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lixenn · 2 months ago

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Answers about Chief

As is habit I want insane and decided to answer every. single. question. for Chief in this ask game.

I have so many other asks in my inbox but apparently my brain is picky right now so you guys will get a massive Chief info dump after the cut because ohhhh boy there is a lot of text.

So enjoy (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

❣️ - What are their love languages?

Instead of one of the traditional love languages, Chief shows his care with insults and nagging. He will call you an idiot, a dumbass or a stupid little shit but he will say it with love and affection. You’re his idiot! And he needs to take care of his idiots otherwise they will most likely die in a ditch somewhere. Which is one of the reasons why he started to write the Guide, because deep down he cares a lot for his people (though it’s also because he’s very much tired of replacing so much of his staff at times it’s just inefficient).

🌙 - What’s their sleep schedule like?

Non-existent. Sleep schedule what? Never heard of it. Dan runs on naps and coffee with some 14-hour crashes mixed in between. His sleep has never been great but ever since he started working for the Vara it took a nosedive into inhumanly horrifying. Please someone drag this mess into bed, he desperately needs it.

🎁 - How do they feel about their birthday/birthdays in general?

Dan doesn’t much care for his birthday. It’s just another day of the year to him and he tends to forget it’s a thing most of the time. He will be pleasantly surprised if someone congratulates him and will awkwardly accept gifts, but please don’t throw him a surprise party, he’s not a fan. As for other people’s birthdays… He tries his best to remember but it does slip his mind more often than not. Marina still hasn’t forgiven him for forgetting her birthday that one time and she holds it over his head constantly. (“Will you finally let it go? December is a busy month okay!” “No.”)

🧑‍🦰 - Have they ever dyed their hair? Ever cut it themself?

He has never dyed his hair and has no plans of doing it (Dan reached the point where he’s just resigned to going grey early). However, he did cut his own bangs once, they were just too long and annoyed him so much that he took the scissors to them. Naturally it didn’t turn out great (not that he actually cared what it looked like) and his sister thoroughly chewed him out for that stunt which is why he never did it again (it’s just not worth getting another lecture).

🍷- How do they feel about alcohol?

Dan’s relationship to alcohol is… complicated. He yearns for it nearly daily because some of the shit he needs to deal with in his job but rarely does he give in to the urge to drown himself in alcohol. Mainly because he hates the loss of control. Once Chief is drunk he gets more expressive and downright chatty. When he’s totally smashed he even starts flirting with people which… he can never let Dave or Vlasta know about it. He would never hear the end of it.

🗣️ - How do they handle public speaking?

Reluctantly. Dan is not necessarily bad with words he just doesn’t really like talking all that much. He prefers writing things down instead of speaking to people, it takes less energy for him. However as Chief of Staff he needs to attend a lot of meetings and just generally still needs to talk to his employees so he’s just gotta suck it up, buttercup. (He delegates a lot of meetings that don’t need his input to Dave because Dave thrives when talking to people).

🎮 - What’s their favorite game?

Poker or any kind of card game really. When it comes to cards Dan’s pokerface gives him a great upper hand but he also has the devil’s luck, so he keeps on winning (which might also be a result of him counting cards when possible, but shhhh we don’t talk about that). Dan likes winning. And he likes scamming people out of their money even more, because he’s a massive hypocrite. Always advocating to not gamble while wiping the floor with everyone on the poker table. (“I’m just giving them a hands on lesson.” “You’re teaching them not to gamble… by gambling?” “Exactly, better I rip them off than Mammon. At least I will stop when they are out of money.”)

💓 - What are some signs they’ve fallen for someone? How do they show their affection?

Dan will be more open with his expressions when he’s fallen for someone. More generous with his smile and touch, exchanging his professional mask with banter and flirtations. He isn’t really one for PDA preferring to keep it on the down low. He will give his partner more attention, actually stop working for once and spend time with them though.

🤡 - What’s something dumb they’re embarrassed about?

Chief doesn’t really get embarrassed. The only person that can really embarrass him is his sister and she uses that power for evil most times. As a result he has very thick skin, it comes with being Marina’s younger brother who will constantly tease and bully him. Also have you met Dave? If Dan had any kind of sense of shame Dave would have eaten him alive ages ago. He’s fine with showing skin, but doesn’t do it often because he runs cold. If he fucks up he might beat himself up about it because he’s a perfectionist but it won’t really feel embarrassed because everyone makes mistakes. One thing that might fluster him is if people (aka Marina) bring up stories from when he drunkenly flirts with others because he takes pride in his emotional control.

🌱 - Do they have a green thumb or are they a plant killer?

Green thumb! Green thumb all the way! Dan learned early how to take care of plants and it’s has been his passion ever since. His knowledge about nature could feel several books, he’s a true plant nerd.

📱 - What social media do they use the most?

Hmmm tbh in the timeline I was planning for the Guide and the Sequel social media isn’t really a thing but fudging that a bit… I would say either Instagram where he just posts pictures of various parts of the gardens or tumblr where he shitposts about the Varia pretty much daily as a way to cope with the bullshit he needs to witness. It could go either way.

👪 - What’s their relationship with their parents like?

Already answered here.

🐒 - What’s their favorite animal?

Bees. Why? They are damn useful buggers and without them we would be pretty fucked. Chief can appreciate their function in the ecosystem (also he likes how fuzzy they are, he thinks it’s cute <- would probably not admit it because he has an image to maintain). He’s also partial to the Varia panthers but that’s mostly by exposure and because they keep Bel busy, so he has a soft spot for them.

🧳 - What countries have they been to?

He doesn’t travel all that often and if he does it’s mostly in Italy. But as a child his family has been on holidays in Austria for skiing (Dan was not a fan, he doesn't like snow).

🤔 - What’s something they’ll never understand?

The lack of common sense in the mafia. Racism and prejudice. The fact that morning people actually exist. Squalo cutting of his hand before he challenged Tyr (<- Dan holds it over Squalo’s head constantly since it was an objectively stupid thing to do). There are lots of things Dan will never understand. The world is full of mysteries :)

🎨 - What’s their favorite color?

Chief’s favourite colour is green! Green like plants, green like his and his mother’s eyes. He has good associations with it and if forced to dress up he tends to pick something that matches his eyes.

☂️ - How do they feel about rain?

It depends on the circumstances. In general, Dan likes rain since he finds the sound soothing and it helps watering plants but that’s only the case if he’s inside. He doesn’t like being outside when it’s raining because the feeling of wet clothes is icky to him. Also he already runs cold and rain would make it worse.

🎶 - What’s a song they really like?

In the End by Linkin Park :)

🖌️ - Do they have any hobbies?

When he’s not too busy with his job? Yes. He loves gardening but mostly gave that one up when he started working for the Varia, now the most he does with plants is taking care of the ones he has in his office. He likes going for walks in the gardens too, it’s one of his ways to relax when work gets overwhelming. He likes reading as well but rarely has time for it.

💤 - What do they absolutely need to have to fall asleep?

The only thing that he really needs is quiet though if he’s exhausted enough even that requirement goes out of the window. Otherwise Chief can sleep wherever he wants, whenever he wants, he doesn’t even need to properly lay down (though it helps) he will nap in his office chair, standing against the wall, on the couch it doesn’t really matter.

🎢 - Do they like amusement parks? What’s their favorite ride?

Amusements parks are a no go. They are too loud, too full of people. Chief doesn’t like crowds since he easily gets overstimulated and he’s not really a fan of amusement park rides either (he gets enough thrill on a day to day basis already). If forced to he would probably just seek out a haunted house (if present), go inside and hide in some nook to sleep the stay away. It’s not like the effects would bother him, he sees scarier stuff back home. He would probably just frown at the actor and tell them “4/10, I like the creepy voice but the make up is lacking, try better next time”.

🗺️ - What languages do they speak?

Italian, English, Spanish, French, Russian, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Mandarin, Korean and some others where he can understand the bare basics. Note that he learned most of those via a Mist cramming them into his brain, simply because it’s more efficient and takes less time.

🍳 - How well can they cook?

*stares at the black smear on the kitchen ceiling* Yeah… Dan shouldn’t be trusted in a kitchen at least when it comes to anything that requires a long attention span. His cooking skill is limited to making a really good cup of tea and sandwiches. He might also manage preparing and roasting game in the wild but that will barely be edible. He leaves the cooking to his mum, Olga and Dave. He knows where his skills lie and it’s not near a stove.

🍪 - How well can they bake?

His baking skills are also non-existent, though with this it might just be because he never really tried it. He will probably manage a box mix easy enough but forget to set a timer so the cake will turn out burnt. If he really applied himself he would probably be an alright baker at least for simple cakes because mixing together an exact amount of ingredients is easier for him than going off the wishy washy instructions you get in cooking sometimes.

💘 - What do they find attractive about their partner(s)?

Competence, intelligence, reliability and loyalty. Dan appreciates people that can get shit done and it reflects in his romantic interests as well. He likes it when people know their stuff, when they could talk about their interests for hours. He wants someone that can keep up with him, who understands his workload and how it affects his life. Appearance wise he’s not really picky, no clear preference for gender, figure or colouring.

👗 - How comfortable would they be wearing a skirt or dress?

He doesn’t really give a fuck as long as it’s comfortable, warm and has pockets. Marina has put Chief in dresses several times (she took pictures for future blackmail/bribery purposes) so he isn’t unfamiliar with it and wouldn’t bat an eyelash. He will actually be picky about what dress he wears though, because most dresses don’t come with pockets which annoys him. Also don’t expect him to wear heels he would rather die.

💝 - What gestures do they really appreciate? How do you get on their good side?

Dan likes when people make less work for him, so things like correctly filled out paperwork that has been handed in on time (or even early) is a quick way to get in his good graces. Simply taking some of his workload is also appreciated because he’s so goddamn busy it’s a miracle he even finds time to breath. Another way to get on his good side is bribing him with good coffee or tea or getting him a new plant for his office (he has such a soft spot for plants which probably obvious by now lmao).

☕ - Coffee or tea?

Both. Coffee by necessity and tea by choice. In a social setting he will pick tea over coffee because he prefers the taste but Chief drinks unhealthy amounts of coffee on a daily basis just to get through the day.

💀 - How do they feel about horror movies?

Not really his thing, his daily life could basically work as a horror movie if it weren’t so fucking ridiculous. The scare factor is pretty much gone so he wouldn’t watch it for that. The only time he would go for it is if someone else (*cough* Vlasta *cough*) drags him into it and even then he would just rip the entire movie apart while watching it. (“You call that gore? I’ve seen worse last Tuesday.”)

🧸 - Do they have any stuffed animals? If so, are they decorative or do they sleep with them?

He has one (1) stuffed animal and it’s in his room at the Superbi Villa. It’s a ladybug plush that works as a pillow. Marina gifted it to him as a birthday present when he was 5 and he has kept it all this time because it’s a damn comfy pillow (and because he would never throw away a gift from his sister).

💖 - How and how often do they try to impress their partner(s)? How and how often do their partner(s) impress them?

He doesn’t really try to impress them? Who has time for that? Not Dan that’s for sure! They either like him in is natural state which is total-mess-disguised-as-hypercompetent-guy or they can go suck a dick. He actually does impress them sometimes without trying because of aforementioned competence (I won’t go into details because spoilers). As for Xan and Squ... Dan is impressed by their powers in battle because it can't be argued that they really know their stuff. Xanxus knowledge in engineering impresses him as well, though that's often cancelled out by the amount of work he causes Chief sometimes. He's also impressed by how Squalo manages the Assassin division because by God he knows they are a handful at the best of times.

🍽️ - What’s their favorite food?

His favourite food is curry, the really spicy, barely safe for human consumption kind of curry. He doesn’t eat it often because Dave refuses to make this monstrosity more than twice a year and Olga would just raise her eyebrow at him in pure judgement.

🧑‍🍼 - How do they feel about kids?

Neutral to positive. Dan is good with kids, he did a lot of babysitting in the past and no kid can be worse than all of the insanity of the Varia combined so he’s pretty well equipped to handle them. He would make a pretty good Dad but he’s not really planning on having kids because his job takes up so much of his time, it would be unfair for the kid in question.

🐾 - Do they have any pets?

No, he doesn’t have any pets, he’s too busy for taking care of one and he prefers plants to animals anyways. He doesn’t mind animals but he knows that they can be a lot of work and he prefers spending that time with other things.

💬 - What are some filler/buffer words they use? (Like, um, etc.)

Dan’s daily wordcount is limited and speaking takes energy so he doesn’t use many filler words to begin with. He tries to be precise with his language and to the point. One of the few words he uses is “well”, another one would be “so”. When extremely tired (on the verge of passing out) he will speak even less and replace word with hums or gestures, nearly going completely non-verbal (which people around him use as an indicator that he really needs a break).

🏳️‍🌈 - What do they identify as? What are their pronouns?

He identifies as male and his pronouns are he/him. He’s not really that fussy with gender though it’s: “like… whatever” to him.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 - Do they have any siblings?

He has two siblings. Marina, his older sister and his older brother (still unnamed OTL). He and Marina are thick as thieves but he doesn’t get along much with his brother. Mostly because of the age gap but also because he’s a bit of an arrogant douchebag.

🥰 - What pet names do their partner(s) use for them? How flustered do they get by them?

With Xanxus and Squalo, it’s less pet name and more lack of insult. Squalo will mostly call him Dan after he realizes that he likes Chief and once they get together he will occasionally call him Dani. Xanxus… doesn’t do pet names… at least not traditional ones. When he’s not calling him “Trash” or “Scum” he will go for “Trash Panda” referring to Chief’s gigantic eyebags and messy hair. On very rare occasions he will actually call him Dan but that’s a once in a blue moon, when tired kinda thing. Also Dan doesn’t really get flustered by either of those nicknames, he’s used to being called Dani by his family and Xanxus version of a nickname is not really flattering, so at best he will roll his eyes at it.

🌳 - What’s their extended family like?

Extended family…. Well, he has a nephew and a niece in his sisters children, he loves them to bits and is the best tired uncle (he’s not using them to get revenge on his sister for all the teasing he needed to endure… not at all sire~). He spoils them rotten and they always look forward to his visits (which are kind of rare but he tries to at least make it for their birthday’s and Christmas). He also has a couple of cousins on his mother’s side but they and his maternal grandparents live in the north of Italy so he sees them rarely. His father is an only child and his parents died before he was born so he never met them.

#ask game #khr #katekyo hitman reborn #khr oc #the housekeeping au #khr daniele costa #cw long post #jesus fucking christ this was an ordeal #warning that i probably won't do this again

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obsoleteozymandias · 5 months ago

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Hello! I’m here to request a matchup for Twisted Wonderland… Pronouns are he/him and I don’t know if I need to specify?? My sexuality when the entire cast is full of guys?? But still I’m bi!

I’m fairly short to most people (like 5’1 on a good day) and enjoy keeping my hair long… Usually I tie it up or something though!

Anyway onto personality, a lot of my friends say I’m pretty mellow with strangers? Like they notice that while I do act civil and keep a conversation going easily it’s mostly… shallow?? (Thanks guys LOL.) But with people I know and trust they say I have a mean streak and regularly tease them over subtle things. Honestly they’re not too wrong I just did not expect to be seen that way!

They also say that I am indirect with how I treat people and you know what they’re sort of right. Like instead of outright saying “I find you fun to hangout with!!” I follow people around like a lost puppy and go with their every whim. It’s like that dad thing where you mention you like a fruit offhandedly and suddenly you have two bags of it. Apparently I do that!

I also like to pretend I think I know what I’m doing and that I plan ahead but really most of the time I abandon any plans and jump straight ahead… oops. At least I’m told that this sometimes reckless nature of mine helps me snag any leadership position so go me, I think? Go me.

I really like visiting amusement parks (specifically going on the thrill rides) and may or may not have a mild obsession over sweet candies. I also really enjoy visiting parties and hosting them. Honestly I enjoy any social event I can visit LOL.

I have a very strong distaste for anything bitter, oops. And I really really do not enjoy being around people who can’t handle some lighthearted teasing. I also despise empty spaces and being bored in general. I would practically do anything to escape some boredom sjsjsjsj…

As for hobbies I usually just read, clean, or find something to cook. I’m not really an outdoors person but I do enjoy sitting on the beach or in the forest! I also have an awful habit of collecting magnets from places I’ve visited, so maybe that’s something? Really I think I just like collecting little trinkets in general…

That’s all! Sorry if this is a lot, I tried to keep it short but I fear I may have went on a ramble… Regardless thank you for your time and I hope you have a good day :]!

lechuga

== Twisted Wonderland ==>

I match you up with…

Leona Kingscholar

Pre-relationship:

Leona and you start out as enemies, as he does with most folk. He’s haughty and arrogant, but when you start to tease him and don’t take his attitude, he lets you in emotionally.

He likes that you tease him and can make easy conversation with him, even if it means nothing at all. You two can sit together, you rambling on and making jokes at his expense, and him firing them back in between naps.

He won’t admit it, but he does like that you follow him around asnd indulge his whims. It’s cute.

He doesn’t fall for you at once like most fairytale princes. As you become closer friends, he realizes that he wouldn’t mind having you by his side, even back home. And then he decides that he would, in fact, prefer it.

Confession:

It happens during one of your usuall hangout sessions when you don’t even see it coming. He says it while looking at you with that guarded gaze, like the ones he wears after he tells you something vulnerable about himself. He’s nervous - why would anyone want to be the significant other of the second prince - the second best?

So when you accept, he mentally loses it a bit. Just a bit.

Relationship:

He’ll take you to as many amusement park dates as you’d like. He may not be the biggest fan of them, but he loves the way you scream with excitement on rides and smile at him with joy, even if he won’t admit it.

He’s pretty affectionate with you, at least in private. He loves kissing and cuddling you when he naps, although you do have the habit of getting him out of bed to explore, even if he pretends to dislike it.

#oz’s requests #twst #twisted wonderland #twst matchup #twisted wonderland matchup #leona kingscholar #leona kingscholar x reader

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midnightshard06 · 1 year ago

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Flufftober Day 3

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/50489362/chapters/127672393

A/N: Yep, doing flufftober. First time doing a writing challenge like this so hopefully all goes well! The first two days are up on AO3. I'm not sure if I'll post them standalone here but we'll see.

Summary: Shadow has had feelings for Sonic for a while. He decides to go to Rouge for some advice.

Pairing: Sonic the Hedgehog/Shadow the Hedgehog

Warnings: None, just some fluff and a confession

Word Count: 1100 Words

@flufftober

“Rouge I need some advice.” Shadow genuinely couldn’t believe he was actually doing this, but he trusted Rouge enough for this.

Rouge perked up, a somewhat mischievous glint in her eyes. Shadow fought down the urge to just leave then and there, but he really could use her advice. “Of course hun. What’s on your mind?”

“There is someone… I have feelings for. Beyond just friendship.” He grit his teeth, maybe he should just leave now. No. No. He needed to do this or it would keep bothering him.

“It’s Sonic right?” Rouge said, a knowing smile on her face.

Was it truly that obvious? Well there was no reason to deny it at this point. Sighing, Shadow nodded. “Yes.”

The bat came over to rest a hand on his shoulder. “You know I was beginning to wonder which one of you was going to figure it out first. I’m pretty sure anyone can see it the way you two interact. Everyone except you and Sonic apparently.”

Shadow crossed his arms. “I’ve known for a long time, though I was unsure about Sonic’s feelings on the matter.”

Rouge hummed. “How long?”

“Long enough.” Was all Shadow was going to give her.

It looked like she was going to push it, but thankfully she seemed to mentally drop it and nodded. “I suppose you want my help getting him to realize?”

“I didn’t know who else to ask, so yes.” Shadow slumped slightly. “I find myself rather inexperienced with this sort of thing.”

“Don’t you worry. With me on your side you’ll have that boy in no time.” Rouge looked confident, hopefully that confidence was warranted.

Things had not worked out like Shadow hoped they would. He was trying his best to follow Rouge’s advice but it all felt so awkward and ungenuine. Thankfully Sonic didn’t seem particularly put off by it, mostly just confused. The only nice thing had been spending more time with Sonic, but as far as Shadow knew the blue blur still didn’t understand the intention behind Shadow spending more time around him. Though his friends certainly did, if the knowing looks people like Tails and Amy had been giving him when he’d show up was any indication.

Honestly the whole thing was just getting Shadow frustrated, so frustrated apparently that Sonic actually pulled him aside after the two had raced and asked what was wrong. It took a lot of willpower to not just say it then and there, but Shadow wasn’t about to confess like some school girl confessing to her crush. No, it would be on his own terms. Throwing the advice Rouge had given him to the winds he decided to try things his own way. “Meet me at the local chao garden tomorrow. Noon. I’ll tell you what’s going on there.”

Sonic looked confused for a moment before nodding. “Alright Shads. I’ll see you there?” There was a tentative smile on his face, one that had Shadow’s heart beating a little faster than normal.

Shadow cleared his throat and nodded. “Yes, see you then.” It was only after getting back home that he realized it did sort of sound like some girl telling their crush to meet them somewhere for a cliche confession. His only solace at that realization was that Sonic probably didn’t see it that way. Didn’t stop Rouge from lightly teasing him about it though.

Shadow was tense as he waited for Sonic to arrive. Thankfully the chao were providing some distraction from his own thoughts. Idly he pet one that had decided his lap was a good place for a nap. This was it. He was just going to tell Sonic how he felt. No more being subtle as clearly Sonic wasn’t picking up on that. If the other hedgehog didn’t feel the same so be it; at least Shadow would finally have this off his chest.

The wind getting kicked up nearby and some happy chao noises alerted Shadow to Sonic’s arrival. “Yo Shadow!” Sonic waved as he walked over, before sitting down in front of Shadow. A small smile was on his face as he waited for Shadow to say something.

“Sonic.” Shadow nodded his head in a sort of greeting. He took a deep breath. There was no reason to be worried about this. Even if Sonic didn’t feel the same it wouldn’t ruin their friendship. Sonic’s friendship with Amy was proof enough of that. Best to just rip off the metaphorical bandaid. “I… care deeply about you. Far more than just a friend.” He didn’t quite have the courage to admit to loving him out loud. Not yet. Not until he knew how the other felt.

It was silent for a slightly uncomfortable amount of time. Shadow could practically see Sonic trying to work out what he said as he stared blankly ahead. Finally Sonic blinked, eyes coming back into focus. “Wait, you love me?”

Shadow looked away in mild embarrassment. “I always have.”

Sonic blinked again, before a light red started to spread over his muzzle. “Oh.” His eyes widened. “Oh. Oh my gosh I’m an idiot.” He put his face into his hands. “That’s why you’ve been hanging out more with me recently and why everyone has been giving me these weird looks.” It was muffled but Shadow could still understand what was being said.

“It’s about time you realized. I never should have listened to Rouge’s advice for so long, clearly you had no idea what was going on.” Shadow crossed his arms. He was partially relieved but he was still waiting to know how Sonic felt.

Finally Sonic pulled his head out of his hands and dared to look at Shadow again. He gave him a sheepish smile. “Heh, thanks for spelling it out for me Shads. Cause I think I like you too.”

Shadow let a small smile grace his face. “I’m… glad to hear that.”

“Sooo…” Sonic drew out the word. “How bout we take things slow? Just for now.”

Shadow rose a brow. “You talking about taking things slow?”

Sonic’s ears drooped slightly. “Hey this is new territory for me. I just wanna feel things out. Make sure we figure out what works for us.”

Shadow hummed; rather happy that Sonic was actually wanting to find out what worked for the two of them rather than rushing into things. “We’ll simply take things one day at a time.” Shadow nodded and Sonic smiled. While it was rather delayed he was glad Sonic finally knew how he felt. It was all the better that he felt the same.

#flufftober2023 #day 3 #sonic the hedgehog #sonic fandom #sonadow #ao3 link #MidnightShard Writing

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jodilin65 · 8 months ago

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It has been confirmed that I do indeed have a UTI. I figured something was going on with all that burning. I mean I was using the Replens and was fine for a while until I got sick. So I ended up peeing at home and then we went down to New Port Richey, gave the sample, chatted with the nurse for a few minutes, and then left. They tested the urine there, and the nurse asked who I used for labs in case Rhonda decided she wanted a culture.

We hadn’t been home long when a notification came in saying that a prescription for nitrofurantoin had been called in. I took my first dose before bed and my second a half hour after taking my levothyroxine when I got up (schedule has me getting up around midnight now). Then I ended up napping. The stuff makes you drowsy but it’s worth it if it’s going to kill my infection. My only concern is it triggering a yeast infection. I’m going to do my best to avoid sugar like the plague. Kind of sucks that I’ll still be in treatment on painting day.

Something Tom said made me doubt the existence of God even more. I told him I felt like something was picking on me because I just can’t get a break with my health and he said he didn’t believe there was anything up there much less something that would have the time to pick on billions of people. He’s got a point there! That would take a hell of a multitasker to plan all those people’s lives on a day-to-day basis. Even if you write out their life scripts in advance, well, when you consider that over a quarter million people are born each day, that would be a lot of scripts to write out each day. That leaves the only possibility of each person having its own God or devil or both planning their lives and I can’t imagine what could possibly hate me enough to allow half of the things that have happened to me to happen. So yeah, just random chance. That’s a good thing though because that means that the cookies certainly have to crumble in my favor eventually with my health.

I still happen to get some acid reflux and nausea for no apparent reason so hopefully that will happen to stop soon too.

My Temu order came yesterday and I’m happy with everything I got. The sitting fairy isn’t realistic looking but cute. The German Shepherd statue is very realistic looking, though, and very nice. I’m straightening out the purple flower sticker for the toilet because it was a little wrinkled. I’ll throw pictures on my second Facebook account later.

I dreamed we were in a building sitting somewhere waiting for something. A few feet away a woman sat with another woman as she was telling her she had RSV. I immediately began to panic and told her that I read that you were supposed to stay 50 feet away from others if you had that, lol, and worried Tom and I would get it.

In the next dream, Tom and I were in Hawaii. We were on a very small island which I’m not sure how we got to and I was taking pictures of fish swimming nearby in the shallow water. The water was actually quite shallow and calm in a way more consistent with the Gulf than Hawaii. I looked around me at the distant shores and said to Tom that it was funny how the only way to get out to where we were was from the island.

Then we decided to break into someone’s house either because we didn’t have the money to stay anywhere or because we wanted to save money when I realized I left my phone on the island. “So we’ll go back and get it,” he said but I assured him it would be long gone by now.

So we stayed in the cluttered house throughout the night and awoke early in the morning as the sun was rising. I told Tom I thought we should hurry up and get out of there in case the owner came back. As we were gathering our stuff, sure enough, I heard the front door open. An older lady stepped in and said hello and I said hello back. I went into the room Tom was in after I finally found my phone and was terrified that the woman and her husband were going to come running in with a gun or something.

During my nap, I dreamed I was at a large gathering and my parents were still alive. I had finished eating but they were still holding their plates as we stood in a corner somewhere. I spotted Stacey sitting on a couch talking with a few people. I debated whether or not I should introduce my parents to her just so I could talk to her and after they finished eating, I decided to do just that, explaining how much she helped me during my tougher times.

Then I had a dream I awoke tired yet Tom and I went out walking with me still in my robe of all things. The park looked nothing like it really does. I was thinking how small it was and when we passed the front of the office there wasn’t a street but a grassy area instead. To the side of it was a steep drop down where a stream ran through. Tom was suddenly down there in a split second but I remained above, annoyed by the music blasting from the speakers the office had outside their place. When he came back up I bitched about it saying it was the second park to do this although the first park never did in real life and this one only does it by the pool. He said, “You know that’s computerized, don’t you?”

I said, “Yeah, but I want to hear the sound of nature, not music. I only want to hear music when I’m at home and I choose to listen to it.”

We began walking again and I then noticed the sound of little kids around me. I glanced around and saw three or four of them running about.

We came upon the open door of a restaurant. We peeked in and found it was a fancy and formal restaurant and I said to Tom, “You know that any restaurant that looks like this we could never afford.”

We walked further on and I said, “Is it me or does it seem like there are more kids around lately?”

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zyonsay · 10 months ago

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Wildfire, Chapter Seven MV1

Fem aligned people may read but not f3tishize my work!!

Summary: The white room glares at you tauntingly

Reader: Male

Warnings: Injury, Hospitals, Slightly angsty

Now playing: 'Ultraviolence' by Lana del Rey

AN: Hey dears, this one is tiny bit angsty, im feeling devious pookies. Send help. Sorry for the long wait! I was overwhelmed with requests and private events >:[ I hope you enjoy though!

Comment or dm me to be added to the tag list!

(Here is the previous chapter)

(Here is the next chapter)

“We’ll need to keep you here for two more days, until your condition improves. I’ll keep you updated!”, the grey-haired doctor smiled brightly, but you didn’t feel happy at all. The cold, sterile light gave you headaches and the get well soon cards on your side table mocked you silently. ‘I hope you’ll get well quickly!’, yeah right.

You hated the hospital. You hated the white walls, the white floors, the white curtains. You hated the forced smiles, the shaky hands of the underpaid nurses and that disgusting sanitary smell that crawled up your nose and into your brain. The bed was comfortable and warm, but if you closed your eyes, you could feel the imaginary straps tying you to it like you’re some lunatic in a mental asylum. Tick, tock, tick, tock. The further the hands of the clock wandered, the more irritated you got. You were pretty sure that this is what it feels like to go insane. Steps hallowed out in the hall and then even those disappeared and once again, you were all alone with yourself in this glaring white room. As if you’re going to torture yourself by staying awake, you thought while closing your eyes to nap. Maybe you’ll sleep through this whole thing.

A light knock danced over the door and your eyes fluttered open. A quick look to your right showed that it must be some time in the evening, the sky was dark and the city alight. A sweet, pale face peeked through the lightly opened door, which was soon accompanied by a much more tanned visage. For the first time after the crash a faint smile tugged at your lips. “Hello there mate!”, the older of both practically stormed in and rushed to your side to give you a hug. Oscar, though much slower than Lando, also shuffled towards your bed. Lando risked a quick glance at your leg making him wrinkle his nose, not in disgust, but rather pity. “Shit, that looks bad. Does it still hurt?”, the concern in his eyes was apparent but you really couldn’t bring yourself to give a shit. “I’m high on the pain meds they pumped into me, so no.” You winced at how rude your tone sounded; you really didn’t mean to come off as mean. Not to your best friend. Although he didn’t mean to show it, his expression visibly soured at your words. Oscar’s concerned gaze landed on your face. You looked tired and, just like Lando, bitter. If he didn’t know any better, it would look like you’re laying on your death bed. The aussie couldn’t stand the tension in the air and decided to do something to lighten the mood and shoo away the threatening, lightning filled clouds above your head. “Me and Lando brought you a little something.”, he gently handed you a paper bag. “You shouldn’t have.”, the little whisper escaped you subconsciously as you fished an object out of the bag. It was a light blue Nintendo, one of the older models. When you looked back up at Oscar, a slight grin adorned his lips. He then gestured for you to explore the bag further. Blindly fumbling around in the bag, you pulled two square, plastic cases out. Turning them over, one depicted a picture of a tiny dachshund puppy and ‘Nintendogs’ in broad white letters. The other case looked almost identical, but instead a chocolate labrador crowned the cover. You couldn’t help the small smile from creeping onto your face. They remembered.

“I used to love that stuff as a kid. I could never get a real dog because of my mum’s allergies, so I was obsessed with these.”, you shoved your phone into Oscar’s face, a picture of the Nintendo’s game cases on the screen. “She would have to take away my Nintendo, so I wouldn’t be playing it through the whole night!” Lando’s face lit up. “Ohh, I remember these! I always chose the shelties”, if you squinted you could see the tiny stars glow in his eyes as he rambled on about his own experience with the game.

“Thanks.”, your voice was hoarse, and the words almost got stuck in your throat as you choked down tears. This wasn’t the moment for you to cry. They would only pity you more and you definitely didn’t need more of that. Oscar’s smile faded, he felt incredibly bad for you. An Achilles tendon rupture was serious, and you had barely started your Formula 1 career. He didn’t want to pity you, he knew you’d hate him for it, but he couldn’t stop the sad sigh leaving his lips. Your thoughtful expression hardened again, and your lips formed a straight line. “It might be best for you guys to leave. Thanks for visiting though.”, with glossy eyes you mustered up a small, dishonest smile to appease the two boys. Lando’s eyebrows tugged in an annoyed manner as he moved from your side, towards the door. “Get better soon, we’ll see you around.”, he whispered before messing with the handle of the door. Oscar winced at the venom in Lando’s voice and offered you a gentle smile and a court ‘goodbye’ before heading out too. Seconds after the door closed again, you heard Lando’s awfully offended sounding voice outside. ‘We come to visit him, bring him gifts and he still can’t loosen that fucking stick up his ass?’

That one stung.

Now that you were once again alone, you let out the sobs you’ve been holding the entire time. Your chest heaved and sunk with sad little whimpers and your eyes were puffy from the salty tears that streamed from them. The light flickered and the aggressive, sanitary atmosphere caught up to you again. Your shaking hands clutched the Nintendo tightly, pressing it to your chest. What have you done?

taglist: @velunis , @ares10156 , @ineedhelp-takethatanywayyoulike , @leosxrealm , @erinleclerc , @badblondebisexualboy

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djarins-cyare · 8 months ago

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Molly 💕 I loved your article on Din's helmet rule too (I shared it on Twitter!), and thank you as well for your explanation above, as it definitely helps clarify season 3’s goals.

I’m not a season 3 hater because I love Din so much that I appreciate any and all content we’re given, but it wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for, which is where the disappointment comes from, I think. Thanks to you, I can now see where they were going with it, but, like Anon, I don’t feel it was fully achieved within that season, as there are still so many questions. I’d like to hope they’ll be answered in the movie, although I’m a little sceptical about that as I suspect they’ll keep it generic to bring in new audiences, so an immediate follow-on from the show is not guaranteed. But in terms of what I really feel needs clarifying…

I want to know about the Armorer’s stance on apostasy now that she’s accepted that Bo and the others who remove their helmets are indeed Mandalorians. She went from telling Din outright, “you are no longer a Mandalorian,” to telling helmetless Bo, “we must walk the way together - all Mandalorians.” Does she still insist the Children of the Watch must keep their helmets on or else become apostates, even though she has clearly amended her stance to accept that others who remove their helmets remain Mandalorian when helmetless?

I want to know Din’s view of the above. Is he in any way aggrieved that he almost drowned trying to redeem himself, only to have the rule relaxed thereafter?

I want the show to address why Din was seemingly testing the limits of his creed in season 2, because as much as we like to think he only took off his helmet in dire circumstances for the benefit of his foundling, it can’t be denied that in s3e4 he explained you have to go off and eat alone, yet in s2e4, he happily lifted his helmet to eat whilst sitting right next to Grogu. He could’ve waited until he put him in his hammock for a nap, or even turned away from him a bit more if he was desperately hungry, but nope! He ignored his creed because he wanted to eat with his kid. 🤔 To me that seems like he was on the verge of questioning some things in season 2. After all, he’d just met and fought with honourable Mandalorians who didn’t wear helmets, and he chose to eat in full view of Grogu immediately thereafter, apparently deciding on a “just lifting it isn’t removing it” loophole. And it’s understandable that when he was exiled it made him double down on his religious convictions, desperate to be reaccepted by the only people he could call family. So... he took a relaxed view of it, got punished for it, renewed his devotion to it… but now they’re relaxing aspects of it… how does Din feel about that??

He already told Bo that he was lied to about her (“I had no idea. We were taught that everyone but us had forsaken the Way; that you were selfish and uncaring”), so is he feeling in any way duped by those who raised him? Because he has plenty of reasons to feel that way. The show has done a very successful job of illustrating exactly how the Armorer has reached for doctrine to keep a group of pugnacious people in line (successfully, to be fair), but perhaps isn’t as confident about leading them as her character’s disposition suggests — this sudden 180 and her prior insistence on certain “truths” that have since been disproved indicates she’s just struggling to do her best with what she’s been taught, but is just as fallible as anyone else.

What I would like is for Din to come to the decision that whilst the manner in which he’s been commanded to follow his creed is flawed, he’s no less dedicated to it. And thereafter he wears his helmet because he chooses to as a symbol of his religious devotion rather than because he must. Then Din can remain helmeted for the most part (allowing Pedro to be predominantly in the recording studio only except for occasional helmetless scenes, and not substantially changing the character’s established physical traits), and it also gives Din agency over something that was imposed upon him as a child (providing much-needed character growth). Moreover, it leaves him certain about how he feels — a much stabler place from which to teach his child about the culture and religion than when he was simply parroting things he had been told (that we now know aren't necessarily true). If this happens, I feel season 3’s goal will truly have been achieved.

I don’t know, maybe I’m wishing too hard for things that won’t happen, but I feel like at least some of the above is needed to keep the character's evolution from feeling like it’s tapered off 🤷🏼‍♀️

Like Anon and yourself and many others here, I just love Din too much to not have some hopes, dreams and even expectations about where his story is headed 💖. I truly cannot wait to see what they have planned for him in the movie.

I just read your recent article about Din's helmet rule (which I loved as always) and I gotta say, I'm a bit confused about what Din's character journey is supposed to be. Like you said he's not really questioning his Creed and his relation to it, he's accepted Grogu as his own, and the Darksaber/Mandal'or storyline is now out the window, so... what is his character supposed to get to? What is his purpose? I admit I'm a bit tired of the ''placeholder hero the audience can see themselves in'', it feels like an overdone trick at this point, and while The Mandalorian does it well, Din Djarin deserves to be his own character. There's so much to work with there, and I feel like they keep just grazing the surface. I'm all for subtile character development and taking time to tell the story, but after 3 1/2 seasons, it might be reassuring to know where we're going with his story. Season 1 and 2 were very strong growth-wise, and since then he's kinda been... hanging around. Especially with the conclusive end of s3, while I'm excited for the movie I'm not really sure what's supposed to happen with him. It's like they're sloooowly working towards something big but... what? What is Din Djarin's point? By the way I love this man with all my heart body and soul

I was very confused about it too, but after talking to Brendan myself, it's so much more clear.

Din has to learn what it really is to be a Mandalorian and follow the Way if he intends on raising Grogu as a Mandalorian, because as a parent, you really have to understand what you believe before you pass those beliefs onto your children. That's what season 3 was about.

#din djarin #the mandalorian #star wars #pedro pascal #the mandalorian and grogu #mando #whistling birds will queue well

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wrevkthisblog · 2 years ago

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i am not stupid so why do i attract stupid people…people that are confused, simple, and slow, sometimes even intentionally. I do my best at ruling my throne so i am at a lost of words for why i am always constantly introduce to incompetence. i clearly give the energy needed to obtain ones fire; so why rip me so? why strip me of my intelligence & infused thoughts of something pure….something genuine w. unconditional love.

why do they crave what they planted infront of their face just to tease themselves of a love they can’t taste. some are truly blind, howled and their lost for romance is unfound and it leaves them foul, dirty, unable to scurry because away is something they won’t trial. Like a forest i comfort w. love that grows patience & not rage since understanding a life where the Devil wished he may & wish he might’ve. Discovering entities inlove w. my epiphanies was enough to know since young that i am that guy. I am that vibe. I am that energy your soul craves from inside. Throwing rocks at me and turning your face to hide has left you in so much shit that even God can’t make right. I just hope they know they stupid, their dumb and i’m high. I hate that dumb shit, I hate that the dumbfucks experienced my drive.

because i never do anything to people, i’m always doing something for people even when everything in my body was telling me it wasn’t right, intuition telling me, you a liar, and my energy stalking the idea of what the potential you could be like. The smart you? The know how to talk to me, you? The take accountability and ownership, you? The stopped being so weird fake, you? Of course, who am i kidding, you don’t even know you. You over thinking and trying to comprehend you.

i gotta find the ones who know them. Who’s not afraid to be real. Because those are the ones who deserve my energy who deserve my feels. Everything else is so gone now…I wasted too much time on pretenders; you’ll think they’ll really love me when truly they don’t…the worst feeling is thinking you locked in w. a mf just for them to prove you wrong. There’s bigger fish to fry apparently and these mfs know they can’t come near me anymore. All my healing, helps me to recognize negative energy from any frequency. I am apart of the lamb and it is the goats that are the imposters. God single-handily chose me, as a child, when i was asleep during a nap, it’s always been on me just as well as in me, there’s never been a reason for me to prove or compete for anything but Gods love.

that’s everyone’s problem, they are always depending on this virtual world to make them who they are when God has already created you. God already knows who you are. The only thing you have to do is, listen. But no one wants to listen, everyone wants to talk. How come in their story im wrong but can’t explain why they are right. Delusion is the conclusions for the illusions they suffer from. I was only passing thru for all of you when whoever decided to make me a huge part of their life. But it’s okay, it doesn’t matter, it only matters to the ones who watch, who pray on my downfall because i took away something they looking for now.

i still have my heart of gold and my dignity, i still have my respect. I still sleep peacefully knowing my man is only mine and not hers or his, ha! True love does so much to the brain that there’s not even the need to physically be high when your spiritual has been elevated. Villains never know true love and legends never die. Yes, there’s much more to connection than love but God is Love and that’s a stronger answer. Because of my relationship with God, I am never phased to what others project twrds me, everything repels and bounces off of me, unharmed. It’s not just my ego but my consciousness that doesn’t care to prove anyone wrong. If they believe they are right then that is them.

because one thing about me, i’m growing and bringing out the woman I am always meant to become and I will stand firm on what i say, followed by the correct actions. People just don’t have the right energy to be on my throne, in my life, my world and this isn’t an explanation, because i am who i am. You can dissect me but you cannot be me, you cannot become as one w. me unless given permission. To access me is VIP pleasure, an experience and a flex because i am healed without wishing bad unto others. I healed without turning into those who hurt me.

i am fed up to the point where i have a lot to say, A LOT! But what point or difference will it make, I truly hate to repeat myself and ive always said that since very very young, because i am on the top of a royal status to the point where i’ve been entertaining peasants for real. The strength i’ve gain and the fights i’ve been thru just to get better and become better to achieve more is astounding to me. The thought of almost settling for what disgusts me now is a humbled hum that eases the strings that tug my heart. Humbleness rises inside me since i am able to value and support those with nothing to gain. I’ve opened up and now i can’t trust no one but i’m still granted with the love i deserve. the softness, patience, intimacy, acceptance by someone who’s realer than anyone that anyone has ever met 💯 and that’s what grinds their gears.

no matter how badly i was done by others, God still granted me my garden and not just a rose. Thank you for loving my intellectual talks of deep passion for my words from my inner divine mind. One of the greatest fears people live in is their own head and what others think of them, i am beyond blessed from always knowing i am the shit 💕🥹✨

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runnersnz · 2 years ago

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“I was always a sporty kid, but man, did I hate running. While I played cricket and netball to competitive levels, I was always managing to come up with an excuse to avoid running - be it faking an injury before cross country at school or ‘forgetting’ my bat in the car when the team was off to run around the field as a warmup. I just wasn’t very good at it. I was never fast, and it was never enjoyable.

So how did I go from that kid to completing ultras? Great question, because one day eleven years ago I thought - for no good, inspirational reason - ‘I wonder how far I could run’. And so I laced up my gym shoes and went for a 4km run on the Pipeline Track in West Auckland. It felt fine. It actually felt quite fun. So I thought, you know what, this seems okay. The next day I ran 5k. A few days later I ran 10k. (Kids, don’t try this at home: this is a terribly unsafe way to take up running!) After doing that five days a week for a month or so, I realised I was hooked.

It took me a while before I entered races, and when I did, I was a solid back of the packer - hard on the wee competitive spirit that lives within me. But the thing about ultras and mountain running is that it quickly became apparent that it genuinely didn’t matter where in the field you were. We were all out there covering the same terrain, undertaking the same challenge - some of us just got to be back home having a beer, shower and nap earlier than others. I racked up seven Keplers, five Routeburns, among a bunch of other races. But I still didn’t come across that elusive ‘why’. I was really just running for the sake of running for the longest time. I don’t even know that I was necessarily enjoying myself. I put too much pressure on myself for races and results, and I was often disappointed.

And then things started going wrong... My running progress not only went downhill, it went backwards.

I started doing very badly in races; I stopped enjoying training altogether. It all felt like a miserable slog and I came very close to giving it all up entirely. I still loved all the people I met through running, but sometimes it’s tough when you can’t even go for a group run with mates because your best is a couple of minutes a kilometre slower than their worst.

I had my first ever DNF and injury at Tarawera in 2021. I withdrew from the community and decided to give up on the whole running thing. That declaration lasted quite some time. But then I decided enough was enough, that I had to take responsibility for my own downturn in fitness, performance and happiness, and to turn it around.

In the past year amongst a bunch of adversity I’ve totally refreshed my love affair with running. My strength training coach Don Saladino likes to say that fitness is like a tow rope that can pull you through tough times in your life, and as I started to have a disproportionate amount of those tough times in my life I renewed my focus on my health and fitness; I started to turn unexpected events into opportunities to improve my resilience. I made fitness my tow rope. I started to build a stronger, tougher body to support my running, and I found a fitness family to support my mental health. I found my why...

I run because I’m privileged enough to be able to, because I’m an extraordinarily ordinary athlete and I can show others that you don’t have to be naturally talented for hard work to pay off. And once again, now I run just because I love it. Because I’m proud of what I can do, and because more than anything in this world, I love to be out in the mountains with my four legged best friend Loki. Running and fitness got me through the toughest two years of my life. One of my dear friends loves to say that you get knocked down seven times, and you get up eight. And so that’s what running will always be for me: the eighth time I get up off the ground again.

Who could have known that would come from a spur of the moment 4km in 2012? It just goes to show - sometimes the most important things in your life are the things you least expect!”

Fleur @fleurdouglasnz (Te Anau/Kingston) - Portraits of Runners + their stories @RunnersNZ

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livingwithlosingyou · 2 years ago

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Living with Losing You - 01/15/2023

I cried in the TrueFood Kitchen at UTC today.

Well, before that, I got up and decided to get Public Square with a drink today. I was very excited for that because I just haven’t been having it as much. Makes it something I look forward to. I also tried to take Sadie out this morning but it was a brief walk since it’s been raining pretty consistently. Anyway, After that I got ready to meet up with Karina. I realized that I had not been back to UTC/La Jolla since before you died, so it was very triggering for me. A lot more triggering than I thought it would be. We tried to meet at a coffee shop, but she had actually work tonight so she was hungry, so we were going to go to great Maple. Well, apparently that place closed, so we went to true food for lunch.

I have always really liked Karina. I have a lot of respect and admiration for her, and the heart that she has for what she does and the people around her. She really helped you through your residency, took you under her wing as much as she could. She has protected you in ways. It was a little hard for me to talk to her about the things that you and I have struggled with, because she just did not know. I think that it was really good to have those conversations with her today, I kind of needed that. I think I have been really struggling with all of the Good and the bad that you and I endured. Sometimes when I think about it, even at a more surface level, it honestly just hurts. It’s hard to explain that pain. Anyway, by the end of it we were talking and I was mentioning how I just naturally feel guilty, I think part of me will always feel like I could’ve done more and that stems from my abandonment issues, but I know that I couldn’t.

I physically, mentally, and emotionally did everything that I could. You were the only one that could save you. I was talking about how in the note you left you told me that you loved me and that you were sorry, and that I was the best thing that ever happened to you in your life. That’s when I started crying. I believe that, and I know that I’m the last person you want to feel guilty. It’s just really hard to process at all.

After we ate and chatted, I drove home and took a quick cat nap/watched some TV. i’ve been trying to be better about sitting with myself, whether that’s even just at home. After a little while, Erika and I figured out where we wanted to go in this rain and went to the Liberty public market that was indoors at Liberty Station. It was really great to see her as always, and I ended up getting some yummy macaroons and pizza! Looks like I will be starting my meal prep tomorrow lol for lunch.

After we hung out, I came back home and watched a little bit more TV. I finally took down most of my Christmas decorations, but I need to go to storage to get the boxes to put them in. I even ordered an ornament box to store things more proper than I have prior. Allegedly.

I think part of the reason I was having a hard time taking all the Christmas stuff down was because it really signified going into a new year without you, and I just really thought I’d have you.

I definitely had some tears today. But I had a lot of smiles and joy too.

I’m allowed to be grateful, but also in absolute grief. I’m allowed to hone in on the good and hunting all the bad. I’m allowed to do whatever I need to do to get better, find peace, and except what happened. I don’t even know if I’ve quite accepted it yet.

Love you and miss you so much, James.

I need to get going to bed, I have two go into the office pretty early tomorrow and I have to onboard someone. I have quite a busy week before I head to Lexington again on Saturday.

Tomorrow is six months. I can’t believe that.

Rest In Peace, James Burton Nichols

10/1/1993 - 7/16/2022

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declareqenius · 2 years ago

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The Vacancy of Loss

Wanda Maximoff x Natasha Romanoff x GN! Reader

Request: Could you write something for WandaNat x reader where Natasha, Wanda and Reader are married, and Natasha loses them both in the snap?

A/N: Love writing angst, just hope I was able to capture it correctly. I’m sorry this took forever. My graduation was this past week and the last few weeks leading up to it haven’t been anything short of hectic. Edit: Finally figured out how to make the letters smaller for the aesthetic, then came back a week later and forgot how to do it again. Also, feel free to send in requests/suggestions!

Warnings: mentions of guns, weapons, etc., character death/disappearance, angst.

Summary: Your wives, Wanda and Natasha, would do anything to protect you. However, there’s a war brewing between earth and Thanos, and you know there’s a strong chance your wives won’t come back from it. So, you choose to be there with them, watching from the sidelines until you’re forced onto the battlefield.

The Citadel windows reach from the floor to the highest ceiling, giving you the perfect view of the battle raging on outside. Vision and the mind stone lay on something similar to an operating table while Shuri runs the analytics, trying her best to search for a way to destroy the stone while keeping Vision himself in tact. You desperately wish you could offer some form of assistance to anyone, but the tech in Wakanda is far above your knowledge, and you're no help fighting, either.

You're a sitting duck, and you feel yourself zone out, staring at the battle and people that have come to be known as your family as they use every bit of strength and training they've had to defeat whatever creatures Thanos sends their way.

A gentle, warm hand places itself upon your shoulder, and you immediately turn your head to the left. There stands your wife, Wanda, with a small, barely-there smile gracing her lips.

"What did I tell you about watching, malyshka?"

You look down at your shoes and sigh, glancing at Vision before looking your wife in the eyes, "I can't help it. I'm worried. Nat is out there with nothing but a pistol and that damn taser of hers-"

Wanda sends you a tender, yet pointed look, her eyebrows raised, "I know that you're worried. I am, too, but Natalia can handle herself."

You nod, glancing back at the window before taking Wanda's hand from your shoulder and gently kissing her knuckles before intertwining your fingers.

"Besides, our wife is nothing if not stubborn. She'll be damned if she lets anything kill her before she tells me I forgot to unplug the toaster again." Wanda kisses your cheek, and you're grateful for her joking attempt, but the conversation your wives shared in the kitchen barely two nights before- when they thought you were napping soundly on the couch after an exhausting day at work- seems to be on replay in your mind.

"It's the safest place for them to be, Wanda," Natasha sounds tired, as if they've had this argument before.

"The safest place for them to be is here or at the compound. We won't be able to protect them out there," Wanda is trying her best to keep her voice down, but the firmness is apparent and you pray that Natasha has a decent counterargument. You know that either of them would do impossible things to protect you, and you would do the same for them, but Wanda is often more stubborn than Nat when it comes to these sort of things.

"The Citadel has reinforcements. They have protections and protocols in place. I wouldn't be suggesting it if I didn't know the amount of security it has. It's advanced tech and not even Stark and Banner know the extent to which they've exceeded modern-day technology." You hear the clinking of porcelain and you assume that Natasha is grabbing a mug so she can have an outlet- something to do with her hands- and won’t become restless.

There’s another clinking sound and the click of a stove burner being turned on. Wanda must be doing the same thing, only she’s decided to start cooking dinner.

“Natalia, that is exactly why we are holding the battle there! The Citadel is directly in the middle of the field. We won’t be able to watch over them- or worry about their safety, for that matter- while we’re fighting.” Wanda opens the freezer and takes out a chicken breast, placing it on the cutting board before turning around and grabbing a knife. She turns right back around and returns to the cutting board to start cutting the chicken.

Wanda’s accent has become heavier. It normally does when she’s at home with you and Natasha, but her accent shines through when she gets frustrated or angry as well. Natasha doesn’t speak for a moment and you’re hoping that she’s thinking her words through.

“Dorogoy, I know that you’re frustrated. I know that the possibility of losing them- both Y/N and Vision- is weighing on you right now. Vision is your best friend, and you love Y/N more than anything, but we need to think about this as a team.”

Natasha starts walking towards Wanda slowly, knowing that mentioning the possibility of losing you wasn’t her brightest moment. She gently puts a hand on Wanda’s waist and hugs her from behind, placing her chin on her wife’s shoulder.

“Ultimately,” Natasha continues, “it’s up to them. Whatever they choose, we need to be prepared for.”

The witch nods, although apprehensively. She knows it’s up to you but that doesn’t mean she has to like it. After their talk she sense that Natasha likes it just about as much as she does. The assassin has always been more level-headed than her, though.

A beat passes when you realize your breathing is uneven. A tell-tale sign that you are no longer peacefully sleeping.

‘Shit.’ You think, your eyes wide.

Wanda grins when she catches wind of your thought. She doesn’t mean to but the panic is loud and she can’t help herself.

“U nas na rukakh malen’kiy nablyudatel’,” Wanda turns from Natasha’s grasp and places the knife in the sink. She then washes her hands, and you gain the courage to peek over the back of the couch just as she dries her hands. A smirk is plastered across her lips. You’re blushing the shade of a cherry tomato.

“It seems we do, Wands. Our little observer.”

They’re both staring at you with so much love in their eyes. You stare right back with just the same- if not, more- for both of them. Your smile is full of sleep and your hair is no doubt a little messy, but you find it in yourself to stand up and make your way to the kitchen.

The chicken Wanda occupied herself with is now sizzling in a pan on the stove. Natasha greets you by gently wrapping her arms around you and hiding her face in your neck for a moment before kissing your cheek. She loosens her hold so you can greet Wanda as she flits about the kitchen, a small peck on the lips having to suffice for now.

Natasha greedily pulls you back into her.

“Detka, how much did you hear?” Her voice is soft, and you know you have no choice but to answer truthfully.

“Most of it, I think. The important parts.”

Wanda’s back is facing you and Natasha, but you see her usually fluid cooking movements slow before picking up normally again.

“We can talk more about it after dinner,” you state, trying to gauge your wives’ reactions, “I have an idea of what I want to do, but I need time to think it out.”

Little did either of them know; you would choose the Citadel. You wanted to be closer to both of them because you knew this wasn’t a routine mission. There’s a higher chance you could lose either of them, or both of them, and you wouldn’t be able to sit at home waiting for that call. So, you chose the Citadel.

Wanda took some convincing, and she only relented on the condition that either a Dora Milaje or she or Natasha were there with you. Luckily, Steve assigned Wanda to be Vision’s “personal bodyguard”, and in turn, yours as well since you were also going to be inside of the building.

Now, you watch Shuri run more analytics and data on the mind stone. She’s trying her best to destroy it, and you know that if she had more time she would undoubtedly figure it out. But no one in this battle has more time. Not even you.

“My love,” Wanda speaks softly and nudges your shoulder with hers, “penny for your thoughts?”

You tear your attention away from Shuri’s swift swipes and readjustments and gently cup Wanda’s cheek. She closes her eyes and searches your mind. You can’t help but find humor in the way you’re both insanely calm while your wife is fighting to ensure that you, Wanda, and the stones are safe. Wanda finds what she’s looking for and opens her eyes, but a loud explosion shakes the Citadel and you stride back over to the window in frantic search of Natasha.

Wanda follows your movements and places her right hand on the small of your back, no doubt searching for the Black Widow as well. Neither of you spot her, and your arm moves itself to wrap around your wife’s waist. Several beats pass until you finally see her struggling with an alien that’s seemingly gotten the upper hand.

“You need to go help her. She needs you out there, Wands.”

Your voice is nothing more than a whisper but you can’t stop staring at Natasha, so you give Wanda’s waist a small squeeze to let her know you’re listening even though you aren’t making eye contact.

“Dorogoy-” she starts, and by the downcast tone of her voice, you immediately know what she’s about to say. “She made me promise.”

You shake your head vehemently, “No. No. I don’t care what she made you promise, Wanda!” Finally, you take the chance of looking into your wife’s eyes. “I need you to break it or- or forget about it or something! I need you to go save her!”

Crying isn’t something you do often, but two tears make their way down your cheeks as you plead with Wanda to go save Natasha.

“Natalia needs you right now, and I need both of you. The only way both of you come out of this is if you fight together, so please, please go help our wife.”

Wanda grasps one of your hands with both of hers and nods. She’s tearing up, you can tell, but she masks it well before she turns to Shuri and Vision.

“Vis, if you let anything happen to my wife I’m going to turn you into a vintage toaster for my kitchen!”

The threat didn’t seem to hold much weight, but you and Vision know Wanda and Natasha will do much worse if you come out of this with more than a scratch.

She turns back to you and pulls you in for a deep, yet quick, kiss. You don’t think you’ll ever be tired of kissing her.

“I love you,” she whispers and searches your eyes.

“I love you, too. Now, go save our girl.”

With that, she takes off. Her eyes flash the beautiful scarlet color you’ve grown accustomed to, and entrancing wisps surround her when she propels forward. You watch her join the battle. The small smile that crosses your lips does so of it’s own accord when you see your wives working together after Natasha narrowly avoids death with Wanda’s help.

Natasha holds her own against the strange alien dogs that had gotten through the barrier, but with Wanda at her side she seems to have added more pep to her punch. You know she’s worrying over your safety with Wanda now down in the middle of the battle, but she can reprimand you both later. Right now, you need them to stay alive.

You’re so entranced with the way blonde and red seamlessly play off of each other whilst fighting that Shuri’s panic goes unnoticed until she yells your name. You turn your head and straighten your body when you realize there’s a Vision-sized hole in the ceiling.

“We need to go. Now!”

Shuri gathers every bit of tech she can find and you immediately jump into action, trying to help her.

“Did you destroy the stone?” You ask frantically, picking up a sharp object that looks like it might help in some way. You follow her down the ramps at a speed walk, checking behind you every now and then.

“Almost. The alien attacked before I could recalibrate the final program. We are lucky it only wanted Vision and the mind stone.”

“You can say that again,” you sigh and continue to follow her.

You’re so far inside your own head- hoping your wives are okay, hoping Vision doesn’t do anything too stupid, and trying to keep up with Shuri even as she’s grabbing a plethora of tech- you don’t realize the Wakandan has led you to an exit you assume only the royal family knows about. She stops in front of a monitor just as the building starts to shake violently. Rubble from the floor above falls five feet from where you’re standing, causing you to sway slightly and shield your face with your arms.

“Shuri! Little faster, maybe?”

“I am trying!”

She puts her thumb against the screen and it scans her face before the hidden door pushes open to reveal a long tunnel. Shuri grabs your hand and practically drags you along with her at a running pace. You’re honestly surprised she hasn’t dropped anything yet.

The building starts rumbling again, and you’re positive your heart is beating faster than it ever has.

“Brother,” Shuri speaks up from your left side, “what is going on out there?”

You can’t hear T’Challa’s response, but by the way Shuri’s eyebrows set themselves in a seemingly permanent downward slope, you assume it’s not good.

Suddenly, she veers to the left, and you have no choice but to follow. About thirty steps down, you see another door. Shuri stops you in front of it, looking over the tech she hastily grabbed earlier.

“Natasha and Wanda will kill me if I take you out there and you do not have anything to protect yourself with,” she’s panting from all the running, and, well, you really couldn’t say anything because you have your hands on your knees.

“You probably,” you pant for air, “could have just stopped at “if I take you out there”.” You find it in yourself to give her a playful quirk of your lips.

“You’re right. But would you rather be in a collapsing building or outside of the collapsing building?” She holds a chest plate of vibranium armor out to you, and you grasp it loosely until you stand up straight again.

“I’ll take the outside and my wives can yell at me about it later.” You nod decidedly and slip the armor on. Shuri then hands you a cylindrical tube and you eye it curiously.

“Point it that way,” she points towards the door, “and press the button.”

You do as she says and your eyes go wide when a grey and blue jagged-edged sword pops out.

“Oh, Nat will be so jealous.”

“I would prefer if you did not tell your wife I handed you something with sharp edges.”

“...I’m not that stupid.”

“Whatever you say, Y/N. Are you ready?”

You nod, and hold the sword out. The grip is thick and the sword feels heavy, making your arms tired easily, but you have to find your wives, and you have to stay alive while doing so.

Shuri pushes the door open, wielding blasters on both of her hands. You follow after her quickly and find yourself in the surrounding forest. Shuri makes you crouch behind a bush before you’re able to get a good look at your surroundings, but when you peek through the small branches, the sight in front of you makes you hold your breath for a small moment.

Natalia is running at Thanos, nothing but her taser in hand. You have half a mind to yell out to her and tell her to stop before she get seriously injured, but you know that would do more harm than good. So, you’re forced to sit there in silence and watch as your wife flings herself at a massive alien ten times her size. She finally launches herself into the air and manages to get the taser on him, but he flings her off to the side as if she were nothing but an annoying bug buzzing in his ear.

Shuri’s hand on your shoulder is the only thing keeping you from running to Natasha to make sure she’s okay.

Almost immediately after Natasha’s attempt at taking Thanos down, your attention shifts when you see familiar scarlet tendrils blasting through the air. You’ve never seen Wanda’s magic used for anything other than wonderment, as you sometimes beg her to put on a small show to help you get to sleep on particularly rough nights. Sometimes, with your consent, she’ll use it to help you fall into a deeper sleep. But, you also know your wife possesses a lot of power that you haven’t seen in action before, and that Natasha has unwillingly been subjected to the horrific side of it.

Wanda is utilizing as much of her power as she can as she tries to destroy the mind stone while also holding Thanos back. Her face contorts into so many different emotions and in that moment you just want to take both of your wives far away from here and forget about the Avengers and Thanos and live in peace.

In your peripheral, you see Steve helping Nat up and you silently thank him.

“Wanda, it’s okay,” Vision suddenly says, and he looks at her as if to let her know he’s come to terms with his own death. She shakes her head, tears streaming down her cheeks as she makes eye contact with her best friend. After a moment- Thanos still trying to fight against Wanda’s hold- she and Vision come to an understanding. Wanda subtly nods her head, tears still rolling down her cheeks, and then a burst of red engulfs Vision as her hold on Thanos is released.

The mind stone is finally destroyed, and your heart breaks for your wife when you watch her cover her mouth with her hand and stare at the shell that was once her best friend.

Natasha doesn’t even have time to run and gather Wanda in her arms, and you don’t have time to think about making any sort of movement, before Thanos is snapping his fingers and using the time stone.

A flash of green appears and Vision is once again kneeling directly in front Wanda. No one has any time to react as Thanos reaches for the mind stone, successfully placing it inside the gauntlet while Wanda screams at him in anguish.

Natasha runs over to Wanda and gathers her in her arms, whispering in her ear as Thanos looks down at them with a pitying grin on his face.

Oh, how you wish you could bash his face in.

Suddenly, thunder rumbles over head and nearly everyone turns their attention to the sky. Wanda, instead of looking towards the possible threat, flicks her eyes to your hiding spot. You swallow the lump in your throat when she makes eye contact with you, but you also itch to join her and Natasha.

But Wanda makes her way into your mind, and immediately puts a stop to any rash decision making on your part.

“Stay where you are, malyshka. I refuse to lose you, too.”

You nod, but the thought of staying behind the bush and doing absolutely nothing to comfort your wives makes you bite your lip harshly.

Natasha notices Wanda looking in your direction because her eyebrows immediately furrow when she glances over and sees you behind the bush.

It’s then that you realize Shuri has left you to go join her brother.

Your wives don’t have time to say anything more because the God of Thunder is swiftly making his way down to Thanos, with a shouted, “For Loki!” being his motivator. His eyes are filled with a light blue color, the same as the lightning that surrounds him, and his momentum carries him through the air at a faster speed than you’ve ever seen.

He wields an axe now, and as you watch him rear back to swing, you chance a small glance in your wives’ direction. Their eyes are full of hope, same as yours, as they watch on, about ten feet from Thanos, now.

Thor zooms the remainder of the way and brings his axe down upon Thanos’ chest.

Everyone holds their breath.

Everyone holds onto their hope.

But you see Thanos whisper something into Thor’s ear, and the god’s daringly triumphant expression is replaced with one of horror.

The purple giant raises the gauntlet, and everyone’s eyes widen. You get up and start running towards your wives, not caring about the consequences anymore.

Thanos snaps. Then he disappears into thin air a little bit before you reach your girls.

Wanda and Natasha are looking at you with mixtures of relief and sadness on their faces and you know you’re going to-

Wait a second. You aren’t moving forward anymore.

You watch as your wives immediately stand up and run the short distance left. Wanda brings her left hand to your right cheek, Natasha doing the same with her right hand and your left cheek.

“Nat, Wands,” you look into their eyes, starting cry because you see tears streaming down their faces and you know that whatever is happening to you isn’t good. “I can’t feel my legs,” you utter meekly, “and I’m too scared to look down.”

“It’s okay, Y/N. It’s okay, dorogoy. Just keep looking at us, okay? We’re here, we’ve got you.” Natasha’s beautiful eyes are rimmed with red, and you want to take her into your arms and hold her close so badly, but you can’t feel your arms anymore either.

Your eyes flick anxiously between the two women.

“Love,” it’s Wanda trying to get your attention now, though you can’t see her through the blurriness coating your eyes. “That’s it, my love. You are going to be just fine, okay? We’ll make sure of it.”

They both gently wipe your tears before Wanda pulls you in for a short kiss, Natasha following, and you know that even though the kiss was short, everything they couldn’t say in that moment was put into it.

You can feel yourself start to fade, but you keep your eyes on your wives the entire time. Before you fully fade out, into dust, as you noticed that’s what surrounded you, you glance at where Wanda’s feet should be and see that they’ve disappeared, just as you have.

As you slowly turn to dust, and allow yourself to be gently carried away by the wind, the tears only slide down your cheeks harder at the though of your wives fading away too.

When you’ve gone, Wanda immediately turns to Natasha, almost unaware of what’s happening to her.

“Thanos is going to pay,” her eyes turn scarlet, and her hands flare with a certain degree of anger behind her magic.

Natasha gently covers her wife’s hand with her own, her tears now a steady stream. The magic lessens, Wanda not wanting to hurt her, but she’s confused.

Until Natasha looks straight into her eyes and cups her left cheek with her right hand just as she had moments ago with you.

“It’s happening to me, too, isn’t it?” Wanda’s face falls.

She doesn’t want to leave Natasha alone.

Natasha keeps looking into Wanda’s eyes, trying to memorize everything about them.

“Natalia,” Wanda whispers, “bud’ smelym, lyubov’ moya. Vse normal’no.”

Be brave, my love. It’s okay.

Natasha nods and gently brings their foreheads together.

“I’m going to bring you both back,” she promises.

Wanda gently kisses Natasha’s temple before she fades away, carried off by the constant wave of wind.

The assassin falls to her knees, not having anything to hold her up anymore. She allows herself to cry for the both of you, screaming at the sky until her throat is raw and painfully red. She breaks down in the middle of the Wakandan forest, desperately wishing she could switch places with you and Wanda.

Steve puts a hand on her shoulder in show of support, and she grabs it gently and sobs harder.

She’s the only one left. The loves of her life are gone. Turned to dust like they were nothing, but they meant everything to her.

She doesn’t think she can go on without either of you, but she’s going to try because of the hatred and anger slowly rising throughout her body. There’s a newfound determination on her features, and she even scares herself a little as her tears are quick to dry.

She gently brushes Steve’s hand from her shoulder and stands on shakily determined legs.

Natalia Alianovna Romanova is going to get the loves of her life back, even if she dies trying.

#wanda maximoff x reader #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanov x reader #angst angst angst #our girls deserve a break #but am i going to give it to them?#no #gn!reader #wandanat x reader

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helloalycia · 3 years ago

Text

⇇ chapter seven ⇇

story masterlist | main masterlist | wattpad

⇉ chapter nine ⇉

author’s note: i’m not THAT cruel that i’d give you angst so soon, don’t worry. hope you enjoy this one ♥️

33 years old

With majority of my life going to utter crap quite quickly, it was hard to expect anything more.

But a year had passed since I'd been freed from Dreykov's control, no longer a weapon to be used by anyone, and everything was going great. Better than great, in fact.

For the first time, ever I think, I was truly enjoying life. I'd been promoted to an assistant manager at the stationary shop I worked at and though some may have believed that was boring, I loved it. Meeting the regulars, helping people find the right items for their various craft projects, chatting the day away... it was a dream. Such a massive change of pace to what I'd been used to. And I thought I'd get bored of it, missing the action I once had, but I honestly didn't.

The repetitious routine of waking up early, watering my plants, having breakfast, saying hi to my neighbour, doing a full day's work and coming home to unwind for the evening, only to do it all again the next day, was a dream. It was so easy for me to find joy in the little things – deciding whether to have a coffee or hot chocolate with my biscuit, trying out a new recipe, making plans with some friends from work – and I wasn't sure I ever wanted to give it up.

Everything I'd fantasised about whilst being in the Red Room and graduating as a Black Widow was finally true. Well, save for one little detail... but I tried not to dwell on that because that was impossible.

Yelena and Nat had visited once more in person since our Scotland trip, staying over for a week to get a glimpse into my new life. Yelena loved it, but I think she just loved trying new things. Nat didn't hate it, but I knew it wasn't for her... which hurt a little, since she was the one thing missing, technically speaking, but those were dreams from an old me. I was just grateful for our friendship now.

It was my turn to visit them in New York soon enough and I planned to stay for a week, excited for the break from work and mainly just looking forward to seeing them both again. Though, the first day I was arriving would also be the day I would finally meet Clint Barton AKA Hawkeye AKA Nat's best friend, the one who'd given her an out.

It was Nat's idea to invite him, since it was apparently long overdue for them to see each other again since she'd been on the run and he happened to be in town. She thought it would be nice for Yelena and I to meet him, too, like we had with Vision and Wanda, and I wasn't opposed to the idea... but I was a little nervous.

This was the man who had taken her in, given her another chance at life. The man who she only ever spoke highly of, looked up to, considered true family. It was a little intimidating to say the least, but I was also curious to know what he was like.

When I got to New York after a very long and tiresome journey, the first thing I did was sleep in the comfy hotel I'd booked. Yelena had offered to have me stay with her and Nat, but her flat only had one room and there wasn't much space since it was bought for only her and Nat occasionally stayed with her when she wasn't off freeing Widows.

After a well-needed nap, I got ready for the evening meal that I was pretending I wasn't nervous for and headed over to Yelena's. Sucking up a deep breath, I made sure I looked presentable a final time and knocked on the door.

"Someone took their time," Yelena said once she opened the door, and I instantly panicked.

"Oh my– am I late?" I asked, wondering if I'd got the time wrong.

She grinned, shaking her head. "Nah, I'm kidding. Come here!"

Before I could say anything, she pulled me forward and almost crushed the bouquet of flowers in my hand as she squeezed me into a hug.

"It's so good to see you, Y/L/N," she said exuberantly, before standing back to get a better look at me. Then her eyes fell to the bouquet and her smile widened, if possible. "Are those for me? You shouldn't have!"

I suppressed a laugh as she took the bouquet and studied them. "They're actually for you and your sister."

"For me, got it," she said jokingly, before putting an arm around my shoulder. "Come on. You're just on time. Nat wouldn't stop talking about you."

I felt my neck grow warm at the thought of Nat being just as excited to see me, and let Yelena lead me into her living room after kicking the door close behind us.

"By the way, you look very nice tonight," she complimented, looking me up and down. "Great choice with the boots. I love them!"

I laughed quietly, missing her vibrancy. "Thank you, Yelena. You look great, too. Did you get more ear piercings?"

She winked. "Don't you know it."

We stopped in her open-plan living room/kitchen, where Nat was finishing setting up some place settings on the dining table. She looked divine, I wasn't afraid to admit it for a change. It wasn't anything fancy, just an off-white blouse and black trousers – but she made it work. Especially with the bright red lipstick she wore. I was certain red lipstick was only ever made for her in this moment.

"Look who's here?" Yelena said, pulling me from my daydream and letting go of my shoulders.

Nat stopped what she was doing and looked up, an instant smile spreading across her lips when her eyes found mine. "Finally."

"It's not a quick trip, is it?" I teased, before moving toward to meet her halfway.

"It's not, but you still should've been quicker," she mumbled into my shoulder when she hugged me, making me weak in the knees admittedly. "How are you? How was the flight?"

"I'll be sure to fly the plane myself next time," I jested, making her shove me in the shoulder when we broke apart from our hug. She rolled her eyes playfully and I couldn't stop smiling. "The flight was good. I'm good, too. I did bring flowers, but–"

"But they're for me, not you," Yelena finished for me, and we both turned around to see her filling a vase in the kitchen sink. "Thanks again, Y/N!"

I smiled apologetically at Nat. "She kinda took them, sorry."

Nat shook her head, a smile ghosting her lips. "It's fine. I appreciate the thought."

Looking around at the table, I said, "Do you need any help setting up anything?"

Nat was already ushering me to the living room. "Don't worry about that. I'm pretty much done. Food is almost ready and Clint will be arriving soon."

"If you're sure..."

She smiled endearingly. "I'm sure, Y/N."

Yelena joined me in the living room soon enough, whilst Nat faffed about with the last few things to do, and we had a nice catch up whilst drinking some fancy cocktails she'd made for everyone. Eventually, a knock was heard and Clint had arrived.

"I got it," Nat called, already going to the door.

Yelena and I stood up, and I suddenly grew nervous, flattening my hands down my clothes subconsciously.

"Have you met him?" I asked quietly to Yelena, who I noticed also looked a little nervous.

"Once, yesterday," she answered as we heard Nat and Clint exchanging greetings in the hall. "He's nice enough."

I smiled awkwardly, panicking a little. "Very helpful, thanks."

She snickered before we both straightened up when Nat led Clint inside. I wasn't sure what I was expecting – probably a uniformed superhero holding a bow and arrow, since that was his thing – but he simply rolled up in casual dinner attire and a small smile on his face.

"Yelena, you already know Clint," Nat began the introductions.

"Barton," Yelena said with a nod and smile.

"Belova," he returned, just as awkwardly.

"This is Y/N, who I told you about," Nat said, motioning to me as she spoke to Clint, before looking to me with calming eyes. "Y/N, this is Clint."

He offered out his hand and nodded towards me. "Nice to finally meet you, Y/N."

I returned his handshake, noticing the strength in a simple grip. "You, too, Clint. It's great to meet some more of Nat's Avenger family."

He snorted as he pulled away. "Is that what she calls us?"

"Shut up...," Nat mumbled as she busied herself with getting Clint a drink.

"Not exactly, but it's what you are, isn't it?" I said jokingly.

He shrugged, accepting the beer from Nat. "I guess."

Not much of a talker, I noted.

As we all took a seat on the couch and chairs, Nat warmed up the conversation between us all, filling the gaps when nobody knew what to say and making us all feel comfortable with one another. It was the most I'd seen her try, not in a bad way, but she usually had such a cool, collected manner that this was foreign to witness. But it made me realise how much she wanted this all to work between us, for whatever reason, so naturally I did, too.

Clint was a pretty laid back guy and gave off peak dad energy, so it wasn't hard to talk to him. I did feel like, at the start, he was weighing me up and deciding whether I was friend or foe, probably a natural reaction of an Avenger. Plus he'd known Nat the longest, so no doubt he was cautious of who she kept in her life.

He must have approved soon enough, since he loosened up and lost the curious stare as time went on. Yelena and Nat left at one point, going to check on the food, and I was left alone with Clint.

"She talked very highly of you, you know," he said in a low voice. "I can see why."

I took that as a compliment and scratched the back of my neck awkwardly. "Thanks, I think."

He smiled with amusement, reading my mind. "It's a compliment."

"Right..." I crossed my legs and returned his smile. "Well, she did the same of you. After all, you're the person who set her free."

"I wouldn't say that..."

I lost my smile as I looked to him seriously, gratefully. "Thank you for doing that, Clint. For getting her out when you did."

He shook his head, eyes avoiding mine out of embarrassment – he wasn't one for compliments himself. "I was just doing my job."

"Still."

He pressed his lips together thoughtfully, before glancing at me with apologetic eyes. "I'm sorry I couldn't get everyone else out sooner. You, included."

I shook my head, not even thinking about that. That wasn't what I meant at all. "You don't need to apologise. None of that was your responsibility. I'm just– I'm glad Nat had someone looking out for her when I couldn't anymore. Not that she ever needed it."

He chuckled quietly in agreement. "You're not wrong there. She's always been fine on her own."

"Dinner is served!" Yelena called from the kitchen, and I exchanged smiles with Clint as the two of us stood up.

We approached the table and saw a lovely spread of roasted vegetables, roasted lamb, mashed potatoes and gravy.

"Bon appetite," Yelena said, before motioning for us to sit down. "This was a joint effort."

"I did most of the work," Nat mumbled as she pulled up a seat beside me.

I held back a laugh as I took my seat, opposite Clint and Yelena. "It looks great, both of you. Thank you for going through all this effort for us."

"I second that," Clint agreed, looking between both sisters with a smile. "Can't wait to try it."

Nat did the honours of serving everyone's food and we all dug in. It was delicious to say the least, and the first time I'd ever tried Nat's cooking. She must have had more time for it over the years than I'd imagined.

The dinner went well, quite nicely actually, and it felt great to be able to enjoy conversation about the randomest of things whilst having some good food and drinks. Being nervous to meet Clint felt so silly now. I should have anticipated my nervousness to see Nat again to be honest.

I tried not to think about how her arm would brush mine whenever she'd take a bite of her food, or the tug in my stomach whenever she laughed quietly to herself at something someone said, or the way her eyes intensely met mine whenever I spoke. I tried not to think about any of it, but God it was hard. I'd like to think it was because I hadn't seen her in a while, but I knew it wasn't that.

It was never that.

By the time we finished eating and were simply lost in talking, the conversation moved onto the likes of the Avengers and the atmosphere changed slightly.

"They don't track my whereabouts, hence why I'm able to see you," Clint was saying in response to Nat's question about how he managed to get away from the government's prying eyes. "In all honesty, I think they think we hate each other. You know, since you tried to kick my ass."

Nat smirked. "I don't think you're remembering that correctly. I'm pretty sure I did kick your ass."

"Debatable."

Nat rolled her eyes before losing her smile. "What about the others? You been in touch?"

"I haven't spoken to anyone since... yeah," Clint answered with a sigh, looking to Nat. "Stark checks in every now and then. Sometimes asks about you."

Nat had her arms crossed over her chest, nodding slightly as she was listening. But she didn't say anything.

"Would you all ever reunite?" I asked curiously, looking to Clint since he was more likely to answer. "You know, get the band back together, that sort of thing?"

Clint shrugged, a humourless smile on his face. "Half the band is on the run, so... I don't know."

"Maybe if everything blew over," Nat finally spoke, and everyone looked her way; she was still staring at her empty dinner plate. "For now, probably not."

I still didn't entirely understand the whole Avengers thing. It was important to Natalia though, clearly, so I tried to be as supportive as I could.

"I'm sure it will," I said gently, offering her a small smile when she glanced up.

Sensing the shift in mood, she sat up straight in her seat and uncrossed her arms. "Never mind that." Her eyes fell to Clint. "Barton. How is the family? Laura? The kids?"

Clint automatically smiled at the mention of his family. "They're doing good, yeah. Miss their Auntie Nat."

Nat closed her eyes briefly, a smile on her lips. "I miss them, too. Maybe I can visit soon."

"I'm sure they'd love that," Clint said.

"Okay, but is she actually a good auntie?" Yelena asked between sips of her drink, glancing at Clint beside her. "I really can't imagine it."

Nat rolled her eyes as Clint chuckled.

"Surprisingly, yes," he answered honestly. "She's a natural with the kids. You wouldn't think she'd be built for the homestead life, but she makes it work."

"Okay, you, stop telling them my life story," Nat settled, pointing to Clint, before glaring at her laughing sister, "and you, shut up."

"What? I'm only saying it how it is!" Clint defended innocently as Yelena covered her mouth to stop laughing. "You're good at the traditional family thing, Romanoff. You ever think you're gonna take the plunge? Settle down?"

Nat rolled her eyes, though a humoured smirk was on her lips. "Me? Settle down? Who's going to want to settle down with a fugitive?"

Yelena, who had stopped laughing but was very close to starting up again, exchanged a knowing look with her sister. "I can think of some people."

Nat must have kicked her under the table since Yelena jumped, laughing all over again as Nat glared at her. I furrowed my eyebrows, wondering who those people were. The thought of someone settling down with Natalia, her being with someone... it made me feel sick. Jealous.

"I'm not sure," she answered Clint's initial question, looking to him. "I try not to think about it to be honest..."

I frowned to myself, looking down at my empty dinner plate. Being aware of how I was feeling was something I'd been working on the past year, and right now, I knew I didn't like the idea of Nat being with another person. Having a life with someone, being romantically involved with someone.

Someone that wasn't me.

"Sorry, I need to use the bathroom," I said suddenly, feeling uncomfortable the longer I sat there.

I ignored everyone's confused looks as I pushed my chair back and headed for the bathroom, needing a minute to clear my head and reign back my jealousy. It was so stupid to be jealous at a possible future Nat may or may not have. I had no right to be, but I couldn't help it.

Closing the door behind me once I reached the bathroom, I leaned against the sink and closed my eyes to release a deep breath. Maybe my feelings towards Nat were stronger than I'd realised...

I opened my eyes, startled, when I heard the door open.

"You–" I exhaled slowly, getting over my temporary fright. "You shouldn't be here."

Nat tilted her head like it was obvious, then closed the door behind her carefully. "How else was I going to make sure you were okay?" she asked, and for a split second, I saw the young blue-haired girl who had come to check on me back in the Red Room for the first time.

I licked my lips, chewing on the bottom one as I watched her quirk a brow with mild concern.

"Are you?" she asked softly.

It was always circles with her. I never knew where I stood, but then again, I never had. She'd always kept me close enough to want her, but far enough to never get her. Not unless she wanted to make the move. After all, what the golden child wants, the golden child gets.

For once, why couldn't I get what I wanted?

"Y/N–"

I stupidly took a leap of faith and stepped forward, pressing my lips to hers. My hand rested on her neck and I relaxed at the taste of peppermint, a taste I'd almost forgotten when it came to her. She seemed surprised, but then her hands rested on my waist and she squeezed gently, kissing me back.

When lack of oxygen became a problem, we reluctantly disconnected lips and I opened my eyes to be immediately submerged in seas of green. She was too close to make out any specific details, but I noticed the shade of pink dusting her cheeks and it warmed my heart, knowing I still had that effect on her.

"Sorry," I said breathlessly, but I don't think I was.

She shook her head. "I'm not."

I swallowed hard, my eyes drifting to her lips. Red lipstick was smudged slightly and I had no doubts where the remnants were. My hand moved up her neck, to her jaw, and my thumb traced the outline of her lips tenderly, just like I'd once done before. Same shape, same taste, same girl.

"I don't want you to settle down with someone," I admitted quietly, eyes rising to meet hers. "I want you. It's always been you, Natalia."

"There's nothing stopping either of us now," she said, eyes flickering between mine.

Had she wondered, too? What it could have been like if we'd gotten the future we'd dreamt up?

"Isn't there?" I asked, a small part of me expecting something to get in the way like it always had.

Her lips curved into a small smile that left me weak in the knees. "Not that I can think of."

She was right. And yet, I still worried.

"There's no rush," she assured me, sensing my reservations. "Only if you want to."

She didn't need to be explicit with her words, I knew she meant us. And I was still half in awe, wondering how I was lucky enough that she still wanted this after so long.

"Want to what?" I asked anyway, needing to hear her say it. "Actually be with you? After all this time? Isn't that crazy?"

Her thumb rubbed gently on my waist. "I don't think it is."

My heart was racing, thumping so loudly I prayed she couldn't hear it.

"Guys, are you coming back?!" Yelena called from inside, breaking our bubble momentarily. "We have dessert!"

After all this time, being with Natalia didn't seem like such an impossible thing anymore. And though I was terrified of what it could mean, I was learning to choose what I wanted and nobody else. And I wanted this.

"I don't think it is either," I muttered, swallowing down my nerves before kissing her once more.

"Guys!" Yelena called once more, and we had to break apart before she would decide to come and see what was happening for herself.

Nat tried not to laugh as we stepped back, then she raised her hand and swiped her thumb across my lips, it coming back with red lipstick.

"That's better," she said with sparkling eyes. "You should go in. I'll sort out my own lipstick and see you there."

I nodded, feeling like I was on cloud nine when she flashed me another smile. Heading back inside, I returned to my seat just in time for Yelena to set a chocolate cake in the centre of the table.

"Everything alright?" Clint asked with a quirked brow.

Trying very hard not to break out into a smile, I nodded. "Yeah. Just felt sick, but all good now. Nat is just washing her hands."

He nodded, seeming to believe me, and paid his attention back to Yelena as she served up a slice for everyone. Nat returned when Yelena had finished, and looked around.

"Sorry about that," she apologised with a smile. "What did I miss?"

Yelena pointed to the cake with her fork. "Cake."

"Chocolate," Clint added, making Nat roll her eyes playfully.

"It looks great, thank you," I said to Yelena gratefully, before glancing at Nat beside me. "Both of you."

Nat held my gaze a second longer than she should have, but enough to make me forget what I saying.

"Dig in!" Yelena ordered, and only then did I sigh upon realising the effect Nat still had on me.

She winked playfully, a teasing smirk on her lips, before digging into her food. I dug into my own, but not before feeling Nat's hand slip into mine under the table. She gave it a comforting squeeze and I realised, as I glanced around, that this was all I'd ever wanted. Enjoying a dinner with people I cared about, doing such a normal person thing and enjoying the evening.

Every bit of this moment was perfect, everything I'd fantasised about, including the stunning redhead sat beside me.

I'd finally fulfilled my dream. Completely.

————————

I was enjoying a lovely lie-in the morning after, sleeping off my exhaustion from the previous day, when a knock on my hotel door woke me up abruptly. I sat up at the noise, blinking as if there was an emergency.

Then I realised where I was, what was going on (kind of), and that someone was still knocking on the door. Who could that be? I was trying to–

Shit, it was Nat.

Still half asleep, I could vaguely remember what happened last night after Clint left. I'd helped Yelena and Nat clear up before Nat said she wanted to see me tomorrow morning, as in today, and I'd agreed. Though I'd definitely forgot to set an alarm and now I had to see her looking like shit. Great.

Trying to look slightly more presentable in the mirror and questioning why I had suddenly become that girl, I rushed over to answer the door, hoping I looked less tired.

"Hey," I said when I opened the door, seeing the beautiful smile on her face and the two cups of coffee in her hands.

"Good morning," she said, eyes looking me up and down before her smile turned into an amused smirk. "You totally forgot I was coming, didn't you?"

I scrunched my face up, giving in. "Maybe."

She chuckled as I stepped to the side to let her in. "Of course. Well, I brought you a coffee anyway. I assumed you were ready, but I'm happy to wait around. Thought we could go out for breakfast if you want?"

"Thank you," I said, closing the door and turning around to see her stifling a smile. "And I'd like that, yeah. I just need to..." I glanced down at my joggers and tee shirt. "Get ready."

"Take your time," she said, sitting on the couch and setting both coffees down.

"Is Yelena okay not being invited?" I asked, hoping it wouldn't bother her.

"Yeah, she's okay with it. She's happy for us to spend the day together."

I quirked a brow. "The day?"

Nat cleared her throat, avoiding my eyes with embarrassment. "I mean, if you want to obviously."

Smiling now, I took advantage of the upper hand. "Hmm, I'm not too sure. I kind of already had plans."

Knowing what I was doing, she shot me an unimpressed look. "You're really gonna do that when you've got a drool mark on your shirt?"

My eyes widened and I lost my smile, looking down to my shirt. I'd like to say she was kidding to annoy me, but there was indeed a small drool mark on my shirt. Covering it with both hands, I avoided her eyes.

"Don't look!" I exclaimed, before leaving to go and change asap.

I heard her laughter from the other room and was definitely awake now. She'd seen me look a mess many times – after all, we'd grown up together – but now that she liked me as more than a friend, I actually cared about how she saw me. And in my pyjamas with a stained shirt, eye buggers and messy hair wasn't the plan.

After spending some time getting ready and drinking off Nat's coffee to wake myself up some more, I was ready to go. It was risky with her being in New York, considering someone could recognise her as an Avenger which would get her found out, but she seemed to know the best ways to blend in and the best places to eat.

We ended up at a cute café that served some killer waffles and pancakes, and were sat at a corner booth away from prying eyes after ordering our breakfast.

She smiled at the waitress as she left with our order and I leaned back, watching her with a small smile. Would there ever be a time when she didn't look so mesmerising? It wasn't a regular beauty that you saw in magazines or on runways, it was a different kind. I just hadn't pinpointed it yet, even after all this time.

"So," I started, making her eyes flicker to mine across the table, "what happens now?"

We hadn't spoken much of what we were since last night, as there had always been something in the way and this was the first time we'd truly been alone. She seemed to know what I was referring to and, thankfully, didn't play dumb.

"Well, I was hoping that I could spend the week with you," she said in her sultry deep voice that always made me nervous.

"Obviously," I said, luckily without stuttering. That was my plan anyway, whether I'd kissed her or not.

"This can be whatever we want it to be," she continued, before motioning to me with her hand as she spoke, "but you're free to make your own choices and it's up to you what you want."

I didn't look away as I said, "I meant it when I said it's always been you, Nat."

At this, she pressed her lips together as she looked across at me, eyes softening. Her hand rested on the table between us, palm facing the ceiling, and I rested my hand in hers, squeezing it gently. We didn't let go.

"I really missed you when I left," she said faintly. "It's always been you, too, Y/N. I'm sorry I never showed you that."

My insides felt like they were melting at her words, both out of being touched by her statement and feeling bad that I'd made her feel bad for not showing it.

"You don't need to apologise," I assured her, thumb rubbing her skin gently. "It was a lot, all of it. Everything we went through... you didn't owe me a thing."

She grimaced slightly, as if disagreeing, but then said, "We don't have to talk about any of this now. I just want to spend time with you this week. Do everything we could have done together. Without having to be secretive. Without worrying about getting in trouble. Just us. Just like it used to be."

And as she watched me with determined eyes, jaw set firmly, lips pursed, I realised something. Startlingly beautiful, that's what she was.

"Just us," I repeated in agreement, before smiling. "I'd like that."

She mirrored my expression and my heart fluttered in my chest. This week was only all I'd been waiting for all my life.

#marvel #marvel imagine #mcu #mcu imagine #natasha romanoff imagine #natasha romanoff x you #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff #black widow x you #black widow x reader #black widow imagine #black widow #scarlett johansson

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hikari-kaitou · 3 years ago

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Capcom's Official AA Fanclub Surveys - DGS Edition

Many Western fans may be familiar with the Turnabout 4koma comics that get posted on the official AA fanclub site that Capcom runs, thanks to some lovely fans on tumblr and elsewhere who have shared their translations. What fewer people seem to know about is the character surveys.

Back in the old days, they used to hold a survey on Capcom's official AA fansite every few months where they'd write about the seasonal activities of a handful of characters and ask fans to vote for the funniest/most pleasant/strangest/etc answer.

They stopped doing them in like... 2016? 2017? The original text is lost for good as far as I can tell. Even the wayback machine couldn't help because the content was password locked and you can't get past the password wall while remaining in the archived version.

Fortunately, I saved some of my translations of them so I thought I’d share them.

Cut for length...

"February has begun, and the DGS cast is nearing the end of their journey aboard the RFS Alacrei. Which of them acted the most strangely?"

Ryuunosuke ~ Exhausted from his intensive study session, he decided to try some katana swinging practice as a change of pace and to combat his recent lack of exercise. But because he wasn't used to handling the katana, he swung it too hard and it went flying out of his hands and got stuck in the wall right next to Sherlock, who had just entered the room. Sherlock asked him, "aren't you supposed to be studying right now, Mr. Naruhodo?" and handcuffed him to his desk.

Susato- worked on developing a curriculum for Ryuunosuke. 'If we keep going at this pace, he won't be able to learn it all in time... It'll be hard on Naruhodo-sama, but we'll have to work hard through a couple of nights together.' With that thought, she created a harsh study schedule, and almost seemed to be looking forward to it for some reason.

Sherlock- Driven by excitement over the thought of returning to England after a long absence, he went up on deck to stare at the ocean. Being February, it was very cold out there and he ended up being chilled all the way to the tips of his fingers. He returned to the ship cabins and amused himself by putting his frozen hands on Ryuunosuke, who was stuck in his room studying.

Van Zieks- Upon hearing from Vortex that there was a Japanese exchange student coming to England to study law, he smashed a Lord's Bottle. He apparently also didn't care for the fact that that Japanese student wouldn't be alone, because he proceeded to shatter his chalice, too.

Hosonaga- in order to provide a respite from studying, he provided some hot chocolate. They enjoyed a pleasant tea time, marveling over how sweet and delicious the drink was until Sherlock piped up with some unnecessary trivia: 'Actually folks, chocolate has long been used in Europe as an aphrodisiac!' Everyone promptly spat it out."

"The long winter is nearly over and spring is on it's way, putting the DGS cast members in a celebratory mood. Who found the best way of enjoying spring?"

Ryuunosuke: the Yuumei University faculty members were holding a flower viewing event, and he joined the assistance committee. He exhausted himself keeping the blankets clean so the intense shower of flower petals wouldn't pile up too high on them, delivering sake and snacks, and mediating whatever pointless fights arose. To top it all off, for some reason his compensation was only a single piece of leftover candy. Talk about a sad result!

Susato- her father and the others living in his dormitory were holding the flower viewing event, so she got up early to prepare the bentos. But her father carelessly forgot to tell her that they wanted tea cakes, so she had to go around the house and neighborhood collecting sweets. For some reason, she ended up being able to gather caramels, biscuits, candy sticks, basically everything but tea cakes, for the tea ceremony.

Sherlock- he disguised himself as a beat officer and infiltrated Scotland Yard to have some fun. There was a real beat officer napping on his feet in the spring sunshine, and while observing him, Sherlock ended up falling asleep too. Detective Gregson gave them a good scolding when he found them, but then Sherlock revealed his true identity with a "hey, it's me, folks!" "What the blazes do you think you're doing?!" Gregson shouted, his rage growing even more, and Sherlock ended up making a run for it.

Van Zieks- went to the vineyard to oversee the production of the contents of his Lord's Bottle. As he viewed the still unopened grape blossom buds, he thought about how they would someday grow up to fill his Lord's Bottle, and ended up going around to look at each one. But the farm hands couldn't stop wondering whether the bottle itself or its owner's heel might come flying at them and were quite uneasy.

Asougi: exhausted himself running around since early morning helping with the professors' flower viewing event. When it was over, he took a break, sharing his reward candy stick [the name of the candy literally translates to 1,000 year candy] with Ryuunosuke, who had also been helping out.

"I wonder if the candy's effect is halved if you share it with someone."

"That still gives us 500 years."

They laughed and enjoyed looking at the flowers until dark. Then they parted ways with a handshake and a "see you later, best friend."

(This one was something about celebrating New Years. For some reason I didn't save the original question)

"Ryuunosuke ~ To celebrate New Years, he planned to pound mochi with everyone at the office. He somehow managed to get his hands on some mochi rice and he and Sherlock started pounding. Iris was having such fun watching them that she steamed a whole bunch more mochi rice so they could have some to share, and he and Sherlock spent the whole evening pounding mochi like crazy.

Asougi~ Because it's New Years, he went around to a bunch of shrines. When he drew his new year's fortune, he got a "horrible luck" result. "I'm not worried about it," he claimed, and headed up to the mountains early on New Years morning and work hard on a full training course of purification by water, meditation under a waterfall and wooden sword practice. It seems that he was working really hard to clear his mind of all earthly thoughts

Sherlock- Agreed to help Ryuunosuke pound mochi. As Ryuunosuke was flipping the mochi over, he carelessly dropped his badge into the bowl and Sherlock mixed it in without noticing, so they had to crack open both the hard and soft mochi to look for it. Fortunately they found it in the 4th one they checked, but apparently Sherlock got his hands and face covered in sticky white mochi in the process.

Susato- Wore a furisode and went with her father to do the first shrine visit of the year. The shrine was incredibly crowded and they had to wait in line for a long time, but she brought the Encyclopaedia of British Law and a copy of the Strand Magazine in her sleeves to secretly read as they waited so she actually ended up enjoying the wait.

Van Zieks- Ryuunosuke cheerfully gave him some mochi as a New Year’s (which at that time was celebrated at the same time as the Chinese New Year) gift, which he accepted confusedly, wondering “...Can the Japanese not even keep track of when the New Year is?” Because Ryuunosuke referred to it as a rice cake, he tried to eat it like a regular cake without softening it with heat first. It was so hard that he couldn’t imagine how it could possibly be food, and ended up misunderstanding the Japanese even more!

"Autumn has arrived, and the weather is starting to cool off, which means that everyone is becoming more active. Which character chose the most pleasant autumn activity to keep busy with?"

Iris was making bread but her hands are small and it’s difficult for her to knead the dough, so she asked for Ryuunosuke’s help. She wanted to make enough to hand out to Gina and all the other homeless children in the East End, so she made a massive amount and Ryuunosuke was stuck kneading this massive mountain of bread dough all day. Apparently he became such a expert at kneading that he could be a baker now.

Asougi was practicing with his sword, slicing autumn-colored ginko leaves as they fell from the tree. He cut so many leaves, though, that he ended up making a big mess on the ground, the number of fallen leaves now having increased, and it took him a long time to clean it all up.

Sherlock: Ryuunosuke told him that he was making anpan (bread filled with sweet red bean paste, the bane of my Asian-dwelling existance) and asked Sherlock to help by being in charge of getting the poppy seeds they’d need to sprinkle on top, so Sherlock went out and gathered a ton of poppy seeds. In fact, he got so many of them that no one knew what to do with them all cuz they had a huge amount of leftovers. Sherlock said, “Well, they’re only the size of poppy seeds! Surely you two can deal with them somehow! Ahahaha!” and Iris scolded him.

(I couldn’t capture it in English, but Sherlock’s line contained a pun, and a pretty stupid one at that, so that’s part of why he got scolded)

It’s grape harvesting season, so Van Zieks commutes to the winery regularly to direct the production of the contents for his “Lord’s Bottle.” He demands perfection in everything from the selection of the grapes to the way they’re squeezed, and the winery staff is terrified by the “grim reaper’s” gaze and heel swinging (i.e. the leg thing he does in court) so they grumble as they work.

"Hearing that there’s a holiday in the West called Halloween, the people involved with the court in Japan decided to try it out themselves. Naturally Halloween is a big deal in England as well. So, which member of the DGS cast had the best celebration?"

Team Ryuunosuke and Asougi- Asougi got Naruhodo up on his shoulders and they draped a white sheet over themselves to make a ghost costume. They went out like that, but Naruhodo had such exaggerated reactions to the fear of the people who saw them and to bumping his head on tree branches that they ended up losing their balance and falling on top of each other?!

Sherlock Holmes- went wearing a horse’s head mask. Iris used her skills to make it a fancy horse covered in stars, but the eye holes weren’t well made and he had to wander around blindly. Because of that he tripped hard over a pile of coal! He ended up getting so dirty that the stars on his costume were covered up!

Van Zieks- took inspiration from his nickname and dressed up as the grim reaper. He covered himself up with a skeleton mask and hood figuring no one would know it was him. Unfortunately he got angry when he saw Megundal (McGilded) pass by and started throwing bottles and glasses and ended up giving himself away.

"November has arrived, and autumn is nearing its end. However, the DGS cast is still keeping busy, even on their days off. Which character chose the most interesting way to spend their late autumn day?"

Ryuunosuke- Thinking that he’d better learn more about British culture if he was going to be a defense attorney in Britain, he went down to the East End with Gina for a little observation. However, because an Asian like him stood out so much, he got mobbed by the other children. On top of it all, his arm band got stolen from him and he had to send a replacement request to Yumei University on the other side of the ocean.

Asougi- He went for a meal at La Quantas. The customer at a nearby table got a persimmon for dessert and scarfed it down, saying “Mm! This is it! This sweetness makes it worthy of being called a treasure among foods!” Asougi tried to comment on this by saying, “The customer at that table sure is enjoying his pershim--gak!” but he may or may not have accidentally bitten his tongue in the process and been unable to finish his sentence.

Iris- She accepted Ryuunosuke’s request to learn more about British culture and prepared a bagpipe and kilt costume for him. “This outfit sure is breezy,” Ryuunosuke said shyly upon trying it on. With Ryuunosuke now dressed, he, Iris, and the others from their office headed over to Gregson’s place to get him to treat them to some fish and chips.

Sherlock- He accepted Ryuunosuke’s request to learn more about British culture and cooked up some European style curry for dinner. Thanks to the fact that his secret ingredient was a large amount of Chinese herbal medicine style spice, it caused some strange side effects and Ryuunosuke, who’d eaten it, ended up passing out and falling over.

“Another taxing trial for Ryuunosuke has finished and now it’s December. As the year draws to a close, which character acts the strangest?”

Ryuunosuke- he was recruited to help with snow removal around Yumei University and the courthouse and he enthusiastically began his task with the help of a large shovel. He got a little carried away, though, and ended up accidentally burying his umbrella, which he’d left propped up against the side of the building, in the snow he’d just finished shoveling. He had no choice but to share Asougi’s umbrella on the way home.

Asougi- On the way home, he nods silently to Ryuunosuke’s question of whether he’d finished his travel preparations and changes the subject: “...Come to think of it, it seems that tomorrow is celebrated in the West as God’s birthday.” “I’ve heard that they eat chicken as part of the traditional celebration. Wanna try it?” Ryuunosuke asks invitingly. Asougi is strongly opposed to that particular menu item, however, and they end up going out for their usual beef stew that night instead.

Susato- in addition to her year-end travel preparations, she also was busy with straightening up the book room in her home. She managed to get the law books in order when she suddenly stumbled upon some old issues of Strand Magazine! She hurried through the rest of her cleaning, then began flipping through the magazines she’d found, trying to decide which to take with her on her trip. She accidentally lost herself in her reading and didn’t realize it until it was already the middle of the night.

Sherlock- he was in the middle of a long ship voyage when Christmas night came. His mind on his partner in a far-off country, he made a toast alone on deck, when suddenly the crew began shooting off fireworks with a cry of “Merry Christmas!” Sherlock had to dart back and forth across the deck to prevent the fireworks from hitting him and setting off the explosive chemicals he carries with him.

Main series edition

#dai gyakuten saiban #tgaa #naruhodo ryuunosuke #asougi kazuma #mikotoba susato #dgs sherlock holmes #hosonaga satoru #barok van zieks #iris watson #gina lestrade #translations #official content #my translation #mikotoba yuujin #ryunosuke naruhodo #kazuma asogi #susato mikotoba #iris wilson

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phoenixyfriend · 2 years ago

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The King, the Soldier, and the Spy: Chapter Two

Chapter 2: Out of the Blue

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

Ahsoka sleeps in a tree.

This is—it’s not planned, is the thing. Nobody told her to sleep in a tree. But the Jedi assumed she would ask if she needed something, and the Mandalorians assumed she’d be taken care of by the Jedi, and she was avoiding everyone already anyway…

So she slips away, parks herself on a branch that lets her lean back against the join of the trunk and another bough, and settles in for a nap.

She is woken by a snowball to the face.

It’s not malicious, and so the Force doesn’t wake her up in time to stop it. It does wake her up in time to prevent an embarrassing fall from the tree. She leans over to glare down at the Mando that threw it.

“Were you up there all night?!” they shout up at her.

She kind of wants to shout back a good ol’ fuck you, if only because of the snowball, but she doesn’t want to jeopardize the working relationship she apparently needs to build here.

“Yeah!” she shouts back. “What’s it to you?”

“Why?” the Mando yells.

Habit? “Didn’t want to inconvenience anyone!” she says, and then decides discretion is the better part of valor, and leans over to drop twenty meters to the ground. She brushes off the snow while the Mando just stares at her. “Anyway, I’m used to it.”

“You don’t even have a jacket.”

She shrugs. “The Force provides.”

“You could have fallen out.”

“Doubtful.”

“We have spare tents.”

“That belong to people who only just died,” she says. “I’m not going to take a dead man’s things, that would be rude. Tactless, at best.”

“A sleeping bag,” the Mando tries. “You could have taken a sleeping bag, at least.”

Ahsoka shrugs again. “Didn’t need one.”

The Mandalorian moves to put a hand to their mouth. They are prevented from completing the movement by their helmet. She waits.

“Okay,” the Mandalorian says. “That’s… right. Whatever. At least come to breakfast?”

“Gladly,” she agrees. “You already know I’m Fulcrum. I don’t know your name?”

“Myles,” he says. “I’m Jango’s second.”

She grasps his forearm, and he shakes it. His helmet is durasteel, so she feels his bemusement through it.

“Surprised?” she asks.

“I shouldn’t be,” he admits freely. “You’re near-fluent in our language and wear armor that’s been forged in our style. I shouldn’t be this taken aback by you using Mandalorian greetings with me.”

“You wouldn’t be the first or the last,” she tells him. “I’m a bit of an odd duck, I’m told. I’m not Mandalorian, never will be, but… the culture has been kind to me.”

The clones. Satine. Bo. Korkie. The Skiratas, when Bo had sent her their way for a fortnight of hiding. Random strangers across the system, from traditionalists who bit out that even the Jedi were better than what the Empire had turned this commercialized, cheap version of their armor into, to New Mandalorians who played to the Empire’s party line in the public sphere, and hid her in their attics behind stormtrooper’s backs.

(Let no one say that the pacifists of Mandalore were cowards.)

(They may not have given her blasters or armor, but they had given her food and shelter, and that alone was a death sentence if the Empire ever found them out.)

(Korkie’s refugee network was a thing of beauty.)

Myles leads her to the collective breakfast pot that’s been set up. It’s porridge. She smiles tightly, and declines.

“You gotta eat,” one of the True Mandalorians says.

Ahsoka raises a brow. She points at the porridge. “I’m not eating that.”

Their face screws up in offense. “What, our food isn’t good enough for you?”

“I’m a carnivore,” she says, absolutely baffled. “Do you—I’m a Togruta, have you never met one before? I can stomach that without vomiting, sure, but it won’t actually do anything for me nutritionally.”

The Mando flushes.

Ahsoka looks around the clearing. It’s mostly Mandalorians, and a handful of Jedi. The Mandalorians are… all human. Maybe near human. They seem human, at least.

She’d thought, for some reason, that the True Mandalorians were more species-diverse than the New, or Death Watch. Bo-Katan had implied as much, once, but… the only non-humans here are herself and two of the Jedi.

“Are you all human?” Ahsoka asks carefully. “…all of you?” [1]

The Mandalorian looks away.

Myles coughs into a fist. “Most of us, yeah. Mandalorian space tends towards humans and part humans. I think about 80% human or mostly human, on average. Haat’ade, we have a few non-humans, but not as many as the Mand’alor would like. Bit of a self-propagating issue, kicked off back when we still had Mereel.”

Ahsoka makes an inquiring noise. She recognizes the name, again mostly due to Bo. “Mereel?”

Myles nods. “He started the faction with friends from his region of Mandalorian space, which was mostly human. When the faction grew, non-human potentials were often leery of joining because we didn’t have enough non-humans in our ranks. It’s a bit better than it used to be, but…”

He gestures across the clearing. “Not enough that a random selection ensures more than one non-human.”

She tries to search the implied one out. It must be obvious, because Myles laughs. He explains, “one of our snipers is Pantoran. She took grave shift watch, so she only just turned in.”

Ah, that would do it.

“Don’t suppose you have any carnivore rations?” Ahsoka asks. It’s not entirely hopeful.

“’Fraid we didn’t pack any,” Myles tells her. He does seem to be pretty sympathetic. “Jedi might have some?”

Yeah, but that would mean talking to them, and while the Mandalorians are perceptive, the Jedi are… more.

And in ways she doesn’t want them to be.

She does need to eat, though.

Ahsoka approaches the Nikto Jedi. He’s… probably a knight? She isn’t sure. She bows shallowly, unsure of how closely she should follow her own culture, here and now.

“It’s nice to meet you,” she murmurs, not wanting to address him as Master before she knows if it’s the proper address. He’s older than her, certainly, but…

She doesn’t technically hold a rank anymore. Not with the Jedi.

“Well met, Fulcrum,” the man intones. “You left before we could ask after your title, yesterday. Are you a knight?”

“I’m—no, it’s complicated,” she says. She’d planned out what to say, she had, but the words flee her head. “I was—I’m not—my master died. I couldn’t make it back to the Jedi for a while, and by the time I could…”

They were gone.

“I didn’t feel it was an option anymore,” she says instead.

The Nikto blinks at her, and then gestures for her to sit. “I am Jedi Knight San-Set Neff. Call me San.”

“You already know what I’m calling myself,” she says.

“I do,” he agrees, and does not comment on the clearly false nature of the name. “Why did you feel you could not return to the Jedi?”

Because they didn’t exist. “I was… in a bad place. Not spiritually, though that too, but rather… I never Fell, but I had to do a number of things to survive that I’m not entirely proud of. There are many dead by my hand, and I don’t…”

She was a war padawan. Her skills, her habits, her philosophy, all are colored by her time in battle and in what passed for black ops in the Rebel Alliance. She could be a Shadow, maybe, but she’s not…

“I’ve been alone for almost three years,” she finally says. “And the Temple wouldn’t know me, so…”

San tilts his head, and then shrugs. “I suppose we shall ask Master Dooku when he arrives.”

“Ah. Yes.”

“Assuming you do not have an issue with his… rancid vibes, was it?”

She shouldn’t have said anything. “I’ll deal.”

He doesn’t quite smile, but there’s a shape of the Nikto equivalent to one in his face. “Just so. I’m assuming you came over here for a reason, though? You and the Mand’alor’s second were discussing something before he pointed you to me.”

“Was wondering if you have any rations fit for a tog,” she admits. “Else I’ll have to go hunting for something I can add to the porridge.”

“I believe we have something freeze-dried for myself and Tiaka,” San says. “Wait here a moment?”

“Happily.”

(Continue on AO3)

#Ahsoka Tano #Jango Fett #Count Dooku #star wars #Myles the Mandalorian #galidraan #phoenix files #the king the soldier and the spy #the clone wars #sw legends #Komari Vosa

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jakesimfromstatefarm · 4 years ago

Text

how to fake date your best friend | jake sim

✰ summary: the rules were simple -

pretend to be the boyfriend of you, his best friend who wants the attention of their crush, for a week and a week only

no kissing (bc gross cooties amirite) allowed, unless needed in times of desperate measure

and no matter what, absolutely, most definitely, do not fall in love.

simple, right?

well apparently not. because news flash––jake's already broken one of the rules.

and to give you a hint, it's neither rule 1 or 2.

✰ pairing: jake sim x y/n [ft. members of enha!]

✰ genre: fluff, comedy | fakingdating!au, highschool!au, bestfriend!au, friends to lovers

✰ warnings: cursing, high-schoolers doing dumb highschool things, underage drinking (pls don’t actually do any of this irl), jake being a certified simp, it’s LONG (i’m so sorry), cheesy kithes bc im a sucker for kithes ( ˘ ³˘)♥

✰ wc: a whopping 9.5k

✰ a/n: it’s finally finished :’)))))) it ended up being much longer than i wanted but i had so much fun writing the characters that i got carried away lolol anywaysss i hope you guys enjoy it,,,i got a little unmotivated during the process bc i didn’t know if it was good or not but here it is heh (ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ)♡

Tuesday, December 8th

Jake Sim lives a simple life.

He likes to think he leads the normal, stereotypical life of a teenage boy. Has decent grades, plays soccer after school, skateboards around the neighborhood, has a best friend who he’s desperately in love with, and has a stable group of friends.

Okay, maybe not so simple, because this boy would physically launch himself to the moon and drill at its surface to collect moon dust for you if you asked him to––despite his deadly fear of combusting in outer space.

But that fear doesn’t even compare to his worst one yet: not having you in his life.

And so, he decided to just repress any and all feelings he’s had for you ever since he discovered them in middle school, when he realized he hated seeing you go to the eighth grade dance with a date––that wasn’t him.

He decided that he wasn’t going to risk losing a life-long friendship over some dumb, teenage boy feelings.

They were probably powered by his testosterone anyways. Yeah, that’s totally it.

He’s totally not in love with you.

So yes, he lives a pretty normal life. Every day is the same as the last, and tomorrow will be the same as today. But he likes it like that––he doesn’t want anything to change.

Especially not now, when he finds himself content with every aspect of his life (okay maybe except for his history grade, god, does he hate history).

So, it catches him off guard when you arrive at the group’s usual lunch table, located outside in your school’s courtyard, looking as excited as ever.

Jake’s the only one at the table so far. The remaining usually showed up late––Heeseung spends his first half of lunch tutoring freshmen for community service hours (but the poor boy has no idea what he’s doing), Sunghoon is probably stuck in line in the cafeteria again (he always forgets to pack his own lunch), and Jay is...well actually, no one ever knows where Jay comes from. He’s a special one.

It catches Jake even more off guard when you skip over any greeting a normal person would give, and start speaking at one hundred words per second.

And that catches us up to the present.

“Y-You want me to what?” Jake’s stuttering as you stare at him with your hopeful eyes from across the lunch table.

Despite the expression planted on your face, which screams your excitement for your “brilliant, amazing, genius, Einstein-could-never” idea (or whatever other words you used to describe it––Jake can’t exactly recall the specific terms you used, they all came out of your mouth too fast), you don’t respond to his question of bafflement. You continue to stare at him, awaiting his response. Jake could compare the look on your face right now to a puppy looking up at its owner, eagerly waiting for a treat. You know, tongue out and all.

He swallows the lump that’s lodged in this throat (is that the sandwich he’s having, or his nerves?) and continues to give you his look of confusion laced with a nervous smile because surely, you’re joking.

You grab what’s left of your sandwich from his hands and take your own bite. Somewhere in between you arriving at the table and now, Jake’s managed to steal the sandwich you brought today. You did make the best chicken sandwiches, in his defense.

“Well? It’s only for the week! And I promise you, after one week, if nothing happens––if he doesn’t make a move or anything––I’ll move on from him like you’ve been telling me to.” Your words are muffled from you savoring your sandwich, or what’s left of it anyways. (Mental note to self: don’t share your lunch with Jake ever again.)

When Jake still doesn’t respond (you’ve truly gotten this poor boy paralyzed), you find it as a sign to continue.

“I think it’s the perfect plan. Plus, if it doesn’t work out, it’ll be like the universe is telling me to finally move on, right?”

Wrong.

Jake has been encouraging you to move on from your crush because well, if we’re being honest here, he selfishly wants you to himself. Even if it wasn’t romantically.

Preferably, he would kill to get to be the one who holds your hand in the hall, call you cheesy pet names, post disgustingly cute couple pics for the ‘gram––but for the sake of potentially ruining his relationship with you, he’ll just have to settle with the role of being your best friend.

(And he’s totally fine with that! Totally. Yup.)

But he didn’t think that you moving on would only be a mere possible outcome (that may not even happen!) from whatever this stunt is you wanna pull.

Said stunt: Pretend to date one another and hope it catches the eye of a certain someone you have your eye on: Park Sunghoon.

Ah yes, Park Sunghoon. The previously mentioned one who’s probably still in line waiting to get his lunch as we speak.

Park Sunghoon, the tall, kind, intelligent, charming young boy that everyone knows. And if anyone didn’t know him, they most definitely knew of him. He wasn’t hard to miss in the halls; everything about him just radiates perfection.

If you plucked a random high-schooler from the halls of this school and interviewed them on the Park Sunghoon, they’d say you’d be lucky enough if the quiet boy so much as sparked a conversation with you, even if it was about what last night’s chemistry homework was.

Well if that were true, then you and the rest of the boys would be considered lottery winners.

How that happened, how the four of you dysfunctional beings earned his friendship, the world may never know. However, Jake is fully convinced that this was the universe’s way of playing a cruel joke on him.

For as long as Jake could remember, it’s always been just the two of you. You and Jake. Jake and you. (With the exception of Heeseung and Jay, of course, who came along in middle school)

In fact, your earliest memory of Jake was when he peed his pants in the kindergarten during nap time. You would know, you had the privilege of sharing a sleeping mat with him that one fateful day and in result...let’s just say the smell didn’t wear off from your clothes until a week later. Five-year-old you didn’t forgive five-year-old Jake for the longest time.

And since then, you’ve been attached by the hip. And Jake liked it like that. Jake didn’t need anyone else in his life (with the exception of Leila) if he had you. He had found his home within you, and he didn’t plan on sharing his space anytime soon.

Nevertheless, the universe had a completely different idea for the two of you.

Sunghoon came into the picture last year, towards the end of the school year. Despite being the new kid, he found his way into your cherished friend group and naturally, the five of you grew as close as friends could be.

That was the problem. Jake wanted to hate Sunghoon, to despise him for being the one that you had heart eyes for, but he couldn’t.

Not only was Sunghoon one of Jake’s closest friends, but he didn’t want to ruin the dynamic of the friend group. After you, the three chaotic boys were the next most important people in Jake’s life.

And so, we have the typical love triangle plot that every coming-of-age movie follows. Of course, this is all unbeknownst to you––you may be intelligent and a people-person, but oh boy can you not see the heart eyes your very own best friend has for you.

“It’ll be easier than you think, really! Look, we can even set boundaries or rules or whatever,” you propose, as if you’re trying to get him to sign a contract.

Rules to a fake relationship? We’re not living in a Netflix romcom, are we?

“Okay rule number 1: it’ll only be for a week and a week only, rule number 2: we don’t have to do anything too couple-ly like...” you pause to wonder for a second.

“Like PDA or anything! You know, unless we really need to convince him,” you casually add. When he responds with radio silence and stares at you with absolute concern painted all over his face, you cough. “Jake, I’m joking.”

Right. Of course. Obviously.

“And of course, just try not to fall in love with me, it’ll be hard, I know,” you send a playful wink his way.

Too late. Turns out it’s not that hard. Jake would know.

Jake continues to stare at you in hesitation. Yeah, you’ve had your fair share of crazy ideas (that Jake always find himself agreeing to––the poor boy just can’t seem to say no to you), but fake dating you?

Jake is sure he wouldn’t be able to pull it off without slowly destroying himself. He’d just have to say no, he’s sure you can find someone else to do it for you.

Yes, that’s it, just say no.

Jake has to keep some of his pride in tact.

Jake does not say no.

He doesn’t know what went wrong. His mind said one thing, but his words said another.

To be fair, Jake’s actions have always been influenced by his heart, not his brain, anyways. And when it comes to you, you bet it’ll be coming from his heart.

So here he was now, under the stare of three equally shocked and confused guys across from you and him at the lunch table, your fingers intertwined with his.

Just a few seconds ago, you had spotted the rest of the lunch bunch approaching the table, and you quickly grabbed Jake’s hand and scooted in closer to him.

Now here you were, explaining to your friends of your sudden relationship.

Jake is too zoned out to even physically pick up your explanation. Something along the lines of "we’ve been dating for a while but didn’t want to tell you guys yet." From the feeling of your hand clutched tightly into his and your body right up next to him, his mind was short-circuiting.

How is he supposed to last an entire week of this if he couldn't handle innocent hand holding? Hand holding? God, what are we, back in the fifth grade?

Two minutes into this scheme and Jake's mind has already downgraded itself to a fifth grader's.

Jake mentally scolds himself for giving in, this was not a good idea.

It takes Jake approximately 12 hours to conclude that this stunt of yours may, actually, be a good idea. He knows this because approximately 12 hours after the events surrounding lunch, he receives a text from you:

y/n [12:03AM]: thanks again for doing this for me jake

y/n [12:03AM]: ur actually the best

y/n [12:04AM]: ew ok that was cheesy but really i owe u a big one <333

Following your thread of texts is a really close up photo of you widely smiling into the camera. A smile so big, Jake’s convinced your face was probably in pain after taking that picture.

Anyone else might’ve thought the photo looked borderline insane but because Jake’s Jake, aka a simpᵗᵐ for you, he comes to the conclusion that it’s singlehandedly the cutest thing he’s ever seen in the entire world.

After quickly saving the selfie into his phone, Jake tells himself that maybe this won’t be a bad thing after all. I mean, anything that makes you smile like that meant it has to be a good idea, right?

Spoken like a true simp.

Plus, dating you––fake dating you––is pretty much the same as it was before. He already spends most of his days with you to begin with. Now, it’s just with added displays of affection. For show, obviously. Obviously.

And look, if Jake will never get to actually be with you, then he’ll take what he can get. And if that meant fake dating you, well, he reasons that it’s better than nothing at all.

Wednesday, December 9th

Jake’s playing with the rings on your right hand and you’re in the middle of dramatically telling the lunch table about the infuriating Karen you had to deal with at work the other day when Jay comes up with a grin you all know a little too well.

“Okay that grin means one of two things: you finally grew the balls to ask out that poor girl you’ve been teasing all year or you have something planned that we won’t like,” you interrupt your story when you catch Jay’s sly expression, evoking a chuckle from Jake, who’s now found a new distraction with the bracelets perches on your wrist.

“Excuse you, I’ll have you know that I did ask her out. It just so happens that she’s currently ‘in between boyfriends’ whatever that means. Ouch, by the way,” Jay feigns hurt from your comment by clutching the area above his heart through his shirt. Ever the drama queen. “But yes, I do have something planned. And no, it’s not a bad idea.”

Jay squeezes his way in between Sunghoon and Heeseung from across you and begins to pull out his own lunch. Everyone’s eyes follow him as he settles in because as bad as his unknown idea may be, you’re all still curious on what this boy has to say.

“Well are you going to elaborate or...” Heeseung speaks up for everyone after you all mentally debate one another through darting eyes on who’s going to have to bite Jay’s silent bait.

Jay then forcefully sets both hands on his table, which elicits a little jump from you as you go for a bite of your sandwich. Adorable, Jake tells himself.

“My parents are out of town this weekend. We all know what that means...”

Yes. We do know what that means. The four of you have seen this scenario play out many times, a little too many times for your own good.

This meant one of Jay’s infamous house parties that he always throws whenever his parents go out of town. And because his parents are hot-shot CEOs of an important company whose name you don’t remember (it’s nothing personal, your brain can only handle so much information and this physics exam you were studying for took up 90% of your brain capacity at the moment), they’re out of town often.

And along with Jay’s parties comes chaos. Lots of it. And that’s because...well, it’s safe to say that despite the many school-wide presentations the police officers of your school have held in the auditorium on why you shouldn’t drink underage, Jay’s parents’ liquor cabinet always seems to find itself missing many a few bottles after each party. But we don’t talk about that. Shush.

Almost simultaneously, everyone at the table lets out a groan, much to Jay’s disappointment.

“C’mon guys! It’s been a while since anything’s fun happened to this school, think of all the sad students in that building right now,” he extends a finger whole-ass arm and points at your school, “who are in dire need of fun and a little...” he punctuates his sentence with the hand motion of chugging down a drink, followed with a gulping sound elicited from his tongue clicking.

You roll your eyes along with everyone else. Don’t be like Jay, kids. Listen to those police officers.

“Jay, it’s midterm season! I have an exam on Monday and I definitely do not want to spend the nights before wasted,” you give him an apologetic look. As crazy as Jay is, you do feel bad nonetheless. The boy just wants to have fun.

Your response is followed up with similar comments from around the table.

“I’m helping y/n study”

“I have an important skating performance on Sunday”

“Uh...my hamster died?” (ok Heeseung panicked, don’t blame the guy)

Ignoring that last excuse of an excuse, Jay continues his debate nonetheless. “Just come for the sake of it! No one’s saying you have to get wasted. Pleaseeee for me?”

Jay throws these parties so often, you’re not sure why he’s so set on making sure you’re all going to be there. Well, I guess who wouldn’t want their closest friends to be at their own party?

That and, Jay needs to make sure his friends are there to stop him from doing anything stupid. We all know this boy has had enough embarrassing moments to last him a lifetime.

Everyone at the table gives each other the same hesitant look. Heeseung is the first to give in, “Oh fuck it. Sure, count me in.”

Jay’s fist pumping the air before turning to Sunghoon with the most hopeful eyes.

Sunghoon simply sighs in return. “Alright okay, I’ll bite. But if you vomit on my shoes again, I’m out the door.” Jay’s finger is automatically drawing a cross over his heart as a promise to not ruin Sunghoon’s Nikes again.

He then looks to you with puppy eyes.

You, who's already staring back at Jay with a stoic look in your eyes, are stubborn and (unlike the previous weaklings) are not as easy to convince. And somehow, this began an unannounced staring contest between the two of you, a contest to see who would budge first. This isn't an uncommon occurrence between you and Jay, but the rest of the boys are still on the edges of their seats watching this duel.

Jake casually wraps an arm around your shoulder and you’re brought in close, but still undeterred from your death-stare match with the boy across from you.

If it’s not obvious enough, Jake’s really gotten into his role of being your boyfriend, despite it only being 24 hours since he last froze at your touch. Character development, you’ll give him that.

You almost forget he’s faking it for a quick second. And for an even quicker second, you imagine he wasn’t faking it. And you swear you feel butterflies in your stomach at that thought.

Weird.

You mentally shake the thought out of your head. Priorities first, aka, beating Jay in this staring contest.

“Fuck,” you stutter when you finally blink, admitting defeat to a grinning Jay. “Okay, okay, I’ll THINK about it. I’ll let you know.”

Not exactly the answer Jay was looking for, but he’ll take it. Better than a no.

He turns to Jake next, knowing there’s no way Jake will turn down a party. Just like Jay, the boy loves himself a good party.

But–

But because Jake would take your physics exam this Monday for you if you asked, because Jake would bungee jump in the Grand Canyon without a safety net below him if you asked, because Jake would fake date you to make your crush jealous for you if you asked, he doesn’t hesitate in his answer this time around: “Same as y/n, I’ll let you know.”

Jay looks at Jake. Then back at you, who he’s still clinging onto like a koala to a tree. Then back at Jake. “You two are gross. Admittedly cute. But gross.”

You look up at the boy next to you to see him already grinning at you.

For the first time today, you find yourself agreeing with Jay.

Admittedly cute.

Thursday, December 10th

You are having a bad day.

You’re having the mother of bad days.

Not only is it midterm season, but you still have all your regular weekly assignments to finish before Friday hits. So as a natural-born procrastinator does, you stayed up all last night trying to get a good amount of work done because what’s better than cramming all your work the night before it’s due? Doing it two nights before it’s due.

Well apparently it wasn’t such a good idea. Because now, here you were, frantically throwing on whatever articles of clothing you find nearest to you because you slept through all your alarms.

You’re lucky enough to make it through your school’s doors right as the second bell rings, even if you did look like you just walked straight out of a zombie apocalypse.

You’re not so lucky when you find out your first class of the day, calculus, had a pop quiz. A pop quiz on the only unit you just happened to know absolutely nothing about.

To top things off, you forgot to pack your lunch during this morning’s frenzy, meaning you’re automatically stuck sharing with Jake.

And because his mother started making him pack his own food out of a lesson of responsibility (she said something along the lines of: “Jake, you’re about to be in college and you don’t know how to pack a decent meal”), he only has a plain PB&J sandwich and a pack of Scooby-Doo gummies in his bag today (because newsflash, he still doesn’t know how to pack a decent meal).

Not that you could care less at the moment, you were too preoccupied with catching up on your assignments to even eat. And if any of the boys noticed your zombie-like state during lunch, they did a good job of not mentioning it. They knew better than to bother an irritated y/n.

Somehow, you make it through the entire school day and your after-school meeting for environmental club (save the trees!) in one piece. As you finally walk out of the school building, you exhale, automatically feeling lighter. At least the hard part of your day was done.

Now you just had to wait for Jake to finish soccer practice, which usually ended around the same time as your club, and he can drive you home, where you can continue being irritated with your day in the privacy of your own space.

You wait on the steps of the school’s entrance, waiting for a smiley Jake to come around the corner as he usually does at 5:30pm every Thursdays.

Yes, a smiling Jake is exactly what you needed to make your day ten times better, you conclude.

As if on cue, you hear a ding from your phone.

Jake [5:30PM]: ugh coach is extending practice for “team bonding”

Jake [5:30PM]: idek what team bonding is

Jake [5:31PM]: you ok if i cant drive you today? ://

It’s as if the universe decided to use you as its punching bag today.

You physically let out a distorted groan, not caring if anyone who happened to hear you thought you were a creature from out of this world, as you send him a text back.

y/n [5:32PM]: it’s all good lol have fun with tEaM bOnDiNg

Things were not all good. But no matter how upset you may be, you weren’t going to project your negative vibes onto Jake’s naturally positive ones. So you get up from the stone steps and begin your dreaded walk back home.

It’s freezing out. You should’ve known better to just throw on a hoodie and call it a day when it’s the middle of December. But then again, you figured by now you’d be in the comfort and warmth of Jake’s car and presence...not walking home in these freezing temperatures.

You think about Jake and how he’s probably currently suffering from not only his team bonding exercises (but really though, what are team bonding exercises?), but doing them in this weather as well. The poor boy.

You’re quickly broken out of your thoughts by the sound of a car engine from behind you. When you don’t see it pass by you and instead hear it pull over and park next to the curb of the sidewalk you’re currently on, you automatically deduce that this is it, this is my time, I’m about to get kidnapped by whoever it is behind me but y/n, you should probably turn around and check first before you drive yourself insane in this inner dialogue.

You turn around and squint into the front window of the car. If it were a kidnapper, this is exactly what your mother told you not to do. Her exact words were: “Run, don’t look back, and scream bloody murder.”

Good thing it wasn’t. Just an innocent Sunghoon waving his hand at you, motioning you to get in.

“Sunghoon?” You approach his car and stop at the passenger side’s open window.

“y/n! It’s freezing out, I’ll drive you home c’mon,” he nods his head towards the passenger side door.

Well, how could you say no? Sunghoon owns a nice car. Like a nice car. Like car-seat-heaters-that-make-you-feel-like-you’re-physically-melting nice. Beats getting hypothermia outside, right?

“Why are you going home from school so late?” You ask as you settle into his car, instantly melting at the touch of the aforementioned heated seats.

“Debate club, actually. Decided I needed another personality trait other than ice skating,” he starts the engine and begins driving towards the direction of your neighborhood.

You laugh at his comment, you didn’t peg him as a debate kind of student. Quiet Sunghoon? Debate club? If 2 plus 2 is four...

“Hey, I don’t call you the Ice Prince for nothing! Also, don’t forget your other personality trait: forgetting your lunch every day.”

Sunghoon quickly glances over at you to send you a dirty look (because eyes on the road, kids!), which you return with a cheeky grin. “Need I remind you that was you today?”

“Touché,” you click your tongue.

The two of you fall into a comfortable silence, the faint sound of Sunghoon's music in the background filling in the quietness.

You’re humming along until Sunghoon breaks the silence, “Did Jake get stuck at practice again?”

You don’t know why, but you swear you feel your heart beat faster at the mention of Jake’s name. No, that was always there right? Because you were with Sunghoon...your crush..obviously. Obviously.

Ignoring the feeling, you turn your attention towards the boy driving you.

“Oh yeah, something about team bonding. How’d you know?”

“Eh, I just figured since he wasn’t driving you home like he always does.” He turns into your neighborhood.

You nod at his answer.

“You two make a good couple.”

You whip your head at him. Did you hear him correctly?

“It was about time, really. You two have been ogling at one another for so long, Heeseung, Jay, and I almost placed bets on who would be the first to make a move.”

He keeps his eyes on the road, casually going on about how you and Jake make the cutest couple he’s ever seen.

You're frozen, unsure of what to think, let alone say.

You think to two days ago, when you started this entire fake relationship because of the very boy driving you home right now. The same boy who's complimenting you on your fake relationship. The same boy who's supposed to be jealous over that said relationship. The same boy you’re supposed to be crushing over.

But now...only a mere 48 hours later, you were finding yourself okay with the fact that he was happy for you. And for the life of you, you couldn’t remember why you liked Sunghoon in the first place. Not saying he isn’t one to be crushed on, I mean, look at the guy.

Maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with the fact that you didn't feel nervous or giddy or..anything at all when you got into the car with Sunghoon. At least, not until Jake's name was mentioned. That's when you felt the butterflies. At the mention of Jake.

Jake.

Weird.

But before you can come to a conclusion on why you're feeling the way you do, Sunghoon interrupts your thoughts.

"Well, we're here! Say hi to your parents for me," he pulls into your driveway as you're still collecting your thoughts.

You give him a quick thanks and one last wave as you enter the front doors of your house.

Seeing that your only solution towards confusing feelings meant distracting yourself, distract yourself you did.

Even if it meant distracting yourself with your piling assignments.

The next time you look up from your work, it's suddenly way past sundown and a heavy storm has taken over. You’re surprised it hasn’t started flooding yet with the amount of rainfall you were hearing.

You check the time on your phone, the bright 8:16PM on the screen illuminating your dimly lit room. Seeing that neither of your parents have yet to be home from work, it looks like you were going to have to settle with some instant ramen for dinner tonight.

As you trudge down the stairs of your home, the sound of light knocking against the front door catches your attention. It's been a long day y/n, you're probably hearing things, it's definitely just the rain.

Nope. There it is again, but much louder. Much more urgent.

You contemplate any and all potential disasters that could happen from answering the door. Only a crazy person would be willing to go out in this hurricane-like weather to be frantically knocking on your door.

And so, you assume it has to be some psychopath trying to get into your house. Yes, there’s definitely no other logical explanation.

You scramble around your living room, looking for the next best weapon to defend you. Resorting to the flower vase your mother keeps on the table next to the front door, you hold it out in front of you, as if you're waiting for the door to burst open.

The knocking continues, gradually getting louder. You mentally curse at yourself for dropping out of the taekwondo class your dad signed you up for when you were younger.

Vase in hand, you swing open the door and brace for–

"Jake? What the fuck? Get in here, you're gonna get sick!"

You’re suddenly aware of how stupid you look, holding a light pink vase with a couple of orchids as your only form of self-defense...for it to only be your own best friend. You immediately put it back on the table as Jake quickly rushes past you and into your humble abode.

You close the door behind you and turn to face the soaked boy.

“I come bearing gifts, also known as take-out and hot chocolate from that one cafe you love. Also my company, if you’ll take it. I had a feeling you weren’t having the best day today,” he’s simply standing there, holding up a large brown paper bag in one hand, and a deliciously smelling cup of hot chocolate in the other, but you’re looking at him as if he bought you the Moon.

You stare in awe at the angel of a boy in front of you, silently thanking the stars for gifting you this amazing human being as your best friend. You don’t know what you did to deserve him.

You give him a soft smile. “Jake, you didn’t have to. It’s practically a shitstorm out there,” you cock your head towards the window, showcasing the downpour of cats and dogs outside. Jake stays by the entrance as you go down the hall and through your house’s linen closet to find a spare towel for the drenched boy.

“Nah it’s no big deal, really. Just fulfilling my duties as your loyal boyfriend,” he grins, even though you can’t see him. He likes calling himself that. Your boyfriend.

Jake continues to shake his messy hair to get the excess rain off, giving a mental apology to whoever is going to have to mop up the puddle forming on the floor due to his unannounced visit. Probably you.

Jake hears you laugh down the hall. “You’re really invested in your role, huh? Keep this up and you might actually trick me into believing you’re my actual boyfriend.”

Actual boyfriend? Jake likes the sound of that. Maybe he will keep this up then.

Jake doesn’t have much experience in acting, unless you count that time he played the role of Town Villager #3 in the third grade play, so he never found it as one of his interests. But playing the role of your boyfriend was one he was willing to fulfill for the rest of life, even if it was just for show.

Jake doesn’t respond to your comment, he’s instead self-aware of his blushing cheeks, thankful that you’re too busy rummaging through your linen closet to take notice.

“Plus, you didn’t have lunch today and I had feeling you were going to be too caught up in your work to feed yourself anything other than instant ramen,” he sets down his gifts to you on your living room’s coffee table as you come around the corner, fresh towel and new set of clothes in hand.

His eyes fall on the familiar looking pair of sweatpants and hoodie resting on the palms of your hands.

Hm. A little too familiar.

Then, it clicks in his head.

His eyes narrow at you as you giggle at his reaction, “Oh, so it takes me getting drenched in the rain for you to finally return my clothes that I’ve been missing!?”

“Hey! I’m not returning them, simply loaning them out to a friend who’s in dire need. You basically gifted them to me the second you left them here months ago.”

“You’re annoying.”

“Love you too,” you toss the clothes at him and take a seat on the floor around your coffee table, prepping the table with the boxes of Chinese food Jake supplied.

After Jake changes into the stolen dry clothes, he takes a seat next to an already-eating you at the coffee table.

“You. are. my lord and savior Sim Jaeyun,” you’re saying with your mouth full of fried rice. You sigh from satisfaction and rest your head against Jake’s shoulder as you continue chewing. He grins as he helps himself to his own serving of fried rice and orange chicken.

You look up at him from your spot, “How was team bonding today?”

Jake groans in response, clearly annoyed. “Stupid. I don’t get how doing trust falls and pyramid building is going to get us any closer. If anything, I almost FELL off that pyramid today!”

You don’t know why, but you find yourself admiring him and his soft features as he continues to rant about one of his teammates, specifically, the one who almost dropped him.

The way his messy hair, unkept from the rain ruining it, almost covers his eyes (but you tell yourself you like it this way, it looks more natural on him), the way the corners of his lips are always perked upwards (even when he’s ranting), the way his eyes sparkle whenever he’s truly passionate about whatever he’s talking about, the way his eyes look at you like–

“Stare much? Look, I get you can’t resist my good looks but at least be subtle about it,” he smirks at you as he takes another spoon of rice.

You break out of his trance and scoff at him.

“You’re cute when you rant,” you nonchalantly say as you move from your spot to mirror his actions and add more rice to your plate as well. Jake’s stills at your sudden comment, unsure of how to respond. Lucky for him, you’re distracted by the mountain of food on your plate to even notice the blushing mess of a boy next to you.

“You know, you’re lucky you’re cute. Or else I’d deck you right here and now for ditching me after school today.”

Anddd there goes the moment. Leave it to you to follow up a compliment with a threat of violence.

Jake finds it cute anyways. He always finds you cute.

Jake narrows his eyes and lightly shoves you before an apology is written all over his face. “Sorry about that by the way. I feel awful about making you walk home when it was freezing out.”

“Nah, it’s okay. Sunghoon gave me a ride, actually. Did you know he does debate? I guess you learn something new everyday,” you ramble, unaware of the boy next to you getting tense at the sudden mention of the other’s name.

Up until now, Jake’s completely forgotten about Sunghoon's involvement in this entire scheme. In fact, the past 48 hours with you have felt so normal, so comfortable, he almost forgot about the deal in the first place. “You think he has any clue?” Jake suddenly asks, referring to the plan.

You immediately know what he’s referring to, as Jake practically worded out your very own thoughts.

You shrug. “Not a single one. We’re practically William and Kate in his eyes. But honestly, that’s the least of my worries right now. I’m too distracted by my exams right now to care.”

Jake feels guilty for being satisfied with your answer. He’s 100% sure that if convincing Sunghoon took you two an entire lifetime of fake dating, he’d be all too willing to do it.

“Go to Jay’s party with me tomorrow,” he abruptly says, catching your attention as your mouth is stuffed. Cute.

He pokes your cheek. “It’ll get your mind off of work and plus, what’s more convincing than showing up to a party with your amazing boyfriend?” he wiggles his eyebrows at you. Jake doesn’t know where he gets his sudden surge of confidence. But he does know he loves calling himself your boyfriend...even if it’s for the time being.

Rolling your eyes and swatting his poking fingers away from your face, you ponder on his suggestion.

“You mean my annoying boyfriend,” you stick your tongue out at him. Jake takes a mental picture and hopes it never leaves his mind.

“But I guess you could be right. Maybe I can clear my head for the night before I study my ass off all weekend.”

Friday, December 11th

The party does not clear your mind.

If anything, it gives you enough headaches to last you at least until the end of high-school.

You come to this revelation as you and Jake approach Jay’s home, a luxurious mansion sitting at the end of a cul-de-sac, lined with similarly luxurious palaces, located in an equally luxurious neighborhood.

You come to this revelation when you can already feel the pounding bass of music as you walk up Jay’s driveway.

You come to this revelation when, not even two seconds after entering Jay’s front doors––

“You’re here!” A buzzed Jay shouts at the two of you, causing the both of you to contemplate your past choices that brought you here today. Jay definitely isn’t straight up drunk yet, but Jake still makes a mental note to keep an eye on him tonight. Just in case.

The blonde-haired boy is quick to hand over two red solo cups of god knows what, to which you and Jake immediately put down on the nearest table after Jay walks away to greet the next incoming guests (you know, to not hurt his feelings).

You and Jake are lucky enough to have been around Jay and his parties long enough to know that going all out at these parties will not be pretty the next morning.

You cringe at the memory of last year, when you had to suffer from possibly the worst hangover of all hangovers after one of Jay’s parties. Jake will never let you forget how miserable you looked the next morning. His camera roll’s album titled “y/n blackmail pics” can vouch for that.

“Remind me again to never listen to you,” you almost have to shout at Jake over the thumping music. Jake laughs at your comment and tugs at your hand as he begins entering the house.

The two of you do your rounds of greetings to the people you know...and random underclassmen who you swear you have never seen before but somehow made it to this party. You’ve always questioned how Jay’s invite list worked. Maybe there isn’t one. That would explain how it looked like someone announced Jay was giving out free Teslas and the entire school got hold of the news.

“Thank god you guys are here,” you hear a voice come from behind the two of you as you guys leave the main room to enter the house’s smaller, but just as luxurious looking, den. You turn to see Heeseung with Sunghoon following closely behind, trying his best not to get swept away in the crowd of people.

The den is where you usually stayed during these parties. It’s not like there are rules of where people are allowed to party, by any means, but it’s like how a high-school’s cafeteria worked. There’s a mutual silent agreement of where everyone goes, and the den is where the party host and his friends went.

“Okay, is it just me, or is tonight’s party just a little...too..much?” Sunghoon asks as the four of you take your seats on the main couch of the room. Jake’s quick to make space for you next to him as you go to sit, but to his surprise, you find your home right on his lap.

“You said be convincing right?” you say into his ear as you settle yourself. Right. That’s totally why. Because you had to go along with the ruse. Obviously.

You shift a bit so you’re more facing sideways, not blocking off Jake’s line of vision as the boy himself is..well, calling him a rag doll might be excessive.

But he’s sure he looks like one right now, having lost all senses in his limbs, leaving him frozen underneath you.

Jake Sim is the epitome of politeness. He was raised in a family that taught him how to respectfully greet others, how to always offer food to others before eating it himself, how to properly treat a significant other. As a result, Jake grew up to be one of the sweetest, kindest, purest people to ever walk this earth.

(Relatively speaking, the earth is large, but so is Jake’s heart.)

But human-beings aren’t perfect, they must have a balance. A balance of pros and cons.

Sure, he can’t pack his own lunch and sometimes forgets to water the little succulent you gifted him that’s currently seated on his window sill. Sure, sometimes he’s too sweet for his own good, you know, like willing-to-be-your-fake-boyfriend too sweet. But aside from the minor details, Jake Sim doesn’t have many cons, no.

But he sure can be awkward.

And so because Jake Sim is sweet, kind, pure, and awkward, he is unsure of what to do with himself when you’re seated right on top of him.

As if you could read his befuddled mind, you take his arm that’s resting behind you to wrap around your waist as your support as you throw one of your arms around his shoulder. And throughout this entire adjustment, his widened eyes are staring right at you.

Bless this pure, pure boy.

Also bless the position you’re in, blocking the two other boys from directly seeing Jake’s face. Because if they were to catch glimpse of Jake’s expression right now, your cover might be blown, just like that. You’re lucky Heeseung and Sunghoon are distracted by another classmate who came up to them.

“Relax,” you sweetly laugh, cupping his chin with your free hand and lightly squeezing his cheeks. “You’re so adorably awkward.”

Jake pouts at you. “I am not awkward!”

“Right, and I’m totally dating you for real,” you playfully whisper at him, eliciting a poke at your waist in response.

Twenty minutes of people-watching-aka-“who do you think is gonna pass out first?”-from-your-spot-on-the-couch later, the four of you draw your attention to the rowdy party host you all have the honor of calling your friend––aka Jay––dancing (that is, if you call wildly swinging your limbs in all four directions dancing) in the middle of the den.

"Oh god, look at him," Sunghoon voices from besides you.

Heeseung's already filming the moment on his phone. Ah yes, technology. The best thing to ever happen to drunk teens' friends.

"He's so wasted," you throw your head back as you let out a laugh. “We should help the kid out.”

Poor Jay. He's not gonna hear the end of it after tonight.

"I don't know why he thinks these parties are such a good idea when he knows how trashed he's gonna be when he wakes up," Jake says, his hand naturally squeezing your waist as you giggle at his comment. "And how trashed the house will be."

Jay slumbers over to where the four of you are seated, and abruptly stops right in front of the couch.

"My best friends!" Jay happily cheers. “Having fun?”

“Watching you? Always,” you say to the boy who’s squeezing into a seat between you and Sunghoon, as if the small couch wasn’t already suffocating enough (and that’s with you on Jake’s lap).

“But for real though, you should probably lay off the drinks for now,” Heeseung insists. “For all our sakes.”

Sunghoon nods along and grabs the cup Jay’s currently nursing and sets it down where it’s out of Jay’s reach, much to his dismay. But the disappointment quickly leaves the dazed boy’s head, as his attention is now directed towards you and Jake.

“Well if it isn’t mom and dad,” Jay turns to face you and Jake, certainly amused by your seating arrangement.

“You know–” Jay points a finger at the two of you. “For a couple that’s certainly close, I haven’t seen you two kiss.”

Jake is immediately coughing, certainly not expecting that to come out of his friend’s mouth.

“Okay and your point is?” Jake frowns at Jay. If Jay wasn’t tipsy, Jake would’ve smacked the back of his head by now.

“I’m just saying...” the blonde responds, both hands up in the air as if Jake is accusing him of something, when in was, in fact, the opposite. “But nevermind, Jakey boy here is probably too innocent for such nonsense anyways.”

Yes, it’s confirmed. Once Jay sobers up tomorrow, Jake is driving over to his house (even though it’s a good ten minute drive from his own) just to smack him.

“What do you mean I’m too–”

Jake doesn’t finish his sentence. In fact, Jake doesn’t even remember what he was going to say.

Jake doesn’t think nor feel anything else other than your lips planted on his.

You’re pulling him in close, your hands cupping his face as his own are twitching on your waist, his mind flustered. You move your hands from his face to his neck, to which Jake immediately relaxes at.

Sure, you two are in the middle of a dumb high-school party, one filled with pounding music and shouting teenagers, but right now, in this moment, Jake can only feel you. And he doesn’t want the feeling to ever stop.

When you part, Jake’s eyes flicker from your eyes to your lips, his own parted in shock. He thinks he might pass out right here and now. He thinks his heart might explode right here and now. He thinks he might lov-

“Happy?” you turn to a satisfied Jay, ignoring the looks of amusement from Heesung and Sunghoon besides him.

“Well,” you pat Jake’s leg as you get up from your spot. “I’m gonna get us some drinks. Punch only, of course.”

Jake’s eyes are on you as you walk away, his face tinted pink from the adrenaline of it all, his heart racing.

Jake thinks back to three days ago, when he told himself that this idea of yours was going to be all fine. After all, it was only going to be for one week. Afterwards, he can move on with his life as if nothing happened.

But fast forward 72 hours later, 72 hours after you and Jake started this act, 72 hours after Jake told himself it’ll be all fine, Jake knows he was poorly mistaken.

Because 72 hours later, in the middle of a party that reeked of the combined smell of alcohol and sweat, Jake knows one thing and one thing for sure.

He never wants to move on from the feeling of being with you. He never wants to move on from this.

From you.

He’s screwed.

Saturday, December 12th

When Jake wakes up, much later than he intended to, on Saturday morning, the first sensation he feels are his tingling lips, still in disbelief that they graced your own last night.

The second sensation being his pounding mind––it’s running through ten million thoughts at a time, telling him no last night wasn’t a dream.

Third: his heart beating so fast at the thought of you, he thinks he might beat out of his chest.

And fourth, a buzzing noise.

Jake blindly flounders his arm to the table beside him in hopes of finding the origin of the annoying sound, aka, his phone.

After knocking down multiple miscellaneous items on his nightstand (he makes a mental note to clean his room later), he successfully retrieves the item of search.

Jake squints at the bright screen, mind still cloudy from a mix of 1) being half-asleep, and 2) still processing what happened the night before.

y/n [11:10AM]: r u awake yet?

y/n [11:22AM]: imma take that as a no

y/n [11:35AM]: lemme know when ur up

jake [11:44AM]: just woke up sorry

jake [11:44AM]: are you okay? what’s up

y/n [11:45AM]: r u busy?

y/n [11:45AM]: kinda wanted to talk abt smth

jake [11:45AM]: uh well no im still in bed lmao

y/n [11:46AM]: cool im outside your door

Jake’s eyes widen as he processes your last few texts.

Talk? Outside his door?

Jake’s heart is nervously pounding as jumps out of bed and quickly puts on the first plaid flannel he finds. He scrambles to his mirror and gives his reflection a quick run-down.

He’s sporting your his favorite hoodie underneath the flannel that’s long overdue a wash and his tousled hair has seen better days, but he couldn't care less.

Before his mind can catch up to his actions, he’s rushing down the stairs, skipping two at a time and to this front door. Because he didn’t want to keep you waiting? Because he was too excited to see you? Maybe a mix of both. Definitely more of the latter, however.

He quickly runs a hand through his hair to try to fix it up as much as he can, to no avail, before opening the door to reveal you, sitting on the steps of his front porch.

“y/n,” he’s breathing heavily as you turn to greet him with your sweet smile he didn’t even realize he was missing. Is it possible to miss someone overnight? Jake concludes yes, it definitely is.

“Did you run down here or something?,” you question his out-of-breath state, a teasing tone laces the tip of your tongue.

“Or something,” Jake mutters as he closes the front door behind him to join you on the steps when you make no sign of moving. “Have you been out here all morning?”

“Not allll morning. I had a feeling you’d sleep in so I came around the time I first texted you. Would’ve knocked but didn’t wanna bother your family,” you hum, keeping your eyes trained on the peaceful scenery around you.

You’ve always loved Jake’s neighborhood, it brought you a sense of peace, a sense of home.

Or was that because it reminded you of Jake?

“You could never be a bother,” he quickly rebuttals as he takes his seat next to you on the steps.

You respond with a soft smile before turning your attention back to anything other than the boy next to you. Your mind seems to be lost in its own thoughts, Jake can tell by the distant look in your eyes.

The sound of birds chirping in the distance fills the silence that falls between the two of you.

Any other day, Jake would love this. He savors every second he’s with you, even if it’s just pure silence.

But this silence was different. It wasn’t the usual comforting, warm silence that the two of you share on a typical day. This one held tension, tension so thick that Jake doesn’t know where to begin thinking.

But here’s the thing. Jake doesn’t think.

Not when it comes to you.

He takes a deep breath. Rubs his hands together. Pats them on his lap. Turns towards you.

“Look, I-”

“I think I might like you.” The words come out of your mouth so fast, Jake’s positive he heard you wrong the first time around.

He whips his head to meet your eyes, your own already staring back at him, your bottom lip nervously tucked under your teeth.

“No, I––I do. I know I do. I’m sorry. I didn’t know how to tell you and I don’t think I’m doing a very good job right now,” the words are all of the sudden tumbling out of your mouth as if your brain flipped a switch and isn’t able to turn it off. “In hindsight, I should’ve known better to fake date my own best friend. But these past few days made me realize how much I love being with you. And not like how I’m always with you 24/7 before this entire thing started, but being with you. I even started getting that weird, bubbly feeling in my stomach every time I so much as heard your name. And then last night at the party, I realized afterwards that I wouldn’t have kissed you if some part of me didn’t see you in that way. Even if it meant Jay would’ve been on our asses all night if I didn’t. So yeah.”

You finish with a deep breath and look up at him to meet his widened eyes. Silence.

Jake thought he was braindead during last week’s history quiz. Jake thought he was braindead when he had to cram a semester’s worth of chemistry content the night before his exam. Heck, Jake thought he was braindead when you first told him about your idea of a fake dating him. But no, this is braindead.

He’s finally hearing what he’s been dreaming of for so long, and of all times, now his brain decides to shut off.

“Are you..uh..are you gonna say anything?” You’re nervously fumbling with your hands, desperate to distract yourself with anything else apart from his silent stare.

"Why are you sorry?" Jake says before his mind can think of anything else. He doesn't pay attention to his thumping heart that's one look-from-you away from exploding right then and there. "You didn't do anything wrong. If anything, you took the words right out of my mouth.”

Now you're staring at him with the wide eyes, the words processing in your mind.

Jake realizes he's waited too long to do this. A few years too long. He also realizes he shouldn't have put on that extra layer of a flannel. The nervous tension created by the two of you was suffocating enough, and being outside under the bright sun didn’t help.

"I like you too. God y/n, I like you too so much," Jake doesn't even care if his words are all sorts of messed up right now. He just needs you to get the idea. "I have for a while now.”

You let out a relieved sigh, ecstasy rushing through your blood. “Really? I think I have for a while too. I’m so stupid, it took me so long to realize it. It didn’t hit me until I realized how I felt around you, compared to the guy I’m supposed to actually have a crush on.”

Jake lets out a laugh, the tension immediately dissolving. “Hey, if it wasn’t for Sunghoon, I don’t think we’d be here right now.”

“You’re right, I’m too oblivious and you’re too awkward to actually make a move,” you wink at him. If his heart wasn’t fluttering at the sight of you, on his porch on a Saturday morning, confessing your feelings to him, Jake probably would’ve lightly shoved you away.

Instead, he’s turning to you with the most endeared look on his face, and you’re blushing underneath his gaze.

“What? Stare much?” You giggle, quoting the boy himself as you shyly duck your head to avoid his stare.

Jake gently grabs your chin to tilt your face towards his, and before you can process what’s happening, he suddenly meets your lips with his own, closing the gap between you two.

Jake thinks if the ground underneath him right now decided to open up and swallow him whole, he’d die happily.

Jake smiles against you, feeling comfort in ways he’ll never be able to achieve without you.

Your hands instinctively find their way into his hair, as one of his rests below your ear, thumb softly caressing your cheek, the other pulling you in by the waist. He’s naturally leaning into you, gravitating towards your warmth, unable to stop the giddy feeling bubbling in his stomach.

He doesn’t think the feeling will ever go away.

When you pull away to catch your breath, you rest your head against the nook of his neck, basking in his presence as his arms both find their way around your waist. You sigh in pleasure.

“Remember at the beginning of all of this, when you told me ‘Just try not to fall in love with me?’” Jake gently says. Jake feels the slight nod you give against his shoulder as you hum in response.

Jake whispers two more words into your ear, filling you with happiness and warmth you know you won’t be able to find through anyone––or anything––else.

“Too late.”

✰ if you made it ‘til the end, ily :’)))))

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