#Also there is no way that boy lives on the ocean and doesn't have a hell of a tan

[anothertimdrakestan]

living with the batboys headcanons!

req: begging on my hands and knees for what it's like moving into an apartment w/ the batboys/yj boys. like just gimme all the domestic fluff you can think of and all the things they'd be annoying abt yk

jason:

- he would be sooo annoying just wanting to sleep on the floor and leave everything behind

- "all we need is each other! let's forget the world babe!" to which you'd remind him "jace you literally have no clothes here and i'm not letting you spoon me on the wooden floor, i need a bed!!"

- begrudgingly, your strong man would move the boxes and happily hang any high-up decorations

- under your supervision, the apartment would become beautiful

- jace would put little locks on the windows so he could crawl in at any time of night, and his red hood gear would probably be strewn around until you put it back in the closet

- friends would come over and say "love what you've done with the place" to you, and give jason a thumbs up for trying

- he'd also bolt the bed to the wall so it doesn't shake when you- you know. yeah. it's jason todd after all.

tim:

- mr. gadget definitely has a techy house, the type where you can turn the lights on with your phone and set the AC from bed

- he's be sure to get a penthouse with a view and a grass balcony. he knew how you'd always wanted a pet and somewhere breathtaking to read, while gotham isn't the most beautiful, an ocean view would do!

- he never wants to stress you out, so he'd take it upon himself to schedule movers and place furniture in the ideal style

- he'd happily push the giant IKEA cart around if it meant he got to watch you skip through the store happily pointing at the things that would make your apartment a home

- champagne and a small get together once everything was finished, he'd be unable to look at you without a little tear in his eye, he never though the universe would grace him with your warmth, he'd buy you a million more houses if it meant you'd be calling his arms your home

- after long vigilante nights he gets a little too excited guessing where you'll be in the home, watching tv on the couch, curled up in bed, trying another internet recipe- he still gets butterflies when he opens the door and smells you in the air, and his heart skips a beat when you give him the first smile of the day in the morning

- though everything was moved in efficiently, you two still take trips to art galleries and farmers markets, looking for local treasures to bring home

- when you're at a wayne ent. gala tim waits excitedly for you to say "ready to go home?" because finally, home means being together

dick:

- richard asked you way too soon to move in

- you accepted because you needed your goofball around as much as possible

- with a rented u-haul and a dream you carried your stuff together. left airpod in his ear right in yours. showtunes, rap, and pop blasting at all times

- once the apartment was passable, you both slumped into chairs with bowls of cereal

- dick was excited to invite his family over to see the new place and you couldn't help but agree

- the family had a move-in party where everyone helps unpack the final pieces

- now looking at the mantle makes you think of roy, the animal-centric artwork of damian, new computer set up had to be tim, and the beautiful silk sheets and candles in the bedroom had to be dick himself. jason did leave a half drunk bottle of brandy though which was as warm a welcome gift as you expected

- for you and dick, it was home because the people you loved were there. it was rare to get time alone, but that's how you both preferred it, wrapped in the presence of the people you care about

- they say home is where the heart is, and your heart has never been more full than it was curled up in bed with dick, watching the batboys rip each other apart- hey everyone has their own definition of peace!

damian

- damian, when he's paying attention and not thinking about one of his many pets, is scarily good at reading your mind

- the minute you started thinking "this commute is awfully long" and "wouldn't it just be better if we were in the same home?" he was signing the lease to your new dream home

- full of natural light for both of your art work and ample room for the few pets that would move with you, it was perfect

- except the "art of surprise" excited dami so much he forget to ask if you were ok with moving

- you came home to an empty room and though you were robbed

- technically you were? but ii was worth it when damian unveiled his master plan

- with a little tweaking and a few target trips, everything was perfect, and like the gentleman he was, he there would always be a driver parked outside to take you wherever you wished to go

- dami couldn't contain his excitement that you both got to create daily schedules that revolved each other, dog walks in the morning, gossiping over lunch, and exploring the city together at night. even when you went out alone, he would insist he couldn't sleep until you were at home in his arms

- though you would protest, secretly you were the same way. nighttime routines just weren't the same without those green eyes staring lovingly at your every move

[gia-d]

Team W! As in Who let them near the fire rods???

Four, Legend and Hyrule

[kokii-omii]

The Babies (Viri lore)

i said that Viri was raised by his Papa, he was also raised on land because his papa married a human

so at a very young age Viridis had to learn to adapt to living on land for most of his life, he still got to visit his bio mama, but not very often due to his step mom

And since they couldn't see each other as much they gave Viri a locket that showed him the Coral Sea so if he ever missed the ocean he could still have a part of it in his locket

The locket played a song every time you opened it, he loved this locket so much

but his step mother wasn't as fond of it like Viri was, he would wear it to every occasion, and she eventually got fed up with it and threw it away into the ocean

viri doesn't have a lot to do at home, so he mostly draws things he sees in books or outside, tho he cant really see a lot of the outside with a wall blocking it

he wanted his locket back so bad that he was willing to sneak out and swim into the ocean just to be able to get it

so he found a way past the wall and crawled outside just to get to the ocean

but luckily for him, someone already found his locket so it saved him the trouble of searching around the area

and you guessed it, its Leo, this is the first time they ever meet, and they've been friends ever since,

and since then Viri has been constantly sneaking out without his step mother knowing and without ever getting caught (he's really cautious)

and him and leo hang out a lot, viri paints, and Leo just talks to him

Viri then had to live with his birth mama in the ocean, he didn't immediately live with them right away but every visit he had in the sea started getting longer and longer until his Papa told him to live with his mama for a while because him and his step mom we're having issues

its a good thing for Viri anyway, because his step mom was strict about Viri's diet, she was lenient with everything else, but it was specifically his diet she was constantly monitoring

she wouldn't let him eat sweets that she thought were "fatty" nor did she let him eat foods that seemed like they were gonna make him gain weight, so no junk food, no dessert, no oily foods etc

and when he visits his mama and she lets him eat the delicious foods he's always wanted to eat, his step mother cuts portions of his food in order to "balance out" the amount of stuff he ate at home

he was a really skinny kid but when he started living with his mama he started to get an average build going on (cuz the boy was actually getting fed)

and since he was in the ocean now, he gets to hangout with leo way more often now that they dont have to stay on land

[specialagentartemis]

godddddd i have disliked becky chambers' work since long way to a small angry planet and I agree that that fish scene is SO much of what is wrong with contemporary SFF especially queer SFF. refreshing take, great review, thank you. would love to hear what authors or works you think of as the antidote to that sensibility.

The thing is, I enjoyed The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet when I first read it - it was a fun, light adventure, clearly a debut novel but I was excited to see where Chambers would go from there. And I actually really do think the sequel, A Closed and Common Orbit, was good! It did interesting things with AI personhood and identity.

... and then Chambers just kinda. Did not get better. She settled into a groove and has a set number of ideas that I feel like she hasn't broken out of, creatively. And they I M O kind of rest on an assumption that "human nature" = "how people act in suburban California."

As an antidote to that sensibility, I'd say... books where people have a real interrelationship with the land they inhabit, a sense of being present, and reciprocal obligations to that land; books that recognize that some things can never be taken back once done; books with well-drawn characters, where people have strong opinions deeply informed by their circumstances, that can't always be easily reconciled with others, and won't be brushed aside; books where these character choices matter, they impact each other, they cannot be easily gotten over, because people have obligations to each other and not-acting is a choice too.

And it's only fair that after all day of being a Hater I should rec some books I really did like.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke - A man lives alone in an infinite House, over an equally infinite ocean. Captures the feeling that I think Monk & Robot was aiming for. Breathtaking beauty, wonder at the world, philosophy of truth, all that good stuff, and actually sticks the landing. The main character's love, attention, and care to his fantasy environment shows through in every page. (Fantasy, short novel)

Imperial Radch by Ann Leckie - An AI, the one fragment remaining of a destroyed imperial spaceship, is on a quest for revenge. Leckie gets cultural differences and multiculturalism, and conversely, what the imposition of a homogeneous culture in the name of unity means. (Space sci-fi, novel trilogy)

Machineries of Empire by Yoon Ha Lee - An army captain's insubordination is punished by giving her a near-impossible mission: to take down a rebelling, heretical sect holing up in a space fortress and defying imperial power. She gets a long dead brain-ghost of a notorious criminal downloaded into her head to help. Very, very good at making you feel like every doomed soldier was a person with a past, with a family, with feelings, with hopes and dreams and frustrations and favorites and preferences and reasons to live, right before they brutally die in a space war. Also very much about the imposition of homogeneity of culture as a force of imperialism. (Space sci-fi, novel trilogy)

The Fortunate Fall by Cameron Reed - Maya Andreyevna is a VR journalist in high-tech dystopian future Russia, and she decides to investigate the truth that the government doesn't want her to. She might die trying. It's fine. Also has digital brain-sharing, this time in a gay way. It's bleak. It's sad. It feels real. Not making a choice is a choice. Backing out is a choice. And choices have consequences. Choices reverberate through history. About responsibility. (Cyberpunk, novel)

The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez - Nia Imani is a spaceship captain, a woman out of time, a woman running from her past, and accidentally adopts a boy who has a strange power that could change the galaxy. Spaceship crew-as-found-family in the most heartbreaking of ways. Also about choices, how the choices you make and refuse to make shape you and shape the world around you. How the world is always changing around you, how the world does not stay still when you're gone, and when you come back you're the same but the world has moved on around you. About how relationships aren't always forever, and that doesn't mean they weren't important. About responsibility to others. It's a slow, sad book and does not let anyone rest on their laurels, ever. There is no end of history here. Everything is always changing, on large scales and small, and leaving you behind. (Space sci-fi, novel)

Dungeon Meshi / Delicious in Dungeon by Ryoko Kui - A D&D style fantasy dungeon crawl that stops to think deeply about why there are so many dungeons full of monsters and treasure just hanging around. Here because it's an example of an author thinking through her worldbuilding a lot, and it mattering. Also because of the characters' respect for the animals they are are killing and eating, their lives and their place in the ecosystem, and the ways that humans both fuck up ecosystems with extraction and tourism, but also the ways that you can have reciprocal relationships of responsibility and care with the ecosystem you live in, even if it's considered a dangerous one. (Fantasy, manga series)

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang and How Long 'Til Black Future Month by N. K. Jemisin and Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel by Julian K. Jarboe - Short story anthologies that were SO good and SO weird and rewired the way I think. If you want the kind of stuff that is like, the opposite of easy-to-digest feel-good pap, these short stories will get into your brain and make you consider stuff and look at the world from new angles. Most of them aren't particularly upbeat, but there's a lot of variety in the moods.

"Homecoming is Just Another Word for the Sublimation of the Self," "Calf Cleaving in the Benthic Black," and "Termination Stories for the Cyberpunk Dystopia Protagonist" by Isabel J. Kim - Short stories, sci-fi mostly, that twist around in my head and make me think. Kim is very good at that. Also about choices and not-making-choices, about going and staying, about taking the easy route or the hard one, about controlling the narrative.

The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells - Security robot with guns in its arms hacks itself free from its oppressive company, mostly wants to half-ass its job but gets sucked into drama, intrigue, and caring against its better judgement. This is on here because 1) I love it 2) I feel like it does for me what cozy sff so frequently fails to do - it makes me feel seen and comforted. It's hopeful and compassionate and about personal growth and finding community and finding one's place in the world, without brushing aside all problems or acting like "everybody effortlessly just gets along" is a meaningful proposal. also 3) because it is one of the few times I have yet seen characters from a hippie, pacifistic, eco-friendly, welcoming, utopian society actually act like people. The humans from Preservation are friendly, helpful, and motivated by truth and justice and compassion, because they come from a friendly, just, compassionate society, and they still actually act like real human beings with different personalities and conflicting opinions and poor reactions to stress and anger and frustration and fear and the whole range of human emotions rather than bland niceness. Also 4) I love it (space sci-fi, novella series mostly)

[jnnul]

ric flair drip

a/n: oh my god. it's finished. i've finally written all of her. i genuinely don't know how to explain the relief i feel right now. it feels strange writing this after writing and healing myself through writing this. i hope that anyone in college who's feeling the way y/n or jaehyun did knows that you can and will grow from it. heartbreak is inevitable and so is growth. quick note: feedback, comments, etc. GREATLY encourage writers! if you felt any sort of way (in a good or bad way!) about this fic, pls leave feedback!

word count: 20k

tags: college au!, frat boy!jaehyun x girlboss!y/n, honestly it just a dissertation about modern love and how people nowadays love each other, there's a lot of soul searching in this one, i poured my heart and soul into this please love her the way i do warnings: mentions of sex, underage drinking, and general college shenanigans! also explicit mentions of oral sex, uhhh foreplay and sex

HONESTLY, NOTHING ABOUT JUNG JAEHYUN IS REMOTELY APPEALING TO YOU. you hate the perfect boy act he puts on, you hate his need to impress everyone and everything, and you really fucking hated his dick.

because if it wasn't for his dick, which you were sure is just as perfect as the rest of his stupid self, you wouldn't be awake at inhumane hours, listening to your friend recount their sexcapades.

"oh my god, and then he did this thing with his tongue and i swear, i'm literally never going to be able to have oral again. he's fucking ruined me. i'm genuinely going to just make every guy i fuck put a jaehyun mask on from now onwards just to recreate it," sia yoo, unfortunately one of your best friends, quips dreamily. she yelps when roseanne park, your roommate and singular other voice of reason, throws a pillow at her.

"you sound like a fucking psycho. as in needs to be checked to a mental facility psycho. as in if i hadn't heard worse when you got with johnny suh, i'd be calling the cops right now psycho," roseanne says and easily ducks when sia winds up to throw the pillow back at her. fatima khan, sia's roommate and mother friend extraordinaire, pouts sympathetically with sia as the two of them turn to you as if you would fall on their side.

"sia, baby, honey, love and light of my life - i'm really sorry but i'm with rosie on this one," you say and sia puts on the most theatrical frown you she possibly could before she cocks her head curiously.

"rosie's got a reason for judging jaehyun since she doesn't even like men all that much. what's your excuse, y/n? you like men, judging by the way you were getting railed to next week by that freshie park seonghwa. you've never gotten dicked down by jaehyun."

you're half-tempted so tell sia that it's not fucking weird that you got with seonghwa, considering the fact that you're only a sophomore yourself but you're even more tempted to remind her that even though you were no stranger to a good time, you never recount your stories.

in fact, the only reason why the other three (well, you suppose rosie would know regardless given that you literally live with her) know about your sex life is because you choose to tell them whenever you felt like it. and usually, it was more than three days after the encounter.

you loved your friends, you really did - and sia was notorious for getting into one night stand rehash sessions at ungodly hours, so this was nothing new - but for some reason, every time jaehyun's name came up in the conversation, your skin would prickle with irritation.

maybe it was the fact that every single person around you seemed to be infatuated with him. or the fact that he was just so effortlessly good at capturing the attention of everyone in the room, no matter where he was.

or maybe, just maybe, it was the fact that you knew that if you looked too closely into the deep end, you'd fall right in with no life jacket. and jaehyun was an endless ocean.

+++

maybe you had given jaehyun too much credit, you lament. maybe jung jaehyun's as deep as a fucking kiddie pool. you know you're wrong because you were in the same english literature class and the man had been published because the professor liked his prose so much, she had submitted it to a literary journal.

and they had accepted it.

but as you stare at him across the lecture hall, burning holes into the poor guy's skull, you sure think he's stupid. because there was no way in fresh hell that jung jaehyun was in an introduction to east asia class. as a south korean.

people begin settling into their seats as you mull over the possibility that jaehyun had fucked so much, his brain had fallen out through his dick. from the stories of his more than above average size, it was definitely not out of the realm of possibility.

just as you're send a very judgmental text to fatima, who was supposed to be taking the class with you but had had to switch last minute when one of her major required classes opened up, jaehyun gets out of his seat to stand at the front of the room, next to the professor.

you realize belatedly that the people jaehyun had been so animatedly speaking to were none other than bambam and ten - two people who most definitely were in this class. and of course, they had chosen this class over all the others because oh my god, jung jaehyun is the uta for this class.

in hindsight, it makes sense, given that jaehyun is a east asian studies minor and a stellar fucking student. but it doesn't make the text you were about to send fatima any less humiliating as you realize your attempts to undermine his character were desperately failing. you try to backtrack on your phone, deleting the winding paragraph you were about to send her when your thumb slips, accidentally sending a half written message.

you: jaehyun is fucking

you're sure the statement will be true within the next couple hours (the jung bed at the nct frat never seemed to stay empty for too long - and that was just from orientation week last week) but it felt almost blasphemous that you would send a text so crude to your friend when you insisted that you couldn't stand his guts.

or what lay between them, really.

three gray dots appear on your screen as you half-heartedly listen to your professor drone on about how he went to china, became a changed man, and now taught about the wonders of east asia and its exoticism. his name was paul but the class could refer to him by his 'enlightened name' - lao ma. even jaehyun rolls his eyes behind the professor's back as all of the asian kids in the classroom begin to eye each other warily.

if this class wasn't so easy, you're sure the population would've shrunk to a quarter its size based on the weirdness of the professor on its own. or maybe not, if it meant that people got to stare at jaehyun's gorgeous face for an hour and a half every monday morning.

mommy tima 🤍: honey, i think whatever sia's got going is contagious. mommy tima 🤍: aren't you the one who hates him? mommy tima 🤍: he really lives in your mind rent free, huh.

you scoff under your breath as you type furiously, vaguely registering that you definitely need to check the syllabus for this class later because you have not been listening to a word the professor has said this whole time.

you: first sia's got cooties or a raging std that's what she's got going you: second he's my fucking uta you: as in i am going to be forced to see his face for an entire semester mommy tima 🤍: drop the class then, babe. you: can't this is too good for my gpa & the prof's a freak you: it's a gpa cushion and a circus in one go

you tuck your phone away when you see that jaehyun is coming up the aisle on your side with a packet while the professor is on the other aisle on the other side with the same packet to hand out. jaehyun probably wouldn't care that you had your phone out during lecture (syllabus week was just an excuse for college kids to get drunk during school days anyway) but it was the principle of the thing.

"here you go - oh, it's stuck together," jaehyun says as he stops at where you're sitting. his tongue slips out as he thumbs at the packet to give you one instead of three and suddenly, your treacherous brain takes you back to sia's rambling the night before.

and then he did this thing with his tongue...

you're shaken back to reality when you realize that you're staring at a blank wall, with a pink packet in front of you, and jaehyun has already reached the back of the classroom.

fuck. shit. bitch.

jaehyun had seen you stare at his stupidly handsome face and then some. he was your ta. oh my god, what if he docked points on some test because he thought you were the creepy stalker type.

damn you, sia yoo, you curse in your head.

+++

"damn you, sia yoo!" you yell over the blaring music that's so loud, you can feel the vibrations in your skull. there absolutely no reason you should be caught dead in a frat on the friday of syllabus week but sia had made it her mission to make sure you had a going out rate of at least 80% this school year, given that you were prone to trying to skip out on weekends out last year.

not that you didn't like going out - you actually really liked going out with your friends. you just took a little more inertia to get to the energy levels of actually going on.

sia just nods at you lazily as she bounces to the beat of another shitty remix of 'what you came for' by calvin harris and rihanna. you never understood why frats always found the worst remixes of classic party bangers but anything flew after you had enough alcohol in your system so the music would recede to the depths of your mind in a couple cups of whatever the fuck this drink was.

especially since you were a full sunshine drunk; whenever you were drunk, you became the life of the party and would always be found in the center of the room, regardless of the music. sia was a flirty drunk and you really couldn't remember the last time sia actually spent the entire weekend in her own bed. props to her stamina, honestly.

rosie was a mix of you and sia in that she would become so much more bubbly but the second she found someone she wanted to spend the night with, she went after them with no hesitation.

fatima usually played the role of sober mommy when you all went out. although she was never one to miss out on a good time, when she did get drunk, she much preferred it to be within the confines of the four walls that she shared with her roommate and the people she trusted the most - you, rosie, and sia.

which is why when rosie abandons you for her on again, off again fuck buddy (miyeon cho) and her fuck buddy (yugyeom kim), you're not surprised at all.

"that's going to be an interesting story in the morning," you say, nodding to where rosie, miyeon, and yugyeom are all heading upstairs together. fatima nudges you to look at sia, where she's pressed up against none other than johnny suh (or the love of her life, prior to jaehyun, apparently).

"that's going to be an interesting story in the afternoon," fatima counters. you turn to her with furrowed eyebrows, as if to question the timing. "i don't think i've ever heard of a girl leaving johnny's bed before 3 o'clock the next afternoon."

your jaw hangs in shock as you watch your friend wrap her arms around the tall man's neck, whispering something into his ear when he bends down to kiss her collarbone.

"are all of the nct boys secretly porn stars or something? how can they all be that good in bed?" you gape, waving at sia when she turns around to wink at you and fatima as her and johnny are bustling out of the door, undoubtedly to the nct frat house.

"they test us as part of rushing," says a low, velvety voice behind you. a hot rush of shame runs up your spine for two reasons: a) you were able to recognize jung jaehyun just from his voice and b) he heard you gossiping about his frat brothers' sexual prowess.

you exchange a look with fatima before whipping around to meet jaehyun eye to eye. he's wearing a plain black t-shirt and lightwash distressed jeans but he might as well be wearing designer trash bags for all you care. what you do care about, unfortunately, is the almost slutty way his v-neck dips to show off the beginnings of the planes of his chest.

you feel no better than a victorian man and it takes fatima a poorly concealed cough to break you out of your thoughts. fuck, you'd done it again. you really needed to stop getting caught up in jung jaehyun's pretty face. and body. and that stupid smile.

"haha. very funny. sounds like something straight out of a cheesy porno sponsored by viagra or something," you say, rolling your eyes. smooth. very smooth. normally, you like to think that you're proficient in the witty banter department but something about this boy made you almost feel dumb about your comebacks.

jaehyun cocks an eyebrow, and you're distinctly made aware that even with platform sneakers on, jaehyun is a good head taller than you when you have to look upwards to notice the motion. "you seem to be well versed, y/n. you make it a habit to stay up to date?"

you flush at the thinly veiled euphemism at your x-rated movie watching habits before clearing your throat. "i'm more of a fan of practical study, really. i am a scientist, after all."

you're aware that fatima has slipped away from you to talk to another friend, park jeonghwa, and also the fact that you are slowly beginning your descent into drunkenness but you can't seem to bring yourself to find the caution in it all. it's just jaehyun, after all.

jaehyun hums, bringing the solo cup in his hand to his lips to take a swig. "you're a biomedical engineering major, aren't you?"

you balk at that. "wait, wait. you know my name and my major?"

jaehyun nods slowly, seemingly stumbling for a moment before he gains his self-confidence once more. "you don't know mine?"

"you're literally my ta. i know you're an east asian studies minor and your name because you told the class," you say, recovering quickly. it was a really good thing you were a quick thinker because you were lying through your teeth.

you knew jaehyun's name, minor, and even major (computer science) because of his notorious reputation, not because he was your ta. but the last thing you wanted was to give him the satisfaction of asserting his popularity on campus.

"anyway. what was that you were saying about 'practical study'?" jaehyun's eyes twinkle in the dim lighting of the cramped basement you were in and you had a feeling that if you were any more inebriated, you'd be diving headfirst into jung jaehyun's bed as long as he looked at you like that.

but fortunately (unfortunately?) you're sober enough to make mostly intelligent decisions - which just means that you're not going to jump headfirst. maybe feet first but not headfirst.

"wouldn't you like to know," you sing-song, leaning into jaehyun's body enough to smell the mix of woody pine, fresh water, and vodka that seems to emanate from him. jaehyun watches you as you lean over him to grab another solo cup from the assortment that some lower ranked frat brother had been forced into bartending.

you down the entire drink in two swigs, patting away the stray stream of alcohol that had dripped down onto your chest. you don't notice the way jaehyun's eyes follow your hand down its descent to your chest. but you finally feel like your element, and in a moment of sheer idiocy and liquid courage, you enter the growing throng of bodies behind you, beckoning jaehyun to follow you.

you're not 100% sure what you want from him, honestly. you want to have a good time, and you're sure you'll have one with or without him. but something about the way jaehyun follows you like a puppy into the mess of people makes you feel like a zap of electricity has hit your body.

and if you're being completely honest with yourself (as you usually only are with ethanol in your system), you really didn't hate jaehyun. you had no qualms with him as a person, even if you hated the consequences that came with a night with him.

it's when you're in the middle of the crowd, with jaehyun looking at you with those hooded eyes and hands tucked into his pockets when you realize what you want from jaehyun jung.

you want him to desire you the way that his mere presence makes people desire him.

so you do what you do best and just let go. it's ric flair drip by metro boomin that's playing - a song that's definitely not the one to get down to. but the bass fills you up in a way that never hits the same outside of a sweaty frat basement so you can't even bring yourself to care.

"i'm tryna fuck you and your bestie," you sing along with the near hundred people surrounding you. jaehyun is still looking at you with an eyebrow sitting higher and an appraising expression; something that somehow manages to get under your skin.

in a moment of passion, you manage to hook your fingers into one of jaehyun's belt loops, pulling him closer to you. you're aware that you've painted yourself to be jaehyun's next conquest if the way that the girls next to you look upset means anything, but you couldn't care less.

especially when you're this close to the bane of your existence. the song switches to something a little more what you need (under the influence by chris brown) and you look up at jaehyun through your lashes and in that moment, jaehyun knows what you're offering him through your gaze.

a challenge.

+++

jaehyun never really meant to take on the role of nct's resident whore. in fact, jaehyun had been planning on doing the exact opposite when he came to college.

although it was unbelievable now, jaehyun jung had originally just been a very strange, nerdy, and sweet boy. he never got up to much trouble, kept to himself most of the time, and was known for...nothing, really. he was sweet and bubbly but he wasn't exactly running with the popular crowd.

in fact, jaehyun was kinda forgotten all throughout his schooling. it was easy to forget about jaehyun, as though he were some visage in a dream that everyone shared.

it hurt.

so when jaehyun finally hit his growth spurt in senior year, started going to the gym, and his voice no longer cracked every other sentence, he felt like a whole new person. like he was finally the main character in his own life.

it felt so fucking good to look at the same girls who had smiled at him pitifully and have them melting under a single wink. the summer between high school and college had been wild, with more stories than jaehyun could really even care to keep track of.

but when college began, jaehyun was fully intending to return to flying under the radar with his new upgrade in personality, appearance, and wardrobe. with a face like his, however, doing so was about as easy as trying to pass professor yoon's intro to bio class - nearly impossible.

slowly but surely, jaehyun morphed back into the personality he had adopted that summer and surprisingly, it wasn't as foreign as he thought. he was still a good student and wasn't a stranger to having to skip out on hanging out with his friends to study.

but having a new girl in his bed every other day? that was definitely new. a new revelation, but a welcome one nonetheless.

and in that, jaehyun was used to people using all sorts of tactics to get with him. playing hard to get, with coy smiles and flirtatious winks. or the bold ones, who told him straight up that they wanted to spend the night with him. even the downright horrifying ones who tried to pretend like they were blackout drunk in hopes that that would 'attract' him. spoiler alert? it didn't.

jaehyun originally thought you were of the 'hard to get' caliber. the type of girl to say that she wasn't like other girls and that's why he should get with her instead. so initially, when he approached you at the party after seeing you in his class, he was mentally preparing himself for the whole pick me speech.

but it was something about the way you looked at him.

it was like two halves of your mind were battling against each other. on one hand, you looked like you wanted to fax jaehyun straight into the fiery pits of hell with high speed shipping. on the other, it also seemed like you wanted nothing more than to ride him until the sun came up. mixed with a little bit of curiosity, confusion, and downright anger with yourself for all the emotions, you looked like the perfect cocktail of firebrand that jaehyun couldn't help but become intrigued by.

so when you were laughingly talking to your best friend (jaehyun's frat brother kun was half in love with fatima, which meant that jaehyun was more than well acquainted with her) about him and frat brothers, he took it to be the opportunity he needed.

and when you're looking at him like this, daring him to make a move, almost as if to make your mind fall one way or another about drawing a conclusion on him, what is jaehyun to do but to make good on the challenge you've offered?

he watches you for a moment more, trying to commit the memory of what you look like when you're this carefree and happy, before taking the micro-step it takes to get so close he can smell the citrus and apple cider that you seem to always smell like.

"i promise you i can fuck you better than johnny," jaehyun says, a corner of his lips tilted up as your eyes flutter the closer he draws.

"johnny's your 'bestie'?" you say, and jaehyun can tell that the last threads of your resolve are starting to snap by the way that your hand is now pressed against his chest.

"that's what you're curious about right now? the dynamics of the nct frat brothers?" jaehyun asks but he knows that this back and forth is exactly you need right now; the time to decide if you can take the plunge. or if jaehyun's worth your time tonight.

"as i mentioned, i'm a scientist," you say, and even as your voice stays stable, your fingers seem to leave burning trails against jaehyun's skin as they dip and feed into crevices of jaehyun's body that he didn't even know existed.

"hmm," jaehyun manages to eke out when your fingers lace into his hair. he's not sure how you manage to find every single sensitive spot he has but he's fairly impressed by the way you catch his breath hitching as you work your other hand up as well.

"hmm? cat got your tongue, jaehyun?" you say, making sure that jaehyun looks straight into your eyes as you lean impossibly closer. "you know that sia's with johnny right now, right? girls talk - especially with your best friends. which means that if you can't make good on your promise, i will find out."

jaehyun feels like he's sweating like a pig but thankfully, you don't notice, too busy making him sweat. he clears his throat once, and then twice to make sure that his voice doesn't give out.

"that right?" he says, and you roll your eyes, letting go of him and stepping back. you seem to appraise him for a moment (and jaehyun is unnaturally nervous about what you will decide) before grabbing his hand and leading him to the door. you only pause to flag down fatima, who takes one look at your intertwined hands, and waves the two of you away.

jaehyun blushes like a schoolgirl at the way fatima flashes him a catty smile.

"i swear to god, jaehyun, if you're all talk and no game - or if you're gonna sit still and look pretty the whole time - i will literally blue ball you. i don't do pillow princes," you throw over your shoulder as the two of you make your way to the nct frat. jaehyun knows for a fact that the nct frat will not be a quiet place tonight by the number of dresses and pants he sees in the foyer and leading the way up the stairs.

he says nothing, even as you're quite nearly storming up the stairs with a certain level of urgency, almost as though if you were to slow down and think about just exactly what you're doing, you'd turn around and leave right now.

jaehyun definitely can't let that happen.

so the second that he gets you into his bedroom (he had to rock, paper, scissors with doyoung to get the room tonight), he shuts the door and locks it behind him. he turns around to see you looking between the two beds, as if trying to guess which one was jaehyun's.

he mentally pats himself on the back when he sees the fresh sheets on the bed. reaching where you stand in less than a stride, jaehyun turns you so that you're facing his bed, and you squirm to turn to meet his eyes even as his hands are on your waist.

"what is with your hands?" you ask harshly and jaehyun blinks as he looks down.

"what do you mean? they're on your waist," jaehyun says softly, and once again, he's hit with a wave of citrus and apple cider. you simper at him, grabbing his wrist and moving it incriminatingly downwards.

"what am i? a virgin? put them somewhere useful." you whisper the last part and it's as though jaehyun has just woken up.

"you know," jaehyun begins, sliding his other hand downwards to sit comfortably on the curve of your ass. "if i didn't know any better, i'd think you were trying to rile me up. i wonder..."

he doesn't finish his thought, instead pulling you close so that your hips are pressed against his. he can hear the gasp that you're desperately trying to conceal, coughing uselessly to the side. a devilish smirk grows on jaehyun's lips and for the first time in a long time, you're sure you're going to be up all night.

+++

you were, in fact, trying to rile him up. you had heard all the rumors about jaehyun and johnny, about how one night with them was like one night in heaven. hell, you'd had first hand accounts from sia yoo about exactly what it's like to be in bed with either of them - multiple times.

so when jaehyun had fronted with such a cautious attitude when he realized what you wanted, you were almost offended. if you wanted to take control and fuck a man's brains out, you could do that with anyone. why would you fight against your own mind this much to get with him?

but seonghwa park. changkyun im. even kun qian, before you discovered he was head over heels for fatima. jung jaehyun.

these were all people who put you in your place. the way you wanted to be. it just seemed as though jaehyun might've needed a little more persuasion to get there.

so yes, you were riling him up. was that such a crime?

by the way jaehyun's looking at you right now, his breath hot and heavy on your neck and his eyes dark with a feeling that you can't describe but resonates with you on a deeper, more primal level.

"you know, after you got with kun, he wouldn't shut up about it for a week," jaehyun says, pressing kisses down your neck, pausing when he reaches your breastbone. he eyes your corset top with a discerning eye before reaching behind you to pull the lace strings that were precariously holding your top for a week.

"yeah?" you ask, threading your fingers through jaehyun's thick hair as he makes quick work of your top, leaving it pooled on the floor as his lips find your chest as though he couldn't be physically parted from it.

"yeah. even after he met fatima, he said that you were the best he's ever had - that's a big reputation to live up to when you're in nct," jaehyun says, his voice breathy and deep as he walks you backwards so that the back of your knees hit the frame of his bed.

"hmm. what can i say? i know what i want and what i want is usually lots of fun," you say, letting jaehyun unzip your jeans, pulling them down and kicking them off when jaehyun moves too slowly.

"i know. god, after knowing that you and kun were going at it, i swear everyone was jerking off in their room for an hour. even winwin wanted to go for you today. you're an unpredictable woman; no one knows where and when you're going to show up to one of the parties so everyone has to take their chances when they get them," jaehyun says, tugging his shirt off and throwing it somewhere behind him carelessly.

you nearly melt when you see jaehyun's uncovered top, eyeing each and every hard ridge of his body, reaching out to touch him. his chest is almost soothingly warm as your fingers memorize each and every aspect of the planes of his chest, almost worried that they might disappear if you let go.

jaehyun looks at you amusingly as he lets your fingers dance across his body, focusing on tugging your panties off to discard them where he's sure he's going to have to search for them later on.

you pout when you see the difference in clothing but jaehyun just gently pushes you backwards so that your back is against his bed, leaving your pussy exposed in away that makes you feel absolutely mortified. you move to gain some level of privacy back but jaehyun is too fast, gripping onto your thighs incriminatingly as he raises an eyebrow.

"don't think that i'm soft just because i'm being nice to you now, pretty girl. i know you don't like to listen but don't hide from me. i will not let you have any fun if you try to hide from me," jaehyun says, his voice dropping a full octave. you suppress the shiver that runs through your body (and that simultaneously delights jaehyun) as you nod softly.

he seems satisfied by the way your body melts and rewards you for your submission by licking a wet strip up your pussy, one hand snaking up to touch your nipple while the other one keeps your thighs open.

jaehyun is slow at first, exploring each and every hidden crevice of your body but as he feels you get wetter and wetter, he can't seem to stay soft for too long. he continues to press his lips against yours but the moment you try to grind your hips against his lips, he pulls away, his tongue darting out to taste your essence on him.

you almost whine at the loss of his hot mouth on your pussy, and you're embarrassed to realize that in front of jaehyun jung, you are no better than your best friend in falling in love with the way he moves.

"you're not going to cum from my tongue, baby," jaehyun says, practically ripping the belt out from where it was caging his jeans. "especially when i know that your pussy is magic."

"you say that, jaehyun, but you're being so fucking soft. if i didn't know any better, i'd think you're in love with me," you snort, trying to catch your breath. jaehyun freezes from where his boxers are hanging so low on his hips, you can see the muscles in his pelvis tense angrily as he looks at you dangerously.

"my fucking bad for making sure you're wet enough to take me," jaehyun whispers, pulling close to you. his eyes turn even darker than usual and a small spark of excitement ignites in your chest when you realize that you've finally reached it - jaehyun's breaking point.

"sounds like you're scared, jaehyun. you know what? you know why kun was so good? because he wasn't scared. he wasn't scared to fuck me like he was trying to break the bed," you retort, and saying kun's name is when jaehyun finally snaps. he tears his boxers off as he pushes you so that you're further up on his bed.

"y/n, i'm not fucking joking around. if you want me to stop, say it now. just say the word, and i'll pretend like this never happened. because i swear to every god in existence, if you let me, i'll ruin every other man for you," jaehyun says and his knuckles turn white from how hard his clenching his fingers to keep himself from pouncing. the thought is almost cute if you weren't desperate to be fucked into next week.

"if i wanted you to stop, i wouldn't have said kun's name, would i?"

that's all it takes. no sooner do the words leave your mouth, jaehyun's on top of you, every inch of his body fighting to claim yours. he's not sure what it is about being with a bratty girl but every time a girl tries to challenge him, jaehyun can feel his excitement grow as his mind runs wild with ways to prove you wrong.

and with a girl as beautiful and sexy as you? he was going to have the time of his life.

time of his life he does.

+++

when jaehyun wakes up, he's almost happy. almost because he has bruises on his hips from how hard he had pounded into you, a litter of hickeys across his chest, and freshly washed hair from when you had enticed him into taking a shower with you.

inevitably, it led to another hour in the shower that jaehyun had spent having his soul sucked out from his dick, eating you out under the shower, and seeing you cum twice just from his tongue.

if only he had woken up with you still in his bed, jaehyun would've actually been happy.

realistically, jaehyun had no clue what he was expecting. after taking a shower, it had taken you a total of five minutes to fall asleep in his arms, wearing nothing but jaehyun's oversized t-shirt and your panties.

there was no pillowtalk, no heart to hearts, nothing. no discussions of having whatever happened last night happening again. no trying to get to know each other better.

not that you had ever been obligated to do so. if anything, jaehyun was far more obligated to do so, after practically declaring that he had wanted to get with you since last semester - which he had been completely serious about.

but with his reputation, regardless of what he had said last night, jaehyun's almost 100% sure that you would've disappeared by the morning.

he's so caught up in his thoughts that he almost misses the bright pink post-it note on his neatly folded shirt on his desk in the corner of the room.

9.5/10. if you see sia, tell her she was right about your tongue. see you in intro to east asia on monday.

jaehyun's half disappointed and half happy. disappointed because you'd never left your number or anything and happy because at least he knew that you weren't going to completely avoid him whenever you ran into each other next.

he shakes his head as he folds the post-it note and throws it in the trash can next to his desk.

jaehyun jung may not have started college with the intention of becoming the resident fuckboy but he still had a reputation to maintain. he had fucked countless women over his time at sm university and he had no intention of falling for any of them.

he was not about to get soft-hearted or soft-dicked by a girl he was with once.

even if she was really good in bed. like really really good. like good enough to make him think about the other boys she's been with and if they'd made you feel as good as he did.

fuck. her. which jaehyun had already done. which meant that he needed to move onto the next step of the day before his head exploded with all of the implications flying around in his mind about their relation to each other (nonexistent) and if you were thinking about him like he was thinking of you (you weren't).

he pads out of his room, passing doyoung on the way out, who claps him on the back and says, "you finally got with y/n?" jaehyun doesn't know how doyoung knows but it strikes him that neither of you are very subtle people and you had caused quite the scene leaving with him last night.

similar reactions are offered to him by everyone he passes. he's not really sure how many of the boys you've been with but jaehyun can feel his street cred go up by at least a decameter with the way some of these pledges are looking at him.

in fact, everyone is looking at him with a new look of respect in their eyes until he reaches the kitchen, where yoo sia and johnny are sitting, practically eye-fucking.

jaehyun was very used to seeing johnny's friends in the kitchen the next day, neither of them ready to really say goodbye each other yet but for some reason, knowing that sia was your best friend and seeing her with johnny sets jaehyun's stomach into a series of knots that he was sure he was going to have to unravel when he had his head on straight.

"she already left?" sia says, finally breaking her stare from johnny's. jaehyun shrugs, digging around the fridge to see if they had any coffee. they didn't (none that wasn't expired anyway) so he has to settle for a caprisun.

"she had somewhere to be," jaehyun says. he wants to ask sia if it's normal for you to leave that early. it can't be if sia seems surprised that you'd left before the clock struck ten. what did that mean? what does that say about jaehyun? oh god. what if you hated it. what if you hated it so much that you didn't want to spend a second longer with jaehyun.

he cringes as he locks eyes with another shiny eyed pledge (jaehyun thinks his name is jungwoo) and tries to shake his head to clear any and all thoughts of you. he was pussydrunk. that was the only explanation. he just needed to dick down someone else and then he would get over whatever little infatuation thing he had going on.

"really? hmm..." sia says finally. jaehyun turns to see her looking right at him and suddenly, he's transported back to the previous weekend, when sia had been wrapped up in his sheets.

+++

"why did you start fucking around like this?" sia had asked, her chest still heaving from their previous illicit activities as she wraps herself tighter in jaehyun's sheets. jaehyun pauses for a moment as he catches his breath, pulling on his boxers as he thinks. he throws the shirt that sia's grabbing at, still not sure how to piece together his thoughts.

or why he wants to tell sia the truth. maybe it's because no one's ever asked about it before, but jaehyun feels strangely vulnerable as sia watches as he clambers back into his bed, her expression pensive and uncharacteristically wise.

"i don't know," jaehyun says honestly, laying over the covers as he feels his face grow hotter under sia's unrelenting stare. "i think it's because i wanted to know what it felt like. to know what it felt like to be wanted for a night instead of just being in the sidelines as the guy with the potential. just the guy that people brought along as the friend of the hot guys that kept him around."

sia doesn't say anything, instead turning so that she was lying on her back. jaehyun turns to look at her, to see if he could decipher some level of understanding from her silence. really, he knows that he should feel embarrassed about confessing his insecurities to a girl that he's hooked up with two or three times but he can't bring himself to for some reason.

maybe it's because he knows that she wouldn't say anything about it to anyone. or because he knows that she's head over heels for johnny, whether she'd admit it or not. or maybe it's just because for the first time, someone had asked something about jaehyun just to get to know him as a person, rather than trying to get him in their bed.

not that he really minded that - it just made him feel like it was all a lot more transactional than he was used to. he had been a romantic once upon a time. when you grew up with the nickname of 'valentine boy', it would have been stranger if he didn't have some sense of romance.

but jaehyun's penchant for romance disappeared almost just as soon as he realized that no one else was yearning for a pure type of love like he was.

and yet, it didn't bother him as much as he thought it would. turns out that jaehyun's a very adaptable man. if he wouldn't find love in this decade, then perhaps it would be lust that he would have to settle for.

"then again," he begins, gaze darting over to where sia had slipped on his t-shirt as she tiredly begins to settle down in his bed once more. "isn't that what everyone is doing nowadays? looking for a warm body for the night, instead of a genuine connection?"

sia snorts at that, turning so that she was facing jaehyun now. "don't tell me that you're one of the boomer types. the ones who always go around peacocking about how they were born in the wrong generation and that they're one of the 'good guys'. i might actually leave right now if you are."

"no, no i'm not. well. maybe a little bit. but i don't know why that's so bad to be honest," jaehyun acquiesces finally. sia rolls her eyes, but even she goes quiet for a moment. once again, jaehyun's reminded that this is sia yoo - a girl who routinely wakes up in someone else's sheets every saturday (although it was johnny's more often than not) and as sexist as it was, someone who carried a reputation for it. even jaehyun was surprised to find that she was such a deep conversationalist.

of course, he mentally berates himself soon after but he can't help the thought. for him, sia was just the girl he would get with a couple times. a good time. the fact that that's the only role she fulfilled in his mind made him feel disgusting inside out as he waits for her response, vowing that he would work to change his mindset. or maybe just change personalities altogether. ick.

"you know one of my best friends? y/n? the one who got with kun before he decided to go clean for fatima?" sia says with a careful tone. jaehyun nods, not trusting that he wouldn't say something dumb after his sudden realization of his flawed thinking.

"this is something she always says but it's honestly pretty simple: love is however you want to define it. humans spend so much trying to find labels and definitions for things that just might not have or need them. for such an advanced species, we spend so much time concerned about how to put a feeling into a box or how to classify a thought instead of rejoicing in the fact that we had such a beautiful feeling in the first place."

"for people in this generation, the old school love is hard to find because they've got so many other types of love that weren't allowed back when old school love was big. it's a different type of freedom to love someone on the weekends but never to fall in love with them. maybe we're just romanticizing hookup culture but who's to say that we can't? maybe we're all more romantic than we want to admit. maybe when we fall into the sheets with someone we barely know, we're looking for a fragment of love to satiate our heart in ways we didn't know it needed."

jaehyun doesn't know what to say to that so he just pulls her closer to him and she lets him, throwing her leg over his as they fall asleep, closer to each other than they had ever been.

+++

you're not sure what had compelled you to leave so quickly that morning. you usually like to get the boys who sleep with to at least cook you breakfast before you left (for compensation of being terrible in bed, if the situation so called for it) but for some reason, every instinct in your body had pulled you to leave.

you had waken up at nearly 5 in the morning, a mere two and a half hours after the two of you had fallen asleep, gathered your clothes, and were about to leave when you turn to look at jaehyun, still snoring away peacefully, his arm crossing his body to rest on the empty space next to him that you had occupied previously.

you had a feeling that you're going to lament leaving this early after psychoanalyzing why you were leaving so early later in the day but for now, if your gut was telling you to leave, you were going to heed the precautions.

but even as you're about to leave, you find yourself turning to jaehyun's desk, sparse but somehow still a little messy as you rummage for a post-it note and a pen to write with. you grin to yourself when you find yourself successful (and endearing somehow that jaehyun has bright pink post-it notes).

you pass a brother on the way out (undoubtedly a freshman who had received the short stick of the duties tonight) but you wave him off when he offers to walk you home. dangerous? most definitely. but you really needed the time and space to yourself and the short, almost ten minute walk back to your apartment would offer some enlightenment.

spoiler alert: it didn't. no matter how hard you wracked your brain to come up with some version of a logical explanation, you realized that there was just simply no way to do so.

and something about that frustrated you. you knew it wasn't a big deal. jaehyun was just a hook-up. a one night stand. and yet...something wasn't fitting right in your mind. so you start to think in the only way you know how, collecting all of the pieces of information you did have.

a) you just had sex - mind-blowing sex with jaehyun. he was everything you expected and more when it came to a sexual partner. b) you didn't develop feelings for him. sex comes fifth on the list of things you subconsciously (or now consciously, since you've spoken it into existence) have when looking for a potential boyfriend. first comes personality, then intelligence, then ambition, then looks, and then sex. you didn't even have a conversation long enough to figure out if jaehyun had more than three brain cells to piece together. c) jaehyun jung had confessed that he had wanted to get with you since last semester. did he mean with you-r body or with you?

you shake your head as if to physically shake the irrational thoughts in your mind out and press your id against the scanner at the entrance of your apartment building, rubbing your fingers against your temples as you get into the elevator to reach your apartment.

unlocking the door to your (empty) apartment, you decide to shelf the thoughts for some time when your head wasn't pounding and collapse on your bed, thanking the lords you'd had the sense to take a shower at jaehyun's.

and the last thing you remember is the smell of jaehyun's shampoo in your hair as you drift into blissful, dreamless sleep.

+++

you're not surprised to feel a weight on your bed when you wake up the next morning. you blearily open your eyes to make out sia's general figure, rosie and fatima undoubtedly chatting quietly in the kitchen.

you vaguely piece together something about fatima having kun over but him sleeping on the couch and you try to push down the guilt that creeps up into your brain as you realize that you had left fatima alone at the party. a party where all of you knew a lot of people (and the outcome was just as everyone had thought it would be) but the principle of the matter stung nonetheless.

you push aside the thought - along with the idea that you should probably apologize to fatima when the cottony feeling in your mouth started to subside - in favor of looking at sia, who is strangely quiet as she watches you gather yourself. for her boisterous personality, sia yoo could see through anyone to the extent of theorized telepathy so you don't even bother trying to hide anything from her.

although, it really is hard to take her seriously when she's got hickey's littered across her neck. well. you suppose you don't look much better at the moment.

"you left before 10 o'clock," sia says simply. you don't pretend to not understand what she means as you nod, pushing yourself up on your bed as fatima and rosie also enter, rosie handing you a glass of water.

"i know," you say softly. "but i want to hear about everyone else's nights right now. i just don't know that i'm in the right headspace to think about why i left so early - i'm not even sure i know why i left so early."

sia says nothing for a moment, watching your face, almost as if she were trying to read your very essence. but she relents, reaching out to hold your hand briefly before completely switching up, speaking animatedly about her very adventurous night, leaving you to simmer in your thoughts.

had sia always been this smart? probably. who's to say that she wasn't, after all?

turns out that sia and johnny were actually going to go on a date on wednesday, after realizing that their chemistry extended further out of the bedroom than either of them had expected. sia was through the roof, obviously, given that she had been thirsting over johnny (although more in a sexual sense than anything else) for so long.

rosie, miyeon, and yugyeom also worked a lot better than any of them had thought so you were sure that you were going to lose your roommate to the other '97 liners more often for the foreseeable future.

fatima was the only one who had a pg night, with kun coming over to her apartment and just chilling together the whole night, eventually having him sleep over since he was too tired to walk back to the apartment that he lived out (it was on the other side of campus, given that he moved out of the nct house pretty late into the semester last year).

"speaking of kun, when are you guys gonna make it official? i mean after this year, you guys are going to only have one year together before you guys graduate," you say, bunching your comforter before letting go. it felt weird saying that. especially in regards to your friends. theoretically, you had all the time in the world together.

but all the time in the world wasn't enough when it came to these girls.

fatima sighs before getting up, wringing her hands together as she thinks. "i don't know. i mean kun's graduating a year early so i really only have this year left. i - i know how much he likes me. i know that he wants to do this right way. go the whole nine yards."

"but...?" rosie says, elongating the syllables as you and sia look at her patiently. fatima shakes her head, getting up to walk around the room, six paces enough to take her from one side of your room to the other.

"i just don't know. kun's great and honestly, i really think that's the one. or at least one of the ones for me. but i just don't know if my parents would be okay with it. i mean my parents are great! they give me so much freedom and honestly, i'm really thankful that my parents allowed me to find religious and spiritual freedom on my own, without ever trying to shove it down my throat."

"but at the same time...how can i betray their trust in me by dating someone who is so far from my religion? like. kun is a great guy but he's not muslim. and sure, i don't follow a lot of the stricter things in islam but i - i have god in my heart. and i don't know that god would want me to start a family that doesn't follow islam. especially since i can see that in my future with kun and kun - i don't know that i could ask kun to convert to another religion for me."

the room is silent for a little bit after fatima finishes, with her collapsing in your bed next to you. rosie and sia exchange a look with each other, and then you, as they both decide to leave the room, leaving you to console fatima.

you were always the most philosophical one out of the bunch anyway.

"look, fatima, i can't pretend to know what it's like to have that kind of mental burden and i really can't understand what it's like to think about the future and be concerned about the impact on the world you might create. i read about something the other day though - did you know that kun means 'manifesting' or 'believing' in arabic?" fatima looks at you with disbelief written all over her face, shaking her head.

"how did you know that?" she asks and you just shrug, nodding at the 'islam for dummies' book you had bought in hopes of understanding a little bit more about one of your closest friend's religion.

"that's not the point. but fatima, you are the single kindest, most beautiful person i know. and i have faith that you will choose what's right for you, not what's right for the people around you because you know better than everyone that the only person who can judge you is god. and no one - no one - on this earth has the right to take that peace away from you."

fatima is silent before wrapping you in her arms, the soft material of her hoodie comforting you and lulling you back into a sleep that's dreamless and calm.

+++

jaehyun doesn't know what to expect when he walks into intro to east asia on monday. should he say hi? wave? start a conversation? should he acknowledge that he spent the better part of his weekend wondering if he would lose his fuckboy status if someone realized just how down bad he was for you?

probably anything but the last one was a good idea.

jaehyun was not in a good state of mind. he was a hot 19 year old man with a near perfect gpa (a whopping 3.98 only because he got a singular a-), a not so terrible set of dimples, and a killer body. and yet he was walking around like how he had been prior to his enlightening summer.

it's almost freeing but also humiliating to think that one night in bed was enough to make him start an entire philosophy but that was where jaehyun was at so who was he to question anything, really?

in fact, jaehyun is so caught up in what he would name his new branch of philosophy (loserism, with a lot of inspiration from zeno) that he doesn't even realize that you've already walked past him and taken your seat.

third row, first seat. you're putting your bag down next to your chair, pulling out your laptop, tossing your hair over your shoulder when it falls in your face. jaehyun tears his eyes away, knowing that this was not a good look for him.

if jaehyun really wanted to pursue you, which he was sure was where all of his jumbled emotions were eventually going to lead him anyway, he knew for a fact that you weren't going to be interested in having to take the lead. especially if jaehyun wasn't even sure that you were interested in the possibility.

but that's a struggle for another day. what was it that stephanie laurens said? that all women want sometimes is a little old-fashioned loving?

that was, in fact, the opposite of what sia had said you were really into but jaehyun had a sneaking suspicion that you wouldn't mind handing the reigns over in the decision making process portion of a relationship, or the courtship, if your time together this weekend alluded to anything.

jaehyun almost misses the beginning of the lecture, where professor ma (no one actually calls him that besides himself) was going into some of his favorite places to stay during his time in china. and while missing any portion of professor ma's lecture was of no crime, he also almost misses the way that you're looking straight at him, faking a yawn when jaehyun finally locks eyes with you.

professor ma was known for giving stellar recommendation letters (which was why johnny had coerced jaehyun into ta'ing for his class in the first place) but he was such a pain in the ass.

jaehyun has to keep from laughing out loud when he sees your exaggerated gestures to show how boring you were finding the professor's lecture to be, pulling himself together in time for him to finally be able to take a seat in the back of the classroom, professor ma having asked him to take attendance for the some two hundred students in the classroom. by hand.

he almost drops the piece of paper that you slide into his hand, subtly slipping it into the pocket of his basketball shorts as makes his way up the flight of stairs to the tenth row, dropping his backpack on the floor next to him, in a rush to open the delicate piece of paper in his hands.

there's only three words on the piece of paper and a series of dashes and yet jaehyun knows that this is all he needs. this is all the signal he needs to know that he wasn't imagining the chemistry or the tension between the two of you. and fuck what anyone said about his 'reputation'; it was jaehyun's turn - the old jaehyun's turn - to get the chance to experience the relationship he had always been dreaming of.

he rereads the little piece of paper before smiling and tucking it into his pocket again.

earn the rest. 9__-___-____.

+++

johnny suh is getting whiplash from his best friend's actions.

one day, he's asking sia yoo if her best friend usually leaves her one night stands by the time they wake up. then he's throwing said one night stand's notes into the trash can before leaving for some frat meeting or another.

the next day, he's carrying another note from the same one night stand he can't seem to get out of his head.

jaehyun doesn't tell johnny anything. he really doesn't need to at this point. johnny suh is a senior in college and he's pretty much seen it all. he's also the vice president of a frat - which means that even if he didn't have all the experience that he did just because of his seniority, he definitely seen it because of the sheer number of stupid decisions frat brothers will find themselves making when they think they're going to either a) get drunk b) get high c) get their dick wet.

johnny knows it's all in good fun (fun that he's definitely not opposed to) but jaehyun's always been a little bit of an enigma when it came to all of it. he was good at the drinking and alright at the getting high and absolutely fan-fucking-tastic at the getting his dick wet.

it was the goddamn dimples. everyone always fell for the dimples.

and sure, while jaehyun had had crushes before (johnny could read his little like no other), they'd always been fueled by the hormonal rush of adrenaline and testosterone pumping through his veins. in fact, johnny's not sure that jaehyun had had a proper crush on anyone at college after getting fucked over in high school, where johnny had also gone to with jaehyun.

not that johnny had really known jaehyun. he was quieter and kept to himself more then. didn't really hang out in the same crowd as johnny.

he knows that's not necessarily true. johnny had, truthfully, just completely overlooked jaehyun. like a lot of girls had until jaehyun had finally started to grow into his features.

but johnny knows jaehyun now and he also knows that if jaehyun had never met gianna lee, jaehyun wouldn't have ever dove headfirst into the deep end of shitfuckery and sleeping around with every breathing body in sight.

cliché story of course. college boy becomes a fuckboy after having his heart broken by a girl in high school. johnny's almost 100% positive that sia's shoved at least two or three novels like those in johnny's face, with the same exact plot.

but what is life but a series of clichés after all. and honestly, did it even matter? it was real. it happened to jaehyun. that was all. end of story.

so johnny doesn't even say a word when he sees the post-it note in jaehyun's trash can. he's silent as he watches sia and jaehyun talk and jaehyun fall into a period of overthinking (and jaehyun knows he's overthinking too because johnny can see him shake his head even as he continues to stare at the 'people' tab of intro to east asia).

and johnny finally decides to break his silence when he sees jaehyun with a new post-it note, although this time it was a much more tame blue post-it, and a pensive look.

jaehyun slips it to johnny to read as they're sitting at the local starbucks, with johnny filling out some paperwork for the job he was signed on for as soon as the school year ended and jaehyun studying for the organic chemistry exam he had coming up the next week.

he doesn't say anything when he passes the note but johnny can see him sideye-ing him to catch his reaction and it's all he can do to keep from letting a little smile slip through.

he hands the piece of paper back, watching as jaehyun immediately stuffs it into his backpack, and for some reason, he's really not sure what to say. if sia were here, she would know exactly what to say, and how to say it. she had a way of saying things that were a little too straightforward to feel good but also obviously coming from a generally good place.

it was one of the reasons why johnny had thought it would be a good idea to make it official with her. sia yoo was nothing like what johnny had thought - and the thought simultaneously frightens him and comforts him.

"you plan on asking her out on a date?" johnny says lightly, sliding his laptop over to pretend to look at his phone casually. in actuality, he's typing furiously to sia (one of the few people that johnny trusted or consulted when it came to advice giving) about what was happening.

johnny is not very surprised when sia's gray bubble appears, disappears, and then appears again only to say, "yeah, i know."

he waits for a more elaborate response. or even a more sia-like response but the more that he talks to her, the more johnny is learning that sia is more unpredictable than she really seems to be.

and sia yoo seems to be completely out of the box.

johnny shakes his head, as if to physically get rid of the thoughts of her from his head, unsure why he was thinking of her when he was supposed to be helping out one of his boys.

"yeah. i think so? i don't know. i mean we had a good time and we definitely have chemistry. but we literally just had one night in bed and that's it." jaehyun furrows his eyebrows as he realizes that's not just it. "well, there is the fact that kun was walking around singing her praises. and i know that fatima wouldn't be friends with kun or y/n if she wasn't sure they're both good people. not to mention the fact that i've always thought she's kinda hot. but it's always been superficial. even us spending the night together was really nothing more than finding each other hot or trying to figure out if the talk around town was real or not."

johnny takes a sip of his americano as he lets jaehyun's words sink into his own mind. jaehyun rests his heads on his arms crossed in front of him and johnny knows exactly the set of thoughts that's running through jaehyun's mind because they were the same as johnny's when he had decided to ask sia out on a date.

is it worth it? is it worth possibly getting my heart strung up on someone again just to face the possibility of breaking it again?

so johnny offers the only advice that he really has.

"talk to roseanne. girls' fiercest protectors are their friends and something tells me that talking to her will make you fall on one side or the other."

+++

the next time that jaehyun sees roseanne is a complete coincidence. he really only meant to say hi to one of his homies, yugyeom, on the way out of the library and hadn't expected to run into roseanne or miyeon at all. especially not a singular day after johnny had suggested that he seek her out in the first place.

he watches as yugyeom thumbs the rip in miyeon's jeans as he continues to talk to jaehyun about something jeongguk had done the previous weekend. and then he sees miyeon press a kiss to roseanne's cheek as she gets up to fill up her water bottle.

jaehyun didn't think he would understand that dynamic at all but whatever floated their boat. who was he to judge? he had watched the barbie movie and was still having a crisis about his masculinity and was actively searching out his one night stand's (were you still just his one night stand?) roommate and best friend to fix it. to be fair, he didn't really fully understand the barbie movie, to the chagrin of doyoung's girlfriend nairobi but that was besides the point.

yeah. jaehyun was really in no position to speak. wow he had a lot of things to work on internally. the more he talked to the women in his life, the more he was realizing this. again. not the point.

roseanne takes one look at his face and then exchanges a look with miyeon and then yugyeom before standing up and walking towards the exit, looking at jaehyun questioningly when she realizes that jaehyun hasn't moved an inch. jaehyun hurriedly bids yugyeom and miyeon goodbye as he rushes after her.

the two of them linger outside of the library and roseanne just raises an eyebrow as she appraises jaehyun. and for some reason, jaehyun stands up straighter, and she just sighs, a small smile playing on her lips.

"let me guess. 'who makes people work for their number? what is this? sprinkle sprinkle type of stuff?' or maybe 'this is kinda cringey, isn't it?' or just a sweet and simple 'what the actual fuck?'" roseanne says nonchalantly, listing out each possible question jaehyun could have come to ask.

"would it make me a bad man if i said yes to all of the above?" jaehyun asks, shoving his hands into his pockets. roseanne shrugs, crossing her arms across her chest.

"not really. i don't think so at least. it's a fair set of questions that even i asked her the first time a guy came up to me asking who the fuck my roommate thought she was," roseanne says. she takes sees the look of confusion on jaehyun's face as she continues, "you're definitely not the first person to ask me that but you are of a selective few. y/n usually doesn't let people get this far in the first place. and secondly, she doesn't really tell us much about people she's interested in until much later."

"she's a strange person, if i'm being honest with you. there's just something about her that makes her so captivating and invisible at the same time. she'll capture the attention of everyone in the room but if you talk to her, she'll make you feel like her best friend. she seems like an open book, and an even more open friend. and you feel so close to her within a conversation and then you end the conversation, you realize that even as she spoke, she revealed nothing about herself."

"i'm her best friend and i could tell you very confidently that i didn't know a single thing about her truly until recently. it made me frustrated at first. like i was a shitty friend or something. but the closer to her i got, the more i realized that she's always been a great friend but no one's been a great friend to her. she's very selective with the people she associates with - not just people she lets herself be seen with but people she confides in."

"this whole thing is a defense mechanism. she'd be caught dead before she'd ever admit it but she just hasn't been loved in the way that she's loved and now she's more guarded for it. i'll tell you this jaehyun, but if you want to give up, do it now. she says she's just going to give you her number if you earn it but once you get all 10 digits, know that she's gonna give you her heart."

"it seems like i'm violating girl code by telling you all this but like i said, even if you were to ask y/n, she would say the same thing. not in so many words but still. like i said. she's an open book and a closed heart. she knows you're gonna ask me and so she only tells me something that she would be okay with you hearing."

jaehyun, who had been listening quietly and patiently the whole time, cuts in with a quiet voice. "isn't it exhausting to live like that?"

roseanne looks at him strangely, as though she was truly seeing him for the first time. jaehyun doesn't know if he's offended or relieved that she'd done what he'd done to sia - made assumptions based on his appearance. he lands on neutral. it's human nature, to try and make proper guesses about who's gonna act like what.

the ancient art of preventing heartbreak, jaehyun supposes.

"maybe. i don't think so though. it's gotta be a different level of relief knowing that no one's gonna talk shit about you because a) no one knows you well enough to do that or b) because you're so careful with who you trust that you know they'd never betray you or even c) they can only talk about what you put out into the world. it's why censorship is so effective. people can only talk about what they know. there's few people who will ignore what they see to find what they can't see tangibly."

"are all of y/n's friends secretly poets or something? why the hell are you guys all speaking cryptically like you're all freemasons or some shit like that. i can't tell if i find it cringey or cool," jaehyun says, cocking his head.

roseanne lets out a real, full bellied laugh at that, clutching her stomach as chuckles escape her. jaehyun's not sure what he's said that's so funny but he knows for a fact that she's not laughing with him, but at him.

"why is it cringey, jaehyun? why would it be cool? it's just what it is. we're just girls. you'll see us at the party next weekend, drinking our weight in alcohol. we'll have the conversations about makeup and dresses and having fun and our future and our past. there's nothing like freemasonry, i promise. it's just so amusing to see men get alarmed by the thoughts that girls have been wrestling with since they've been twelve. the duality of man, i guess," roseanne says finally, once she's caught her breath.

jaehyun doesn't know how to respond to that so he elects to save the remaining tatters of his dignity by just not responding at all. if there's one thing he's learned about you, it's that you surround yourself by women who are not hesitant about putting him in his place. and he's oddly thankful for it.

"i have one last question. well, two last questions, actually," jaehyun says when he sees roseanne turning around to head back inside, still wiping the tears from her eyes from laughing too hard.

roseanne turns, a knowing glint in her eyes even before jaehyun asks his question.

"how many guys have talked to you? and what's the highest number anyone's ever gotten to?"

roseanne is silent and just as the silence begins to turn awkward, she promptly turns on her heel and begins to walk away. she opens the door to the library before she seemingly changes her mind and looks back at jaehyun.

"two guys have talked to me. you're gonna have to ask fatima about the second question though. and jaehyun? the next number is 6."

96_-___-____.

+++

jaehyun finds fatima not soon after his conversation with roseanne. he's sitting in the nct house, watching johnny pace back and forth in his room, trying to figure out if what he was wearing was too casual for a date to a bowling alley.

it was way too formal, in jaehyun's opinion. but he was just going to wait for johnny to finish panicking (even if he would never admit that he was, in fact, panicking) to figure that out on his own. seriously though, who wore a button down and slacks to a bowling alley?

then again, he was going on a date with sia yoo so really, anything was fairplay when it came to that girl. she was a whirlwind of literally everything that could possibly go into a human being. she was a maximalist to the fullest, seizing every opportunity she could to make good memories, pressing forward with a sense of perfect clarity and sobriety that most people would be scared of.

the type of girl who was the main character of any story that she would feature in. sia was the type of person that people who trip and fall over themselves trying to have a good time with that she practically promised. she walked around with fairy dust in her fingers and a strange sense of wisdom that felt like she could read you like a book within a singular meeting with her.

jaehyun knows that she's the most intimidating out of all of the girls. out of you, roseanne, fatima, and sia, she was hands down the most frightening because even though she could read everyone else, no one could really read her.

then there was roseanne. she was the wet dream of every girl alive - the reason why straight girls lamented that they were straight and still falling a little bit in love with her. she was hot, flirtatious to the extent of making everyone wonder what they were when she gave them even a split second of attention, and so incredibly full of life. it doesn't surprise jaehyun that she had become exclusive with miyeon and yugyeom. for some reason, he feels like she just wouldn't have been able to settle for liking one person at once.

she was a little too much for just one person to be able to handle. she was like the human personification of a leather jacket wearing, motorcycle driving, woody cologne smelling wattpad trope. jaehyun understands her appeal all too well.

and then there was fatima. she was kind, sweet, kept to herself, and always offered a helping hand to those around her. jaehyun understood why kun had fallen so hard for her within two minutes of meeting her. she had an air about her that made you feel like she was someone who truly cared about you, even if you didn't know her and she didn't know you all that well. she was the type of girl who was always forgotten in the novels about warriors and princesses. the girl who was often reduced to nothing more than the main character's best friend.

until you met a girl like her in real life. fatima was still a little forgotten, and jaehyun knew that. guys often overlooked her in favor of her 'hotter' or 'wilder' friends, which is admittedly what jaehyun had thought at first. but she was just so genuine and clearheaded. she protected her peace in a way that was so unusual for young, college-going students. not to say that sia, roseanne, or you weren't genuine or anything like that. but fatima was the type of girl that jaehyun knew was perfect for kun. the girl that he could go home and know that no matter what he had done in his past, she would love him all the same.

and there was you. smart, strangely private, and a series of contradictions housed within one heart. jaehyun wracks his brain, trying to gather everything that he knew about you and yet, he comes up empty.

frustratingly empty.

jaehyun vaguely registers the fact that johnny has finally changed and is getting ready to go. he knows that he should say something about how johnny should just be himself and that sia liking him is completely up to her, regardless of what johnny were to do. but when he locks eyes with johnny, he realizes that johnny already knows.

so jaehyun just claps him on the back as he heads back to his room, his mind spinning as he tries to think of everything that he knows about you. and he draws a blank every fucking time.

he knows superficial things about you. maybe it's because he doesn't know you like he knows your friends. he hasn't talked to you as much as he's talked to them. but how does he not know you? he's been wanting to get with you for so long. he wanted more than just your body. he wanted your charm and your appeal.

was it just your body? is that all it was? is that all jaehyun wanted? somehow, jaehyun doesn't want to believe that. he doesn't want that for himself. logically, he knows that gianna's impact on his life shouldn't be extending this far. he knows that he shouldn't want or have to fight himself this hard but you're not making it much easier for him.

when was the last time jaehyun wanted to get to know such an enigma of a girl? gianna lee. and he wants nothing to do with a girl like that ever again.

and yet, here he is. falling into the same trap all over again.

jaehyun's so caught up in his own thoughts, feeling himself starting to spiral when he bumps in fatima and kun, who are equally caught up in a conversation with each other.

"oh, my bad," jaehyun mumbles, ready for fatima to brush past him but she doesn't, looking at jaehyun and then kun.

"hey man, we're headed back to my place. why don't you come back with us?" kun offers, and jaehyun just nods blankly, as he starts to follow them out of the nct house. kun stops at the entrance where he picks up a textbook from yuta, who had been borrowing it for the last week, before the three of them make their way out.

"how are you, jaehyun?" fatima asks with a sweet smile as they pile into kun's car. somehow, jaehyun doesn't want to give her a generic, insincere answer.

"i'm...okay. i'm just okay. confused but okay," jaehyun says and fatima seems alright with this answer. kun pulls out of the 'driveway' of the frat house, exchanging in a quiet conversation with fatima about what they were planning on eating for the night, leaving jaehyun to simmer in his thoughts.

gianna lee. there was a name that he thought about almost every day and never all at the same time. the girl who had made him and broke him. the girl that jaehyun had trusted with his heart and made him regret ever doing that.

the girl who had been the first love of his life.

+++

gianna was a year younger than him. smart, so incredibly sweet, and yet someone that no one could confidently say that they knew. she was the type of girl who could slip under the radar as easily as her friends seemed to always stay on top of.

she ran in the same circle as jaehyun had in senior year, right when jaehyun was beginning to blossom into the man that he was today. she had always been kind to him, if not a little withdrawn, even when he was a skinny boy with proportions that absolutely did not seem to match each other.

jaehyun didn't even know her well enough for her to break his heart, honestly. jaehyun had liked her even before having a proper conversation with her. he knew how left out she felt in her own body. even though he couldn't imagine a more gorgeous girl, he knew that she didn't feel that way about herself.

he knew that she always compared herself to her friends. her well-accomplished, 'main character' best friends who were the talk of the school. and her. no matter how intelligent or kind or put together she was, no one really looked at her the way that jaehyun did. she knew it.

even jaehyun couldn't place why he liked her so much. maybe it was the fact that he was somehow comforted that a girl with so much beauty could feel the same way as him. maybe it was the fact that she had always held the same smile for him, regardless of what he looked like. or maybe it was even the fact that one time, she had held his hand as she pulled him across the street, running to catch up with their friends who had already crossed.

jaehyun just remembers looking at her dyed cherry red hair falling into her eyes as she laughs, pulling him forward to where the rest of their friends were standing. and as he breathes in the smoke in the air and the raspberry scent of her perfume, he just knows that he really, truly likes gianna lee.

gianna lee doesn't like him the way that he likes her. he knows that. logically, jaehyun knows that his feelings are truly unfounded. he really has no reason to like gianna the way that he does. and yet, there's a part of him that holds onto the hope that maybe, just maybe, she'll turn around with those big eyes and upturned lips and say that she likes him the way that he likes her.

so he continues to look at her first when he makes the friend group laugh. he always slips her a napkin when he's getting one for himself when they're out getting milkshakes. he offers to help her with apush when she's stressing about a test the next week.

the closer he gets to her, the more jaehyun realizes that really, she was nothing like the image of her he had conjured in his head. she was every bit sweet as he had thought but she was argumentative, competitive, and all too obsessed with perfection. she always needed to be right in an argument, always had to win, and always had to make sure that she looked flawless doing so.

jaehyun doesn't realize it, of course. he's so obsessed with his glazed over façade of her that he just continues to let her win the arguments even when he knows that she's wrong. and she lets him wrap his arms around her when she gets an 89% on her test.

he lets her walk all over him and she lets him act on his feelings.

it was a toxic, parasitic relationship that neither of them were truly happy in. when gianna asked him out, jaehyun hadn't felt like fireworks were going off in his stomach. he felt like he had won a prize at a marathon. like he'd won a medal.

gianna wasn't a medal. she was a flawed, beautiful human being - every bit gorgeous and horrible as jaehyun and every other human being was. but jaehyun had won, hadn't he?

he hadn't. and it took so long for him to realize that by the time he'd realized that gianna had really only taken to him out of pity, he was so far in his own head that he didn't know how to leave her.

eventually, the summer before college rolled around and gianna had taken it upon herself to do the nasty deed of breaking up with him. it had been an amicable split, as far as their friends were concerned.

but none of them had ever truly either of their friends. so what did they know?

what did they know about gianna finding comfort in her ex's arms? what did they know about her grades slipping at the end of the school year? what did they know about her having to excuse herself at a meeting for her internship to sob in the bathroom as she realized the true fallacy in the way she had acted? what did they know about the way she had to reconstruct herself bottom up? nothing.

what did they know about jaehyun spending every other night with a different girl, trying to ease the ache in his heart? what did they know about the obscene number of hours at the gym, not sure how to combat the sudden numbness after girl after girl? what did they know about the fact that jaehyun could not physically stand the smell of raspberries anymore? absolutely nothing.

no one knew anything until jaehyun had finally come to college. it was once he joined the frat and met guys who were so alike and different from him at the same time that he finally opened up about gianna.

only to doyoung, kun, and johnny but people nonetheless. everyone had gone through something similar - while for some it happened at college or back home, they all knew the pain. some of them were more in the fault than others but pain is pain and a paper cut bleeds the same red as a gunshot wound.

which is why when kun sits him down on the couch and fatima hands him a cup of iced tea to save them all from the sweltering heat as august makes a last stand against september's winds, jaehyun spills everything.

gianna. his past. his insecurities. everything. he knows he shouldn't. logically, fatima had nothing stopping her from going and telling everything that jaehyun had told her to you, but for some reason, jaehyun thinks that she won't.

she doesn't.

+++

fatima knows that jaehyun was going to talk to her about something like this. it seemed that all of the nct boys came with some level of trauma like this. she wasn't sure what it was about every single boy she had met in college (although, granted, they were either her friends' conquests or kun's friends - a very interesting group of very intertwined boys) having their hearts getting ripped to shreds. sometimes it was of their own volition but they all seemed to be some level of hurt either way.

so when jaehyun spills his heart out on kun's carpeted floors, she's ready with a well-rehearsed speech. he's one of six boys she'd already had this same exact conversation with (kun has a bad habit of picking up strays) but when he looks at her with such raw anguish in his eyes, she falters.

she looks to kun, who's looking at her with the same question that she knows jaehyun is asking.

"how do you know when to choose between your head and your heart? because my heart is so fucking scared of getting attached to someone again. but my head knows that i can't push everyone away because i'm scared."

fatima is quiet, searching for the right words. she's about to say something when kun speaks up, looking determinedly at fatima.

"you learn to choose you. instead of choosing between your head and your heart, just choose yourself. at the end of the day, you and y/n are good people who aren't trying to hurt each other. you're both trying not to get hurt. and honestly, maybe you'll realize that you both are better off as friends along the way. maybe you just realize that you don't want to be with someone right now. or maybe you find someone who makes you feel like you're safe and loved when you're around them, whether you're in love with them or not." fatima looks at kun with a soft smile, reaching out to hold his hand gently.

"you have to choose yourself, jaehyun. trust me. the more you start thinking about what is best for the people around you instead of thinking for yourself, you'll look back fifteen, twenty years down the road and see everyone but yourself in your life. don't do something because gianna and how she made you feel. don't let your past define your future," fatima says, and jaehyun can feel the tears prick his eyes. he blinks determinedly, trying to make them disappear but when kun sits on one side of him and fatima on the other, he starts losing his battle against his emotions, finally letting himself mourn the innocence he had once had.

he buries his head into fatima's shoulder and for some reason, he feels as though kun and fatima would be amazing parents. because jaehyun doesn't remember the last time that he had felt this safe in an embrace.

"and jaehyun? the furthest anyone has ever gotten is five numbers. you're at three. it's your call from here. do what you want, not what you think you need to do." fatima taps his shoulder gently and lets him cry for as long as he needs to.

963-___-____.

+++

jaehyun gets the next number from you. after his conversation with fatima, he's sure that if he wants to go any further than this, he needed to talk to you first.

it's strange. he's earning your number but it feels like jaehyun's somehow earning himself back. and when he finds you again, he knows that you can tell.

even johnny could tell. when he had come back from his (successful) date with sia, the first thing he had said was, "wow. you look so...light."

jaehyun hadn't said anything but 'thank you' but it was enough.

johnny had just smiled at him and recounted the date, stating that he was going to ask her to go on another date this saturday night. jaehyun doesn't mention the fact that nct is throwing that night because johnny already knows.

and honestly, sia is a junior and johnny is a senior. they've been to their fair share of parties. one party being missed wouldn't be life changing for them. but skipping a party as the vice president of a frat and a girl who was sought after as a sweetheart for six frats meant something nonetheless.

he hadn't expected that they were to get that serious that quickly but it was a refreshing change. even fatima and kun were starting about talking about talking to fatima's parents to get their blessing for their relationship. her dilemma was no secret and it seemed that the conversation between the three of them had served to help them through their own issues as well.

there was just something in the air, jaehyun had supposed. august turned to september in the week that jaehyun had wrestled with himself, eventually leading to seeking you out.

it had been at the nct party, actually. you were standing with some of your acquaintances, all of your friends having dispersed to do what they were going to do. jaehyun had been on the other side of the room, convincing bambam that it was most definitely not a good idea to try and pursue soyeon jeon if he wanted to make sure that he woke up with all his limbs intact the next morning.

you had met his eye, raising an eyebrow before continuing your conversation, all thoughts of him seemingly out of your mind. jaehyun looks between bambam (who has gone from trying to get with soyeon to jumping into the pool) (that pool had not been cleaned in a full six months) and you. he just finds jungwoo, one of the pledges, and hands him a very drunk bambam.

"do not let him do anything dumb. i'm counting on you pledge," jaehyun called out over his shoulder as he weaves through people to get to you.

"jaehyun! hey! long time no see," hailey whitfield says, throwing herself in jaehyun's arms. jaehyun looks at you, where you're staring straight at where hailey's body ends and his arms begin. jaehyun tries to push her off of him. once upon a time, jaehyun would've been behind happy about getting with her again - she was so good with her mouth. but now, he has no intentions of giving you the wrong impression.

at least until he has a proper conversation with you so that you knew where he stood with you. and where you stood with him.

"hey hailey, sorry i've gotta get to my friend," he says, not even looking at her as he pushes off of her, resuming his threading through the crowd to where you're standing. you look at him, unimpressed, but jaehyun knows you well enough to know that three numbers are enough to make you feel a certain way if jaehyun was fooling around with other girls.

which he hasn't been. not a single night. jaehyun jung's bed has been empty for an entire two weeks, something that doyoung and nairobi have been taking full advantage of.

even some of jaehyun's friends had started asking if he was having problems or something but he had brushed them off. he definitely wasn't having problems, if hailey whitfield was any indication. but he felt like it would be doing you dirty if he had someone in his bed while he was talking to your friends about you.

so he hadn't.

he knows you know. he knows that you know he's talked to sia, roseanne, and fatima. he'd figured that you'd find out either through them or just by him. he can tell by the look in your eyes that you've read him thoroughly.

so he really doesn't feel bad about pulling you away from your friends, taking you upstairs to his room. finally, doyoung had promised that they would go back to nairobi's place on the condition that jaehyun made sure that no one would try to fuck on his bed. he promised, knowing that the only person who'd be coming up here would be him. he needed to talk to you tonight. if he knew anything it was that.

but once you're sitting on his bed, watching him pace back and forward, he's lost everything he's been wanting to say. where does he even start? with gianna? with the questions he has for you? with the number? where does he begin?

jaehyun looks at you, where you're watching him with a small smile on your face and suddenly, it doesn't matter where he begins. you'll listen to it all. he knows that much.

"why do you want me to work for your number?" jaehyun asks. you look at him curiously, tilting your head as you piece together an answer.

"are you sure you don't know the answer to that question?" you say, folding your legs so that you're sitting criss cross on the navy covers.

"i do. but i want to hear it from you, y/n. you know what all your friends say about you? that they didn't properly know you until a full year of friendship with you. but they said that you never lie. so i want you to tell me," jaehyun says, chest heaving by the end of his ramble. his eyes turn soft as he watches you become more and more solemn and he steps forward, sitting down on his desk chair and swiveling it over so that he was sitting directly across from you.

you pause for a moment, searching for the words before saying anything. "i've never been in a relationship before. so i don't have the trauma that could come from something like that. but i know what it's like to lose your heart to someone. and i know that it hurts. i want to be loved in the way that i never thought i could be. so the number thing is just an excuse for me to get to the point where i won't feel guilty about liking someone."

you shrug, smiling but not allowing the smile to reach your eyes. "it's a good way to make sure that the guy knows what he's getting into either way."

jaehyun nods at that. he knew that much. it feels different hearing it from you though. when you're the one saying it, jaehyun knows that it's real. raw. not coming from people trying to protect you because they know that you're far too soft to truly come at him guns blazing.

somehow, he likes it. he likes that you're much softer than you seem. that you're a lot more vulnerable than you come off as. and for some reason, jaehyun hopes that you never perfect the art of becoming standoffish.

"hmm. you've never been in a relationship before?" jaehyun says finally and you nod, shrugging once more. a shadow of bittersweet nostalgia crosses your face before you're back to your soft smile and guarded yet curious eyes.

"nope. part of it was on me; i've got high standards, if you can't tell. and the other part was that i've always wanted someone who fascinates me. of course, i wasn't all that appealing to men because i spent so much time trying to beat them at the only thing they were good at - ego-boosting themselves but they weren't interesting. none of them were people i really wanted to get to know," you say, unfolding your legs.

jaehyun likes the fact that the tips of your toes are the only part of your feet that touch the ground from how far back you're sitting on the bed. in an act of boldness, jaehyun moves forward to sit next to you, right where you're sitting. his feet are flat on the floor, he realizes.

he doesn't know why he's noticing things like this but he is and something about that frustrates him, frightens him, and tugs at his heartstrings altogether.

"you're heartbroken, aren't you? boys like you always seem to be a little hurt," you say, tossing the words into the air like rose petals. they're recklessly thrown but they're somehow beautiful in the way that blackened roses are always beautiful.

"yeah. i was. i think i will always mourn who i was before that. i was so naïve. but i'm not him anymore. and i think i'm realizing that i'm actually okay with that." jaehyun says the words just as carelessly as you do but once they're out in the open, he realizes that he's being completely honest. he turns to you with a strange look though.

"boys like me?"

you smile and nod at him. "boys like you."

you stand up, walking to where jaehyun has a corkboard with a shitload of scraps and photos from the past two years. you don't mention the fact that none of the memories that he has on the board date from before senior year. you don't need to.

"boys like you who've never been loved completely. boys who think that they need to listen to what the world says about how they should be acting or thinking. boys who are hopeless romantics but what would the world say if they knew that these boys just wanted a little bit of love? what would they say if they were looking for warmth in an empty and cold bed?"

jaehyun hates that you're right. it's the college boy tragedy. condemned to never be able to completely heal from one bad experience and then always breaking hearts to collect enough pieces to build themselves a new one.

he didn't want to end like that. even if it wasn't with you, he was ready to grow past it. he didn't want to end as a heartbreaker.

"boys like me...and you like a boy like me?" jaehyun asks. he doesn't know why he does. this is the first proper conversation you've had with him when both of you are decidedly sober. you want to deflect the question but if he's being honest, that's a sign for you to be just as honest.

"i don't know. from what my friends say, and what i know about you as a person in class, i know you mean well. and honestly, i've always just been the type of person to like someone past things like the books they read or the way they dress," you say, still looking at the memories jaehyun's pieced together over the years on this board. "i feel something around you. and i don't know you well enough to know that i like you as someone more than a friend but i'd like to at least have the chance to get that far."

that's all jaehyun needs. he gets another number that night.

+++

jaehyun waits for you outside of intro to east asia, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet as he waits for you to make it out of the classroom. you're the last one to leave, knowing that technically, you and jaehyun weren't allowed to see each other while he was your ta.

jaehyun had never really pegged you as someone with so much respect for the rules but you had argued that it was mostly about the principle.

he'd learned a lot about you that last weekend. you and him had stayed up all night, talking about nothing and everything under the sun until the sun itself rose, eventually falling asleep in a tangled mess of limbs and conversations.

he learned that while you didn't like the rules, you often followed them as long as they followed your own moral code. that you would die for your friends and that had landed you in many bad friendships when people would use that to their advantage before you'd met your friends in college. he learned that you were super close with your family, and that they were quite literally the best friends that you could always rely on.

and he learned that you wanted to see him again. on a date. sometime soon. so with no real way of communicating with you outside of social media (and he somehow felt like sliding into your dm's was corny and somewhat of a copout), here he was. waiting outside of the classroom like he was ripped straight from a 1950's romance movie. he even had the letterman jacket on to boot.

"oh my god, you scared me," you say, pressing a hand to your chest as you quite nearly bump into jaehyun. he smiles, readjusting his backpack on his shoulders as the two of you start walking.

"you knew i was waiting for you outside, didn't you?" he says, pushing the side door open to walk towards the parking lot, where he's convinced kun to let him borrow his car for the day.

"yeah but i didn't think you would be literally outside the door," you murmur, checking your phone to see the rest of your day's schedule. you had purposefully blocked off three hours of your schedule to hang out with jaehyun, which you were sure to regret later on when your organic chemistry class kicked your ass. but that was a later issue.

"well, i couldn't text you where i was so i figured i'd wait in plain sight," jaehyun retorts, opening the passenger door for you without a word. huh. that was the first time a man has ever done that for you. and jaehyun did it as though it were second nature - like it was a given.

you don't know why something so small means so much to you but you're alright with it. you're alright with just appreciating it.

"that's fair," you say. another number's on the tip of your tongue as you watch him get into the driver's seat but jaehyun beats you to the punch.

"don't give me a number. not yet," jaehyun says. "not that i don't want one. but i just...me waiting outside your classroom or opening your door isn't enough for a number. even if i don't get all ten, you've got to up your standards."

you don't know what to say to that so you don't say anything, turning on the music and letting the melody of chemtrails under the country club by lana del ray fill the rainy september afternoon sky.

+++

when jaehyun pulls up to a run down diner, you're pleasantly surprised. although you're not much of a sucker for romantic places, the fact that jaehyun is somehow makes you happy. it makes you happy that he still sees the beauty in places like these. and when you look over at him, dimples threatening to show as he breathes in the air of misty fog and the smell of milkshakes and burgers, you're so tempted to kiss him.

so you lean over, looking at him with a twinkle in your eyes once jaehyun has parked.

"can i kiss you?" you ask, mere inches from his lips. jaehyun just looks at you, and from this close, you realize just how beautiful his eyes are. they're dark, darker than anyone else's that you know. and yet, it feels like you could fall in and never regret it.

"please."

it's all you need. and it's all he needs because as soon as word slips from his lips, he's pressing forward, his lips against yours. he's soft, you register vaguely. nothing like last time. nothing like how he'd kissed you like he could think of nothing but absolutely ruining you.

jaehyun is soft. like the feeling of slipping a cold hand into someone's warm jacket pocket. he kisses you like he's scared of ruining you. ruining this. and you're absolutely addicted to the feeling.

the feeling of knowing that he could just claim you instead of trying his best to claim your heart. no matter how fucked up it was that you were even thinking that someone could 'claim' you. he wasn't like that and you could work with that.

he pulls away from you, eyes still closed as he sits against the drivers seat, his head against the headrest. you watch him, a silly and childish smile on your face - although you're not really sure why it's there in the first place. but who are you to knock anything?

there aren't many words to exchange as the two of you make your way into the diner. jaehyun had opened your car door again. this time, you just offer him your hand and you're strangely alright with just how safe you feel with his hand locked in yours.

the diner seems as though time has frozen still here.

and everything about the date seems the same. it feels as though time has frozen still - almost as though the two of you are in a little bubble with no one but each other. it's a feeling you haven't experienced in a while. a feeling you don't think you've ever had because of a boy.

it feels...almost scarily comfortable. it doesn't feel as though there are fireworks exploding for every word that jaehyun says. but it does feel as though that there's a hot mug of cocoa that's been handed to you on a cold winter night. and that feeling, the feeling of warmth spreading through every corner of your body, is the feeling that you know is good for you.

so you listen to him, watch him speak animatedly about basketball or a book he read, chin resting in your palm as you find yourself falling deeper and deeper.

jaehyun gets two numbers that day.

+++

it doesn't take much longer for jaehyun to get the rest of the numbers. soon enough, you're more than happy just to spend time with him the way that you spend time with your friends. you feel as though you've made a good friend out of someone you'd thought that you wouldn't even be able to get along with.

"you know, when i first met you, even before i knew you, i really didn't like you," you say, taking a sip out of your latte. the seasons have changed, fall giving way to winter. the november air bites your skin every time someone opens the door to the tiny café the two of you were sitting in.

jaehyun smiles, nodding as he leans back in his chair. "i know. i could tell by the look in your eyes."

"the look in my eyes?"

"yeah. the one that said that you wanted to get to know me. to figure out my deal even if you didn't necessarily want to find out for sure. kind of like you wanted to be the one that said 'aha!' at the end of a movie, even though you weren't sure of the ending at all."

you look at jaehyun for a moment before laughing, shaking your head as you laugh. "you're even starting to talk like me now."

jaehyun pauses before he nods, smiling with you. "yeah, i know. you've rubbed off on me in a lot of ways."

"i've improved your music taste, that's for sure," you snort, taking another sip out of your latte. "i still can't believe you didn't like ric flair drip when we met."

"it's not that i didn't like it and it's still not that i like it now. but i guess i just have a good memory associated with it now so it's growing on me," jaehyun says. your eyebrows furrow as you try to recollect what good memory he could possibly be referring to.

"oh my god. the night that we met! i was trying to get in your pants with ric flair drip," you say incredulously, shivering when someone opens and closes the door once more. jaehyun hands you his hoodie, leaving his arm extended silently when you protest.

you don't know why you still bother trying to protest with him when you knew you were going to lose. you put the sweater on as jaehyun starts talking, letting the scent of clean water and pine trees swaddle you softly.

"honestly, i think i was more than you that night," jaehyun says, as he looks at you with an incriminating twinkle in his eyes. "that was around the time that even taeyong said that he wanted to see if kun's vivid descriptions were true or not. and i wasn't about to let him get the opportunity to get to you before i did. i don't know why. i felt almost protective over you. but not in a good way. in the type of way where i wanted to show you how good i could make you feel - more than anyone could even begin to think of making you feel."

the previously cold café begins to become a lot hotter than you were feeling before, clearing your throat as you try to let the moment pass.

"how did we even get here?" you say, fanning yourself delicately. the move only serves to work against you when you fan yourself so that the scent of his cologne on his hoodie only gets stronger in your mind.

jaehyun leans back, letting you switch the conversation. he'd bring it up to you later in the night, anyway. besides, for someone who puts on such a strong front, it's honestly a little fun to see you squirm at the slightest implications from jaehyun.

"but, uh, jaehyun. i've been meaning to ask you something for a while," you begin, fidgeting with the wrapper of the straw in front of you. jaehyun tilts his head as if to question what you have to say as he waits patiently.

"what are we?"

now jaehyun is truly confused. was the past month of going on dates not clear enough? jaehyun wasn't going on dates with anyone else. oh my god. were you going on dates with other men? is that why you're asking.

"i thought we were dating?" jaehyun says, phrasing his sentence more like a question than a statement. "i mean i'm not talking to anyone else and i kinda assumed that since i'd gotten all ten numbers, neither were you."

you hum, unable to stop the silly smile on your face.

"good. that's just what i was thinking too."

+++

honestly, everything about jaehyun jung is appealing to you. from the way that he engulfs you in a hug when you're up late studying. or the way that he convinces you that you have a virus on your laptop just so that he could spend more time with you 'fixing' your laptop for you. or the way that he sits with you and your friends, patiently listening and offering advice wherever he can (or honestly, is just allowed to speak).

you're so glad to see him like this. as your boyfriend of four and a half months (you hadn't let him make it official until he was no longer your ta), you've seen him grow in ways that you'd never thought. jaehyun was every inch the stupid, naïve fuckboy you'd thought him to be in the beginning. and he was also every inch the hopeless romantic with a little too much love to give for a scarred heart.

so you heal together. you help each other when you quite literally can't handle the pain and together, you grow. he's more confident. not just in the way that he looks - but the way that he speaks around people. the way that he educates himself. the way that he communicates how he feels.

and he helps you everyday. he shows you what it feels like to be loved the way you love others. he shows you that you are worth the princess treatment. and most importantly for you, he loves the people around you the way you love the people around you.

kun and fatima find their happy ending. fatima had spoken to her parents and while they took some time to warm up to kun, his soft demeanor and the way that he loved fatima so completely and sincerely eventually won them over. fatima even met kun's parents with equal success, although kun's mother kept asking when fatima and kun would get married.

(their wedding was already in the works by both fatima's mother and kun's mother. you were beyond elated to go to both the traditional muslim ceremony and the traditional chinese ceremonies.)

johnny and sia ended up going out on a couple more dates before realizing that they probably just weren't meant to be a couple. they loved each other as friends and were probably always going to hold a special place in each other's lives but it just wouldn't be as each other's significant others. johnny was already starting to retreat from the frat boy lifestyle after meeting a girl at the library one day. and sia had finally met someone who could handle her crazy personality with a sweet smile, bringing her back down to reality whenever she went a little...too lively. you're looking forward to meeting him over summer, where the four of you and your friends were going on a vacation together.

roseanne, yugyeom, and miyeon still haven't put a label on their relationship. but you've caught roseanne falling asleep in yugyeom's arms more than once (one too many times than rosie cares to admit) so you figure that it's a good thing that they've all found each other. as unconventional as their relationship might be, they all mesh together so well that you can't even find it in yourself to question it. all's fair in love and war.

jaehyun and you frequent the diner as a favorite date night spot to visit, although you're upset to hear that they're remodeling the entire establishment for favor of a new, more 'modern' atmosphere. although how modern a diner could get was a little bit of a strange notion. but as people change, so do the winds.

and when you walk into the diner the next semester, hand in hand with jaehyun, you're a little comforted to see that diner is now a speakeasy (in true 1970s fashion) with three words written in blinding rhinestones against the velvet background. of course.

ric flair drip.

[scarletttries]

Sanji Fluff Alphabet (One Piece)

Pairing: Sanji (One Piece) x Reader

Rating: Pure Fluff

Word Count: 5.6k!

Author's Note: Thanks for all the love on my Sanji Smut alphabet, and for the requests for a Fluff alphabet for our blonde haired lover boy - here you are! I've also got Zoro's fluff alphabet on my list so keep an eye out for more one piece content 💋😘

a -affection (how affectionate are they? how do they show affection?)

If you went to affectionate island, everyone there would know Sanji. After all his years of pining, he finally has someone he can actually act on those desires with, and he's not going to hold back for one more second than he has to. Affection pours out of Sanji like an unlimited resource, his almost sole focus is making sure you feel as loved as you are.

He'll let his words set the scene, with an array of thoughtful compliments and romantic pet names. His actions take centre stage with the way he prepares all your meals with a little bit more care than anyone else's or he offers you his coat whenever an evening breeze sets in on the deck. And his touch is just the cherry on top of his love, his delicate hands tracing their way over your skin every time you're in reach. He'll hold your hand, or put an arm around your waist, and if you get a precious moment alone you best believe he's going to steal a kiss or twenty.

b - beauty (what do they admire about their s/o? what do you think is beautiful about them?)

There's nothing about you that doesn't send Sanji mad with adoration. Your body, your face, your voice, your mind, your heart. Whenever Sanji starts thinking through all the things he loves about you, the list gets almost dizzying. He's rarely not staring your way and wishing you two had nothing else to do except gaze into each other's eyes, his worship of you never ceasing.

There are a lot of beautiful things to appreciate about Sanji, from his sense of style to his old-fashioned chivalry. Some of your favourite things to flatter him about are his superb culinary skills, which he takes such pride in showing off for you, and his soft blonde hair with how he melts into your arms every time you reach up to brush a stray hair out of his face to better appreciate his lovestruck expression.

c- cuddles (do they like to cuddle? how would they cuddle?)

There's almost nothing Sanji loves more than cuddling with you. When he finally feels able to put his hands on you, he's constantly pulling you close for a hug, the tangible clutch of your form to his chest is one of the few things that lets him accept that you're real. Sometimes he worries if he ever lets you out of his grasp for too long, you'll never return to it, so he makes a point to wrap his arms around you as often as your lives allow, taking the opportunity to snake a hand around your waist whenever you walk or sit beside him.

At bedtime he's even more clingy, long legs wrapping around your waist from behind and his arms encompass you. Often Sanji will have bad dreams of feeling the currents drag him down into the depth of the ocean, but somehow keeping hold of you seems to keep him afloat, your warmth and acceptance providing safe harbour even when you're fast asleep.

d - dates (what are dates with them like? do they plan them out or are they spontaneous?)

Sanji has been dreaming of having that special someone in his life for a long time, so his head is already full of planned out dates he can't wait to whisk you away to. He likes to plan ahead, and of course pack a picnic for the two of you as feeding you well is probably the most important part to him.

It'll will depend on the island you're on and its scenery, but Sanji likes to go for long scenic walks with your fingers interlaced through his, or through bustling marketplaces to find some little memento with which to decorate your shared cabin, his arm wrapped tightly around your waist as he weaves through the crowd. And he'll always find some secluded, romantic spot to lay out a blanket for the two of you, holding a chocolate covered strawberry out towards you and almost passing out with excitement when your lips brush over his fingertips as you take a bite.

e - ending (if they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

Oh it would break Sanji's heart to have to break up with someone, but deep down he would know when someone wasn't quite right for him and his life on the high seas. He'd be kind but direct, making sure to emphasise how wonderful that person is outside of their relationship. Luckily he'd never do that to you, knowing immediately that you are his happy ending!

f - fiancee (how do they feel about commitment? how quick would they want to get married?)

Oh my gosh, once Sanji really starts to believe that you actually truly love him, you can bet he's dreaming of your wedding every night. He knows you're his person, he knows he never needs or wants to be with anyone else, he's ready to commit his whole self to you from the moment you agree to be his. If you don't want to get married, he would accept that, but if you're willing to exchange those rings it would mean the absolute world to him. He's spent a long time believing he wasn't worthy of this kind of love, so standing up amongst your friends, the crew, and letting your captain declare your love and devotion for everyone across all the oceans to hear, well that's the kind of thing that keeps Sanji smiling in even his darkest moments. He'll become obsessed with playing with his ring when he finally gets it, and when he's in the kitchen he keeps it on a chain close to his heart so he can never lose it, or you.

g - gentle (how gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

Everything about Sanji is gentle - his hands are soft and delicate from always avoiding using them to fight and his words are sweet and adoring whether he's complimenting you or just calling your name because dinner is ready. Emotionally he's even softer still, his sole thought in each passing second of how he can best take care of you. He wants to be a good partner more than anything, and for you to feel as happy and safe in his company as he has grown to feel in yours. He'll never raise his voice around you, or touch you with anything but precision and grace. You are Sanji's greatest treasure, and he will always treat you accordingly. And when you are equally as kind and as gentle to him? The man's in heaven. He adores every soft caress of his cheek, or light brush of your fingers through his hair. He eats up every sweet word you cast his way, and practically glows with every ounce of praise you give him. And more than anything he deeply, unmistakably LOVES the way you protect his heart, and shower him with nothing but kindness. He's never known anything quite like it, and he knows he'll never meet anyone like you again.

h - hugs (do they like hugs? how often do they do if? what are their hugs like?)

Sanji loves hugs! There's isn't a morning he doesn't cling to you for as long as possible before he has to drag himself to the kitchen, and when you finally arise and join him, his arms will cling to you once again, delaying everyone's breakfast for just a few precious minutes of your embrace. Sanji doesn't care if there's people around, he'll always find the spot next to you and loop his arms around you, clinging to you from behind or spinning you around so he can pull you snugly against his chest like you've been apart for months and not mere moments. His hugs are careful and warm, gentle despite his desperation to feel you close, and he always smells like a delicious mix of freshly baked bread with a slight edge of tobacco. His favourite hugs are the ones you pull him into right before bed, as you curl up together and share your every thought from the day. You face each other so close you really only need one pillow, arms encompassing each other so that as you drift off to sleep, you can never drift apart.

i - injury (how would they act if they got hurt?)

When Sanji gets hurt he's very chivalrous about it, claiming it barely bothered him and that the scoundrel that laid a hand on him is in much worse condition. Get him alone and offer to kiss him better, and suddenly he's in far more pain than he realised, and he simply must let you fuss over him for the rest of the day, new scuffs and bruises appearing in his mind that he'll ask for your magic kiss against with big pleading eyes.

When you get hurt Sanji's an absolute drama queen. He's running around frantically looking for revenge, even if you've just got a cold. He's making gallons of soup that the rest of the crew isn't allowed to touch, because it's special and made only for you. He's threatening Luffy and Usopp with physical harm if they so much as make a noise while you're trying to rest. He's a menace to everyone, but it comes from a place of worry and caring, and luckily you can distract him pretty easily if you say you're cold and need him to lie next to you for warmth.

j - jealousy (how jealous do they get? what do they do when they're jealous?)

Sanji wouldn't ever admit it to himself, but there's a deep well of insecurity that runs through him which tends to boil over whenever someone else is clearly taken with you. He tries not to be too obvious as he stares forlornly across the room, knowing deep down that you were always too good for him, and it makes sense that you would one day realise that when a better man came your way. That being said, he's not just going to lie down and let any rapscallion of the sea steal you away, so he'll force himself to strut over to you, and launch into an aggressive interrogation of the man standing in front of you. What does he have to offer? What makes him think he's good enough to ask for your company?

When this happens, it's best just to take Sanji's hand in yours and introduce him as your boyfriend, every ounce of anger melting away as he hears the loving term dripping from your lips. Suddenly he forgets why he even came barging over, and all he can think to do is tell you how beautiful you are, and ask if he can do anything for you.

k- kisses (what are their kisses like? where do they like to be kissed?)

Oh Sanji. He's spent so long dreaming of the feeling of your lips pressed against his, that the first time it happens he genuinely thinks he might just pass away there and then. It's everything he's dreamed of and more; the sweet taste of you flooding his senses, the soft curve of your lips against his, the quiet hum his touch elicits from you. It's almost too much pleasure for the poor sensitive chef to take. But that's not going to stop him chasing that high every chance he gets.

He loves nothing more than having you perched on the kitchen counter next to him as he works, the chef taking every opportunity to dash between your knees and steal a kiss that turns into another and another, until your hands are in his hair and he's lost all track of time as he hungrily brushes his tongue against yours again. It doesn't matter if Luffy is stood behind him begging to be fed, the chef only has eyes for you.

In a moment of privacy you can render the chef completely powerless with a few well placed kisses. Start with his forehead, the feeling of love that spreads over him turning his world upside. Then move down to his lips, his favourite place to feel you, the most wonderful taste that the all blue has ever known. Brush his hair back and kiss along his jaw, trailing glistening wet marks down his neck and all the chef can do is sigh out sweet praise, his words mixed in with gentle whimpers as you reach lower down his chest. And if your lips stray low enough to dip below his waistline, then he ceases to be able to speak at all, save for the sighing of your name like a prayer.

l - love language (what is their love language?)

Sanji loves to show his love through acts of service, the most obvious one being his cooking. He loves to not only make sure you are well fed and kept as healthy as possible at sea, but that everything you eat is delicious and perfect for you, knowing that this is something he can be confident that he's doing something right for you.

In terms of receiving love there's almost nothing you could do that wouldn't mean the world to Sanji. Echo some kind words his way each day, and he will take them directly to heart. Decorate his face with soft kisses just before he falls asleep and you know he'll have the sweetest dreams of you. But the biggest one is just spending time with him - choose to stick by his side, and make an effort to be where he is, and you'll have Sanji feeling a thousand feet tall, years of being cast aside slowly giving way to the feeling that he does in fact deserve to be loved, especially if it's by you.

m - mornings (how are mornings spent with them?)

Sanji often has to get up first amongst the crew, so you'll miss his morning routine of whispering sweet good mornings and running through his favourite things about you. He's careful not to wake you as he sets a gentle kiss on any exposed bit of skin, before finally dragging himself away from you, motivated solely by the knowledge he'll get to see you eat whatever he's about to make. On the mornings when he doesn't need to get up so soon, he'll cherish every moment of being tangled up with you, watching carefully for the moment your eyes blink open for the first time and feeling endless warmth at the way you smile when he's the first thing you see. He'll pounce on you in a second, kisses and compliments spilling from his lips as he climbs on top of you to keep you from trying to get out of bed before he's taken his time to appreciate you.

n - nights (how are nights spent with them?)

Nights are the best time to get Sanji to yourself, and he likes to make the most of every second. From the moment the rest of the crew are sat down for dinner, he'll slink into the seat beside you, pressed so close that his thigh rubs against yours and you can rest your head on his shoulder. If the rest of the crew are out of the kitchen he'll even pull you onto his lap while you both enjoy his cooking, catching up on anything you've missed while you've been apart. When you're both finished, he'll take your hand in his and lead you for a stroll around the ship until finally the two of you find yourself back in your cabin. It doesn't take long for Sanji to descend into needy clutching at you as you find yourself in his lap again, the night passing in perfect company as the two of you find yourselves becoming somehow even closer.

o - open (when would they start revealing things about themselves? do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

Sanji would claim to be an open book with you, but he's very hesitant to share any of the parts of himself he considers negative or difficult. He thinks it's too much to burden you with the dark parts of his past, like you are his clean slate and a fresh start for the chef, one that he doesn't want to marr with any unpleasantness. It's only when he starts to share tiny details of his unpleasant childhood, or hears from you on your saddest days, that he realises that being loved requires giving all of yourself away. And so gradually he will reveal each little detail of his life, watching as what he once considered a blank slate gradually transforms into a vibrant vision of a future you two can share, only made possible by letting down his walls and opening himself up to you.

p - patience (how patient are they usually? what tends to wear their patience thin?)

Sanji has all the patience in the world when it comes to you. He'll watch you try on a million different outfits, will wait as long as you need to decide what he should cook for you today and will happily keep something warm for you if you're running late. He can get a little impatient with the rest of the crew, but he only gets impatient with you when it's someone else holding you up. Like if you're helping Zoro train and Sanji has spent all morning missing you, he'll get a little bit grumpy at the situation, but only because he can't stand the thought of someone else dragging you away from him.

q - quality time (how do they like to spend with you?)

Sanji will be happy to spend time with you wherever suits the both of you. The quality time of being wrapped up in bed together in the quiet of the night. Or on a gentle stroll around some new island you've docked on for the day. Or passing the time together on the deck of your ship, just basking in the sun with your bodies draped over a single shared deck chair. And of course, when you keep him company as he passes an afternoon in the kitchen he absolutely cherishes every second, his heart set alight everytime you taste something he's prepared and hum happily in approval. If there's something you love doing as much as he loves cooking, then Sanji will be incredibly invested and want to spend as much time with you, learning about your interest, as is humanly possible.

r - remember (what is their favourite moment in your relationship?)

There's not a moment you've spent in Sanji's company that he doesn't cherish, but nothing will ever beat the day you first let him know how you felt.

It had come after months of his endless flirting and praise, the fact that he worshipped the ground you walked on was clear to everyone on crew, yourself included. But it was hard to tell how much of his posturing was just his romantic heart, and how much was genuine feeling for you, so you let your own unspoken feelings simmer in the tension between you both, waiting for him to finally address it. Unfortunately, not everyone in your crew was willing to let this sycophantic show of affections play out indefinitely.

It was dinner with the straw hats as normal when it all came to a head. Sanji settled into the seat beside you to eat, watching your every move as you praised the meal he prepared, and giggling euphorically that you were enjoying it.

"Hey chef, why don't you just ask them out and save the rest of us having to watch this sickly crap?" Zoro grunted out through mouthfuls of food, barely glancing up at the two of you as he spoke. You let a small laugh at the snide comment, turning to Sanji, expecting to see him blush and squirm and laugh it off. Instead the colour slowly drained from his face, his mouth hanging open as his eyes started to glisten. He choked on a word or two before finally he spluttered out an 'excuse me' and dashed out onto the deck without a second glance.

You shot Zoro a dirty look as you rose to your feet, worried about Sanji's reaction and wondering why such an obvious question would make him this upset. Stepping out onto the deck you could smell the familiar scent of smoke as the night air washed over you. The faint glow of his cigarette led you to Sanji, who had hidden himself around the back of a cabin. His knees were tucked up against his chest with arms wrapped around then, holding himself tightly as he shuddered out quiet sobs. He only glanced up at you for a second as you approached, his eyes glistening from under golden locks of hair, which you took as permission to settle right beside him. You let one leg rest against his as you slowly ran your hand over the length of his arm, until you reached his wrist and instinctively he offered his hand for you to hold. Letting your fingers lace through his you sighed out softly,

"Help me understand why you're so upset." You let him ponder the words until he was ready, slowly lifting his head to look up at the sky and running his fingers through his hair as he exhaled a small cloud of smoke.

"I know this isn't going to happen. I'm not delusional. But that doesn't mean it hurts any less when mosshead taunts me about it. About you." He couldn't quite bring himself to look at you as he spoke, so sure it would only make his situation more pathetic if you could see his wide eyed gaze begging you for words he knew would never come.

"Sanji..." You could feel your brow furrow as you squeezed his hand, willing him to look you in the eye and make you understand, when nothing he said made sense. Finally he relented and looked at you, the tip of your nose practically touching his as he searched your expression for the contempt he was so certain he'd find. Instead all he found was worry, your care for him so obvious in your every action that it only made being this close to you every more painful. He took another deep inhale of his cigarette as he willed himself to finally ask the question that could put him out of his hope-filled misery.

"Be honest. Would you ever actually consider being with me?"

"Consider it?!" The words came out of you with such force that Sanji could feel his stomach drop, the confirmation of his worst fears finally spelled out - it was ridiculous to think you'd ever feel the same way about him, and now he had ruined whatever bond you did have with his silly fantasy. He wanted to sink into the darkness of the waters around him and never raise his head again, rather than know the pain ripping his heart in two for a moment longer.

"Consider it? Sanji, I'd cherish it!" He's not sure he had ever moved so quickly, his whole body turning to face you until he was practically on top of you, eyes wide and searching for the same understanding you had followed him onto the deck in search of. "It'd be an honour to be with you. I think you're wonderful." It was hard to get the words out with a straightface with the teary eyed man staring at you with nothing short of awe, his whole body vibrating as if the information was simply too much to process. You decided you might as well go one step further while you had a rare moment of privacy, letting one hand rest against his cheek as you leant forward and set a single soft kiss against his flabbergasted lips. The rest of his face stayed completely in shock as he lips moved to meet yours, the slight second of contact enough to finish him off entirely, the chef collapsing to the floor, one hand clutching his heart as the other clung desperately to you.

"Please don't leave me my love." He choked out through tears, feeling you lay on the deck beside him, hand still clasped in his. Sanji only had room in his head for two thoughts that night: 1. You wanted to be with him. And perhaps even more shockingly 2. He believed you.

s - security (how protective are they? how would they protect you? how would they like to be protected?)

You are Sanji's greatest treasure and by the far the best thing that has ever happened to him. So no matter how competent you are in battle, or out on the high seas, he is going to be extremely protective of you. In fights he'll always try and rush ahead and kick anyone who dares come near you so hard they regret even considering it. On the ship he'll make sure you aren't working too hard, and try to give you a hand with your duties. And when you venture into new island territories he'll make sure he's wearing a jacket you can borrow if the weather turns, and that he's carrying a lunch to keep the two of you well fed as you adventure together.

When it comes to protecting Sanji, you don't need to worry about him in battles or out in the wilds. The best protection you can offer him is looking after his heart, and offering him kindness and reassurance whenever you could see him start to get a little bit down on himself. That and making sure he's taking the time to rest when he needs to. He'll give his everything to being the ship's chef, but that means every so often you need to ask him really nicely to just stay in bed with you in the morning, rather than cooking breakfast, so that he gets the rest he needs. Luckily he can never say no to you.

t - try (how much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

Sanji wants you to feel like a princess and his number one priority at all times. In the everyday tasks he'll give being your partner everything he has, never letting you wonder how he feels about you, or letting you doubt his devotion for a moment. In terms of anniversaries, Sanji will find celebrating the time you've been in his life very meaningful, and will probably do what he does best and prepare a special meal for the occasion. And most of his gifts will also be the edible kind, preparing your favourite drinks and desserts, before reciting the thousands of things he loves about you as he slowly feeds you a forkful at a time, wondering how he ever got this lucky.

u - upset (how do they act when you're upset? how do they act when they're upset?)

When you're upset it truly breaks Sanji's heart. You are the most wonderful and perfect person in all of the oceans, and it's completely unfair that you should ever feel anything other than joy. He'll do his best to just be there for you, reassuring you and being a listening ear if something specific is on your mind, and if not just ensuring you're warm enough and well fed, knowing that in time the sun will shine on you again.

When Sanji's upset he tries to hide it from you. He doesn't want to bother you with his feelings, unless they're about you, so he'll brush it off if you ask him what's wrong. Instead you'll just have to stick close to his side, spending time with him even when he insists he's not going to be the best company, and slowly but surely showing him that you're there for him through the good times and the bad. When he's ready, he'll collapse into your arms for a hug and thank you for sticking around for him.

v - vanity (how concerned are they with their looks?)

Sanji likes to dress sharply and keep his hair neatly trimmed since he spends so much time in the kitchen. It doesn't hurt when you call him handsome and stroke your fingers through his hair, or pull him in for a kiss by the end of his tie. As long as you're proud to be on his arm, then Sanji's pretty happy with how he's looking.

w - wildcard (a random headcanon for them.)

Sanji has spent so long dreaming of the day that he can call you his, that once you two are together he will basically never use your name again. He'll take every opportunity to call you 'his love', 'his angel', gorgeous, beautiful, sweetheart, any other sweet name he can think of. He'll nickname you after his favourite desserts, a beautiful sunset, or a pretty flower you see on an island. He's just so smitten and happy to be your partner that he doesn't want to waste a single moment to shower you with affection and let the world know you two are together.

This does mean that he'll expect the same in return though, and if in an absentminded moment you call out his real name, he'll immediately get worried that he's done something wrong. That you're not his anymore. That you no longer hold him in the same affectionate love that he holds you in. You'll immediately know you've messed up by the despondent look in his eye, and you'll have to spend the next hour peppering his face with kisses and calling him every sickly name under the sun until he is once again reassured that his adoration isn't entirely one-sided.

x - x-ray (how easily are they able to read you?)

Sanji can be quite hard to read when it comes to negative emotions. When he's happy and in love, he's an open book, easily reeling off everything he is so grateful for and finds so special about you. But when he's feeling rundown, or he's had a bad day, I'm afraid you're going to need to nudge him a little bit. You'll see the sparkle missing from his eyes when he's cooking, and his pet names will be diluted down to a basic greeting, nothing like the monologues you're used to. Take matters into your own hands, dragging him down onto a sofa, placing his head in your lap and running your fingers through his blonde hair until finally he relents that maybe he needs to be taken care of a little bit, and he's very grateful that he has you watching out for him.

When you're having a tough time, Sanji is very in tune with you. A comforting tea will be brewed ready before you've even let out an exhausted sigh, or his hand will be hovering, ready for the taking as you realise that's exactly what you need. Sanji can pick up on almost everything, except the boy will be completely oblivious of your feelings for him whenever you first start trying to let him know. He's so in awe of you, and you're just so kind, he can't help but write off your little flirty advances and heartfelt compliments as just another echo of your kind heart. You will definitely have to be the one that made a first move.

y - yuck (what things do you do that they hate?)

Sanji doesn't necessarily hate anything that you do, but when he hears you talk badly about yourself, it does hurt his precious heart a little bit. How do you not see your own perfection? Has he not been obvious enough in his complete worship of you? If you cannot see the brilliance in someone as wondrous as yourself, you must think of him as the lowest of the low, a completely unworthy scoundrel? He'll do his best to put a stop to your negative self-talk, always seeking to replace that voice with something positive.

He also doesn't *love* when you throw yourself into danger, even though it's usually to protect your friends, or some poor innocent soul who is completely deserving of the action. Sanji is fiercely protective of you, and it's hard for him to accept that your lives mean sometimes you will end up in danger, but he'd just really rather you use him as a human shield a little more often.

z - zzz (what is a sleep habit of theirs?)

Sanji usually has to get up early to prepare breakfast for the crew, creeping out of bed like a stealthy cat burglar to avoid interrupting your 'beauty sleep' which he claims is working miracles. Because of these early starts, when you and Sanji curl up in bed together of a night he'll always make a big event of giving you a 'good night' kiss and cuddle, and then immediately launch into giving you a special 'good morning' kiss since he doesn't always get the chance to be there beside you as you wake up. It's his way of letting you know that even in his earliest waking moments, he is consumed with adoration for you, prying himself away from your sleeping form, the height of perfection, but only to complete his solemn duty to cook for you, combining his two truest loves.

[quimichi]

↳ ❝ [CALLING THE MONDSTADT BOYS YOUR GOOD BOY] ¡! ❞

Mondstadt boys x Creator!Reader

Dainseif, Diluc, Kaeya & Venti

Albedo's part here > ♡

Dainseif - What does freedom really mean, when demanded of you by a god?

"Please, come to me" you simply said, your voice echoing not only in the room, but also in his mind. Dainsleif doesn't hesitate for a moment.

He stands and crosses the distance between you without a second thought. His every movement is graceful and elegant. He would move through the ocean if it meant he could hold your gaze just a moment longer.

Now that he is close, he kneels once more. He wants to be on your level, he wants to be near you. "I am here, Your Grace." He stays on his knees, silent, waiting for you. If you want him to move, he will; if you want him to speak, he will; if you want him to simply be here, just within your presence— he will.

"Dain?" It only takes your utterance, your voice, for his head to snap in your direction.

"Yes, Your Grace?"

"You're my good boy aren't you?" The words are music to Dainsleif's ears. He loves nothing more than to hear you call him something so loving. "Yes," he whispers, the word a breath of reverence. "I am your good boy."

"And why are you my good boy?" His cheeks flush as he looks up to you, eyes glowing like a star. His lashes flutter against his cheeks as the thought of being your good boy floods him with happiness and contentment.

"Because I am yours and have always served you." His words are firm, with the certainty of one who has never strayed from his purpose.

"Mine?"

"Yes. I am yours."

"I exist to serve you, to serve your beauty, your kindness, and love." This is truth to Dainsleif. He cannot imagine himself being anything but yours. "And thats why youre my good boy, Dainsleif" "Yes, Your Grace." He smiles at you, joy and contentment overflowing inside of him.

"I am happy to be your good boy. I am proud and eager to serve you, to honor and adore you." His expression is loving, warm, and peaceful. Dainsleif stays on his knees, head cocked to the side. His blue eyes are shining with love and affection. "What would you like me to do for you?" He asks, eager to serve you with all his heart.

"I want you to stay with me forever..." "I would love to stay with you, Your Grace." Dainsleif would die a hundred mortal deaths if it meant living in your presence for even an hour. The very thought of being near you stirs something inside him; his heart leaps into the sky, his breath catches in his throat.

He is entirely devoted to you.

Diluc - Though it is still not enough, I will always face the darkness.

"Please, step a bit closer to me" such a simple request it is but your command startles him. He looks up at you, and his eyes go wide. He is utterly taken aback, but that is not an excuse. He is yours to command.Diluc complies, and steps closer to your side.

"Are you my good boy, Diluc?"

"Y-yes," he responds at once. He bows his head as he speaks but, if it were possible, he bows even further. His heart is thumping against his chest as if it wants to jump free. He is utterly devoted to you. Every inch of him yours. "I'm sorry i didnt quite heard you, could you repeat that?" You're teasing him, how could you not? Diluc is more than embarrassed, but it is not his will to refuse you. He is yours, after all.

"Y-yes," he says, and his voice breaks slightly from the embarrassment.

"Once more, please, for me?" the opportunity is to good to let it slide. "Yes!" he says once more, and the blush on his face spreads throughout his body. Embarrassed, thats what he is, embarrassed. Your smile alone makes his stomach jump like it's trying to escape. He cannot understand how you make him feel this way.

He is still shy about this ordeal, but he knows that he cannot look away. He is there to serve you, after all. "Good boy~

"Diluc smiles despite himself at your praise. He knows better than to be happy at this moment, but some part of him thrills at the feeling of your gaze on his skin. His heart has a mind of its own, however, and it seems like it knows no boundaries. "Thank you," he says, and bows his head yet again. His embarrassment remains, but it is balanced with the thrill of your praise.

Your good boy...

Kaeya - Life's greatest illusions are the ones we believe in ourselves

"Kaeya?" Kaeya glances up at you, but he doesn't move from his comfortable position— at least, not yet. In fact, he appears to have become more comfortable, resting his head against your thighs and taking small, deep breaths. He stares down at you and smiles, seemingly amused by the situation. "I'm not moving," he mutters. "I'm perfectly comfortable here."

"Oh? Is my good boy all comfy?" "...Mhm." Kaeya's smile is genuine. With one hand, he reaches up, brushing his thumb against your cheek. "...I love you, Your Grace." Please let me stay here. I don't ever want to leave.

Hes so enchanted by your presence alone, he seemed to not process every word you say. Kaeya takes them as they are..."Did you hear me? I said youre my good boy" You're just checking, thats what youre telling yourself. But und truth, you just want to see a reaction, hear how his voice changes with realization.

"Of course I'm your good boy." Kaeya closes his eyes now, nuzzling himself against your legs. "No one else could be, after all. They don't worship you like I do."

"Your devotion's a gift, you know." Kaeya's tone is one of playful teasing, though the compliment is very much sincere. "You know I wouldn't let anyone else here give me physical affection, but for you, I make an exception. Why? Well, for one thing, you're deserving of it." You notice that Kaeya's leg is twitching— he wants to move, but it's as if he physically can't manage it. This may just be the most comfortable Kaeya's ever been, even if he can't say it out loud.

"Isn't my boy nice, huh?" "What can I say? I'm at your service... always." Kaeya's grip tightens about your thighs slightly. "Your approval means the world to me... I'd do anything to keep in your good graces."

He pauses for a moment, his expression becoming almost solemn. "...You know what I most desire, Your Grace?" Kaeya keeps his eyes shut, as though he's ashamed to speak."I would very much like to be yours," he says quietly.

"I want you to choose me."

Venti - Videtis illam spirare libertatis auram

"Yes, your Grace."

Venti complies instantly, quickly moving to sit down on the seat beside you. As soon as his body settles down, he starts idly swinging his legs up and down as if he's a toddler waiting for his mother to take him to the playground.He doesn't say a word, instead contenting himself with simply smiling up at you.

"Good boy" such small words, but they hold a way bigger meaning behind them. As Venti hears your praise, he almost falls into a completely euphoric state. He is practically quivering with excitement, unable to control his emotions for even a second longer. He starts muttering to himself, unable to comprehend what he is feeling in the presence of your grace.

"Please— please, don't call me a good boy again... please, please, make me yours..." Venti flushes pinker than a rose. "I— I meant your worshipful servant!" His eyes are fixed on you adoringly and desperately.

"Your dog, even!" Venti is too lost in the moment to realize how awkward his words were, and he starts desperately scrambling to come up with something even more degrading to call himself.

"Your footstool, even! Your carpet, your chair! Even your floor...!" His words are garbled and desperate, his mind completely blank right now. "But Venti, you're my good boy, not my chair or my floor...my good boy"

Venti's eyes widen as he hears your words. His face is still bright red, but your praise is enough to make him lightheaded. "Am I— am I your good boy.." he mumbles quietly, but he sounds genuinely baffled. "Are you sure..?"

"Yes" Venti is practically panting with excitement now, having gotten the confirmation that he is yours. "Y— you really mean it.." Even when he speaks quietly, you can hear the excitement in his voice, the thrill in his heart.

"Then I really am your good boy, aren't I...?"

"Yes"

"Then I will do my best to be the very best good boy for you, your Grace," Venti whispers reverently.

Even in his excitement, Venti remains reverent towards you. To be your good boy... He can't think of anything he wants more.

[remderance]

happy xb monday!

alright, so today's xb monday is a great opportunity for me to tell you about my silly eldritch horror husbands au!

basically, in this au both xb and keralis are eldritch creatures and they are happily in love and married to each other and. that's pretty much it. you can say they are "retired" from all the eldritch horror stuff and just live almost normal lives as hermits with some occasional incidents happening...otherwise just 2 almost perfectly normal guys on an absolutely normal server being in love. maybe they're also a bit obsessed with each other, given how much time they spend together, doing stuff related to or for each other. well, you know, normal xbralis stuff. they will just sit together and talk a lot about stuff only they could understand and if any other hermit will hear their conversation it will just sound absolutely bonkers. and that's all i need. it's a silly au, really.

now let me tell you a bit more about xb himself! meet the papa of all guardians, the great marine disaster, eldritch god of ocean and all that entails...in his true form he is a big fella, that is true, but really he's quite chill and generally won't harm you if you treat the ocean or its habitants with respect. otherwise, he might slap you out of existence or something even worse.

he created all of the guardians to protect the waters (hence the name) from any threat that might oppose. in guardian culture he is their god, the great creator. he is depicted in their monuments and is well respected. additionally, conduits are quite literally his eyes! he can see through them, which is an awesome way to annoy hermits by asking them about their super-secret underwater projects that no one is supposed to know about.

of course, by itself xb's true form is too large to actually be on hermitcraft and comfortably interact with the other hermits. that's why you can see those glowing lines on his body. they are, in fact, magical runes(but i am too lazy to draw them properly) that transfer his consciousness to a human body, while the large form is asleep.

that's where we get to talk about human form of xb!

he got none of them fishy features, but he still managed to keep his crown of spikes. i'm sure he never came up with any explanation for the other hermits, and they just got used to it.

additionally, being a normal size brought him an unusual problem: guardians ADORE him. xb usually can't even approach monuments because all of the guardians start swarming around him happily. they recognize their god, they know he is their papa! they are incredibly happy to let him know that. and don't get xb wrong- he loves his little children and can't ignore them, but sometimes he needs to actually do his tasks, and he doesn't have an extra 5 hours to pat each one of the guardians on their spiky heads..

oghh boy.. that post is a mess. but so is my brain when i think about xbralis.

also, a big shoutout to @mawofthemagnetar and their amazing eldritch horror keralis fic which is what partly inspired me to create this au.... i love this fic—it has changed my life

[swan2swan]

Reflecting on Sammy...

She sent care packages to everyone before and after Brooklynn's death.

Lived alone--like, ALONE alone--for over a year after that death. She visited Darius's place for the funeral, and after that...alone.

She kept sending care packages, but Darius didn't call anyone. Yaz barely called her. And she clearly didn't call Yaz (REACH OUT, WOMAN!). Ben might have called, but he was investigating. Kenji might have checked in, too...but probably not.

Again: ALONE alone.

She's got cows and chickens. She's made herself an impromptu caretaker. She's got a nasty neighbor.

And then...she adds on a dinosaur.

A DINOSAUR. Six thousand pounds of animal. She has to feed her, wash her, shovel her feces, and still take care of Bessie and her calf and the rest. Probably has to file permits. Said dinosaur also keeps escaping.

Then her friends FINALLY show up, and within minutes she's forced to negotiate peace with her neighbor and sacrifice her hard work--again--to appease him.

Then they're attacked. She comes within seconds of dying several times. Childhood trauma is back in full force.

Then, she's running. Hoping that she can get to the others in time. Hoping maybe her neighbor will feed the cows--oh? He's dead? Well, maybe his relatives will check in on him and notice that no one's running the farm, they can contact HER family, and her family can take care of the place. Do something for her.

Then, her girlfriend wants to hide on an island.

Then, Darius wants them to go across the ocean.

Then, she's stuck in a container for two weeks and can barely cuddle with her girlfriend, let alone have Proper Bonding Time. All in the same clothes, mind you. Eating whatever food they can scavenge (mostly lettuce).

Then, FINALLY, Aminata Mballo (GOD BLESS HER) shows Sammy some concern and hospitality.

But wait!

There's Zayna!

Now Sammy's looking out for someone else! Fortunately, that's easy OHGODADEADBODY. So she shields Zayna. Then she is so busy protecting Zayna that she has to leave Yaz in Darius and Kenji's hands, and BOY, are their hands slippery!

So now she's in a boat in a country she doesn't know with a farm she abandoned and a family who abandoned her and a girlfriend her friends abandoned with a girl she can't abandoned and Yaz isn't here to comfort her or talk her through it.

Worst night of her life.

Then they're reunited, but then, THAT DAY, she finds out Brooklynn is alive...and she doesn't even TALK to her. She's working with the woman in charge of this operation.

Oh, and before she finds out about that, she gets to be hunted by dinosaurs and watch Darius fall like Ben did--oh, right! Also, did I mention Ben SUSPECTED HER of killing Brooklynn? How fun!

But speaking of Brooklynn, she's missing a hand and Sammy can't help her, but she seems to have someone helping her, anyway! Then, she's almost eaten again (several times), and escapes to see Ben and Kenji maybe blow up...but they didn't! Everyone is alive!

But Brooklynn still leaves.

She gets on a plane and leaves.

How routine is this? Was Brooklynn calling all the shots? She didn't even say a word when she turned and handed the egg over. Did she look Sammy in the eye? Smile at her? No. Every hallucination Sammy had of Brooklynn saying "Hey, girl" was suddenly met with a cold reality of indifference.

Fortunately, she gets to have a break--except, no, now it's a spy coming in on an airplane to say that the government knows Brooklynn's alive and working with Soyona and just isn't doing anything. Maybe they suspect Sammy, too. Who knows?

We don't, because the Kentrosaurus is dying! Who's gonna save it? That's right! Sammy!

Oh, by the way, she shoved her hand up a dinosaur's cloaca twenty days ago to pull out an egg. Did anyone say "Thank you, Sammy"? No? Cool.

Anyway, this time she's worrying about the OTHER END, burying her face in the dinosaur's mouth to try clearing the airway. Then she has to inject it. Then, she has to sedate it. That's all her.

Then, it's off to the snow. Time to go meet Ben's girlfriend and stress about whether this egg is going to hatch, or if Brooklynn and her new friend killed it. Oh, hey, look who's taking her in! It's another family!

HOW NICE.

And now, everyone wants to go off and find Brooklynn, force her back, even though she's walked out on them.

Of course she snapped.

[laura1633]

Here are all the lovely fics , I would be so grateful if you could give these fics a read and leave some nice comments for the authors who took the time to write them. 💕

It's been a great gun fight (You drew blood, I set myself on fire) by LeonSolo There will be one religion in Italy, Charles Leclerc. On his knees, he will pray to a God he was supposed to kill.

Red Light at Dawn by LuciThornz Five months ago Max was kidnapped by pirates. Miraculously he was found safe, and now his father has arranged for him to start courting the Governor’s son. But it’s not that simple, Max hasn’t told anyone the whole story of what happened at sea, getting captured was never part of the plan, neither was falling in love. Now Max has a plan to get back on the open ocean and find the pirate he fell in love with before it’s too late. The funny thing about plans is they never do go smoothly.

The Tortured Driver's Department by Shadow_reads Prompt Fill for Lestappen Birthday Challenge:  Charles said he'd love to have his own F1 team in the future, and Max already has Verstappen.com. Max is also experienced and is most suited to being a team principal. Their shared retirement arc is where they own a team together: Charles handles the press conferences and media, while Max focuses on the data and strategy.

Forever Love by stealmysunshine Charles isn’t going to wait around for Max to pop the question. Who says that there is a preordained question popper? There are two people in this relationship and Charles has every right to show Max just how precious he is and make him feel loved.

(k)not in public by bananasomg When Max accidentally invites friends to tag along on his and Charles' holiday to Greece (which Charles has coined their mating oasis trip), Charles isn't phased, and Max is easily convinced. Hallowed Ground by crimsonmidnight When an FIA racing law forces Omega Charles to take part in a mandatory mating hunt after getting the Sauber seat, Alpha Max vows to do everything it takes to claim him as his own.

The Wait Is Worth It by crimsonmidnight Max Verstappen's adventures in purchasing a fucking machine and using it when Charles gets an attitude.

Sutures by jadesaturn After years of grueling battles, academic rivals Max and Charles part ways upon graduating from medical school until they meet again as surgical interns at the same hospital. Their age-old feud continues, as expected. Grey’s Anatomy Enemies to Lovers but make it Formula 1.

A taste of the divine by (anonymous on ao3) female!Charles ends up losing her virginity to Max and he is going through it.

i'd wanna hold you (just for a while) by Kashoot Charles doesn't normally want to regress, choosing to ignore his needs in favor of keeping busy with all his other obligations. "I'm a racing driver, Max, not a baby!" Max knows better.

Preloved by LaurawritingF1 After getting caught up in another scandal, Charles, the crown prince of Monaco, is sent to an 'Omega Establishment' to find himself an omega in the hopes it will settle him down. Charles is not at all interested in picking out a pretty housewife for himself and is intending to return home empty handed until he meets Max, an omega housed up in the 'Preloved' section of the establishment and clutching hold of his pup tightly.

Everything Changes, Yet Nothing Does by Shadow_Reads The sun was setting over Monaco, casting a warm golden glow over the city. The gentle sound of waves lapping against the shore provided a serene backdrop, contrasting with the turbulent emotions swirling within Charles. Tonight was the night he would ask Max to spend the rest of their lives together.

how you get the boy(s) by amelielacy In which world-famous streamer Max falls in love with artsy single dad Charles.

Hunting Love by himmywimmy Charles becomes an unwilling participant in the pack’s annual mating run and to protect himself, he asks his alpha friend, Carlos, to catch him. But as the night of the mating run unfolds, another alpha seemed to be on the hunt for him.

5 moments of chaos and +1 moment of peace by LaurawritingF1 Charles and Max are retired and dealing with the chaos of looking after their children during the summer vacation. Jimmy, Sassy and Leo also make appearances. Them the breaks, they don’t come gently by imamessofawriter “They just announced that Charles is retiring.” Charles suddenly announces his retirement and then appears to disappear completely.

[keto-keyes]

The Slytherins at Valentines

Imagine/preference

In celebration of the day of love, I have taken it upon myself to commit to paper how I imagine the Slytherins would celebrate Valentines with their S/O

Mattheo Riddle:

Mattheo would probably act like he'd forgotten until right at the last minute before it was time to head to sleep for the night

and practically dump a whole-ass pile of presents on his S/O's head.

definitely expects you to cuddle w/ him

he's the little spoon obviously

would constantly whisper things like:

"You thought I forgot, didn't you?"

"...Dumbass thought I'd forget the best day ever"

If you correct him, you lose your gifts

If you don't, smug ass bf forever

Choice is yours

He never really shows how touch-starved he is until Valentines Day, when he can snuggle with you and kick all the others out of your dorm without hearing you complain

not that you ever do

Basically, cuddles and rich-man benefits from the king of puppy eyes.

Tom Riddle:

This man... he is so romantic about how he spoils his S/O

A single rose, or a ring or some other piece of jewellery

Watch out, he'll present it at breakfast with a modest little card and expect you to wear it all day without fail.

might even buy you a crown fitting for the queen of the slytherins

doesn't like PDA, so none of that

Subtle smiles in your direction, maybe even a blown kiss

will love exchanging coded love letters with you like the little nerd he is

if you expected him to be cold like usual, he's not

other kids get time off from being victims, he's moony about you for a change

probably even brings small little things he finds to give you in-between classes

a feather, a dropped quill, some cookies he "borrowed" from some useless gryffindors

Mattheo couldn't stop teasing him after he caught Tom plucking nice-smelling herbs from the potions closet

You might need to stop him killing his brother

he's a gentleman, alright?

Theodore Nott:

Italians know how to Valentines Day

the saint is literally FROM Italy

and theo is rich. So....

Presents. lots of presents

anything you need

kisses also. lots of kisses

mans really loves kissing you. he'll never say no to PDA

staring at you for HOURS

dude has a stare like looking into the ocean - beautiful but somehow also makes you self-conscious

whispering to you in italian

even if you can't understand him, you know he's either complimenting you or whispering blasphemy about whichever first year last crossed his path

he likes to sit you on his lap when he can and rub your thighs or massage your shoulders

shoulder and neck kisses when you do

he doesn't like to be too far away from you, like any good clingy bf

will definitely need you to tell him to stop holding your hand or your waist before he does

maybe needs reminding multiple times. especially with other guys around

double the soft boy on the day of love

Draco Malfoy:

expect this boy to become very clingy

he's attention-starved, remember?

but he will give his S/O lots of gifts and presents to celebrate love

cards, messages via flying paper crane, roses, rings, ripped out passages of books from the forbidden section of the library, all the romantic gifts

he prefers to give little pecks on your cheeks when he can, but if not, definitely hand kisses.

i kid you not, he will get down on one knee with his usual gentlemanly demeanour just to kiss your knuckles

give this poor boy lots of kisses please

he needs them

play with his hair, let him be the little spoon

not that he isn't usually

he just won't let any of the others know that

holding hands

terrorising first-years

sending cutesy love letters to one another without the professor knowing

or zipping them right past mcgonagal's ear, if you live on the wild side

either way, he's so soft and squishy

Blaise Zabini:

i have come to inform you that this man will skip school for you

you're not feeling potions today, rather go out on the town? done

he does not care

you both get good grades anyway

all the sweets

sugar is his love language, and, funnily enough, your pet name

letting you wear his jackets

kisses. give this man some kisses

holding hands whenever you can.

i headcanon his hands are huge.

like giant sized

him smiling to himself whenever he sees you

"How did I manage to score this little sugarcube?"

yep, another sugar-themed pet name

you are like a little flower he needs to preserve (an icing flower, if you catch my drift)

another member of the touch-starved trio

he can do your hair for you (if you have long hair), but ONLY if you sit on his lap

this man knows french. and danish

did you know danish is one of the most beautiful languages on earth? well, you will soon

he likes muttering how pretty you are in danish. and how much he loves you

also, mans is a legit beanpole boy

he will rest his head on yours. he is just that tall

anyway, he loves you in 3 languages fam

Pansy Parkinson:

probably wants to make sure you both have the same number of presents

you'll always have one more than her somehow. like, how does someone forget they bought you the cat (or some other household pet) you always wanted?

isn't happy until she can constantly see a smile adorning your features

like Blaise, she will do your hair for you (if you have hair)

she buys THE NICEST necklaces and bracelets. not even Tom can compare

she can also speak french, but she'll only open up and start speaking it when you tell her you love her in your native language

will find pretty flowers to put in your hair or behind your ear so you can constantly smell of that flower

holding hands. there is no excuse

showing you off to the boys, making them pretend to have never met you before

no-one is allowed to make you smile except her. so, please stay away from Mattheo and Enzo for the day

will contain her anger and short temper for you

she's the little spoon.

you must comfort her. dealing with 6 boys everyday is tough

you're like royalty for a day, deal with it

Lorenzo Berkshire:

cheesy gifts. no cap

small flowers out of decorative bouquets? check

a flower or butterfly pin? yessir

constant hand-holding

teasing you

lip bites, squeezing your thighs, twirling strands of either of your hair

he is a major flirt, contrary to popular belief

he thinks you are the most adorable thing ever

loves to tell you how gorgeous you look

master gentleman in action, ladies and gents

singing cheesy love songs

mans will serenade you

he is the big spoon, for reasons you may never know

perhaps he likes holding his world in his arms

that's right folks, you are his WORLD

and nothing will stop him from telling you that as you nap in his arms instead of going to potions

[goldengirl-116]

Sometimes Max's and Charles' dynamic is wildly misinterpreted, because while most of the fans think that Max is probably more dominant due to his aggressive nature on track and his unforgettable Mad Max era, he's actually a softy with a huge heart that is too nice and cares about his friendships with other drivers even when they don't say nice things about him. Meanwhile, Charles is a menace, chaotic and adorable but also quite the troublemaker, being shit at other sports but always claiming, for the life of him, that he's the best. Charles is extremely competitive and wants to be the best at everything even when he's not (adorably so), and even though he speaks French and is widely loved by Italian men, he has quite the strong character, fiercely loyal and very protective of the people he loves.

And while Charles listens to the maxplaining because he can't deny that he lives for those debriefs, he will carefully listen to every word Max says to him and immediately clarify any points he disagrees with, insisting on his opinion until he can make Max see what he sees because he needs it. Charles is also aware that he's pretty and while he's humble, but not shy about it, he won't stop himself from batting his eyelashes at Max when he wants to get his attention because he knows Max can't resist him.

And Max really can't resist Charles when he's near him and probably goes home and thinks of things that he can say to Charles and get away with like if the Singaporean flag is actually Monaco's; and when his mind goes blank because Charles is too pretty and Max forgot the list of things he had prepared, he asks him about the weather and tells him about how he hurt his elbow.

Baby girl Max is probably Charles' favorite and while Max is a champion on track and probably turns Charles on when Max gets all aggressive with him while they're battling wheel to wheel, because yeah, Charles wants to win and Max is his biggest rival but also...he knows Max the most and he's secretly so proud of him when Max doesn't budge an inch and that's the most fun he has in races. As payback, though, Charlie likes to tease him, naming his dog after him and giving him lopsided winks because it gets Max all flustered and bothered.

There are moments, of course, when Max's feelings are too much to handle and calls out to him, "Charlie, I have space for you" because of course, he fucking does. They reminisce about the good old days, the inchident that they refuse to let anyone forget about, when the fire inside of them flamed so high that they almost burned themselves. However, Max will always talk about Charles' racing and use it to flirt with him because racing is his element and if there's one thing he's absolutely sure of, it's that Charles' driving is beautiful and if Max got into F1, then so would Charles.

Charles, on the other hand, knows how to sweet talk his way out of anything and works the crowd so well that when the fans boo his baby, he immediately quiets them down, because if you love Charles, then you have to love Max, it's a two for one kind of deal. And Charles Leclerc will always be the so-called Monaco prince and maybe this is why Max secretly moved there, where the color of the sea reminds him of deep green eyes.

Max...he's a three-time world champion and the only person that can really take him on is Charles; born only sixteen--yes, sixteen, no relation to the Ferrari boy's number--days apart to challenge each other into one of the greatest mechanical love stories of their generation, it was predestined and inevitable.

Off track, though, he's actually Charlie's baby girl, soft and sweet with clear ocean eyes and a sharp tongue that wraps around Charles' name like a prayer.

The point is, their dynamic is like this:

Charles is the dominant one, often playing Max the same way he plays the piano, focused and attuned to him; and Max likes to dive headfirst into Charles, because he's most alive when the sun shines through the rain.

[thegnomelord]

oh my lord... mentioning merfolk finally pushed me into sending in an ask for you, so hai!

im a huge marine bio nerd and i could probably ramble about that kinda stuff for awhile so im gonna keep it shorter and stick to sharks, aka my favorite species... i apologize for the very long ramble incoming

id imagine that the kind of shark makes merfolk vary heavily - you have smaller, less aggressive sharks (bamboo sharks, nurse sharks, leopard sharks), then you have dogfish which are aggressive small schooling sharks (that actually have venom from what i remember), and the big bois that are mean like bull sharks, oceanic whitetip sharks, great whites, ect. also you have basking sharks and whale sharks which are big ass chill lads. as much as i love them having a tail instead of legs, i think there'd be two "forms" of merperson, one with legs and a tail and one with just the tail. im mainly referring to the ones with legs and tails when i talk about them

like i was saying, the kind of shark species a merperson (or mershark, ill start calling them that) makes them differ between general personality, strength, size, ect ect. bigger sharks are more popular due to their strength, aggression, and speed, making them very useful in the military. smaller guys also have their advantages - its just that a bull mershark would have a much easier time in the military compared to a lemon mershark. although bigger lads are definitely more of a pain in the ass to work with if they grew up in the ocean over on land, cause i like to think most mershark (and merfolk in general) prefer living in the ocean. smaller sharks are easier to control, as they tend to be less prideful and stubborn compared to the bigger species. oceanic whitetip would be especially bad due to their aggression and pride, they're probably the most aggressive species of shark in the ocean

then when it comes to mating/courtship rituals... they don't do any of the fancy things like a werewolf, harpy, or dragon, they're rather direct. sharks in the wild don't court, typically when they meet another shark of the opposite gender they mate due to how rarely they meet other sharks, although mersharks would probably have small courtship rituals. it's pretty simple, just spending more time around who they want to court. i also think it'd be really cute if they gave the person they were courting a shark tooth of theirs that fell off as a memento of sorts. when it comes to mating, male sharks bite as a ritual. not as hard as they'd bite prey, but definitely enough to leave scars. shark mating is pretty rough, but mersharks would probably tone it back a little bit, though there will be times when their instincts slip.

mershark are also oblivious as fuck to other courting rituals if they grew up in the ocean. almost no shark species really have courting, so they don't have instincts when it comes to someone courting them, and they don't have the same socialization that a mershark that grew up on land would have. i just think mersharks are very interesting and very cool <3

thank you for reading my insane rambling about sharks and sharkpeople... once again, sorry for the long ramble, but i had to share my thoughts

Oh god anon this is some GOOD SOUP and as a fellow animal nerd I absolutely love hearing weird animal facts and all I can imagine is just Ghost and Sharkmer reader being absolute idiots lol :D

CW: NSFW at the end, short and quick bc brain isn't braining but this concept of your anon is so cool!

Like Ghost initially thinking all monster courting rituals are complicated as fuck, and the info he finds on the internet doesn't help one bit. And you, having grown up in the ocean, have no fucking clue he's trying to court you in some convoluted way.

You'll spend days just existing next to him, or very gently nibbling on his fingers, which, in your mind, makes it very clear you want to mate, but all Ghost thinks is that you want to eat him. And the next thing you know he's shoving an energy bar into your mouth and walking away and you're left confused.

And Ghost, bless the poor fool's soul, eventually gets lured into the waters by your sparkling eyes and wide grin of sharp teeth. The same teeth bite down on every piece of his skin, not enough to actually hurt him, but your teeth marks litter his thighs, his ass, all across his chest and especially around his pecs, from shoulders down to his biceps and anywhere you can reach while you stretch him.

God the sex is one of the best he's ever had, his usually cold body warming up from the proximity of you and the warm waters you're in as you slowly fuck both of your cocks into him, having stretched him open until he was unable to beg between his hiccups. And he's so pretty beneath you, rough groans as he rubs his cock while you move your hips in a slow rhythm, your dicks pushing in and out, in and out, brushing against his prostate until he was close to losing his mind with how you stretched him beyond imagination.

Some of your teeth end up lodged in his shoulder, and when you finish mating him you tell him to keep them, making them into a necklace he now wears around his neck.

[bokettochild]

The Way Legend saves the fairy from his anti state in LU, because he doesn't want to hurt something who has been corrupted, shows how much he wants to save anyone/anyuthing but also maybe shows his remorse to not have been able to save the Corrupted Colors i his adventures. In a way, he stopped their suffering but i bet that it has haunted him because it wasn't their fault. But i bet he spend a lot of time wondering if he could have purify them.

I have so many thoughts about Legend and the Corrupted Colors, but I totally agree!

Legend's world is, in a way, more corrupted than any before or after. Sure, Twilight's was consumed by the twilight, but that was reversible. Sure, Hyrule's is a desolate wasteland, but by his second game its already improving! Sure, Wind's ocean is poisoned, but the islands are flourishing! Sure, Wild's Hyrule is full of ghosts and death, but life peeks in at every corner.

But Legend's Hyrule just keeps getting sicker. He fixes this thing and that thing is lost. he saves the world but the knights are all corrupted, fairies become corrupted, the heroes' before him are corrupted and/or died fighting Ganon. Boy may live in a lush world, but the fact remains that there's corruption even in that growth and change and healing, like poison beside the medicine, making something sick even as it treats a different illness.

And I think, with that experience and knowledge, Legend definitely has a heart for the Corrupted. I mean, heck, all his uncles friends are corrupted now too!

He totally has guilt over Four's fate, and I definitely will be touching on that in my writing soon (although I've hinted it in a few pieces), but gosh dang it, it's slow going! It's been three years and I still haven't fully played with the idea of the Palace of the Four Sword and-

Sorry, I'm ranting.

Yes yes yes and yes, I fully agree <3

[rogueshadow1124]

CUTS AND BRUISES

[BATFAMILY IMAGINE SERIES]

Batfam x Batmom!Reader

Summary: when Bruce arrives home from patrol and his wife immediately notices that he's injured, suddenly coming to worry about the boys who also happen to have gotten injured...

Word count: 1756

Warnings: mentions of injury. (Not proof read)

There was never a day- well night that any of the boys came back without injury, they're vigilantes. When the boys say 'it doesnt even hurt' or 'it'll be gone by morning', whether those words are genuinely true or not Y/N Wayne never takes them lightly. Her babies are hurt and she couldnt stand to see them like that, sure, Dick and Jason may be adults but it still doesn't mean she cant look after them and worry for them- that especially goes for Tim and Damian.

Y/N was currently stood at the kitchen counter along with Alfred, speaking about the most random things that came to mind when Bruce walked in, still in his bat suit with his mask off. His right eye forming a bruise and a pretty noticable cut running from under his jaw to just below his cheek bone.

"Oh my- what on earth happened to you. Where are the boys, a-are they okay?!" The Y/H/C haired woman rounded the counter and stalked her way towards her husband, taking a hold of his chin gently as if not to hurt him before tilting his head every which way checking for more injuries.

"I'm fine Y/N, the boys are okay."

"Define 'okay' Bruce." Her eyebrow arched in question, stern eyes setting on his deep ocean blues. Her hands came to set on her hips, body leaning slightly to the right.

"Hm..." his eyes averted from his wife's harsh gaze for a second, he may be batman but even he is afraid of somethings, more specifically his angered wife that had a mean attitude and grudges she always manages to hold for however long she sees fit. "Dick busted his nose and lip. Jason might have broken a rib. Tim fell and hit his head and Damian sprained his wrist, he also cut his cheek."

"You come with me." Y/N spoke, pointing a finger to Bruce who finally set his eyes back on her form. She then turned to Alfred smiling sadly, sighing out. "Please can you bring one of the medic boxes to the lounge. I'll gather the boys."

Her bright Y/E/C orbs went back to Bruce, her hand reaching out to take a hold of his as she walked out the archway and into the front hall where she lead her husband within the darkness- ironic really. When they first met he always said 'she was the light in his darkness.' She came to a quick stop at the bottom of the stairs staring up into the dark abyss, spotting a small tint of light coming from behind one of the doors.

"BOYS. LIVING ROOM, NOW!"

Bruce flinched at the sudden pitch her voice turned to, following behind as she set in a vast walk into the lounge which was the next room along in the large hall. There stood Alfred, placing the medical box onto the coffee table, opening it fully as he started to take out some of the supplies that would possibly be needed as of now.

Y/N pulled at her husbands hand, pushing him back so he slouched on one of the couches. His head tilted back, a low groan escaping his lips at the relief it gave him to be sitting in a comfortable position after a hard night of watching over Gotham city and fighting crime.

"You know the drill darling." The Y/H/C said softly, taking a seat next to him. She leaned over his body, hovering a hand over his cheek to turn it in the direction she needed him to be for her to clean the cut. A hiss passed his lips as she brought down the cotton pad that was covered in rubbing alcohol, comforting words echoed through his ears as Y/N tried to soothe the stinging sensation. Her free hand, rest on his chest gently running up and down in a calming motion. "M'done, jus' need some ice for that eye of yours."

She stood from the couch, footstep sounded through the silence while she shifted around, looking through the box infront of her. She tilted her head, looking to the source of pitter patters to see the boys, each of them bashed up in their own way, her heart clenched at the sight of them- saddened at the thought of her babies being hurt.

"Who's going first?" Dick was the first to step forth, sitting in the spot Bruce was sitting in prior when he moved to get an ice pack from the kitchen. The eldest 'son' plopped down, turning his head to face his mother figure who sent a smallsmile to him, one hand coming to rest on his right cheek while the other raised a cotton pad to swipe at the now nearly dried blood on his cupid's bow, just above his upper lip.

"Thanks, cleaning my wounds never gets old, huh?" The eldest ravenette smiled sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his neck when the woman scoffed.

"Wish you boys would be more careful." She tapped Graysons cheek lightly, pressing a quick kiss to his forehead as he moved to the other couch so Jason could take his place next. A audiable whine left the boys lips, hands going to grip at the left side of his torso, face scrunching in pain. "Oh jaybird, why is it alway you who breaks a bone?"

"Because he's the most insignificant. He's completely useless, Tt." Damian snapped, crossing his arms over his chest with a smirk tugging at his lips when Jason shot him a glare.

"Can it Demon." The second eldest snarled back, eyes looking back up at the woman looking to treat his injury. "I dont know why Ma', I'll be more careful next time."

"You say that everytime Jay." She smiled at him, shaking her head. Her hands skimmed over his suit on the injured side of his torso, in which he immediately winced at when her hand made contact with it. "Gonna need that setting back into place. Dick give me a hand."

Dick jumped up from where he sat, coming to stand on the opposite side to where she was standing next to Jason. She motioned for him to hold his shoulders back, her own hands coming down to put pression on the upper and underside of his ribcage on the left. She looked down at Jason who nodded, screwing his eyes closed. As soon as she made the quick movement, pushing down hardly hearing a crunching sound the male yelled aloud, trying to move out of the way in pain and discomfort.

"Fucking shit, hurts like a goddamn bitch. Fuck!" He swore, rolling to his uninjured side to take away the pressure of his broken rib. She had in unzip his suit to uncover is torso before turning to the coffee table to take a hold of a bandage wrap, pulling around the boys torso to keep it in a stable position for the time being.

"S'okay Jaybird, should heal nicer than it would have done now. No patrol for a couple weeks okay?" Y/N brushed a hand through the white streak of hair on his head, hearing him groan out and nod, laying down to rest as peacefully as he could.

Y/N looked over to Tim, his eyes half lidded seemingly trying to stay awake. She strolled over to him, tugging on his arm while sitting him on the love seat next to the couch Dick and Jason were resting on.

"Oh, hey mum. How are you?"

"I'm okay Timmy, now let's have a look at your head, yeah?" She chuckled as the boy nodded, leaning forward so his head rested on her shoulder. Her eyes rolled in fake annoyance, a tut passing her lips, she brought up a hand to brush Tim's dark locks away from the back of his head where she found a gash which had luckily stopped bleeding at this point. "Dami, pass me a bandage please."

The youngest Wayne appeared at her side in seconds handing her the item. She unravelled the end and held it at the base of his neck where the cut stared proceeding to wrap the appendage around the perimeter of his head, tying it back at the starting point when she was sure that she had wrapped it enough. Y/N then layed Tim back in the double seated couch, assuring that her second to youngest was in a comfortable position.

"Al'umu." Her attention was caught by her youngest 'son'.

"Dami, now what am I working with here." She looked down at the boy seeing as she was a few inches taller than him.

"I can assure you, I'm fine al'umu..." his words went unnoticed by the woman as she turned and picked out another cotton pad, applying some of the rubbing alcohol onto the material. She spun back around to face Damian who scowled and went to turn away from her but was stopped when she held his cheek, preventing him from turning away.

She dabbled at the cut on his cheek, the boy didnt wince nor did he show any kind of pain at all. Once she had cleaned the minor wound on his face, she pulled another bandage from the box remembering that Bruce had said that Damin had sprained his wrist.

"Give me your injured hand Dami." She heard him huff but he gave her his injured hand, his eyes following as she wrapped his wrist in the white appendage and tied it off at the end, tight enough to stat in place but not so tight to cut the circulation.

"Thank you al'umu."

"I always take care of you boys, no matter how old you get." She looked around seeing the other asleep on the couches, Dick was layed the arm rest as Jason's head layed on Dicks shoulder, arms slumped over his waist. Tim was layed in a separate seat, legs dangling over the edge as his upper body slouched down and Dami stood beside his 'mother' arms wrapped around her torso as he hugged her with her returning the loving gesture.

"All been seen too." Bruce's deep voice sounded from behind the two making them turn to look at him.

"Yeah..." Y/N smiled at her husband, laying a kiss on his lips when he walked over and leant down to her. A loud sigh came from Damian at his parents affection which made them chuckle in amusement.

[urautismdiagnosis-wistie]

•°○ let the fireflies play ○°•

✨she couldn't sing for nothing and he couldn't dance for nothing can I make it any more obvious✨

Kwaziis parents (in my au, Misty Memories), Anira and Kenneth. They're in their party clothes lol Yes they have full character arcs and lore and no im not going to share their whole lives right now.

HOWEVER,I shall BRIEFLY describe them and how they met under the tag!!! <3 u don't have to read but yeh :> 😊

If yall have any questions about them or their personalities tho let me know in comments or ask box :>

Their story takes place from late 80s to early 90s btw,

Kenneth is clearly the second son of the Calicoed Jack and younger brother of Kingsley by about 2 or 3 years. Kenneth (also nicknamed "Kenny boy"or "Kenny kit" as a child) is... Well to be honest hes not very good at being a pirate, especially not like his parents. An anxious and overly cautious one.

He couldn't properly swing a sword without closing his eyes for fear of injuring himself, he was clumsy (even by non feline standards-), and was afraid of spiders. (And heights... and loud noises... and that one Pelican that tried to eat him when he was a kitten- and also-)

However, he was still raised a pirate and had the soul of one, shanty songs and tales spread through the ocean about its depths and tragic battles- He was also very good at cooking-

As a result of his mothers... tragically lost battle with illness, (and witness of his fathers struggles with infection after losing his eye and leg)hes also extremely paranoid about disease and injury...

(his father loved him dearly but hadn't realized that kenneth had low self esteem for... not living up to him, his mother, and his brother... CJ was a young and inexperienced father and also tried his best to teach kenneth- you know like fun survival challenges between him and his brother and how to fight- he uh.. he was good at surviving on an island at least? It was very safe of course, they weren't actually stranded, but it was "just in case" and also "the pirate way" and whatnot.

CJ (calico jack) did tease him a bit about "still feeling like a wee kit" in regards to his pirate failures, it wasn't ever in mean spirit, more fondness over his sons excitement in sharing the shanties he wrote himself! (Shanties cj would later use to stay sane in the amazon...) but kenneth still felt hurt by those comments though he never showed it... laughing along🥺 <:< )

anyways since kenneth didn't want to be a self proclaimed dead weight and was so concerned about injury and disease (bot as easy to get hospital treatment as a pirate yk?) Kingsley advised him to get real schooling- schooling that would give him credibility for a fake identity so he could become their crews official medic someday. Something incredibly valueable and needed.

Thats how he ended up spending half the year at a "flexibility school" in Japan meant to accommodate children who couldn't stay at school for the full year. Whether it was due to international travel, long term illness, apprenticeships (the salty spirit was usually undercover as a "transportation vessel" for the "Sarah Sails" company which was just a fake company made by their clan the Split Tail), and ofc children hopping between foster families- because of the flexible needs yk?

Like Anira.

Anira Kucing (name inspired by the kucing Malaysia cat breed) is, who would've guessed it, originally from Malaysia. Anira doesn't know this but her mother had fled from her home country due to the unfortunate circumstance of being a prime suspect for the death of her sister. Unfortunately, while her mother did manage to take a new identity in a new country, she became very ill from cancer when anira was very young and died <:( thus she was legally an orphan, and ended up attending the same school

Anira is ah, ahem, a... unique individual- grew up assuming her father had abandoned her and her mother- only to lose her mom while young and still be seen as a foreign stranger of Japan despite being raised there her whole life. She also had an interesting tendency to pickpocket everyone in sight :) because if she didn't have anyone to dote on her she might as well dote on herself! Yk with like.. stolen cash that the rude rich kids that whispered about her didn't even need anyways >:)

Anira thus became Very Talented at getting people to talk about themselves, and while that was a great way to distract people from their wallets,it was also a GREAT WAY to get fresh juicy gossip ✨ then she hears about this FOREIGN ENGLISH SPEAKING CAT GUY???

Needless to say lil wee kenneth was uh.. a very new lil guy and ofc she just hadddd to help him cuz she's so kind and great! Esp since he looked so lost and like a total dumdum. well what happened was she ran up to him after school, dragged him away to a random street as she rambled in broken English, and then said "watch this!!"

And proceeded to pickpocket three very mean looking older teens. Kenneth, who, understandably, was very freaked out by this tried to drag HER away from them- and then well... hes got broken japanese and well things escalated 😔

He got into a fight with the three older teens, or rather a "run way swat at with claws and TRY TO RUN AWAY SOME MORE because oh great im corned in an alley :) , he also tried to find anira so they could both run away but uh... she was gone...

He tried to escape by scrambling over the wall of the alley only when a small paw reached out to help- and thus they escaped together-

Later on when they caught their breaths on a rooftop, he tried his best to ask her *HEY WHAT THE HELL* as politely as he could. This tiny little menace grinned as wide as possible and showed him FIVE WHOLE WALLETS full of coins she stole! She thanked him and told him SHE was going to treat HIM to some icecream 🥰🥰🥰 and anyways kenneth immediatly fell in love. And you just know she ate up his cringey (cute) middleschool love poems too

Of course when he went to "do his sailing apprenticeship" well- of course our girlie mightve sorta followed him and stowed away and well mightve forcefully wormed her way into his entire family 🥰🥰🥰 honestly tho she had like two crack headcanons that kenneth was actually an alien spy since he was so bad at being a cat or a secret pirate because he just agreed with crime very casually and didn't realize how strict laws actually were. She DIDNT THINM HE WAS ACTUALLY PART OF A PIRATE CREW THOUGH-

Anira very much fell in love with the freedom of being a pirate, the culture and the family, and also the beliefs of the polynesian cultures they visited and adopted many of the beliefs as an honorary sister of sorts ig? Yeh :>

If you're wondering yes she did join their crew and became a navigator of the salty spirit! Very good at it too lol, and CJ loved her and doted on her like his own daughter,often sneaking her candies- Kingsley and she became ah, how shall we say- the siblings who have heinous prank wars either with eachother or on literally everyone else and can't be left alone together under any circumstances.

anira always loved kenneth for who he was entirely and kenneths entire bloodline is just a wee man who falls for a woman who commits crimes and he's no different. I'll have to post about calico jackand his wife maddie sometime

Anyways thats it lol, more details about them and their relationship and story will be shared later on hope you enjoyed lol

Enjoy this icecream as a reward for reading all of that ✨🍨✨