#COOL NOW the text is showing as white on the dash even though i made it black lololol happy birthday self!!!

[skittlestrash]

9:28 ↳ there was something on twitter when s2 was airing, where one chose an episode and a timestamp and we posted screencaps of those times. i decided to go with 9 minutes, 28 seconds, and decided to do ALL the episodes, because 9/28 is my birthday so why not. tada~

[sp00kworm]

SIREN (AMMB): Zadok’s Ending

Chapter 1: Meeting the Band

Pairing: Deep Sea Merman (Zadok) x Gender Neutral Reader

Adult Content below the cut. Dom Reader and collar use.

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A lithe looking figure was draped in oversized clothing. Loose cuffed cargo trousers were covered in chains and topped with a large hoodie and a coat which made your own look positively thin. You frowned before you caught sight of the pale, micro-scaled skin underneath. The white scales shimmered with pearlescence as Zadok glanced around behind himself and touched the water pumps attached to his neck, which were then coupled to a small tank fastened like a backpack to him. There was a sense of worry in his posture as he reached for his wallet to order.

“A chai tea please. And an anchovy sandwich to go.” He ordered quietly as the barista noted it down and carefully took his money, trying to avoid staring to badly at the suction cups and tank attached to him. Zadok ignored her look and stood to the side, pulling his hood further over his fins to avoid any more unwanted attention from the customers and staff. It was weird seeing the confident lead singer to upset and shy about being seen in public. Your staring, however, got you caught firmly in the act. With a rush you turned back to your phone, and pretended not to be looking as his white eyes caught you. A huff sounded but he didn’t move to come and say anything. He turned back to the counter and opened his phone, clawed webbed fingers typing across the keyboard.

 Sadly, and awkwardly, you turned back to your table and waited for your food, trying to put Zadok out of you mind. He didn’t owe you anything after all, you were just a fan of the band. The barista was quick to make his drink before she packaged and wrapped his sandwich for him in the red and white plaid paper.

“Thank you.” He rumbled as he took the food and paper cup, “Have a nice day.” Zadok’s webbed fingers adjusted the wrapped sandwich before he tucked it into his satchel and placed his wallet firmly back inside. The singer reached upwards, his pale skin flashing with purple light, to adjust the cups over his gills. They didn’t budge, and so he walked away from the line, his hood up and his head ducked as he headed towards the door, leaving with a soft ring of the bell. You ducked over your food as he turned to walk left, past the glass window you were sat next to. He stopped just outside of the door and pulled something out of his pocket as he sipped at the tea in his hand. You realised it was his phone and as he raised it closer to his eyes you ducked back down to avoid being seen, sipping your own drink before your phone vibrated on the table again.

 Thinking it was just another text from Tom, you opened the screen with a disappointed sigh, upset that Zadok had ignored you. The screen lit up again and you clicked your tongue at the incessant buzzing. A message, but not from an account that you knew, nor did you follow them. It was a picture of a figure huddled by a cliff as the profile icon, decked in all black and shielding themselves from the wind. The water looked choppy and you saw the faintest hint of waves in the background. With a confused look, you opened the message.

‘Sorry for ignoring you.’

The second message was not twenty seconds after the first.

‘This is Zadok by the way. Don’t start gawking out of the window at me please.’

Slightly rude, you thought as you looked closer at the obscure profile icon, wondering just how the weird, huddled mass of black could be the singer. Your phone buzzed again before you could give it much thought.

‘Meet me by the Elf fountain.’

 You looked up from your phone as the Merman tugged his hood a little higher and tucked his hands into his pockets again. You didn’t see him then as he disappeared into the mid-morning crowds beyond your sight. With a rush you finished up your food and took your coffee to go before you made your escape out of the café and into the street. The Elven fountains weren’t too far from the café and you were eager to know just why Zadok had even spoken to you at all. The fountains were fresh water and housed a few species of pond fish, usually Koi kept for decorative appeal in the gardens. A car slammed its horn at you as you dashed across the crossing at the last moment heading towards the park where the fountains were.

 It didn’t take you long to weave your way through the streets and it took even less time for you to manage to find Zadok. He was perched on the edge of the fountain, his feet beneath the cool water. You were sure it wasn’t allowed but none of the busy workers seem to be bothered by the man as he trailed them back and forth. His heavy work boots were shoved by the side of the stone, his socks tucked into each boot. You stood by the gate to the little fountain area for a moment before white eyes turned and found you staring. Zadok pulled a hand free from his pocket to give you a small wave, claws flashing a silvery colour in the light.

“Good morning.” he offered as you approached, his voice soft and calm despite your obvious staring from the gateway.

“Good morning.” You replied, feeling awkward and caught out by his kind greeting, “So…”

Zadok chuckled at you as he pulled his feet up onto the stone, perching his head on top of his knees, “So…” he replied.

“Why did you invite me here?” You asked quietly as Zadok brushed water from his webbed feet, avoiding his other filed claws on each of his toes, “You seemed well, pretty gloomy when you walked in.”

 Zadok just watched you for a moment, his ghostly eyes staring at you before his mouth stretched to reveal a wide smile full of thin, sharp teeth, “I tend to look like that when Duncan spends his night crushed against me instead of in his own bed.”

Suddenly, it was like the tension dissipated, like a lightning bolt and smashed right through it. Your tension seemed to evaporate, and you returned his smile, “I can see why that would make you upset.”

“Oh, like you wouldn’t believe.” he chuckled, “I’m sorry for seeming like an utter creep, but I don’t…well I don’t much like public places. I get recognised and its just never much fun after that.”

“No, I understand, I’m just confused about how you uh…found my socials.” You asked as Zadok’s eyes widened in realisation.

“Ah. I see now.” he lowered his head and awkwardly played with the tops of his shoes, “I found the pictures. It wasn’t too hard to find considering the show was last night.” he confessed, “That’s my private account for family and friends.” Zadok reached for his phone and showed you the screen of his page, “I wanted to talk, if that’s alright with you?”

You stepped closer and sat down on the side of the fountain with the singer, “What do you want to talk about?” You smiled as you sat down, folding your hands in your lap as you tried to get comfortable against the stone.

 “It seems weird now that I think about it.” Zadok confessed as you sat next to him, your drink clutched between your two hands, “I just wanted to thank you for what you said yesterday. It really does mean a lot to have someone feel so strongly about our music.” You watched as he tucked his clawed, webbed hands away in his pockets before looking him in the eyes.

His white eyes were striking, and you struggled to reply immediately, “You don’t have to thank me for being honest. Your music is amazing, just like you’re an amazing singer.”

“It means more than you think.” He insisted as he reached for his own drink, and pushed aside a small plastic bag, “I’ve spoken to a lot of fans, and, trust me, not one of them has spoken like that. Not with such passion about it all.” he laughed softly as he leaned back to take a drink, revealing the water pumps over his gills. He caught you staring, “They’re more to stop me drying out and hacking on everyone. I find I really need them after shows. So much singing hurts my lungs, so I have to revert back a little.”

“I had no idea you had to breathe water too.” You marvelled at the gills again before turning your gaze back to his pale scale-skin face, “Wait…” You held up your hands, “You sing so much it actually hurts?”

“Now don’t worry yourself!” Zadok bumped your shoulder gently, “Its not bad. Just like human singers need rests from growling, I need my own rest and recuperation.” He chuckled again, “But it is much easier to sing with water, but its not something anyone but a Mer can understand well.”

 “Is that why you looked like you enjoyed the beginning solo so much? Because its easier to sing in the water?” You asked, curious and eager to pick Zadok’s brain.

He laughed at you before nodding, his hood sliding to reveal the pointed tip of one of his fins, “I’m surprised you noticed.” he held his drink in his lap, wiggling his wet toes in the cool air, “Its not just that its easier to sing, really…I was born in the ocean, even though my parents have long lived with humans. We still spend our early years in the deep black waters before integrating into society. I’ve always just loved the water. Its always brought me peace. Its like a veil on the audience so I can just be myself.”

“That seems like an odd way to start life, but the more I think about it the more I think it must be nice, to be just you and the water.” You sat back, your palms pressed into the rough stone as you looked at the water, “And I bet it made you an amazing swimmer.”

Zadok paused before laughing again, the noise gentle and soothing, like the sound of water in a stream full of pebbles, “It did make me a good swimmer, yes, but it also taught me a lot about our culture. It made me who I am.” he looked at his feet and the water in the tank gurgled quietly.

 Silence fell between you both again, and you sat looking at the little goldfish in the fountain as they swam around Zadok’s ankles and disappeared under the lily pads. It was serene. You looked up and soaked in the weak sun.

“I have one more question for you.” Zadok said.

You looked over to him, “What’s that?” You asked.

He looked around and leaned over, “Is there somewhere more, private than this?” he sighed, “I just…I’m sick of being recognised. I ran into a group of fans on my way here and had to sign a few things. I just…”

“Want a day away from it all?” You asked gently, “I think I have a place in mind.”

Zadok smiled at you, “You’re not planning to kidnap me, are you?” he joked as he took another drink of coffee.

“Me? Kidnap you?” You exaggerated, “I think I would have more luck catching one of these goldfish, and that’s a pretty slim chance!”

 Zadok laughed gently, like the sound of water over stone, and you stood from the fountain, holding your coffee as you waited for him to shake his feet dry and put his shoes back on. He looked at his socks and huffed before pushing them into his pockets, opting to instead carry his boots and walk barefoot through the grass.

“So, where do you have in mind?” he asked as he followed you, “Will I need my shoes on?”

You nodded at him, “You’ll need your shoes for now. The city might be okay but I’m pretty sure you’ll get glass in your feet if you don’t wear something.”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s too fun. I can’t be having a day in the minor injuries unit.” Zadok followed you to the gate before he took his napkin from his coffee and wiped off his feet. He hopped on each foot as he put his sock on and then his boots. Quickly, he tied the laces up before he checked his wrist. A silver watch flashed, and he hummed at the time.

“Have you got somewhere to be?” You asked.

Zadok shook his head as he clicked the sound off his phone, “Nope. Let’s get going.” he pulled his hood back up and hid his face as you exited the park and headed out towards the city’s edge.

 “I suggest you keep your stuff close.” You suggested as you both entered into a small, abandoned area of the city. It was overgrown and the small homes here were derelict, with ivy and bushes sprouting out of the windows and collapsed roofs.

Zadok looked up through the trees, “What kind of place is this?” he asked quietly as you both stepped around a couple of mushroom circles.

“It’s a fae pool. A spirit pool of sorts.” You pointed past the houses towards a large clearing where a natural pond glittered with the light pouring through the centre hole of the canopy, “Its protected by the city for small fae and creatures to use and live in. Some species can’t integrate with humans, so these are the result.” You pointed to the rocks where a nymph combed her hair. She turned and saw you both, smiling before she blended into the air and disappeared into a small creek that trickled away from the large pond with a chime of laughter.

 “This is amazing.” Zadok breathed as he ran his claws over a rotten wooden fence, touching the ivy which wrapped around them gently, “I’ve never seen something like this before, not unless it was in the actual countryside.”

You smiled brightly as you reached the edge of the water, “Well, its something a lot of people don’t know about. I only know because of the guy I work with. He comes out here sometimes during shifts.”

“Is that the one that was with you last night, the werewolf?” Zadok asked curiously as he laid his bag down by the edge and undid his coat.

“Oh yeah, that’s Tom. He comes with me to a lot of stuff. We’ve been friends for years now.” You answered him, “I saved him a spot at the front since he was just as excited as me to see you guys.”

“He’s a nice guy then.” Zadok smiled, his needle like teeth parted slightly as he turned to sniff the air, “Sounds like a keeper.” he teased.

You shook your head, “Nah. We’re just friends. Tom is like a brother to me. We’ve both been through this before.” You shrugged, “I’m sure I’ll find someone like that though.”

“Yes, I’m sure you will.” Zadok awkwardly added before he changed the subject, “Are we allowed in the water?”

 The water was clear enough to see the heavy, dark stones that covered the bottom and you shrugged at Zadok.

“So long as you don’t kiss any Nymphs, I’m sure you’ll be fine.” You joked as you sat yourself next to the water and sipped the last remnants of your drink.

“Oh, I don’t plan on kissing any of them.” Zadok chuckled as he shrugged his coat off and reached for his tanks, “Would you mind…”

“Oh, gosh, sure, sorry.” You rambled before turning around, “Are those tanks hard to get off.

In reply you heard the hiss and click before water glugged and the tank thumped to the floor, “No. It’s not too hard, just a lot of suction cups and water glugging.” Zadok hummed and you made sure to keep turned around as fabric fluttered to the floor, “You can turn back now.” He announced quietly.

 You turned back around, clutching your drink between your hands, and looked at the man as he laid on his back and floated out into the middle of the clear water. He was bare of clothes, but nothing was exposed, and you remembered your anatomy lessons enough to know that most Mer’s had slits which hid everything away. Zadok flipped himself backwards and plunged himself deep into the pool. The water swirling was the only sign he was moving, and you walked back to the edge and sat down. Much like he had earlier, you took your shoes and socks off, and plunged your feet carefully into the water. It was quite cool, and you shuddered at the sensation before you wiggled your toes back and forth and swung your feet in the water. A hand grabbed your ankle and you jumped with a squeak until Zadok’s white head appeared. His head emerged and you marvelled at the glittering silver and purple of his bioluminescence. His eyes blinked back their protective eyelids, the third lids sliding to the sides of his eyes as he peered up at you with a grin of needle like teeth.

 “Boo.” He whispered before submerging his gills again, his eyes poking out above the water while the slits on his neck and ribcage flared and moved water.

“You’re an ass.” You commented before splashing water at his head.

Zadok flared the fins on his head, the sails on top of his head and one each side shaking in a ripple before they shone with purple light, “You stuck your feet into a pool with unknown creatures in it.” he shot back at you as he laid himself on the incline of the pool, his stomach resting against the stones, keeping his gills submerged.

“Is the water okay for you? Don’t you need salt water since you’re from the deep ocean?” You asked curiously, “You won’t get any infections from it will you?”

Zadok gave you a withering look, “I’ll be fine. If this is a fae pool it will be perfectly clean. They don’t like dirty water.” he wiggled back into the water, “I can breathe fresh water just fine, since this is pure, its even better.”

“That’s great then. I didn’t want to be responsible for making you ill or anything! Considering you have a few more months of touring it would be pretty disastrous.” You smiled with relief.

 For a while, you watched Zadok swim and dive. He dipped beneath the surface seamlessly and you marvelled at the glow to his fins and scales as he dove to the bottom of the pond. You could make out the colour of his bioluminescence beneath the surface, glowing through the water as he swam in large circles. As you sat, quiet and still, the sprites seemed to return to the water, and you smiled as a few smaller sprites sat by you in the reeds and grass. A couple of small looking mushrooms rattled together before their small arms and legs appeared and they opened their eyes, trundling over to pick at Zadok’s clothes and shoes before they hopped into his shoe and made happy noises. You laughed at them before a small, hummingbird like fae zipped in front of your face and giggled before settling herself on top of your head to play with whatever she could reach. Zadok surfaced and opened his eyelids as a couple of kelp looking creatures clung to his fins. They flopped back into the water before he could complain but he only smiled beneath the surface, snapping at them with his sharp teeth to scare them away from his fins. He reached and tugged a few of them free of his dorsal sail, the sharp needles tearing a few of them a little, but they didn’t seem to complain as they floated back into the depths of the pond.

 “They seem to like you.” Zadok commented as he swam close to the edge, his body bending before he laid his webbed hands in the grass, claws plucking at the strands and snapping them.

“If you come here long enough, they take a liking to you. They just like people who can sit quietly, and who don’t litter.” You replied as you placed your cup into his plastic bag. You hummed as you reached inside and plucked the bottle out, “Did you plan on doing a little more than swimming?” You teased as you shook the bottle of whiskey in front of him.

Zadok plucked it out of your hands and scoffed, “A little more than relaxing…” he muttered, “Something like that. It’s been a rough few weeks, being on tour and all.”

You didn’t know Zadok well, but you found yourself replying before you could stop yourself, “Is it something you want to talk about?”

“No.” he replied brusquely, “Its something at home. Nothing you can really help with.” Zadok hummed, “But some company might be nice?” he asked as he held the whiskey a little higher out of the water.

 It was only just past midday, but you smiled at him, remembering that you had the day off work anyway. You checked your phone and nodded.

“Sure. I wouldn’t mind sharing some of that. Its expensive.” You commented as Zadok undid the lid and tossed it into the grass.

He held the drink up before taking a few sips and hissing, “Definitely decent stuff.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.” You joked, “As a bartender, I have a keen sense for what makes a good whiskey.” You laughed before taking a mouthful and humming at the burn as you swallowed, “Oh yeah, definitely decent.”

“I’m glad you approve.” Zadok chuckled as he leaned back and floated out into the middle of the pond, his eyes closed as the sun shone through the leaves and hit the skin of his belly. His stomach glittered with blue and purple light from the natural sunlight and you watched the light show in awe before you took another sip of whiskey to dampen the feeling swirling in your gut.

 Zadok floated for a while before he dipped below the water and dove to the bottom, the water swirling in his wake. His fins popped back out of the water as he swam to the edge and surfaced, smiling at you before he held out his fist.

“Open your hand.” he insisted, “I have something for you.”

You did as you were told and placed the whiskey down to open your hands for what he had to give you. He opened his claws and dropped a large looking rock. You frowned but span it over to reveal the inside of a geode. It was split some time ago but Zadok’s swimming had cleaned most of the silt from inside of it, revealing a shiny gathering of blue and clear crystals. The sprite in your hair chirped happily before a magpie squawked and landed nearby, eyeing the shiny object up with one beady eye.

 “Wow.” You whispered, “Was this at the bottom of the pond?” You asked as you turned the crystals away from the sunlight, so the magpie didn’t decide to dive at you for the object.

“There’s a small cave at the bottom. It probably leads to some fae lair, but the inside was full of rocks and geodes. Its obviously a lair which has been abandoned though, there’s silt all over it.” Zadok commented, “They probably moved along a while ago.”

“That’s amazing.” You replied, “Thank you. Its very pretty.”

Zadok failed to stop his fins from flaring as he puffed with pride, “Sorry.” he grunted, “It’s a natural thing. I can’t stop myself.”

You only laughed at him, “Its fine, don’t worry about it.” You took hold of the whiskey again and held it out for him, “Want some more.”

Embarrassed, Zadok nodded, “Yep.” And took the whiskey as he swam back out into the pond, treading water easily as he sipped whiskey, back and forth across the length of the body of water.

 The whiskey was strong, and it quickly got to your head, making you smile as you laid near the edge of the water, talking as you watched the clouds roll overhead. You grinned as Zadok started to cloud watch with you. It was childish almost, but peaceful as you both laid back and watched the day roll past, sipping whiskey before you started on the bread and meat he had shoved into the bag as well, chewing slowly as you listened to the trees rustle and fae giggle. The sun started to dip below the horizon as you both finished off the bottle of whiskey, giggling and slapping water at each other before you flopped back against the bank with your feet swirling back and forth in the water. Zadok dipped below the surface and resurfaced happily, stretching his lithe figure out before he swam back towards you. One of his hands wrapped around your ankle, the black, tapered claws grazing over your skin before he pulled himself out of the water, and grazed them up over your calf, to the point where your bottoms were rolled up your legs. His white eyes continued up your legs, following their own path over your chest before your gazes locked.

 His fingers pressed against your skin, softly mapping the expanse of your calf before he trailed his other hand up your other leg, touching the back of your leg in a slow stroke before he heaved his body up and out of the water, resting between your legs as he dripped water over your stomach. Intensity burned in his white eyes as his nose holes flared and his mouth opened, scenting the air. You looked up at him and felt your body go hot. After a moment looking at his perfect, pearl coloured skin, you dared to stroke your hands over his stomach, following the deep purple colours as they zipped up over his shoulders and down his back. A croaking purr escaped Zadok as he pushed his skin against your hands, enjoying the petting as his lips pursed. His gills flared with a sigh before he leaned over and pressed his lips to your own. His second eyelids closed over his eyes, like he was snatching a fish from the water, and he watched you melt against the grass, one of your hands cupping his cheek, stroking at the fin on the side of his head, while your other hand dared to trail down his stomach, stroking the soft, scaled skin before you reached the mound between his legs.

 Another soft rumble ran up Zadok’s check before he croaked, the sound accompanied by the soft fluttering of his gills. His eyes were closed as your fingers grazed over the flushed flesh of his slit. You stroked along the centre where the rough scales parted to reveal a peak of his soft, blue coloured flesh.

“Fuck.” Zadok whispered as his arms shook, “Please.” he whimpered in your ear.

“Please, what?” You gasped as your finger dipped into the slit as it grew slippery with a natural lubricant before you kissed him again, stroking the flushed flesh gently as you felt his tongue prod at your lips. The two of you kissed a little deeper, tongues touching before Zadok tilted his head and pulled himself out of the water completely, pressing his wet skin and scales to your front.

The mer shifted against you as your fingers came away from his slit, covered in a thin slime, “Let me…” he croaked again with a purr, “Let me have you.”

 You grinned as he pressed his slit to your hips, rubbing the scales against you, “Do you have a room somewhere?” you asked, no louder than a whisper.

Zadok nodded his head as you dragged your nails down his back, shivering before he managed to speak, “The Rouge Bard. We have our own rooms. Everyone is out today.” he added as he blinked and leaned to nip at your lips, his gills fluttering again before he leaned back.

“We best continue this there then.” You stated as Zadok kissed you once more and pulled away, shaking water from his body as he hissed and pulled his clothes back on. The cotton dragged at the swollen flesh of his slit and you drunkenly hummed, looking at his angular ribcage, structured with thin bones and heavy scales. You were admiring him. Zadok smiled as he zipped up his cargo pants, moving the chains out of the way as they linked together and jangled.

“Yes. Let’s.” Zadok shuddered as the wind blew, but quickly covered up before stealing another heated kiss from your lips, his fins flaring as you clicked the water tank breathers to the gills on his neck.

 The two of you stumbled from the abandoned homes, stealing kisses and dragging your hands over each other’s skin as darkness settled over the city. You stumbled and laughed with one another as you reached the hotel and he dragged you into the elevator, purring his croaking noise again as he pressed you to his front and stole another kiss, his lips demanding more from you. His tongue slipped into your mouth and you gasped against his teeth as they nipped at you. The elevator pinged the floor and you both collapsed out of it, dragging each other down the hall until you reached his door. You pressed his back against it as he fumbled for the keycard to get in.

A whistle sounded behind you as Zadok opened the door, “Golden boys getting some ass tonight I see.” Senoz purred from across the hall.

“I think I might be the one getting the ass.” You purred as the demon’s tails swung upwards, curled curiously.

“Well, when he’s a disappointment, you know where to find me, sweet thing.” Senoz swiped at your neck and licked the skin before leaving you both to tumble into Zadok’s room.

“Fucking demon.” the merman growled, “I’ll…”

“You better not be all talk. I might get bored and head over to see how good Senoz is in bed.” You countered as his coat fell to the floor.

 Zadok was quick to pull the suction cups of his water tank free, wheezing for a moment before he pealed his shirt off, revealing his angular chest and plated ribs again. You leaned back to admire the sight before he grabbed at your own clothes. You let him wrangle your coat and shirt off before you pushed him back towards the double bed. He went with a soft rumble, laying back against the cushions as he undid his trousers. You stood and slid them down over his hips to reveal his underwear. They were wet with lubricant. Pulling them down, you tried not to lick your lips as his slit sat before you, puffy and glistening, the head of his cock already peeking out from the blue flesh. Zadok threw his head back as you pushed your fingers against the soft scaled skin, revealing the v-shaped head of his cock.

“Fuck, please.” he whined again, “Please.” he reached for your neck and leaned up for a kiss, only to be denied as you spotted the jewellery collars on top of his dresser. They were probably from the show the night before. Before he could steal a kiss, you retrieved one of the studded black leather collars and grinned.

“If you’re a good boy, I’ll let you have what you want.” You promised as you slid back into his lap, holding the studs of the spiked collar open.

 The merman looked from the collar to your face. His white eyes widened before he nodded, licking at his lips with a blue, pointed tongue. You reached around his neck to click the collar closed before leaning back in his lap to admire the black leather and silver spikes against his pearlescent skin. Bioluminescence trails ran up his arms as you trailed your hands over his scaled skin. It was rough over the tops of his arms and you dug your fingers into the meat of his tricep to enjoy the feeling of the rough skin against your palms. Sitting back on his thighs, you turned your gaze downwards as you looped a finger through the ring hanging from the leather. Zadok moaned quietly as you gave it a soft tug and teased the tip of his cock. It bobbed, stirring between the blue fleshy lips before it extended out of its hole, shining wet with lubricant. His dick was long and curved upwards, with a head that tapered into a v shape. Beneath the head was bulbous, in the shape of an oval, and the bottom was flared with ribs. It was entirely new, and you felt your mouth water slightly at the sight of the blue gradient of the organ. The bottom glittered with silver light at your staring and his cock bobbed upwards sharply as your fingers trailed over his shoulders and down his ribs. Zadok let out another purring croak as you finally reached his pelvis and ran your fingertips along the top of his dick.

 “Please, master, please.” he croaked as he flopped back into the cushions, easily falling into a more submissive role as you dragged him up a little by the ring of his collar, “Please touch me.”

You shuddered at his tone of voice, enjoying the soft pleading from a voice which was usually so confident and demanding of attention on stage.

“Are you going to be a good boy and do as you’re told?” You asked as you sat on his thighs, running your fingers over his hips, towards the base of his cock, before you trailed back again, letting the head of his dick leak precum and his slit drip with more lubricant. The clear fluid leaked down over his buttocks and you watched as his face lit up with a blue blush.

Zadok swallowed thickly, “I’ll be g-good.” he promised quietly as you let go of the ring of his collar and stroked the length of his dick.

“Good boy.” You cooed as you stroked him, “We can stop anytime, just pat my thigh twice.” You told him before leaning down to steal a kiss from his lips as you pressed your finger to the sensitive head of his cock.

 “Ah!” Zadok cried sharply as your fingers twisted underneath the bulbous part of his cock, “That’s…sensitive.” he whined as you grasped the oval shape again and stroked around it, watching his clawed feet curl into the sheets, cutting slits into the sheets.

“Its sensitive is it?” You asked as you trailed over the bump again.

“Yes.” he cried, “Please, master, I can’t…I’ll cum before…”

Abruptly, you let go, watching his cock bob and throb with a hum. Zadok whined and croaked again before leaning up to kiss you, demanding your attention.

“I think I need a little help before I can fit that in baby boy.” You uttered against his lips, “How about you open me up a little?”

Zadok nodded as you took hold of his hand and looked at his claws, assessing them for a moment before you decided they were clipped enough to not shred your insides.

 Zadok croaked before purring again as you sat on your knees, resting above his lap as his hand encompassed your sex, the rough scales on the outside of his fingers grazing against your sensitive skin before they ran back and pushed at your hole. He met with resistance and the mer quickly gathered the natural lubricant from his slit, smearing it over his fingers before he pushed back against your hole. Carefully, he slid one finger inside to the second knuckle, letting you rest for a moment before he eased the rest in. Your inside were warm, and Zadok shuddered at the temperature difference before he crooked his finger and began gently thrusting it in and out. His other hand occupied itself at your chest before his mouth took to teasing your nipples, sucking on the buds until they were pert and sore, his sharp teeth nipping at the skin as he croaked again in happiness.

“You’re such a good boy.” You moaned between the attention of his mouth and hands, enjoying the pleasurable stretch as he pushed another finger into you and scissored the two apart, pressing against your plush insides.

“Anything for you, master.” Zadok purred drunkenly, his pale face flushed with blue blood. You watched his cock bob and weep a pearl of light blue precum, following the fluid as it dripped back down the length and mixed with the lubricant seeping from his slit.

 “Zadok, you’re dripping all over yourself. Is this turning you on that much?” You asked breathily as his fingers pressed into a sensitive spot, keeping your composure as he sucked on your nipples again, leaving cool spit over the skin with his blue tongue.

“Mmm. It is.” Zadok hissed as you wrapped your hand around the head of his cock, “Please, can I be inside you?”

“Hmm? What was that? Where are your manners, baby?” You asked as you pulled his fingers from you looking at them before you leaned back in his lap and pinned his hands to the bed. His dick bobbed as you stretched his arms up over his head and you admired the shape of his lithe figure, all bone and sleek muscle. His luminescence burned bright in striped over his entire body, shooting like currents as you nudged your hips against his own, “What’s the magic word?”

“Please, master, I can’t stand it. I need to be inside you.” Zadok moaned as you tugged him up by the collar for a kiss, mashing your tongues and teeth together messily before you reached back and lined his dick up against your hole, “Thank you, thank you…” He uttered incoherently as you sank down on his cock.

 A moan tore from you as the bulbous part under his head sank into you, stretching you wide before the ribs along the bottom scraped gently at your insides. A sharp bolt of pleasure ran up your spine as you took him to the base. He was unique, slippery, and textured in ways you had never taken, and you took a moment to admire his face as his second eyelids flicked and blinked back and forth. His hips shifted, jolting you on top of him, and you felt the cool seep of lubricant from where your hips were pressed together.

“You’re just gushing for me, aren’t you?” You teased as you slid up his cock and slid back down, enjoying the wet squelch that sounded as your hips collided. Zadok nodded and croaked again, reaching for his collar as his other hand wrapped around a bed post, anchoring himself as your rhythm took over, rocking his dick in and out of yourself. He struggled to say anything as the bulbous protrusion expanded, squirting something unfamiliar inside of you.

 “Did you just….” You paused as he shook his head, and your insides turned into jelly, numb to the swell but tingling with extra pleasure. It was a thin stream of jelly and you sat up on your knees to see it drip out of you thickly, numbing wherever it touched.

“Its for…eggs…” he moaned, “I couldn’t stop myself…”

You moaned as your legs shook, “It’s fine…Fuck its.” You pushed your fingers to your sex and shuddered again.

“It’s an…aphrodisiac and its…” Zadok moaned sharply his hand flying to the bed post again as you dropped on his cock, picking up the pace in a frenzy as your insides throbbed with the need to cum.

“I need to cum, baby, can you do it with me?” You asked as you leaned for another kiss and to tug at his collar, tightening the hold of your hand around his neck slightly as you thrust onto him. The ribs of his cock brushed your insides and you quivered before you came, white hot pleasure burning behind your eyes before Zadok croaked and shot his load. You shuddered at the feeling as you slowly brought yourself off his dick. Light blue cum dripped from you and you flopped against his chest with a sigh, thumbing at the collar around his neck happily in the afterglow of it all.

 Tiredly, you roused from your sleepy state as Zadok placed you back against the cushions and tugged the sheets over your body. You hummed against the cushions before the sheets slid back down over your skin.

“You’re not already up for more are you?” You cooed as you peeled open your eyes.

“If only. I’m not that young anymore.” Zadok chuckled as he eased you over onto your back and revealed a warm wash cloth. He hummed as he slid it over your skin, wiping away the cum and jelly like substance which had made your insides tingle.

“I might be able to go for another.” You hummed as he wiped between your legs and tapped at your thigh.

“Well, this one hasn’t got it in him, I’m afraid.” Zadok flopped next to you, clean and relaxed as he laid back against the cushions and reached around the back of his neck.

You reached for the collar for him, “Here. Let me do it.” You kissed the skin of his shoulder and squeezed his shoulder softly before you unclipped the press studs and pulled it away from his neck. You kissed his neck where the leather had bitten into his skin a little and placed the collar on the bedside table before snuggling back against his chest.

 Zadok croaked a little before he ran his fingers over your back, running his claws up and down your spine as he laid back and enjoyed the warmth of your skin against his own. He was cool to the touch, and you slid your fingers down over his plated chest, swooping to the side to feel the odd angle of his ribcage before you stopped above his pelvis, remembering that his dick had probably long retracted into his slit.

“Wait you don’t have anything do you?” You asked sleepily.

Zadok thumbed at the bottom of your chin, “Unless you count drug laced jello as having something, then no.” he let out a raspy breath of air before sitting up, easing you off his body, “Sorry. I need to just go and soak a while. Come and join me?”

With a smile, you leaned up on the edge of the bed and kissed him, enjoying the scrape of his scales, “Sure. Give me a minute though, my legs are still a little like jelly.”

Zadok chuckled again before he purred softly and walked to the bathroom.

 You watched his backside go before you sat back against the headboard and massaged at your thighs, hoping that the numb, tingling feeling would wear off. It felt like a residual tingling pleasure, and you felt your insides burn with the idea of another round in the posh hotel bathtub. A rumbling sounded from the floor. You perked up at the noise before looking at Zadok’s bottoms on the floor. His pocket lit up with the screen of his phone. Someone was ringing him. It wasn’t polite, and you knew that as you curiously leaned down and plucked the phone from his pocket.

‘Misty Conrad’ it read, and you felt your heart drop into your stomach. Miss Conch. The words rang in your head from the band meet and greet. Senoz had implied that they were together. Suddenly, the mild buzz from the alcohol wasn’t there, and you sobered up as the ringing stopped and the screen went black. You clicked the screen back on and looked at the notifications. Three messages. Ten missed calls. The phone buzzed again with a new message and you clicked it to reveal the short message.

‘I know you’re with that fan. Answer my calls Zadok or it’s over.’

 Your eyes burned with tears of humiliation. He was with her. What they had was more than a song recorded together, and you were a fool for not seeing the signs earlier. You let out a small noise as you sniffed and grew angry, the tears siding down your cheeks as you grabbed for your clothes on wobbly legs.

“Was that my phone?” Zadok asked and you turned to face him as he poked his head around the bathroom door. He was dripping with water but his eyes widened as he saw you crying and grabbing for your clothes, “Are you…”

You threw his phone on the bedside table as you tugged your underwear and bottoms on, “You’re a cheating fuck!” You accused, “And you used me! I should have known that this was stupid but… Miss Conch. She’s been ringing you all say and now she knows.” Your brain couldn’t seem to quite catch up with you as you pulled your shirt on and grabbed your bag. Zadok wrapped his waist with a towel, his mouth open as he grabbed his phone from the table and looked. He cringed at the messages and turned.

“Look, its not what you think!” he insisted as he caught your arm, “We’ve not been together seriously for ages and…”

“And nothing!” You threw back at him, “You used me to console your feelings because you can’t bare to deal with her, and you’ve made me into some kind of…”

“I’m not…” Zadok took a breath, croaking as he pulled at his fins, “Look, I’m sorry, I’ll sort this…”

“I…I don’t care.” You tugged your arm free, feeling the tears beginning to burn into your anger again, “You’re a bastard, Zadok, I want you to know that. A selfish bastard.”

 Zadok let your arm go as you opened the door and stood with his phone clenched in his claws as you slammed the door behind you. You wiped at your eyes furiously in the hall and took a shaky breath before you turned on your heels.

“Hmm, leaving so soon, sugar?” Senoz purred as he peered out into the hall, “Or did you want a piece of this instead of the fishy boy?” he sniffed and tilted his head, his horns scratching at the frame, “Wait, why are you crying? Are you alright?”

You held out your hand to him, motioning for him to stop as you wiped the tears away, “I’m fine. Leave it. I’ll be going.”

The demon turned his head to Zadok’s door as you left him stood in the hall. As you rounded the corner you heard him knock on the door.

“You know that’s real bad fucking PR to make fans cry after fucking them, Zadok!”

 You didn’t hear from Zadok after that. The band continued their tour globally, and you watched the highlights happily, listening to the songs with your usual interest. You smiled at Duncan’s solos and watched the crowd go berserk. It was energy you lived for. Zadok’s performances were stunning. He draped himself over a piano and sang a ballad before he did more singing in his ancient mer language. It was lovely, but it stung a little. It wasn’t long after their tour finished that you turned on the alternative radio station. The ends of a metal song chugged along as you made a sandwich. It was your day off from the bar and you had been cleaning most of the day, enjoying cleansing yourself of clutter and dust. You hummed as you placed two slices of bread on the plate.

 “Although we have drama in the metal scene, we’re all used to the usual knucklehead fights between rival bands, or better yet, accusations of plagiarism, but we’ve never quite had some news like this. The frontman of the band SIREN has been caught, if you mind the pun, in a fishing net of accusations. Miss Conch, the mans supposed former partner, has been blowing the lid off his life outside of his band. The accusations range from ritual sacrifice to cheating, and its not something we usually endorse. But, to answer these claims, we have the very man, or mer, with us in the studio right now.”

 You dashed for the volume dial and turned it up a little before you moved your plate closer and began to cut up your filling for the lunch.

 “So, Zadok, what do you have to say about these claims by Pop Star, Miss Conch?”

“Some are right, but most are wrong. The ritual sacrifice, for starters, is a ceremony done by my people to appease the currents of the ocean. We take a fish and its bones and lay them in art decorations as an offering. Its an old and sacred tradition. The cheating accusations are, in part true, but our relationship was never official, and I had already broken things off by the beginning of this tour. Her more serious allegations…well my manager and lawyer are already dealing with those. They are untrue and slanderous.”

“Are you calling Miss Conch a liar?”

“For the most part, yes, I am. She invaded my private life and failed to see when our relationship was over. I want to be transparent and come out to speak for my side of the story. I’m not calling her obsessed or anything derogatory, I am just justifying what is fact from fiction.”

“That’s understandable and I’m sure your fans appreciate your honesty.”

 “Unfounded and untrue.” You scoffed as you slapped your sandwich together, “Next he’ll be telling everyone that he-”

 “This drama has gone on long enough and it has hurt people close to me, not just mine and the band’s reputation. I hurt someone I now know I shouldn’t have with this mess and this is my start to fixing that mistake.”

 “That he didn’t know where his dick was going…” You whispered as you looked at the radio like it was a person staring back at you. You wondered if he was talking about you as you moved around the island of your kitchen and headed towards your couch to sit and eat your sandwich. The host thanked him before announcing the next song as Burn by SIREN. You listened to the thunderous drums as you chewed, mulling over the words in your head before the guitars wailed and you thumped at the cushions.

“Why do I even think that? He’s the one who just failed to tell me he has a girlfriend!” You grumbled to yourself before pulling your phone out. You sighed as you opened MonstGram. In your inbox, there sat one message.

 ‘Can we talk? I need to speak to you. I know I’m a selfish bastard but I want the chance to apologise.’

 The same image of the figure by the sea. You took a deep breath as you looked at the vague image of Zadok and placed your phone down, the screen black as you finished off the last bits of your sandwich. Contemplation lasted only a moment as the screen lit up and the notification registered. Another message. You looked at the icon and opened it again.

 ‘I know I’m the last person you want to see but I’m sorry things ended up how they did. I hope my stupid actions didn’t ruin your love of our music. I’ll leave you alone. That’s all I wanted to say.’

 It stank of desperation. You looked from the message and back to your empty plate. It wasn’t manipulative. It was honest, and that made you hate how you were feeling even more. You opened the conversation again and stared at the picture of the sea and cliffs. Your fingers danced over the keyboard before you started to type.

 ‘One chance. Meet me at Full Moon Bar. Friday. I’ll be on shift but I’ll talk to you.’

 ‘I’ll see you then.’

 With a great sigh, you closed your screen and looked up at the ceiling, your head resting on the back of the sofa cushions. It was a leap of faith, you knew that. You were trusting him with your good faith again.

“If he doesn’t show up, Miss Conch will be the least of his problems. I’ll slice him up like sushi and mail him back to his manager.” You spat, and the poisonous words made you feel a little better and hate him a little less. With a smile, you ran a hand over your face and got up to go and put your plate away in the sink for washing later. For now, you had a living area to deep clean, and you headed for the vacuum to try and clean Zadok from your mind for a while.

 The bar was quiet on Friday. Thankfully, there was a small group who had a lot of orders to keep you entertained. It distracted you from the nerves brewing in your gut.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you today?” Tom asked as he leaned over the bar, his nose perked as he sniffed at the air, “You smell off as all hell.”

“Get your werewolf nose away from me, Tom. I mean it.” You threatened as you turned to place some clean glasses under the bar, “I’m not in the mood for your meddling.”

“Meddling? Me? Never.” Tom teased gently, “Its like you’re worried though. Talk to me.”

With a great sigh, you turned back to face him, “Someone I’ve not seen in a long time is coming…I just need you to be there in case. Not with me or anything, just around.”

 “Of course.” Tom consoled, “I hope this isn’t some abusive asshole, because I swear on the moon I’ll…”

“Don’t worry. Its not. Its just something I need to sort out.” You assured him.

“Okay. What time do you need a minute?” he asked as he opened the bar door and stood next to you. You peered at the clock as the bell on the door rang, and Tom turned to greet them with a smile.

“Evening.” he said before he turned back to you, his eyes wide and his nose flared, “Tell me I’m not dreaming, and that Zadok from SIREN did actually just walk into the bar.”

You stiffened as you peered around him, “You’re not dreaming big guy.” You headed to the door, “So keep your cool. This is the one I need to talk to.”

Tom’s mouth opened like a large fish but he didn’t ask you any questions as you headed over to Zadok.

 Zadok ducked into a booth near the entrance, his head low and covered by a large black hood. His water respirator was on and he was wearing a mouth piece over his face. You watched him before finally taking the last couple of steps and sliding into the seat. You slid him a shot of whiskey. Zadok caught the shot glass and looked up, his white eyes locking with your own before he reached for his face and clicked a few buttons. The water drained from the mask and he pulled it free, smiling with needle sharp teeth. He was dressed in his usual baggy combats and a large, long sleeve shirt. The shirt was torn and had a few chains linked across his chest. He tugged off his hood and looked at the shot glass for a moment.

“Look I know that…That I fucked up. What I did was selfish, and I took advantage of you.” he started as he clutched the glass between his hands, “I shouldn’t have I shouldn’t have let you do what you wanted but it happened and I’m sorry.”

 You looked at his face and the wetness of his eyes, “You still did it, and that hasn’t changed. I was…I was hurt and upset. I had her message me, Zadok. Spiteful, horrible things. None of that hurt will go away but its fading.”

Zadok cringed over his drink, “We weren’t even properly together. We had sex and a few dates but with the tour, it wasn’t going any further. She messaged me constantly. Harrassed me with phone calls and I was just…I should have told her.” he looked you dead in the eyes, “I’m sorry I dragged you into this mess.”

“It’s a mess, but I appreciate you being so honest with me.” You confessed as he thumbed at his drink before downing the whiskey. His hands looked a little steadier after the strong liquor.

“It’s the least I could do. She’s in the past. She’s tried to file a lot of shit against me. It wasn’t worth it, and I’m…I’m tired. She can have the song rights and royalties. I just want her out of my life”

 You didn’t comment but nodded as he ranted a little. You knew about the allegations. It was widely known news to the fans now. Still, his interview weighed on your mind.

“What you said in the interview you did on Metal Talks.” You started, “Is this what you were talking about? You wanted to make this right with me?”

“Yes. I knew…Look I was a fucking idiot, I know that, but I ruined something that I thought was going to be…”

“More?” You added with a small smile.

“Call it stupidity, but…You were just stunning, and I got carried away. The alcohol didn’t help matters but I still think you’re amazing. Your love for the music, for life, it just spoke to me and… Look I can’t change anything, but I can try and sort this out.” He pushed the glass over to you on the table, “We don’t know each other, not really, but would you be willing to know me, in a better way?”

You gut churned as you looked at his pearlescent skin and his beautiful white eyes, chewing the inside of your cheek, “Maybe I would. I thought you were moving, in everything, from the moment I started to follow you all, but that doesn’t change what you did. I need time and space, but I would like to know you, the real you.”

 Zadok carefully reached for your hand and squeezed at your fingers carefully as he smiled and ducked his head. The door opened and Tom greeted the next customer. You sat, letting him hold your hand, before you blushed and got up.

“You still have to pay for the drink, but you can stay, if you like? I know Tom is dying for an autograph and a picture. He’s probably your second biggest fan.”

Zadok chuckled and looked up at you, “Who’s my first?”

“Well, you just might have to find that out.”

[lexacoolfox]

I saw your bio about angel of death too!! May i request nagito X s/o who's like zack!!:D I hope i don't bothering you and have a nice day^^♡♡

Yes finally! Also your not bothering me, and thank you for wishing me a nice day! Your such a sweet heart adelia-Chan!

Nagito with a S/O like Zack!

Now it is modern time, you probably aren’t a murder but you can be, um…problematic.

You liked to beat people up when the looked to happy or mad. It made you feel good.

You obviously laughed like a mentally insane person when you did.

Now on the first day of school you saw a boy with white hair looking way to happy, he looked like a good target.

He noticed you right away and introduced himself with that smile, he sounded so joyful while doing it. That just made you want beat him up even more.

“Hello I’m Nagito Komeada!”

“Hey Komeada. I’m S/O. You got three seconds to run.”

The last part you said with a dark tone. He looked at you confused.

“Um…why would I need to run?”

���Cause you look way to frickin happy, makes me want to beat you up! I like to give people a fair chance to try to run away. As long you beg or scream for me not to hurt you to bad! I love seeing fear on my victims faces! Gets my blood bumping!”

He softly chuckled.

“Oh I’m not going to run away. I’ll let you do it. Come hit me! An ultimate like you hitting trash like me is an honor!”

You stumbled back and leaned by a nearby trash can and threw up.

“Man is something wrong with you. That’s the most messed up thing I’ve ever heard. You not running away or begging for your life. it makes it no fun. See ya later weirdo, I going to class I guess.”

Unfortunately (or fortunately) you both had the same class.

So you really couldn’t escape him, you had to listen to him insult himself and his thing on hope. Which kinda annoyed you.

You interested him and he wanted to get to know you. Like what your hobbies, your goals, or why do you like to beat up people who look happy.

“Is there a reason why your following me like a lost puppy?”

“Your interest me. Just pretend I’m not here.”

You saw a group of girls. They were laughing at another girl. They poured milk on her and laughed even louder. This brought back a memory from your childhood. A very bad memory.

You feel into a rage. You ran and proceeded to beat these girls to the point where they were knocked out. You turned to the girl who they were bullying you held out a hand for her to grab. You helped her getting up, patted her head then walked away.

Nagito followed close behind. You forgot he was following you. You went somewhere quite with a low chance of other students walking by. Then you grabbed him by the neck and shoved him against the wall.

“You better not tell anyone about anything you saw! Or else your gonna end up worse then those girls!”

“Oh I was never going to tell anyone anyway!”

“You better not be lying! I hate liars more than anything!”

“I’m not lying.”

You looked at him in the eyes. He was completely honest. You let him go.

“I thought it was kinda cool to see you standing up for that girl.”

“I wasn’t doing it for her. I was doing it cause it reminded me of something. Something I’d rather forget.”

“Even though, your speed and strength was amazing to see in action. You also held such passion in your eyes.”

You started angry mumbling not because he was annoying you but your were honestly embarrassed, you weren’t used to hearing much praise.

One day your class decided to have a party, you don’t know how they convinced you. But they did, you didn’t listen to the details just the time and place.

The party was a bonfire party.

Once you arrived you were the last one to arrive, they started off the fire. To where you started internally freaking out. Also frozen in fear.

At some point you were escaped into the back of the woods, Nagito noticed and went to follow you. He heard you near by. You found you punching a tree while yelling. You hade to stop cause of your hands

You wore bandages all over hands, shoulder, arms, and up your back a little, from a incident from a long time ago. You heard a twig snap.

“Who’s there! Show yourself!”

“Oops looks like I’ve been spotted.”

“Ugh! What’s with you and following me!”

“Well I noticed you left the party. I just wanted to know why.

He said sitting on a tree stump. You lean against a tree.

“Don’t tell anyone this. But. I’m scared of fire.”

“Oh. Well, how about we go to a near by gas station. We can get some snacks!”

“I don’t have any money.”

“Don’t worry I’ll pay.”

You weren’t saying no to free food. You guys got a couple of snacks and went to a nearby park to sit on a bench.

You actually had a nice conversation with Nagito. You actually were laughing a lot. For the first time ever somebody smile didn’t want to make you beat them up. Nagito smile made you smile.

You developed a crush on Nagito.

You treated him different from then on.

No threats were thrown his way from you. You didn’t mind when he talked to you. Anytime somebody gave him a nasty look for saying something. You punch your hand against your palm as a sign. You often lean against him when he talks to somebody. Anytime he says an insult to himself, you put him in a headlock and start giving him noogies while saying “why do you keep saying that! Do you got some screws loose Huh?!” You could say it’s tough love. Everbody knew you had a crush on Nagito. But you were to dense to notice your own feelings and Nagito was to oblivious to notice your change in behavior. Surprisingly you and fuyuhiko had a kinda Frenemy thing going on. You two acted like you hate each other, which you do. but you two had a lot in common so sometimes you got along. He’s the one to point out your feelings

“When you going to tell Nagito you like him?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“It’s so obvious you have a crush on him. Which is kinda weird.”

“What’s a crush?”

He gave you a shock looked. Then called you an idiot. He explained a crush and then it made sense to you.

“So…how do I tell him.”

“Just tell him. Unless your a chicken.”

“Shut up! I’m not a chicken! I’ll go tell him right now!”

You stomped away looking for Nagito to tell him. You found him being Ganged up by some guys. You beat all of them up. Some puked from your punches, some passed out, some ran away. You picked up Nagito and threw him over his shoulder and started walking away with him.

“Um s/o can you let me down? I can walk on my own.”

“No.”

You went back to your place and threw him on your couch.

“Thanks for saving me back there. I didn’t think you would save me like that.”

You flicked him in the forehead.

“Of course I saved you. I love you dummy.”

He blushed at the sudden confession.

“I love you too.”

You blushed and pulled him to your chest. You cuddle him, so you guys are now a couple.

Here somethings you do now your a couple

You are always touching him in someway, simple hand hold, hugging, leaning against him, just anything works.

Your like his own personal bodyguard.

He helps you with your bandages when you need to change them.

He comforts you when there’s fire.

You give him random small kisses.

Everybody and anybody is too scared to flirt with Nagito.

When you two are anywhere like a booth at a restaurant. You have you arm wrapped around Nagito shoulder.

After a long time. You told him things about your childhood, which he understood and helped you deal with your trauma.

Bonus: for this to make sense. I ship fuyuhiko and Peko.

You noticed how fuyuhiko acted around peko. You and Nagito decided to play match maker.

Nagito invited fuyuhiko to a cafe to hangout. While you did the same with peko.

They arrived at the cafe both texting you asking where you were. Both of you texted something came up with your significant other so you couldn’t make it. They spotted each other and decided to hangout. Just according to plan. you and Nagito where wearing disguises to watch them. Nagito went up to their waiter after he took their order, saying he’ll pay for them.

When they learned that somebody payed for them and the waiter pointed who. They realized it was you two. You practically grab Nagito and made a mad dash for the exit.

Later that night you got to listen to a mad fuyuhiko, while receiving passive aggressive text from peko.

“Why you so mad? I’m just helping you out. I mean you helped me and Nagito get together. I’m just returning the favor.”

“What?! Are you implying I have a crush on peko! What gave off that idea?!”

“A lot of things gave off that idea. C’mon you like her. Don’t be a chicken.”

“I hate you!”

“The feelings mutual. Just go for it.”

“You don’t tell me what to do-“

You hung up. You put your phone on silent and went to sleep. Luckily it was Friday so you didn’t have school the next day. So they couldn’t bother you about it.

[heliads]

If I Can’t Have You

Based on this request: “one shot of Wanda and the reader are married and Agatha likes the reader and creates problem in their relationship. one day the reader and Wanda were fighting, the reader leaves to find Agatha who controls the reader to fall in love with her. Wanda finds the reader and removes the mind control.”

masterlist

Agnes walks down the sun-bleached sidewalk, arms full of a stack of hardbacks that most certainly were not transformed spellbooks. Of course they weren’t- she is Agnes now, not Agatha, and even nosy neighbours would never be caught dead studying incantations. She has to keep up the illusion of innocence, and that is final.

Agnes’ cheerful grin slips when her eye catches on something in the bushes. They should be drab shades of gray (they’re still stuck in the 50s, no matter how much Agnes wishes they would just change decades already), but there’s a flash of color inside them. Agnes groans. Is Wanda’s control disintegrating so quickly? Agnes gestures towards the bush ever so slightly, and the color fades back to black and white in a second, with only a flash of purple dancing around Agnes’ fingertips to show that anything had changed.

However, in the split second that Agnes’ focus had been diverted away, her tall stack of books had begun to slide out of her arms. Agnes reaches out to steady the pile once more, but it’s too late- the books cascade to the ground, spilling out over the pale concrete. Agnes kneels, ignoring the spike of heat slicing up her knees from the sunburned sidewalk, and begins to gather up the books. To her surprise, a second figure leans down beside her, picking up the scattered hardbacks as well.

When Agnes looks up, her breath catches slightly in her throat. There’s someone standing over them, sun shining out in a halo over their head. A smile flashes across their face as they hold out the remaining books. “I’m Y/N. I don’t think we’ve been able to meet before.” Agnes shakes her head. “No, I don’t think so. I would have remembered you, hon. The name’s Agnes.” Y/N grins, teeth flashing in the sun. “It’s nice to meet you, Agnes. I think we’re neighbours- I live down the block with my wife, Wanda. Great to make some new friends.”

Agnes clears her throat. “Well, thank you for your help.” Y/N tilts their head in acknowledgement. “Well, I figured I might as well do something quickly. Wanda’s right down the block, and I don’t think you would have wanted her to see you summon up some purple sparks to retrieve the books.” Agnes stares. “You-” Y/N waves a hand in dismissal. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not going to say anything. I saw you fix that hedge, so clearly you’re here to help. If there’s one thing I can do, it’s keep a secret for a friend. See you around, Agnes.”

With that, Y/N heads back down the sidewalk, footsteps echoing down the concrete path. Agnes is left staring. Y/N knew about the magic and Y/N is married to Wanda, yet they aren’t going to say anything? As Agnes walks back to her house, she realizes there’s a new feeling of rage bubbling up in her stomach against the red-haired witch. It’s not just envy of Wanda’s chaos magic. No, this is something different. It takes Agatha a while to realize what it is, and then it occurs to her. She’s jealous that Wanda has Y/N in her life every day.

Agatha can’t take this feeling of envy for much longer. She begins small spells targeting Wanda and Y/N’s marriage, ones that will sow seeds of discontent that will draw Y/N to Agatha instead. At first, they’re barely noticeable- traffic is bad so Y/N arrives home later and later each day, Wanda keeps forgetting to keep a space out for Y/N at the dinner table. Then, it’s time for Agatha’s magnum opus- one thunderous rain storm that forces Y/N to dash into Agatha’s house to escape the torrential showers.

Y/N only has to knock a couple of times before Agatha opens her door, quickly ushering the drenched neighbour into her house. Y/N apologizes profusely, but Agatha just shakes her head. “It’s fine, trust me. I’d rather you stay in here for a while and dry up than have to run home in this sort of weather.” She hands Y/N a blanket, which they accept gratefully, wrapping around their shoulders.

Y/N gets distracted by a bookcase in the corner of the room, a deep mahogany number with intricate carvings detailing the sides. “You have a good collection of books here. Rivals even my own.” A faint smile slips across their face as they examine the titles, a warmth in their eyes as if greeting dozens of old friends. At last, Y/N’s finger stops over one book in particular, and they carefully draw it out from amongst the others.

Agatha leans over to Y/N, curious. “Which book is that?” Y/N delicately opens the cover, poring over the detailed illustrations and long swoops of text. “Greek mythology. I’ve always been a fan.” Y/N flips through the pages, stopping before one particularly beautiful depiction of a myth. In the drawing, a goddess lies desolate over the body of a lover, roses beginning to form where blood pools from their body.

“Aphrodite and Adonis. That’s a classic. The goddess of love and the queen of the underworld both fell in love with this one mortal hero, Adonis, and they fought over him for a long time.” Agatha furrows her brow. “What happened?” Y/N shakes their head sadly. “Adonis ended up dead, killed by a boar. The stories differ over the killing- some versions say it was Ares, Aphrodite’s husband, or it could have been Persephone herself, jealous that Adonis was falling in love with her rival. Either way, he ended up dead and they both ended up unhappy.”

Y/N sighs. “There are a lot of myths like that, actually. Two gods fall for one lover and in the resulting fight, the world seems to be torn apart. Something similar happened with Hercules and the river god Achelous over Deianeira, actually. Every time, two fall in love with one, and every time, violence always follows. If one god couldn’t have their lover, then nobody could. It never made sense to me. Why tear apart the world over love? Besides, it always hurt the lover, who never had any choice in the matter. A waste, honestly.”

Y/N closes the book and glances outside the window. “Look, it stopped raining. I will stop intruding on your hospitality with my sad Greek myths and leave you to your afternoon.” Agatha starts to raise her voice to protest, to say that Y/N could never be a waste of time, but Y/N is already donning her coat and slipping out the door with a raised hand and a final declaration of gratitude.

Wanda waits for Y/N when they get home. She stands in the middle of the living room, just waiting for when her spouse walks through the door. Y/N has barely closed the door behind them when they see their wife, and their smile fades. “What’s wrong, Wanda? You look upset.” Wanda’s gaze remains steady, bordering on harsh. “I wonder why that would be. I wonder why my spouse would show up late again, especially when I asked them to be here early for dinner.”

Y/N gestures loosely at the door behind them. “I couldn’t go anywhere! It was raining so hard I could barely see two feet in front of me. Here, you can see my jacket, my hair, they’re wet-” Y/N’s voice breaks off as they reach for their coat and find it perfectly dry. They rush to the window, but there is no sign of rain. No puddles, no clouds, nothing. Y/N turns back to Wanda, a look of bewilderment fogging up their eyes.

“I have no idea what happened. I swear, it was raining, but now there’s nothing there at all.” Wanda raises an eyebrow. “Yes, that’s very convincing, isn’t it? A magically disappearing rainstorm apparent only to you.” Y/N tilts their head, irritation beginning to show. “Don’t use that tone. I would never lie to you. This is just strange. Something is happening and I can’t understand it.” They throw their arms up in frustration, but just as they raise their hands, Wanda flinches. It’s a small movement, barely there at all, but it’s enough for Y/N to notice. Instantly, all annoyance fades from their face, replaced by swift betrayal.

“You flinched- you thought I would-” Y/N’s voice is quiet, barely there at all. Wanda shakes her head fervently. “I didn’t mean that. It was an accident.” Y/N looks back at their wife, expression bleak. “It wasn’t an accident, though. You thought I would hit you? You truly think so little of me?” Y/N turns around, grabbing their coat from the door once more. “I think I should go. I think that would be best for both of us.”

Wanda reaches out to stop Y/N from leaving, but her spouse has already disappeared through the front door. A quiet gasp comes from the stairs behind Wanda, and she turns to see Billy and Tommy clustered together on the stairs, twin looks of horror on their faces. Billy is the first to speak. “Are they leaving us?” Wanda rushes over to them, hurrying in her apologies. “Of course not. Everyone has disagreements, you know? It’s impossible to be perfectly happy forever. Y/N is going to come back very soon, and we’re going to talk things out again. That’s what makes us love each other, you know. We always come back to each other in the end.”

Wanda’s voice is light and untroubled, but her children still don’t look entirely convinced. In fact, Wanda doesn’t even look convinced herself. After Billy and Tommy retreat back upstairs to their rooms, Wanda walks slowly to the kitchen and sits down at the table, placing her head in her hands. What has she done? What if Y/N really doesn’t come back?

Y/N regrets storming out of the house as soon as the front door closes behind them. They want nothing more than to go back inside and apologize, but they’ve always had too much pride to swallow. So, they walk out of their house, heading out into the street. Maybe they’ll go into town for a while, shoot the breeze and cool down, and then come back home and make things right. Y/N has never been able to stay away from Wanda for too long, especially during an argument. That’s what made them work so well together- they always returned to each other.

However, Y/N hasn’t gone more than a couple of feet down the road when someone walks up to them. Y/N glances over, recognizing Agnes. “Look, I’m sorry but I don’t really want to talk right now. I’ve already messed things up with Wanda, I think it’s best that I stay by myself for a while.” Agatha’s smile doesn’t falter for a second. “Of course you want to come with me, hon. You love me.” 

Y/N frowns, but with a wave of Agatha’s hand a violet streak flashes across Y/N’s eyes and a relaxed smile spreads across their face. “I do love you.” Agatha holds out her hand, and Y/N takes it without a second’s hesitation. Agatha glances over at Y/N, considering them. “Actually, I think we need one more spell. I can’t have Wanda recognizing you, after all.” Agatha murmurs a spell under her breath, and Y/N’s features ripple and change into an entirely different face. Even if Wanda happened to see Y/N walking with Agatha, she would have no idea who they were.

Wanda is growing more uneasy as the hours pass by. Y/N should have returned by now, they should have made up by now. The fact that they aren’t here tells Wanda that something is wrong. Wanda knows it must be the aftereffects of the argument, but yet there’s something in the back of her head telling Wanda that there might be some foul play. After a while, Tommy slips into the room, pausing as he walks by Wanda.

“Are you still looking for Y/N?” Wanda nods, then frowns at Tommy’s tone. “What do you mean, still? Do you know where she is?” Tommy shakes his head, but he hesitates slightly. Wanda jumps on this uncertainty like a lion. “Tommy, love, I need you to tell me where Y/N is. We both know something isn’t right, don’t we? This is really important.”

Tommy still deliberates, but after frantic glances from Wanda he finally relents. “I was running past Agnes’ house and I saw someone in there. I had never seen them before, and Billy says that nobody new has come into town. It didn’t look like Y/N, but it was still strange.” Wanda swoops forward, pressing a kiss to Tommy’s forehead. “Thank you so much for telling me. I’ll go look into that right away. Stay here with Billy, alright? I’ll be back in a second.”

The methodical rhythm of Wanda’s boots echoes down the street as she heads purposefully to Agnes’ house. She knocks a couple of times before the door opens, and Wanda is face to face with an utterly unfamiliar person. Wanda blinks in confusion. “Hi, I’m Wanda. I was looking for someone.” The stranger in Agnes’ house smiles. “Well, come on inside. Maybe you’ll find them here.”

Wanda nods, following the stranger inside. “What’s your name, by the way?” Wanda asks, and the stranger just looks at her. “I wasn’t given a name.” There’s a moment of tension, like the stranger is almost begging Wanda to realize something, but then their face smooths over and everything returns to normal. Wanda is shown to a seat in the living room, and she stares around Agnes’ house. She reaches out with her mind, searching for Y/N, but nothing happens.

The stranger bustles back into the room. “Agnes is out, but she’ll be back in a little bit. Is there anything I can do for you right now?” Wanda shakes her head, standing up. “Actually, I don’t think so. I’m sorry to waste your time.” Wanda starts to head to the door, but the stranger quickly walks in front of her, blocking her path. “Are you sure? I thought you were looking for someone.” The stranger is staring at them with a look so full of pain and hope that Wanda almost has to look away. What would the stranger want Wanda to know? What would they know, except-

Then Wanda realizes, and she reaches out a tentative hand to the stranger’s temples. Wanda concentrates for a second, searching, and then she feels the spell masking the stranger’s thoughts and pulls it away like she’s removing a blindfold. Instantly, the stranger straightens up, and they shudder for a second as their face changes into a more familiar countenance. Wanda cries out in relief, wrapping her arms around Y/N, for of course it is they who stand before her. 

“I thought you were missing- I thought you hated me-” Y/N holds tight to Wanda. “No. No, I could never. I tried to go back, but then the spell hit and I couldn’t do anything.” Y/N leans back, cupping Wanda’s face gently in her palm. “I’m so glad you found me. I was so scared that you wouldn’t know it was me.” Wanda smiles bittersweetly. “I will always come back to you. Every single time.”

Wanda and Y/N leave Agatha’s house, heading quickly back to their own home, back to their twin boys who look up excitedly when they see Y/N return. Wanda and Y/N do not notice Agatha, who just arrives at her house in time to see the married couple disappear back through their own front door. Agatha glares, storming into her house to see the hated truth- Y/N is indeed gone, the spell broken. In a moment of utter rage, Agatha lets her power flow through her, murky indigo smoke pouring over the room as walls crack and glasses break.

When Agatha is at last able to control herself, she stands panting in the middle of the room. Her eyes catch on a book that had been yanked from its shelf, a book that now lies open on the ground. Agatha’s eyes widen as she takes in that familiar drawing of the goddess and the lover, from the story Y/N had been talking about earlier. Aphrodite and Adonis, forced to repeat their pain once more.

But Agatha understands it now, understands it as Y/N had never been able to fully comprehend. Why shouldn’t the gods tear apart the world? This feeling in Agatha’s chest, this empty broken rage, will never be able to subside. Y/N loves Wanda, and Wanda loves Y/N. There is no room for Agatha in that story. 

A twisted, fractured smile begins to wend its way across Agatha’s lips. Before, she had been hesitant about messing too much with Wanda’s reality, but now, all rules are gone with Y/N. If Agatha can’t have Y/N, no one else will. Wanda doesn’t stand a chance.

wanda maximoff tag list: @mycosmicparadise​ @mionemymind​ @xxxtwilightaxelxxx​    

[andypantsx3]

if i could keep cool | 4

pairing: Todoroki Shouto / Reader

length: 20,322 words / 6 chapters

summary: A villain attacks Shouto Todoroki’s apartment and kidnaps what he apparently believes to be Todoroki’s secret lover. The bad news—for both you and the villain in question—is that you’re just there to clean the place. That’s how it starts.

tags: romance, reader-insert, accidental sugar daddy shouto, misunderstandings

warnings: aged up characters, eventual smut

There was no other word for it. Todoroki was a menace.

Though his schedule seemed to return to something approximating normal, he was still in the apartment often enough that you began to anticipate him being there. Even when he wasn’t, however, he made life difficult enough for you by leaving behind gifts, with progressively more disappointed notes if you didn’t take them. You didn’t know how it was possible to convey that flat tone in the shape of his letters, but you could practically hear it as you read them over.

Worse, he seemed to know exactly which of your weak points to exploit to get you to want the gifts--leaving you several more books, a bag of the really nice coffee beans from the coffee shop you’d told him about, and a sinfully soft scarf as the weather turned colder. When you continued to ignore the insane amount of money he seemed to think passed for a tip, fresh vegetables started cropping up on the countertops with notes that said things like I’m not going to eat these, if you don’t take them they will be wasted to guilt you into compliance.

A month into it, an entire grocery order started showing up every Thursday shift. My refrigerator is full so don’t try to stuff any of this in there, his note commanded.

He was a master of manipulation, it seemed, and to what end you didn’t know. You made mental notes to not mention any further likes during your conversations, but when he was there, Todoroki’s conversation was so easy and so natural, he continued to pull all the details out of you with ease.

So things you really, really liked kept turning up. And as you talked to him, Todoroki was turning into a thing that you really, really liked as well.

It was overwhelming.

The final straw was a Friday afternoon when you hit up the fancy coffee shop just outside campus. You walked in with the extra money you’d saved up not buying your own groceries, and the vague idea that you would get a head start on an upcoming paper. And then, the barista very obviously glanced between you and a sheet of paper taped to a corner of the register, and refused to let you pay for your order.

“Your order is free!” she chirped cheerfully.

You stared. “What?”

“It’s already taken care of!” she said, and immediately, a cloud of suspicion settled over you.

“What’s the occasion?” you asked.

She smiled. “The occasion is someone already paid for you!”

You glanced around the coffee shop, but you could find nothing but a few unfamiliar students purusing books or churning out work on their respective laptops. You turned back to her.

“And if I were to walk into this coffee shop tomorrow, would the occasion also be that someone already paid for me?”

She nodded. “Yes! All your future orders are paid for, please come as often as you like!”

You gaped at her, and she cheerfully stuffed your coffee into your hands. Then you glared down at the white paper cup accusingly, and it stared back at you, looking like one half of a certain menace’s hair color.

Oh, he was in for it.

You stalked over to a table and whipped out your cell phone, shooting off a message so fast your fingers practically burned.

todoroki what the hell

To your surprise, you received a reply almost immediately.

It’s Shouto.

Like hell it was.

first names are for friends, not psychopaths. did you really pay for all of my future orders at the coffee shop?

Is this your first time there this month? he answered. Where do you usually go?

You stared at your phone. He’d done this a month ago? Also, no way you were telling him your budget spot where you picked up lukewarm bean water when you couldn’t afford four dollar americanos. The last thing you needed was for him to buy them out, too.

You got to your feet, marching back over to the barista.

She smiled. “Back for something else?”

“Yeah, how do I cancel the all my orders are paid for thing?” you asked. “Can you just delete whatever info he left you and charge me from now on?”

She looked you up and down. “Are you sure?”

You nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

She stared, then leaned in to whisper. “You do know who paid for all your orders, right? Are you actually sure you want to cancel?”

A migraine started in your temples. Had Todoroki actually come in here himself to give his information? Was he trying to get you caught up in the secret lover bullshit that was still swirling in the media?

“I’m extra sure,” you smiled, then went back to your table, satisfied.

No sooner than you had dug out your laptop, though, when your phone buzzed. You looked down at the name on the screen and paled. Todoroki was way easier to deal with via text when you couldn’t hear that low, smooth tone directly in your ear. His face and his voice were absolutely fucking mind-melting, and it would be hard to maintain your stubborn stance even in the face of just one.

Still, though, this was the last straw.

“How many times do I have to tell you that friendship is free?” you hissed quietly as you picked up.

“They told me you tried to cancel,” he said flatly, and your head whipped up to glare at the barista accusingly. She smiled.

“Todoroki--”

“Shouto,” he said.

“Fine, Shouto,” you said, “It’s been a month and maybe I let you get the wrong idea by accepting all of the vegetables and everything, but this ends here. I told you that it doesn’t cost anything to be friends with me, and you had better stop apologizing. It’s not that I don’t appreciate it, but--”

“Then do,” he said simply.

“What?”

“Then just appreciate it,” he answered. His voice was somehow even lower on the phone and a shiver went down your spine, despite your frustration with him. “Just accept them. Why is it so bad if a friend gives you things?”

God, he was such a rich boy, wasn’t he?

“Shouto, I do appreciate it,” you said. “But I don’t need any of that. And I know that you know this isn’t necessary--I highly doubt that you are buying Midoriya all of his weekly coffees or draping Bakugou in soft scarves. All you need to be friends with me is to just hang out, the same way you do them.”

Shouto was quiet a moment. “Hang out,” he finally said, slowly, like he was tasting the words in his mouth. Then, “Are you free right now?”

“W-what?” you managed.

“You don’t have class right now, right? Your last lecture just let out.”

You were surprised that he remembered your class schedule. Just how much had you told him?

“Uh, yeah?” you asked.

“Good, stay where you are. We’re hanging out,” he pronounced the words like they were foreign on his tongue, then hung up.

You stared down at your phone in shock. He wanted to hang out with you? Like, outside of his apartment?

There was no arguing the two of you got along relatively well, now that the threat of your crazy fandom and the weight of his mistake no longer hung over your relationship. You talked easily enough the one or two times you saw him during any given week. But so far your interactions had been somewhat limited, confined to the familiar space of his apartment and limited to the time that you had to be there. You texted a little outside of that, but you’d never just casually hung out.

Then the weight of his words really hit you. He was coming here? To the coffee shop? In full view of your entire campus? Was he insane?

You ran through a mental checklist of things in your bag that could be used to disguise him but came up short. You didn’t know exactly what he planned to look like when he put in an appearance here, but you were not interested in fanning the flames of the secret lover garbage that was still all over twitter and splashed across the glossy pages of the magazines at the grocery store.

You shot to your feet and threw your bag over your shoulder, then ran out the door, dashing for the campus shop that sat just outside the student center. You blew through the door and dove straight for the apparel section, grabbing the least heinous hat that looked like it would cover most of Shouto’s distinctive hairstyle while also drawing the least amount of attention to its wearer. You also helped yourself to a plain pair of sunglasses that would probably be kind of inappropriate in the fall weather, but would go a long way in hiding his eyes and that scar.

Why did he insist on having so many distinguishing features? Would it kill him to have dark hair and dark eyes like most of the rest of the earth’s population?

You threw the items and a wad of bills down on the register counter, then paused. A few small, slightly-wilted looking bouquets of flowers sprouted from buckets just beside the register in the colors of your university. You didn’t know what the colors or type of the flowers were supposed to mean, and they probably didn’t give off exactly the message you wanted to send, but Shouto had gotten you flowers as the first gift he’d ever given you…

You grabbed the least wilted looking bunch and threw them on top of the other items.

The cashier rang you up with all the urgency of a sloth, and you tapped your foot nervously as you waited. How was Shouto getting here? How long would it take him? Would he be at the coffee shop already?

You stuffed the flowers into your bag, then launched yourself out of the campus shop like a rocket, catching that mop of red and white hair just outside the entrance to the coffee shop. You put on a burst of speed and managed to jam the baseball cap down over his head before he pulled open the door. He turned to you in surprise.

“Y/N,” he said.

“Yes, hi, hello,” you managed while also trying to ram the sunglasses onto his face.

He let out a small huff of amusement. “What are you doing?”

“What you should have done before coming here, you absolute wackjob,” you said, finally managing to slip the shades over his high-bridged nose without poking his eyes out.

Shouto let you manhandle him to your liking, until his face and hair were mostly hidden under your university merchandise.

“Okay, you should be good now,” you said, looking him over. He still stood out, honestly, too tall and outrageously handsome, even covered up as he was. The sweater and well-fitting jeans he’d chosen would still draw anyone’s gaze straight to his trim figure, but it would have to do.

“We can’t go inside, though, you’ll look too shady with the cap and glasses,” you said. “We need to go somewhere outdoors.”

He stared down at you, one eyebrow lifted over the top of his sunglasses. “It’s fall.”

You thought for a moment.

“How do you feel about izakaya?” you asked. “There’s a street-side one not far from here that’s mostly outdoors. They’re good, and I think they’re still open.”

He nodded. “Do you go there often?”

You eyed him. “Oh no. If I tell you places I go, you apparently buy them out. The whole point of you being here is to prove that buying me things is stupid when we can just hang out.”

The corner of his mouth twitched like he was being told a joke you couldn’t hear. “Lead the way, then,” he said evenly.

You pulled him down a few blocks, expertly navigating your way through the winding city streets. You would never admit as much to him, but this place was one of your faves for good beer and cheap yakitori, and you could probably easily find your way both blindfolded and drunk. Shouto followed you easily, a tall, silent warmth at your back.

There were few people at the izakaya when you arrived, considering it was still a little early for dinner, and no one gave the two of you a second glance when you pulled back the curtains and helped yourselves to pair of stools in the corner of the stall.

“Okay, you have to get a beer and yakitori first," you said. "You can do whatever you want after, but the first round has to be that. Just trust me.”

“No vegetables?” Shouto asked.

You laughed. “I know that’s my brand. And there are good veggie side dishes. But there is nothing like fresh, warm, cheap yakitori and a really good beer, especially on a cool fall day like this. I know what I’m talking about.”

A soft smile pulled at his mouth. “So you do come here often.”

You stared up at him accusingly. “If you dare throw a single dollar at them, you’re in huge trouble. I know where you live.”

He smiled down at you. It was easier to notice how boyish his grin was when the rest of his face was hidden by his sunglasses, and heat flared in your cheeks. He was just so damn good looking.

It suddenly dawned on you how forward you’d been with him, sending him sassy texts and putting your hands all over him when you were attempting to stuff him into your university swag. Your relationship had progressed somewhat since that first book he’d bribed you with, but honestly, this was completely new ground for you.

Your face burned hotter. You’d been so, so inexcusably forward. Had you lost your mind?

Shouto seemed to be thinking about the hat as well. “So, do I look like a student at your university?”

You looked him up and down. Aside from your school’s name emblazoned across his baseball cap, he looked nothing like a student, too put together in his dark sweater and jeans that probably cost more than your monthly rent. You wondered if he’d even been within ten feet of an instant ramen cup in his entire life.

“Uh, no,” you said. “You look like someone forced you to wear a hat they panic purchased and it just so happened to be the least horrible one available.”

A smile played about his mouth again. “What were the other options?”

You grinned. “It was this one or a proud dad of a college grad cap.”

He let out a small huff of amusement. You smiled, then leaned forward as the man at the counter came over to take your order, making sure to cut Shouto off before he could attempt any rich boy tricks. You put in an order for two beers and what was probably a concerning amount of yakitori, then turned back to Shouto and almost fell off your stool when he was much closer than you’d expected.

“Do you have a teleportation quirk I don’t know about?” you asked, internally panicking at his proximity. He was close enough now that you could feel the heat of him and catch the scent of his cologne, light and fresh and disturbingly good.

He smiled that boyish smile again and your heart suddenly forgot how to do its job, freezing in your chest. “It’s cold.”

You rolled your eyes. “You have a fire quirk.”

You felt the air grow a little warmer around the two of you. “I meant for you,” he said.

You were torn between relaxing into the sudden warmth and freezing up in embarrassment. It was beginning to dawn on you just how attentive and thoughtful he always was, and you wondered vaguely if the gift giving was actually just a really extreme manifestation of that personality trait. Maybe being an awkward rich boy with a weird way of making friends was just part of the issue.

Your heartbeat suddenly kicked into overdrive. He was already so overwhelming to look at, incredibly brave, such a good listener, and way too easy to talk to. You did not need to pile on other endearing qualities to the frankly alarming number of things feeding into what was quickly becoming the fattest crush of your lifetime. Did he have to be so good all the time?

A hand suddenly reached out, pulling you closer so that you were practically fused to his left side. You stiffened, resisting the urge to curl into the warmth pouring off of him in thick waves.

Not good, this was so not good.

“Uh, you don’t have to do that,” you said, tongue thick, like you were speaking through a mouthful of applesauce. “I’m wearing the scarf you got me.”

Shouto tilted his head, and though you couldn’t see his expression behind the sunglasses, something like satisfaction curled the corner of his mouth. “Good,” he said in his deep tone, “but this will help too.”

“Really, you’re my friend not my personal space heater,” you insisted, trying to squirm away from him. “You don’t need to do this.”

He flared hotter, and a strong arm went around the back of your chair, halting your escape. “I don’t mind,” he said.

God it was like he didn’t even know what effect he had on people. People, of course, being cleaning ladies with twitters full of zoomed in pictures of his abs. It was not good for your health to be this close to him, couldn’t he just let you sit ten thousand miles away from him where both of you would be a little safer?

The izakaya owner interrupted this train of thought, pushing two beers and a plateful of yakitori between the two of you.

You instantly seized on the distraction, bringing a beer to your mouth to give you a couple moments for your brain to turn on again. It was refreshingly cold, and the flavor was nostalgic, tasting like breaks after class with friends and late nights stumbling back after several rounds of karaoke and drinking. You wondered now if, in the future, you would taste it and think back to the one time you’d hung out with Shouto Todoroki.

“It’s good,” Shouto said, looking at you over the rim of his own beer.

You smiled. “I told you.”

Then you shoved a stick of yakitori at him. “Now eat this and tell me I was right about it too.”

His fingers slid along yours as he took the stick from you, calloused and warm. “...You were right about this too,” he said after managing a bite.

You felt yourself puff up. “Of course I was.”

He smiled and helped himself to the rest. With the food and drink absorbing some of your attention, you were able to calm down somewhat, and the conversation returned to normal, you doing your best to forget about the sinfully warm arm curled around your back.

Here, too, Shouto was absurdly easy to talk to, the new venue doing nothing to dull his charm or the easy way that he pulled information out of you with a few, short, well-placed questions. Over the course of a few hours, you worked your way through a few beers and several more side dishes, the conversation never letting up. Shouto was just as intelligent and thoughtful as ever, and he made you laugh with a couple of unexpectedly short tempered comments. Even the discovery that he was not as princely as he usually seemed just fanned the flames of your crush.

It was only when the people around you began to shuffle off of their stools and pack up that you realized how late it had grown, and that you’d spent the entire evening hanging out and talking.

Shouto helped you off your stool when you stumbled a little, the number of beers you’d consumed suddenly making themselves known. “You’re more of a lightweight than I would have guessed by the conversation,” he teased.

You looked up into his face, realizing that he’d shed the sunglasses at some point during your conversation and you hadn’t noticed. Had anyone else noticed? No one had come over asking for an autograph. Maybe he was so unexpected at a place like this that the hat had been enough of a disguise.

You blinked, realized you’d been staring. “Nonsense, I’m a pro. I’ve put in many more beers at this place.”

Then your eyes narrowed at the slow movement his hand was making along the counter, what looked suspiciously like a stack of bills underneath. That little shit.

“Are you trying to distract me?” you demanded, grabbing his hand and stuffing the money back into it. “This is on me. I haven’t paid for groceries in weeks, thanks to somebody.”

Shouto smirked, looking strangely pleased with himself. His hand curled around yours, and his other came up to take your free hand. It was only when he’d transferred both of your wrists into one large palm that you realized what he was doing, plopping down a handful of bills on the counter quickly with his free hand, then pulling your backpack over your shoulder and tugging you away from the izakaya before you could make a scene. You’d been thoroughly outmaneuvered.

“I’ll take you home,” he said, steering you back out into the street. “Give me your address.”

“Shouto,” you whined, “this whole evening was supposed to be about proving you don’t need to spend money to be my friend. We were supposed to hang out.”

“We did hang out,” he pointed out, looking down at you from under the rim of that ridiculous baseball cap. “Your point was very much made.”

It was a testament to how tipsy you were, probably, that this warmed you. You forgot your annoyance with him almost immediately. “Really?”

He huffed a laugh. “Really. Now give me your address so I can take you home.”

You did and he plugged it into his phone. Then he led you along with one hand curled around yours. You spent the whole walk musing on how warm his fingers were in yours, how much larger his hands seemed than yours. Why was even his stupid hand so nice?

It was only as Shouto walked you to the door of your apartment that you remembered the last thing you’d gotten for him in the campus store. You quickly unzipped your backpack, shoving the bouquet of flowers at him.

“For you,” you said, pressing them into his chest. “You got me those flowers. These ones aren’t as nice, but I thought that you should have some too.”

He stared down at you, something strange glinting in his eyes. “You got me flowers.”

“Do you not like them?” you asked nervously. Was it weird to give a guy flowers? It was probably weird…

“I like them,” he declared, and a genuine smile flickered across his mouth. His eyes looked a little brighter, and his gaze was growing more intent by the second. “Now, you should probably get inside before I forget my manners.”

Forget his manners? You stared up at him in confusion.

He looked down at you for a long moment, and then he was suddenly very close, his face dipping down to yours.

“Get inside,” he said quietly, voice deeper than you’d ever heard it. “Please.”

You nodded, swallowing. You had just enough presence of mind to turn and unlock your door. Shouto guided you gently inside with a hand on your back, and then stepped back outside, smiling.

“I’ll see you on Tuesday,” he said.

You waved. “See you on Tuesday.”

You watched him make his way back down the street, only closing your door when you saw him turn the corner and disappear out of sight. Then you sank down against the door frame, heart feeling like it was going to beat straight out of your chest.

Shouto was the most overwhelming man on this earth. You were in such big trouble.

[charmingyong]

Sukidesu

Genre: local!Yuta x tourist!reader (gender neutral), fluff, a dash of angst

Warnings: none

Word count: 1.9k

Plot: You went on a solo trip to Japan after your friend backed out, despite the fact that you barely knew Japanese as you were relying on your friend to be your translator. Thankfully, a local boy helped you out with his limited vocabulary in English.

A/N: in loving memory of my japan trip that got cancelled last year (eff you covid!!) Please let me know if there are any issues with the gender-neutral assignment.

gif: mine

- ❀ -

“I’m really so so sorry, Y/N. I feel so bad,” Aeri said over the phone.

“It’s okay. I’ll be fine. And I’m always down for a challenge.”

Aeri being the one who planned the trip was upset that her boss decided to be rude and have her come in for work, stressing about her presence being needed to handle a very important client. “I swear, I would have handed my resignation letter if it weren’t for the good pay.”

You rolled your eyes at her words. “Don’t say that. I’m sure we can go again together in the future.”

“Yeah, but are you really okay going alone? You don’t even know any Japanese except for like four words or something.”

She was right. You had only picked up a few words from the handful of anime shows you watched, not to mention that you knew nothing on how to read any of the writing systems. “I have the translator ready on my phone. I should be fine.” Though your confidence wavered the last second before hearing the boarding announcement of your flight, you tried to remain strong and think that everything would all work out. “It’s time for me to go now. I’ll text you when I get there.”

- ❀ -

[Memory one]

You let out a long sigh as you stared at the foreign characters on the menu board, never learning any of the Japanese writing systems. The lady owner patiently waited for you to give her your order.

“I… I don’t know,” you muttered, your head hanging low. Anything would do as long as it filled your stomach and was an authentic local specialty.

“Um hello?”

You heard from behind you. Turning around, you found a boy giving you a shy look. “Oh hi,” you politely greeted back with a confused look.

He shifted on his feet. “I uh... you help?” he offered with an unsure tone as he struggled a bit with his broken English.

“You want to help me?”

He nodded.

You smiled gratefully. “Thank you so much! I just want anything good and will add to my experience here.”

“Good?” The boy picked up and said, “I...” and lost his words before pointing at him and then at the owner.

“Oh, you want to order for me?”

He hesitated but nodded eventually when hearing ‘for me.’ “Yes.” The boy turned to the lady, placing an order with two fingers held up. The lady smiled and quickly got to work preparing the round fried food, and soon enough handed two plates of takoyaki to each of you.

You thanked her and took a bit of it with your chopsticks, eyes going wide with the flavour bursting in your mouth. “Woah! This is really good!” you beamed happily at him. “Thank you so much! And oh, I almost forgot. I’m Y/N,” you introduced yourself with a wide grin.

He mirrored it back, making him look like an angel with his healing smile. “I Yuta.”

- ❀ -

[Memory two]

“So cool,” you uttered under your breath as your eyes wandered around the vast array of Japanese sandals on the walls.

Too busy deciding which style to go for, you didn’t hear another customer enter the small traditional shop until they spoke your name.

“Y/N?” The voice was familiar, and you twirled around to see Yuta’s smile grow, relieved that he guessed you right.

“Oh! Yuta!” you smiled back. “It’s nice to see you again.”

He nodded in agreement. “Yes. How... are you?”

“I’m great, except...” your eyes traveled back to the wall.

His face fell slightly in worry. “What wrong?”

You shook your head. “Nothing bad. I just don’t know which pair to buy. They all look so good,” you pointed to the variety of sandals.

He hummed and asked, “Can I help?”

You blinked at him. “You want to?” An opinion from the local cute boy was definitely something you’d be down for.

His pearly whites were on full display as he nodded eagerly. “Yes.”

- ❀ -

[Memory three]

Just as your eyes were fixed on observing the cute little souvenirs on the shelves, you heard a series of loud knocks on the window and you jumped, being startled greatly by it. You looked out the window and found a familiar Japanese boy peeking into the shop, laughing happily when he caught your attention. He backed off to make his way into the shop.

“Yuta, you scared me there,” you laughed it off.

He sheepishly apologized. “Sorry.”

Shaking your head, you said “It’s okay. But it’s nice to see you, once again.”

He nodded and was lost in his thoughts for a moment. “Um Y/N?”

“Yes?”

“You alone?”

You nodded. “Yeah, my friend couldn’t come, and I really wanted to explore Japan. So I came alone.”

He took in your words, his brain on full gear to process them. “Can I help?”

“Help? Like how?”

He pointed at himself. “I... uh travel... you...”

It took you a few seconds before you were able to grasp his thought. “Do you want to be my tour guide and show me around here?”

“Ah! Yes. Your tour guide,” he beamed excitedly like a little child who learned a new word.

That sounded like a great idea. While you had the itinerary that you and your friend prepared, you weren’t dead set on doing everything list there as long as you were able to enjoy your time and explore to your heart’s content. After all, you were going to come back anyway with your friend in the future. And a plus point with having Yuta as a guide, you wouldn’t be struggling with your limited Japanese ability.

You nodded, your lips curling up joyfully. “I’d love that.”

- ❀ -

[Memory four]

“Yuta? Where’s-”

You had probably asked the Japanese boy a million things by now when shopping inside the variety store. Before Yuta became your traveling buddy, you had to rely on capturing the Japanese writings on your phone and have the texts translated via an app. Not to mention having to stroll down the aisles endlessly looking for a particular thing.

He showed you the ramen cups of interest as well as recommended some face masks, cleansing tissues, and sweet treats, especially matcha flavoured. “This good,” he pointed out.

You hummed curiously and put them all in your basket. “Thanks, Yuta. You’re a lifesaver.”

His ears perked up at the thought of him ‘saving your life’ and smiled proudly.

- ❀ -

[Memory five]

“You sure you’re doing it right?” you asked worriedly.

Getting lost in Japan was not on your to-do list. But it was fine to as long as you weren’t alone.

Yuta was trying to figure out how to get the tickets printed at the Kyoto Station. “Long time,” he chuckled nervously.

Going around Kyoto was apparently something he hadn’t done in a while being an Osaka man. You shrugged, “Looks like this will be an experience for both of us,” you joked.

He managed to have gotten the right tickets and you two sat in the train side by side. “Kyoto pretty,” he commented. “Very good,” he added with thumbs up.

The train began moving and you by the window made sure to pay attention to the scenery.

“Wow! The cherry blossoms are so beautiful under the blue sky,” you chatted cheerfully. “And those houses look so pretty,” you gushed, getting anime vibes from how neighbourhoods looked in them.

Yuta watched you getting excited over the sceneries, and was pleased to show you something that wasn’t on your itinerary in the first place.

- ❀ -

[Memory six]

Yuta watched you closely as you licked the matcha soft serve in hand.

You let the cold cream swirl around your tongue and hummed. “Wow, this is nice!”

He beamed, squealing as he clapped his hands from the happiness. “Yes,” he exclaimed. “My favourite,” he pointed to your cone.

The cream got stuck in your throat and you choked a little. His eyes grew concerned and asked, “You okay?”

“Yeah yeah, don’t worry. It’s just... you look so cute when you get happy like that,” you spoke a little shy.

He blushed deeply and looked away, a smile threatening to tug at his lips from hearing you call him cute.

- ❀ -

[Memory seven]

Ferris wheel.

The perfect way to end your trip by looking out into the nighttime view of Yuta’s hometown.

He sat across from you as you curiously looked at every lighting in the city. “Wow, it’s all so really beautiful, Yuta,” you breathed out.

His smile wasn’t his usual one. It was more forced, almost sad and you noticed it.

“What’s wrong?”

He shook out of his thoughts and said, “Nothing. Um... you like Japan?”

A fond smile took over your features. “Yes, very much. It’s all thanks to you, Yuta.” Your heart started aching at the memories made during your trip. If it weren’t for him, you would have struggled to get through with the littlest things.

He hummed and gave you a courteous smile before fixing his eyes out the transparent windows of the cart, silently willing himself to not tear up in front of you.

- ❀ -

[Memory eight]

Tears threatened to spill out of your eyes as you became emotional and super grateful standing in front of your personal Japan tour guide for one last time at the airport.

“Thank you so much for all your help, Yuta. It was really nice meeting you,” you smiled sorrowfully. Truth being told, you were sad that you had to say goodbye to an amazing friend made on your beautiful journey. “Let’s keep in touch. You have my contact, right?”

He nodded. “Yes. Um Y/N?”

“Yeah?”

Yuta dug his hand inside his pocket and pulled out a cherry blossom keychain. “For you,” he said, holding it out for to take.

You were speechless, not expecting a gift from him. “For me? Why?”

He was quiet for a moment before speaking up. “I like you.” His confession caught you by surprise. “I hope you come back. I... I hope we still talk...” he trailed off, doubting himself if he said the right thing at the wrong time, considering it was minutes before you’d have to catch your flight.

Slowly, your head nodded to his words, confirming them all. “We will. We will keep in touch, I’ll come back again. And I like you too,” you spoke sincerely with soft eyes.

- ❀ -

You reminisced the beautiful memories made in Japan with Yuta. It had been almost a year and the two of you were in frequent touch, talking about anything and everything in your video calls. You even learned some Japanese while he worked on improving his English.

While your eyes were focused on glancing at all the people sitting in the cafe, the door chimed open and in walked the Japanese boy that you had been waiting forever to see again.

He spotted you immediately and made a straight beeline towards you. “Y/N!” He beamed excitedly. “I’m so happy to see you again!”

You laughed at his cuteness. “Same, and you’ve gotten better speaking English.”

“All thanks to my beautiful English teacher,” he flirted boldly.

You rolled your eyes playfully at him and asked, “So Yuta, are you ready to explore my country?”

[keilemlucent]

lavender latte: iii

(T (for now!))

hawks | takami keigo x reader

ao3

chapter 1   ||   chapter 2   ||   chapter 4

word count: 4.2k

a cheeky drink and some mutual sabotage. 

warnings: oh no, they say s*x, fluff, pining, the usual, and a wittle angst on the side, reader smokes cigs bc its a salem trademarked fic thing

enjoy folks ;^) the whole of this piece is gonna be about? ten chapters. so. hold on tight!!!

beta read by @keiqos, heart EYES

||||||||||||||||||||||||

“Let that sit for a second or you’ll burn yourself—”

“Don’t need to tell me twice, angel. I know the drill.” Hawks replied with a wink.

You weren’t ever going to get tired of that.

You really expected Hawks to disappear out of your life. You really, truly expected him to run off for good. How many bigger, better, and more important things did he have to do? Even if you managed to speak to him and regard him like any other customer (or, perhaps acquaintance, and more recently, friend — ), your mind swam with insecurities that only seemed to get worse over time.

You were waiting for the metaphorical thread to snap.

You waited for the day Hawks simply would stop texting you flirty bullshit on a somewhat regular basis.

But, holy fuck, the dude didn’t.

 You couldn’t think of why. You weren’t complaining about the attention, but you also were terrified of getting too used to it. Hawks was a part... bird (?) right? He was flighty by nature.

Despite this, Hawks continued to not only text you but also stopped by the shop fairly frequently for his special, quirk-fueled beverage fix. Politely, he’d text you the day before he planned to make an appearance to check and see if you were working, and then show up the next day like it was nothing. 

He usually wouldn’t stay for long; the hero was ungodly busy and always on the move. But, he always took the time to flirt and get a full description of his drink before dashing out to save the world once more. 

Most days he visited were his ‘hero work’ days. He’d appear in his costume, done up and dashing for a sip and a quick talk before disappearing once more into the skies. Every once in a while, Hawks had an ‘office’ day where he’d be confined to his agency to catch up on his insane backlog of paperwork. On these occasions, Hawks would talk (stall) at the tea shop for as long as possible. You talked and joked with him as long as he would let you. Sure, it put you behind on work, but no one at the shop was going to tell you off for fraternizing with the number two hero (whose repeated presence was drawing more customers anyways). You both reveled in each other's attention, drinking in the other’s slowly softening smiles and quick wit. 

 On this day, Keigo’s wings were the shittiest they had been in a while. Plucked and almost barren with how much he’d been working lately. Total exhaustion seemed like it was constantly on the horizon, tugging as his eyelids and weighing down his chest each morning.

It was easier to get out of bed when he got to think about seeing you.

Sure, your drinks were a perk. Very much so. He was getting so used to the artisan beverages you crafted that the taste of his normal canned coffee was starting to bother him. 

But, what his real thrill in visiting the tea shop was that he got to see you, and that made his heart pound. 

He sat across from you, looking down into your newest drink. It swirled between dark and milky, a heady, rich aroma billowing up with the steam it produced. He had requested something ‘surprising, new, and horribly caffeinated’ as deep fatigue was the worst villain he’d likely see that day. You had just nodded, cheekily starting to prepare his drink with a bounce in your step, pupils going wide. 

“I feel like you’re gonna start running out of ideas one of these days,” Keigo laughed, adjusting himself on his stool, gloves and jacket removed. He almost looked like a normal patron.

 You grinned to yourself, idly cleaning around you as you often did, “I dunno, I’ve got a lot.”

Hawks raised an eyebrow, “Tell me about them.”

“Nope, top-secret,” You shook your head, digging into your apron to flash him the small notepad you carried on you.

Scrawled in nasty handwriting, you carried your many ‘feeling’ ideas around with you. Different concepts and abstractions all scribbled down, a nice long list to look back on whenever Hawks would make his appearances and his own vague requests. Your backlog of ideas made it easy to find something more than suitable to make for him.

When Hawks saw your notepad his eyes widened, tilting his head and a devious smirk coming to his lips.

Your expression fell, and you stuffed the papers back into your pocket, hiding your hot face by idly cleaning some more. 

You left yourself very open for teasing, it seemed.

(Not that you or Keigo minded.)

“You keep a little list of all of your ideas! I’m beyond flattered,” Hawks ran a hand through his hair, flashing a cocky smile for you. 

“I have to stay prepared, can’t be disappointing my celebrity sugar daddy,” You winked as Hawks’s eyes went wide, half-hearing a choke get caught in his throat. (You loved it when you were able to get him visibly flustered. What a treat.) You nodded down to the drink, “Should be good to try now.” 

 Keigo really liked spending time with you. He knew it was always fleeting and short and consistently he wanted to find reasons to stay with you at the tea shop counter for longer and longer. Your quips and chides continued to get quicker and more clever and he was having an increasingly difficult time keeping his cool around you. Most of the time he smoothed himself easily, not showing a trace other than that which he neurologically couldn’t control. 

But sometimes, you were bold enough and ballsy enough to get him to gag on his literal words and he was positive that you were the only person to ever have him break composure in such a way. 

He covered his weakened poise by sipping the new drink, mindfully letting the taste wash over his tongue.

Increasingly, you’d been changing up the so-called ‘vibe’ of your beverages. It seemed like each time Keigo dropped in, you had something new and vibrant to show him. 

This drink was particularly different.

The taste was rich, dark, and smooth, rolling into the back of his throat and down his spine. It coated his insides with a warm, low heat. Peeking through were sweet, light accents, warm but almost... teasing?

His dick twitched.

 Hawks’s mouth dropped open, any and all professional veneers dropped as you just beamed so fucking smugly at him. 

“What do you think?” You leaned a bit forward, bouncing on your toes with excitement.

“Is... Is this supposed to taste like sex?” Hawks asked, taking another mouthful to confirm. Based on the way his eyes briefly shut and some of the tension rolled from his shoulders, he thoroughly confirmed it.

“Technically, it’s crafted based on like... a late-night rendezvous. I left it fairly up to interpretation beyond that. The rest is on you.” You shrugged, still bouncing as Hawks took another chug.

“What the fuck, (Y/N),” Pleasant shock colored his features, but clear amusement stretched across his lips as he continued to drink. 

“You wanted something surprising and horribly caffeinated. That’s a dark chocolate mocha with two extra shots, our in-house raspberry and rhubarb syrup, a bit of white chocolate syrup, and a few of my add-ins as well. It’s pretty different from what I’ve made you before,” You blinked at him, stomach twisting as his expression remained unguarded. “I... I probably should’ve asked before giving you a drink that definitely could’ve been taken as sex. That’s my bad. I can remake you something else if you’d like?”

 Keigo shook himself from his stupor, shaking his head and quickly regaining his composure. He took another sip to emphasize his words, “No, nope. It’s okay. Definitely okay. The drink is really good. I’m just now wondering something.”

“And, what’s that?” You asked, reaching behind the counter to grab your own iced beverage.

“Can your quirk be used to manifest bad feelings and concepts, just like good ones?” Keigo asked. Normally, he’d add more nuance, but he was getting impatient and sloppy around you. He’d have to keep that in check.

Especially with the way your shoulders drew up and tensed. You turned a bit away from him, any and all potential for eye contact torn away.

He hit a nerve.

“The type of abstract feeling doesn’t matter, I can emulate it,” You replied, pulling at your nails. Keigo had long picked up that it was one of your habits when your anxiety spiked. 

He dropped it, but didn’t forget. There were public files on quirks. Maybe he’d look into it. Maybe. It felt a bit invasive, but considering plenty of that data was freely accessible, it hardly was an invasion of privacy, right? 

(Except for the fact that it obviously made you very uncomfortable to discuss the more unsavory potentials of your quirk.) 

(He just wouldn’t tell you.)  

Keigo switched topics, easily rolling away from the topic, “Any particular... event that inspired this one?” 

You pressed your hands into the counter, leaning over it to glare at him, “Are you referring to something with that comment, Hawks?”

He shuddered when you said his name, but you don’t notice. 

“Maybe I am, maybe I’m not,” Keigo shrugged easily, going for another sip.

 The drink was inspired by the several day cinematic, wine-bender you went on a week or two prior. An entire weekend with just you, your cats, three entire bottles of wine, and a backlog of movies to catch up on. You tried to consume lots of different types of media, but what had been catching your eye lately had been anything with gushy romance for fairly obvious reasons.

(There was an embarrassing amount of ideas for drinks that were a bit too romantic to properly indulge with your quirk. You’d never tested the limits of how certain feelings could manifest, and you weren’t quite ready to face the reality where you could make people nut from caffeinated milk.)

“It is good though, the drink,” Hawks smacked his lips together as if it would make his coming analysis more credible. “It definitely does taste like sex, but more so complicated. Darker.”

“Deeper.” You smiled. “Your palette is getting more refined. I’m proud.”

“Are you saying it was bad to begin with?” Hawks pouted, flashing you falsely weepy eyes and a puffed out lip.

You rolled your eyes, “Yes, you yourself have admitted this. You drink canned coffee still, so I can’t even call your taste good.”

Hawks gasped, putting a hand to his chest, “I’m hurt, truly wounded.”

“I’m sure you are, tailfeathers.”

“I really thought I had reliably moved up to ‘birdboy’, angel.”

You snorted, covering your mouth with your hand, “Just goes to show how quickly the tables turn, tailfeathers.”

Hawks’s pager suddenly chimed, a familiar sign. He took a quick look at it and sighed, moving to re-robe. You were surprised by the speed at which he did so, and the way he became tense so quickly. 

It made you realize that he was always tense.

(Unless he was talking to you.)

“I thought today was an office day?” You asked, a bit of a disappointment clouding your voice.

Hawks just gave a small smile, fully plastering back on his heroic facade, “Duty calls. Lots happening lately.”

He flicked his visor back over his eyes, slid you your normalized wad of cash, and whisked himself out the door, immediately taking to the skies from the streets.

He’s in a bit of a hurry.

He... didn’t even say goodbye. 

Wonder what’s happening?

 Truthfully, Keigo was a bit startled by the notice on his pager. The whole reason he’d started patrolling the particular neighborhood the tea shop was in was because there was word of a villain syndicate working nearby. It hardly seemed right for the neighborhood, but Keigo knew that villains hid anywhere. Whatever they were planning was still relatively shrouded, but it was clear that it needed to be treated delicately. That particular neighborhood was rife with pedestrians, businesses, and homes and any sort of villainous activity had the possibility of reaping a heavy amount of collateral damage. Keigo and the Commission had been on their guards about it, but things had been steadily becoming more intense over the past few weeks. 

Plopping himself on a rooftop, Keigo took up residence to stake out his newest lead, watching figures and silhouettes in a nearby office building.

 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

 Funnily enough, the rest of your week went horribly. Just downright shitty. You figured at some point, things would let up, brighten, but they didn’t. Each day brought some new, personal calamity. 

The first was a trip to the emergency vet with one of your cats after she swallowed a hair tie. An expensive vet bill later, she was perfectly healthy, but you remained wracked with anxiety. 

Another day, the owner of the tea shop paid a visit to chew you out for your newest tea blends not fulfilling his picky seasonal requests. You were relieved it had nothing to do with how Hawks monopolized your time. Still, getting yelled at easily within earshot of both coworkers and customers made your insides twists. 

The final small disaster was when a particularly asshole-ish customer chucked a hot drink all over you and your cute white sweater. One of the younger openers had been dealing with a difficult patron and an incorrect order, nothing out of the ordinary. When you tried to step in and de-escalate the situation, the man ripped the lid from his cup and splashed you with the burning liquid. You held back any sounds of pain even as your skin stung like hell when you offered to remake his drink.

One of your managers luckily allowed you to go home early. Thank god.

By the end of your shitty week, you fell into your apartment and just cried. White sweater stained and day feeling fairly ruined, you let yourself have a good, solid sobbing session to just release how terrible things had been. 

It would pass, you knew. But it sucked at the moment.

It also didn’t help that Hawks had been particularly absent after running out the last time he came around. He’d still managed to shoot you a funny text or two, but mostly, it was silence from him. You rationalized it by reminding yourself of how quickly he flew off at the end of his last visit, hero business forever more pertinent than you and the shop.

You reminded yourself to keep yourself grounded in Hawks obvious impermanence, even if you were starting to get used to (and really like) having the hero around. 

You decided that your Friday evening would be good. You treated yourself to a hot shower, noting with a hiss the pink scalded skin that covered your chest from your collar bones to just below your breasts. You threw on a facemask and uncorked a bottle of wine you had been saving for a rainy day. 

You clicked on one of your favorite shows, an older cartoon that brought you consistent comfort in times like those. Curled up with a knit throw blanket and your healthy cats, it did help soothe the burns, mental and physical.

That is until you got a bit too drunk on red wine and it turned into sad drunk.  

So, you made your way to the roof.

You weren’t fucked up beyond belief, despite the fact that you were towing an open bottle of red in one hand and a pack of cigarettes in the left. The cold would sober you up, along with the nicotine. You hoped it would force you out of your head. 

Upon throwing open the door to your apartment complex’s rooftop, you were made very aware of its wintertime disuse. The gardens that grew during the summer were snowcovered. The chairs and tables for lounging were in a similar state. You didn’t mind. 

The view was still nice. 

You set down your bottle and zipped up your coat. Quickly, you brushed off the flurries from a rickety lawn chair and plopped yourself down. You threw on some music from your phone, playing some sweet, old songs that made your chest ache when you needed it to.

The city stretched in front of you, beyond the rooftop. You didn’t live in a particularly wealthy district, but there was no shortage of dazzling neon and bright street lights dotting the ground below. You watched how the rest of the city stretched far beyond your little pocket, still gleaming with multi-hued lighting and dazzling in the wash of the crescent moon.

You took a swig, fishing for your self-dubbed ‘sad cigarettes’ and lit up. With your exhale, you watched as smoke lazily swirled away, carried by the soft winter wind. If you were any less drunk, you’d be freezing.

A shadow, winged, fell across the snow. 

“You know, I get nervous when I see pretty girls on rooftops with bottles in their hands,” You jumped at the voice, whipping your head to the source.

Hawks stood, scarlet wings fanned outwards, on the lip of the rooftop. 

Your eyes widened.

You took another sip.

He gave an affectionate laugh, jumping down into the area where you were seated.

 Keigo had just been out on his normal, nightly patrol. The leak had been correct and he’d been stealthily tracking the villains while completing the rest of his hero duties. He was able to laugh off his exhaustion, but it was starting to eat him. Several cans of coffee a day was hardly doing it for him. He hid his sleepiness and aches well, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t difficult. All the same, his typical roles had to be fulfilled. 

He was surprised to see you, all alone on a rooftop with a lit cigarette between your fingers. Keigo let himself be surprised before noting that ‘ yes, you definitely probably live in this apartment building and you’re just outside to smoke’, but the sudden jolt of panic he felt was crushingly unbearable. 

Mostly because it was personally protective and not heroically instinctual and he couldn’t start acknowledging that aspect of his feelings for you. Not yet. 

Keigo walked towards you, asking, watching you blink blearily at him “You doing alright?” 

Eyes downcast, you shrugged, “We all feel shitty sometimes. Just depends on how you cope, ‘ya know?”

“And how do you cope, (Y/N)?” Keigo asked, pausing before brushing off a chair. “Mind if I join you for a bit? I could use a second to rest my wings.”

You nodded, almost offering him the bottle, but quickly pulling it back to your chest before taking another inhale. Offering a pro hero alcohol while he was pretty obviously working seemed like a bad move, even in your tipsy state. 

“Most of the time, I watch nice stuff and distract myself, like most people, ya’ know?” You exhaled as you smoked, relishing the nicotine buzz. “Sometimes, though, I just feel extra shitty and need to extra cope.”

Hawks hummed in agreement, sitting back in the chair. His wings were folded up and over its back, the longest feathers trailing in the small snowdrift behind him.

“Do you get cold, being in the sky all the time?” You asked, eyes going cloudy as you stared up at the lights of the city and higher into the sky. 

“Most of the time,” Hawks chuckled, throwing his arms behind his head, “I’ve told you this, angel. It was one of our first conversations.”

Your eyes widened at the realization, mouth open with a hearty laugh.

 It made Keigo’s eyes water a little. He blamed it on the wind. 

 “I’m silly, I can’t believe I forgot,” You nestled back into your chair, tracing the lines between constellations. “It’s the whole reason you came to the teashop in the first place.” 

Your voice resonated, focus foggy. Somewhere else, old memories played in your mind, recounting your first few meetings with Hawks.

A warm, small smile stretched across your face as you traced the stars. 

 Keigo watched, enraptured. You were cute, especially like this. All bundled up in your winter coat, half-zipped. There was a lot less stress in your shoulders than he normally saw at the shop, especially as your thoughts were so far away.

He wanted nothing more than to commit the contours and shadows of your face in the white moonlight to memory, never forgotten in the blissful cold. 

 You interrupted his thoughts so beautifully.

 “Thanks for talking to me.” You took a sip from your bottle just after speaking, half-drowning your words, but Keigo caught each one. “I appreciate you.” 

“P-pardon?” Keigo couldn’t tell if you caught his stutter, but even if you did, you didn’t show it. The comment felt like a jab to his jaw, half-knocking the wind of him and turning him into a filthy masochist. He’d take any whiplash if it meant you saying such kindnesses to him. 

How could you just say shit like that?

What exactly did you mean by that?

Why did your attention make his legs tremble?

You turned your attention from the night sky to Hawks, something like uncertainty bubbling in your chest, “I appreciate you, ya’ know? Coming by the tea shop still, teasing each other and shit, you humoring me—”

Hawks interrupted you, feathers tensing at his back.

“I’m not humoring you.” Hawks deadpanned, staring at you oddly seriously. The yolks of his eyes seemed even more intense in the neon and night light. 

“You’re... not?” 

There was utter disbelief in your voice, accented by the way your jaw was half-opened.

Hawks shook his head, standing in emphasis, feathers fluttering as he did, “ No, angel. Not at all. I visit because...”

I like you.

“Because I like your drinks.”

  Because you make me feel good in a way I’ve never felt.

“You’re fun to talk to, too. Added perk.”

  Because I want to hear your voice when I breathe and when I die. 

“I enjoy it, you know? You're fun.”

 Some feeling in your chest, something full of hope, crushed itself and compacted to the point of pain. You sniffled at his admission, blaming it on the cold. In a fucked up, sad way, part of you was so relieved. 

He likes the shop. He likes your drinks. 

He’s around because he wants to be. 

But not because you’re special to him. 

 His words reminded you of your insignificance in Hawks’s life. No matter how much you craved his attention and words, and more recently found yourself staring at the plumpness of his lips and the curve of his cupids bow and daydreaming about how much you wanted to lean over the tea shop's counter and kiss the constant, teasing smile off his face—

But.

You don’t matter that much to him.

Sure, he likes you, but he’ll never feel the same way about you. 

 You made the decision then to make the most out of Hawk’s affections and sweet words. You’d take what you could get, even if it was fleeting and probably  eventually heartbreaking. It seemed smart, to refuse to get your hopes up for someone so unattainable.

 You let out a shaking sigh, “Thank you, Hawks. I appreciate you coming around. You really light up my day.”

 Keigo saw the fall of your face and bottled himself up. Shoved down everything. Fuck his feeling, fuck how he felt about you, this was all fucking terrifying. It was getting to be too much and he had to try and control himself.

Just like he’d been taught so well.

He was just so happy to be around you. He could squash his feelings, even if they were fairly obviously somewhat mutual. God knows that he didn’t know how to handle anything like that.

On the gods, his pager beeped.

 “Duty calls?” You said, standing up yourself and brushing off the stray snowflakes. 

“Seems so.” Hawks sighed, nodding, “Thanks for letting me rest here. It was good to see you, (Y/N). I’ll see you soon, okay?”

You waved goodbye as Hawks disappeared as quickly as he came, launching himself from the roof with the heavy sound of wing beats. 

Soaring away, Keigo risked a final look at you. He swore he saw tears in your eyes.

He forcibly repressed his feelings, reminding himself that your company, words, and quirk-made beverages were more than enough. The flutter in his chest when he thought of you wouldn’t rest, but he could learn to ignore it. 

 On the roof of your apartment, you felt fatigue in your bones and wetness on your cheeks. You ignored both in favor of smoking another cigarette, soft, melancholy music being your only constant, reliable companion. 

You reminded yourself that he, Hawks, was a temporary fixture, more flighty than most and liked you just enough and for surface-level reasons. You could take that. You’d do anything to be around him more, even if it never amounted to anything. 

You, just as Keigo did, pressed down any larger feelings.

 (The thing about feelings, though, that neither of you was very good at remembering, was that they don’t go away. Sure, you can let them go, but that takes time or a practiced mind!)

(When you take feelings, big, aching, soaking feelings and shove them down into the deepest parts of you, they just tend to make you bleed. The ‘hidden’ feelings color your blood as it spills, even if you don’t notice when it falls and its change in hue.)

(One can only hope that both Keigo and you listened instead of lied.)

 Both of your hearts ached, and neither of you fully understood why.

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: The Ghost Gang

Debut: Pac-Man

Fufufu... frighteningly Funky Friday, friends!

This post has been waiting patiently in the drafts since my Pac-Man fixation way back in July, and it has really been about time it gets to be posted. And what better Friday to talk about ghosts than the one before Halloween? I can think of two. One would be Friday the 13th, and the other would be a Friday that Halloween itself falls on. But I’m posting it today! On only the third most ideal of Fridays!

Yes, I’ve already talked at length about some Pac-Man ghosts, but there are so much MORE. And they’re all so wonderful. My Best Ever Characters list includes “Ghosts” in the Namco character section, because they are all so wonderful. And now we’ll talk about some more notable ones!

So, here we have the Ghost Gang of Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde, in and around their Ghost House, in an image I got from the Annoying Orange Wiki. Though I love them all, I’m not gonna talk in depth about ALL of them, and out of these four, I’ll give the spotlight to my darling Clyde.

Look at him. Do you think he’s darling? Yes, you do. You are probably aware that each ghost has their own behavior, and Clyde will target Pac-Man until he gets close enough to him, then entering “scatter mode”, where he will instead move randomly. Why change it up when you’re so close? Does he even WANT to catch him? Well, I have a theory...

The official Pac-Man Twitter has not one, but TWO posts showing Pac and Clyde as friends, emphasizing the importance of kindness. And it’s just Clyde he seems to be friends with... so this has me thinking, they’re Secret Friends! While Clyde is part of the Ghost Gang, he doesn’t actually WANT to attack Pac, so he targets him to make it LOOK like he’s doing his job. When he gets close, he sort of just lingers around to try and seem like he’s doing something while not actively trying to get him. It’s the perfect strategy, and the others have never found out, and Clyde and Pac get to be friends, and it makes me happy.

Before I talk about some more ghosts, I’d like to analyze the ghosts as a whole! Pretty much every Pac-Man game has its own self-contained “canon”, if you can call it that, and each one brings its own interpretation of what the ghosts truly are. And my favorite of those is that of the very first game!

The first Pac-Man has three intermissions, famous for being where the second-most iconic Pac-Jingle is from, but they deserve to be even more famous for how bizarre they get. The first is pretty standard, with Pac being chased by Blinky, only to turn the tables and chase Blinky instead. The second, however, has Blinky get his sheet caught on something sticking out of the ground and rip, revealing a human-like leg! Are the ghosts just people wearing sheets...? Nope! Because in the third and final intermission, Blinky’s sheet comes ALL the way off, revealing him to be some bizarre flesh blob, wearing a sheet! Awesome! Is this true for all four of the ghosts? Is just Blinky hiding this embarrassing secret? Pick whatever explanation you think is funniest!

My SECOND favorite is from Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures, a wacky point-and-click style adventure game where you manipulate Pac’s emotions in order to make him do funny things. I highly respect whoever thought this should be localized as the direct sequel to the most iconic video game of all time. But in this one, the base of villainous operations is a creepy factory, and if Pac gets caught in the machines, he turns into this familiar shape! Is... is this factory MAKING ghosts? Are they artificial? Wow!

The other iterations don’t have nearly as wacky implications for how the ghosts came to be, but I’ll tell them anyway. In the Pac-Man World series, they seem to be naturally occurring creatures native to the Spectral Realm, who entered Pac-Man’s dimension and began to live on Ghost Island. In Ghostly Adventures, they’re the souls that were forcibly extracted by the Pac-People who were on the losing side of a world war that killed Pac-Man’s parents, and are now forced to spend eternity in the Pac-Man equivalent of Hell. Bo-ring!

And now time to talk about even more ghosts you may not know about!

Clyde is the only member of the Ghost Gang I’m actually going to talk about here, because there are so many ghosts that the world needs to know about! Like Orson from Pac-Man World! He built and piloted a scary robot Pac-Man and kidnapped Pac-Man’s friends and family, but he just wanted to be loved. Pac does not accept this as an excuse. He eats Orson without a shred of remorse. I guess it’s justified from his perspective. They become friends later, though! Canon ghost friend!

Speaking of canon ghost friends, there’s Miru from Pac & Pal (she’s the pal)! I know she doesn’t look like a ghost, but she might be one. It’s kind of unclear. But I love her so here she is. She helps Pac by collecting fruit for him, but this gets fewer points than Pac doing it himself, so some players don’t like it. I, however, think it is worth losing a few potential points in order to let Miru feel like she’s helping.

Yet another friendly ghost is Yum-Yum from Junior Pac-Man! She is the daughter of Blinky, and she and Junior just want to be together, but of course, their parents will not allow it. That, however, is what ultimately allows them to be together, as while their parents are off bickering, the two little lovers are able to escape together! How lovely! Too bad Junior Pac-Man is in some bizarre copyright limbo and Yum-Yum never appeared again. Goodbye.

Here we have Bash, who is a somewhat strange character. He looks like he’d be the big bad boss of all the ghosts, right? Maybe even their ruler? Well, maybe he is, but we don’t know, because he was made exclusively for the Pac-Man crossover event in Sonic Dash! He never appeared again! I think he should, though! He’s funny. Despite his apparent authority, he just talks like a school bully.

One of the newest ghosts at the time of writing is Creepy, who as I’m sure you can tell, debuts in the Pac-Man DLC for Minecraft! This DLC is kind of weird. But good weird, because Miru is playable! Her most major role ever! But this is Creepy’s paragraph. He explodes, and this hurts not only the player, but his fellow ghosts, and even destroys walls, which crumble into glitchy text! Especially neat is that, when eaten, his eyes remain black with white pupils as they retreat to the Ghost House!

The VERY newest ghost at the time of writing is Itchy, from Pac-Man Party Royale! Itchy is not a “dangerous” ghost, but a “mischievous” one, and I think that’s great. As far as I know, they are only capable of inverting a player’s controls, but new effects were said to be included at some point. What a pleasant design, too, with the seafoam coloration and black sclerae! And how magical it was to witness a NEW GHOST revealed in real-time, during the time when Pac-Man was all I could think about! What are the odds? The odds were high. It’s the 40th anniversary year.

Finally, I will leave you with this little fellow. He appears in Pac-Man Arrangement, and is constantly vulnerable, even acting like a Power Pellet when eaten! However...

He can combine with the other ghosts to transform them, giving them new abilities! Blinky gains the ability to charge forward, Pinky can now hop to far-off points in the maze, Inky creates a mirror duplicate of himself that mimics his movements, and Clyde wanders around spitting up extra Pac-Dots in places Pac-Man has already been. That’s so cool! I love this ghost! I love that he has cute little nerd glasses, I love his role in the game, everything! Why haven’t we seen more of him? What’s his name, anyway?

I see.

[demisexualemmaswan]

till the summer comes again

Summary:  “I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.”- Lewis Carroll Emma has been dating Killian for two years, and since then their family unit has only gotten closer. But that could change with the arrival of Eloise Gardner, Killian’s ex. Oh, and has Emma mentioned she’s pregnant? Not exactly. A sequel to six impossible things before breakfast. 

[Read on Ao3] A/N: It is 10:40pmEST on my posting date for @csjanuaryjoy​ and here I am getting this right under the wire. I did not intend to be posting this late, nor did I necessarily intend to write a sequel for a fic that I wrote two years ago and quite frankly had no intention of continuing. But here we are.  At any rate: enjoy this CS January Joy fic!  --

Pregnant.

Emma stared at it for what felt like a minute, and then looked at the other one just to be sure.

Pregnant.

And then she picked up the third one just to be safe.

Pregnant.

A veritable tempest of very conflicting emotions all swirled within her. Joy. Excitement. Nervousness. Dread. Fear.

She nearly grabbed her phone to text Killian to tell him right away, but a wave of nausea was stronger than all of it and she put her head in the toilet. “Seriously?” she complained, her hand curling protectively over her stomach. “Your brother Henry wasn’t like this, you know,” she admonished softly.

“Emma?” A hesitant knock sounded at the door, and the timid voice of Alice, Killian’s daughter, wafted in gently. “Emma, are you sure you’re okay? I’m sure Papa wouldn’t mind just bringing some Granny’s home if you wanted to stay in. I could make you some tea while we wait.”

Emma closed her eyes and considered her options as she kept her head pressed against the cool porcelain. On the one hand, staying at home sounded nice. On the other, Henry and Alice cherished family dinner night at Granny’s. They would certainly be flexible if Alice’s concern was anything to go by. But Emma knew that with the teen years on the horizon, they would only get so many more of these together.

“Emma?” Alice repeated.

“Mom?” Henry’s voice joined Alice’s.

“There is no need to get the Spanish inquisition together,” she told them, sitting up. “Something’s not sitting right with me, but I’ll get some soup at the diner and it’ll be fine.”

“Why don’t we go to the diner, make the order to go and then bring it back?” Henry suggested. “That way Mom doesn’t have to sit so long but we can still go!”

“I’ll text Papa!” Alice said excitedly, and Emma heard the thump of her footsteps as she sprinted away from the bathroom door.

Emma just smiled affectionately, even though neither of her kids could see her. She had to stop that thought for a moment, reflecting on how much had changed in the past two years. Ever since that fateful incident with the bullies, she and Killian had worked and built a relationship and a life together.

They’d bought a bigger apartment together, although with two almost teenagers and now a baby on the way she’d have to reconsider her whole living situation and maybe they’d have to buy a house.

She loved the life that she and Killian built so far. He was attentive, caring, and so good with Henry. And she’d come to love Alice’s tender heart, her creativity, and her sweet tooth. Though she hadn’t articulated this to Alice or Killian yet, admittedly too afraid to break the contentment she finally experienced for the first time in her life.

Emma knew, logically, that both Alice and Killian’s hearts were big enough that this would only strengthen things and not break them, but the little lost girl that lived in Emma’s brain loved to remind her of Neal at every opportune moment and stop her from feeling secure in her relationship.

She was working on this. With Archie every week. Sometimes Killian was there and sometimes she was alone. But she was working on it every day. And she wasn’t alone and her relationship baggage. Killian had told her about Milah, who was not Alice’s mom but had been sleeping with him while she was married and that ended poorly. She could see it in the way Killian’s jaw clenched whenever Alice’s mom came up in conversation.

Alice had stopped asking after a while, but the weight of her mother and the unanswered questions sometimes hung in her interactions with Emma.

 “Emma?” Alice had returned to the door.

“Mom, are you dead?” Henry asked worriedly, jiggling the doorknob.

“I’m okay,” Emma called back. “I just…needed a minute.” She quickly cleaned up the mess up so the kids wouldn’t stumble upon the pregnancy tests by accident. She opened the door and soon had her arms full of two twelve-year olds, who she squeezed close to her. “Hey, it’s okay. We’ll still have family dinner, just like always,” she hummed. She leaned over and kissed the top of their heads. “Now go get your shoes.”

Henry dashed away to go get his shoes, but Alice stayed curled in close to Emma for a moment longer.

“You okay, star?” Emma asked softly. Alice smiled a little bit against Emma’s side. The one time Emma had called her “starfish”, Alice had made it abundantly clear that she was only her father’s starfish. So Emma had compromised and asked how she felt about star. So Emma’s star she became.

“Mhmm. Just glad you are too,” Alice said softly, gently squeezing her.

Emma’s nausea greatly protested at the action, but she wouldn’t dare let it show on her face. Alice clearly needed reassurance, which Emma was more than happy to give. “C’mon, let’s go get see your Dad, hmm?”

Alice beamed up at her and raced off into the other room. Emma couldn’t help but smile, knowing that in her heart of hearts that Henry and Alice would be incredible older siblings.

But first she had to tell them.

--

As per their usual tradition, Alice and Henry went scampering off to the jukebox to play some songs, but Killian said that since they were only picking up food to go that they needed to compromise on the song choice rather than switching the two.

Over her shoulder, she could see the two kids having like a good natured argument as they flipped through the song choices. Warmed in thought, she swiveled on the counter stool to look at Killian.

“Are you sure you’re feeling all right, love?” Killian asked worriedly, his hand gently cupping her face.

Two years ago, she certainly would have no idea how integral Killian would become to her well-being. And it wasn’t bad before when she lived alone. She could take care of herself fairly easily and her son.

But to have a true and equal partner, who she could depend on and support, fall back on and push up when they needed meant more than she could say. For the first time in a long time, with Killian,  nothing ever truly felt like that much of a struggle. Sure there were arguments and tension sometimes, but with Killian…she didn’t feel like she was white knuckling her grip through life.

Except for the fact that she was white knuckling a napkin in her hand right now, but that was more from nerves because she wanted to keep things the way they were. They’d never talked about kids, though they were both fairly young parents.

Another child wouldn’t be completely unreasonable.

“Love?” Killian’s voice brought her back out of her head. “Is everything okay?”

Looking into his eyes, Emma was warmed by the love and support she saw there. “Yeah, uh…” she started shyly. Her heart began to pick up faster and faster in her chest. “There’s just…something I need to tell you?”

“You know you can tell me anything,” he murmured, kissing her forehead. She smiled and dropped her head, smiling at her lap.

“Yeah, I know,” Emma laughed softly. “It’s just…” She picked her head back up, only for her smile to fade. Killian’s jaw was clenched tightly and his eyes blazed as he looked beyond her. “Killian?”

“What the hell are you doing here?” Killian snarled, jumping off his stool and striding toward a woman who was now standing near Henry and Alice.

“Hello, Killian.” The woman’s voice seemed pleasant enough, but it struck a chord with Emma in a way she did not enjoy. She leaped off her chair and ushered the children in close to her. The woman narrowed her eyes at Emma. “Who is this? And why is she near my daughter?”

“Your daughter?” Emma repeated, dumbfounded.

“You lost every right to call her that over a decade ago, Eloise,” Killian growled, effectively putting himself between Eloise and Emma. “She’s my daughter. How did you even find us?”

“I was interested in getting to know my daughter a little bit better,” Eloise replied, that too pleasant voice still grating on Emma’s last nerve. “I’ll certainly be seeing you all very soon.”

Emma felt Alice’s quivering against her side, and she held the girl a little bit closer. “It’s okay,” she whispered, watching Eloise’s retreating form. “You’re okay…”

“Papa?” Alice asked gently, gingerly peeking her head around Emma. “Papa, is she really my mother?”

Killian sighed, running a hand through his hair, clearly taking in the confused and devastated look from his daughter. His gaze met Emma’s, looking for a courage or absolution, she wasn’t sure quite which. But she was more than happy to grant it to him.

She certainly was no stranger to shitty exes.

So she nodded and gave him a small smile, doing her best to communicate with him that it was okay, that they would work through this new trial together.

Killian exhaled calmly, and a little smile crossed his face as well.

--

When they got home, Alice and Killian went to Alice’s room to talk privately.

“Shouldn’t this be a family conversation?” Henry asked worriedly. “What if she comes back when Alice and I are at school or something?”

“It is not our place to demand to be a part of that conversation,” Emma said patiently. “If Neal came back, do you think you’d want Alice to know right away or would you rather talk to me first?”

“I’d definitely want to talk just us first,” Henry admitted. “But I’d still want to tell Alice.”

“I think she will,” Emma laughed softly, kissing his head. “Just give her some time. It’s…it’s hard for her.”

“So what can I do, Mom?” Henry asked, his gaze flickering to Alice’s closed door. “Alice is my best friend, she’s practically my sister. I don’t want her to feel like she has to do this by yourself.”

She proudly smiled at her son, her heart near fit to burst. Henry’s acceptance of Killian only reaffirmed that he would make a fantastic older brother to his new brother or sister when the time came. “They really are our family, aren’t they?” she asked softly.

Henry nodded, grinning from ear to ear. “Nice of you to catch up,” he teased, his hazel eyes sparkling with mirth. The joy faded for a moment when he added, “But seriously, Mom? How am I supposed to help her?”

Emma reached across the table to hold her son’s hand. “I think you just ask her how you can best support her and follow her lead. She’ll tell you whatever she’s ready to tell. And if she doesn’t want to talk about it and not want to think about it, then you can distract her and make her feel better.”

Henry thought over this advice before hugging her again. “I love you, Mom.”

“Love you too, kid,” Emma said softly, kissing his head as she cupped the back of it. “You know you’ll always be number one in my life?” she asked him.

“Yeah,” Henry said. “But I can make room for some other people if need be.”

“Good,” Killian replied softly. “The Jones are quite so lucky to be loved by the Swans.”

She was so focused in giving Henry advice that she didn’t even see Killian enter the room until Henry got up to hug him tightly. Killian squeezed him before adding roughly, “Alice is playing Smash Brothers if you want to go play with her.”

Henry dashed off, leaving the two adults in the room alone.

Killian was quiet for a moment before he gently pulled Emma into his arms. “I don’t think I tell you what a good job you’ve done with him on your own,” he told her softly against her hair. “He’s an incredible young lad and his heart is so big…he’s really become such an incredible man without the presence of Neal…”

“He’s so lucky to have men like David and you in his life,” Emma murmured, wrapping her arms around him to give him all the comfort he could want. She held him for a moment longer before asking, “So, how can I best support you, Killian?” He took in a shuddering breath and she squeezed him.

“Whatever your history with that woman is, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” Emma promised softly against his skin. “You know I’m always going to see the best in you.”

“And I you,” Killian promised, kissing the top of her hair. “Can we…can we go to the couch?” he asked and she nodded, gently pulling him along to the living room. She sat, and looked back at Killian and tilted her head as he watched her appraisingly. “Are you feeling better? The kids were saying you were poorly.”

“If we’re gonna do some sharing, I can share after,” Emma said, her heartbeat picking up again as she thought about telling him about her pregnancy.

Killian sat across the couch from her and gently took his hand in hers. “I…I was young. Just broken up with Milah and just…not wanting to deal with the pain of losing her. So I was a bit…promiscuous, thinking it would just make it stop hurting.”

“I’m sure you never ran in short supply,” Emma teased lightly, just wanting to see the smile back in his eyes.

He huffed a laugh and gave her a small but cheeky smile. “Aye, my partners certainly never complained except if they were telling me not to stop.” She smiled and gently squeezed his hand again. “And one night I met Eloise at the bar.”

He stopped, looking down again. Her thumb gently dragged across his knuckles and she waited for him to speak again. She didn’t say anything, just kept the drag of her thumb across his knuckles consistent.

“I didn’t…I wasn’t…” Killian sighed. “I thought I’d made it clear that I didn’t want anything beyond a one night stand. But she kept coming to the bar. Or my coffee shop and…and she was a distraction. We didn’t do much talking. And it felt good…”

“But she kept pushing your boundaries and you were so hurt, and she made you forget that you hurt that it didn’t seem important to reinforce them,” Emma blurted out, guessing the story. His eyebrow raised a little and he pulled her into his lap with a strained laugh. “Trust me, babe,” she replied. “How do you think I ended up with Neal?”

Killian nuzzled her shoulder for a moment, as if to soothe the sting of the past. “It gets worse,” he admitted quietly. “She…she kept seeking me out to get pregnant on purpose. So she could trap me with her.”

“Oh my god,” Emma breathed in deeply, looking over her shoulder quickly to make sure Alice didn’t hear that part. “How did you get out with Alice?”

“A few weeks after Alice was born, I came home and she was just…gone. She left a note saying she wouldn’t be bound any longer and good luck,” Killian said wryly. “Little did she know that she gave me the greatest blessing of my life and it led me to the second greatest blessing of my life.”

“Granny’s?” Emma teased weakly, resting her head against his.

“Aye,” he laughed, kissing her shoulder. “Granny’s.” He closed his eyes for a moment, and her entire body seemed to relax in his hold. Even her nausea seemed to settle, knowing that he was here and holding her. “Is there something you wanted to tell me, love?”

Suddenly Emma’s whole world crashed down her ears, and her old wounds came kicking and screaming to the surface. She couldn’t possibly tell him right on the heels of that. What if he really wouldn’t be happy about having another baby? What if he thought she was trapping him just like Eloise did with him?

“Just that, um, I might take a personal day tomorrow so if you wanted to take Alice out of school, she and I can have a girl’s day,” Emma said softly, curling into him, hating how her nausea had returned full force.

Killian stilled, eying her again. After a moment, he seemed satisfied with what she’s said and relaxed as he held her close to his chest. “I love you, Emma,” he murmured softly. “So much.”

“Yeah,” Emma replied hollowly. “I love you too.”

--

Emma made sure to make Alice’s favorite breakfast—sunny side up eggs with a side of scrambled toast and orange marmalade—before the girl woke. She even made a plate for herself, delighted that her future child would give her something to eat.

When Alice walked into the room, her eyes lit up at the breakfast. “Is this for me?” she asked excitedly.

Emma laughed. “Of course. I figured you’d like your favorite breakfast on your day off,” she said, pushing the plate toward Alice.

“Your stomach seems to enjoy the marmalade,” Alice giggled. “I told you marmalade is great!”

“When you’re right, you’re right,” Emma said fondly. “Well, today is your day and we can do whatever you want?”

“Whatever?” Alice asked hopefully, her blue eyes sparkling with joy. “Anything I want?”

“Yeah, it’s a self-care day!” Emma laughed. “So you tell me what you want to do today and we’ll do it!”

“Can we go to the library?” Alice seemed to get more excited by the minute. “And then the bakery?”

“You got it, star,” Emma said softly, grinning fondly. “And if you wanna talk, that’s okay. And if you don’t want to talk, we don’t have to do that either.”

The use of her nickname made Alice pause, picking nervously at her crust. “Emma?” she asked softly. “If…if Eloise becomes part of my life…am I still your star?”

“Of course,” Emma replied without any hesitation. “You’re my star, and yo—I mean Eloise can’t take that away from us. And just because she gave birth to you doesn’t mean she has to be part of your life if you don’t want her to be.”

“Will you get jealous if I do?” Alice asked quietly, still picking at the crust of her toast.

“I mean, I’ll miss you if you choose to spend more time with her,” Emma said honestly. “I like hanging out with you. Video game nights with you and Henry are my favorite. But also…if this is what’s going to make you happy, then of course I’m going to support you.” She leaned over and tapped Alice’s nose. “Besides…you have your father’s heart. I know you have plenty of love in your heart.”

Alice looked at her, the same way Killian had the night before. And then she gently leaned over to hug Emma tightly. “I love you, Emma,” the girl promised.

Emma would definitely blame the pregnancy hormones for the way she teared up and held Alice even closer to her. “I love you too,” she whispered. “And I can’t wait to spend the day with you, star. Should we go to the library first?”

“Yeah!” Alice said excitedly and bounded out of the room with unbridled enthusiasm.

Emma worked on getting dressed, pausing only once to run her hand over her bump, before heading out with Alice. She was relieved to see Alice’s viviacious spirit returned as Alice talked about all the books she wanted to read, what books she’d been waiting for, and what books the girls in her class were reading.

They were only a few blocks away when Emma had the strangest feeling something was wrong. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Eloise following them, but Emma made sure that she kept Alice close.

She wasn’t entirely sure why Eloise was so close, and she hoped it was a coincidence. The lack of formal channels or communications made her nervous and Emma was worried about making a wrong move.

“Emma, can we go to the second floor first?” Alice asked, gently tugging on her hand. “That’s where are the old books are!”

“Lead the way,” Emma chuckled warmly. She made sure to duck around some shelves when they entered to see if Eloise was still following them. When Emma didn’t see her on the second floor, she let out quick sigh of relief, and watched Alice scamper down the aisle.

And then something collided with the back of her head and everything went black.

--

Emma had the faintest memory of weakly calling for Alice, for her daughter, faces swimming around her while her hand stayed firmly around Alice’s and then everything went dark again.

But she knew she was in a hospital bed now, she recognized the beep of the machines anywhere.

“Of course I want to bloody press charges!” Killian’s voice was a little too loud, but she was thankful that he was there. If he was with her, it meant Alice and Henry were safe. “She hurt Emma! She was going to kidnap Alice!”

He sighed, deflating a little bit at whatever response David gave him. “Yes, I can bring her down tomorrow to be interviewed. Emma is gonna need some rest…your detectives will have to come here, as Emma’s under observation for another day or too…”

Emma forced her eyes open and gently squeezed his hand. Killian’s head snapped toward her and his eyes filled with tears. “She’s waking up. Tell Alice and Henry that we love them so much and it’s all going to be just fine. Yeah. I’ll speak to your later Dave.” Emma couldn’t even get a breath in edgewise before Killian frantically pressed his lips to hers. “Hey,” she rasped softly. “I’m okay.”

“Aye, I know,” Killian choked out. “Eloise is my…but I still…and then the doctor told me that you…” His eyes searched hers and he realized. “That’s what you wanted to tell me yesterday, wasn’t it? That’s why you were ill…”

“I’m sorry,” Emma said quietly. “I was so scared that after seeing Eloise you’d think I was trying to trap you in a life with me.”

“Emma,” Killian whispered softly, crushing his forehead against hers. “How could you possibly think that I’d be trapped in any kind of life with you? I love you more than anything besides our children.”

“Old wounds,” she replied softly. “Between the first time I did this alone and Eloise making an untimely reappearance I just…my fear got the best of me. I figured I could wait until things settled down before telling you…I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

He laughed wetly, gently pebbling her face with kisses. “Emma…you are such an extraordinary woman. My ex attacks you, and you’re still apologizing to me.”

“You do deserve an apology,” Emma said tiredly. “I hurt you but in a different way…”

“You didn’t hurt me,” Killian promised. “You were trying to protect yourself from being hurt, and I’ll be honest…if you told me last night, I would’ve had a meltdown.” He nudged his nose gently to hers before kissing her cheek. “But if it means that much…you’re forgiven, love. I’m just so happy you and the babe are safe.”

“How are the kids?” Emma asked weakly. “How did Alice get away?”

“She started screaming bloody murder when she saw it happen,” he explained, his fingers dancing gently across Emma’s skin with the utmost love and reverence, and maybe to reassure himself she was still there. “And the librarian knew you were her mother, rather than Eloise who tried to tell the police that her daughter was having a psychotic break.”

Emma sat up abruptly, torn between the desire to find her daughter and comfort her and find Eloise and just start swinging. Killian seemed to read her mind and gently placed his hand on her shoulder so she’d rest again.

 “So just to make sure…you’re okay with having a baby with me?” Emma asked.

“As if flowers mind the summer sun,” Killian replied tenderly.

“Well, technically too much sun tries up the flowers and—” He silenced her with a kiss that had her smiling against his lips. “Point taken.”

“Should we start thinking of names?”

But it was Alice and Henry who had named their little sister when she came into the world seven months later. They named her after the thing that they always got from being with one another: Hope.

[silverwhiteraven]

Wings of Broken White - Ch. 4

Tag List: @marichatmay

[ Posted on Ao3 ] [ Chapter 1 ] [ Chapter 3 ] [ Chapter 5 ]

[ Summary: Alya takes Marinette somewhere, and it turns cute. ]

Alya decided that Marinette wasn’t getting out enough despite the fact that they shouldn't be going anywhere when it was still late winter.

“Girl, you hardly go anywhere anyways unless it’s for someone else!” Alya argues as she dragged a snugly bundled Marinette down snow and salt dusted sidewalks.

“Hey, I went to the school’s Valentine’s party last month, that should count for something!”

Allya scoffed at the weak defense. “You were, like, a ninth-wheel, Marinette. Rose and Juleka, Nathaniel and Marc, Mylène and Ivan, Nino and I, we were the wheels on that bus. You on the other hand…” She trailed off to emphasize her point.

Marinette scoffed. “I think you missed a set of wheels, Als. Max and Kim were there. Chloé and Adrien showed up, too.” 

“Max was there sporting an Aro-pride flag pin and keeping Kim company,” Alya shot back. “They were just being single-wheels, together. And Adrien, with Chloé? More like she had kidnapped him to a secondary location! Adrien clearly wasn't the one to decide to show up. And remember the color coded cups? He was using the one for the ‘Single, just here to support my friends’ category. Just like Max, just like you. So my point still stands: You need to get out more often, just for yourself.”

Marinette sighed, relenting. “Fine, but next time, I get to decide where I go, so no more surprise trips.”

“Yesss,” Alya pumped her fist in the air victoriously, her wings spreading out, too. Marinette laughed and pushed her hand back down to her side while she dodged out of the way of one fairly the overexcited wing.

“Anyways, where are we going? You said something about, ‘You’re going to love it, my treat!’” Marinette quoted in an exaggerated mimic of Alya’s voice, causing both girls to burst into giggles.

“Just a café,” Alya says coyly, almost teasingly. It made Marinette squint in suspicion.

“It wouldn’t happen to be the same café you mentioned two weeks ago on the Ladyblog, right? The one they planned to theme after Paris’s new heroes?” Marinette asked, teasing her friend right back with her confident guess.

“You remembered! Yep, that’s the place! And it’s not just any regular themed café, either. It’s a cat café,”Alya revealed dramatically, while spreading her wings again to wrap them both in a mock cocoon of unnecessary but playful secrecy. Marinette balked.

“Wait, so you’re basically taking me to a ‘Chat Blanc emphasis-on-the-Chat’ Café?”

Alya snorted, pulling her wings back. “Yes, but it’s actually called ‘Hero Rescue Café’. They work together with the animal shelters around Paris, most of the cats they have are available for adoption. The profits are even donated back to those shelters to help keep the animals cared for. Isn’t that cool?”

“Mhm,” Marinette nodded along as Alya continued to rave excitedly and lead the way to their destination. I wonder if they’ll have any cats that look like Blanc? Probably not. Blue-eyed white cats were already popular, and no doubt are even more so now. Not that I could adopt a cat anyways, but it’s a niche thought. Wait, why is it a nice thought? It’s not like I like Chat Blanc or anything, no way! I don’t do crushes! Oh, who am I kidding? Marinette groaned in defeat to her own thoughts, making Alya stop talking and look at her.

“Something wrong, Marinette?”

“Oh! Sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you, I was just thinking about how sad I’m going to be if I see a cat I really want to keep but can’t?”

Alya nodded in acceptance of the awkward excuse, and Marinette sighed in relief. I can never tell her about my crush- I’m scared to find out what kind of match-maker she would try to be. Or even worse, tell me I have no chance! I mean, I know I have no chance, but still, ow. Would Ladybug have a chance? Wait, she and I are the same person! If I don’t have a chance, neither does Ladybug! Hold on, why am I even thinking about this!?

“We’re here~!” Alya announced, breaking Marinette free once more from her internal chaos.

“Is that a cat in the window? There’s a cat in the window!” Marinette let herself get distracted by the café and Alya laughed.

“Duh there's a cat in the window, it’s a cat café, what else would be in the window?” She teased, but Marinette only laughed.

“Well I know that, but I can still be excited over a cat, can’t I?”

“Save it for when we go inside,” Alya winked, opening the door for them both. There was a second set of doors past the first, and Marinette realized that they did the smart thing and made an enclosed entryway.

“Oh, this is to keep the cats from dashing outside, like at a dog park,” she mused, making Alya chuckle.

“Yeah, and gives people a fur-free place to hang up their coats. Oh, look!” She added excitedly, pointing to the opposite wall from the hanger rod. There was something that almost looked like a long shawl or a barber cape. Marinette recognized it easily. “They have wing-covers for patrons to borrow, in case we don’t want the cat’s playing with our feathers. That’s so thoughtful. They really went all-out on this place.”

Marinette smiled and nodded in agreement as she slid off her jacket and hung it up. “It really is sweet of them. Are you going to use one?” Alya shook her head.

“Nope. My wing’s are tough, I can handle a few clingy kitties,” she declared with a proud smile, and Marinette only chuckled as she opened the next set of doors for them both.

Unsurprisingly, Marinette enjoyed the café. She spent a lot of time admiring their logo that was embedded in the resin coating of their tables. The stylized lettering was inspired by some of the animal-themed Akumas. Then the entire name was encircled by the white belt of Chat Blanc and the red and black yo-yo of Ladybug. Symbolic of two heroes saving those in need. They really thought this out. Maybe Ladybug should show her respect here some time.

Surprisingly, the café’s cats also enjoyed Marinette. Alya was convinced they had met every single cat in the building before they even got their drinks. Marinette was just embarrassed and spent a lot of time spreading her attention between each feline before shooing them all off towards other guests. One of the cats, sleek black with yellow-flecked green eyes, was too stubborn to leave, so she let him claim her lap indefinitely. 

But, completely unbelievably, the café got a surprise guest. Chat Blanc himself showed up out of the blue. Alya had spotted him running across a rooftop across the street, and proceeded to book it out the door, fly after him, and then shamelessly ask to take a photo of him with the cats that were inside the café inspired by him and his partner. He was stunned at first, but agreed, soon enough beaming happily as he surrounded himself with cats.

“Is he crying?” Marinette whispered to Alya as she recorded the feline hero sitting on the floor with at least five different cats climbing his back, shoulders, and into his lap.

“The happiest tears I’ve ever seen,” Alya confirmed.

Once Alya was satisfied she had taken enough pictures and video footage for the blog, she turned her focus to getting a few personal memorabilias.

“Mari! Come here! Take a pic of me with Chat, please? I want something for my desktop background, this would be perfect!”

Marinette agreed, to the annoyance of the cat in her lap. She managed to get the photo, a cute scene of Alya, her nerdy school friend, and Chat Blanc, her dorky friend-but-only-because-she’s-secretly-Ladybug, doing a silly pose with their arms linked, wings flared out, and several cats surrounding them.

She gave a thumbs up, and Alya whooped, standing to take back the phone. Marinette stepped forward, only for the clingy black cat from earlier to entangle himself with her ankles.

With a squawk, she went tumbling, but was deftly caught in the arms of Chat before she could meet an untimely end via a floor of cats.

Marinette flushed scarlet. Chat Blanc smiled shyly. The black cat jumped up on them, getting his lap-seat back. Alya, of course, got another photo.

All three of them managed to laugh it off, but not without Alya demanding another picture of the two and the cats before she would let them stand up.

“Marinette, I’m texting you copies to keep for yourself. Sorry, Chat, I’d send you some but-”

“No worries,” he chuckled and rubbed his neck, waving her concern away with his other hand. “Secret identity means secret number. You’ll be using your own pictures on your computer, though, right? Consider me honored by that,” he bowed dramatically and the two laughed as he straightened. “And Marinette, I’d be more than happy to let you do the same if you wanted, too,” he played the comment off with a wink.

“Time for me to go,” Chat Blanc continued before either girl could respond. “Chat out!”

They watched him dash out the doors and off over the rooftops.

“Girl...Did he just flirt with you?” Alya looked at Marinette, awestruck.

“What? No! There’s no way! Nope!” Marinette flustered and started walking out in a feeble attempt to escape the accusation.

“Uh-huh, because feeling ‘honored’ to be a screensaver for one girl and being ‘happy’ in case it were to happen by a second girl, is totally the same thing,” Alya followed after, determined to tease the life out of Marinette.

“Yes, exactly! Completely the same! It would have just been awkward to say the same line twice, so he just reworded himself, that's all! He was just giving permission to use his picture for personal use, nothing more, nope!”

Alya laughed before winking playfully. “Yeah, girl, sure. That was all, nothing more, nothing less. Whatever you say.”

“Thank you,” Marinette nodded in finality, ignoring the teasing sarcasm from her friend.

Later that day, Marinette saved one of the café photos as her phone’s background, making sure to put a completely different photo as her lockscreen to avoid any further notice or teasing about her and Chat Blanc.

[some-dr-writings]

Teruteru x M!Reader One-shot: Please Understand My Feelings!

Teruteru was so absolutely excited today! It was his birthday and there was only one thing he wanted. He wanted you! Well, that could be rephrased. To tell you he loved you! And he also wanted you. The two of you were instantly best friends the moment you met! You were hot, loved his cooking, and were overall an awesome and fun person to be with. Teruteru had tried confessing before but he always chickened out or turned it into another one of his innuendo laden remarks even when he was trying not to do that. But not today! He was going to confess to you no matter what it took! Even if it meant making the event into an extravagant show!... E-even if he had to outright just say it plainly. He’d rather just cook you something with “I love you” on the top. He wasn’t sure his heart could take saying it out loud. Even thinking about it sent his poor little heart a flutter beating faster and faster till Teru passed out. But hopefully it wouldn’t come to that. Maybe. Please.

Taking a deep breath, he pressed send on the text asking you to meet him in his lab for breakfast… At three in the morning. He needed time to cook and prepare. And he also couldn’t sleep a wink. He prepared an entire feast. He poured his soul into his dishes, needing everything to be absolutely perfect!

“Hanamura?” “Ah, Y/N. Perfect timing! Just take a seat and I’ll be out in a moment!” This was it; THIS WAS IT! He was finally going to confess to you and through his greatest passion no less! This was going to be the best confession! He had to take several trips in order to get all the dishes out to you. “What’s with the domes over everything?” You lightly scratched you head in confusion seeing most everything had a dome covering it. Teru normally only used those things when the food needed to be kept hot or needed moisture. In fact, because of the moisture Teru avoided the things since it could so easily ruin the food. “Should I remove them before the food get’s spoiled?” “No, no, no. The food’s fine. But if you simply can’t resist you can take a peek.” Though he said that, he wanted to see your reaction, but who was he to deny you satisfying your curiosity. Much to his delight you did in fact wait for him, tenderly smiling and giving him a small wave in greeting.

With flourish Teru removed the domes from each of the dishes revealing what was inside. Steamed rice in a heart shaped bowl with Natto in a heart shape on top, Miso soup with heart shaped tofu, eggs and bacon systematically placed to make a heart shape as well as the aebleskivers too, a German pancake drizzled in lemon, berries placed atop it spelling “I love you”, more berries spelling out his feelings atop French toast and pancakes and crapes and other such items. You gasped at the sight of it all. Everything glistened in a beautiful sheen, all the baked items were that perfect, crisp, golden-brown color. All the delectable smells melded together yet were still distinct making your mouth water from it all. Cutting a piece from the German pancake and French toast your ears tingled hearing that light crunch. You sighed and awed as the delectable tastes simply melted in your mouth and on your tongue. “This is amazing!” Your cheeks were sore from how much you were smiling.

Meanwhile Teru stared at you absolutely baffled. Did… did you not notice? But HOW!? “Uh, but don’t you notice anything about your breakfast today?” “Hmm? Well… I notice there’s a lot more than usual, and there’s lots of hearts and you wrote ‘I love you’ a few times, but… Ah, I guess I didn’t really notice since I was expecting it!” … WHAT!? D-did you know already he liked you!? For how long!? “Today’s your birthday! It’s important to tell yourself you love yourself today! And I can taste it as well! I’m glad you have so much passion for your wellbeing!”

In that moment Teru began to question his life choices and how those lead him to falling so hard for such a sweet and kind dolt to the point of finding this alarming yet endearing at the same time. All he could bring himself to do was gently pat you on the head as you eagerly enjoyed your meal.

Alright, so breakfast was a bust, but Teru had other ideas for how to confess to you! “Ah! Class is starting soon! We should get going. I’ll come back at break to clean up, alright? I can at least do that so you can just enjoy today and relax!” You quickly got up from your seat and made your way for the door. “Now, hold on. I don’t want you slaving away cleaning dishes on my birthday.” He pinned you to the wall or tried to. He just slapped his hands against the wall blocking your way. “Kabedon?... Hanamura I think you’re a little short for this.” “I-what? NO! Listen to me! I much rather have you all to myself today.” “… OH! Yeah, I’m cool with hanging out! But… I do have a birthday surprise I’m still preparing so I can’t be with you all day, but when I have free time, I’ll come find you! Now let’s get to class before we’re late.” … Perhaps Teru should have been a bit more specific in his wording. Oh well. If you were going to be spending most of the day with him, at least that gave him more opportunities to confess. Or at this rate just keep trying too.

In class Teru wrote ‘I love you, Y/n. Yours truly Teruteru Hanamura’ on a piece of paper and folded it into a paper plane. Then ever so carefully, he tossed it to you. “Hmm?” You examined the paper for a moment before noticing Teru was waving at you. You waved back before your attention was drawn back to the plane. Teru intently watched as you began writing on the page! Oh no. What were you going to say? Did you like him back, did you not? What were you going to say!? Then you tossed it back! Unfolding the page Teru realized you just filled out the math sheet and never looked at the back where his message was. He was going to attempt this again this time with a complexly blank page but Miss Yukizome noticed and put a stop to it.

Okay, something else! Instead Teru wrote you a letter pouring all his feeling onto the page! THIS had to work! “Y/N! I need you to read this right now!” “Huh? Okay!” Teru fidgeted as you took what felt to be forever and a day reading that letter. “You used the wrong ‘your’ and ‘you’re’ through the whole thing. You are missing a few commas on the fifth, sixth, twelfth, and eighteenth lines. And… the line where you call me a hot stallion, I think you mean to compare me to a hot stallion. Now if you excuse me, I have a phone call to make!” Before leaving you passed him the letter back.

… Maybe writing his feelings out was the problem! “Mioda! I need your help!”

Finding it difficult to hear her on the other line you put in ear buds and turned your volume up hoping that would help. Unfortunately, she was also in a crowd, so it only helped so much. As you exited the building you found a stage had been set up. Not even a moment later you got a text from Chiaki asking you to come to said stage. And so, you did. Still trying to make the call work.

You were incredibly confused seeing Ibuki, Chiaki, Nagito, Kazuichi and Teruteru on stage, everyone with an instrument of some sort except for Teru who stood before a microphone. They began to play something, but of course in that moment your special guest was at a crucial juncture and you had to help her with directions and finding landmarks. You texted Chiaki an apology saying you had to go and would likely be busy for a while.

Of course as you were walking away was when the heart shaped fireworks went off and Teru belted out his feelings in an impromptu speech.

Teru sighed in defeat, falling to his knees seeing you dash away. “Y/n, darlin’ why must you be so elusive, like making the perfect mix of spices for Mama’s sweet and spicy chicken skewers.” Kazuichi kneeled down beside Teru, lightly patting his back. “Sorry man. Maybe next time.” Chiaki placed down the bass guitar she held and took out her Gameboy. “Yeah. You haven’t lost any lives yet. Keep trying and you’ll get him to notice… eventually.” Kazuichi nervously scratched his cheek as he stood up. “Yeah, that guy’s always been oblivious. Even from the start.” “Yes, I knew that when I fell for him.” Teru took out his phone, looking though the notes for ideas he came up for confessing to you. “Thank you for trying to help me.” Seeing what the next plan was, he got to his feet reinvigorated. “Alright! There’s only so many hours left in the day; I better get started on my next plan!” “Wonderful!” Of course, Nagito had to speak. “Go Hanamura! With that blooming hope in your heart go after Y/N!” Before Nagito could go on another of his hope rants, Teruteru ran away.

As you were rounding the corner to your dorms Teru jumped out dressed in a white suit with a bouquet in hand. “Y/N, watch this video!” “H-huh? Uh, sure?” The video was about the language of flowers and their meanings. When the video was finished you found Teru kneeling on one knee. “Cool. Though I’m not sure you have to get a bouquet of flowers meaning ‘I love you’ to show me the video. And I think kneeling like that is bad for people’s posture. If you’ll excuse me, I need to get to my dorm to check my reservation.” All Teru could do was just stand there dumbfounded. “… HOW!?”

You hurriedly placed on your windbreaker as you slammed the door open. “Hanamura? What are you doing here? And with an umbrella?” “Y/N, it’s raining! Share this umbrella with me!” “What? But there’s not a cloud in the sky. Wait, then why is there rain?” “Just… if you’d like please share this umbrella with me.” “Uh…” You walked out into the precipitation and looked up. “Oh. Hanamura, it’s fine.” You then waved up at the dorm ceiling. “Hey! Souda! Could you turn off the water hose and stop pointing it over Hanamura? He thinks it’s raining!” After a moment Kazuichi face-palmed and dropped the hose. “Hanamura, I think this is a lost cause.” Then Nagito popped out of the window to his dorm room. “Just hold on to that beautiful hope inside you! I believe in you Hanamura!” “Uhh, anyway! Hanamura! Your birthday surprise is ready! Well more like on it’s way. But! Please, please, please, come with me! I promise you won’t regret it!” “… Sure. I’ll come with you.” “Heck yeah! C’mon! We’ve waisted enough time already, I’m already a little late!”

“Hurry, Hanamura! We’ll be late!” “I-I’m hurrying as fast as I can!” You took Teru’s hand and dragged him along at your breakneck speed. “We can’t miss the train! Hurry up!” “Train?”

“T-thank goodness. We got here in time.” You both collapsed onto the train seats, completely winded, desperately catching your breath. “Yay. We made it before rush hour.” You slumped in your seat, looking out the window at that gorgeous sunset. You so goofily smiled to yourself imagining Teru’s reaction to your gift. You just couldn’t wait. “Hey, Hanamura. You just as excited as I am? … Hmm?” You got no response. “Hanamura? HANAMURA!”

…

You sighed in relieved seeing him waking up. “Just in time, we’re almost at our stop!” “Huh? Wa-? What happened?” “Uh, once we were on the train you keeled over and started foaming at the mouth. But you seem okay now! I think. How are you feeling? Please be okay.” “Oh, no, no, darlin’ I’m fine.” He was snapped out of that haze realizing he accidently let his accent slip out! Hopefully you didn’t notice. “Ah, your accent!” Of course you notice that! OF COURSE!... At least you seemed happy to hear it.

Once you got off at your train platform you swiftly lead Teru to a car lot. “You rented a car?” “Yeah! I’ve been saving for months for this and other things, and even took driving lessons for this, but it’s worth it! C’mon! Get in! We can’t be late!” You dragged him in by the collar of his shirt, too excited to wait for him.

“This shouldn’t be a long trip, but if you want, you could turn on the radio.” Taking you up on your offer he flipped it on, hoping it could distract him from wondering where you were taking him. A farm for fresh ingredients? But you said it wasn’t far and you were still in the city. A love hotel perhaps! That’d be a dream come true! Before his mind could start to run wild, he noticed the song that was playing. Yuki no Hana, Snow Flower. A classic. Odd it was playing though since it wasn’t winter yet. The song was literally about watching the snowfall with a lover. “… Y/N.” “Yeah.” “This song reminds me of you.” “… I remind you of winter?” “No, the other part.” “… Uh… The coming of winter?” “No, not winter.” “OH! About helping one another through hard times! Always being together!” Teru was silent for a moment, just taking in that moment. “Yeah. That part.” You weren’t wrong… It was close enough. “I’d like to stay by your side too! You’re my best friend.”

…

Maybe the only way to get it though your thick skull was to just out right, out loud, say it. But the question was… could he bring himself to tell you so directly without chickening out like he had done in the past.

“An airport?” You giddily chuckled seeing Hanamura trying to puzzle out why the two of you were here of all places. Once you finally found a parking space, you immediately stepped out to make a call. You then lead Teru into the airport. You looked around, trying to figure out if you had missed her already. “Did we pass by already?” “Mama!? Is that you!?” Teru raced to the woman, giving her the tightest hug he could. “Teru, my baby!” “Mama! How are you here! What about the diner!?” She simply pointed to you, who was mumbling to yourself about how she said she’d be by the shops which was where you were. “Y/N.” “The little sweetie. He’s been planning this for months now. Saving up money for plane tickets, my hotel, and covering the payment I would have gotten from working. The dear even tried tracking down your brother and sister but there just wasn’t enough time before your birthday.” The woman gently pat your arm, finally getting your attention. “Huh-Oh! There you are ma’am! I thought we missed you. Ah, let me take your luggage! I’ll take it all to the car while you and your son catch up!” “… Y/N.” “Yeah, Hanamura? OH! I forgot! Happy birthday! That’s what you were expecting, right? Sorry? I got caught up in th-” “I love you so much.” You simply stared at Teru as a bright red dusted your cheeks. “You… you love me? Wait…” One could see the cogs turning in your head as your blush darkened and spread to the tips of your ears. “I’M SO SORRY! I DIDN’T REALIZE SOONER!” “Sweetie-” He held one of your hands in both of his. “YOU WERE TRYING TO TELL ME ALL DAY!” “Darlin’-” “YOU LITERALLY WROTE ‘I LOVE YOU’ IN BERRIES!” “Y/N-” I’M SO SORRY I DIDN’T NOTICE! HOW COULD I BE SO DUMB!? I’VE HAD A CRUSH ON YOU SINCE WE MET! I LOVE YOU AND I DIDN’T EVEN NOTICE YOU-… you love… me too…” You buried your ever-reddening face in your hands realizing what you just said. “… So Mama, this is my boyfriend, Y/N.” “H-hi, Ma’am.” Teruteru’s mother simply looked at you two happily yet with confusion evident in her eyes. “I thought you two were already boyfriends since you write so much about Y/N in your letters and how Y/N went to all the effort to get me here.” “M-Mama! I-I don’t write about him that much in my letters!” “Oh, my mistake, there’s some other sweetest, kindest, most selfless dope in the world you’ve been trying to confess to for the past few months?” “YOU’VE BEEN TRYING TO TELL ME FOR MONTHS!?”

This… was certainly not how Teru imagined getting together with you but thinking about it on the ride to the hotel you got for his mother. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

[cheri-translates]

[CN] 100 Days - Gavin (Day 51 - 100)

🍒 Warning: This post contains detailed spoilers for e-mails which have not been released in English servers! 🍒

What’s the 100 Days Companionship Event?

Day 1 - 3: here

Day 4 - 30: here

Day 31 - 50: here

Day 51

I watched the video of the “police cat” you sent me. Next time, we can have a cat and a dog. Training them together would be pretty nice.

Day 52

I’ve completed the riddle game you recommended. Those people who left comments saying it was difficult are at a certain level.

Day 53

The rice cooker cake you made is very delicious. I’m filled with veneration for my rice cooker - I’ve watched it since it was small.

Day 54

I happened to meet the little kid we sent home the last time. She asked why the Pretty Sister wasn’t around. So is the Pretty Sister resting well?

Day 55

Tried making curry. I’ve tasted it, and it’s not bad. Next time, teach me something else.

Day 56

I bought you milk tea, and hope your week can be a little sweeter.

Day 57

Eli said that the picture I’m using as my phone wallpaper would have looked even better if the angle was tilted slightly. What does he know? You look pretty no matter what.

Day 58

It does feel different eating ice-cream when the weather is cold. But it isn’t good for your stomach, so I’m confiscating half.

Day 59

If you feel cold, you can put your hand into my pocket anytime.

Day 60

This morning, I realised that the tallest tree in the city had white leaves. When I leaned over to take a look, I saw that they were white frost.

Day 61

The picture you sent me yesterday wasn’t a wolf. It’s a Czechoslovakian Wolfdog - a breed of dog which is very loyal and tame.

Day 62 (Double Ninth)

It’s Yang Festival today, so there may be many people going up the mountain. We can watch the sunset later.

Day 63

When I was tidying the room, I found the champion prize from last year’s STF long-distance race in autumn. It’s a keychain of a running military dog.

Day 64

There’s a shop selling your favourite sugar cakes. I’ll bring it to you after work, and hope it’d still be warm when it reaches your hands.

Day 65

Recently, I changed a new driving playlist. Those songs you recommended - I like them very much.

Day 66

In the movie we watched yesterday, I keep thinking that werewolves are even more dashing and decisive than vampires.

Day 67

My phone is spoilt. It’s a good thing I can memorise your e-mail, and didn’t miss the sign-in.

Day 68 (Halloween)

Title: Selecting a jack-o’lantern

There are many types of jack-o’-lanterns in the shop today, and I don’t know which one you like. If you’re not busy, want to take a look together in the afternoon?

Day 69

You mentioned wanting to go fishing the last time. I’ve bought a full set of fishing gear, and will wait till you have time.

Day 70

It’s too cooling to eat watermelons during this season. I bought a hami melon and have placed it in the fridge. Remember to eat it.

Day 71

After the door locked, I realised that I didn’t bring my keys. I never thought that I’d have my forgetful moments too. It’s a good thing the windows weren’t locked.

Day 72

I’ve familiarised myself with the technique of cutting bunny apple slices. Next time, I’ll show it to you.

Day 73

I left home early today, and the sky wasn’t bright yet. Venus looked as though it was within reach.

Day 74

Found a puppy stuffed toy while tidying up, and thought about how it’s been a very long time since we last went to the claw machine together.

Day 75

I know that you’re afraid of the cold, so I bought a pair of gloves. You can wear them when riding on Sparky. It’s a matching set with mine.

Day 76

While watching the German Shepherd in the team undergoing training, I suddenly felt that its life is very worth respecting. Once it decides on a person, it will give its all.

Day 77

Turns out making sandwiches at home is pretty easy. If you want to eat them next time, there’s no need to buy them from the supermarket anymore.

Day 78

There’s renovation going on upstairs, and it’s really noisy. I thought about how you also mentioned that your neighbour does renovation works whenever you’re about to take a nap.

Day 79 (Single’s Day)

Eli and the guys said they didn’t want to see me hovering around in STF today. How baffling. So, I’m here to see you.

Day 80

The colleague who got married last month returned from his honeymoon with some local specialties. I think they aren’t bad, so I left you a share.

Day 81

At this time every year, you’d usually say that it’s cold. But winter this year seems to have a higher temperature.

Day 82

The weather is really good today, and it’s suitable for airing quilts. You mentioned liking the scent of sunlight on quilts.

Day 83

I saw you mentioning on Moments that it’s the final episode of your favourite television drama. I’ve bought snacks, and will watch it together with you.

Day 84

You cried for a really long time after watching the ending yesterday. Are your eyes still swollen? I asked Minor to put some eye patches on your desk. Remember to use them later.

Day 85

I’ve heard of the trust game you mentioned. I can close my eyes and let you lead me, no matter how far it is.

Day 86

I took Sparky Jr. along with me on duty today. It still can’t fly as high as I can.

[Note] In CN, “Sparky Jr.” is called 小小黑 (“xiao xiao hei”), which translates directly to “Little Little Black”!

Day 87

You mentioned that the cafe you often visited has closed down. I’ll bring you to an even better one. Everything can change, but when it comes to being by your side, that won’t change.

Day 88

Next time, don’t lift heavy parcels at the collection point by yourself. Just call me.

Day 89

I was a little tired yesterday so I fell asleep and didn’t reply to your messages in time. You must have been worried from waiting.

Day 90

It’s Minor Snow today, but it isn’t snowing.

[Trivia] “Minor Snow” (小雪 - “xiao xue”) refers to the 20th solar term spanning from 22nd November to 6th December!

Day 91

The bureau received a silk banner today. Eli and the others insisted that I take a group photo. If they want to show it to you next time, you mustn’t look.

Day 92

I’ve set your picture as the background of my new phone. This way, I’ll be able to see you once I pick my phone up.

Day 93

You mentioned having lower back pains recently. I’ve ordered a massage chair for you.

Day 94

On Thanksgiving Day, the person I wish to thank most is you.

Day 95

If it were possible, I’d wish that signing in would never end.

Day 96

Minor wants to invite us to his cousins’ shop to play a board game. I don’t really know how to play it. There are werewolves, civilians, and a priest. Now, we’re just missing a witch.

Day 97

The tangerines you bought the last time are very sweet. If chilled for a while, they’ll be even more delicious.

Day 98

Actually, there’s no need to ask me. No matter what you want to do or where you want to go, I’ll accompany you.

Day 99

Heard a song we listened to together along the street, and couldn’t help but pause and listen for a while.

Day 100

Without realising it, it’s already the last day. But I’ll continue accompanying you.

-

Not enough Gavin sweetness? A fan on Weibo created texts and Moments based on some of his e-mails, which I’ve translated: here

[tw-anchor]

25. Bizarre and Supernatural

Anchor

Stiles Stilinski x Original Character

Episode: 3x01; Tattoo

Word Count: 10,258

Warning(s): Mature language, canon violence and gore, sexual themes

Author’s Note: Here’s to season three! I’m really excited about 3A and 3B because they are my personal favorites. This season we’ll see more of what Olivia is capable of, as well as her relationship with Stiles. Hope you enjoy! Reblog and like!

Masterlink is in Profile Description!

May 4, 2011

Stiles breathed heavily as he squirted some water into his mouth, finding relief from the cool liquid. The heat felt unbearable, but he kept practicing, determined to make first line for the lacrosse season next spring. Sure, it wasn't officially summer yet, but school was out, and they had time. Winning the championship game wasn't all fun and games—now he had a reputation to uphold.

Scott was certainly working him for it, too. They had already run one of the shorter cross-country tracks before heading to the practice lacrosse field, where they started doing dribbles. They were taking a quick break for water now, and then they'd start on scoring practice.

His phone beeped from his gym bag. A smile bloomed on his face when he saw that it was Olivia. She had sent some Star Wars meme with Anakin holding sand art followed by a bunch of crying emojis. How did anyone think his girl had a heart of stone?

Sweetcheeks: LOL we're still on for tonight, right?

Livvy: Yup. Dress code?

Sweetcheeks: Casual. One word—drive-in.

Livvy: Got it. I'll be ready at 4. 😊

"You're texting Liv, aren't you?" Stiles looked away from his phone at Scott's voice; he grinned guiltily.

"Sorry," he tossed the phone back into his bag.

"It's fine," Scott chuckled. "You're still taking her out for her birthday, right?"

Stiles grinned. "Do you know how wonderfully ironic it is that her birthday is on Star Wars day?"

"No."

"Of course, you wouldn't," Stiles rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I'm taking her to the drive-in. The original trilogy is starting at five, so we'll have time to pick up some food and head there."

Scott hummed and grinned at his best friend. Even though his relationship with Allison hadn't worked out, he was happy that Stiles and Olivia were getting theirs going. He wasn't shocked when he first saw them together the Monday back at school after everything went down, hands gripped together as they walked the hallways, but it was a great surprise. For a while there, he thought that Olivia wasn't going to acknowledge her feelings for Stiles. He was just glad she did.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Stiles eyed him warily.

"I'm happy for you, dude," he clapped Stiles' shoulder. "Your girlfriend is Olivia Martin."

"Yeah, she is," Stiles smiled goofily and took another sip of water. He set the bottle down and picked up his lacrosse stick, ready to go again. "Come on, I gotta pick Livvy up at four. Why don't you get in the goal and help me make team captain like you promised?"

Scott laughed and rolled his eyes, picking up his own stick. "Hey, you know what I just realized?" he paused, looking at Stiles thoughtfully. "I'm right back where I started."

Stiles gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"I mean no lacrosse, no popularity, no girlfriend. Nothing."

"Dude," Stiles pushed his shoulder, causing him to stumble back. "you still got me."

"I had you before!" Scott exclaimed, using the momentum of Stiles' push to run over to the goal.

"Yeah and you still got me, so your life is fulfilled," Stiles retorted, making his way to an appropriate distance from the goal. He used his net to scoop up a lacrosse ball and got ready to try to get it past Scott. "Now remember, no wolf powers."

Scott nodded and grinned mischievously. "Got it."

"No, I mean it," Stiles pointed at him. "No super-fast reflexes, no super eyesight, no hearing—none of that shit, okay?"

"Okay!" Scott agreed loudly. "Just come on."

"You promise?"

"Would you just take the shot already?"

Stiles bit his lip and steadied his net before winding back at whipping the ball toward the goal. Just as the ball left his net, he saw Scott's eyes flash gold, so he wasn't surprised when Scott easily caught the ball.

"I said no wolf powers!"

-

"Allison, do you see what she's wearing?" Lydia complained to a very tired Allison over Facetime, flashing her phone's camera at Olivia's flowy shorts and white camisole. "She's wearing that for her first date."

Olivia scowled and grabbed the phone from Lydia so she could talk to Allison herself. "We're going to see a movie at the drive-in."

Allison yawned and apologized softly. "It looks fine," she agreed with Olivia. "What movie?"

It was late at night in France where Allison was currently living. After everything was said and done and Jackson was okay, she and Mr. Argent only stayed long enough for Allison to take her finals. They took off to France right after she turned her last test in, leaving barely enough time for Olivia and Allison to talk about their friendship.

Since Allison still didn't know that Derek bit her mom to protect Scott, the youngest Argent didn't offer an apology for hurting Derek. While it annoyed Olivia a little, she understood that Allison didn't know the whole story and could only base her feelings on what she knew. What she knew was that Derek bit her mom and her mom killed herself soon after. So, Olivia brushed it off and Allison apologized for the way she acted.

Their friendship was mended but the two of them and Lydia were disappointed that Allison would be in France the whole summer. They promised to keep in contact and Facetime, so, of course, Lydia thought it was appropriate to call and wake up Allison when she learned that Stiles was taking Olivia out for her birthday.

"Star Wars," Olivia informed her. "It's a special viewing."

"By special, she means Stiles is gonna get into her panties—"

"Lydia Grace Martin!" Olivia grabbed one of the throw pillows off her bed and whipped it at her cousin; Sirius yipped excitedly, thinking they were playing catch. Lydia laughed and Allison joined her. "I am not having sex with Stiles."

"Tonight, anyway," Allison commented slyly as Lydia crowed, "Uh-huh, sure!"

"It's my birthday and you guys are being so mean to me," Olivia whined dramatically, falling back on her bed. Sirius scrambled over to her, giving her face sweet little kisses. "Thanks, Siri, You're my best bud."

"I wanted to have a party for you," Lydia tugged her phone out of her hands. "Did you meet any cute boys yet, Allison?"

"I've been here for a week," Allison said flatly.

"I'm guessing that's a no."

"Leave her alone, Lyds," Olivia nudged the redhead as she sat back up and smushed her head against Lydia's so Allison could see them both. "Take time for yourself, Al. Be an independent woman who doesn't need a man to—"

"All right, Susan B. Anthony," Lydia cut her off, earning herself laughter from Olivia and Allison. "I'm not saying you need a man. I'm saying you want a man."

Allison laughed awkwardly. "I'm changing the subject now. What time is Stiles picking you up, Liv?"

As soon as the question was out of her mouth, they heard Natalie calling up to them. "Olivia, Stiles is here!"

"Now, I guess," Olivia told Allison, checking the time on her phone. It was 3:55; he was five minutes early. "I'll talk to you later, Al."

"Have fun, Liv! Happy birthday!"

Olivia thanked her and Lydia bid her own goodbyes to Allison before ending the call. Olivia dashed into the bathroom she shared with Lydia to check the braid that Lydia put it in while her cousin waited impatiently by her bedroom door.

"Come on, Liv."

"I'm coming," she huffed, walking out of the bathroom and to her door. When she opened it, Sirius zoomed out of the room, too excited to see Stiles. "Why does he love Stiles more than me?"

"Honestly, I have no idea," Lydia shook her head in agreement. She had been so pissed off when she learned that Sirius adored Stiles more than any of his owners. Stiles made it worse when he came over, talking to Sirius in the same voice that Lydia used on him.

By the time they made it downstairs, Sirius was on his back in front of Stiles while Stiles happily petted his belly, making cure little cooing noises. Olivia would never admit it to him, but her heart melted every damn time he and Sirius were together.

"Hey!" Stiles greeted her enthusiastically when he noticed her in front of him. "Happy birthday!"

Olivia smiled at him, her cheeks flushing when he gave her a quick kiss. Usually she wasn't a big fan of showing affection in front of other people, but this was Lydia. Lydia, who would tease the hell out of her later...

"Thanks, Stiles. Are you ready to go?"

"Wait, wait," Lydia cut in, holding up her phone. "I need pictures."

Olivia sighed heavily while Stiles agreed with a smile. "You're worse than your mom, Lyds."

"Shush now," Lydia waved her off. She paused, allowing for Stiles and Olivia to arrange themselves into a picture-appropriate pose and then cheered, "Say cheese!"

"Cheese!"

Olivia's mood brightened as soon as they left her house. They chatted lightly when they went to pick up the pizza they were going to bring to the drive-in and Olivia had told him what she'd had done for her birthday. Derek had taken her and Isaac out for breakfast and then he and Peter took her out to buy her first car and presented her with a new MacBook, while Lydia and Natalie took her shopping when she got home, each of them getting some new clothes.

"How was practicing with Scott?" she asked when she was done telling him about her day and they were settled at the drive-in, waiting for the movie to start.

"It was okay," Stiles shrugged and bit into his pepperoni pizza. "I got a lot of work to do."

"You already did great at the game, so I'm sure Scott will be able to whip you into shape in no time," Olivia assured him.

"Hopefully," Stiles allowed a grin to slip onto his lips. "Thanks, babe."

"You're welcome, sweetcheeks."

They pressed their lips together in a sweet kiss, tasting pizza on each other's lips. Olivia gasped lightly as Stiles swept his tongue along the seam in her lips, allowing his tongue to slip into her mouth and caress hers.

The loud billowing of the Star Wars theme made them jump away from each other. They turned to the dark screen, the light from the bright yellow scrawl illuminating their flushed faces. Olivia glanced over at Stiles as the opening theme ended, giving way to warships flying through space. She wasn't surprised to see him looking back at her.

-

-

"Boy, it's a good thing you drew me a picture."

The sarcastic tone seeping into Jimmy's statement made Stiles snort quietly and grin to himself. He was glad that his back was turned away from Scott as he looked at the various books full of tattoos that Jimmy had drawn up. Picturing Scott's innocent smile made him snort again as he flipped through pages of plastic sleeves, searching for anything that interested him.

The last night of summer and of course, Scott wanted to get a tattoo. Not just any tattoo, though. Scott wanted two black bands curled around his bicep. To be honest, Stiles didn't like the design but it wasn't his body so he wasn't going to say anything—but if the tattoo was as ugly as he thought it was going to be, he would probably have a hard time holding back.

Holy shit, he thought as he turned to another page.

The design took up most of the page but it wasn't the size that was shocking. It was the fact that the drawing looked exactly like the kanima that wreaked havoc around Beacon Hills the previous spring. Jimmy must have seen the kanima because he had all the details down, from the venomous claws to the long tail.

"Hey, Scott," he caught his best friend's attention as he turned to face the chair where he was seated. "you sure you don't want something like this?"

He showed Scott the kanima tattoo with flourish, amusement light his features. Scott wasn't nearly amused as he was; his excited face turned into a frown before he gave Stiles an are-you-serious look.

"Too soon?" Stiles asked needlessly as he closed the tattoo book and placed it back on the shelf it was sitting previously. "I don't know, man, are you sure about this?" he turned back to Scott. "I mean, these things are pretty permanent, you know?"

As Jimmy started getting the ink ready to go, Scott answered, "I'm not changing my mind."

"Okay, but why two bands?"

Scott shrugged. "I just like it."

"But don't you think your first tattoo should have some sort of meaning, you know, or something?"

"Getting a tattoo means something."

Stiles scoffed. "I don't think that's—"

"He's right," Jimmy interrupted him; Stiles crossed his arms over his chest and looked to him curiously. "Tattooing goes back thousands of years. The Tahitian word 'tatua' means 'to leave a mark'. Like a rite of passage."

"Yeah, you see?" Scott grinned smugly at Stiles, making him bristle." He gets it."

Stiles narrowed his eyes at him. "He's covered in tattoos, Scott. Literally."

Jimmy gave him a deadpan look before turning to Scott. "Okay, you ready? You ain't got any problems with needles, do you?"

Scott shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Nope."

As the needle in Jimmy's hand started buzzing, Stiles slowly walked over to get a better look of what was going on to Scott's arm. His stomach flipped when the needle quickly entered Scott's skin. "I tend to get a little squeamish, though, so..."

He trailed off as his vision went blurry and his limbs felt like jelly. He was out before he even hit the floor.

When he woke up, Scott's tattoo was done and he was paying Jimmy for the work. Stiles winced as he craned his neck to look around; they left him on the floor but at least they gave him a cold pack to put against his head. He groaned as he sat up, pressing the cold pack firmer against the back of his aching head. Three minutes later, they were getting into his Jeep.

Stiles blinked at his steering wheel, wondering if he should be driving right after hitting his head but was distracted by Scott's quiet groan of pain. He turned to his best friend while throwing the soppy ice pack in the backseat. "You okay?"

Scott squirmed uncomfortably and grimaced at his wrapped arm. "It kinda burns."

"Yes," Stiles couldn't believe that Scott didn't expect some pain. "you just had your skin stabbed about a hundred thousand times with a needle."

"Yeah, but I don't think it's supposed to feel like this," Scott looked to Stiles for an answer; Stiles shrugged just as Scott jumped and grunted in pain. 'No, it's definitely not supposed to feel like this."

"Oh, God."

Scott groaned again and reached for the gauze on his arm. "Oh, I gotta take this thing off."

"No, no, no, no, Scott," Stiles immediately protested, his stomach flipping. He gagged a little as Scott started unwrapping his arm. "Scott, please stop! Oh, gross—" he paused when he saw Scott's arm. "Woah."

The solid black bands of ink wrapping themselves around Scott's bicep were fading into angry red skin. Within seconds, Scott's arm was back to normal, like he had never even entered the little tattoo shop.

"What, come on!" Scott gasped before looking at Stiles. "It healed."

Stiles was just glad that nothing gruesome happened—and that Scott wouldn't have that ugly thing on his body for the rest of his life. "Ah, thank God. I hated it," when Scott gave him an affronted look, Stiles winced and gave a flat apology. "Sorry."

-

"You're sure that Scott won't be at Stiles' house?" Allison looked over at Olivia anxiously.

Olivia flipped on her right blinker and turned onto the highway. "I'm positive," she reassured her friend. "Stiles said that Scott was leaving at five."

"Yeah but it's Stiles and Scott," Lydia piped up from the backseat, leaning forward so she could talk to Olivia and Allison easier. "Since when do they spend a minute apart?"

"When I ask," Olivia smiled playfully, earning laughs from Allison and Lydia. "I told Stiles that we were going out with you guys tonight, so..."

"Stiles has a brain in that big head of his," Lydia said. "I'm sure that he's smart enough not to tell Scott that he's going on a group date with his ex-girlfriend."

Eh.

"Wait, wait," Allison gave them both an alarmed look. "It's not a date, right? Please tell me it's not a date."

Olivia glared at Lydia through the rearview mirror, wishing that her cousin could have kept her mouth shut because Allison wasn't ready to start dating again. Of course it was a date, though; one of Lydia's summer hook-ups had a cousin who was very hot—according to Lydia—and was interested in getting to know Allison. Olivia and Stiles had gone on double dates with Lydia and whatever guy she was into that day before so it was a natural segway into inviting them, too. Stiles hadn't wanted to go on the group date, explaining that it felt like he was betraying Scott, but Olivia had begged him. She felt bad for Scott about the break-up, but from the conversations she had with Allison over the summer, it didn't seem like Allison was going to be able to reenter a relationship with Scott. It wasn't that she didn't love him—because she really did—but it was hard for her to move on from everything that happened before.

"It's not a group date," Olivia promised Allison. "It's more of a group thing."

"Does this guy know it's a group thing?" Allison looked to Lydia for an answer now, considering she was the one who planned the whole night. "I told you guys that I'm not ready to get back out there."

"Ugh," Lydia groaned and Olivia smiled at her dramatics. "I can't believe you were in France for four months and you didn't date a single guy."

Allison shrugged awkwardly and changed the subject. "Just because you were ready after—"

"Don't say his name!" Lydia exclaimed, cutting her off.

"Jackson is a subject that's off limits," Olivia told Allison with a smile that told the taller brunette she knew that Lydia was gonna have a fit.

"You said his name," Lydia reached toward Olivia's ear and flicked it, earning herself a pained squeal.

Jackson Whittemore was a sensitive subject when it came to Lydia Martin. Despite the fact that Lydia saved him and they declared their love for one another, there were no moves on either side to enter a relationship again. After learning control with Derek and Olivia, Jackson and his family moved to England to start over. Olivia missed him but they still exchanged emails once a week—something that she wouldn't mention to Lydia until the time was right.

"Is he okay?" since Lydia and Olivia didn't speak about Jackson in their calls to Allison, she didn't know what was going on with him. "I mean, did everything work out?"

"Well, you saw how it was when it turned up that he was alive," Olivia reminded her. It had been a whole thing with the hospital and the doctors and the research that annoyed and angered Jackson so much that Olivia had to be by his side every hour so he wouldn't lose control. "but eventually, everyone got over it."

"And yes, Derek and Liv taught him the werewolf 101," Lydia reported. "like how not to randomly kill people during a full moon."

Allison grinned at her. "So, then, you've talked to him?"

Lydia shook her head. "Not since he left for London."

"You mean since his dad moved him to London," Olivia objected; Lydia liked to act that Jackson went to England willingly when he was actually really upset that he had to move.

Lydia waved her off. "Whatever, he left," she said sharply. "And seriously, an American werewolf in London? Like that's not gonna be a disaster."

"So, you're totally over him?" Allison challenged the redhead.

"Would I be going on a group date if I wasn't?" Lydia said quickly, once again blurting out the truth. Olivia and Allison laughed and she sighed. "Yes, it's a group date. It's not an orgy so I think you'll live."

Olivia chuckled as she pulled to a stop at a red light. "I vetoed the orgy," she informed Allison jokingly. She was in a happy mood tonight; it was the last night of summer, Allison was back, and she'd get to see Stiles. "and the club."

"She's a buzzkill."

Olivia scoffed and quickly turned back to Lydia for a moment. "I don't want to be hungover on our first day of junior year. Besides," she turned to Allison for back-up. "don't you like pizza and laser tag?"

Allison went to agree but Lydia cut her off. "That's because she'll win!"

"Ha-ha," Allison pushed Lydia back into her seat, all three of them laughing. "I guess you'll have to take some pointers—oh, my God!"

At Allison's exclamation, Olivia turned to her left to see what had her freaking out. She hadn't noticed that a vehicle had pulled up next to her at the stoplight—which she cursed herself for because she was usually a great driver—and she also hadn't noticed that it was her boyfriend's vehicle.

"What the hell?" Olivia narrowed her eyes at the jeep while Allison freaked out in the passenger seat and tried not to look at Scott—who was with Stiles, trying to avoid eye contact with any of them. "He's supposed to be at his house."

Stiles waved at her enthusiastically and her annoyance flooded away. She could never be anything but in love with that boy. He just knew how to relax her and make her happy in ways that no one else could.

"Oh, my God, I can't see him," Allison whimpered. "Not now."

"Liv, go," Lydia urged, slapped the shoulder of Olivia's seat. "Go!"

"But it's a red light," Olivia winced, looking from Allison—who was still freaking out—to the red light, and then to Stiles, who was rolling down Scott's window. "All right."

She pressed on the gas pedal and drove through the intersection, grateful that the road wasn't busy and they were safe to cross. Allison sighed in relief when Stiles stayed back at the light and Olivia put some distance between them.

"Are you all right?" Lydia asked Allison while Olivia gave her a worried look.

"I'm okay," it looked more like Allison was assuring herself of that than Lydia and Olivia. "I'm fine."

Olivia and Lydia didn't argue or try to coax her to open up. They weren't the epitome of sharing feelings either, especially Olivia, so they didn't want to pry. If Allison didn't want to talk about Scott, they wouldn't.

It was only a minute or so after they left the stoplight that Allison spoke up again, her eyes in the rearview mirror. "Liv, stop. We should go back and talk to them."

Olivia switched her foot to the break pedal. "We're almost to Stiles' house..." when they came to a complete stop, she saw that Stiles had stopped too. "Why did they stop?"

Lydia shrugged. "It's Stiles and Scott. Do you really wanna try applying logic to those two?"

Allison said something in return but Olivia didn't hear; she was too busy focusing on the abrupt tingling traveling through her body. The whispering of her name, along with Allison and Lydia's, flittered through her head and then...

Turn around, Olivia

Olivia didn't waste time; she whipped around, facing the front of her car. Her eyes widened when she saw a huge deer heading straight toward them. "GET DOWN!"

She barely had time to grab Allison's shoulder, force her down, duck behind the steering wheel, and hope that Lydia was safe before the deer was crashing into the windshield. Lydia and Allison screamed as heavy glass flew around the enclosed space.

Olivia inhaled deeply as the deer's body settled on the dashboard in front of her, eyes glazed over with death. She shakily reached for her door handle with one hand and her seatbelt with the other before pushing herself out of the car. She fell on her ass but she hopped up, still staring at the deer with wide eyes.

"Oh, my God."

"Livvy," Stiles was there, gently taking her arm and leading her away from the car. "Are you okay? Babe?"

Olivia inhaled once again and turned her attention to Stiles, who was rubbing her arms soothingly. "I'm okay," she told him, allowing him to pull her into a warm hug. "I'm fine."

She wasn't lying. She was shocked, yeah, but she was okay. She was glad that her abilities were able to tell her that she, Allison, and Lydia were in danger and that she was able to stop any injuries that may have happened. Mostly, though, she was confused. Why would a deer charge right down the middle of the road and crash into them?

It was like it was committing suicide.

As Stiles kissed the top of Olivia's head, Lydia dragged her out of her thoughts when she shrieked, "Well, I am not okay! I am totally freaking out!" Olivia slipped out of Stiles' embrace to grab Lydia's hand. "How the fuck does that thing just run into us?"

"It was weird," Olivia agreed, her eyes following Scott as he moved away from Allison to the deer's body. "and it came down right in the middle of the road. It's like it was crazy."

"It was scared," Scott spoke up; he put his hand on the body and looked back at them, a solemn look on his face. "Actually, it was terrified."

-

-

Olivia had woken up with Isaac on her mind. The dream she had of him and the unknown girl trying to outrace that huge alpha werewolf was permanently printed into her memory as she mechanically got ready for school, dressing in a summer dress and sandals.

While she curled her hair with one hand, she dialed Derek's number on her phone with the other. It was Isaac's turn to look for Erica and Boyd the night before and with how she was feeling, the warnings she was getting, and the dream she had, it was obvious that something went wrong.

"Morning," Derek greeted her groggily. "Ready for your first day?"

"I'm worried about Isaac," she told him.

"What? What do you mean?" his voice was alert and strict, the tone of a worried alpha.

"I mean that Isaac is who God knows where and he's in trouble," Olivia explained impatiently. Over the summer, she and Isaac's friendship grew stronger since they were the only ones left in the Hale pack, other than Derek. She considered him a brother and she knew he saw her as a sister. "Derek, we need to find him."

"I'll find him but you need to go to school," Derek told her; there was rustling over the phone and then a metallic clinking which she figured were his keys. "I'll check out the Iron Works. I'm pretty sure that's where he told me he was going last night."

"Okay," Olivia sighed. "be careful."

Who knew where the alpha pack was lurking?

"Have a good day at school."

Olivia ended the call. Since when did Derek get so paternal? She thought to herself. Right, ever since you were stuck with a psychotic dad and got yourself a boyfriend.

She slipped a headband into her hair and grabbed her purse, heading downstairs. When Sirius yipped in greeting at her as she made it to the kitchen, she crouched down in order to give him a hug and kiss.

"Hi, Siri," she cooed, snuggling her nose into the soft fur of his head. "Did you sleep well? Hmm?"

Sirius nudged her with his paw and when she went to pat him between his ears, he bit her on the wrist. "Ouch!" he struggled out of her grip and ran away. "What'd you do that for?"

Olivia rose to her full height and stared at her dog where he shuffled on his bed, digging into his blanket and stuffed toy. He had never bit her before, not like that. Yeah, he nipped while playing when he was a baby but this was a full-on bite that drew blood.

She heard Lydia's heels against their hardwood floors before she saw her. "What happened to you?"

Olivia frowned at her. "Siri bit me."

Lydia quirked an eyebrow. "Sirius bit you."

"Yes."

"He doesn't bite."

"Wow, I had no idea!" Olivia rolled her eyes and entered the kitchen, heading straight to the sink. "Can you get me a bandage?"

Lydia quickly went to their medicine cabinet and pulled out some disinfectant cream and a large bandage to cover up the bite. She helped Olivia with dressing the wound before looking over at Sirius in disbelief.

"Why would he bite you?"

Olivia sighed, watching as Sirius buried his head into his blanket. "I have no idea."

-

Sheriff Stilinski sighed in relief when he saw her on the other side of his front door. "Olivia, I'm glad you're here," he ushered her into the house. "How are you doing this morning?"

"I'm good, Sheriff, thank you," Olivia had expected Stiles to be downstairs eating breakfast but the lower level was empty of his presence.

"I thought I told you to call me Noah," she smiled sheepishly when he pointed at her. "Anyway, Stiles is...well, he's been up since four-thirty."

Olivia raised her eyebrows in shock. Stiles loved to sleep in and if he didn't get enough sleep, he was like a freaking toddler who skipped out on their nap. "Four-thirty?"

"Come on," he gestured for her to follow him up the stairs. "He was pretty upset about your accident. I think he's been researching nonstop."

Oh, God. Olivia loved Stiles to death but when he was obsessed with something, he was obsessed. She didn't know if it was his ADHD or his need to know anything and everything but if he needed to know something, he was going to look until he found it. There had been numerous times over the summer that she had found him in front of his MacBook, a couple of Adderall in his system as he searched through whatever database he had broken into.

Stiles didn't even look away from his laptop as she and Noah entered his bedroom. "You know how many vehicle collisions last year involved deer?" he asked, though he knew the answer. "247,000."

"Oh, God, please go to school," Noah groaned.

"But that's crossing the road," Stiles continued on like his father hadn't spoken. "This one last night came right down the middle."

Noah stepped over to Stiles' chair, scratching the back of his neck. "I'm not gonna beg you."

"Good, I'm impervious to your influence anyway," Stiles mumbled, switching to another tab of research.

Olivia rolled her eyes; who the hell used the word impervious?

"Would you consider a bribe?"

"You couldn't meet my price."

"Extortion?"

"You got nothing on me."

Olivia crossed her arms in amusement as Noah grabbed the back of Stiles' chair and started pulling him away from his desk.

"Dad, what are you doing?" Stiles reached for his laptop as he fought to stay in control of his chair. "Dad!"

Olivia walked over to the desk and shut the laptop, grinning when Stiles' eyes darted up to her. "Morning."

A happy glint appeared in his eyes as he hopped from his chair and then faltered. "Livvy, what—what are you doing here?" he scratched the back of his neck and then gestured around his semi-messy room. "Uh, yeah, so this is my room."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek in amusement. Watching Stiles act like she hadn't been in his room before was so funny to her. Especially when Noah was behind him, rolling his eyes so forcefully it looked like they'd disappear into his skull.

"Don't be an idiot, Stiles," Noah sighed as he went to leave the room. "Get to school."

Olivia gave Stiles a pointed look. "You do know your dad has let me up here before, right?"

Stiles rolled his eyes and walked over to his door, shutting it firmly. "Well, that was before we did this," he quickly grabbed her, grinning at her excited squeal, and pressed his lips to hers in a sweet peck. "and this," he fell onto his bed with her underneath him, hitching one of her legs up over his hip before returning back to her mouth.

Butterflies attacked Olivia's stomach as she returned his kiss, savoring the soft feel of his lips, the firm lines of his stomach, and the ever-growing hardness between his legs that was pressing against her belly. Her fingers dug themselves into his newly grown hair, moaning softly when his lips drifted from her lips to her jaw.

Contrary to what Lydia believed, Olivia and Stiles hadn't had sex yet. They did almost everything else—there was that time at the drive-in when things got steamy and he ended up fingering her, the night when he slept over and it was the first time she ever gave a guy a hand job, oh, and the time they both went down on each other after their trip to their fourth date. But other than that? No penetration—from Stiles' dick, anyway.

Olivia was ready to take that step with Stiles and have sex. She knew that he was, too, because he was a goddamn horndog when they were by themselves and his awkwardness melted away like ice cream on a hot summer day. The spaz was more self-confident at sex than most of the things in his life, which baffled her—and turned her on at the same time—but he was the one pausing things. He insisted that their first time had to be special. That was nice and all but Olivia wasn't naïve; she knew that the first time was a disaster and what really made the whole thing special was who you did it with. To her, they could have hurried sex in his jeep and it would be special to her because it was Stiles.

But Stiles was serious about it so she would wait. It was sweet but oh-so frustrating—for the both of them.

Just as Stiles' finger started to slip their way past the hem of her dress, she pushed him away from her. "We have school," Stiles pouted and rolled off of her, his head bouncing on the mattress. "and I don't want to be late."

"We have an hour."

Olivia hopped off the bed and straightened her sundress, hiding a bemused smile as she turned back to him, hands on her hips. "I thought you said you wanted our first time to be special?"

"Hey?" Stiles sat up and grinned at her. "I didn't say anything about sex. That was all you, baby."

Baby, she scoffed mentally; she wasn't a big fan of sappy pet names. It was worse than Livvy. Only Stiles would be able to get away with calling her anything like that.

"Yeah, that was all me," she agreed sarcastically. "I'm sorry, I just couldn't control myself."

"It's okay, I understand," Stiles chuckled, getting to his feet and grabbing his backpack from the floor. "Did you eat breakfast?"

"Didn't have the time," she plucked his keys from his desk and tossed them to him. "Allison picked Lydia up pretty early. She's nervous."

"Let's get Dunkin, then," they walked out of the bedroom, Stiles shutting the door behind them. "What's she nervous about?"

"Seeing Scott again, maybe?" Olivia shrugged as they descended the stairs; Noah was already gone for work. "It could be that it's just hard to go back to school without your mom. It was for me."

As they left the house and locked up, Stiles nodded in agreement. "Yeah, me too."

When they arrived at the brand-new school—it had been in progress for over two years and this was the first semester it was going to be used—they had already finished their breakfast and were ready for the day. First, before they could leave the jeep, they had to go over some rules.

"Rules?" Stiles groaned, leaning his head back against his seat. "Rules for what?"

"You know what," they'd gone over Olivia's rules for school before. "No kissing, no hugging, no touchy-feely of any kind."

Stiles rolled his eyes, equal parts exasperated and endeared with his girlfriend. "Can I at least hold your hand?"

Olivia pressed her lips together thoughtfully. "I guess that's fine."

"What about if I put my arm around you?"

"Let's not push it," Olivia smiled lightly when he made a loud but joking sigh. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Stiles leaned into her, lips pursed as he blinked rapidly at her. "Can I at least have a kiss?"

Olivia didn't hesitate to kiss him. It only lasted for a second and it wouldn't be enough to last the whole day but it was still special and it still made Stiles' lungs cease and his heart race.

The two of them separated to find their lockers and their friends. Stiles watched Olivia go with a smile on his face, unable to believe that he was starting his junior year of high school with her by his side. He loved her so damn much and she actually loved him back.

It turned out that his locker was only down the hallway from Scott's. It was very convenient. Scott had already arrived on his new bike when Stiles got to his locker, which made it easier for them to find each other before the bell rang and they had to get to class.

"You wanna ask Derek for help?" Stiles complained, looking over at Scott to see if he was serious; he was. "Why?"

Sure, Stiles was more comfortable with Derek now that he and Olivia were dating but it also made the alpha scarier. When Derek gave him the be-careful-with-my-cousin talk—the night that he and Olivia went on their second date—Stiles had almost passed out. Honestly, he was just glad that it was Derek and not Peter. In general, Olivia was really the only Hale family member that Stiles liked to spend time with.

"He's got the triskele tattooed on his back," Scott reminded him as they walked through the hallways, maps in hand to navigate the new school. "There has to be a way to do it without healing, right?"

Stiles wished that Scott would stop talking about his ugly tattoo. Personally, he thought it was a blessing that it healed.

"Okay, yeah," Stiles conceded but stopped walking as they came across a bulletin board with Boyd and Erica's faces stapled to it; he gestured to them as he continued, "still, doesn't he have his hands a little full?"

Boyd and Erica had been missing since the night that everything went down with Gerard and Jackson. Stiles was worried for them but it mostly stemmed from the fact that Olivia was really upset about their disappearance. She kept having nightmares about her pack members and always had the constant feeling that something was wrong with them.

Scott stared at the missing posters and sighed. He went to say something but both boys were distracted by the familiar British accent of their formal principal—the one that the Argents threatened to kill if he didn't give his job to Gerard.

"Look, these are the applications for the career advisor, I need them sorted," they walked toward the wiry-glass walls that held the main office where the principal was speaking to the secretary. "And what the hell is this?"

Stiles choked on his saliva as the principal held up one of Gerard's broad swords. He pushed Scott's shoulder, ready to get out of there. "Go, go, go!"

Two hallways over, Olivia and Lydia were leaning against the lockers next to Allison's, waiting as the taller brunette organized her newly bough school supplies. Olivia settled on people watching, eyeing the new students and the ones that she recognized from years before. Lydia, on the other hand, was scouting for new hook-ups.

"Freshmen," she sighed wistfully. "Tons and tons of fresh men."

Olivia grimaced while Allison gave her a look of disbelief. "You mean fresh boys, right?" she asked. "Lydia, they're fourteen."

"You might as well be dating a middle-schooler," Olivia tagged on, giving her cousin disapproving eyes.

Lydia shrugged. "Eh, some are more mature than others."

Olivia scoffed. "Gross."

"You know it's okay to be single," Allison pointed out to Lydia. "work on becoming a better person."

Olivia and Lydia exchanged a look; it was very obvious to them that Allison was talking about herself and not Lydia.

"Allison, we love you," Lydia took Allison's arms and turned her so that she was facing them; Olivia gave a supportive nod. "so, if you need to do that thing where we talk about one of us and pretend like we're not actually talking about you, that's fine."

"Totally fine," Olivia added.

Lydia pointed at her cousin before leaning back against the lockers, once again, checking out every guy that passed them. "but I don't want a boyfriend," she continued. "I want a distraction."

Olivia shook her head in amusement and turned away from Lydia, pausing when she saw two guys that she hadn't seen before. There was no way they weren't brothers because they looked nearly identical; they had to be twins. Either way, they were handsome and definitely Lydia's type; brooding bad boys.

"Oh, my God," Lydia had spotted the twins, causing Allison to look their way.

"Brothers?"

Olivia raised an eyebrow at Allison. "Are we seeing the same people, Al?" she scoffed. "They have to be twins."

Lydia hummed, green eyes studying the new kids. "Twins."

The new kids turned down the hallway that headed to the main office just as the first bell rang. Lydia watched them leave, a mischievous look on her face. Olivia rolled her eyes and nudged her to get her attention so they could get going to class.

Because the three of them all had the same English class, they walked through the hallways side-by-side to the section of the school that housed the English department. Stiles and Scott also had the same class as them, which Olivia considered pretty lucky. Out of the two hundred kids in their grade, the five of them all had the first class of the day together.

The classroom was pretty much full by the time that Olivia, Lydia, and Allison entered. Stiles got her attention right away, waving his hand in the air and then pointing to three empty seats next to him that he saved for them. Olivia cracked a smile at him and wandered over to the row of desks closest to the window, sitting in the seat next to him. Lydia scored the seat in front of Stiles but Allison was the unlucky one; the empty seat in front of Olivia had been filled by one of their other classmates.

Olivia grimaced at Allison, her eyes darting over to Scott, who was sitting on the other side of Stiles. "Sorry."

The last empty seat was in front of Scott, the one specific person she was trying to avoid.

"This ought to be good," Stiles muttered under his breath as he, Olivia, and Lydia watched as Allison approached Scott.

Allison smiled shyly—and awkwardly—at Scott, gesturing to the desk. "Is someone...?"

"No, no, no," Scott was quick to respond. "No, it's all you, all yours...Uh, it's totally vacant."

Olivia snickered as Scott looked at Stiles with a miserable face and her amusement definitely heightened when Stiles sent Scott a sarcastic thumbs-up in response.

As soon as Stiles put his hand down, every phone in the classroom started going off. Olivia furrowed her eyebrows as she quickly looked around the classroom and then focused on her purse, pulling out her phone; it was a text message from an unknown number.

Everyone in the class got a text message at the same time? How?

"The offing was barred by a black blank of clouds and the tranquil waterway, leading to the uttermost ends of the earth, flowed somber under an overcast sky, seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness," a tall brunette who had to be their teacher, Ms. Blake, walked into the classroom, reading off her own cellphone. She leaned against her desk when she finished reading and looked out over her students to address them. "This is the last line to the first book we are going to read...It is also the last text you will receive in this class. Phones off, everyone."

Olivia pressed her lips together, impressed by Ms. Blake's entrance. It wasn't bad for a new teacher. She put her phone on silent but she didn't turn it off; if she needed to reach Derek, just in case something happened, she'd have to keep it on.

"All right, everyone," Ms. Blake crossed to the back of her desk. "If you didn't already know from your schedule, I'm Ms. Blake. Right now, while I pass out your syllabi, I want you to get into your textbooks and start reading Heart of Darkness. Make sure you're annotating as you read; write down any thought that you have. I want to know them all."

Like the rest of her classmates, Olivia opened her textbook to start reading Heart of Darkness. Her brand-new notebook was opened to its first page, carefully labeled with the date and what they were doing. Now, Olivia had always received great grades in her English classes but that didn't mean she enjoyed them. English was actually her least favorite class and it bored her to death; there was nothing she hated more than reading old literature and taking notes about what she thought. She thought that it was boring and outdated and she didn't like it—somehow, she didn't think that Ms. Blake would appreciate those annotations.

She was only through half of the first chapter when the classroom door opened and their new principal—well, he was actually the one they had before Gerard Argent—walked into the room. All eyes were on him as he whispered into Ms. Blake's ear before leaving. Ms. Blake's gaze wandered the room before settling on Scott.

"Mr. McCall?" she gestured to the door.

Olivia took the opportunity of Ms. Blake talking to Scott in the hallway to message Derek about Isaac. She was still getting those warning signals in her head and if Scott was being pulled out of class—she wasn't stupid, she knew what was happening—then something worse was going on than they thought.

Ollie: Scott got pulled out of class, I'm guessing it's his mom

Ollie: I think it's because of Isaac

Derek: I'll check it out

Satisfied with her cousin's promise, Olivia slipped her phone back into her purse. She was back to writing notes when Ms. Blake walked into the classroom and continued to write their assignment on the board. They had to read four chapters by Friday—yay.

"Livvy."

Olivia heard the whisper that came from Stiles but ignored it; it was dead silent in the classroom and she was not about to get into trouble for talking when they weren't supposed to.

"Psst," she heard him hiss at her. "Livvy."

Olivia finally turned to him, an annoyed look on her face. "What?"

"What is that?" Stiles used his pencil to poke at her wrist where a flesh-colored bandage was covering Sirius' bite from that morning. "Is that from the accident?"

"No," Olivia pushed his pencil away from her. "Sirius bit me."

"Siri bit you," Stiles immediately furrowed his eyebrows. "No way."

"Well, I didn't bite myself, Stiles."

Stiles huffed and gave her an annoyed look. "Sirius hasn't bitten anyone before."

"Yeah, we had no idea," Lydia, having heard their conversation, bit in. "It isn't like he's our dog or anything."

Stiles' mind raced as he eyed the bandage on Olivia's arm. Sirius didn't bite people; he was one of the most playful and sweetest dogs in the world—and Stiles would die for him but that was beside the point—but he still bit Olivia. And the deer, there had never been any accidents reported where it came straight down the road like that. It's like the animals were going crazy or something.

"Hey," he whispered, hoping to get Olivia's and Lydia's attention again; it worked. "What if it's, like, the same thing as the deer? You know, like how animals start acting weird right before an earthquake or something?"

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek thoughtfully as Lydia quirked an eyebrow at him. "Meaning what?" she asked. "There's gonna be an earthquake?"

"Or something," Stiles insisted. "I just...maybe it means something's coming something bad."

While Stiles and Lydia conferred, Olivia was deep in her head, overwhelmed by her abilities. Her whole body was vibrating and she was rapidly hearing names—Olivia, Stiles, Lydia, Allison—from the classroom but it wasn't just that, either. There was something pulling her consciousness away from her, like she was needed elsewhere.

Scott. Isaac. Derek.

Olivia, they're coming, something whispered to her. They're coming. Olivia, look out the window. LOOK OUT THE WINDOW!

"Olivia!" she startled when someone grabbed her wrist, breathing in quickly. Her eyes locked with Lydia's, who was worried. "Your eyes are purple."

Olivia couldn't respond, she needed to look out the window. When she did, she inhaled deeply; a black bird was flying right toward her and then it was there, slamming into the glass and leaving a gross smudge of blood behind.

More birds were coming; maybe a hundred black birds were flying in the direction of the classroom and it didn't look like they were going to stop. They didn't; the first few birds hit the window as Ms. Blake walked over to see what was going on. And then the fourth bird hit the window, breaking through, and everything was chaos.

Olivia, Stiles, Lydia, Allison. Olivia, Stiles, Lydia, Allison. Olivia, Stiles, Lydia, Allison.

Over and over Olivia heard her and her friends' names, paralyzing her to her seat. She hardly noticed the numerous birds flying around the classroom, terrorizing her classmates. She didn't even notice when a bird started attacking her, too busy caught up in the fact that something was going on with Isaac, Scott, and Derek, too.

It was too much for her at once.

The birds were making Stiles nervous but the fact that Olivia was just sitting there was panic inducing. He cursed himself as he tore out from under his desk, wishing that he had seen her struggling before, and lunged toward her. He wasn't very careful as he pulled her from her seat and covered her with his own body, inching back toward to where Lydia and Allison were huddled together, but he could apologize later. Her eyes were wide and purple and he figured she wouldn't remember much of what was going on, anyway.

The attack of the birds only lasted around ten minutes but a lot of damage was done. Torn textbooks and notebook paper were all over the room, along with pieces of clothing and dead birds. There were a lot of injured people—there was nothing serious but it was birds that attacked them so antibiotics were probably needed—so paramedics and the police were called.

Olivia's eyes were still purple and that could have been the most worrying thing about it all if it wasn't for the fact that she was currently trying to get out of his grasp and head toward the classroom door like her life depended on it.

"Hey, Livvy, what are you doing?" Stiles grabbed her uninjured wrist to stop her from leaving. "You have to wait for the paramedics."

"Scott, Isaac, and Derek...they're in trouble," her voice was hers but it wasn't. It was dazed and almost robotic.

He furrowed his eyebrows worriedly but focused on Olivia; he could help her at the moment, not Scott or Derek. "I'm sure they have it handled. Are you okay," he cupped her face; her purple eyes were blank. "Olivia, come on. Come back to me."

"We're gonna have to get her out of here," Allison stated as she and Lydia walked over to them. Her eyes searched the room; their classmates were still pulling themselves together but soon it would be obvious that something was wrong with Olivia. "Someone's gonna notice."

"Scott."

Lydia bit her lip as her cousin whispered their friend's name. "I'll take her to the bathroom," she volunteered, eyeing Stiles before he could protest. "You need to tell your dad what happened."

"Fine," Stiles agreed with a mumble.

Allison helped Lydia sneak Olivia out of the classroom while Ms. Blake was occupied, trying to round up her injured students. By the time she got back, Noah and some of his deputies had rolled up, as well as a couple of paramedics. Even Mr. Argent had come to the school to see his daughter, worried about how her first day had completely flopped within the first class period.

Stiles quickly explained to his dad what had went on and then looked for his and Olivia's things. Once their school supplies and bags were gathered on his desk, he took his phone from his pants and messaged Derek.

Stilinski: Olivia's freaking out about you guys. What's going on?

Sourwolf: I have Isaac and Scott. We're fine.

If Scott, Isaac, and Derek were out of danger, that probably meant that Olivia was okay. Hopefully she and Lydia were being attended to for their injuries, which were just a few scratches.

Stiles' gaze found Ms. Blake; she was sitting on her desk with bird feathers in her hair, her eyes blank as he started ahead. He felt sorry for the woman. It was her first day of teaching at Beacon High and this was what she got. Why on earth did people even want to work in Beacon Hills? There were disasters all the fucking time.

"Ms. Blake, are you okay?" Stiles reached for one of the feathers in her hair, pulling it out as she flinched away. "Sorry, just...that," he showed her the feather and hastily dropped it to the floor.

He needed hand sanitizer.

"Mr. Argent," his dad's voice caught his attention; he looked to see that Noah was now talking to Mr. Argent, his arms crossed over his chest. "you wouldn't have any insight into this would you?"

Stiles sat on the desk next to his, watching the exchange curiously.

"Me?" Mr. Argent was taken aback.

"Yeah," Noah nodded. "all this bizarre animal behavior, it's...You must have seen something like this before, right?"

"I'm not sure why I would or why you would think I would," Mr. Argent was uncharacteristically flustered as he spoke to Noah.

Noah paused for a second. "I'm sorry, I could have sworn I overheard my son talking about how you were an experienced hunter."

Shit, shit, shit. Stiles quickly ducked his head, burying his face into his phone so he looked busy.

"Ah, right," Mr. Argent replied. "Well, not anymore."

Stiles only looked away from his phone when Noah left the Argents, throwing his dad an accusing look. "You listen to my phone calls now?"

"No, you just happen to be loud," Noah retorted, passing his son to speak to the deputies he brought onto the scene.

Stiles was pretty sure he was dismissed, so he took his and Olivia's things and left the classroom. He and his classmates had been excused for the rest of the day, so he'd be able to find Olivia and Lydia without a problem before they left school.

As he walked through the hallway, making his way to the girl's bathroom, he called Scott. "We got a serious problem at school," he reported when Scott answered, not taking the time to greet his best friend. "Ms. Blake's class—"

"Hey, can you tell me about it later?" Scott interrupted him.

Stiles frowned. "Well, no, I'm pretty sure this qualifies for immediate discussion."

Scott sighed. "Okay, then meet me at Derek's."

"His loft?"

"No, his old house."

"What the fuck are you doing at his old house?" last Stiles knew, the old Hale house had been taken over by the county. Olivia had been really upset about it but relieved at the same time.

"Just meet us here, okay," Scott said hurriedly. "Bye."

Stiles groaned; he seriously hoped he wasn't going to that house for no reason. Derek had said that he, Scott, and Isaac were fine, so why did they need to wait around in the rundown mansion? What was so important that he had to meet them there?

He put his phone back in his pants just as Olivia and Lydia left the bathroom. He was very much relieved to see that Olivia looked like herself again, fully aware and in charge of her body. She was a little ruffled but so were he and Lydia and the rest of their classmates.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her, ignoring her PDA rules to pull her into a tight hug. He was relieved to feel her return his affection. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Olivia assured him as she pulled away. "Sorry about that. I don't know what happened."

"We need to figure out what it was," Lydia spoke up, crossing her arms over her chest. "If that happens again..."

"Someone might notice, yeah," Olivia nodded and then focused back on Stiles, reaching up to carefully prod at the scratch near his temple. "Did you get that cleaned?"

"Yes, ma'am," Stiles confirmed with a grin. "Oh, I talked to Derek and he, Scott, and Isaac are fine."

Olivia sighed in relief. "Good."

"And Scott wants us to meet them at the old Hale house."

Immediately, Olivia clammed up, giving him a tight smile. "You go ahead," she told him, not wanting to go back to the place where her mother had died. "I'll stay with Lydia and get a ride home from Allison."

Stiles frowned. "Are you sure?"

He knew that she hated to be around the old Hale house but he was worried about her being in a small space with Mr. Argent. They weren't the ones that fought and Argent had actually helped her get Stiles out of his house that spring but Stiles was still cautious. Despite her last name being something different, Olivia was still a Hale and Argent was still an Argent.

"Yeah," surprisingly, Olivia stood on her tiptoes to give Stiles a light peck on the lips. "Lyds and I have that party to go to anyway. It's gonna be fun."

Lydia rolled her eyes at her cousin's sarcasm. "Would you stop being a party pooper?"

"No," Olivia turned her gaze back to Stiles once again. "I love you."

Stiles beamed at her. "Love you, too. Be careful."

-

After getting her things from Stiles, it was just Olivia who went with Lydia to her locker. Allison joined them as Lydia started touching up her lipstick but they stayed silent. All three of them were still bewildered with what had happened in their english class.

Finally, Lydia spoke up, "Is it me or is Beacon Hills turning into more like a beacon for the totally bizarre and supernatural?"

Allison laughed and Olivia rolled her eyes as Lydia shut her locker. They were just about to walk away to head to Allison's car when they came across an older woman. She couldn't have been more than five or six years older than them but she looked a little haggard.

"Where's Scott McCall?" the woman asked them.

Olivia, Lydia, and Allison exchanged looks but it was Olivia who spoke up. "How you do—"

"You're the Anchor," the woman breathed and grabbed Olivia's arm; Olivia's eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Hey, how do you know..." Allison spoke up angrily, only for her arm to be grabbed by the woman, too.

Both Olivia and Allison winced in pain as the woman squeezed their arms carefully, her eyes looking at something past them.

"Easy on the physicality, sweetheart," Lydia sneered, forcefully pulling the woman's grip away from Olivia and Allison.

The woman let go and started to run away; Olivia looked back at where the woman had been staring at and saw that the twins that Lydia was lusting after were fleeing the hallway, too. "What the hell?" she muttered and looked down at her arm, which was still aching. "She bruised me."

Allison looked at her arm. "Huh, me too."

"What a psycho," Lydia glowered at the end of the hallway where the woman disappeared to.

"Come on," all three of them turned to Mr. Argent, who had walked up to them. "Let's get you girls out of here."

Olivia exchanged a nod with Lydia. After the strange day she had—which only lasted one class period, by the way—she was more than ready to get out of that school. She and Lydia ducked away from the Argents and walked down the hallway side-by-side.

(Gif is not mine)

[mittensmorgul]

The Tumblr Beta Version: an objective analysis

I was tempted to just type “it sucks.” And while that is an objective analysis, it’s not exactly helpful. I’ve sent several requests to @staff and @support to restore my account to the old tumblr dashboard format, and received the same automated reply twice now. I’ll copy/paste it here so everyone is on the same page:

(lol, I had to go back and edit this, because apparently the beta version doesn’t display block quotes on the dash. So I’ve also put the block quotes in italics... hopefully it’ll display properly... note after editing: nope, it doesn’t display italics either... how the heck am I supposed to differentiate quoted text? I’ll start each quoted bit with an asterisk, I guess...)

*Thanks for reaching out about the beta dashboard.

*We're currently testing it out, and your account seems to have been selected to take part in the test. Thanks for your patience while we work on it! At this time there is not a way to opt out of testing. You may see your Tumblr experience return to normal as we continue testing.

WE CAN ONLY HOPE.

*In the meantime, check out some of the new features available only in the beta dashboard:

OKAY TUMBLR, IF YOU INSIST, though I would MUCH rather have back all the functionality I personally invested into this website through xkit... you know... making the site ACTUALLY FUNCTIONAL. Let’s see what this beta version has given me instead of functionality:

*Change Palettes: Go to the person icon, then click "Change Palette." You'll find the classic Tumblr blue, dark mode, and a few other color palettes for your dash.

So I tried out all the color palettes. In addition to the ones mentioned here, there’s one that’s trying to look like a green screen terminal that gives me flashbacks to the early 80′s. There’s a reason we stopped using green screen terminals... Another one is “canary yellow.” It’s very yellow. The “classic tumblr” isn’t actually classic tumblr... all the post boxes are dark blue with grey type, not white with black type. And all the other colors are the insanely bright fluorescent of the new Dark Blue standard tumblr scheme. Which means links are practically invisible unless I highlight them. It’s migraine inducing. The one theme with a light colored background is called “Concrete” or “Cement” or something like that and even that only works for about half an hour before the migraine aura really kicks in. I just want my Old Blue via xkit back. You know, what tumblr actually used to look like. I don’t want any of these horrible color palettes. None of them work for me.

*The new "meatballs" menu: This is where you can copy the post link, unfollow the Tumblr who made or reblogged the post, or report a violation to our Community Guidelines.

I could do all of this from the user menus with xkit, too. I don’t regularly report violations or have the urge to block people I have chosen to follow. Why on earth would I want to do any of this? And why would I want these features located directly beside the post link copy feature? 

You know what I do miss? I miss the xkit timestamps feature. I didn’t have to hover dangerously close to the KILL IT WITH FIRE meatballs menu in order to see when a post was made, and in this era of disinformation and misinformation spreading around this site faster than Covid-19, being able to see when a post was ORIGINALLY created is a far more useful feature than an easier way to block people. For reference: I currently have three blogs blocked. Two of them are pornbots. One is a nazi. If I don’t want someone’s content on my dash, I don’t follow them. This “feature” is entirely useless to me.

*A quick note: Pagination is not supported in this beta test, but we're collecting feedback to send to our engineers.

THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE WORST. This beta test might actually be tolerable if I wasn’t trapped into endless scrolling. If I could page through my dash, refreshing it every ten posts or so. You know why? Because once I scroll about 30 posts down my dash, tumblr starts overheating my laptop under the load of ALL THOSE POSTS. Things start malfunctioning-- it takes longer and longer to load new posts the farther I scroll. And the keyboard navigation (both page down and hitting J to advance to the next post, and even just using the down arrow to scroll as I read a long post) freeze and stop functioning. One of my laptop fans has actually begun to malfunction.

You know why this wasn’t a problem on the old version? If the data load got to heavy, I could open a post in a new tab, click view on dash with xkit, and voila! Brand new tab! I could close the malfunctioning tab and everything would be refreshed to normal! But without pagination, THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE.

Also, after reblogging a few posts, the beta version of this site breaks, and doesn’t open a post tab to add commentary or even tags. It just... reblogs the untagged post with no warning whatsoever. You know... that’s really really not cool. I tag EVERYTHING. Well, almost everything. The tags are the only way to keep track of the 40k+ posts on my blog. And warn people that I am posting potential spoilers, or other specific content. It’s REALLY inconvenient to have to either immediately go to my blog to edit the post and add tags, or even comments. The alternative is to scroll up to open individual posts I want to reblog in a new tab, and then reblog directly there. Ironically enough, THOSE pages actually open with xkit installed, and everything (surprise!) functions perfectly there.

It’s perfectly reasonable to understand why this specific issue has limited the number of posts I reblog. Reblogging content should not be this much of a hassle. Creators have been complaining for a while that reblogs have drastically slowed down, and I think making it even more annoying and difficult to reblog posts will not help this problem.

Also, with xkit enabled, there’s a function that auto-loads images as you scroll, so the images are always visible BEFORE they appear on screen. I don’t have to look at the colored boxes and wonder if this is a post I’ve already seen or something I should sit and wait for. Don’t even think about watching tumblr videos. Loading priority is given to the ads that you cannot pause or dismiss, so that video loads and plays in choppy two second bursts instead of being given priority. Since that’s the content I am actually here to consume, it kinda makes me want to do the opposite of patronizing anyone who advertises here with graphically intense ads. And then when you scroll away, with xkit, gifs and videos you’ve scrolled past STOP loading and playing, which I think might be contributing to the intensity of the resource hogging that’s literally melting down my laptop.

And for reference, I have a pretty decent little gaming laptop. A blogging platform shouldn’t be driving it to the brink of frying itself. I didn’t realize just how much xkit worked to streamline this and provide basic functionality to this site.

*And lastly, if you're an XKit user, know that the XKit team is working hard to update things on their end to make it compatible with the beta dashboard.

And this doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of what I’ve lost without xkit. And this is a really REALLY garbage response to user complaints. “Oh, yeah, sorry we made our site suck even worse, but those nice people who do our jobs for free will surely fix our garbage soon!”

Dear wonderful people at @new-xkit-extension, I love you, and I miss you, and while I wish xkit worked with this beta version I’ve been forced into living with, I truly feel for y’all who are trying to deal with this nonsense on behalf of all of us.

And to the folks at Tumblr... maybe try to just... make your site actually more like xkit. You know, actually functional. None of these special new features are useful or functional to me. I respectfully request for a fourth time to be removed from this inane beta test.

Give us OPTIONS. Let us display ALL THE TAGS without having to click a button. Let me have back my Activity+ that actually allowed me to interact with people from my dash! That showed me real-time inline notifications in a way that I could reply to with a single click! Bring me back to my column of open messaging conversation icons so I have easy access to the people I talk with throughout the day instead of closing them all every time I refresh the page. I already feel socially isolated in freaking quarantine, please stop shutting off all my avenues of communication!

Let us have pagination! I mean, maybe it wasn’t the best idea to force heavy users of this site into a beta version that doesn’t allow us to opt out until your engineers had actually figured out how to make it work in a very basic way.

*Let me know if there's anything else I can help you with!

YES. PLEASE REMOVE ME FROM THIS BETA TEST NOW. I have let you know exactly what I want from this site. I just want it to ACTUALLY WORK. For someone who spends 12+ hours a day on this site, this beta test version is NONFUNCTIONAL. PLEASE ALLOW ME TO OPT OUT. I AM LITERALLY BEGGING YOU. I WILL ACTUALLY PAY YOU CASH MONEY TO ALLOW ME TO OPT OUT OF THIS AND GO BACK TO HAVING A FUNCTIONAL BLOG AGAIN. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!

PLEASE! 

I AM OFFICIALLY AT THE END OF MY PATIENCE FOR ENDURING THIS NIGHTMARE.

(one final quick note... I’ve only been back on my dash long enough to make the parenthetical edits-- i.e. adding italics that don’t display and then adding the asterisks at the beginning of each section of quoted text, and already my laptop is overheating again. For reference, I originally typed this entire post from within my tumblr inbox page-- which still functions normally with xkit-- and spent over an hour on it. My laptop was fine the entire time. Clearly the issue is this beta version of the website. I will never forgive tumblr if y’all fry my literal only portal to the outside world at this time. PUT ME BACK TO NORMAL NOW. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY INFURIATING AND ENTIRELY UNACCEPTABLE. Thanks)

(oops apparently i lied... when the asterisks and the previous final note failed to display, I thought that seemed suspicious, and realized that I literally needed to refresh my entire dash in order to see edited changes. Funny how xkit enabled me to do that in real time, which is just another bit of functionality I’ve lost with this beta program. Please guys, this is really, really not working for me at all, just put it back.)

[candyshua]

When Our Star Burns Out || Jeon Wonwoo x Reader

When you meet a strange boy by the name of Wonwoo through a game of dodgeball, you would have never expected him to change your life the way he did.

Genre: Heavy angst & tooth-rotting fluff

Word Count: 10,121

Warnings: Death, alcohol, mentions of sex, cursing, & cancer

A/N: i really hope you guys enjoy this. i spent so long writing this and i’m actually quite proud of it!! this is a very long oneshot as you can see, but i really hope you guys like it:))

You and Wonwoo had met in one of the most odd and unconventional ways a pair of human beings could possibly ever meet. You were 17 at the time, in the prime of your rebellious phase. You had always hated the way the world worked, with its cruel and unjust ways. You had worn colorless clothing, dyed your hair red without asking your parents (they made you dye it back to its original color the day after they found out), and got your belly button pierced with a fake ID. It was safe to say that you did things your way, and your way only.

Yet, somehow, you found yourself at your friend’s birthday party in a trampoline park on a Friday night, when you could be drinking or smoking or literally anything else besides that. It was the middle of January, yet the cold weather outside didn’t even compare to the cold words you had told your friend, Jinah, when she invited you.

“What are we, elementary school kids? That sounds fucking lame.” You had hissed. Jinah, however, was used to you and your off-putting ways.

“There will be free food and cake. All you have to do is get me a stupid gift and show up.” 

And so you had found yourself at the trampoline park on that fateful January night. It was called Jumping and Jittering, which made you want to projectile vomit all over the neon-lit letters in front of the building. When you had walked inside, you were greeted with bunches of little kids running around and screaming. You instantly regretted showing your face at that stupid party.

The place was huge, though. The ceilings were very high, and its walls were an uncharming orange hue. In the way back, there were many mini trampolines where people could jump freely. There was also an obstacle course, a jousting station where kids fell into pits of plush, and most importantly, the dodgeball section. You were attracted to it immediately, and you somehow found yourself leading Jinah and the attendees of her party to said place.

And then, you saw him. Once you walked into the game of dodgeball, your eyes locked with a rather handsome and pleasant looking boy, who seemed to be around your age. You immediately looked away after you made eye contact, ignoring the sudden jolts of electricity that dashed around your entire body, leaving you with an uneasy warm feeling. His narrow yet alluring dark brown eyes perfectly contrasted with his goofy smile that he flashed to one of his friends. His nose was wide and its bridge wasn’t very prominent, but you found it extremely endearing. You had stopped yourself from further observing him, since you found yourself associating the word “endearing” with a random boy’s nose. 

Yet, his lovely tufts of black hair that fell over his forehead just perfectly left your heart beating rapidly. 

Before you knew it, the game of dodgeball had begun. You were always quite the athlete, even when you were little, you were always challenging boys who thought they were the best. That athleticism had stuck with you for a very long time.

You found yourself picking up a plush orange ball, and you locked eyes with the stupid, handsome boy and threw it as hard as you could. You didn’t know where this competitive mood had stemmed from, but all you knew was that you wanted to get that boy out. 

He had underestimated you and your strength, seeing as he reached out to it with one hand, expecting to catch it and get you out. However, the ball hit him in the arm, and despite the ball’s softness, the impact kind of hurt. The referee (a young man with a very sad look on his face) had monotonously motioned for the boy you had hit to get out. So, the handsome guy gave you a mischievous yet playful glare and trudged off the trampolines and off to the side.

After getting him out many more times, the playfulness in his eyes was replaced with a fiery determination to beat you. Soon, everybody else except you two were out, and the stranger kept giving you a very dirty look. You were sure he was taking this way too seriously, since you were barely breaking a sweat from the amount of physical activity you had endured.

There was one ball left, and it was in his hands. You had nonchalantly jumped in place on one of the trampolines, letting him get in his own head. Jinah and her entourage were cheering for you, but you knew you were going to win with or without them. This handsome boy’s main flaw was that he was far too emotional--you didn’t know his name but you could already tell that.

So, when he threw the ball at you at a seemingly unstoppable pace, you had caught it (you’ll admit it, with some effort) and smiled deviously. Everybody from Jinah’s party started to cheer, and you even found yourself basking in your own victory. The poor boy looked mortified.

After the excitement died down, you stood at a vending machine waiting for the water you just bought to come down. However, it stayed lodged between the glass and the shelf.

“God dammit!” You cursed, helplessly shaking the machine in hopes of getting your water. Sadly, it was to no avail, the water bottle was stubborn and didn’t move an inch.

You were just about to walk away until you locked eyes with the guy you had publicly humiliated. You blinked twice to make sure you weren’t imagining him walking your way.

You didn’t exactly know what to do. To be honest, you didn’t plan on ever interacting with the handsome stranger ever again. However, he intended on interacting with you.

After a very long 15 seconds, he was finally right in front of you. 

“You’re really good at dodgeball,” He murmured nervously, “I didn’t expect it.”

“Thanks.”

(You weren’t really the best conversationalist.)

He looked a little discouraged at your bland response, but he wasn’t going to give up.

“My name’s Jeon Wonwoo. What’s yours?”

You blushed a bit, wondering why he was interested in knowing your name. How was such a handsome guy like Wonwoo trying to get to know you?

“My name is Y/L/N Y/N.” 

“That’s a cool name.”

“Thanks.”

(You internally cursed at yourself, hating the way you were awkward and shitty at talking to people.)

He was just about to walk away awkwardly until you stopped him. You don’t know what weird force had gotten into you, but you didn’t want your encounter with this very handsome boy to end so quickly.

“Hey, could you help me with this?” You questioned, feeling heat rush to your cheeks. Wonwoo turned around and flashed you his pearly whites, and in that fateful moment, you knew that you wanted him in your life. His beautiful smile made you feel things you had never felt before. You didn’t exactly know why this boy was making you feel like your entire body was melting from his warmth. All you knew was that he was very cute, and he had a nice smile.

He walked past you and shook the vending machine once, and then plop. The water bottle fell and you gave Wonwoo a very shy grin.

“Thank you...Wonwoo.” 

“No problem, Y/N.”

After a very anticipant silence, Wonwoo spoke up.

“Can I um...get your number?” 

Oh thank God, you thought, I thought I was going to be the one to ask.

“Yeah, of course.” You responded a little too quickly.

Was that too eager? Was Wonwoo already turned off? Did he now want nothing to do with you?

That was kind of your specialty--making people want to have absolutely nothing to do with you.

Yet, Wonwoo didn’t budge. In fact, he found your eagerness quite relieving. He had thought the attraction was one-sided.

(It wasn’t.)

-

You were freaking out, to say the least. It was the end of January, and you thought you were going to die of excitement and nervousness.

You and Wonwoo had been texting non-stop for the past few weeks, and he finally mustered up the courage to ask you on a date. He asked you to go see a horror movie with him, to which you happily obliged. You loved horror movies.

You didn’t exactly know what to wear, so you stuck with a maroon sweater and a regular pair of blue denim jeans. You put on a nice pair of converse, not wanting to try too hard. Your hair was stylishly let down as well.

Once you heard the honking of a car from outside your house, you bid your parents farewell and eagerly ran out the door. You had learned Wonwoo was only a year older than you. He was in his first year of university and he absolutely adored it--he majored in film. His dream was to be an amazing filmmaker, which you had found extremely endearing. 

Once Wonwoo had laid his eyes on you, his mouth had fallen slightly agape. He thought your simple outfit complimented your entire demeanor perfectly. You looked angelic amid the cold winter night. Your cheeks and the tip of your nose were red, which made Wonwoo’s insides feel odd. There was no other way to put it, he didn’t feel normal--he felt weird and unusual. But, it wasn’t a bad kind of weird.

After the movie ended, Wonwoo had learned that you--like him--could handle horror movies quite well. He had found you incredibly cool, and he thought your charisma multiplied exponentially each time he learned something new about you.

Finally, you had arrived back to Wonwoo’s car after running to it in the freezing cold. The city lights of Seoul were seen in the distance, but you had wished you could’ve seen the stars instead. 

“I love stars.” You blurted while curled up in a ball in the passenger seat of his car. He chuckled at your adorable nature and put his jacket on you like a blanket. You ignored the quickening pace of your heart and the heat rising to your cheeks despite the ungodly cold weather.

“Why?” Wonwoo probed, eyeing you shyly. This was new, exciting, yet comforting. You were loving every second of whatever this was. Dating? Friendship? Whatever it was, you didn’t want it to stop. Ever.

“Well, I mean, they’re pretty far away, right?”

“Right.” 

(Wonwoo tried to stifle a smile that broke out since you were so goddamn adorable, but he failed miserably.)

“Yet, we’re still seeing their light. Even if they’re many light-years away, their light still got to us. Hell, the star could’ve even burned out by now--but we still got to see them.”

You had looked at Wonwoo shyly, expecting him to laugh at you and your stupid interests. 

Instead, however, you were pleasantly surprised.

“That is quite a nice way to look at it. It makes me...feel at ease. Like I know I’ll always have the stars to depend on.”

Wonwoo’s words had made you want to kiss him right then and there. However, your words were quicker than your actions (or lips).

“Yes! Thank you, god! Everybody always calls me stupid for thinking like that...Or annoying. Or both!” You joyously shouted, making Wonwoo’s smile widen even more.

“You’re cute.” Wonwoo blurted, which made you freeze up. Despite the heat you were receiving from Wonwoo’s jacket and your own clothing, you felt oddly chilly.

Yet, it was a good kind of chilly. You liked it a lot.

“So are you.” You had retorted, wondering where the bravery to flirt came from.

Suddenly, you had felt infinitely grateful to Jinah and to the fact that you attended her stupid birthday party. You also felt grateful to your athleticism, your competitive nature, and of course, to Jeon Wonwoo.

-

The beautiful winds of spring had kissed your skin just right. You walked through the fair, hand-in-hand with Wonwoo. To say that you were at ease would be an understatement--you felt so much more than that. Despite having just gotten off an extremely scary ride, you were content and tranquility flowed throughout your veins.

Wonwoo, however, was still shaken up from that rollercoaster. You led the both of you to a table by the concessions and made Wonwoo sit down.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” You asked, worry prominent in your voice. Wonwoo then felt his heart ache dramatically, and he had come to the realization that he hated seeing you hurt. He could hear the pain laced into your voice, and he knew that he was the cause of it. It felt absolutely awful.

You then sat down next to Wonwoo and took his hands in yours. “You can tell me anything, you know…”

With those words, Wonwoo had found himself surprisingly opening up to you. You two had been dating for about three months now, yet Wonwoo could be very stoic at times. You had wanted to learn more about your boyfriend, but he had trouble trusting people.

However, you were different. Ever since the night of your first date, he knew he could trust you. He was just scared of opening up and then losing you. The last thing in the world he wanted was to lose you.

So, you had learned about Wonwoo’s fear of rollercoasters, which stemmed from the problems he had with his parents. 

His parents didn’t support him or any of his artistic endeavors. They had wanted him to be a doctor, since he had a mighty sharp brain that could do something more “productive” than making films. However, Wonwoo rebelled, saying that being a doctor just wasn’t his dream. His parents were never supportive.

He recalled one time in his early childhood where he went on a rollercoaster, but his parents had refused to go with him. And, in that moment, 8-year-old Wonwoo had felt terribly alone. That feeling of loneliness stuck with him until the day he moved out of his childhood home.

“I know it seems trivial,” Wonwoo began after explaining himself, “but it’s me. It’s why I hold you so close, it’s because you listen. You support me, and I’ve never really had that before.”

Your eyes bored into Wonwoo’s dark irises with intensity. Before the rational and cowardly side of you could deny, you had pressed your lips against his with fervor and love.

Love.

You had loved Wonwoo, to the point where he was always in the back of your mind. Little things like the smell of mint or horror movies would make you think of him. Whenever he was the center of your attention, your insides pooled with warmth. He made you feel human, like you could finally breathe again. 

You had hated the world, it was horrible and cruel. People were worse. However, whenever you were with Wonwoo, you forgot about the terrors of the world and your hatred towards people. 

You finally pulled away and gave him a playful stare. 

“Sorry.” You giggled.

“It’s okay.” Wonwoo gave you a lazy smirk.

You gave him one last peck on the lips, and then backed up on the bench you were both sitting on. The sky was blue and cloudless. There were many people all walking in different directions around the two of you. Children’s laughter could be heard among the bustle of life, yet all you could focus on was the man in front of you. You wanted to bask in the moment and observe every little detail of the atmosphere, including Wonwoo’s black skinny jeans and simple white t-shirt along with your red blouse and black leggings. It was your first kiss with Wonwoo (or with anyone for that matter) and you didn’t want to forget it,

“I hate everything--well, I used to.” You blurted.

Wonwoo then gave you a puzzled look.

“Why?”

You sighed while you shifted nervously in your seat, and then you finally decided to open up to him--he had just done the same to you. It felt right.

“When I was five, I was put into foster care. My mother could no longer take care of me, despite not having any financial troubles. To sum it up, I was a burden. And, it hurt--a lot.

“Yet, after three years of being in foster care, my new parents had found me. They took me in and, for a short period of time, I felt like I was theirs. I didn’t feel like an abandoned piece of trash. 

“Sadly, I had to start my new school. The kids there were absolutely horrible to me, they would steal from me and call me names. I was nine. But, I grew up and I learned how to stand up for myself. It led me to be friends with Jinah, and then I met you.”

Wonwoo stared at you with his big, innocent eyes. His respect for you had just been multiplied by a thousand. He kissed you again (mainly because he wanted to initiate at least one kiss), and then he hugged you tightly, as if he never wanted to let go. 

(You didn’t want him to.)

-

“What do you want to do with your life, Y/N?” Wonwoo asked you while the two of you stared at the stars on a summer evening. The sudden question had startled you.

“Well, damn, I don’t know.”

Wonwoo scoffed and turned on his side so he could look at you. You glanced at him very briefly, staying on your back. You were enjoying that particular date, since Wonwoo had taken you to the countryside so you two could look at the stars without them being overshadowed by the city lights. You had told your parents you were going on a drive with Jinah, but they saw right through your lie.

However, they didn’t call you out on it. They saw the way your lips slightly curled upwards when you thought of what you were about to do. They knew you loved him.

You let yourself bask in the silence and contemplated Wonwoo’s million-dollar-question. You hadn’t really figured that out yet. You were an exemplary student, and all of the colleges you had applied to accepted you. However, you didn’t exactly know what you wanted your career to be.

“Well?” Wonwoo cooed, giving you a small smile.

“Um…”

You were silent for a bit--until it hit you.

“Oh! I know!” 

Wonwoo glared at you. 

“How about you tell me?” He sarcastically exaggerated. He couldn’t contain his smile, though. You were just too damn cute.

“I want to be a writer.”

Wonwoo grinned widely.

“We have similar interests, don’t we?” 

You shrugged. You tore your gaze from the sky to look at Wonwoo again. 

“I just have a lot of ideas. I think I could write them down, and then make them into a story. I don’t really know, to be honest. I’m just kind of winging it.”

Wonwoo laughed at that. You playfully glared at him and stuck out your tongue. After Wonwoo’s eyes averted from your gaze and went back to look at the stars, you felt the feeling of happiness melt into your blood.

You knew you would remember that moment for the rest of your life. And, when you would get sad, you would force yourself to think about it. You would force yourself to think about Wonwoo’s beautiful smile, and his smooth black hair, along with his lanky limbs yet well-built body. 

“Thank you, Wonwoo.” You murmured shyly.

“For what?”

“For playing dodgeball that one stupid night.”

It was an odd feeling--knowing that the foundation of your relationship was some stupid game of dodgeball. It was also odd to think about how long ago that night in January felt, when it really was only seven months ago.

Wonwoo smirked and then scooted over to you, and planted a wet kiss right on your lips. You smiled into the kiss, wanting him to know that he made you happy--that he made you smile.

Wonwoo had driven you two back to the motel you were staying at for the night. And then the kisses you two shared turned into something more serious, more fervent. Before you knew it, your clothes were off, and then Wonwoo was inside of you, and then you were no longer a virgin.

Once you two were finished, he cleaned you up and then snuggled up next to you, burying his face into the crook of your neck.

“I love you.” You confessed with a quiet voice.

“Finally.” Wonwoo laughed.

“What?”

“Finally. It was about time one of us said it. I love you too, Y/N.”

You let out a breath you didn’t even know you were holding. 

You fell asleep in each other’s arms that night, knowing nothing but your love for one another.

-

You had started Seoul University. It was a huge change, to say the least. Your classes were stressful, pain-inducing, and time-consuming. However, you were skating by in terms of grades--your GPA was very high and your grades were amazing. 

One day, your creative writing professor had called you to meet him right after class. Your mind automatically went to the worst possible reasons as to why he wanted to meet with you. Were you in trouble? Did you do bad on an essay? Oh god, was he going to seduce you?

“Hi, Professor.” You nervously greeted while avoiding his gaze.

“Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble. It’s quite the contrary, actually.” He must have sensed your apprehension. Were you really that easy to read?

You finally made eye contact with him. You cocked your head to the side, as if your curiosity was a sign for him to continue.

“Your latest story was absolutely amazing, so I submitted it to some publishers in New York I’m friends with, and they absolutely loved it.”

Oh god.

“And you said you speak English, right?”

You nodded slowly. You swore your heart was in your throat.

“Well, they want you to go to New York for a year and work under them. They see potential in your work, Y/N. As a matter of fact, a lot of people do. I recommend that you do it, it’s a huge publishing company and they could really get your name well known. Plus, it’s kind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

 You didn’t know how to react. Were you supposed to be happy? Excited? Why was your first thought about Wonwoo?

“I’ll think about it.” You sighed, trying to fight the sudden solemn mood you were put in. This was supposed to be great news, but why did it feel like you were losing?

You contemplated not telling Wonwoo at all, since you were almost certain that you were going to turn the offer down. But, Wonwoo could read you like a book, so when he came to pick you up after your literature class, he knew something was wrong. You weren’t your usual talkative and passionate self, you seemed hollow.

“What’s wrong, Y/N?” Wonwoo questioned with concern laced in his voice. You had sucked in an uneasy and sharp breath, wondering if it was even worth telling him.

“I got an offer.”

“Elaborate.” “Okay, so, I got an offer to work under these really famous publishers. They read a short story of mine and they want to see more of me.”

Wonwoo furrowed his eyebrows intently and cocked his head to the side. 

“And this is bad because?”

“Because I’d have to go to New York City for a year.”

Silence.

Wonwoo’s lips pressed into a firm line after your soul-crushing words. Wonwoo knew you were talented and extremely intelligent. 

“I don’t think I’m gonna take it, though.” 

Wonwoo gave you a look that somewhat resembled anger. He was mightily conflicted. 

“Do it.” He surprised himself when he said that.

Wonwoo’s words had hit you like a punch in the gut. Why was he encouraging you? Did he want you out of his life?

“But I--”

“Do it, Y/N. Don’t stay for me, please. This isn’t what you want--you don’t want to turn down amazing opportunities for me. You don’t want a simple life, do you?”

He waited for you to answer. He then gave you a very stern look, and you were coaxed into answering.

“No, I don’t.”

You didn’t, that was true. You couldn’t possibly imagine settling down for a mundane and safe life. You wanted excitement, you didn’t want to work in a job and have to climb the corporate ladder. No, you wanted to follow your dreams.

“Exactly. I love you, Y/N. And, since I love you, I’m not going to stop you. This is your dream.”

You knew he was right. You knew that this was your dream, and you shouldn’t be putting it on hold for a man. Despite your earth-shattering love for Wonwoo, you couldn’t let that get in the way of your dreams.

“I’ll be gone for a year--at least. That means…” 

You couldn’t even bear to finish the sentence. You felt a lump in your throat start to form, and then the tears started to fall effortlessly. You were a sobbing mess, but Wonwoo held you and calmed you down, repeatedly saying “I love you” and “it’s okay”. 

Wonwoo’s words had always been able to calm you down, but in that moment, his words only made your heartache worsen.

-

You broke up with Wonwoo the night before you left. The both of you knew it was coming, the inevitability of the entire situation was unstoppable.

You had showed up in front of Wonwoo’s house at around 11 PM, waiting for him to come down right after you called him. The look in his eyes said that he knew, and that it was okay.

“Hi.” You managed to muster. Your voice had already cracked from the oncoming onslaught of tears.

“Hey.” Wonwoo’s eyes were warm, and he gave you a sad smile. He took a step closer to you and kissed you on the lips softly, as if it was his way of saying goodbye.

“I love you, um, a lot.”

“I know.”

“You know if you tell me not to go, I won’t. I’ll stay here with you.” 

You knew you had wanted to go, but Wonwoo had this insurmountable power over you. His opinion mattered so goddamn much, and if he wanted you to do (or not do) something, he just had to say the word.

“I’m not a selfish person, Y/N. You know that.”

You were already breaking down. Wonwoo’s bottom lip was quivering, and you could tell he was trying to keep it all together for you.

“You can cry, you know.” You forlornly chuckled. He returned the sad laughter, and soon he started to sob just like you.

You took a step closer to him and tried to take in everything about that night. The smattering of stars in the sky, the way Wonwoo’s porch light was flickering, and the way your heart was breaking.

“I love you.” Wonwoo whispered, his voice breaking. You let yourself soak in those three words for a bit. 

Long distance could never work. The difference between timezones, the loneliness, just everything about it was so off-putting. So, that was off the table.

And, despite your love being so strong and real, it couldn’t change the way reality worked. And, the reality of everything was that this was most likely the end. You were both young and in love, but there was no realism in the idea of staying together forever.

You then looked at Wonwoo’s chocolate orbs and took in a deep breath.

“Let’s break up.”

All Wonwoo could do was nod and give you the world’s saddest smile. You finally maneuvered your way out of his touch and gave him one last wave goodbye, almost as to say “I’ll never forget you”.

How could you ever forget Jeon Wonwoo?

-

You were absolutely exhausted. You were about to drown in fatigue until your friend, Cynthia, came and shook you awake.

“It’s time to go home. Need a ride?” She offered, but you shook your head tiredly.

“No thanks, my boyfriend is gonna pick me up. Thanks, though.”

Finally, your boyfriend Joshua arrived in his lovely car. You trudged to the vehicle and you forced yourself to keep your eyes open. You finally opened the car door and gave him a lazy kiss before shutting it.

“Tired?” Joshua asked, amusement prominent in his tone.

“Joshua Hong, I really hope you’re not entertaining yourself with my pain right now.” You half-jokingly hissed, which just led to Joshua chuckling quietly.

“Where to?”

“Your apartment. No sex, though--too tired.”

“Understood.”

-

You laid in Joshua’s bed and scrolled through your phone mindlessly. You heard the shower running, but you were just too tired to join him.

Suddenly, while scrolling through Instagram, you had gotten a follow request. Ever since you permanently moved to New York, you had gotten a new Instagram account, wanting to snip the roots of your old life.

You had went to New York for a year, went back to Seoul and graduated, and then you moved back after you fell in love with the city. It had been two years since your graduation, and it was safe to say things were looking up for you career wise. At the promising age of 24, it felt like there was nothing you couldn’t do.

But then your jolly mood had dropped completely once you saw Jeon Wonwoo’s name flash on your screen. He had found your Instagram.

Despite only seeing his name, you found your heart beating slightly more rapid than its usual pace.

Out of instinct, you stalked his account (which was public) before you accepted his request. You noticed how there was a huge absence of any females in his post, just Wonwoo and his friends from back home. He had no bio, and his profile picture was a picture of the night sky with lots of stars.

It was a different account than the one he had when you two were younger. However, it still screamed Wonwoo. Although you were only seeing what he wanted the world to see, you felt as if he didn’t change at all. 

Before you could talk yourself out of it, you accepted his follow request. What was the worst that could happen?

You had moved on. Wonwoo was your first love, but the blazing days of your youth were over. Now, you were an adult. You were more mature and you had a steady yet exciting job. Your boyfriend of two years loved you dearly.

You felt safe. You felt secure.

So, letting Wonwoo follow your Instagram account wouldn’t do any harm whatsoever. None at all.

You woke up to an incessant ringing. You groaned out of reaction, blindly reaching for your phone. 

“God, why is your alarm on? It’s Saturday.” Joshua grumbled with his raspy morning voice.

“I turned my alarm off. Someone’s calling me.”

You then look at the caller ID, which read “Dad”. Why was he calling you at such an odd time?

You pressed the green “answer” button and put the phone up to your ear.

“Hello?”

“Y/N, you need to come back home. Your mother is sick.”

-

It was 4 in the morning, and you were desperately hailing a taxi. You finally succeeded, and you told the driver your home address after he finished boarding your luggage. Despite Korean being your first language, it felt foreign on your tongue.

Once you arrived home, you paid the man and brought your luggage inside with the help of your father. The reunion was bleak and filled with sorrow. Your father’s hopeless demeanor said it all.

Breaking up with Joshua had given you major deja vu. You were the one leaving, yet again. But, Joshua was an incredible and understanding man, so there were no hard feelings. It hurt beyond belief to leave him and New York, but you weren’t going to stay there and leave your parents all by themselves. You may have been selfish at times, but when people truly needed you, you were there for them.

Once the two of you finished unpacking your luggage, your father drove you to the hospital. It had been a week since your father had called you, but unpacking everything and breaking up with your boyfriend weren’t exactly speedy processes.

The car ride was deadly silent, as if saying anything would make things worse. 

Apparently, your mother had been having horrible migraines, to the point where she could barely see. So, your father took her to the doctor’s one day, and they found it she had a brain tumor.

It was operable, but the surgery was extremely risky, with a ten percent success rate. The reality of the situation didn’t really sink in until you saw your mother’s frail body laying down on a hospital bed. Your eyes immediately were filled to the brim with tears at the sight of her.

“Hi Mom.” You croaked, trying not to let her see you cry.

“Y/N...I missed you.” 

You stifled an oncoming sob.

“I missed you too.” You wallowed in the silence. Oh god, it all felt so real--too real. Soon, the regrets started to flood into you, attacking you like a tidal wave.

You would call your mother once a week, and they would last from ten to fifteen minutes. She would want to talk more, but you were just so damn busy.

You watched your mother intently. Her eyes were closed and her chest was barely rising with each breath. You contained yourself from downright sobbing.

Suddenly, you heard the door creak open. You turned your head and expected to finally meet one of the doctors, but you were greeted with someone you had never expected to see in person ever again.

Jeon Wonwoo.

“Wonwoo…” Your mother mumbled after opening her eyes, giving him a weak smile. Your mouth fell agape at the sight of him. He had...grown up. His hair was still the same black color, but it was now curly and more voluminous. He had become much more muscular and built--he wasn’t the same lanky and scrawny boy you had remembered. His eyes were no longer doe-like, they seemed sage and mature.

He was expecting to see you, but you still managed to catch him off guard. He gave you a weak smile and handed you a coffee, which you took with hesitation.

“Hi, Wonwoo.” 

He smiled. Oh god, that damn smile. Suddenly, you were seventeen again, and the center of your universe was Jeon Wonwoo. 

It had barely been two minutes of reuniting with him, yet you already felt like you were about to implode from warmth. Did meeting exes always feel this way? Like the feelings were still somewhere in the air, lingering?

“Hi, Y/N.”

His voice sounded the same. It was still deep, smooth, and song-like. You realized you didn’t need the coffee anymore, you were already wide-awake.

-

You had learned that Wonwoo had been taking care of your mother alongside your father while you were gone. That added to the insurmountable guilt you felt. 

You had also learned that Wonwoo was working on a film, to which you were pleasantly surprised.

The two of you sat on your front lawn and chattered over some beer and finger-foods. The moon hung low in the sky, and the late-summer wind felt nice against your skin. You found yourself looking at the stars, just like that one night with Wonwoo.

“So, Y/N, how have you been?”

Wonwoo had tried to act as nonchalant as possible. He didn’t want you to know that he was still madly in love with you.

“Um, good, I guess. My job was going really well...I managed to transfer to one of their offices in Korea, so that’s a relief.”

Wonwoo nodded, listening intently. 

“I um, had a boyfriend.” You saw his content eyes waver a bit. 

Ouch.

Wonwoo tried to hide his hurt with a surprised, fabricated grin. 

“Obviously, it didn’t work out. He was Korean, but he didn’t want to come back to Korea with me. So, um...we ended it.”

Wonwoo had downed another beer by then. You gave him an empty chuckle and followed in suit.

After a few more drinks, everything else was a blur. Suddenly, you and Wonwoo were kissing, taking each other’s clothes off, and then sleeping side-by-side, holding each other like nothing had changed.

You awoke with a killer headache. You had reached to your nightstand to grab some Advil, but you were bound to Wonwoo. His long and muscular arms were snaked around your waist, and he was holding onto you for dear life.

And then the memories of last night came flooding into your mind, each memory more painful than the last.

Yet, being in Wonwoo’s arms just felt so natural, like you were supposed to be there. With him.

Maybe you were supposed to be with him all along.

“Wonwoo, get up.” You croaked, and you heard him mumble a noise of disapproval.

“Let’s stay like this for a bit more, please.”

You sighed.

“Okay.”

The next day, you avoided Wonwoo like the plague. He texted you multiple times, along with a few missed calls. You were too preoccupied with taking care of your mother anyway.

You had caught up with your mother, and she learned much more about Joshua than you would let her know over the phone. You noticed the way her smile didn’t reach her eyes when you talked about him.

Yet, when Wonwoo walked into the room, the spark in her eyes was back. 

“Hey Mrs. Y/L/N, I brought you some bread from the bakery you like.” Wonwoo smiled, holding up a brown paper bag. Once he came over to the both of you and handed your mother the bag, he motioned for you to meet him outside of the room. 

You didn’t want to talk to him about what had happened, that was an undeniable fact. You didn’t want to come to terms with your underlying feelings, because you were so scared. You were scared of opening up to Wonwoo again, you were scared because Wonwoo made you feel like you were young and reckless again.

He had this placid power over you, and it never truly died down over the years of being without him. You may have suppressed it to the back of your mind, but the moment your life got entangled with Wonwoo’s again, you were vulnerable.

Being with Wonwoo again after all of those years made you feel like Joshua never existed. Like you never moved to New York, like you two had never broken up. Why was your love for him so unmatched? Why couldn’t you move on?

You could forget about Wonwoo for a bit, but the moment you would go face-to-face with the man, everything came back. So, no, you didn’t want to meet Wonwoo outside of the room.

Yet, you still did. And you let him take your hand in his and walk you outside, to the courtyard. You let him look at you like he still loved you, and you let yourself return his love-filled gaze.

He sat you down on a bench. The sky was gray and cloudy that day, and the weatherman said it was going to rain. The sun was hidden behind the fluffy clouds, but you still felt warm when Wonwoo held your hand in his.

Despite the fact that there were many people walking around the yard, when Wonwoo’s eyes met yours, you felt as if the two of you were alone. As if it were you and him against the world.

“Hi.” Wonwoo stalled.

“Hi.”

“Should I just get straight to the point?” 

You nodded.

“I...um...I never forgot about you. I never truly moved on. I dated girls here and there, but it just wasn’t the same.”

You gulped, feeling a solemn pressure in your chest.

“And, um...I still love you. A lot. And seeing your instagram feed being filled with you and that guy Joshua, it hurt. And I regret drinking with you and sleeping with you, not because it was you, but because I didn’t want to restart things this way.”

You tried to look at anything else besides Wonwoo’s intense gaze. You tried to look at an old lady getting wheeled around, you tried to look at a group of kids playing tag, but you just couldn’t. 

Your eyes met Wonwoo’s. You realized that you never felt that level of intensity with Joshua, and it was quite a cryptic epiphany.

All of those years you had spent in New York, you were just pretending to be over Wonwoo. You never were.

Yet, you felt selfish. How dare you endeavor in romance while your mother was dying?

“I can’t.” You sighed, finally tearing your eyes away from Wonwoo. He sucked in a sharp breath, as if he were just cut by a knife. You had debated not explaining to him, but you thought Wonwoo had deserved that much.

“I just can’t do this right now. Not with my sick mom, Wonwoo. I can’t let anything distract me from her right now, I’m sorry.”

Wonwoo shook his head and clenched his jaw.

“This is your problem, Y/N. You always think you’re the problem. Do you wanna know what your mother told me before you came back?”

Silence followed his question. Yes, you wanted to know--of course you did.

“She said that she wanted me to man up and ask you out again. She wants me to marry you, Y/N. Why else would she let me stay by her side all this time? Because she didn’t want me to be in her life?”

Your mom was sneaky, you had to admit. She had always loved Wonwoo. 

She loved him because he made you happy. 

“Okay.” You whispered. Wonwoo quirked an eyebrow. 

“What?”

“I said ‘okay’. Let’s try this thing again.”

-

Your mother’s funeral was a blur. All you could remember was the bleak colors and Wonwoo’s tight grip on your hand. All you could feel was agonizing, soul-crushing pain. Pain ate at you like a vulture eatings its dead prey, you were a breeding ground for it. After all of the arrangements were done, you had sat in bed for a week, only getting up to go to the bathroom. Wonwoo had brought you food to eat three times a day, but you would barely touch it. All you could think about was the fact that your mother was dead.

She had died about two months after you got home. Your family had decided against the surgery, since it could’ve killed her even sooner. So, she lived out her last two months diligently. She didn’t spend them in a hospital bed, she spent them with her family.

The night she died was also a blur. You had rushed her to the hospital after you came home from work one day and found her collapsed on the ground. There wasn’t much the doctors could do, or at least that was what they said. 

And, in that moment, you felt completely and utterly powerless. 

Your father was avoiding his emotions, unlike you. You were battling them head on, and you were losing miserably.

Your father would go out to drink at least three to four times a week, and he would come home absolutely shit-faced. 

Wonwoo had stayed strong, despite the pain that encapsulated his heart. He would cry silently, when no one else could see. He needed to be strong for you and your father, since the both of you had nobody else.

You returned to work a month after she died, greeting your coworkers emptily. You sat down and reviewed stories that were in the process of getting published, no longer feeling that spark of passion you had once felt while working. Everything was bleak, including you.

Three months after the death of your mother, Wonwoo was lying in bed beside you one night, listening to your steady breathing. “Y/N,” He began, “are you awake?”

“Yes.” You croaked.

“Can I tell you something that might make you mad?”

You didn’t have the energy to object.

“You need to get back to the world of the living now, Y/N.”

At this, you turned around to face him. 

“What?”

“You need to come back to life. You’ve been a zombie these past few months, but it’s not what your mother would’ve wanted.” 

You felt yourself grow cold at Wonwoo’s truthful words. The pain you were experiencing had emotionally crippled you, and you had given up on about everything. Time had meshed into one big blur, and your memory was hazy; you could barely remember what you had for dinner last night. You started to cry into the crook of Wonwoo’s neck while he hugged you tightly. 

“It’s s-so r-real Wonwoo. It’s t-too real.” You cried as he rubbed your back with his warm hands. The ache in your heart had left you breathless. You just missed your mother so much, the longing to see her absolutely consumed you.

“I know...You just need to start living again, Y/N. For her.”

You looked up into Wonwoo’s passionate eyes. You nodded weakly and pursed your lips together in an attempt to halt your sobs.

You thought of your mother who had seen potential in you when nobody else did. When she brought you home with her, she had provided you with your first true family. She wouldn’t be able to stand seeing you wallow in your own self-pity like this.

After a few moments of silence, you bid Wonwoo good night and fell asleep in his arms. You had a hazy dream, all you could muster from it was that it was about your mother.

-

Slowly, you had started to rebuild your life, along with your father. Every day was painful and a struggle, but you knew your mother would have wanted you to move on. You could do this, you knew you could.

-

It had been a year since your mother’s passing. Despite the vacancy she left in your life, you no longer felt hollow. And, whenever you thought of a nice memory you had of her, you would smile instead of breaking down. You were getting there.

-

You couldn’t see anything, the only thing guiding you was Wonwoo’s hand and his voice. “To the right!” He ordered, but you had purposefully went to the left just to spite him. Despite being slightly ticked off at your stubborn nature, he laughed softly.

“Ew, why are your hands so sweaty?” You chuckled, making Wonwoo’s blood run cold. 

He was nervous, that’s why! But, he didn’t want to ruin the surprise.

“I dunno.” He coolly responded. You shrugged it off and then started to focus on the task at hand. Where was this stupid man leading you to? And why were you blindfolded?

You suddenly felt fresh air kiss your skin. “Are we outside?”

“Shut up and let me do this?”

“Do what?”

Wonwoo didn’t respond.

You were sure of the fact that you were outside since you felt wisps of grass caress your ankles. It was a lovely July evening, over two years since the death of your mother.

The two of you had come to a sudden halt. You were both staying at a hotel for a weekend, since Wonwoo had suggested you two go on a “getaway”. You happily obliged, not suspecting much from it.

You felt Wonwoo untie the bandana around your eyes. Suddenly, a whole new world had opened up in front of you. There was an abundance of stars in the night sky, and there was a trail of rose petals leading up to the stairs of a gazebo. Wonwoo held your hand and led you down the path as shock filled you up and rattled your bones. 

Before you could react to what was about to happen, Wonwoo went down on one knee and pulled out a lovely and very expensive-looking ring. 

“Hi.” He laughed with an airy sound.

“H-hi.” You responded, already feeling the urge to cry. 

“So, um, you probably have already figured out what I’m about to do. So, let me just say one thing: thank you. Thank you for coming into my life twice, thank you for always being a reason for me to smile. Thank you for teaching me about life and stars. Thank you for being my light.

“I was lonely, once. I had nobody to fall back on. But, on that night when you told me your thoughts on stars, my entire life changed. And, then I realized something--you’re the light a star gives off. You make things brighter, no matter where you go. Your light has reached me, Y/N.

“I think I knew I was in love with you ever since our first date. You had me absolutely smitten. And I-I just fell. Hard. When I lost you the first time, I was heartbroken. Yet, it’s almost like we’re destined to be together, since we found our way back to each other. 

“So, I ask you this because I went to spend the rest of my life with you. Y/L/N Y/N, will you marry me?”

At this point you were sobbing uncontrollably. You managed to muster a weak “yes”, but your nodding head was what got the memo across. Wonwoo smiled brightly, his eyes twinkling more than the stars up in the sky.

You held your hand out and he slid the ring on your finger, your heart racing when he touched you, just like the first time. 

“I-I love y-you.” You managed to muster, still crying tears of absolute blissful joy.

“I love you too.”

-

Despite not having financial troubles, the two of you settled for a small and inexpensive wedding. You barely remember anything before the wedding that day because you were so damn nervous. However, you remembered the ceremony just fine.

Your dress was an elegant, typical white wedding dress. Your veil flowed in a lovely manner, and your dress hugged your body just right. 

You were 28 years old at the time, and it was an odd feeling to look back on your life before you met Wonwoo. You never wanted to get married, you simply had no interest in romance. Yet, teenage Wonwoo had swept you off your feet that one January evening, and the rest was very complicated history.

The wedding music began to play, and you were just outside the entrance that led to where the love of your life stood. The only thing that was in your way was the walk to him, which was much scarier than people played it out to be. You took in a shaky deep breath and showed your face. 

Every head in the hall turned towards you. Your father walked you down with joyful tears in his eyes. It would’ve been amazing if your mother could have made it, but you knew she was watching down on you.

You knew she was proud of you.

After the long walk, you walked up the velvet-covered steps to where Jeon Wonwoo stood. He looked dashing in his standard black-and-white tuxedo. He thought you looked absolutely gorgeous, and he had to contain himself from crying.

Soon, the priest had started his speech. You tuned most of it out and just lovingly stared into Wonwoo’s eyes.

You mouthed I love you and he mouthed love you too. And soon, Wonwoo’s lips were on yours the moment after the priest had said he could kiss you, and you were filled with nothing but pure happiness.

-

A year had passed just like that. Both of you were very successful in your careers, but you still made time for one another. 

That changed after your first wedding anniversary. Wonwoo had become busier and busier, to the point where he was stressed beyond belief. He would go to bed later than you and be out of the bed before you woke up. 

“I’m working with a really famous actor,” He would say, “I’m just a bit stressed.”

Suddenly, the mood around the house was solemn and dreadful. You couldn’t remember the last time Wonwoo had told you he loved you, and vice versa.

Wonwoo was coming home late, yet he always had time to update his social media and hang out with his friends. You thought he was just deliberately choosing to not spend his free time with you.

What had happened?

Your initial reaction was self-indulgent. It must have had something to do with you--it was your fault somehow. Yet, when you’d try to get him to go on dates with you just like you used to, he would decline and use the excuse “I’m just so tired”. 

You felt used. You were suffering in silence, and no matter how hard you tried to mend your relationship, Wonwoo put in no effort.

One night, you purposely stayed up later so you’d catch Wonwoo before you went to bed. You sat on the couch mindlessly watching TV, waiting for your husband to come home.

When he did, his eyes were bloodshot and his entire demeanor screamed “stress”. You immediately grew timid at the sight of him.

“Hey, Wonwoo.” You greeted when he took his shoes off and hung up his coat. He gave you a weak smile and walked right by you.

You had felt useless; it was almost as if Wonwoo didn’t need you anymore.

What if he had ran out of love for you? The sheer thought made you sick to your stomach. Despite his cold and distant attitude, you were still madly in love with Wonwoo, to the point where it hurt. Your love had felt unrequited all of a sudden, and you didn’t know what to do with yourself, or with him.

“Wonwoo.” You called out, but he kept walking. He must’ve not heard you.

“Wonwoo.” You called out again, this time a bit louder. He stopped dead in his tracks and swiftly turned around. He glared at you with nothing but pure ice in his eyes, and you knew you had fucked up.

“For fuck’s sake, what? Can’t you see I’m a bit stressed here? I would really fucking appreciate it if you weren’t so god damn incessant.”

You pursed your lips together and shut your eyes tightly. You didn’t want him to see you cry (since he was already so stressed), but you just couldn’t hold back the onslaught of tears. His icy words had sliced you open like a sword. You hissed at the unbearable pain you were feeling. 

Wonwoo’s expression immediately softened. He ran over to you, but you held a hand as a signal for him to stop when he came near you. You couldn’t live like this anymore.

“I’m done.” You lamented, running past him to go to your room. He followed you like a lost puppy, whimpering empty apologies. You had grabbed a suitcase and went to your dresser, packing everything you owned up in a dramatic and emotional fashion.

“Please, Y/N, don’t leave me. Please…” Wonwoo sobbed, realizing his grave mistakes.

“I’m just gonna go stay at my Dad’s for a bit, okay? So you can figure out whatever the hell you need to, without hurting me.” You hissed. Wonwoo repeatedly shook his head, begging for you to stay. None of this felt real--the absolute pain you were feeling made you crumble. You felt pathetic, like the pain you were experiencing was unprecedented. Like you should give in to Wonwoo and apologize for standing your ground.

Despite the days you’d spent in agony due to this man, there was no denying that you were still madly in love with him. You didn’t want to give up on him, but he left you no choice.

You had to respect yourself.

Once you had finished packing enough clothes that would last you a week, you trudged to the front door, suitcase in hand. Wonwoo followed you pathetically.

You were just about to walk out the door without saying a word, but your heart took over your head for just about a millisecond.

“I’ll call you when I’m ready.”

Then you shut the door behind you, and all Wonwoo could hear was your car driving away and his heart breaking.

-

A week had passed since you had temporarily moved in with your father. You lay in bed after work that night, staring at the ceiling. Your eyes were red and puffy from crying, like they had been the past week. 

You turned over to face your nightstand, where a picture of you and Wonwoo at the fair stood in a frame. That was the day of your first kiss.

You remembered that day like it was yesterday, since it was the day you had learned the both of you trusted each other. Things back then were so new and exciting. What had changed?

Were you really going to give up on Wonwoo? Is that what was truly best for you?

No, it wasn’t. Your heart started to beat rapidly, and then you jumped up out of bed and put an old pair of sneakers on. You then ran to your car, hopping in the driver’s seat.

Shit, it was low on gas. 

Your dad was out for the night, so he took his car with him. You murmured a string of curses and then called a taxi. You waited impatiently for the car to arrive, your leg bouncing with nerves that made you want to hunch over and vomit.

The taxi finally arrived after what seemed like forever. You ran into the car and frantically told the poor driver the address of your home, the one you shared with Wonwoo. The love of your life.

He finally pulled up to your house, and you gave him a wad of cash that was way too much, and you ordered him to “keep the change”.

You then ran up to the front door, your hands shaking while you tried to input the key to unlock the door. Before you could succeed, Wonwoo opened the door. 

His gaze could’ve drilled a hole in your head. You then began to smile, and you jumped into his arms. He immediately hugged you back.

“Let’s make this work, okay?” You sighed, your face snuggled against his chest. 

“Yes, of course.”

You finally pulled apart after about two minutes of just holding each other. The two of you had sat down on your couch, which was promptly placed against the wall. You looked Wonwoo in the eye and swallowed a lump in your throat.

“What’s going on? What made you so stressed?”

Wonwoo took in a sharp breath.

“You know that film I was working on?”

You nodded.

“Well, it almost got cut. The company suddenly hated the idea and the script, and I would’ve lost a shit ton of money it if got cut. I had personally invested in that film, and not to mention, I poured my heart and soul into it. The night we fought, um...they said they were officially gonna cut it. I didn’t have the heart to tell you because I thought you’d be disappointed in me. I was being so selfish I didn’t even see the emotional toll I was taking on you.

“But, while you were gone, I managed to convince my company to take up the movie again. And that just left me some time to wallow in my own guilt and self-hatred.”

You shut your eyes and took a deep breath. 

“Please, Wonwoo, tell me everything. I deserve to know…”

Wonwoo nodded as his eyes started to fill with tears. 

“I love you, Y/N.” 

You gave him a weak smile.

“I love you too, Wonwoo.”

The love you both had for each other was brighter than any star in the sky. You had refused to let the star you both shared burn out.

You knew that you and Wonwoo were meant to be in each other’s lives. The challenges life threw at you led you to one another.

You looked up and met Wonwoo’s passionate gaze. Your light had reached him, and his light had reached you--that was that. Yet, when the time comes for your star to burn out, there is no denying the fact that you had cast light on each other’s lives. 

There is no denying the love you had both shared.

[sibillascribbles08]

The Hill and the Stars

Y’all can also have this, started it eons ago but figured I’d finish it up for today.

Course it’s Toby and Cryptor

    The first time they came to this hill, Toby was eighteen.

    Cryptor was working in his office. His new office. The security building had only been finished a few months prior. He was still getting used to it all, his now formal position and the work that came with it. 

    Toby warped into his office without warning. “Cryptor!”

    The nindroid screamed, knocking the projector for his computer screen clean off the table. He could do a lot of the work in his head, but it saved memory space to do it this way sometimes. 

    “Toby, wh–”

    “Oh good, you’re not busy.” Toby looked at the now empty desk. “Mindroid said you’d be in here. Nice office. Kind of dark though. Why are all the lights off?”

    “What do you want?” Cryptor growled. “I’m trying to work.” 

    “Trying being the keyword.” Toby held up a finger. “And now you’re not! Come on, there’s something I have to show you.” 

    He grumbled, not wanting his work to be interrupted. Especially by Toby, who always seemed to think Cryptor had the time to be running around and doing whatever. 

    Still, he gave in, because if he didn’t Toby wouldn’t stop pestering him. 

    But Cryptor didn’t expect Toby to warp them out of the city, far out of the city, so far his internal map couldn’t figure out where it was. 

    “Toby?” He looked around. “Where are we?” 

    They stood on a hill, a rather tall one, covered in tall grass, the surrounding ones much the same. The wind rushed over them, the waves of it visible as the grass moved with it. 

    “Somewhere far south, not totally sure.” Toby shrugged before he grinned again. “But look, look up.” 

    He frowned as he did as he was told, but all too soon his mouth fell open again. His eye went wide as his vision adjusted and refocused on the night sky. He almost didn’t recognize it. There were so many stars in the sky, some of it just looked like swirls of silver. 

    “Isn’t this amazing?” Toby laughed. “I’ve never seen this many stars before, never. You know there’s so much light and smog in the city. Even back in my other universe it’s hard to find spots like this, but the rest of this country is so empty… you know.” 

    Cryptor watched Toby run around on the hill top for a bit, gaze fixed on the sky. 

    “Do we have any remaining text on the stars? Constellations? I mean, I imagine it’s similar to the stuff I read back home but it’d be cool if something in this universe was different. Oh look!” He darted back over to Cryptor’s side, pointing. “Those ones there, do you see it? That’s the twin headed dragon. I almost didn’t recognize it with all the extra stars.” 

    Cryptor focused his gaze, managing to pick out the brighter stars. He ran the lines between them, searching his database for some more information. The twin headed dragon constellation started out as a Y shape on the top, leading down into a sort of rectangle with three more stars behind it. 

“Oh, I wonder if we can find Ursa in here.” Toby continued. “Or the big teapot. Maybe the little teapot.” 

Cryptor glanced down at him. “I… did not know you liked stars this much.”  

“Huh? Oh yeah.” Toby grinned at him. “Always that idea that there’s more out there, you

know? It’s what kept me and the others going when we fell into that other universe.” 

    That made something in his chest sting. “I see…” 

    “Come on, don’t use that ‘I feel guilty’ tone again.” Toby smacked his shoulder. “I learned about official constellations but me and my friends made up a few.” He put a hand on his chin as he searched the sky again. “Oh, like there. That one’s Oraphell, the queen of rats. I even made up a story for her, wanna hear?” 

    “I feel like you’re going to tell me anyway.” 

    Toby giggled and leaned against him, pointing once more. “Okay, so you see those three at the top? Those are her heads, she’s got three, don’t ask. Her body is that diamond shape. That’s her arm, and that line of stars in her scepter.” 

    Cryptor frowned. “Is the scepter important?”

    “Oh is it. Okay, so in the rat kingdom the scepter is what allows you to rule. If someone else stole it then they’d be in charge right? The reason the queen rat was in her position is cause she didn’t just have the smarts of one rat. She had the smarts of three! Not that the other rats always saw it that way. At first because these three rats got stuck together she was an outcast and…” 

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    There were many small visits after that, but the next most notable one was when Toby was twenty-three.

    It was an unusual time of year for them to go, and as such they found the entire area coated in snow, although the sky was clear.

    “Whoa.” Toby said before laughing as his boots sunk into the material. “Forgot how far south this place is. 

    “Should we go back?” Cryptor frowned, glancing at Toby’s lack of sleeves.

    “Nah, not just yet.” He waved a hand. “I mean, look at the contrast between the sky and the ground.” 

    He was right about that. Black glittered with silver right next to the stark white snow that seemed to sparkle in the same amount. 

    “Man, we never get snow like this in the city.” Toby knelt down and picked up a bundle of snow in his left hand. He squeezed it before loosening his grip. The snow came apart, turning more into dust as he twirled it around his fingers. 

    Cryptor tilted his head, watching. “That’s an interesting trick.”

    “Right?” Toby grinned. Then he snapped his fingers, the snow condensing back into a solid clump. “I like doing it with sand more but snow sticks better.” 

    “Could you create rings like that?” Cryptor said. “That’s what most planet rings are made of, correct? Ice and stone.” 

    The look in Toby’s eyes told Cryptor his friend never thought of that. He swirled the snow around his hand again, separating it, until six rings slowly spun around his arm. 

    “Whoa.” He grinned. “Look at that. That’s so awesome. Wonder if I can put them somewhere else.” He hummed for a bit, looking around and thinking. Then he glanced over at Cryptor, smiling again. The snow spun around before dashing towards Cryptor’s face. The nindroid flinched, expecting the cold, but he never felt it. He refocused his vision to see the dust hovering around his face, probably circling his head. 

    Toby laughed. “Aw, it looks like some kind of halo.” 

    “Hilarious.” Cryptor swatted it away. 

    “Oh, do you want to see if we can make a giant snowman?” Toby was already packing snow together. “I bet we could make the hill do most of the work.” 

    Cryptor shook his head. “I would rather keep ice and water out of my joints, thank you. We shouldn’t even be out here for that long without proper equipment. You could–” 

    Something cold slammed into his cheek. Cryptor stumbled back and snapped his gaze back to Toby who had a few snowballs hovering next to his arm. 

    “Come on Cryp, you’re being boring again.” 

    “Worrying about your health isn’t boring.” Cryptor snapped. 

    “Incoming.”

    “Toby–” He ducked out of the way of this snowball. Toby wasn’t actually throwing them that fast. So it was easy enough to dodge the next one. Cryptor narrowed his eye before snatching up some of the material and returning fire. 

    Toby ducked, but the snow still managed to hit the side of his head. He cheered and laughed, throwing another. This one nailed Cryptor in the shoulder. 

    The snowballs turned into a flurry. By this point Cryptor had been hit in the face and the chest a dozen times, but even he was laughing. Toby always made the sound infectious after all. 

    His body felt light, to the point he didn’t mind when Toby tackled him to the ground in response to a particularly big snowball. The force caused them to roll down the hill, snow flying up into the air. There was certainly ice in his joints now, so he turned up his heaters a bit more to get rid of it. 

    He took a moment to calm down as he lay there on the ground, gaze fixed on the night sky. The more he stared at it the more colors he swore he saw. 

    He heard Toby’s teeth chatter. Cryptor sat up, looking over to see his friend rubbing his shoulders, shaking. 

    Cryptor shook his head. “I told you that you should get a jacket.” 

    “Psh,” Toby scoffed. “It’s not that b-bad.” He curled up even more. 

    Cryptor sighed. It didn’t seem like his friend was going to yield. He scooted a bit closer to him and gripped his cloak before throwing it over Toby’s shoulder. His friend latched onto it, pulling it tighter before pressing against Cryptor’s side. 

    “You have heaters.” Toby mumbled. “Lucky.” 

    “Yes, so my joints don’t freeze when my hairbrained friends drag me out to a snowy field in the middle of the night.” 

    “You like coming out here.” Toby’s head pressed against Cryptor’s cheek. The nindroid allowed himself to lean into the contact. Not like it would give anything away. 

    He wasn’t inclined to tell Toby why he loved coming here so much.

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    The time they went when Toby was twenty six would haunt Cryptor for at least two years. Because no matter how many times he thought about it, he couldn’t make any sense of it. 

    There wasn’t anything unusual about the visit. Long green grass, dancing in the night breeze. Stars littering the sky. Toby even brought a telescope this time. 

    “You know, I’m surprised you haven’t suggested building an observatory.” Cryptor said as Toby kept his gaze fixed into the device. “We have enough of the city rebuilt by now. We could start looking into new developments.” 

    “There’s not a lot of good spots in the city to use it.” Toby said. “Maybe out in the desert. Not sure I want one out here. I kind of like the way this place is.” He stood up straight to look around. “Just empty fields, no one around for miles.” He glanced at Cryptor. “No one besides you anyway.” 

    “And who’s fault is that?” Cryptor joked as he crossed his arms.

    “Oh, you’re right. Shame on me for wanting to hang out with my friend.” Toby moved closer and rested his arm on Cryptor’s shoulder. “You were obviously so busy in your office playing scrabble with Mindroid.” 

    “Oh absolutely, he was only winning by two points.” 

    Toby laughed, the sound almost melodic when next to the wind and the crickets. Cryptor took note of how much noisier the insects got over the years, likely still recovering from the damage done. Cryptor found himself staring. There wasn’t any moonlight tonight, one of the reasons Toby wanted to go stargazing, but something about his friend still seemed to glow. 

    He was so lost in thought, he didn’t realize his stare was being returned. Not until he met Toby’s gaze, almost lost again in the amount of stars reflecting in his eyes. 

    Cryptor blinked. “What is it?” 

    “You got a fresh polish the other day, yeah?” 

    He frowned. “Yes?” 

    “Just… it’s like the entire night sky is reflecting off you.” Toby pulled his arm away, only to lift his left hand and trail it over Cryptor’s cheek. “Like the stars are just part of your skin now.” 

    Cryptor would have joked that he didn’t have skin, but he couldn’t seem to get his circuits to fire right. He wasn’t moving. 

    “Too bad my arm has this weird glow to it, or they’d match.” Toby chuckled. His fingers kept moving. Cryptor kept still because, gods, he didn’t want Toby to stop. The energy and dust in Toby’s hand slipped through his plating, made the ends of his sensors dance. One of the few things he could feel properly. 

    He still couldn’t move, couldn’t stop staring. When Toby noticed, he was worried his friend would pull away. Instead Toby stared back, as if he’d just discovered something. The hand on Cryptor’s cheek became more sure of itself, encouraging the nindroid to tilt his head down, only so slightly. 

    But why? What for? Was Toby closer to him? Cryptor daydreamed he was, pretended that it continued as his eye began to drift closed. It wasn’t until something brushed against his nose that he realized he wasn’t dreaming. Toby was close enough that Cryptor could detect the warmth of his breath when he exhaled. 

    His processor froze.

    And then Toby seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in. He blinked once, twice, before taking a long step back. His hand hovered in the air, fingers curling into his palm. 

    “Um…” Toby almost looked frightened before he gave a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, stars look really good on you.” 

    Ah, right, he was probably that close to get a good look at them. Of course. “Well, thank you, but I think it would be better to observe them in the sky.” 

    “Right, right,” Toby was still laughing as he returned to his telescope. 

    Cryptor tried desperately to logic out what just happened, but in the end he couldn’t reach a conclusion. Not even over the next few days.

    Toby couldn’t possibly have been trying to kiss him. 

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    Two years later, Toby brought them out there again. The encounter last time made far more sense, thanks to Cryptor’s accidental confession and Toby’s response to it. 

    Still, it wasn’t a happy occasion. It was only three days after Toby showed up. Learning about his father’s death no doubt hung heavy in his mind. Cryptor wanted Toby to go and find someone who could help him better, but he wouldn’t force Toby to leave. 

    For now they sat in silence under the stars. Cryptor kept his gaze on them, but would sometimes glance at Toby. His friend was curled up, arms resting on his knees. He kept staring at the sky like he was looking for something. 

    “Looking for a constellation?” Cryptor finally asked.

    Toby blinked. “Huh? Ah, no just… staring. Maybe it’ll keep me from thinking too hard.” 

    “In my experience you often think harder when it’s quiet.”

    Toby laughed. “Yeah, I suppose that’s true. But I’m not sure what to talk about.”

    Cryptor hummed as he looked back at the sky. “It’s been a while since we came here. 

    “Yeah.”

    “I’ve told Mindroid about this place, you know. He wants to bring the kids out sometime to go stargazing. Maybe when you’re feeling better we can make a field trip out of it.” 

    “When I feel better, huh?” Toby’s smile was sad. “I honestly can’t say how long that’s going to take, Cryptor.” 

    “It will take as long as it needs to.” He reached out, putting his hand on Toby’s shoulder. “But I don’t think staying in this universe is the best way for you to heal.” 

    Toby’s lips formed a pout for a moment before he let out a puff of air. “I know. You already said that.”

    “My apologies for repeating it, I just–”

    “I know.” Toby curled up tighter. “I know other people are probably going to do better at helping me get through this and I promise I’ll go see them, but right now I just want to be with you.” He glanced over. “I finally figured out how I actually felt about you all these years and I want to process that first.” 

    “Oh.” Cryptor tapped his thumbs together. “I see.” 

    “You put me first way too often.” Toby leaned to the side until his head rested on Cryptor’s shoulder. “Don’t you want to sort through all this?”

    “I think it would be easier to do when your grief has eased.” 

    “Would it? I’m pretty sure if I left things like this and ran off all I’d be able to think about is you. I don’t think that’d do me much good.”

    Cryptor sighed. “I should have kept my mouth shut.” 

    “Should not.” Toby sat up and gave him a light shove. “In fact you should have told me years ago.” 

    “Oh, so it’s my fault?” Cryptor shoved him back. 

    “You’re the one with the massive emotional constipation.” Shove. 

    “At least I recognize my feelings instead of realizing I’m in love who knows how many years later.” Shove. 

    “I figured we were just best friends.” Shove! 

    “Best friends don’t almost try and kiss each other.” Shove!

    “What are you talking about?” Toby paused.

    “Two years ago, last time we were here. You said you were trying to look at the stars on my face, but that wasn’t true was it?”

    Toby’s cheeks went so dark it was obvious even under the night sky. “Wh– Don’t call me out like that. Even I didn’t know what I was doing at the time. I got that close to you and it was like ‘whoaaaaa hang on what am I doing?’ And I had to make up an excuse for you and myself.” 

    Cryptor crossed his arms and turned his head away. “Foolish.” 

    “Oh whatever.”

    He didn’t expect Toby’s shove this time. Cryptor fell over, and couldn’t manage to stop himself due to the steepness of the hill. 

    “Oh shit, Cryptor?” Toby shouted after him as the nindroid rolled down the hill. It didn’t do a lot of damage, thankfully, with how thick the grass was. Still, Cryptor could feel some of it getting caught in his joints. At least one rock managed to ding against his shoulder. 

    Finally he came to a stop at the base of the hill. He stared up at the stars for a few seconds, blinking. 

    “Shit, are you okay?” Toby was half running, half skidding down the hill. He was gaining speed, too much speed. Cryptor went to warn him to slow down, but too late. Right near the base of the hill Toby lost his footing. His chest slammed into Cryptor’s before he could catch himself.

    “Owww,” Toby moaned. 

    Cryptor let out a bit of a whine as his systems reconfigured from the impact. “Foolish.” 

    He heard a snort, then a laugh. Toby pushed himself up a bit as he laughed harder and harder. Cryptor hadn’t seen him smile like that since he got here, and couldn’t help chuckle. 

    Then slowly he reached up, putting a hand on Toby’s cheek and turning his face toward him. “Goodness, what am I going to do with you?” 

    Toby’s laughter came to a stop as he stared. “Hmm, honestly, I’d settle for a kiss to make it better.” 

    Cryptor chuckled again as he sat up. “Foolish.” 

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    There were a handful of visits over the next few years. Sometimes they invited others along, sometimes they didn’t. Toby often took his hand as they stared out at the stars, and part of Cryptor wished Toby would stay longer. But he wouldn’t ask. 

    Then the disaster with Max happened, and it took Toby almost two years until he took the two of them back out to the hills. 

    Cryptor thought something about it was strange. Maybe it was the fact Toby actually took the time to comb his hair before he put it up. Or maybe it was the decision to wear one of his button up tops instead of a tank top. 

    Still, Cryptor wouldn’t comment. If Toby decided to dress up for a casual date, that was his decision. Besides, it was nice to see. It’d been an uphill battle for Toby to climb his way out of the pit he ended up in. It was good he felt well enough to do things like this. 

    As soon as they got there, Toby took a long, deep breath. He sighed as he exhaled, smiling. “Man, missed that smell.” 

    Cryptor frowned. “Smell?”

    “Oh, yeah. The wind and the grass, I guess? The air’s just really fresh around here.” Toby took his hair down, letting the window blow it around as he shook his head. “Ah, missed that too.” 

    Cryptor chuckled as some of Toby’s hair hit him in the face. “I’m not sure how that’s enjoyable.” 

    “Eh, hard to explain.” It took Toby a few seconds to collect all his hair to put it back in its ponytail. “But that’s not why we came out here.”

    “There’s a reason we came out here?” Cryptor tilted his head. 

    “Well, there is for me at least.” Toby reached into the pocket of his pants and pulled out a small wooden box. 

    Cryptor couldn’t make out what it was for, at least not until Toby turned to face him and got down on one knee.

    Cryptor could practically hear his processors scream. “T-Toby? What are you doing?” 

    Toby frowned. “Is it not obvious? Would be more obvious if you actually let me pop the question.” 

    Cryptor flinched. “Ah, my apologies but I just…” He just what? Was caught off guard was the simple answer. 

    Toby’s frown almost got worse. “Cryptor, you told me to ask again when I was feeling better, and I figured you had a point, but if this is something you don’t want–”

    “No.” Cryptor cut that thought off before it could go any farther. “That’s not… it is something I want but…” He tugged at one of his fingers. “I didn’t think it was something you’d want.” 

    Confusion swept over Toby’s face. “What? Is me asking twice not enough of an indicator?” 

    “Would getting married not tie you further to this place?” 

    His boyfriend groaned and tilted his head back. “Are you still going on about that?” He stood back up, dusting the grass off his knee. “Look, Cryptor, I get it. You care about me and want me to feel free to do what I want to do, but I don’t know why you keep thinking that stuff like this isn’t what I want to do.”

    Cryptor couldn’t come up with an argument to that. He just glanced at the ground. 

    “Things have changed. I’ve changed. Even if I do still like to travel my wanderlust has gone down a lot over the years. I looked around for years and years but the fact of the matter is…” He trailed off before he reached out and put a hand on Cryptor’s cheek. “At this point in my life, everything I want is right here. There’s not much incentive to keep running around.” 

    Cryptor felt something in his chest go tight. He tried to think of a response, but couldn’t find the words. 

    “So,” Toby let go. “I’m going to try this one more time.” He got back on one knee and held out the box before opening it. “Will you marry me?”

    Cryptor stared at the box. For some silly reason he expected a ring, but Toby must have known better. Instead it was a broach. A golden sun overlapped by a silver moon. 

    He smiled, reaching around the box to hold Toby’s hand. “Yes.” 

    Toby grinned before he suddenly jumped up. He threw his arms around Cryptor’s shoulders, hugging him tight. 

    Cryptor laughed, stumbling to keep his balance. “I didn’t think it’d excite you that much.” 

    “Of course it does.” Toby pulled back enough to look at him. “Do you know how long I was waiting to ask again?” 

    Cryptor smiled, about to respond when Toby let out a shout. He pulled away, both of his hands empty.

    “Crap, crap, I must have dropped it.” Toby dug through the tall grass. “Where did it go?” 

    Cryptor looked around as well, even behind him. It was hard to see through all the greenery. 

    “Ah! There!” Toby reached toward something, but he must have underestimated how close it was. His hand bumped against the box. It flew over the grass for a moment before it began tumbling down the hill. “Ahhh! No!” He went to run after it.

    Cryptor grabbed his arm. “Wait, Toby, don’t–” Too late. Toby was too far forward and Cryptor didn’t pull hard enough. Both of them hit the ground and rolled a few feet down the hill before skidding to a stop. Cryptor found himself half wrapped in his cape, unable to move one of his arms. 

    “Ugh.” Toby groaned. “This was supposed to be a lot more romantic than this.” 

    Cryptor laughed. “No offense, love, but you’re rarely good at that.” 

    “That’s not true. I always get you with the surprise flowers.” He sat up and went back to searching through the grass. “We do need to find that though, making a new one would be a nightmare.” 

    Cryptor sat up, trying to search with his infrared camera. He doubted it would help much but maybe the metal would stand out as being colder than the surrounding grass. He began to push through the brush. 

    “Found it!”

    He turned to see Toby holding it up, triumphant. Cryptor switched his vision back as he smiled.

    “Good, now try not to drop it again.”

    “Psh, I can solve that problem right now.” He hopped over to Cryptor. He pulled the broach out of the box and then put the empty container back in his pocket. Slowly, Toby uncreased part of Cryptor’s cape. He slipped the pin through the area near his left shoulder before closing it back up. 

    “There.” He smiled. “Looks good.” 

    Cryptor could only appreciate it so much from this angle. He imagined he’d have to look in a mirror later. “Hm, I’ll have to repay the favor.” 

    “Nah.” Toby put his hands on Cryptor’s cheeks. “Not until the wedding.” 

    Cryptor reached up, curling his fingers around Toby’s wrist. “If you say so.” He leaned toward him and pressed their foreheads together. “If you say so.”