#Childhood friends au

[midoristeashop]

childhood friends au where hic spends his autumns at the markets looking for the shepard boy with the star hair

[naiad-r]

Childhood friends AU: Reunion.

For anon, who donated to @bingyuanserver's Commissions for Gaza.

[sabertoothwalrus]

I was thinking about how Chilchuck was the same age as young Senshi when he became a parent, and thought about if they had been the same age at a different point in their lives.....

this isn't necessarily ship because they SUPER wouldn't get together in this scenario but that makes it hurt more..... the 'almost's that are inherent to childhood puppy love.... and fleeting moments.... and growing up too fast..... augh!

[superscourge]

is there so much hate for the ones we love?

[terrestrialnoob]

Damian had never seen another person his age before.

“Wow, you're good at that.”

Damian froze in his practice and looked over at the boy. It was after his lesson, his instructor had other students to teach, and Damian had his own private training area. Well, it was supposed to be private. “Who are you?”

“Danny, what's your name?”

Damian glared at the boy. Who doesn't know who he is? “I am Damian Al-Ghoul, grandson of the Demon's Head, son of the Bat, heir to the League of Assassins.”

“Wow, that's a lot... Can I just call you Damian?”

“Servants call me Master. How did you get here?”

Danny shrugged, “I was just looking around.”

“Just looking around...”

“Yeah, my parents are in the science lab down in the bottom basement with the weird lake and I was helping them, but then I got board and Jazz said I wasn't allowed to leave the lab, but when I asked Dad, he said I could do what I want as long as I don't get in trouble.”

“Oh, the idiot scientists.” Damian remembered how his mother had described the new scientists hired to study the Lazarus Pools. A pair of geniuses when it came to the scientific study of magic but idiots in all other fields. Surely only idiots would bring their children to live with the League of Assassins.

“What do you mean? If you're a scientist you can't be an idiot?”

Damian huffed at the boy. “You can be smart at one thing and dumb at others. Like you could be good at reading but bad at numbers.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense. But I'm pretty good at reading and numbers.” Danny then smiled brightly, “It looks like you're really good at swording though.”

“It's called swordplay. And yes, I am good at it. Better at it at my age than many who are older.”

“Can you show me how to do it?”

Damian contemplated for a moment, “As long as you don't get in the way of my practice, I don't see why not.”

Danny cheered as he ran up to where Damian was standing, but Damian pointed to the side of the training area, “There should be a spare sword over there you can use.”

Danny nodded and ran to get it then ran back.

Damian wasn't sure if he'd like showing Danny how to use a sword, but he liked how Danny followed all his instructions. It was different than how the servants followed his orders, but Damian couldn't place why. It became common place, for Danny to show up after Damian's lessons and Damian would show him what he'd learned. It actually made learning new things easier because Damian had to figure out how exactly something worked in order to show Danny how to do it. Not only that, but when they practiced the moves on each other, Danny would change them and make it harder to beat him. Damian did win every time, but Danny wasn't half bad.

[tidilevee]

Zosan childhood friends AU!!

BTW @/hi6ka9 is also my regularly used ID. Sometimes I sign with that. They're all mine accounts.

I like the AU with friendly Sanji who's excited by having a marimo as a same-aged friend and a easily-blushed lil marimo who's already had a big crush on Sanji. 🤭

[mizaruwu]

They grew

[dreamsteddie]

Steve and Eddie childhood friends is my kryptonite.

They meet in the woods outside Steve's house when they're eight and nine years old. Steve is out exploring because his parents are fighting again, something about a secretary and a jazzercize instructor that Steve really doesn't understand or want to listen to. He's done it before, venturing outside to explore the forest like it's his own private world. They never notice when they're fighting like that anyway and Steve always finds his way back.

Eddie, on the other hand, is new to Hawkins. He's nine years old and was just dumped on his uncle's front porch because his dad "doesn't need some brat who cries when the wires spark." Eddie was heartbroken and mad and scared and he loved his uncle Wayne but he didn't want to be comforted so he ran into the woods, Wayne too slow to catch him but calling his name.

After running a while Eddie trips on a root falling on his hands and knees, blood slowly blooming from his palms. He looks up and realizes he has no idea which way he came from or how to get back and releases all the tears he kept locked up tight since that night with the car.

That's how Steve finds him. He makes his way over, calling softly to the boy crouched by his favorite tree. The boy looks up, and the first thing Steve thinks is that he looks a little funny. His head is shaved down and his eyes are a little buggy and he's lanky in a way Steve's never really seen before. His second thought is that he always keeps bandaids in his shorts.

Together they sloppily patch up Eddie's knee and left palm, Steve pressing a smacking kiss to the other boy's knee like he's seen the other moms do for their kids at the park. They introduce themselves and Steve takes him to all his favorite places in the woods. They play knight and dragon and talk about how mean dads are until the sun starts to set.

Eddie gets nervous when the sun starts to set, not used to the unique darkness of the woods, but Steve is used to it. He takes Eddie by the hand and asks him where he entered and guides him home. Wayne finds them like that, he's clearly been doing his own forest wanderings in his search for Eddie and is quick to sweep his nephew into his arms and hold him close. Edde excitedly introduces his uncle to his "new best friend, Steve," his mood lifted significantly since that morning.

Steve waves goodbye and slips away before Wayne can insist on taking him home in the truck, but that's far from the last they see of Steve. After that night, every time Steve's parents get in a fight or his parents go to one of their long, important business dinners without him he makes his way through the woods and to the Munson trailer. The first time it happens Wayne doesn't even know what to say. Steve looks every bit the little Harrington that he is with his little Khakis and perfectly pressed polo knocking on the trailer door all proper-like.

"Hello, I'm here to see Eddie. He's my best friend."

Before Wayne can figure out what to say there's a blur of oversized black hand-me-down clothes barrelling through the door and tackling the younger boy to the ground.

"STEVE!" Eddie absolutely screeches. Wayne is half worried he might take out one of the kid's eardrums, but seeing the wide smile Eddie has plastered on his face, Wayne decides not to say anything.

From there on Steve and Eddie are thick as thieves. Steve spends all his free time at the Munson trailer playing with Eddie and the stray animals. Despite some of Wayne's concerns, their friendship remains strong through the years. With Eddie in the grade above and the grades almost completely separated, they hardly get to interact at school, which only serves to fuel Eddie's disdain and Steve's disinterest in school. Middle school is much the same. They spend almost every waking moment together in the woods or in the trailer but live almost separate lives at school. It's not even that they're trying to hide it, it just never comes up.

When Steve starts climbing up the social ladder it isn't intentional at all. He doesn't have a lot of friends in his grade, certainly not any that come close to Eddie's status in his life, so he kind of just talks to everybody. He plays on the middle school basketball and baseball teams and does well, and before he knows it people are suddenly flocking around him and vying for his attention. He doesn't pay it much mind honestly.

Eddie on the other hand never fits in anywhere. Steve and Wayne are just about the only people in his life he cares about, and despite their overwhelming love and acceptance he can't help but turn out cynical. He struggles with anger management those first few years with Wayne, frustrated with being abandoned by his dad and separated from Steve and it all culminates in him being ostracized from his peers.

It isn't until high school that the rest of Hawkins clues into what's been in front of their faces the entire time. The high school is much less separated so while they won't be sharing any classes, there are many more opportunities for them to hang out.

On day one of Steve's freshman year he's already on the roster for both the basketball team and the swim team and there's already a small group of boys hanging around his locker ready to ride his coattails. They notice Steve seems distracted, turning his head back and forth when he's not struggling to get the lock undone. When he finally manages to wrestle the thing open, Eddie makes his move.

In a move reminiscent of that first day on Wayne's front porch, a blur of black second-hand clothes and dark curls barrels into Steve from the side taking him down to the linoleum floors. The guys around Steve's locker are ready to step in and beat this guy to a pulp until they hear raucous laughter coming from the both of them. They are treated to the sight of rising King Steve and established Freak Munson rolling around on the floor like unruly puppies and don't know what to do with themselves.

When the boys calm down and stand up, arms slung comfortably around each other's shoulders, they're met with the very confused faces of Steve's kind-of-friends.

"You know this guy Steve?"

"You and Munson are friends?"

"What the fuck was that?"

Steve and Eddie share a very confused look, neither of them having realized that people have no idea they're friends. They look back at the guys with two devastating "are you dumb" faces and say:

"Uh, yeah, Duh."

--------

Years down the line, after queer awakenings, a healthy dose of heartache for them both, and a properly dramatic star-lit confession Eddie and Steve both absolutely love regaling anyone who will listen with their love story. Steve insists that he knew from the moment Eddie looked at him with those big bug eyes that he would love Eddie Munson for the rest of his life. Eddie, on the other hand, insists that's bullshit and instead insists that he was the one who fell first "it doesn't count if you were a child Sevie you didn't understand what love was!" that day in the hall when he realized how tall and handsome his best friends had become when they got up off the floor.

Either way, they both eat up the looks people give them as they share their tales of pining, self-discovery, and true love.

[ochibrochi]

"happy birthday, b. -ck"

(redraw under the cut)

another quick little redraw...! I wasn't sure what to draw for bruce's birthday, but someone somehow unearthed this old drawing in my notifications, so i took it as a sign! Childhood friends, underrated trope!!!!!!!

[starry-bi-sky]

"Uhp-uhp-bup-bup." Danny says loudly, cutting off the crime lord bleeding all over his living room. He presses a finger to his lips, despite knowing that Red couldn't see it, and stifles his rage behind a playful smile.

He's lucky he's facing the kitchen, his back turned to Hood. He can see the fury green of his eyes reflecting back at him in the chrome of the sink, he's threatening to crush the rag in his hands. His vision is futzing out in the corners of eyes.

"We don't speak the 'J' name in this household." He says in almost a sing-song, because if he doesn't, then the Gotham oil sitting, boiling, behind his teeth and coating his tongue will spittle out and Danny's already haunting his apartment just by his mere presence. He doesn't want to haunt it more.

He can hear the whine of the lightbulbs, threatening to burst like a popped balloon. He turns the water off and and rings the rag out tighter than he perhaps should.

"You don't like the clown?" Hood asks him, and Danny's not sure if he's mocking him for it. There's a knowing lilt in his voice that throws back Danny to their first meeting on that balcony. If he were anyone else, Danny might've just punched him.

His heel turns sharply towards him, a tight smile on his face and an even tighter look around his eyes. At least he knows that the green has faded because the pounding behind his eyes are gone, his grief-born, death-made rage sizzling back beneath his veins. "I think you already know why, Ridin' Hood."

A grief like this don't stay buried, after all.

[veinsfullofstars]

🌅 MetaDede Week 2024 Day 5 & 6: AU & Secrets 🌅

(ID: Kirby series fanart comic of a moment in King Dedede and Meta Knight’s youth, when - during a trip to the beach with their friends - the teenaged penguin realizes that he might feel more than just friendship for his little winged buddy. Transcript in Alt Text. END ID.)

Oh.

Previous Day | Next Day | Prompt List (made by @/mtddweek)

Started 08/20/24, finished 08/24/24. | Childhood Friends AU Masterpost

[toringo]

Things can get complicated when you don't tell each other shit

Childhood friends au

[myonexox]

THE LITTLE THINGS THAT MATTER

pairing : childhood best friend!sunghoon x female!reader

genre : romance, fluff, slow burn, best friends to lovers, mutual pining, childhood friends au, idiots in love

synopsis : two childhood best friends, you and sunghoon, who secretly like each other but are too afraid to confess. as you spend time together, you start to notice the little things, the small gestures that show how much you truly care for each other. in the end, you both realize that love isn’t just about big moments but the little things that matter most

word count : 4.7k

now playing : xo (only if you say yes) by enhypen (i was listening to this song the whole time while writing. it has that whole falling in love vibe, you know? and the lyrics kinda remind me of sunghoon. the way the song tells a story about a boy who’s willing to do anything for the person he loves, it’s literally him. so yeah, i highly recommend listening to it as you read)

𓈒⠀𓂃⠀⠀˖⠀𓇬⠀˖⠀⠀𓂃⠀𓈒

you had been in love with your childhood best friend, sunghoon, for years. you didn’t know when exactly the feeling had settled into your heart. maybe it had always been there, waiting for you to acknowledge it. but you remembered everything about how your story with him began.

it started when you were five years old. the neighborhood park was your favorite place and it was where you met him for the first time. you were trying to reach for a butterfly, standing on your tiptoes on the playground slide when you lost your balance and nearly tumbled down. just before you could fall, a small hand caught yours. it was him. a boy with curious eyes looking at you with concern.

“are you okay?” he had asked, tilting his head.

you nodded, embarrassed. “i was trying to catch the butterfly”

he looked up at the sky where the butterfly had already flown away then back at you. “i can help next time”

that was the beginning.

from that day on, you and sunghoon were inseparable. your mothers were friends which meant playdates, matching outfits and meals together. he became the boy who always waited for you outside your house and who walked beside you every time you went to the park.

every day was an adventure. you would race each other down the street, only for him to slow down at the last second and let you win. you built sandcastles at the park even though they always collapsed because neither of you knew how to make them strong. you picked dandelions together and made wishes.

and he was always there for you. when you scraped your knee, he was the one who rushed to find a bandaid. when the neighborhood kids refused to let you play in their pretend castle, he declared that he would build a bigger one just for you. and he did, using pillows and blankets in your living room. when you got sick, he would draw silly doodles on get-well cards, slipping them under your door so you wouldn’t feel lonely.

as you both grew older, your adventures changed but your bond didn’t. elementary school was all about trading lunch, sitting next to each other in class and sharing little secrets. you helped him with his homework when he got stuck and he shielded you from the teacher’s scolding when you forgot yours. during school field trips, he always saved you a seat next to him and whenever you had to partner up for assignments, you didn’t even need to ask, it was just a given that you and sunghoon were a team. even during recess, while other kids formed new friendships, you and sunghoon remained a pair, always finding your way back to each other.

middle school came and with it, the awkward years. he hit his growth spurt earlier than you, towering over you one day when just the week before, you had been the same height. his voice started to change, deepening slightly and you couldn’t ignore how other girls started to notice him. you told yourself it didn’t matter. you were his best friend and that was all there was to it.

but then came the small moments that made your heart stutter. like when he slung his arm around your shoulder so casually. like when he leaned down just to meet your eyes. like when he always seemed to notice the tiniest details about you. when you were sad, when you were tired, when you needed someone to cheer you up. he always knew. he always listened.

you should have known then. but you didn’t, not yet.

it wasn’t until high school that realization truly hit you. the first time you saw him in his uniform, looking taller and more mature, your heart did something weird in your chest. you tried to ignore it. you told yourself it was just because you weren’t used to seeing him like that.

but then there was the way he treated you, different but not in a bad way. he had always been protective of you but in high school, it became more obvious. if someone made you uncomfortable, he was there in an instant, his presence alone enough to make them back off. if you were carrying something heavy, he took it from you without a word. and when you got sick, he showed up at your house with medicine and your favorite snacks.

then there were the times when he looked at you, like really looked at you. like the time you got dressed up for a school event and when you stepped out, his breath hitched just slightly before he smiled at you. like the time you fell asleep on the bus during a school trip and he let you rest your head on his shoulder, not moving an inch the entire ride. like the time he whispered your name, just your name but it made your heart feel so full you thought it might burst.

it was a million little things.

you realized it when he defended you from a senior who spoke to you rudely. you realized it when he remembered things about you that even you had forgotten. and you realized it when he ran to your house in the rain because he knew you were upset and needed someone and that someone was always him.

and one day, you couldn’t deny it anymore. you were in love with sunghoon. you were in love with your childhood best friend.

but you never told him. because what if he didn’t feel the same? what if you ruined everything? he was your best friend, the person who had been with you through every moment of your life. if you confessed and he didn’t like you back, would things change? would he start avoiding you? would you lose him completely?

so you decided to stay quiet. you told yourself it was better this way. you would rather love him in silence than risk losing him forever.

𓈒⠀𓂃⠀⠀˖⠀𓇬⠀˖⠀⠀𓂃⠀𓈒

saturday arrived and as planned, you made your way to sunghoon’s house for your study session. it was something you both had promised to do earlier in the week, knowing that your math test was coming up on wednesday. sunghoon had never been the biggest fan of studying but with enough convincing, you managed to get him to agree. you rang the doorbell and waited for a few moments before the door swung open, revealing him in a casual hoodie and sweatpants, his hair slightly messy as if he had just woken up from a nap.

“you’re here” he said with a grin, stepping aside to let you in.

“of course i am. you think i’d let you slack off before our test?” you teased, slipping off your shoes at the entrance.

he let out a dramatic sigh. “i was hoping you’d forget”

you chuckled. “you wish”

his parents weren’t home. they had gone out for the day to visit some relatives in another city. it wasn’t the first time you had been over when they weren’t around and you were comfortable enough in their home that it didn’t feel awkward in the slightest. you followed him upstairs to his room. his desk was already set up with textbooks, notebooks and a couple of pens.

for the next few hours, the two of you went over equations, formulas and problem-solving techniques. sunghoon, true to his nature, grumbled every now and then but he still managed to focus for the most part. you explained concepts to him whenever he got stuck, watching as his eyebrows knitted together in concentration. every so often, he would lean back in his chair, stretching his arms with an exaggerated groan before throwing you a look that practically screamed ‘i’m suffering.’

eventually, after what felt like an eternity, he slumped forward onto his desk, groaning loudly. “ugh, i can’t take it anymore. my brain is officially fried”

you looked up from your notes, smiling slightly. “come on, we’ve only been studying for—” you glanced at the clock. “okay, maybe we have been at it for a while. i didn't notice it”

“exactly” he muttered, lifting his head slightly to look at you. “we need a break. if we keep going, my brain is going to melt and i’m going to blame you for it”

you laughed. “alright, fine. you have a point. we can’t afford to burn out before the actual test, right?”

he immediately perked up. “great! let’s go downstairs and watch a movie or something”

you didn’t object. honestly, you could use the break too. packing away your books, you followed him out of his room and down the stairs. as you stepped into the living room, he gestured toward the couch. “you pick the movie first. i’ll go grab some snacks for us”

that was another thing about him. he never picked the movie. not even once. you had asked him before why he always made you choose and he said, “i like everything you like.” at the time, you hadn’t thought much of it but now, it made your heart flutter whenever you remembered it.

settling onto the couch, you scrolled through the movie options, your choice already obvious. horror was your favorite genre and sunghoon, despite his complaints that you always picked scary movies, never objected. he always watched them with you even when he claimed he didn’t like them. smiling to yourself, you selected a horror film and waited for him to return.

a few minutes later, he came back with his arms full of chips, popcorn, candy and a couple of soda cans. he dumped them onto the coffee table before flopping onto the couch beside you. “you picked horror, didn’t you?”

you smiled, raising an eyebrow. “how do you know?”

he let out an exaggerated sigh but grabbed a handful of popcorn anyway. “of course i know. but if i get nightmares, you’re responsible”

“you never get nightmares”

“you don’t know that”

laughing, you pressed play and the movie began. the two of you settled in, munching on snacks as eerie music filled the room. as the movie progressed, you couldn’t help but steal glances at him every now and then.

by the time the credits rolled, the sky outside had started to darken. you sighed, stretching your arms as you realized how much time had passed. “i should probably head home before it gets too late”

he nodded, still watching the screen as the last of the credits played. you reached into your pocket for your phone, intending to check the time but your hand came up empty. frowning, you patted your other pocket. still nothing.

“hey, did you see my phone?” you asked, glancing at sunghoon.

he turned to you, eyebrows furrowed. “hm?”

“my phone. did you see it?” you repeated.

“wasn’t it with you?”

you shook your head. “i thought so but it’s not in my pocket”

the two of you began searching around the couch, pushing aside pillows and shifting through the pile of snacks but your phone was nowhere to be found.

“maybe you left it upstairs when we were studying?” he suggested, already moving to stand up. “wait here, let me get it for you”

you waved him off. “it’s okay i’ll get it myself”

“okay” he said.

you made your way back upstairs to his room. sure enough, your phone was sitting right on his bed, exactly where you must have left it earlier. picking it up, you checked the time. 6 pm. definitely time to head home.

but when you were about to walk out, your eyes caught something unusual. a unique notebook lay next to sunghoon’s pillow, one you had never seen before. it was different from his school notebooks, the ones he used for studying. this one had a leather cover, slightly worn at the edges as if it had been used frequently. your curiosity spiked instantly.

you hesitated, looking toward the door to make sure sunghoon wasn’t there. taking a deep breath, you slowly climbed onto his bed and reached for the notebook, settling on the edge of the bed as you held the book in your hands.

you knew this was wrong. you knew you shouldn’t take it or open it. even though he was your best friend, you still had no right to read his diary. it was his personal stuff and you should have respected his privacy. but you were curious. it killed you and you just knew that you would never stop thinking about it once you got home if you didn’t at least take a peek.

you sighed, running your fingers over the cover before hesitantly opening the book.

“i’m sorry sunghoon” you whispered to yourself.

your mind told you to be sane, to close it and walk out but your heart screamed at you to open it and read. and since you were an F in your mbti, you tended to follow your feelings more. so you decided to choose your heart.

it would be fine. right? you were only going to read one or two pages and then stop. you promised yourself. then you opened it.

the first page was written with a title “things i love about her”

you frowned. who was ‘her’? did he like someone? at school? how come he never told you anything? your mind raced with a million thoughts. but you pushed them aside and turned to the next page.

the second page was titled “my best friend”

you froze. your eyes widened. about... you? wait. why would he even write anything about you? and you were his only best friend. or… did he has another best friend?

you flipped to the next page, eyes scanning the date written at the top. it was from your first year of high school. you and sunghoon were seniors now.

page after page, you kept flipping even though you told yourself to stop. but the more you read, the more impossible it became to stop.

1 : her kind heart

i remember the day we found that stray cat on the way home. it was raining and she didn’t even hesitate to run under the pouring sky to rescue it. we were completely drenched, our uniform sticking to our skin, our shoes soaked with mud but she didn’t care at all. she held that tiny kitten against her chest like it was the most precious thing in the world.

i told her she was crazy but she just laughed, hugging the kitten even closer.

“sunghoon, it was cold and scared. what was i supposed to do, leave it there?” she had said.

then she kept it for a week before finding a proper home for it. but every single day, she fed it, cared for it, loved it. that’s the kind of person she is. selfless. kind. beautiful.

she doesn't realize it but she makes the world softer and better just by being in it.

i remember the way she cried when she had to give the kitten away. she tried to hide it but i saw, y/n. i saw how much you cared. how much you love even the smallest things.

i wonder if she knows how much i love her for it.

2 : her sense of humor

she laughs at the dumbest jokes. and i mean 'the dumbest'.

one time, i dropped my pen in class and groaned because it rolled under someone’s chair. then she whispered “that pen just wanted to be free”

i gave her a look but she was already laughing. her hands covering her face as she tried (and failed) to muffle the sound. and just like that, i laughed too. because her laughter is infectious. it spreads like wildfire, igniting everyone around her.

she has a way of making things feel lighter even when everything feels heavy.

i could listen to her laugh forever.

3 : her intelligence and determination

i hate studying. she loves it.

she’s always been so determined to do well, always pushing herself to be better. when i get lazy, she drags me back in. when i say i can’t do it, she proves that i can.

“you’re not dumb, sunghoon. you just don’t try”

maybe she’s right. maybe i don’t try enough. but she does. and i admire that more than she knows.

i’ve never told her but i love watching her study. the way her brows furrow in concentration, the way she bites her lip when she’s deep in thought. it’s fascinating.

4 : her smile and laugh

i wish i could record it. just once.

her laughter. her smile. the way her eyes crinkle at the corners, the way her lips curl just before she bursts into giggles.

if i had that recording, i’d listen to it every night before i sleep. because nothing else in the world sounds as beautiful as she does.

5 : the way she talks

she talks a lot.

but i never mind. not even once.

her voice is... so calming. she makes talking easy even when i don’t know what to say. she makes silence feel comfortable. i think that’s rare.

i could listen to her talk everyday, endlessly. she never runs out of things to say and somehow, i never get tired of hearing them. she makes even the simplest stories sound like something worth listening to. i could sit next to her forever, just listening.

6 : her hair

she always complains about her hair.

“my bangs aren’t cooperating today”

“i should’ve tied it up”

but i don’t see what she sees. i see sunlight catching in her strands, the way they sway when she moves, the way she tucks them behind her ear.

i like it. i like her...

7 : her beautiful eyes

i could stare at them forever. not in a creepy way (okay, maybe a little creepy). but they hold so much. i don't know how to explain it. but whenever she looks at me, i can never look away no matter how hard i try.

her eyes... they're just so beautiful.

i don’t think words could ever describe how much i love them. i could get lost in them for hours.

no, her eyes aren’t just beautiful. they’re everything.

8 : her adventurous soul

since we were kids, she’s always been the one to drag me into trouble. climbing trees. exploring abandoned buildings. running through the rain without an umbrella just for the thrill of it.

she hasn’t changed til now. and i like that she hasn’t.

she still pushes me out of my comfort zone, still drags me along to do things i’d probably never consider on my own.

i used to complain about it. about how reckless she was, about how she never thought things through. but i think, deep down, i’ve always liked that about her. i like the way she throws herself into life so fearlessly. i like the way she makes the ordinary feel exciting.

and... i like that she’s never stopped pulling me along with her.

the next pages were filled with even more things. you swallowed hard. this wasn’t just a diary. this was a collection of every little thing he loved about you.

your heart pounded. what was this? why would he write something like this?

you shouldn’t have read it in the first place. but you did. and now, you could never unsee it. you were... confused.

you held onto the notebook, your mind reeling from what you had just read. every small detail about you, things you never even thought he noticed... he had written it all down. the way you laughed, the way you talked, even the way you tucked your hair behind your ear. he noticed everything.

but why?

before you could gather your thoughts, a voice snapped you out of your trance.

“hey, what’s taking you so long?”

you jumped, your eyes widening as you turned around to see sunghoon standing by the door. but then his gaze dropped to the notebook in your hands and his entire body stiffened. his eyes widened in panic before he strode forward in urgency.

“wait, no—”

before you could react, he reached for the book and snatched it away from your hands, gripping it tightly as if his life depended on it.

“why… why do you read this?” his voice came out weak, almost vulnerable, something you had never heard before from him.

but instead of answering, you asked the question that was burning inside you. “why did you write it?”

he sucked in a sharp breath. he was at a loss for words. he wanted to lie, to make up some excuse, to tell you that it was nothing but he knew there was no way he could do it. you had already read part of it. there was no turning back now.

so in a desperate attempt to shift the subject, he repeated “why do you read this? this is my book. you can’t just take and open something that belongs to me. it’s my privacy”

but you ignored his protests, your eyes locking onto his. “tell me! why would you write something like that about me?”

silence.

a deep sigh escaped his lips before he finally muttered “are you stupid or what?”

your brows knitted together in confusion. “what?”

internally, sunghoon was screaming. his heart was hammering inside his chest and his mind was a chaotic mess. how was he supposed to explain this? how was he supposed to tell you everything he had kept hidden for so long?

he never meant for you to find out this way. in fact, he never meant for you to find out at all. but now that you had, he had no choice but to be honest.

he felt like everything had turned upside down, like all the secrets he had tried to hide were suddenly being revealed. the way you looked at him now, confused, searching, waiting for answers made his chest tighten. he had spent so long keeping his feelings under lock and key, convincing himself that it was better this way, that it was safer if you never knew.

because the truth? he had been liking you for a long time. longer than he could even remember.

it started with the little things, the subtle glances he stole when you weren’t looking. you never noticed but his eyes always found you in a crowded room. he watched you. he had always watched you. not in a way that was meant to be creepy or anything but in the way someone admired a piece of art from afar, afraid that getting too close might ruin its beauty.

he noticed every little thing about you and god, he adored it all. most of all, he... loved you. so much.

you never realized how often he went out of his way just to be close to you. how he would adjust his pace to match yours when you walked together. how he always seemed to have your favorite snack on hand, pretending like it was just a coincidence and offered you some or gave them all to you.

how he memorized your coffee order, how he always stayed up late just to help you study and how he would make up excuses just to see you, pretending like he needed help with something when in reality, he just wanted to spend more time with you.

but you never noticed. and maybe that was for the best. because no matter how much he wanted to tell you, he was afraid. just like you, he was afraid that if he told you the truth, it would ruin everything. afraid that if you didn’t feel the same, your friendship would crumble and he would lose you completely. and losing you? that was the one thing he could never bear.

so he kept quiet. he buried his feelings deep, convincing himself that as long as he could stay by your side, that was more than enough. that he could live with the ache in his chest as long as he got to see you smile, as long as he got to hear your voice, as long as he could keep talking to you.

but now, standing here with you looking at him like that, he knew there was no more running away from the truth. it was out in the open now. and there was nothing he could do but finally, finally let his heart speak.

taking a deep breath, he finally spoke. “i’ve been liking you— no, loving you since... i don’t even know when”

your heart stopped.

he looked down at the notebook in his hands, his fingers tightening around it. “at first, i wrote this diary out of boredom. when i didn’t know what to do, i wrote it because you were my best friend. the closest person to me. who else would i write about? i was with you all the time and you were the one i always admired, the one i always looked at so i couldn’t help but write about you”

he let out a bitter chuckle. “but i didn’t realize that all i had been doing wasn’t because you were just my best friend. it was because you were more than that. it took me long enough to understand it too”

he finally looked at you. “but if you don’t like me back, i understand. really, i do. i won’t force you to feel the same way. i just... i just needed to say it because i couldn’t keep it in anymore” he paused then continued “if you don’t feel the same way, we can just forget this ever happened. i don’t want to lose you so we can just pretend i never said anything and—”

“sunghoon” you cut him off. you took a deep breath, your own emotions bubbling to the surface. “i like you too”

his eyes widened in shock. “what?”

“i like you too sunghoon. no, scratch that. i love you... too”

he stared at you, utterly speechless.

“i don’t even know when it started...” you continued “maybe it was when you walked me home every day and you didn't even complain about it. maybe it was when you always saved the last piece of my favorite snack for me even when you wanted it too. maybe it was when you stayed up all night helping me study even though you hated studying yourself. or maybe it was... when i realized that no matter what happened, you were always there for me. no matter how much i pushed you away, no matter how much i annoyed you, you never left. you were always there, sunghoon. and i think... i think that’s when i knew i loved you”

silence stretched between you. then he let out a small, breathless laugh, shaking his head in disbelief. “we’re both idiots, aren’t we? how come we never noticed it before?”

you nodded with a smile on your lips. “yeah, the biggest ones”

a soft chuckle escaped him before he finally sat down next to you. “so... does this mean you’re mine now?” he asked teasingly.

you rolled your eyes playfully. “i’ve always been yours, idiot”

his lips curled into a soft smile. and in that moment, you knew, this was it. this was where you belonged. with him.

then he suddenly pulled you closer. “if you’ve always been mine” he whispered “then that means i get to do this”

before you could respond, he pressed a soft kiss on your lips making your breath hitch. you stared at him as he pulled away, stunned while he simply grinned.

“you’re ridiculous” you muttered though you couldn’t hide your smile.

“and you love me for it”

you sighed dramatically. “unfortunately”

he chuckled, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you into a tight hug. “we really are idiots”

you nuzzled into his warmth, feeling your heart swell with joy. “yeah but at least we’re idiots together”

you couldn’t believe it. park sunghoon, your childhood best friend, the boy who had been by your side since you were little, the person you had been silently in love with for years felt the same way.

he had loved you too, all this time in the quiet ways you never noticed. he had spent years convincing himself that what he felt was one-sided, that confessing would ruin everything. but now, knowing that you loved him back, it felt like the weight he had been carrying for so long had finally lifted.

how many moments had he spent looking at you, memorizing every little detail, cherishing the time he had with you even if you never saw him the same way? and how many times had you caught yourself staring at him, wondering if he could ever look at you as more than just his best friend? it was funny, really. you both spent so much time worrying, overthinking, assuming the worst when in reality, you had always belonged to each other.

and you knew, in the end, it wasn’t the grand gestures or dramatic confessions that mattered most. it was these little things. the moments that seemed insignificant at the time but built something stronger than either of you had realized. the way love wasn’t just in the words spoken but in the actions that had been there all along.

the little things that matter...

[justaz]

ygraine gives birth to a quiet child. the babe does not scream, cry, or wail when it is born. one of the midwives take the bloody babe and holds it against her chest and she rubs its back and urges it to breathe. gaius is hidden beneath her dress and he tends to her wounds that sap her strength with every gush of blood. nimueh sits beside her, holding her hand as she takes in gasping breaths, recovering from the painful and exhausting ordeal of birthing a child. nimueh’s hand is running through her hair as she whispers praises in her ear that she cannot hear.

the room begins to darken as she leans against nimueh. her vision tunnels to a golden scene hovering in the air above her. she sees a young man with golden hair and bright blue eyes. he sits atop a throne with a golden crown nestled on his head. beside him is a figure that is obscured, their features hidden from her view but she can tell they are powerful. the image in the air shifts between the two people, flipping like a coin in the air, the golden king on one side and the cloaked figure on the other. the coin slowly picks up speed until the two figures blur together.

from the distorted image, three women appear and whisper a prophecy to her, a familiar one that has been told for millennia - more a fairy tale now than the words of a seer. as the women speak each line of the prophecy, one after the other, their voices combine into one as they whisper to her “behold the once and future king, arthur pendragon”

“do you see that?” she feels herself mumble as the three women disappear and the coin begins to slow once more. the two men come back into view, now side by side, “oh, its beautiful,” she murmurs, “look at him, nimueh. my son, my son…so beautiful.” arthur shifts his gaze to meet her own and suddenly the golden visage begins to rot. his regal robes fall apart, his crown rusts, the castle around him begins to decay and collapse into rubble.

arthur begins to cry like a child, unfitting for a man of his age. he shrinks to a young boy, perhaps seven, and stands next to his father, uther, as he addresses a crowd. he stands tall and proud though it is clear something has happened. his expression is cold and unfeeling until his gaze shifts down to someone in the square and pure hatred fills his eyes. the vision moves back and allows ygraine to watch as a young woman is tied to a pyre, screaming and crying and begging and pleading for her life.

“this woman has been found guilty for the crime of sorcery,” uther’s voice commands attention though his words make no sense to her. sorcery a crime? what nonsense. uther continues, “for such a crime, the punishment is and will always be death.” he nods down at the executioner who ushers forward and lights the wood of the pyre. knights follow suit and soon the woman is screaming in agony as flames engulf her.

arthur lowers his head and averts his gaze but uther grabs his chin and pulls his face up, “watch,” he orders him, “they killed your mother. they deserve this.” young arthur has tears in his eyes but he does not let them fall. he squares his shoulders and stares down at the woman as she is burnt to a crisp. when the screaming finally stops, young arthur shifts his gaze up to hers.

“i’m sorry,” he whispers, “please, save me.”

ygraine can hear her cries as the vision dissipates, her wails and denials. nimueh holds her close and whispers how she needs patience, her child will breathe yet. ygraine feels even more of her strength sap away and she understands. the deal uther made with nimueh, it called for a death to create a life. she knows now that it is her life that will be reaped in exchange. she does not have time to weep.

she turns to nimueh, “protect him,” she squeezes her hand, “you have to protect him.” she pleads. nimueh does not understand. how could she? ygraine squeezes her hand harder than she had in childbirth, “promise me, nimueh. you won’t let uther corrupt him. you won’t let him harm my son.” nimueh looks down at gaius who peeks over her dress, sorrow in his gaze and shakes his head. ygraine sobs once more, “promise me, nimueh!”

the high priestess turns back to her, “i promise, my lady, but rest assured king uther will not harm a hair on your child’s head.”

ygraine shakes her head, her body has gone numb, “you don’t understand. he will never be the same. you have to protect him. you have to protect arthur.”

nimueh nods, her expression trouble, “i promise, ygraine. i will protect arthur.”

ygraine smiles through her tears, the pain and sorrow fading as she grew weaker. nimueh’s expression grows panicked but the last thing she hears is her beautiful son’s cries.

nimueh didn’t understand ygraine’s wish until uther learned of his wife’s fate. she had expected sobbing, falling to his knees, or begging the gods. she didn’t expect the rage, though it was understandable, and she definitely didn’t expect the vitriol he spat at her, blaming her for ygraine’s passing. despite the protests that fell from her lips, she knew he was right. it was her magic from a deal she offered him that took her life.

her magic claimed ygraine’s life in her chambers. she held her in her arms as she died and could do nothing to save her. the last thing she saw when she died was nimueh, helpless to do anything to stop what she had put in motion.

uther called for his guards to round up all magic users and have them punished. gaius, a man who was always a bit selfish, surrendered to uther, denounced sorcery and magic and was forgiven for his past “treachery”. when he turned to nimueh, she knew even if she had denounced magic, he would never forgive her for what happened. he ordered his guards to have her taken to the dungeons in cold iron and spat that she would burn in the morning.

it didn’t take much magic to disappear from the throne room and reappear out in the halls. she strode through the castle up to the nursery where little arthur was to reside. something in uther shattered in that room, he cursed magic users and called them monsters, beasts meant to be hunted and killed. she wouldn’t know if he truly meant to go through with it until the first execution but she was not waiting that long.

ygraine’s last wish had been for her to protect arthur, to protect him from his father. when she had said that, she had assumed the queen was delirious from pain and blood loss. now she understood. the triple goddess had blessed her with knowledge before her passing. and with that knowledge, she begged nimueh to protect arthur from uther. nimueh would not wait until it was too late, she would not sit back and let fate have it’s way, she would not let ygraine down again.

nimueh greeted the wetnurse with a smile. the woman smiled kindly up at her and she politely requested arthur and asked her to leave. the woman was hesitant but a subtle spell over her mind guided her out and away from the room. nimueh stared down at little arthur’s face. he had thin strands of white hair that was sure to thicken and darken as he grew. he had ygraine’s nose and lips. when he blinked his eyes open it was like she was staring down at the late queen.

the sound of guards pounding down the hall alerted her of her precarious situation once more and she did not waste another second before fleeing. she held arthur tight to her chest as she fled the castle and wormed her way through the citadel. no one looked twice at her, the average citizen unaware that their queen had had a child and died just that morning.

nimueh traveled as fast as she could back to her island. she warned her sisters that resided on the island of what uther meant to do. they did not take his threats seriously until they scried and saw uther slaughtering hundreds of magic users in the coming weeks. nimueh and her sisters helped raise arthur until an attack was launched on the isle itself. she and arthur remained under the castle while the other high priestesses fought back against the armies storming their home. one of her sisters stumbled down into the room, beaten and bloodied.

“they’ve won,” she slurred, “the isle of the blessed has fallen. you must go, protect the child. do not let him fall into uther’s hands.” she cast her magic to form a gateway for nimueh and arthur, “i do not have much strength to hold this, sister. go now.” nimueh left her home behind. she heard two weeks later that the castle had been burnt and crumbled to rubble.

nimueh and arthur traveled the land, hopping from place to place and never settling for long as camelot knights were soon to follow. arthur grew quicker than she thought possible and she knew she had to settle down somewhere, yet she knew that if she were to settle in a village or town, it would only be a matter of time before camelot found them.

it took time and energy and lots of magic, but she created a cottage in the woods, hidden by wards to divert any visitors. she and arthur both learned to live off the land, to grow what they needed and survive on their own. he always found her magic fascinating and loved to watch her cast spells. since he was born from a deal she made, his very being was fused together with her own magic, marking him as hers.

he called her mama and she called him son. she told him of his other mother, ygraine, of how she gave birth to him but perished before she could meet him. she told him that she knew ygraine was proud of him because she was proud of him. arthur always wished to explore the world outside of their haven but nimueh’s paranoia kept him close.

it wasn’t until one day when arthur was ten that something changed. nimueh had been on her way out to tend to their crops when she heard arthur laughing and playing. she smiled to herself as she continued on her way. until she heard another voice, a higher voice belonging to what sounded like a child.

nimueh dropped her tools and rushed around the lawn to find arthur on the edge of their haven playing with a boy a couple of years younger than him with a mop of black hair and wide blue eyes. the boy was also inside their haven. he had gotten past her wards. he was dangerous. nimueh dashed forward and grabbed arthur, tugging him behind her as she assessed the boy. arthur complained behind her and begged her to let him stay. the boy stood up on shaky legs and didn’t bother dusting off his trousers.

“hi!” he waved a hand, a goofy smile on his face, “my mom’s busy at the market so i came to play in the woods. arthur and i were just about to play will and i’s favorite game, knight and princess. will always makes me be the princess but arthur wanted to be the princess this time so i really, really, really wanna play with him. do you wanna join? you can be…the dragon guarding the princess!! oh, you already are. are we playing now? hold on, let me get a stick so i can-“

“who are you?” nimueh finally cut off his rambling. she wasn’t sure how a child, or anyone for that matter, could talk so fast and endlessly without taking a breath. her fear eased as she recognized that he truly was just a child, but she still remained wary as he had somehow found his way past her wardings.

“oh, sorry! my mom always says i have to be more polite but i always am so i never understand what she means.” he blinked and shook his head before grinning up at her, showing off his missing tooth in the top corner of his mouth, “i’m merlin!”

[superscourge]

thinking about the happy parts of childhood friends au gives me joy

[jamesrb4th]

I feel like all that was needed for the arcane childhood friends au to become reality was Jayce eating his damn sandwich.

Think about it, powder doesn’t notice the sandwich, she doesn’t find the hex crystals, no explosion, Jayce kicks down the door, grabs powder, Vi goes back for the rescue and punches him in the gut, Caitlyn tackles her and blushes furiously when their faces get really close, Powder start pulling on her hair, this goes on for like twenty minutes. Mylo and Claggor were off getting Vandor who returns all the items to Jayce, who decides not to press charges cause they’re just kids, maybe hires powder as an assistant. Caitlyn and Vi develop huge crushes on each other and everyone can see it

Damn it Jayce this is why you need to FEED yourself