had in the open office is in my opinion definitely something to get angry over.”

“It was nothing, really!”

“Didn’t sound like nothing to me.”

“Kushina, it wasn’t-!”

“Hey, pipsqueak.” 

Pipsqueak. The insult came so unexpected, so completely out of the blue, you couldn’t help but to snort loudly into the icy silence. Quickly, you got yourself back under control, but the eyes of the other people in the room were already on you.

“Something the matter?” Kushina’s voice made the short-lived amusement die right then and there. “Your shouting made me notice your fight in the first place. You disturbed the peace in this office with the fight you both are responsible for, because you’re both adults long enough to know how to act at your workplace.”

She was right, of course. You should know how to act in a professional setting, but you forgot your manners and professionalism just for a second there. 

“I apologize,” you mumbled, “it certainly wasn’t my intention to cause a ruckus.”

“What was your intention then?”

“I was… angry. Probably to make this anger known to the person who caused it.”

“That would be the pipsqueak here.” Not a question, just a raw statement without any judgment. 

Carefully, you peaked up into Kushina’s face. Her anger had calmed down, the hard lines smoothened out again. Her hands were folded on top of the table, the epitome of calculating calmness. In her business suit, her hair tied back into a high ponytail and with her regal aura, it was hard to not say the truth, not that you ever intended to lie in the first place.

“Yes,” you answered, “it was Hatake. For a few weeks, he's been deliberately tormenting me.”

“Tormenting?” Her surprised tone showed exactly how much she didn’t expect that. Kushina glanced at Hatake, who was suddenly just as interested as you on the ground. “That is new to me.”

“I don’t know exactly what I did to deserve this treatment by him, but since a few weeks ago, he… I don’t know, he creates situations in which I pull the short straw, no matter what.”

“Explain.”

“For example, he stole the last bits of coffee out of the can and made me clean it, so I could cook the next pot. One of his groupies possibly accidentally pushed my bag out of my hands, which forced me to take the stairs over the elevator, plus collect all my stuff again. But this is insignificant,” you breathed in, the old fury still burning in your chest, “when he belittles my work in front of everyone. In one of the morning meetings, where Hatake and I got assigned to the new campaign for Akatsuki, when he questioned my abilities to deliver.”

Kushina leaned back into her chair, eyes squinted. “I remember. You came to Minato and told him the pipsqueak is bothering you. He spoke to him, but apparently it didn’t work out.” A glare was thrown at Hatake. “But why the commotion now?”

“He stole my labeled lunch out of the fridge.”

“Kakashi…” Kushina sighed. 

“I didn’t see the label, okay?” Grumpily, Hatake crossed his arms over his chest. “It wasn’t in my line of vision.”

“The label is on my tupperware. Directly on top. On the lid. You’re looking at it when you open the tupperware. It’s printed there in big bold letters.”

“The fridge was really messy!”

“The fridge is always organized, in the same way it has been organized since I started here, and I highly doubt a new organization was put in place recently.”

Hatake rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”

Oh, he lost now. His dismissive, defiant “whatever” was basically admission to his wrongdoing. Inwardly, you were already celebrating your win over the bastard with a cold beer, cake and confetti, but on the outside, you only let the barest hint of a smile shine through your neutral mask. You still could ruin everything by showing how much it pleased you that Hatake had to take a clear stance now.

Thankfully, Kushina didn’t notice your little smile. Her entire concentration was on Hatake, who continued to pout like an angry child caught with its hand in the cookie jar, arms crossed over his chest and head turned away to look at the wall. So defiant, yet it had no use.

“You’re not serious, Kakashi. You can’t be serious right now.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Minato talked to you about this…”

“Can’t remember.”

“Sunday, over dinner. You said you would keep the peace.”

“Could be.”

“You said you would.” Kushina clicked her tongue. “Don’t tell me you drowned him again out and just nodded along.”

At that, Hatake merely shrugged. No further answer, no explanation, only more questions. Questions about their relationship. They met last Sunday for dinner? They were indeed that close? It sounded also a bit like it was a regular thing, measured at the casual mentioning of the Sunday-dinner. Also, the tone Kushina used.

Not the tone of a disappointed boss. Not the tone of an angry chef. More the tone of an exasperated older sibling or even more like…

A disappointed parent. 

Were they related, though? Nobody ever mentioned anything in that direction, that the Namikaze’s were somehow related to Hatake. Adoption, maybe? It was just incredibly bewildering to suddenly think that Minato and Kushina were trying to reign in when it came to his behavior. Really, really strange.

With hawk eyes, you continued to follow their conversation as they apparently completely forgot about your existence. Kushina was railing into the still defiant Hatake, who continued to stare at the wall and pretend he wasn’t even present.

“We also talked about this before! When you bullied Obito in School so hard, you made him cry. And now you’re what?”

“... kind of friends.”

“You invited him for our dinner a week after that talk! You were the Best Man at his wedding! I thought we were over this childish phase of yours, Kakashi.”

“I am.”

“It doesn’t look like it. Goddammit, we need to have another intervention with you, don’t we?”

At that, Hatake shrugged. “Do what you have to do.”

“And I plan to do exactly that,” Kushina grumbled, before her dark eyes set their sight again on you. “And you… No more screaming, please. I understand a lot has piled up there, but try to stay calm next time. Coming to Minato was good, even though it didn’t work out like you and we intended. My husband and I will have another, more intense, ” at that, she threw a glare at Hatake which made even him twitch ever so slightly, “talk than before. Apologize, Kakashi.”

“Hn.”

“ Now.”

Hatake sighed yet again. A deep, exasperated sigh like he didn’t get why he had to apologize. “Fine. I’m sorry, (Y/N). I’m sorry that it got this far. My childish behavior certainly was a bother to deal with, and I apologize for the troubles I caused you.”

It definitely sounded like he had to learn and repeat this little text at some point in his life, and now went back to this little security to get through the humiliation of apologizing to you. Still an asshole, even in defeat. Gods, what a dick. 

“Thank you,” a forced smile made its way onto your face, “I appreciate that.”

“Fine.”

“Good.”

“And additionally,” Kushina jerked her hand in a harsh motion from him to you, “you will buy her lunch as you ate hers. Only fair, right?”

“... Right.”

“And she will come next Sunday to our dinner.”

What? That was… 

“This is too much,” you interjected, “I can’t possibly accept that.”

“Oh, you will.” Kushina wouldn’t take a no on this one, you could already feel that. She was dead-set on getting her will, and she would get it. You already felt yourself giving in to the sheer pressure of your boss’ wife inviting you for dinner. How could you possibly say no? 

How bad could it be? One evening with Minato, Kushina and apparently also Kakashi. Just one evening. One damned evening. With your boss, his wife and your personal work-nemesis. No problem. Absolutely no fucking problem. 

You were so fucked.

“Sure.” Slowly, you nodded. “That will be… nice. It will be nice.”

It wouldn’t. It absolutely wouldn’t. Oh god, this would be a trainwreck. 

But if you thought that you would be the least excited person in the room about this prospect, then you were wrong. When you sneaked a glance at Hatake, he was actually scowling, downright scowling, before he noticed your eyes on him. Quickly, the scowl changed into a neutral mask of indifference. 

Oh, yes. This would be a disaster.