#Going with just flowers and some basil right now

[pianokantzart]

Woooo here we go!

[ellecdc]

oh wooow…. I just found your chef!sirius and I think you unlocked a new favorite au for me! I’ve always been more of a james girlie but your sirius, especially your chef!sirius has me feeling all types of ways. do you have anything more for him and reader planned? I’d love to read more about them and their dynamic he’s been so sweet on her at a&e and the lip biting thing has made me think of plenty of unholy things they could do.

so excited to read more of them! or reread chef!sirius if you don’t plan on adding more. 🤍🤍🤍

I love them, your honour. Also, omg it's happening!!!!!!!!!!! thanks for your sweet words, babes <3

chef!Sirius x mixologist!reader who have their first date [2.5k words]

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7

CW: reader is anxious as fuck about the date, we actually don't talk about Jeffery even once in this so sorry to all our Jeffery Stans (or haters) out there xoxoxo

A date.

An actual date.

And if it went well; your first date.

God did you hope it went well.

You’d been rightfully wary about the prospect of dating a coworker but you had to admit it was growing increasingly difficult (and extremely tiresome) pretending you weren’t completely gone for the cantankerous chef who seemed to only soften for you. 

Thankfully it seemed he was just as gone for you, which at least meant it would only be slightly awkward if it didn’t go well and not see you dying from embarrassment. 

What you hadn’t been prepared for, however, was how difficult taking a noteworthy chef out for a dinner date would turn out to be. 

Every restaurant you had suggested (though Sirius had insisted he would go anywhere with you) was either owned by someone he knew and was in direct competition with, someone he knew and didn’t like, or someone he knew and felt their food was no good. 

So you had made - what you were sure was a brilliant idea at the time - the horrible suggestion of just having him over to your flat for dinner. 

Great.

Terrible. 

Because now you were responsible for preparing a meal for that same noteworthy chef who got paid to spend day after day shouting at his kitchen staff for their “sad excuses for artistic plating” and “terrible passes at edible food”. 

Stupid, stupid girl. 

You warily eyed the sauce you had set aside for your tomato basil pasta as you stirred the store bought pasta on the stove.

What were you thinking!? Two of the seven ingredients (not including the bloody pasta) was in the sodding title. 

You were going to simply throw up. 

But the sound of an assured knock on the door felt like a buzzer ringing loud and obnoxiously at the end of a game - you were officially out of time.

Or were you?

Could you cancel? Tell him you were feeling poorly?

The fact that he had showed up at your sodding house with various essentials a mere few weeks ago told you no, you couldn’t cancel.

You smoothed out your shirt with shaky hands as you moved towards your front door. 

You saw this man almost everyday; you worked with him, and when you weren’t working with him, you were often commuting home with him or finding some other excuse to be in each other’s company.

So why were you nervous?

You opened the door to expose him; standing tall in all his fair skin, tattooed, storm-cloud eyes, inky-black hair artfully tied back in a way that screamed “I hardly tried” that you could never accomplish no matter how hard you tried glory.

Oh right.

That’s why you were nervous. 

“Hey there.” He greeted you softly; eyes roving over your form in much the same way yours had just done as you clocked in on the bouquet of flowers hanging casually in his hand. 

You had to wipe your now clammy hands off on your shirt again. 

“Hey.” You said belatedly, earning you a smirk from your date. “Erm, sorry, come in.” You chuckled awkwardly as you moved out of his way and granted him access to your flat. 

“Smells great!” He offered earnestly, pausing to turn to you and gesture to the flowers. “Can you tell me where I can find a vase for these?”

“I can take those!” You began, reaching forward only to have him move them up and out of your reach with a smile on his face.

“Can you tell me where I can find a vase for these?” He repeated softly, taking the hand you had been reaching for the bouquet with in his and pressing a kiss to your knuckles.

Your brain worked overtime to keep your knees from buckling and directing him to the third cupboard from the left. 

He looked jarringly at home in your kitchen; shucking off his jacket and throwing it over the back of a stool before grabbing a vase from the appropriate cupboard and beginning a search through your drawers for a pair of scissors.

You had to remind yourself that he was a chef and it was his job to look at home in a kitchen; that was his domain.

You realised then that he had been speaking to you. 

“I’m so sorry, what was that?”

“I was only saying that I looked it up and made sure that these were safe for cats.” He said simply as he fluffed the bouquet in its new home and moved it to the centre of the counter with a satisfied smile. 

“You didn’t have to do that, Sirius.” You cooed somewhat embarrassingly. “I would have fought Birdie over them even if they weren’t.” 

Sirius let out one of his notorious barks of laughter (that half the staff insisted you were making up) that immediately left you feeling more at ease. 

“Well, no fighting required.” He said as he moved towards you, widening his stance so that he was closer to your height and wrapping his arms around your middle. “Thank you for having me.”

“Thank you for coming.” You smiled back; officially lost in the overwhelming beauty of this adonis who willingly accepted spending one of his precious evenings off with you. 

“I think your pasta might be done.” He whispered then, causing you to startle slightly and scramble from his grasp towards the stove.

“Anything I can do to help?” He asked as he followed you over.

“No!” You shouted at first, immediately embarrassed as you opted to pretend the heat of your face was a product of the steam from the pasta. “No, just, erm, go sit down.”

He backed out of your kitchen with a flirty smile on his lips as he accepted your direction.

Now you could understand why he was always yelling at people in his kitchen. 

You were astounded that you didn’t simply melt into goo under his steady gaze as you worked, but you were finally bringing the finished pasta to the table and sitting across from him.

“I apologise in advance; I’m not the cook you are.” You offered as you handed him the spoon to serve himself first. 

He gave you an odd look as he reached over and filled your plate first before his own. “No sorry needed, doll. When someone feeds me, I say thank you.”

You let out a breathy laugh as you picked up your fork. “Oh!” You nearly shouted, kneeing the table in your haste to stand causing you to have to catch a cup before it toppled. “Buggering fuck, sorry.” You apologised quickly, thanking every god known to mankind that you didn’t dump his plate or glass onto him. “Sorry, I forgot the asiago.” 

You opened the fridge and shoved your head into it feigning a search for the cheese when you really needed to cool down and take some steadying breaths.

You were fine, this was fine. 

Just fine.

Except that you had a stupid sexy tattooed chef sitting at your dining room table waiting for you to bring him the sodding asiago. 

You closed the fridge with a little too much force and heard some errant condiment tip over in the shelves behind you; you’d deal with that later. 

“This smells really good, doll.” He offered again, spreading the forsaken cheese over his pasta before loading a fork full and bringing it to his lips. 

You held your breath as you watched him chew; his brows furrowed before he nodded and let out an appreciative hum.

 “Very good; nicely done, gorgeous.” 

You smiled shyly at the praise and took your own bite.

It was good.

But surely it could be better? 

Should you have put more garlic in? The five cloves were already 3-4 more than the family recipe called for. And was there enough salt?

You definitely overcooked the pasta. 

The store bought pasta.

Fuck. 

“Hey.”

You looked up from your spiralling to see Sirius watching you cautiously. “What’s going on with you?”

“Nothing! Sorry.” You chuckled and began picking at your food. “Sorry, how was your day?”

He narrowed his eyes at you as he weighed whether or not he was going to let you brush past his question.

Apparently, you looking nervously down at his fork solidified his decision.

“That’s it.” He said as he put his fork down. “Come’ere.”

And before you could protest, he had one of the legs of your chair in his hand and was pulling you over to him. “What’s going on in that head of yours, hm?” He asked as he brushed a lock of your hair away from your eyes.

“Nothing?”

“Nothing?”

“Nothing.” You offered more confidently. 

Sirius hummed in faux consideration. “I call bullshit.”

You let out a defeated sigh and looked down at your hands in your lap. “I….I’m sorry, I- I don’t know what I’m doing. I’ve made a mistake.”

Sirius was quiet for a few moments as you picked at your thumb nail and tried to ignore the stinging behind your eyes.

“Agreeing to spend tonight with me?” He asked softly then, causing you to look up so quickly that you heard your neck crack. 

“No! No! No, Sirius, not- not you, not this.” You assured him quickly, pulling one of his hands into both of yours. “I feel ridiculous.”

“‘Bout what?” He asked with reservation, though he considered your face with a look of concern clouding his own. 

“I can’t believe I tried cooking for you.” You bemoaned then, feeling that traitorous stinging behind your eyes turn into glossiness along your lash line. 

You watched in abject horror as Sirius’ face fell completely blank before he burst into laughter.

You were wrong, you were completely and utterly wrong; this really could end in you dying of humiliation. 

You were going to have to quit your job. You’d have to move back in with your parents. You’d have to change your number. You’d have-

“Doll, hey, hey wait!” Sirius managed to get out between hearty laughs as you tried pulling your hands away from him. “Wait! No no no, babe, listen.”

You let out a breath that sounded dangerously close to a sob and pointedly kept your gaze at your lap; perhaps not the greatest option because from this vantage point all you could see was your hands in his which left you aching with want. 

One of his hands disappeared as it moved to your chin when he forced you to look at him.

“Do you know what I would be eating at home if I was alone right now?” He asked you around an incredibly handsome cheeky smile. 

You shook your head once which resulted in one traitorous tear spilling from your lashes, stealing Sirius’ silver gaze from your eyes as his thumb moved to catch it. 

“Maybe packaged ramen?” He replied with a shrug of his shoulders. “Except I wouldn’t have cooked it.”

“What?” You choked out through a wet laugh.

“I wouldn’t have cooked it.” He repeated. “I would have crushed the noodles, opened the bag, sprinkled the seasoning on top of it and given it a shake and then would have eaten it from the bag.”

“That’s awful.”

“It is awful!” He agreed readily. “And do you know when the last time someone cooked for me was?”

You shook your head again. 

“Neither do I.” 

You both chuckled and he let his hand fall away from your chin where it joined your own again in your lap. 

“I cook all day long for everyone else and I usually can’t be arsed to cook for myself when the time comes. When I visit friends and family, they usually prefer having food prepared by a chef and I can’t bring myself to deny them because I love them and love cooking for them, so, this really is a treat. Not only did I not have to make it, it is also very good. I’ll be honest, I didn’t even know you could cook, so I was prepared to eat frozen pizza which still would have been an upgrade from my dry ramen.” 

You let out a breath in faux reluctance as you purveyed your set up. It did smell really good. 

“Did I completely botch this date?” You asked teasingly, though when you looked back at Sirius his gaze was as soft as butter left in the sun. 

“Absolutely not.” He whispered, leaning imperceptibly closer to you. “This is actually turning out better than I could have imagined.”

You hummed in acknowledgement as your eyes - without your consent - fell to his lips. “Yeah? Spend a lot of time imagining dates with me?”

“The majority of my time, actually.” He agreed easily, inching even closer to you. 

“And how do they usually end?”

Sirius shook his head no as his eyes moved to your own lips. “I don’t imagine that; I don’t imagine having to say goodbye.”

“No?”

“No.” 

“What do we do instead of saying goodbye, then?”

His eyes moved up to your own at that; neither of your daring to breathe as he searched your eyes for some kind of answer.

Well, you’d give him one.

Your answer came in the form of you closing the distance between you two and pressing your lips to his; he tasted a little bit like the mint gum you knew he chewed to avoid smelling like cigarettes, and he also tasted a bit like your pasta.

Your pasta, that you made for him. 

That he liked. 

And somewhere under all of that; somewhere under the mint and the tomato-basil-garlic, he tasted quite a bit like home. 

You weren’t sure who broke the kiss, but suddenly the two of you were connected by your foreheads as you took a heavy breath. 

“Usually that.” He answered breathlessly, earning him a laugh as you lowered your head only for him to pull it back up to press another kiss to your lips. “Can we eat this really good pasta that someone so graciously made for me now?” 

You laughed at him again and prepared to move your chair back to the other side of the table only for Sirius to reach over you and grab your plate so that you were sitting directly beside him instead. 

The two of you fell into your usual and comfortable repertoire then; his hand never leaving your knee under the table as the two of you talked about nothing and everything.

“Did you really not think I could cook?” You asked him  as you watched him clear off your table for you because “you cooked doll, it’s only fair.” 

You swore you noticed a slight dusting of pink on his cheek bones as he busied himself with loading your dishwasher. 

“Erm, no…actually. I never imagined goodbyes, and I never imagined you cooking.”

And though you wouldn’t find out until much, much later in your relationship; Sirius really didn’t think you could cook because the version of you in his head didn’t need to, that’s what he was for.

[daisynik7]

Neighbor Nanami headcanon where he uses his new neighbors mini garden on their balcony as a conversation starter. Man had a crush for his pretty neighbor since she moved in months ago, but his tongue is always tied but one day he notices she is growing cherry tomatoes among all the flowers and herbs and his mouth is faster then his brain

Author's Note: This has been sitting in my inbox for months now, I'm so sorry it took so long for me to reply! I hope you enjoy this little drabble. :) Heart divider credit to @/cafekitsune!

You sip your coffee on the balcony, relaxing into the patio chair, basking in the morning sunshine. It’s been almost two months now since you moved into this new apartment and it finally feels like home. The first week you arrived, your parents helped you plant a miniature herb garden and you’ve somehow managed to keep it alive since. It’s now sprawling with fresh basil, parsley, and cilantro, all of which you use often to elevate certain recipes. You glance at the pot beside it, inspecting the cherry tomato plant you received as a house-warming gift from a friend. So far, no fruit yet, only leaves, though you’re hopeful you’ll see progress soon. 

Right on cue, you hear the distinct swoosh of a sliding door opening, then see your neighbor step out onto his balcony. You smile at him, waving. “Good morning, Nanami.” 

He turns to face you, giving you a polite nod, a steaming mug of hot tea in his hand. “Good morning.”

Your conversations usually don’t last very long. Sometimes it ends just like this, with the both of you silently enjoying the quiet morning together until either of you decide it’s time to get ready for work. He’s a quiet man, maybe even a little shy at times. Though you find comfort in his presence.

You watch him from the corner of your eye as he takes a sip of his tea, staring out into the horizon. Golden streaks of sunlight shine on him, casting a beautiful glow on his figure. He’s handsome, that’s for sure. You’ve always thought that ever since you met him. 

Feeling chatty today, you stand up, walking to your garden, grazing the delicate basil leaves between your fingers. “Do you cook?”

He’s surprised at your question, hesitating slightly before he answers, “Yes, I do.”

“My garden is overflowing now. Would you like some fresh herbs?”

He walks to the end of the balcony closest to you. “Are you sure?”

You grin at him. “Of course! I don’t know what else to do with all the excess. I’m running out of recipe ideas.”

His mouth opens, but then closes, remaining silent. You’re curious what he wants to say, though you don’t ask, plucking the stems off gently. “I’ll put these in a bag for you.” 

When you return, you notice him staring at the cherry tomato plant, studying it carefully. You hand the herbs to him, hoping he’d ask you about it. Instead, all he says is a quiet, “Thank you,” before bidding you farewell, going inside. 

You sigh, sinking back into your patio chair, wondering what you’re doing wrong. 

When the tomatoes sprout, you can’t contain your excitement, spending the morning marveling at the round green bulbs decorating the vines. Nanami is out with you, remaining silent, though you catch him glancing in your direction a few times. You want so badly to converse with him, but you’re unsure how. He hasn’t mentioned anything about the herbs since you gave it to him over a week ago. Did he use them yet? What did he cook with it?

Finally, on the day your little tomato babies are bright red, Nanami speaks to you. “Cherry tomatoes,” he says, looking at your plant. 

You beam at him. “Aren’t they beautiful?” 

He gazes at you, smiling. “Yes. Beautiful.”

Butterflies flap around in your stomach and suddenly, you’re speechless, unable to think of anything else to say. But you don’t need to, because this time, Nanami does the talking. “I’ve used up all of the herbs you gave me. Thank you again.”

“I’m so glad you found a use for them,” you reply, finding your voice, standing as close to his balcony as possible. “I’m not sure yet what I’ll use these tomatoes for.”

He does the same, and it feels like there’s barely any distance separating you now. “I know a great pasta recipe I can show you. If you’d like.” There’s a hint of blush in his cheeks. Maybe this is what he’s wanted to tell you all along.

You smile wider at him, happy with this progress. “I’d love that.”

[balkanradfem]

Back to garden

So, I have been, reasonably, neglecting my garden, due to not being home for a month, and having too much to do afterwards. The garden is overgrown, weedy, diseased, and overrun by slugs. I've decided to go and take a look! Let's see how bad it is.

So it's bad, and I wouldn't normally show you this version of the garden, but I'm planning to clean it up, and it's always more fun to see the 'before' pictures. But also I think, while it looks bad from here, if I zoom in, I might find some pretty stuff!

There's a single leek, a zuchinni that's going to be a part of my lunch now, the basil flowers might make seeds if I leave them be for long enough, and kale is just, thriving, it does not mind the rain or weeds, and the slugs find it bitter. The little red ball you see is growing on the asparagus, it contains asparagus seeds! There's another part of the garden, that belongs to the plant lady, where I planted peppers because it's closer to water, and for some reason they decided to also thrive:

I have no idea why they're doing so well right now but I will take it. I planted these earlier, maybe thats the catch.

If I was taking care of my garden properly, it would have been producing more food even now, and it might seem like I failed at gardening this year, but look at this:

That's my basement. All of those jars, pumpkins and squash, that's what the garden created this summer. I was too tired to maintain it, but I was going in every day, harvesting, cleaning, cooking, canning, and I created this entire stash from it! There's over 60 jars of food in there. The garden has done its main purpose, to give me food security over winter.

[hexonthepeach]

dive

pairing: f4!nct dojaejung x fem!reader (past johnny x reader mentions)

genre: hana yori dango/boys over flowers/meteor garden/f4 thailand reverse harem au (mild allusions and characterization only)

warnings: brief mentions of past bullying, dom!doyoung, hopelessromantic!jaehyun, mommykink!jungwoo, reader is a bit of a switch, smut (mmmf, double penetration, oral f & m receiving/giving, unprotected sex, anal, semi-public sex), degradation/humiliation kink (reader), pet names: baby, mommy (reader), puppy (jw)

wordcount: 10k

author's note: i wrote this as a distraction from other projects after listening to perfume on repeat and lamenting the end of promo. intended as a oneshot but i have some ideas for continuation. please let me know if you enjoy it (and more importantly, what you enjoy)

The Bangkok night is warm and thick and redolent with flowers. The expensive vacation home one of your three companions had arranged for your short stay is quietly luxurious, separated from the city bustle but still hazed with light past the high walls and thick foliage surrounding the pool. 

You'd never made a habit of asking who paid for what with your travel companions, but you guess by the mix of old world and new that it was Jaehyun's idea to stay here–perhaps even a Jeong family permanent accommodation. His family's import business had done well in the region, judging by the luxury sports cars parked in the driveway.

Everything about this trip is surreal–worse for the fact that a fourth presence lingers like a ghost in your periphery. 

He should have been here. Indeed, you've taken his place, filling the natural void like a small drop in an ocean-sized hole. 

Everything about this distraction brought you back to him: the rose petals strewn across your pristine bed, the snarling garuda statue lurking across the aquamarine oasis. 

Johnny is 8600 miles away and still very near. 

Jaehyun joins you at the pool's edge, slipping some well-concocted drink near your manicured fingers–most likely Jungwoo's contribution by the tasteful sprig of flowering basil. You'd refused multiple drinks at the club, still flagged from a day of travel and self-conscious of the eyes on your table and you’d finally agreed to one now that you were back safe in your own private enclosure.

He shucks off his sandals to dip his feet in beside yours, nudging you beneath the water to remind you that even with the grief that's hollowed you out inside, you're not alone.

Jaehyun doesn't speak–well accustomed to your need for silence when you've inevitably descended into that space again. 

Unfortunately, Doyoung isn't as accommodating. 

"What did we say about moping, Y/N?" A tall shadow stands beside you, swaying slightly. 

"I'm not moping," you say, sipping from your glass of Mekhong soothed with sugar and soda. "Just thinking."

"Wasn't the point of this vacation to get you to stop doing that?" Doyoung is touching his toe to the warm water when there's a sudden rush from behind you, a startled cry escaping the man before he hits the surface fully clothed. 

"Was he bothering you?" Jungwoo asks, looking completely unfazed about shoving the other man in.

"You bastard," Doyoung says, spluttering up and tossing his hair back as he holds his phone out of the water.

"It's waterproof."

"That's not–"

"I'll buy you a new one." 

"Now you're going to have him trying to return the favor," you say, giving him a sly smile.

"Oh I think I'll be alright," he says with a wink, backing up a few paces before cannon-balling in. If you'd been doused by Doyoung's ungraceful landing you're soaked thoroughly by the splash Jungwoo makes, finding yourself shielded by Jaehyun's torso wrapped around you. 

You hadn’t even thought to protect anything but your drink, your heart stuttering as you find yourself inches from his flushed face and rosy lips.

"You okay?" he asks, wiping water from your face with his silk sleeve. 

"Yeah," you say quietly. "Can't see the tears now, right?"

He blinks at you, believing you by the clouded expression in his dark eyes.

"I'm just kidding. Not crying, see." You smile at him as best as you can muster, hoping your carefully-applied makeup isn't running off your face. 

"Don't you want to join us?" Jungwoo has escaped Doyoung by pressing himself to your knees, shoulders well out of the water at standing level. You shake your head, suddenly shy.

"You should have let those girls come back with us," you say. "All that work wingmanning for nothing."

"Blame Doyoung for boring them talking about tariffs," Jungwoo says, ducking as the other shoves water in his direction. "Besides, we didn't want you to be alone."

"You know I don't mind, puppy." You tousle his wet hair, sipping deeply again. Through the fogged rim of your glass you catch his cheerful expression falter. It lasts only as long as he realizes Doyoung is floating on his back, swamping him with a tackle.

"I asked them to keep it just us for tonight." Jaehyun says, breaking his quiet. 

"Saving the party for Phuket!" Jungwoo shouts in the background, mispronouncing the first syllable deliberately to sound like fuck it.

"Have someone you're missing tonight, too?" Your tease lands with a thud, watching your best friend's mouth crease at the corner as he chews his lip. 

"I'm sorry, that was rude–"

"No," he says. "I know how you feel."

"How far away is Paris?" you ask, not expecting an answer.

"5 hours," Jaehyun says, grinning slightly. It's a callback to so many months of watching him stare out towards the airport from the school rooftop with you, letting you listen while he mused on what she might be doing at that hour, how long it would take to get there. 

You'd encouraged him even as your heart broke–feeling the dwindling embers of a schoolgirl crush on him turn to ash. You would never be as good as his childhood love, even if you had taken up her place as his companion seated beside him on the piano bench when he practiced, or studying beside him as he drifted off into one of his many naps.

It was better this way–more comfortable just being able to be with him without the worry that you could live up to her, your heroine in highschool. But there would always be something there.

Doyoung clambers out to sit beside you, far enough away not to dampen the fuschia Versace metal mesh minidress he'd gifted you earlier. It was the perfect costume to play the part of nouveau riche jetsetter for a girl who lived one step up from a basement apartment. 

No one would mistake you for class, or even an influencer, but in their company no one was looking at you anyway. Most people thought you were Doyoung’s assistant or Jungwoo’s sister. The nasty looks, sometimes worse, always followed when they introduced you as their friend.  

"What can we do to make this a magical night?" Doyoung asks. You find yourself unable to answer, eyes caught on the smooth definition of his chest through the barely buttoned translucent shirt he'd worn out. You note he's lost the matching loose tie, probably still wrapped around a girl's neck on the dance floor.

"It's already so nice," you say, looking up at the blink of stars through the light pollution. "Thank you for including me." 

"You think we'd leave you behind?" 

The way he says you carries all sorts of strange subtext, considering your history. It had been a long journey from being mercilessly bullied and shoved into the dirt you came from, as Johnny had called it, to here. The lap of luxury, attended to by three specimens of wealth and privilege so out of your league you may as well be batting a thousand.

"Well it’s not like I got you in the divorce," you say, knot twisting in your chest. "I guess even now it’s hard to tell if you’re just being nice to me because you feel bad for me."

"First of all, he left all of us," Doyoung corrects. His voice is a little raspy, as if he's controlling his emotions. The admission leaves you questioning. You knew how close they were but they'd never shown any sign of being affected by Johnny's sudden departure.

Maybe you'd just been too busy wallowing to notice. 

“Second, you’re special. Too special to let just anyone play with. If you hadn’t noticed, we enjoy your company.”

"And when have we ever done something nice?" Jungwoo rests his arms on your knees, almost pulling you into the water. Jaehyun pushes him back with his foot, earning a tug on his leg that does little to move his immovable weight. 

"You're a package deal, though. Like a blend," you raise your mostly empty glass to drive your horrible attempt at a metaphor to death. “Even with one ingredient missing you can’t beat the original.”

“Well I won’t deny you're a strange substitute,” Doyoung says, gracefully using your words to make his point. It reminds you of how he’d spent hours drilling you with details of tea ceremony when your ridiculous coworker had asked for a demonstration of his family’s heritage business. 

“But taste requires innovation, and it’s often the unexpected addition that changes the entire flavor profile. You’re new but you’re refreshing, and unique. Not something to be discarded because anyone demands it.”

“That’s a very poetic way of saying you still like me even if I’m an uncultured pain in the ass.”

"Poor little weed," Jungwoo says, hands splaying over your bare thighs before Jaehyun can foist him off again. “Are you insulting Doyoung’s taste? You're the first girl any of us have agreed on."

"I doubt that considering what I saw last Friday. Did all of you sleep in Doyoung's room or did you take turns–"

You catch Jungwoo's scheming look with Jaehyun right before the cocktail glass is plucked from your hand and you're picked up on both sides, Jaehyun lifting you by the waist and Jungwoo taking over once you're free of the edge.

"Let me go," you shriek, folding over his shoulder. 

"Are you sure?" Jungwoo bends his knees until your hem is submerged, not phased as you beat on his back with soft hits.

"At least toss me in so you can get a head start," you threaten. He indulges you, lifting you up out of the water like he's going to help you recreate that pivotal scene from Dirty Dancing only to throw you back and into the deep end. 

You hold yourself in a ball and sink, breath held, channeling your best hello darkness my old friend as you wait for the inevitable. It takes less than ten seconds before Jaehyun dives in after you, pulling you up.

“Got you,” you say, grinning through the trickles of warm water. Jaehyun looks less than amused, lips thinning into a tight line as water drips from his bleached blond hair.

"Don't scare us like that," Doyoung gripes, joining you a few seconds too late. You shoot him and Jungwoo a look over your perch on Jaehyun's arm, clinging to him for comfort.

“Yeah, please.” Jaehyun breathes. 

"Is my makeup coming off?" you ask. He's been staring at you funnily as you float beside him, bodies brushed up in the expansion of his clothing and the occasional contact with his frame.

"What?" Your best friend sounds dazed, water collecting in his dimples as he smiles softly.

"What?" You parrot, teasing, mirroring him in the way your eyes dart to his mouth, not surprised to find his lip trembling. His uplit face is shadowed with hidden feelings you can only guess at. 

That years-old urge to kiss him returns. It could be considered revenge for back when he'd grabbed you and given you a taste of what it would be like that day after he’d come back from his trip abroad. You'd melted into him like it was the most natural thing in the world, the illusion only broken when Johnny had slammed the rooftop door shut on the way back down, flowers for whatever apology he'd half-assed scattered across the dirty tar paper.

You'd slapped him afterwards, surprised to find him smiling. He's in love with you, isn't he? Had to be sure.

There'd been so many times after that he'd played with your feelings you'd lost count, but one constant remained: he would never pursue you fully if he believed it would hurt his best friend.

Your chest feels tight just imagining what might have been, had you changed course back then. But you've long given up dwelling on might have beens.

Jaehyun is less mercurial now that he's older so you’re the one to catch him by surprise, lips pressing to his cheek right beside his mouth–in the smile lines you know too well. It's a quick send-off before Jungwoo can grab his legs and pull him under from below. 

Doyoung takes the opportunity to capture you by the waist, keeping you from becoming a casualty of their underwater fight. He looks just as serious as always, even without his usual glasses.

"Sorry about the dress," you say, working to stay afloat.

He laughs at you, prone to condescension as always. "If you like it we can get you another. But do you really want to wear the same thing twice?"

"Some of us can't replace our wardrobe every week," you huff. 

"Are you under the impression I'm replacing a bespoke suit collection every week? All I'm saying is you should have a new dress for every occasion. Especially if you're with us."

You jab him in the side, surprised at the hardness of his ribs but also delighted by his startled wheeze. 

"I'm not your kept woman."

"Not even if we want to keep you to ourselves?" 

A little shiver runs through you, making eye contact with him as he mouths the waterline. It's said so innocently but you know better. He and Woo had been dropping double entendres since well before takeoff from Seoul.

Flirting was Jungwoo's thing, a silver lining to the dark shadow of a personality that enjoyed being subtly in control. As the future heir to a crime syndicate it was much better than experiencing his hidden anger. Doyoung though . . . as much as he dabbled in shadier scenes and pretended to be a womanizer he's old-old-old money, from a strata inaccessible to anyone who's genealogy can't be traced back to the Goryeo dynasty. 

The idea of him folding you into his life, much less keeping you, is absurd.

“Well that does seem to go against the whole idea of this being a trip to finally get over . . . everything,” you say, deflecting from his intensity. “What happened to letting me live like the F4 for one week?”

“Is this not it?” He quirks an eyebrow at you. 

“What if I want you to play wingman for me? Find me something meaningless to distract me?”

You're not expecting the dark storm that settles over his refined features.

“I think you have enough distractions here to keep you occupied.”

Your pulse picks up, hearing the hidden message loud and clear. He'd heard your laments to Jungwoo about how long it had been since you even thought about being with someone else, how you'd never really gotten to date after three brutal years of school, work, and accidentally making the worst chaebol tyrant in Seoul fall for you. 

Now that you're free for the first time in your adult life, you want to experience what it's like to be just another girl, like the ones they so frequently invited to their tables at function and club alike.

"Are you insinuating you're not going to let me bring anyone back if I find a fling? After I just spent all night singing your praises to a healthy pool of candidates? Double standard, much?"

Doyoung wraps an arm around you to keep your head from knocking against the tiled pool edge. He's backed you into it without you even noticing it. 

"You can try," he says, gripping the wall next to your cheek. "Though I would question the sanity and intelligence of anyone who took you up on it." 

There's his brand of cruelty: casual threats delivered without a hint of remorse. You'd been on the receiving end, perhaps were now, but you're not afraid of him in the slightest.

"You're not reporting all of this to him, are you?" 

Doyoung doesn't answer, nostrils flaring. 

"Or is he only texting 'Woo back?" you ask. 

"Who texted me?" Jungwoo asks with open curiosity behind him. 

Doyoung presses a single finger to your lips in warning, releasing you. 

"Didn't you get the number of that model? Miss Thailand 2016 runner-up?" You toss your head slightly to clear it, still feeling heat suffuse your cheeks from just a touch against your mouth. It really had been too long. 

"Oh she's too good for me," Jungwoo remarks, jokingly. "Besides, I already have a failed beauty queen right here." 

You snort. “In what world is second place a failure when it’s your first time?”

The contest had just been a university charity project but you'd worked hard to earn that spot after Johnny had entered you in as some kind of sick game from abroad. Jungwoo had helped you conquer it–had even got you a side gig modeling when his usual partner had dropped out at the last minute at one of his shoots. You’d just been there to deliver coffee and now you were on a cover being printed in 15 different countries. 

You always liked reminding Jungwoo of his Pygmalion moment because that's when you'd genuinely seen his kinder side–even if you suspected he may have threatened at least two of the judges to land you on the final stage. Losing had been worth it to spend time with the member of the F4 you’d never been close to in high school. 

"Maybe she doesn't deserve you," you say, swimming around him to grab him loosely around the shoulders. “Not many can appreciate having a personal rescue dog to save them from getting wrinkly fingers.”

You're immediately indulged, Jungwoo paddling you back to the shallow end where Jaehyun is lost in thought, staring at white blossoms from one of the trees in the courtyard floating in front of him. Doyoung is just as contemplative. 

It’s probably best to not let it stretch out any longer–you were always a fan of ripping the bandage off quickly even if it hurt. 

"I'm going to go take a shower and call it a night." You announce, hearing Jungwoo groan. "Unless . . ."

"Unless what?" Jungwoo perks. Jaehyun squints up at you where you stand over him. You look at Doyoung instead, as he drags himself out of the water to sit on the ledge beside the stairs.

"Unless you tell me what we really are."

The buzz of cicadas seems to die a little, soft music inside the house drifting out through the glass. 

"Friends, hopefully?" Jungwoo says.

"Well you aren't bullying me anymore, so yes. But friends don't keep their friends from moving on from past relationships."

"That's not at all—" Doyoung begins.

"Let me finish," you interrupt. He's immediately quiet, throat bobbing as he looks beside you at Jaehyun's taut shoulders.

"I'll never fit in with you or your world but we both stopped judging each other for that a long time ago, I think. I like spending time with you, I like knowing you'll still include me even if . . . " You can't bring yourself to say Johnny's name. "Even if I'm just another ghost who's outstayed her welcome."

It was their term for dropped flings and casual encounters, with a whole subset of terminology for the ones who couldn't get the hint (poltergeist), or lost their cool at their dismissal by screaming and crying (banshees). 

It hadn't been like that for you even the second or fifth time Johnny had broken up with you–always for reasons out of your control. You'd shown him the same aggression and cruelty in answer, but you’d never begged for him to take you back, ever, and you certainly had never sought out his friends. 

It had always been their prerogative to spend time with you, and you’d leaned into it your freshman year of university study and singlehood, wanting the support network denied you by being alone and poor in a city you could barely afford. You’d never take their money but you had accepted their company, and had enjoyed it far more than you could have imagined. 

Even if it kept you in Johnny Suh’s outer orbit, what you had with them meant something to you. You didn’t want to lose it when he came back. From the press releases about his recent promotion, it would seem to be soon.

Waiting for that inevitability is like attending your own funeral before you’re dead, pallbearers for company. 

"You're not a ghost," Jaehyun says. "And we won't abandon you, ever."

"You'll just keep me and this dynamic trapped in amber until Johnny changes his mind, then? It's been a year already. I don't want to lose any more of my youth to him, and I don't want to lose you when he comes back and you all act like he's done nothing wrong."

"That won't happen," Doyoung says, sighing. 

"No, because I'll leave before then." You get out of the water, brushing your face free of the hot tears. "Wouldn't want to ruin your fun."

Jaehyun pulls you back, strong enough you lose your footing and sink into his submerged lap. 

"You're not going anywhere," he says. There's no malice or anger in his tone, just quiet assurance. He cleans your face again, blue silk cuff coming away black with mascara. 

"You asked what we are. Remember when you used to come sit next to me under that stupid ad?" 

"Yeah?" you sniff. You'd spent hours with him sitting on a city bench as he stared up at a billboard for luxury clothing with her face on it. She’d been the dream he chased at your urging, the fantasy that had sadly broken with proximity.

"When I was in France, after things became clear, I would go and sit somewhere and pretend like you were there with me."

"I hope it was somewhere fun, like the Louvre," you joke. 

"Too crowded." He shakes his head, smirking. "Would look weird talking to myself."

"Oh you talked to invisible me but you couldn't pick up the phone once?"

He shakes his head again, squeezing you. 

"Anyway. The point is you're stuck with me. And them."

"And Johnny . . .?" 

"Stop bringing up our ex," Doyoung says. Not your ex, our ex. 

"It's a valid concern," you say, adjusting in Jaehyun's hold to rest your head against his damp shoulder. "I'm not going back to him. And I know you'll choose him over anyone else."

"No," Jaehyun says. 

"You're the exception." 

You lift your head to blink up at Doyoung.

"Didn't think you made those."

"Well you just haven't spent enough time with me, then."

"You planning on spending time with me?" You smile lazily, hand drifting to squeeze his leg. It's always fun to see his unflappable face twitch.

"He already blocked off half his itinerary for private tours. Jaehyun had to fight him to split it equally," Jungwoo says. Doyoung splashes water into his face with his foot.

"I wanted it to be a surprise," he says sourly. 

"Like the massage tomorrow morning?" 

This time Doyoung's kick makes waves wash over you and Jaehyun, leaving you spluttering.

Jungwoo takes it, smiling once his floppy brown hair is pushed back out of his eyes again. He grins at you from the water. "You'll take your dog for a walk when you remember I exist, right?" 

"Why not just come with us?" You'd often wondered if there was an invisible tether for how often they appeared together.

Doyoung clears his throat, Jaehyun shifting uncomfortably under you. 

"What am I missing?" You laugh awkwardly, looking between them. 

"I forget the only man you've ever dated never dated anyone seriously, either." Doyoung looks somewhat pleased with himself. "Traditionally when you spend time with someone you're interested in you don't have company–"

Shock runs through you like ice dumped over your head. "You can't be serious."

Doyoung's face is incredibly serious, Jaehyun's proving only a little more relaxed about the disclosure. You turn around to Jungwoo, floating nearby with a humored expression. 

"You're not part of this are you, 'Woo?"

"Of course I am. You deserve a break from stuffy museums and romantic dinners to have some real fun."

His eyebrows lower a bit in some sinister joke, and for the first time a little fear courses through you. It's been a long time since you saw their manipulative and controlling side, but bringing you to a foreign country to date you, their best friend’s ex, without telling you . . . That's a whole new level of it.

"This isn't a competition, is it?" You hide the tremor in your voice. 

"Between us? Of course it is," Jungwoo says.

"And the terms?" You look at Jaehyun, who is unable to meet your gaze. "Let me guess, whoever fucks me first?" 

His eyes widen in genuine dismay, panicking. "No, of course not–we just wanted to give you a chance to decide if . . ."

"If what?" 

"If you liked one of us more than the others," Doyoung finishes for him. 

You find yourself breathing heavily, face flushed. 

"What if I can't choose?" You ask, gaze fixing on Jaehyun's mouth as he bites his lip, still looking guilty. 

"If you decide you don't want to be with any of us, then things stay the same. Nothing changes. We'll still be friends." He says it all slowly, deliberately, almost as if it’s rehearsed.

"And if I choose one of you? Do I get to suffer the jealousy complex of another deeply insecure and emotionally unavailable man?"

That hits them where it counts. They'd all watched Johnny take out his fears on you, masked under bravado, posturing for an audience that more often than not was just you and his friends. His peers had rarely done the same, unless you counted Jungwoo following his enforcement orders like a loyal hound or Doyoung orchestrating clean-ups. 

No, they'd skated clean through multiple horrorshows by simply being there to throw their weight. No one else had the notoriety and resources to cover up the trail of damage left in Suh's wake.

You stand up again, turning between them. "And none of you are worried about Johnny finding out?"

A lump forms in your throat, bitterness about even having to invoke your own personal demon. Yes he'd walked away, but you knew his sense of entitlement would never allow his interests to be compromised by another–especially his closest companions.

And here they are, looking between each other and discussing your fate with the deliberate calm of a business transaction.

Apparently the only consequences were for you.

"Or is that the real game you're playing here," you ask. "Degrade me so far in his eyes he'll want nothing to do with me while you write me off as disloyal trash."

Jaehyun sucks his breath in through his teeth, and you note how hurt he looks. Jungwoo seems even more upset, full bottom lip jutting out.

"I know what you've been through, and I know it will be a long time to forget," Doyoung says. "But we're not him."

You remember an old saying your father had taught you: when you're holding a hammer everything looks like a nail. Better applied to problem-solving perhaps, but you'd also been dealing with one, giant nail-shaped problem since he'd crashed into your life. It was stuck in your heart and time and healing hadn't removed it. Maybe it was permanent, but you still had to live with it. 

"I just don't understand how you think you think this will work."

"You're awfully concerned about what he thinks," Jungwoo says, rising over you. "What about moving on?" 

"I don't give a fuck what he thinks. I'm just looking out for you. You know he'll punch first and ask questions later. What if he does something reckless?"

Jungwoo is laughing at you through closed lips, eyes crescented in mirth. "We have you to protect us, right? Just roundhouse kick him in the face again."

“That was lucky,” you say. “He wasn’t trying to murder me, either. There’s probably an American hitman on his way right now to take us all out and make it look like an accident.” 

“He would definitely hire locally,” Jungwoo corrects you. 

“And here I thought you were braver than that,” Doyoung muses. “Do you think we need his permission? You certainly don't.”

That makes you pause. You look at Jaehyun. Of all the people in the world he was the closest to their former leader. They’d fought even more than he and you had, and Jaehyun had always conceded, taking it on the chin, letting Johnny drag him along in his wake. The one time he'd stood up to him had been for you and it had almost fractured everything irreparably.

His black eyes pierce into you when he looks up. 

“I think y/n can make any decision she wants to,” he says dangerously. “None of us will stand in your way, whatever you choose.” 

“You promise?” you ask, tilting your head to let your wet hair brush over your bare shoulder. 

“Cross my heart and hope to die,” Jungwoo says. 

You wait for the others to show visual signs of concession: Jaehyun nodding, Doyoung making the sign of the cross in what is an obvious misuse of the gesture. 

“Good. Because if Johnny finds out what I’m doing on this trip, he’s not the only one who will kill you.”

"I think we should start enacting a punishment whenever she brings him up again," Doyoung says.

"Great idea," Jungwoo says, sweeping you into his wet hold from behind. The chill you'd been feeling exposed to the air dissipates a little, his warm chest against your bare shoulders. You shiver a little at the intimacy, feeling him laugh even if he doesn’t make a sound.

“What will it be?” Doyoung defers to Jaehyun.

He leans back . “She does something to distract herself.”

You purse your lips together, affecting an air of deep thought. "My choice?"

"Always," he says, not breaking eye contact. 

"Rock, paper, scissors, then." You nod at him. He grins, Doyoung groans. Jungwoo's long arms wrap around your waist, hands already in position. 

"Surely there's a better way we could eliminate your options," Doyoung says, almost missing the cue and throwing paper to the other two's scissors. 

"Better luck next time," you tease.

"Kiss it for luck." The back of Jungwoo's hand presses to your mouth moments before Jaehyun initiates. 

Jungwoo loses the second quick round after a draw, crushed by Jaehyun's rock. 

"I should have known you were cursed." Jungwoo pouts, not letting you free until you've ducked back into the water to escape him. You give him a wink as you swim towards the stairs, emerging between Jaehyun's spread legs before he can close them. 

"What are you doing?" he asks, warily, still leaned back against the last stair.

"What I want," you say, blinking drops from your lashes. You move weightlessly on to his thighs, grabbing his soft face in your hands. He's unable to process what's happening quickly enough to respond as you tilt his face up and press a gentle kiss to his parted mouth. 

You ignore Jungwoo's wolf-whistle in the background, partially aware Doyoung has shifted nearby the moment you'd slid into your friend's lap. All that is noise as the gentle sound of the water feature drowns the startled sound you make when you're grabbed and pulled back to Jaehyun's mouth. 

This time it's real: solid and delicious as he crushes against you, tongue sliding across the seam of your lips until you let go of your held breath to softly exhale into his. Small dips of his chin coax you into opening for him, your hands threading into his hair to anticipate his movements as he kisses you like it's the last time in his life he'll ever get the chance. 

"That's enough," Doyoung says, Jungwoo booing him. 

The other two may as well not exist, your thumbs circling Jaehyun's cheekbones as you retreat to inspect the damage. He's usually so composed it feels like peering into a different universe's version of him, rapture and satisfaction warring with concern in his expression. 

"Thank you," you whisper. His eyes focus again, teeth exposed as he tongues them. 

"Any time," he says. It's funny how instantly he regrets the word choice, the pink in his ears and cheeks deepening.

"Not thinking about you-know-who now, are you?" Jungwoo asks, right behind you. 

"No," you say. "But I suspect you wish I'd say yes if only for the consequences."

"That was hot," he admits. "But I don't typically like my prospects thinking about other men." 

"Can I tell you a secret?" You crook your finger, clutching on to Jungwoo's wet patterned shirt when he leans down far enough to be in range. 

"I only made you play for it so we could find out who goes first." You say it in his ear, letting your mouth drag against the shell.

He pulls back, hesitant, nose brushing against your cheek. 

"Really?" 

"Kiss me and find out," you offer. 

He doesn't wait, lashes against his cheeks as he meets you halfway, tilting your head to the side for full exploration of your lips. He's much gentler than you expected, shy almost, tender even when your tongue meets his and you can taste the hint of sticky mango rice you'd had for dessert earlier. 

"Good boy," you say once you've broken free. He smiles in the way you're used to the most, right side of his face crooking with an edge of deviousness.

You turn to find Jaehyun watching, eyes starry with arousal but unreadable. Doyoung is on his feet as if he's preparing his exit, expression stony. 

"Is something wrong?" you ask, meeting his calculating stare.

Doyoung opens and shuts his mouth, water pooling at his feet. 

"Not enough punishment for you?" There's an edge to your voice that you recognize as the tone you'd used many times before, in your idiotic quest to tame one of his own. 

The tension breaks when Doyoung laughs softly, crouching down and crooking his finger. You wade up the steps to meet him, hyper aware of the drag of eyes on you as you emerge from the water, dress clinging to your skin. 

"I planned out such a nice trip for you, and this is what you really want?" Doyoung asks, eyes traveling down your body and back to your face in the kind of assessment that you'd seen other people wither under. 

"Why do you think I agreed to come?"

“Noted.”

He nods, slightly, but makes no move to take what you'd already given the others. You don't let it dissuade you, fingers digging into the hard line of his shoulders to press your lips to his. 

It's like kissing a statue. A challenge you're willing to meet as you delve further, rocking him back on his heels. You pry open his mouth with gentle bites and licks between each kiss, past his perfect teeth until you can explore his tongue with your own. You don't realize your hands are fisted in his wet hair until you're done, finding him collapsed on the wet cement, panting. 

"Was that sufficient punishment?" you ask.

"For you? Absolutely not," Doyoung says, the rare full smile gracing his kiss-swollen mouth. "For them? Yes."

You glance back at your other two companions, clocking that they're both nearer than you remembered. Jaehyun's hand drifts over your hip, as if he's questioning letting you go in the first place. 

"Should we set some rules? Or are you all going to take them as an excuse to break them?"

Jungwoo chuckles. 

"No competition. Equal time, equal attention. And no possessiveness," you state. Doyoung looks up from under his brows with amusement, clearly enjoying your groundless attempt to set boundaries. 

"I don't care what you throw at me as long as you don't walk back what you said about our friendship."

"I think we're something different now," Jaehyun says, voice cracking.

"I know," you say. You run a hand over his head, feeling his temple come to rest against your waist. "But you crossed that line first. I'm just saving you the trouble of playing some silly game to come on to me. I'm not a prize to win. I'm a person who knows you all better than you think."

You turn to Doyoung again, holding your ground. "You said you'd give me the true F4 experience."

"Within reason," he demures. 

"Then lose your hangups and let me have a taste of what it's like to be just one of those girls you have no problem with having fun with. No special treatment, no regrets."

The stunned silence has you feeling a twinge of embarrassment at pushing your agenda this far.

"Impossible," Jungwoo answers. 

"Why not?"

He pulls the hair away from your neck to kiss beneath your ear. Gooseflesh appears on your arms even in the warm air, anticipating his answer, but he's too occupied with trailing his mouth down, sucking lightly over your pulse. You feel dizzy, hand reaching back to hold his head to you.

Once he's had enough of watching you unravel Doyoung jerks you forward, grip tight around your wrist.

It's a familiar gesture, a reminder you are at their mercy. He cuffs his hand around your neck like he's going in for another kiss, stopping at a few inches. 

"You don't get to set all the rules. This one especially. You are not just some girl with whom we engage in forgettable, inconsequential relations."

He pauses, eyes darting to your mouth before meeting yours again. "If we go down this path you're getting the real thing. All of it."

"We know you have experience." Jungwoo adds. 

Oh you knew. They fucked around but they were careful about it, always gentlemen, always above board. NDAs in some cases, mostly for Doyoung. You didn’t know all of their specific proclivities outside of Jungwoo exclusively chasing women a generation older but you suspected whatever they enjoyed was much less wholesome. 

Like Johnny's needs once he'd finally had you. He'd bent that way and much, much more. The difference was he'd never been as precious with you as they were with their little conquests.

If they didn't want the safety of a legal cushion it didn't mean they didn't need it–they just didn't think it would be a problem.

"I'm sure you've heard a lot of things about me," you say. A whisper of rage underlies the words, colored by so many rumors foisted on you well before you'd ever accepted their company–even more when they had. 

Whore. Cockslut. Used goods.

Johnny had always been a contradiction–surprisingly prudish about sex but quick to use the grossest allusions to it when pressed for details by his friends, liberal in his name calling. They'd known him since childhood–they didn't believe him, even if everyone else had taken his words as gospel. You'd had your revenge by proving just how true those words could be in private.

"We don't know anything you don't," Jaehyun says, quickly. 

"Still, I don't think you know what you're signing up for," you say. "If anyone is using anyone in this arrangement, it's going to be me. Or I'm out."

"You worried we can't show you a good time?" Jungwoo asks. It's a funny question with him pressed into your back like he'll push your head down into the water if you answer incorrectly.

"I'm worried you'll chicken out," you say, grabbing Doyoung's wrist to keep his fingers on you, covering them with yours to increase the tension. You'd always been strong.

Doyoung's expression is matched by his lingering hold on your throat, squeezing a little and making your eyes drift shut in pleasure.

"You always did seem to enjoy the humiliation a little more than our other targets. Can't say it wasn't an encouraging factor. You like it, don't you?"

He lets you go with a slight push, registering the way your eyes haze over with reflected lust.

"Yeah. Blame a few formative years of getting my signals crossed. Just part of the damage." There's no shame in your voice, another casualty of their efforts.

"You're not damaged," Jaehyun remarks.

"Not beyond repair," you agree, gaze burning into Doyoung's. His regard is a thousand times more revealing than a kiss, most especially the tic in his cheek every time Jungwoo decides to leave a mark with his tongue and teeth on your throat and you reward him with a moan.

"Should be fun seeing which one of us can push past your comfort zone, then," Jungwoo says, breath cooling the last bruise he's left on the back of your neck. "Find out if you have one."

"You're not dropping the competition?" 

Nervous anticipation gives you butterflies, different than the ones springing up being teased by the three of them. Not one of them accepted being outclassed.

"No." Jaehyun says it well before the others. His hands drop to your legs to hold you steady as Jungwoo continues his assault on your neck. "But equal opportunity. I think we can all agree on that."

"Don't worry, we'll play fair," Jungwoo says, biting your shoulder. You jerk in his grasp, vaguely aware of fingers at your hem. Doyoung continues to watch, tongue darting over his lips.

"I hope not," you say. "I won't."

It's all the permission your captors need.

Your breath stutters as Jaehyun's hand slides up your inner thigh, circling the wet skin absent-mindedly. You whine a little, teased by the first intimate touch you've had in months.

"You better stay quiet. We do have neighbors," Doyoung says, voice pitched low.

"Think you can shut me up?"

He takes the hint, sliding his legs back over the ledge, letting you finish unbuttoning his shirt to expose his creamy skin. You spread your fingers over his firm abdomen, flicking aside the sheer fabric. He's intoxicatingly sensitive, muscles tensing as you follow the path of water down his long waist.

"You sure you want to play this game?" Doyoung asks, hand resting on your shaking fingers as you struggle to unbutton his damp jeans.

You look down at Jaehyun, smiling at him when you find he's still enraptured by your upper thighs. You wait until he looks back up, head cocked for permission.

"You alright with sharing me, tonight?"

Miles are crossed, bridges are burned as he contemplates the ask, returning to his shy efforts at warming your naked skin, lifting your hem to dangerous territory.

"Wouldn't dare stand in your way."

Jaehyun's approval is the best thing you've seen in a long time, even more so when he adjusts to be eye level with your now exposed underwear, back pressed to Doyoung's leg. 

Jungwoo tugs at the strap of your dress playfully. 

"Can puppy wait his turn?" you ask, looking up at your other torturer. 

Jungwoo kisses you over your shoulder, messily, before casually breaking one of the thin straps of your dress where it's attached to the delicate gold cherub adornment. The night air pebbles your skin, exposed nipple hardening more as he trails a fingertip lazily around it.

"As long as you need." 

He angles you down a bit towards the other man, just as Jaehyun's mouth finds you through the thin fabric of your lingerie–hot and perfect. Your knees are already weak and you have to catch yourself on Doyoung's thighs as you're touched and kissed and licked, still partially submerged and torn between warm and warmer.

There's a bit of menace in Doyoung's face, watching you unzip and find his length. He adjusts a little when you tug down the elastic waistband of his underwear, his cock already mostly erect despite the water. He's not as big as Johnny but perfectly sized, long and veined as he hardens in your hand. 

You experiment with laves of your tongue against his flushed head, watching him for a reaction through your lashes.

"Sucking me off before I can even take you on a proper date." He tsks, the sound changing when you lower your head, tongue folding around his tip to devour him whole. 

"You look so good with my cock in your mouth," he says. "Wish I could take a picture–"

You cut him short by taking him deeper, feeling him press at the back of your mouth. It's been awhile since you tested your gag reflex.

Thankfully Jaehyun has compromised on watching you while pushing your underwear into your sticky folds, Jungwoo playing with your breasts in the most maddening way possible with soft flicks and tugs. 

Both of them are sending you skyrocketing to a level of joy yet unexperienced this lifetime, much less this year. You have to concentrate on Doyoung to keep from falling apart too quickly.

Jungwoo's long fingers help clear your hair from your face so you can breathe, giving them all a better view as you choke, letting drool slip from your mouth as you take it deep and hard. 

The noises coming from your throat are nowhere near as obscene as the sounds Doyoung makes, angled back and thrusting weakly with each moan. You always thought his voice was beautiful, scratchy and breathy, but hearing him say your name in between gasps has your entire body enflamed. 

"Fuck, you're good," Doyoung says quietly, angled back on his elbows. 

Jungwoo holds your damp hair back, wrapping it in his fist to help guide you more gently. You relax your throat and take it, tears leaking from your eyes. If touch had you vibrating before, the sensation of being debased in this way has you dripping, your arousal exposed by Jaehyun's fingers slipping your panties down to the water.

"She's soaked," he says, running a single finger through your folds. You answer with a groan, other hand in his hair to hold him back before he can dip in again.

Jungwoo tests you, too, giving you a few swipes to collect your slick. He brings his fingertips to your mouth when you finally take a breath, letting you clean them.

It's delightful how Doyoung is unraveling already, arched back, eyes glassy. He drinks in the sight of you sucking two of Jungwoo's fingers until your cheeks hollow.

"You think you can finish what you started?" you ask.

"I don't think I'll ever want it to end," he admits.

"How about coming on my tongue?" You ask, pumping him slowly. You chase the taste of yourself with kitten licks of the beads of white on his head, going lower to trace his veins. 

"Only if you want to swallow everyone tonight," Doyoung says. The offer is tempting. You hesitate long enough that he reads you like an open book, adding an edge of threat. "Or do you want to be stuffed like the little whore you are?"

The affectation has you seizing up in long-withheld gratification. Jungwoo grinds against your ass as Jaehyun ignores your hold to finally lick long paths up your inner thighs, chasing trails of slippery arousal and water to dive in, fingers spreading your legs wide.

It's impossible to find a retort, sinking back into Jungwoo's embrace as you're attacked from below.

"I think you should only fuck me if you can make me come," you counter. "And it's still Jaehyun's turn–"

Your words are punctuated by a cry, Jungwoo's hand clapped over your mouth as Jaehyun pumps into you with two fingers, hooking into your g-spot.

"Ooh," Jungwoo says over your head. "Guess you'll have to wait." 

Doyoung sighs, taking over with his hand when you're bodily dragged back, Jungwoo lifting your dress to take it off. 

"Leave it on," Doyoung says. "The ravaged look suits her." 

You shoot him a look, unable to maintain your expression when Jaehyun's mouth works likes he's devouring you in turn, teeth scraping as he explores every inch of you, teasing your clit with darts of his tongue. Jungwoo frees your mouth to let you breathe, babbled words of praise spilling from you in between small cries.

"So good, so right, god, fuck–fuck." You're inarticulate as Jaehyun pumps his fingers slowly, spreading you and pressing right below his languid tongueing. Jungwoo's attention returns to your sensitive breasts, gently twisting each bud between his fingertips. 

"Keep it down," Doyoung warns, but it's impossible. 

Electric tingles spread down to your toes, tipped against the smooth pool floor. You let yourself relax in Jungwoo's hold, curling over your lover's head. Jaehyun is incredibly careful with you even as you're brought deeper, water lapping at his collarbones as he holds you spread and licks you in broad swaths. 

"Need a hand?" Jungwoo asks, somehow catching Jaehyun's nod mid-effort. You're unmoored by the hand that slips in from behind, fingers curling into you shallowly, water lapping your immersed buttocks. Jaehyun gives up control but he's still also buried in you, drawing wetness out of you with each stroke of his fingers.

Jungwoo matches his speed, knuckle to knuckle, as Jaehyun moves up to apply pressure to your clit again. 

"You two can get her ready. I want her after she's been used," Jungwoo says. 

"Of course you do," Doyoung says, dropping back in the water, demanding your attention. You indulge him with your hand, pumping him loosely beneath the surface. It's hard to coordinate as Jungwoo's hand fucks you into the pressure of Jaehyun's grip tight on your upper thighs, each circle of his tongue on your clit making your vision shimmer. 

"She's so close. Bet we can make her squirt." 

"No," you say, automatically self-conscious. 

"Did you hear that? She thinks she has a choice." The heel of Jungwoo's palm smacks wetly against your ass as he finger-fucks you, already too much before Jaehyun seems to pull you towards him, pressing hard into your walls. It's unlike anything you've ever felt, completely at their mercy as Jaehyun applies suction to your clit to bring you to the brink. 

"Come for us," Doyoung says. He's pressed to your side, rutting against your waist while taking your mouth to keep the shriek building inside your throat muffled.

There's no controlling the powerful waves tearing through your core, your legs shaking and buckling as the orgasm begins and doesn't seem to end, torn from you between all three of them. A hot gush of liquid coats your thighs as you throb around their fingers, pleasure morphing into pain until you're begging for them to stop. 

Jaehyun is the first to let you go, rising to share your release with a crushing kiss that takes your breath away, Jungwoo's fingers still reaching deep inside you.

"Good girl," Jungwoo says. "Was that your first time?"

You nod, cheeks hot, forehead pressed to Jaehyun's. You cling to him, still not quite down to earth from your climax. 

"Thank you," Jaehyun says, laughing slightly. "Was that too intense?"

"No," you shake your head. "Just hold me, please."

"Forever," he says, lifting you to straddle his hips. He manages the stairs to collapse on the deck, wrapping you tight in his arms as you kiss him deeply, cleaning his face of your release with gentle swipes of your fingers.

"You sure you don't want to go inside?" he asks, when you begin to unwrap him from his shirt. 

"I need you so much," you say. "I can't wait another moment."

He grins, shyly, kissing you as you help him out of his undershirt to reveal his swimmer's frame, triangular torso buckling into visible abdominal muscles. He's breath-taking, even more beautiful when you help him out of his pants and underwear to find his thighs flexed beneath his hard cock, shorter but thicker and so perfectly full and ready for you to sink down on. 

He doesn't question taking you raw–brow furrowing in concentration as you adjust to his girth slowly.

"We'll do this without an audience soon," you whisper, hoping he can still hear you as he bottoms out in your heat and his eyes flutter shut. 

"Yeah," he says, breathily. He's not moving, soaking in the sensation of having you completely wrapped around him. "I couldn't wait, either. You feel just as perfect as I imagined."

"So good," you assure him, moving for him. The lingering effects of coming harder than you think you ever have in your life aren't stopping you from bearing down on him, taking him harder and deeper with his wide shoulders for leverage. 

"Fuck, baby," Jaehyun growls. "I'm not gonna last like this."

He takes control with a firm grasp on your waist, pumping up into you. Soon he's bouncing you mercilessly into his hips, laid back on his wet clothes.

You haven't forgotten about the other two men, not when Doyoung's kneeled behind you, straddling Jaehyun's legs to stroke himself against the swell of your ass. 

Jungwoo grabs your hand to wrap around his own exposed cock, letting you feel him before you can even take in the sight of him bobbing over your head. Your finger and thumb can barely connect around his shaft, length too much to fit half of it in your mouth before you know it will be in your throat. Now you understand why the screams you'd heard from his room always sounded on the borderline of pain. 

"Too much for you?" He asks, angling the velvety soft head to catch on your open lips. Jaehyun slows down his thrusts to let you ease into taking the other man, pumping Jungwoo's base as best as you can as you sloppily accept the suffocation.

"Must have had a lot of practice getting your throat fucked to take me so well," he says, angling your head to move past the back of your tongue. You can't answer so you squeeze his balls instead, applying just enough pressure with your nails to have him groaning in appreciation. 

You lose your rhythm when you feel spit drip down your back, Doyoung collecting your earlier release from your thighs and mixing it with his saliva to rub his fingers against your puckered hole.

"Are you gonna be a good girl for all of us?" he asks, pressing a digit into the ring of muscle, causing you to choke on the heavy weight in your mouth.  

Jungwoo pulls out, saliva trailing from your lips as he gives you a break to adjust. You press your forehead to the sheer tank separating you from his flat belly as you look over your shoulder.

"I can take it," you say, trying to relax. Doyoung inserts another slender finger, making you clench around him and Jaehyun until the other man is panting. 

"I didn't ask if you could take it. I asked if you were going to be good."

"Fuck me and find out," you taunt. He's not like the others–he denies you anything but the wedge of his fingers into your ass, adding a third to stretch you when you're not loose enough. 

Jaehyun fucks against the intrusion, holding out until you're closer as he twines his fingers with yours and watches you work Jungwoo's oversized cock in your mouth and hand. 

"Knew you were a little slut who wanted to have all her holes stuffed. One of us wasn't enough for you, you had to make us share. I'm the only one who gets to fuck this tight little ass, though."

Doyoung drops another gob of spit on the dimple at the base of your spine, letting it slide over the gape left when he slides out his fingers. You cry out at the first intrusion of his cock into your barely-lubed hole, fighting to stay on top of Jaehyun as he works in with shallow thrusts, inch by agonizing inch.

"Keep forcing me out," Doyoung says. "I'll just fuck you harder." 

As if to prove his point he grabs on to your ruined dress at the back, arching your spine for you and making you take him deeper. The burning pain blurs into delicious aching pleasure–you needed this more than you could have even imagined. Jaehyun grunts inarticulately, palming your breasts and squeezing them in time to the ecstatic shudders rolling through your body as you're filled. 

"Open up for me," Jungwoo says, cock back in your gaping mouth. You let him hold you by the hair to fuck into your mouth, spit and tears mixing to splash on your breasts. 

When they resume their individual efforts you feel yourself being pulled apart by sensation, only able to manage sharp breaths through your nose to keep from drowning as tears leak from your eyes and sobs rip from your throat. 

"No cumming until she creams herself on Jaehyun," Doyoung says, reaching around to press hard into your clit. It's a hard ask with how overstimulated you already are but you can feel your muscles tightening against your will. Doyoung and Jaehyun's uhhs and mms mix in your ears, Jungwoo softly praising you when your jaw relaxes to swallow him despite the rock of your body against the other two. 

"Fuck she's so tight," Jaehyun says. "I don't know if I can wait."

"Wait." Doyoung orders, picking up his pace. "She's close. Make sure she remembers to breathe."

Jungwoo groans, pulling out with a last slap of his head on your tongue, letting you lap at the precum leaking from him. "You two are useless." 

He kneels down beside you, wresting Doyoung's hand away from your sore folds and rubbing soft, tight circles around your nub. It's not the stimulation as much as his mouth on yours, kissing with as much care and intimacy as you'd felt before, that carries you to a peak again.

"Oh fuck," Jaehyun says, lifting you with a last upwards jerk of his hips and spilling inside you. The rush of warm heat is so good you chase it, overworked muscles unable to hold against the sensation and twitching powerfully around both of their cocks buried deep inside you. 

Just as quickly your knees give out, collapsing half on Jaehyun and Jungwoo. Doyoung's shallow movements turn violent as he no longer bothers to keep you locked on Jaehyun, thrusting a few more times into your throbbing heat before emptying himself and pulling out to rub the last few spurts onto your skin.

"Shh," Jungwoo says when you continue to whimper, sniffling from the tears sliding down your cheeks. "You're almost done."

You shake your head half-heartedly, clinging to his shirt. You're dizzy, adrenaline fading and leaving you boneless and blotted out.

"Please. Maybe just a breather?" you beg. "My legs . . ." 

Jaehyun lifts you, and you hiss at the raw pain of your abused knees, grit brushed away by someone else's hands.

"Poor baby." Doyoung says. "Should have done this in bed but you just couldn't wait."

"'S fine," you mumble, swimming in the glow of your last orgasm. "Bed sounds nice."

"Get a towel," Jungwoo says, and Jaehyun rushes to grab one for you. Instead of cleaning or drying you off Jungwoo carries you to the edge of the pool, slipping in and cramming the soft fabric under you as he lets your legs dangle over the edge and into the water.

"What are you doing, puppy?" You manage to ask, holding on to his neck.

"Don't worry. I'll be careful," he says, palming himself between your legs. "Someone want to keep her head up? I need her to watch." 

Jaehyun adjusts to embrace you from behind, spreading your limp legs so they can all see the steady leak of cum from your gaping holes. You hear the telltale click of a picture being taken, distantly aware Doyoung's phone is still–obviously–working.

"What . . . ?" You ask drowsily, acquiescencing to the pull of your dress over your head and off of you. You shiver deeply, warmed by the body heat of the man behind you as the other strips in front of you. 

"You're going to come for us one more time," Jungwoo says, rising out of the water to pump himself at your leaking core. "I'm not letting you go until I can wring every last drop out of you."

"Fuck," you protest, writhing as he pulls you almost off the hard deck and onto his ready length. Jaehyun holds you tight, arm under your breasts as Jungwoo slides into the mess of cum and slick between your thighs. 

"That's right, take it," Jungwoo says, pinning you against Jaehyun. "Breathe, baby." 

"Too much," you sob, finding he's not even fully sheathed when the familiar ache in your belly of being hit too deep whites out your brain. 

"You don't want your puppy?" Jungwoo can barely speak, ramming in deeper with each rock of his hips. "Don't want to be a good mommy and take all of me?" 

Jaehyun is already semi-hard against your back, and you catch Doyoung's approval before he replaces it with a feigned look of disgust, slipping into the water to watch you both. You can see his arm flex, jerking himself underwater, the other holding his phone up. 

"If we'd known you were such a whore we would have fucked you sooner. It looks like you'll need some more breaking in."

You cry out, stretched tight around the thicker root of Jungwoo's cock, letting him wrap your legs over his shoulders for maximum depth. Whatever pain you feel is so merged with the fullness and perfect hit of him against your walls that you don't mind it, you can't help but slip into a dreamy state of bliss. 

"You're doing so well," Jaehyun says into the hair at your temple. "Can't wait to treat you right. Make you come on my tongue again as many times as I can before the sun rises."

"No, no, no," you moan.

Jaehyun pinches your nipple to wake you up, Jungwoo gasping when you manage to clench around him. 

"You both got her pussy first. You should let me take her tonight. Keep her awake by fucking her as soon as she falls asleep." Doyoung threatens, pulling your leg aside to get the best angle of you being impaled and stretched fuller than you'd ever thought you could be. 

"No one's getting her if she doesn't come again," Jungwoo says. He meets your tear-filled gaze, eyes half-lidded. "Is that what you want? To fall asleep on my cock and let me warm you all night until you're ready to fuck me?"

"Please, come for me, puppy," you manage to bite out, touching yourself in earnest to try and fight back. "So big for me, fill me up."

He takes the bait–you're folded in half, legs bent to your chest as he drives in, balls slapping wetly against you. When you're pliant again he readjusts his strokes to press into your upper walls with each rotation of his hips, and for the first time in a long time you realize you're getting close on cock alone. 

Jaehyun seems to feel the change in you, grinding against your back as his hand holds your throat so you can't turn away. The pressure makes you practically feral, crying out for more. 

"Just like that, like that, please please please," you moan over the lap of the water.

"Feel you sucking me in," Jungwoo says, face flushed and sweaty over you, hair dripping water onto your curled belly. "Let go for me so I can come in you so deep you can taste it."

"Yes, yes, please." You buck with the sudden electric tingle of another climax, steady tempo leading you to softer spasms than before. It's fine if you can't tell where you're at or what you're feeling because Jungwoo can, one final snap of his hips dropping you into fucked out darkness. 

When you come to again you're wrapped around him in the pool, gasping at the sensation of his cock still slowly pumping the last of his release into you.

"Trust me," he says, hands under your backside, lowering you into water suspended between the night and the warmth below. 

Doyoung spreads a hand over your breasts, Jaehyun beside him to hold your neck like he's teaching you to float. You let your mouth fall open and your eyes clench shut, tasting pool water before one of them–Doyoung probably, by the sounds--releases thick, white stripes across your tongue. Jaehyun follows suit, cockhead nudging against the underside of your breast as he paints your torso with molten heat. 

"Fuck that was incredible," Jungwoo says, slipping out of you finally so you can sink into the water. You submerge as much as you can to lose the coat of stickiness, until Doyoung decides you're done, pulling you out and against his chest.

"That was . . . a lot," you admit, shaking against him. 

"You did so well." He soothes you with a hand on your head, clearing your hair from your face delicately to press a kiss to your forehead.  The gesture is so at odds with his recent persona that you can't resist burrowing into it, relaxing fully against his naked chest. "Not bad for an initiation."

"I'm one of you, now?" you murmur. 

"Always were," Jaehyun says. He doesn't dare take you from Doyoung but he does lean down to kiss you deeply, hand running broad circles over your spine.

"Just think of all those red cards as an invitation." Jungwoo jokes, sinking down to eye level to caress your cheek. 

You remember scraped knees and busted lips, cafeteria trays dumped on you by entire tables of jealous girls and sycophantic boys. Johnny humiliating you, ordering you to clean his shoe with his tongue when you'd taken the place of your weaker friend who'd spilled on it. 

But you also remember the small moments of acknowledgement–the way Jungwoo had lingered outside your work waiting to get off when you closed to walk you home at night, or how Doyoung had bought out the entire store when you'd used the shitty part-time job as an excuse to duck out of being his date to a formal dinner you had no business being at. 

And most of all, all those hours spent sitting beside Jaehyun in your rooftop retreat, silently appreciating the late afternoon sun turning the city brilliant as you shared one half of a wired headphone.

Maybe having your heart ripped out was worth it, if it meant having this.

"Which one of us do you want to take care of you tonight?" Doyoung asks. 

You smile into his cool skin, melting into the knowledge that you've earned a place very few had shared. You'll enjoy it as long as it can last.

"Play for it."

[alonetimelover]

Hey! Hope I’m not too late for the blurb weekend requests - could you please do 29 from the six word as fluff and just banter between y/n and H? ❤️

"Where are my manners, my dear."

pairing: Harry Styles x polish!reader

summary: “I can’t believe you,” she laughed, shaking her head in amusement. “Out of all the days in a year you chose this one to be like this?” “Like what?” He teased, moving his right hand up to her cheek. He held her face in place so she couldn’t look away from him. “Like I would really like to just take you right he-”

word count: 0,7k

blurb#1 blurb#2 blurb#3

masterlist

“You’re stepping on thin ice, Harry,” YN warned Harry, eyes flexed on him. 

“How thin?” 

Harry smirked at her, feeding from how frustrated she was. They were celebrating with her family some Polish holiday Harry couldn't remember even if his life depended on it. And he was insufferable. From the minute he woke up, stealing the blanket, waking her up two hours earlier than needed, making his coffee in her mug, overseasoning the breakfast, making it inedible and to top it off, being very, and YN thought, very provoking not to leave the house. 

“It’s starting to crack, that thin.” 

YN moved to the fridge and took out all the premade snacks that she knew her grandma would be looking for in moments. She unwrapped the foil from the plates and put them on the counter. When she reached for some fresh basil and parsley to decorate the dishes with, she felt Harry’s hands on her hips, his breath tickling the skin on her neck. 

“Good thing I know how to swim.”

“You think?” She wiggled her body around to face him. “Fancy a swim?”

“With you? Always, my baby.”

“I can’t believe you,” she laughed, shaking her head in amusement. “Out of all the days in a year you chose this one to be like this?”

“Like what?” He teased, moving his right hand up to her cheek. He held her face in place so she couldn’t look away from him. “Like I would really like to just take you right he-”

“Oh, there you two are!” Interrupted the heavy accented voice from behind Harry’s back. 

YN cleared her throat and pushed Harry away. Still smirking, Harry turned around to face his best friend. 

“Babcia (granny)! There you are. I was just about to look for you.” 

“I know I’m old, but I’m not stupid, Harry.” Now it was granny’s turn to smirk. “You are a naughty boy, keeping my granddaughter all to yourself!” 

Harry blushed, just like that losing all his wit and adventurousness. Behind him, YN was grinning at her granny. Of course, it was quite embarrassing to be caught in a somehow compromised position, but at the same time, granny knew that all of Harry’s songs were about her granddaughter. And yes, she knew the meanings. 

“Yeah, tell him, granny.”

Harry turned around, glaring at YN with an open mouth and thespian shock painted all over his face. “You both against me? I’m used to YN being like this, but you, granny? My heart is breaking right here.” 

“You really are an actor,” granny laughed, patting Harry’s cheek. “Go back to the party. Out of my kitchen. Now. Shush, shush.” 

After some bickering from Harry and YN that they wanted to help her prepare everything, they flew out of the kitchen being chased off with a kitchen cloth. 

Harry wrapped his arm around YN and led them to the terrace where the party was in full swing. The grill was smoking with YN’s two uncles arguing about the rawness of the steaks above it. Her younger cousins were running around the garden, playing catch and destroying too many flowers. 

“Harry, YN! Come here, come!” Called the family’s friend - Anna, waving her hand towards the table near the middle of the deck. “We’re discussing whether or not we should go canoeing.” 

After briefly looking at each other, they moved to the older part of the family, ready to discuss whatever was worth of so much noise and outtalking. Nearing the two empty chairs, YN went for the one near her mother. 

“Where are my manners, my dear,” Harry quickly interrupted YN’s actions and moved the chair for her, wiping it from the imaginary dust, blowing the air on it to finish the act. 

The table laughed at his antics, making Harry’s smirk grow deeper in the right side of his face, dimples daring its presence there. Oh, he loved attention and the look on YN’s face. 

When the commotion cooled down and the conversation came back on its tracks, YN leaned towards Harry’s ear, whispering “I hope you know that you’re gonna pay for all of this.” 

“Oh, I’m counting on it, baby.” 

[wavypotatochips]

Hey angel! I’ve loved all the Sergio fics you’ve written! Can I request reader being younger than him and dating him but she’s never been with anyone in bed so she has her first time with him please? And he’s very sweet and patience and he never forces himself on her please? Thank you 🙏

𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 | 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐨 𝐑𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐬 [ 𝐍𝐒𝐅𝐖, Minors DNI ]

𝘗𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴: Sergio Ramos x Female Reader

Word Count : 2.3k

𝘈𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘦: This took me so long because I have never wrote NSFW before, but ya knowwww first time for everything right? ANYWAYSSS I Hope you like how I represent your idea ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚!!

(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ REQUESTS ARE OPEN, currently covered in college work so as of now uploads will mainly be on weekends. Thank you for your patience c’: ♥

You are head over heels in love with Sergio Ramos, a man who makes your heart skip a beat every time you see him. You love the way he laughs, the way he talks, and the way he looks at you with those warm, affectionate eyes. Every moment spent with Sergio feels like a blessing, whether you're going out on a date or simply spending time together at home. You feel like you can be your true self around him, and he accepts you unconditionally for who you are. When you're apart, you find yourself daydreaming about Sergio, thinking about all the wonderful moments you've shared and all the exciting adventures you have yet to experience together. You can't wait to see him again, to hold him close, to feel his warm embrace. Despite the media's constant attempts to portray you as being with him solely for financial gain due to your 3-year age difference, it is obvious that you are madly in love with him.

You walk into your home to the delightful aroma of delicious food cooking in the kitchen, and as you approach, you see Sergio donning a chef's hat and apron, fully engrossed in the art of cooking. You laugh as you ask, "What's cookin' good lookin'?" while admiring his chef attire and thinking how adorable he looks. You informed Sergio before you left earlier that you didn't want to go anywhere for your anniversary because you simply wanted to spend time with him and him only. Despite your current fame as a model, your upbringing in poverty left you with the belief that you shouldn't spend a lot of money on pricier items. Sergio believed that by preparing a meal for you, he might add some personal touches to the evening as he is aware that you don't like to flaunt your riches or eat at upscale establishments. With a big smile on his face, Sergio greets you with a warm hug and kiss, then turns your attention to the kitchen table, where he has set up a beautifully decorated table with candles, flowers, and your favorite music playing in the background. As it was a beautiful day outdoors when you were shopping, you are wearing a yellow sundress and white sandals to show off your newly painted toes. You smile and lean forward to take in the fragrance of the flowers, " Cariño, no tenías que hacer todo esto (Honey, you didn't have to do all of this)," you say. "I have to, of course. Las princesas siempre deben ser tratadas como tal. ( Princesses should always be treated like one.)"  Your smile is still present as you shake your head. He has always been a gentleman towards you.

“You didn't find anything you liked?,” He questions seeing you don't have any shopping bags as he places a plate of  delicious tomato and basil bruschetta, drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar in front of you.  “No, I didn't find much… Thank you baby,” you respond as you pick up the piece of bread, biting into it. As you savor the flavors of the freshy tomatoes, Sergio tells you how much he loves you and how grateful he is to have you in his life. "Cariño, solo quiero que sepas cuánto te amo y te adoro. Nunca me hubiera imaginado hace dos años que estaría con un ángel como tú. (Baby, I just want you to know how much I love and adore you. I would have never imagined two years ago I would be with an angel like you.) You are the most important person in my life, and I cannot imagine my world without you. Cada momento que pasamos juntos es un tesoro que atesoro con todo mi corazón. (Every moment we spend together is a treasure that I cherish with all my heart.)" Hearing his sincere remarks, you pout your bottom lip as his love and affection fill your heart. “Te amo y te adoro tanto, mi amor. (I love and adore you just as much, my love.) Thank you for being there for me and for showing me your unending affection.”

After you finish eating your "appetizer," Sergio takes the plate from you and puts it in the sink. A few minutes later he brings out a succulent roasted chicken, perfectly seasoned and cooked to perfection. He serves it alongside a colorful medley of roasted vegetables, including carrots, zucchini, bell peppers, and rice. He knows chicken and rice is your favorite and you dislike eating items that are too heavy on your stomach, so he thought he could cook it with a bit more of his personal touch. Given that you are often the one cooking and that if not you, he hires a chef, you are taken aback when you see the plate in front of you. He removes the chef's hat and coat he is wearing, hangs them up in the kitchen, and then sits across from you. “Let's eat shall we?,” he says and you eagerly nod. Throughout the dinner, Sergio keeps you entertained with his charming personality and witty jokes, making sure you feel loved and cherished. Overall, the evening is a perfect celebration of your love for each other, and you couldn't have asked for a better partner than Sergio Ramos.

The two of you went into the living room after supper to watch a movie and drink wine. The wine bottle is empty by the time the movie is an hour into it, and the two of you are making out. 

Moaning against his lips, you are straddling his waist and exchanging saliva. He presses you into him by placing his hands on your ass and starting to rock you back and forth. Although dressed in jeans, he has a noticeable bulge. You start to experience intense arousal, and you decide that this is the night you want him to take your virginity. Two years have passed since you two started dating, and those two years have been full of love, charm, and happiness. Just as you wanted to see all of him, you also wanted him to see all of you.  Sergio never makes you do anything you didn't want to do; he always asks you first before moving forward. The way you are leading the kiss and pressing against him a little more firmly than usual has given him the impression that you might go farther this time. Normally, after you two make out, he goes into the bathroom to satisfy himself with his hand.

"Want take this to the room?" you ask as you gently pry yourself away from him. He pants as well, asking, "Are you sure?," because he knows you already know what that will result in. You nod while biting your lower lip. As he pulls you up, he presses his lips once more against yours and gives you a tender kiss. You wrap your legs around his waist as he proceeds towards the bedroom. He kicks open the bedroom door, groaning into your lips as he lays you on the bed. When your dress rises, he crawls on top of you, lovingly kissing your neck before laying his hand on your exposed thigh. He rubs your thigh and asks, "May I?," edging ever-closer to your panties. Your panties are soaked just from him stroking your thigh and the earlier things he did. You bite your lower lip while nodding. "Words my love," he raises his head and begins to nip at your earlobe. After your makeout session, you still can't catch your breath as you pant out, appearing to be out of breath, "Yes, my love." He presses his lips once more on yours while massaging your clit with his hands as he glides over your underwear. Your gasp from the unknown wonderful sensation allows him to slip his tongue inside your mouth. You thrust your hips upward to exert greater pressure on his hand, which makes him sneer in defiance of your demands. He bites your bottom lip, pulls back a little, and mumbles against your lips,   “Princess is so eager, huh?,” before releasing go. He stops touching your panties, gets out of bed, and starts to unbuckle his belt and take off his shirt. He needed his boner to be released because it was throbbing and felt trapped against his pants. He unzips his pants and lets them fall to the ground as he flings his belt to the ground. You start to fear you can't handle him as you open your eyes slightly in response to how huge his bulge was, but the tingling sensation between your thighs told you otherwise. As you spread your legs wider to allow him to fit between you, he leans back on top of you and presses his lips hungrily back against yours. Only the thin cotton of your damp underwear and his boxers were in between the two of you, so you can feel his boner more intensely. He moves your panties to the side and runs his finger over the wet slit before inserting one of his fingers. As your legs tighten up against him, you gasp at the sensation. He gently pulls his lips away from yours as he enjoys the sound of your small moans against his ear. He keeps moving slowly until he thinks he can add another finger. When he finally does, you whimper in pleasure. You had touched yourself before, so you are not entirely naïve, but his fingers felt very different from yours. You start to press your hips against his fingers in an effort to get him to move more quickly, but he resists. Instead, he reclines and asks, "Are you sure you want to do this? " while gazing down at your face. With love in his eyes, he continues, "If you're not sure, it's okay, darling. 

You nod your head, determined that this is what you want, “I want it. I want you.” Sergio has always made you feel comfortable throughout the entire relationship and by him reassuring you that it is okay if you do not want it only made you want him even more. You love this boy with your entire heart. He kisses your forehead, nodding his head as he begins to kiss and suck on your neck, more than likely creating hickies, as he begins to slip off his boxers. Once his boxers are off, he begins to slip your panties down as well until they are completely off. Once they are off, he rubs his tip against your slit to lube it up with your wetness. He kisses you on your lips, “Tell me if it is too much, Okay?” He says, causing you to nod your head. He begins to slowly push his tip inside, the feeling being uncomfortable for you as it was a weird sensation. Meanwhile, Sergio is trying not to cum already from the tightness of your pussy wrapped around his tip. He groans against your ear, causing you to feel turned on even more. He begins to slowly thrust his tip in you back and forth until your pussy welcomes him more and more. Your legs begin to clench against him, you pant softly as you tremble underneath him. Maybe because you are a secret masochist, but the slight painful but pleasurable feeling made you feel so good.  “I love you so much, you know that?,” He whispers against your ear as he continues to go deeper inside of you. By now, your mind begins to feel cloudy as you are only focussing on the feeling of him entering inside of you. He makes sure to go slow, until now, he is about 2 inches inside of you. He feels himself not being able to fully go inside as your hymen was restricting him. “Princess this may hurt a little bit, but I promise itll feel okay after?,” he says as he kisses your forehead. You nod your head biting your bottom lip softly as he wraps one around your neck forcing your head to press against his chest. He thrust harder inside of you, causing your hymen to break, and allow him to get half way inside. You wince harshly as you grip his sides, a shaky breath escapes your lips. Sergio is using all of his internal strength to not bust inside of you as you squeezed him tightly. As he lets go of you so your head can lay back on the bed, he begins to whisper sweet nothings into your ear and remain still so you could get used to his size before he continues on. A few minutes pass and you begin to move yourself up and down, hinting you wanted him to continue on. He gets the memo and continues on, thrusting inside of you slowly until he is fully inside of you.

As the minutes pass, you become more at ease with him inside of you, and the pleasure outweighs the discomfort, and you are able to adjust yourself. Your dress hem is now up to your belly button as you throw your legs around his waist and your arms around his neck. This allows him to push deeper into you, which makes him groan, "Damn Y/N you feel so amazing." You moan next to him and enjoy how his long, firm cock stuffed you.

The rest of the night followed by the both of you not just having sex, but making love. 

Sergio has always been deeply in love with you. He is completely smitten by you and can't imagine his life without you. And of course, you  feel the same way about him as you two have a strong and loving relationship. Sergio feels incredibly lucky to have been blessed with you in this lifetime, the one who loves him equally as much as he loves you. He is grateful for the love and joy that his girlfriend brings to his life, and he looks forward to a future filled with happiness and love.

[leotheponderer]

Halcyon's piece!

Hal is either in his bodiless era, or he just doesn't feel like having a body right now. This place is located in the Underworld, it is a cave with poppy flowers growing on the inside with a poppy field outside which is inspired by Hypnos's cave in Greek mythology. Water from the River Lethe flows from the branches at the entrance, so one must be careful lest their memory be lost to oblivion (don't worry it's diluted). The soul butterflies are attracted to calm souls. Upside down torches are placed as decoration, and as a memento left by Hal's twin Kato. Each of them have left their respective mementos here, the torches from Kato, the dripping branches from Halcyon and the poppy flowers from Basile.

Outline and grayscale.

Go check out Kato's piece!

[crowbasils]

BASIL (OMORI) — A STUDY & ANALYSIS ON HIS CHARACTER

(content warning — OMORI spoilers, mentions of death and hanging, mentions of suicidal behavior and suicide, mentions of self-harm, mentions of physical and verbal abuse (bullying), mentions of child neglect. please proceed with caution.)

( PARTS WILL BE REBLOGGED INSTEAD OF POSTED ALL AT ONCE. it’s needed because compared to the 7 photos of proof that the last analysis had, this one has 47 (48, when considering the thumbnail image). sorry for the inconvenience ! )

I. BASIL’S CHILDHOOD

Due to the nature of OMORI being mainly only in Sunny’s perspective, we do not have many solid and/or canon scenes of Basil’s childhood before he met the friend group. However, there are things in-game that do imply Basil hasn’t exactly had the best childhood. Starting off with what Polly says about Basil’s parents:

“Basil’s lived with his grandma since he was a toddler.” / “His parents don’t ever seem to be home”

Intentional or not—this does qualify as child neglect, which counts as abuse, even if unintentional. While they do care enough for Basil to leave him to his grandmother, and while they do care enough for Basil to hire a caretaker when it was evident that his grandmother wouldn’t hold out and survive for any longer, it’s not enough. This is not to say that they didn’t try—but, instead to say that they didn’t try enough.

Basil is implied to have been affected by this in some form or another, as seen by the comment he made on his photo album:

“I took photos of what I was most afraid to lose.”

This comment about the photo album confirms the existence of his fear of abandonment and losing the things he loved even before the incident. While you may argue that he’s too young to figure it out before that, children are curious. Before he met the friend group, he will, at some point, ask questions when he does see his other peers with their parents. He will ask why his grandmother looks different from the rest, and ask who that male figure is near their children (he never did get a father figure, after all.).

“I only knew what it was like to be alone.”

While this may have been said by Headspace Basil, it does confirm the fact that Basil never really had friends before, and does also imply Basil not having much of a connection to his grandmother. While yes, they do connect, they do at least love one another due to how she does care about him as a mother figure, it might have not been as deep as the connections he had for his friends. She does love him, and he loves her too—especially since she was his only family, but sometimes, bonds formed by connections go deeper than blood.

It’s also pretty clear that all he ever wished for was connections, which is seen through this!

“But what should I wish for? I have everything I could want right here!”

He mentions that the friend group he now has is everything he ever wished for, which does imply that since having a friend group is essentially connecting to others, and forming a strong bond with them through experiences with on another

Basil did most likely have to grow up a lot faster than the rest of the group—excluding Mari and Hero. This is evident by how he behaves more humble and polite than the rest of them—In a sense, he can be considered an “older brother” figure to the friend group, which is seen by how he does have a sense of wanting to protect them and take care of them. Which is seen even in the Basil fight, as seen by this:

The need to protect and care is seen here, and with how Sunny is the youngest of the group and with how they’ve experienced so much together, it’s most likely strengthened! How he likes taking care of things such as flowers and plants also does prove his need to care and protect! He’s also shown to want to help others, and shown to worry if his help just burdens other people, like here!

Basil also seems to worry if his issues would burden others—a negative side to being an “older brother” of sorts. Sometimes, if you view yourself as someone who needs to care and help others, you become afraid to show your vulnerable side in fear that you will become a burden to them, as well as in fear that you will be unreliable to them, which is seen here!

“Sometimes I feel like I’m bothering him”

He fears bothering others with his problems, he wants to make sure that they’re comfortable with him venting to them—he cares about them so much, even when he’s the one who needs reassurance.

Basil also does also serve as a peacemaker in the friend group, as shown by this:

While this is said by Headspace Basil, it also still does apply to Pre-Incident Basil, who does seem to dislike conflict as well. It’s also seen in Post-Incident Faraway Basil with how he asks, although it’s more wanting to avoid conflict plus fearing the person for reasons that will be explained in another part of this essay.

Most of these do imply that Basil has been at least a bit more mature than when compared to Kel, Aubrey, and Sunny! This does also provide a reason to why he’s often grouped with Mari, and Hero, who are like the ‘Mom and Dad’ of the group!

( Though this doesn’t have much of something that backs it up, another interesting thing is how the “Everything will be okay…” thing seems to stem from his childhood. We aren’t given much in-game, but a possible theory that someone suggested to me once is that maybe his family has a tradition to pretend that everything’s alright. Or it was drilled into him not to talk about bad experiences and stuff. But the theory is plausible, especially since it looks like there’s “nothing wrong” until you dive deeper into his character :3 )

[ask-bad-end-sunny]

GREETINGS

YOU MUST BE.. THE ONE THEY CALL: BASIL.

EXCELLENT

TRULY

EXCELLENT

TELL ME FLOWER CHILD

WHAT MADE YOU NOT GIVE UP YET?

WE BOTH KNOW WHAT YOU WERE TRYING TO DO THAT NIGHT

SO WHAT MADE YOU NOT JOIN YOUR FRIEND?

IS IT PERHAPS BECAUSE YOU FEEL SOME SORT OF.. OBLIGATION? OR MAYBE IT IS YOUR FRIENDS KEEPING YOU GOING?

EITHER WAY, IM UTMOST CURIOUS.

"..."

"...I...I was going to, but, I realized that...after Sunny...stopped me, and I hurt him..."

"And now, after...everyone s-saw him..."

"..."

"I can't do that now! Even if I was going to do it before...I can't now..."

"I-I can't put everyone through more hurt like that, they're already going through so much right now...they have been for a l-long time..."

"...Because of me..."

"And...they're putting so much effort just to be here with me...even after what h-happened..."

"I...have to be here..."

[its-sunny-somewhere-else]

OMORI PONIES for fun as cope. Ironically the real world ones are more colorful than the dreamworld ones lol

Sunny/Omori

Unicorn. I kind of just thought "whatever go dull" at first but then I thought it'd be interesting if part of the reason his dreams and nightmares are so detailed/fucked up as hell is because of some magic going fucked up, seemed cute in a way.

The cutie mark for Sunny is a sun (NAME) but it's also got a crescent moon shape over it, sort of ominous. One random line from the game that stuck with me was an NPC in the dreamworld or something saying "the moon shines brightly today", as the sky in it always fascinated me with how strange it seemed and how it's Always Nighttime and how that goes thematically with his real name being Sunny but not in this world.

Omori's is the demon because ofc his existence is defined by it. Sometimes it disappears.

Colorwise, Sunny's coat is supposed to be a brighter yellow but is very dull right now..

Mari

Unicorn also to match with her brother, and because one of the first things you notice about her in the dreamworld is her teleporting all the time. Seems magic to me!

The cutiemark is a picnic blanket. If I had more space I'd do the basket. It's very iconic Mari imagery, plus it signals both her ability to cook and her care for others!

She's a light purple in the real world, which is tied to everyone being purple in the dream world sort of like how in the game she wanted to dye her hair purple before she died and because of that everyone in the dream world has purple hair.

Kel

Pegasus because I felt like it fit his "free" personality. He's a blank flank in the dream world! He hadn't gotten his yet the last time Sunny saw him. During the four years Sunny was hiding, Kel got one, so he missed out on that. I haven't exactly thought of what it is, though.

He's blue with orange hair because I associate orange with Kel and the blue just seems to work to me.

Hero

Pegasus to match his brother. Without wings how could he catch up with him to make sure he stays out of trouble! hehe. Also makes him seem COOL

His coat is orange, like Kel's hair to show they're related, and his hair is darker blue! His cutiemark is a hero sandwich XD I THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY he likes to cook, and it's what he's named after! hehe

Aubrey

Earth pony, because those are associated with having more strength.

She also may have been a blank flank, but I think it's funny to retranslate her dialogue when it comes to tagging where she says "I'm not sure Kel even has a talent" or something along those lines to being about his blank flank lol. The cutiemark she has in the future at least is of her baseball bat. How do horses hold bats? You tell me, they do it in the show. CARTOON WHO CARES

She's blue (or maybe closer to teal, I might do that) because it's a nice vibrant color and matches her headband in the future. It goes well with pink or black hair.

Basil

Earth pony, association with plants and farming. Definitely a good pick for him.

The cutiemark is clearer in the real world version. It's a flower, but the center of it is a camera lens. He's obviously the flower boy, and the camera is INCREDIBLY important to his story both in the dreamworld and real world.

[skunkdrawer]

i realized just never posted my garden oops

please observe it in its half full glory!

don’t ask me why i planted alumroot that prefers partial shade in my afternoon sun receiving back garden ㅠ.ㅠ i wasn’t thinking practically i was just like WOW THEY HAVE SO MUCH ALUMROOT HERE and loved how curly and light these are. they’re called Dolce “Apple Twist” and the picture on the label shows they might get a little red in the centers :0 ALSO when i got these at lowes they let me pick out a free mum at checkout so now i have orange mums and no pot for them…. :D

here’s a closer image of my crazy flower corner. sorry for the patio umbrella shadow, the sun was sunning. also, don’t ask about the placement of these guys. idk what i was going for and why everything is so close, but i don’t really care i just want it fluffy and bug friendly >:3

we’ve got some multicolored asters in a row towards the front. there are little clumps of mixed wildflower seedlings trying their best but not getting very big. one bachelors button has shot up right next to the bush of catnip, u can see its tiny bud amongst the catnip if u zoom :P there’s a random baby catnip next to the bush. then, we’ve got some butterfly weed, and even more random wildflower mix babies.

in the empty space in front of the crazy flowers i have planted some SPINCH seeds!!! bloomsdale long standing spinchers to be exact.

lastly, THE HERB SPIRALLLlllwjwja!!!!!!!!!! i’ve been wanting to build one for soooooyyyyy long and i finally did it!!!!! there are dill and cilantro seeds on the lower side of the spiral. i’ve got oregano, chives, rosemary, and thyme seeds in my 4x4 seed tray. those are gonna go in the spiral obvs. i’ve also got some genovese basil in a planter i’m considering plopping into the spiral but am not sure yet…

BRO I ALMOST FORGOT. i put some peppermint seeds in a pot and two types of lavender seeds (munstead & something?...) in little nursery pots since my previous lavender seedling attempts mmmDIED </3.

also the saucer/dish with rocks is supposed to be a butterfly puddler but i’m not satisfied with it yet…suggestions welcome if you made it this far, also thank youuu byeeeee :3

not proofreading sorry i type kinda sporadically

[kazimakuwabara]

for @sanusoweek

Part 5:

"Usopp-Usopp you need to leave my room!" Sanji hissed, trying to put some space between him and the freshly washed man. "Go back to your room."

"What's wrong?" Usopp asked, breathless no doubt from the fierce kiss Sanji had just pressed into his mouth.

"Usopp... It's been a long time since I've eaten and that's my mistake. We've been busier..." Sanji growled and slapped his hands against his chest, "Usopp! I'm a succubus okay? I eat sex and desire, and right now... you look like my favorite flavor. I'm not going to jump you, so you better-"

"Why not?" Usopp asked quietly, his face flushed.

Sanji felt a warmth blossom in his chest and spread all the way down to his abdomen.

"What?"

Usopp flushed more, his halo flickering a little, and the greenery in his hair growing flowers, and berries. "I know what a succubus is, Sanji. And... and I like you. I don't mind feeding you."

"Usopp... Usopp... don't say that," Sanji groaned.

Usopp made an affronted face, his eyelashes filling with tears, "What? Is it a problem that I like you? Do I disgust you that much-"

Sanji's heart seized at the sound of hurt in Usopp's voice, and in the throws of his hunger, desires, and the tears in Usopp's eyes, Sanji couldn't lie anymore. He rushed to Usopp and cupped his face. Usopp looked at him with wide-eyed hopeful surprise, and Sanji kissed his brow and rasped, "No. No, you don't disgust me... it's not that."

"S...Sanji..."

Sanji nuzzled against Usopp's face, his fresh green scent washing over him like freshly picked ingredients. Basil. Lemongrass. Mint. Citrus. Sanji purred as he nuzzled into Usopp's throat and sniffed him, his tail winding around Usopp's body and pulling him close.

"Sanji... you don't hate me?"

"Far from it..." Sanji groaned, resting his face against Usopp's throat, "Far from it. I was attracted to you from the moment we met at the market!"

"But I knocked you into persimmons!" Usopp sniffed.

Sanji laughed, snaking around Usopp's back, and whispered, "And you were so cute doing it too..." He molded himself against Usopp's back and rocked with Usopp until they were both facing the door. His treacherous tail kept trying to curl up the towel around Usopp's waist, and Usopp, whether he realized it or not, was just opening his legs for it.

"Usopp," Sanji groaned, "I want you. I want you because I want you, but also because I'm hungry... and that's not fair to you. You don't deserve to be my meal... I don't even deserve to have you as a lover, even if that's what I want! The door is right there. If you don't want this... Please. Push me away and walk through it."

Usopp considered Sanji's words for a quiet moment, and Sanji was grateful that Usopp was at least thinking about what to do. Because surely, Usopp needed to leave. Usopp would say that. An angel as beautiful as Usopp, as innocent as him, couldn't consider this. Wouldn't consider being with him. An angel and a devil... that was a thing that had never happened.

And then Usopp tilted his throat to the side, and whispered, "You drink blood too right? You can have a little."

"U-Usopp-"

"I'm trusting you to stop if I get scared... I can trust you... right?" Usopp asked his voice dropping to an unexpectedly sultry tone, and then he rocked his backside against Sanji's very aching, and very hot groin.

"Usopp!" Sanji choked, gripping the man tight.

"Sanji," Usopp pleaded.

And then Sanji sank his teeth into Usopp's throat, and the angel's white blood poured out, shining like liquid diamonds down his skin. Strange... Sanji had never seen an angel with white blood before. Only Gold. But he could not focus there, his ears picking up on a delightful moaning sound that Usopp was trying to keep pressed behind his lips, and his tongue tingling with the delicious flavor, that was Usopp.

"Usopp... Usopp don't be quiet..." Sanji groaned, lapping at the wound he'd created on Usopp's neck. He growled as he found a new patch of skin, "I want to hear you." And then he bit him again.

Usopp threw back his head, and let out the softest whine. Sanji would have to teach him how to be loud; how to let out those delicious cries, and Sanji would teach him.

Sanji's tenacious tail yanked Usopp's towel away, and Usopp shrieked a little jumping instinctively to hide himself. Sanji bit down on Usopp harder, warning him as he reached down to fondle Usopp's exposed cock. He threaded the rising member through his fingers, tasting his weight, length, and girth. It was already growing so heavy with Usopp's arousal. Sanji pulled away from Usopp's addictive blood, and lapped over the dripping wounds before he purred, "Good... good... you're excited."

"Sanji!"

Sanji stroked Usopp with his hand, sliding his chin over Usopp's shoulder so he could watch the angel helplessly thrust his cock through Sanji's grip. He could smell that Usopp was untouched. He wondered if Angels ever even thought to have sex on their own... those creatures were so pure, perhaps they didn't. He stroked Usopp in long slow pulls, smiling as he watched his angel-his very soon-thrust into his fist.

"You like this..." Sanji purred.

"Of course!" Usopp gasped, grinding his ass against Sanji's tented pants, "Of course I do! It's you!"

Sanji turned Usopp, his hands curled around his wrists, and he kissed the angel fiercely, his tongue claiming the innocent's mouth.

Usopp moaned, and struggled, trying to pull his hands free so that he could perhaps cup Sanji's face, or hug him, but Sanji was burning too hot to release Usopp now. Sanji supped from Usopp's mouth, quenching his thirst with each sweet breath, each soft sound, and Usopp's soft tongue. Sanji yanked and pulled his angel to the corner of his room, where his bed awaited them, and shoved him down, Usopp gasping as he fell to the bed.

Sanji leered down at the angel, his cock rigid and flushed. Sanji locked eyes with Usopp, seeing nothing but desire, want, and some soft affection that Sanji wanted for himself, had always wanted. He feared it, just a little now. For if Usopp loved him, then he would be giving Sanji everything he had ever wanted... and he wanted it so much. With jerky hands, he worked on the buttons of his trousers and smiled at Usopp's eyes that fell to Sanji's crotch.

"Salacious..." Sanji purred.

Usopp bit his lower lip and smiled.

Usopp's smile would undo Sanji.

[humornaut]

Sunny and Home and Basil (and Sweetheart?!)

Hey all! I've been thinking a lot about how home is represented in Omori, and especially about how Sunny thinks about home and imagines it. Omori Spoilers Ahead!

So to start this off, it has been noted quite a lot that Sunny associates the concept of home with Basil. The main thing that people point out to support this is the fact that before Memory Lane and right after the fight with Basil, it's Basil that is waiting for Sunny in front of his house to welcome him home, but there is so much more to look at when it comes to this concept.

For starters, the theme music for Basil's house in both the real world and Headspace is entitled "A Home for Flowers", but there are some very specific flowers that Basil's house is a home for. Within Headspace, it is a home for tulips, which is the flower associated with Sunny, courtesy of Basil. The other two flower versions of this are Sunflower and Daisy. Sunflower plays during the Birthday Memory of Memory Lane, and Daisy plays in Basil's Meadow after the true Something battle. Finally, the Empty version of this theme is what plays at Basil's house in the real world. Basil's home is also a home for Sunny, within Sunny's head. The Empty version shows that in the present day, Basil's home doesn't really provide any respite for either Sunny or Basil, because metaphorically, neither of them have been "home" since the Incident.

However, I'd also like to put forward that there's another big thing within Headspace that tells us a lot about how Sunny views the concept of "home".

Sweetheart's Castle

Sweetheart's Castle is a very interesting area of the game that the player spends a lot of time in. In fact, it can tell us a lot about how Sunny feels about the concept of "home" if you pay attention to the little details it gives us. For now, I would like to set aside the fact that the castle is associated with Sweetheart to talk about what happens in the castle itself.

To me, the castle is very clearly based off of Basil's house, or more specifically, the things that happen during this part of the game take a lot of inspiration from the memory of Basil's birthday.

To start out, there are four tasks that the player must complete while inside the castle. The first is assisting with preparing a strawberry cake, which is a clear parallel to the Birthday Memory, since it implies that Sunny was involved with the making of Basil's cake in the first place. The castle is also filled with many other strawberry cakes that Sunny/Omori associate with different smells, and bring the player to different areas of headspace. Check out my other analysis on Sunny's relationship with food and cooking for more details!

Within Sweetheart's bedroom, the player has to destroy a statue of Spaceboy, to be replaced with a statue of Sweetheart. In addition, Sweetheart's bedroom contains a bed that the player can rest at to heal, much like a picnic. To me, this very much relates to how Basil's bed is the only one that Sunny notes is comfortable, other than his own. It also is reminiscent of how Basil's birthday party in the Photo Album appears to have ended in a sleepover. The bedroom is also filled with different kinds of snacks and sodas, and this is also the area where you can get the Teapot weapon for Hero, and learn the Teatime skill.

Next, you have to go to the Royal Library to assist with the guest list. While I don't think the group had to think too hard at all about who was invited to Basil's birthday party, since it's pretty much just the friend group, there are some interesting things about this area. Sweetheart's Castle's purpose within Headspace is to cover up the Lost Library, so the fact that a library was included at all is interesting, considering the connotations. Within this area, you can find the Interesting Book for the "Fascinating Literature" side quest, a poetry book, and the Book charm, which can increase experience gain. To me, this relates back to Basil's love of reading, which he shared with Sunny.

Finally, you go to the Royal Ballroom to assist with preparing the Sprout Mole Choir to sing at the wedding. You might be able to say that this area is reminiscent of Basil's love of listening to Sunny and Mari practice their music, after all, it was Basil and Hero that moved all of the stools into the practice room to listen to the two. This room also contains a Sprout Mole that you can slow dance with to restore the party's Health and Juice. No matter if you dance with them with Aubrey or one of the boys, they will always say, "That was so much fun... Ah... What is this feeling? My heart is racing so fast... Thanks, hehe...". Just a little interesting thing for Sunny's mind to include in this area, specifically with the small plant creature that enjoys tofu.

The associations don't end there. There is also the Royal Gallery, which contains a bunch of art. Though we don't get to see it much in the real world, Headspace Kel notes that Basil does enjoy art, along with reading, flowers, and photography. The player can even become art in this area, by standing on a podium. You can once again do this with any character selected, so this could very much reference that Basil prefers to take pictures of his friends, since he is afraid of losing them.

Then you have the Royal Theater, where there are 11 different movies that the party could watch, which absolutely could represent how Sunny and Basil would have sleepovers where they would watch movies, or more generally represent the group watching movies as part of Basil's party. The castle also has a large garden, which is something that Sunny's mind also associates with Basil.

But What About Sweetheart?

I won't go into too much detail about what Sweetheart represents, as there is a very good post about it already, but to paraphrase what's important, Spaceboy and Sweetheart both represent aspects of Sunny, and his relationship with himself/Omori. Some people try and say it represents how Sunny really feels about how a relationship with Aubrey would go, but I think this concept is a little bit of a stretch. As far as we're concerned here, Sweetheart represents Sunny's broken idea of love following the incident, as well as his inability to even conceptualize what loving himself even means following what happened to Mari.

That being said, there is a character within Sweetheart's castle that does appear to represent someone other than Sunny...

Look at this dude, with his stupid dumb teal hair, pink hairclip and overalls. Wait

After finishing up the primary quest line in Sweetheart's Castle, you have the ability to meet a character by the name of Rococo. Rococo has some interesting similarities with Basil's story. He doesn't really have his own people due to his original planet being destroyed, in the same way that Basil doesn't really have his own family outside of his grandmother. He was taken in by Sweetheart and her family in a way that is similar to Basil being accepted into the friend group, and more specifically, how he appears to have spent a lot of time at Sunny and Mari's house. He'll paint pictures of Omori's party, in the same way that Basil in the real world would take photos of his friends, but not a lot of himself.

He sleeps on a futon with sheets made of the finest materials with a self-heating and cooling option. Seeing as Sunny recognizes Basil's bed as comfortable, this could be seen as a reference to Sunny sleeping on Basil's bed during sleepovers, while Basil himself slept on a rollout futon.

The fact that he has been sealed away from Sweetheart's castle reflects both how Headspace itself is filled with things that Basil loves while Basil is kept away from it by spending most of the game sealed away in Black Space or restricted to a picnic blanket, and how Sunny has physically shut out Basil in the real world for four years, keeping the two apart. Rococo is also depicted as being very lonely after being sealed away for so long, even growing desperate when the party tries to leave before he can tell his story, in a manner that resembles how Basil behaves during the real world segments of the game.

If you want to take the connections between Sweetheart & Rococo and Sunny & Basil literally, Rococo even says this:

Obviously, you don't have to take everything literally here if you don't believe there is any kind of romantic connection at all between Sunny and Basil, but this backstory does kind of parallel the way that the past is told in Omori. For instance, after meeting Sweetheart, Rococo has a gap in his memory of a few years leading up to he and Sweetheart falling in love and moving into the castle. Meanwhile, we know almost nothing about Sunny or Basil or anyone else in the group during the period of time between when Basil joined the friend group and when Basil started taking pictures for the photo album. Within the photo album, there are many things that imply that Sunny and Basil became closer throughout that final year than they were before, even if Basil already considered Sunny his best friend from the first picture. The falling out between Sweetheart and Rococo is more metaphorical than literal, as the thing that caused Sunny to lock Basil away both in his mind and in real life was the fact that he was a reminder of a past that Sunny desperately wanted to forget, not that Sunny was becoming more popular and receiving fan mail and requests from suitors, though you could see Rococo as representing the real Basil that was locked out and the suitors and popularity as representing the new friends that Sunny created within Headspace.

The Castle as Home

So how does this all line up with how Sunny sees "home"?

Below the castle is a little area with an NPC by the name of "The Keeper of the Castle".

The Keeper tells us that the castle takes the shape of one's deepest desires. "A place to return to. Somewhere to call home." In a way, since Sweetheart represents an aspect of Sunny, we could say that part of Sunny desires his home to be represented by this castle.

The Keeper also tells us that it knows that Sweetheart will soon leave, and it will need to look for a new owner. If you are playing the Hikikomori route, Omori will become the new owner of the castle. However, Omori/Sunny has rejected the real world in this route. He has rejected reconciling with his friends, ending the delusion, and he has rejected his special connection with Basil, with Basil's photo album no longer referring to the two as best friends, and instead referring to the friend group as a whole as Basil's best friends.

To that end, once Omori becomes the castle's new owner, all reminders of the reasons that Basil is associated with home are erased. All of the strawberry cakes, the art, the books, the garden, and Rococo himself are erased, leaving behind the "Boring Room", where all Omori/Sunny can do is sit, surrounded by pictures of a past that no longer exists, which is emblematic of how Sunny's own house must feel after those four years inside without his friends and his only family being a busy mother.

This is the hikikomori route's twisted version of Sunny "finding his way back home." No Basil, no Mewo, no Mari, and definitely no violin or Memory Lane. Only reminders of Sunny's broken family that he is confronted with every day, with all of the reminders of his friend group and especially Basil ripped away and forgotten. And this is how you get the "Welcome Home" achievement.

Hope you enjoyed!

[solarpunkaestheticweek]

How do you do solarpunk aesthetic week when you live in a tiny apartment with no outside access? I always want to participate but I feel like most stuff y'all post is geared towards people who live in houses...

Hey, thanks for sending in the ask!

We put our heads together and came up with a few ideas for you!

Grow plants indoors! You could grow a few houseplants to green up your space, or even try growing some vegetables and/or herbs indoors! I've heard people have lots of luck with basil indoors, and my freshman year of college I grew cherry tomatoes and peppers in my dorm room! Maybe check out information on semi or full-hydroponic setups? You can also propagate a lot with a few cuttings and a glass of water! If you have a balcony with your apartment, that could also be a good place to grow flowers or vegetables--depending on the season and temps where you are, it might be a bit cold to start things out there right now, but you could always start planning!

Crafting could be another fun idea! You could try your hand at mending clothes, or making your own clothes from scratch! I (Ani) am learning crochet, if you wanna join me in spirit and pick it up as well! Kala/Fennopunk (who lives in a small apartment 👀) also knows a lot about crocheting, its a pretty nice winter craft! You could also try embroidery, so you can add unique designs onto your clothes! Other options are things like knitting, sewing, leatherwork, jewelrymaking, soap making, and maybe even woodworking or soldering if that interests you!

Learning how to repair tech would be cool! Honestly, learning how to repair anything sounds super cool and is pretty solarpunk! This can also kinda go hand-in-hand with learning how to build your own things (one of my friends knows how to repair and build computers, for example). Try finding some information on something you're interested in and going wild!

Decorate your home in a way that feels Solarpunk to you! Even if you don't get it all done during the event week, I think its definitely a nice way to bring joy! Look into ways your apartment can change with the seasons, ways to keep yourself cozy and warm in winter but cool and bright during the summer! If you get started, feel free to send in progress images, we'd love to see!

Guerrilla gardening! Winter's a great time to scatter wildflower seeds (at least here in the states for me) as it gives the seeds time to acclimate to weather conditions! if you want flowers in spring, you plant seeds in winter! Maybe find a place you wanna target if you go out, think about what seeds you want to plant, and start planning? Or if you have seeds on hand already, you know what to do! Honestly, I also kinda view picking up litter as hand-in-hand with guerrilla gardening, if you've got the vibes for that at all.

Build community with your neighbors! Even if its just saying hi, or talking about what you're up to!

Maybe guerrilla art as well? Moss graffiti, spray painting, or even plastering a couple of stickers up counts as solarpunk! I will give a general warning that doing stuff seen as illegal probably shouldn't be posted online, but hey, you can participate in the week without telling us what you do!

Speaking of art! Maybe you could make art at home! Whether you use chalk, or pastels, or paint, or pencils, or if you've got a tablet you can use--find some inspiration and draw! I've seen lots of people draw solarpunk fashion ideas, solarpunk building concepts, or just general vibe art!

You could also take a crack at writing! You could write a short story, or get started on a longer project idea! You could even just write worldbuilding-type stuff, like examples of event listings or building histories you imagine a solarpunk society would have, or ideas for holidays and festivals!

Learning an instrument feels pretty solarpunk to me! I (Ani) say this as someone who has 2 guitars around and has forgotten 80% of the stuff she learned in her lessons back in high school. Just in general, picking up an old hobby you miss, or starting a new one works great for this event honestly!

You can also check out the Apartment Solarpunk tag on the Practical Solarpunk blog, it may have more ideas for you!

We hope this helps! Either way, I hope you enjoy the event week!

[hildred-rex]

LXGF Reread 2023-11-20

To make an analysis post I am currently rereading what is shaping up to be the entirety of LXGF.

This has gotten incredibly long, so I'm burying it under a readmore.

I love the bit of dramatic irony here. I think it's technically spoilers which bit is the dramatic irony, but just trust me, it's great.

The wham shot of Mina's teeth is so good. And coupled with "We have some experience with such matters."...

From this page: The supportive hand on Irene's shoulder. The supportive hand on Irene's shoulder. And Irene really looks haunted in the "An explanation would be welcome" panel. Everything from the angle she's looking to the shadows under her eyes to her interlaced hands. I just want to give her a hug.

Bam. The king. (Isn't looking quite himself, is he?) I remember I shuddered when I first read this page and came to this panel.

The king continues to look very bad on the last panel of this page. (TW scopophobia and disturbing imagery.) And the color. It's so subtle you almost don't notice it the first time, just that something about the page seems slightly off. It's very effective, even at that level. And then when you do notice it... Nothing in this comic is in color. Everything is sepia-toned. That's the way things should be. But the dead King Wilhelm von Ormstein has yellow eyes.

VAN HELSING! And it nails how he talks in the book! (Having tried to write him, it's harder than it looks.) Not to mention the joy in my heart upon continuing my left-to-right scan of the panel and seeing QUINCEY MORRIS!

I've skipped a bunch here because I'm supposed to be focusing on Griffin and haven't even gotten to him yet but Art—

JONNO EYES (not sepia. I repeat: not sepia.)

I forgot how much I loved our introduction to Dorian.

And then we actually meet him (and see Paul Lessingham, the Politician, the Statesman—thank you, alt text!). He's angelic when you focus only on him, but when you look at him in context (in the panel with Basil) he's... less so. Very well done!

Foreshadowing. (When something becomes not technically probably spoilers I have a very laudatory post about all this.) Also floppy Dorian lol

I love this page. Not only do we see Dorian purposely provoke Art (and then see Art react, showing off both of their characterss) we see—and I missed this the first time—some of the dynamic between Dorian and Basil. He jumps in to distract Art, despite being scared himself (and Dorian having earned it).

Awwh Basil looks so excited that someone's treating him kindly...

Dorian's stories from this page are all allusions to other things which have gone onto the "read soon" list.

The last panel of this page is so effective. (Its image description too!)

"boring filler headline" lol (and I enjoy the tags)

DETERMINED MINA PANEL 2! BLUSHING MINA PANEL 6! Also just Mina's outfit in general. (Also just the LXGF outfits in general. I love the little garlic flowers.)

Paranoid Kemp is done so well.

LXGF is very good at having very effective final panels. This one with the glass... It's very well composed (I think that's the word) and does a good job of displaying Irene's discomfort with the glass. (Here.)

It was introduced on the previous page, but here's the first time we get a good look at Jonnovision. My favorite cryptid solicitor.

On the next page there's more cryptidness (the speed), which I didn't notice my first time through. And his eyes are glowing in the first panel... And then the first expletive of the comic! Such a great way to properly introduce Griffin!

I love (in a sad way) how Griffin just caves in when he thinks about the murder. (Here.)

Griffin's whole first scene is incredible. I can't comment on all of it or this post would be several more miles long. Just go read it and imagine me vibrating with excitement and pointing at random bits and screaming.

Character growth for Jack! ...I'm now very sad.

The panel with Jonathan and the angelic smile and the giant knife is great.

I've been annotating over here less because we've gotten to the bit that I'm talking about in my actual post, but rest assured that I love it. Also, the yellow is brighter here. And the eye... I'll count myself lucky if that thing doesn't show up in my dreams tonight.

And the shot of the photo at the end here! The corruption happening to the king slowly coming to affect depictions of him... I love this for spoiler-related reasons.

Griffin's realization is both very well done and unaccountably hilarious to me.

Hel-lo Mr. Holmes!

He respects her change of surname! Better than a lot of adaptations... and the table lmao

He. He what. Also floomp.

Holmes's immediate concern for Mrs. Hudson warms my heart.

HOLMES AROACE COMING OUT SCENE!

Accurate VH voice is back—what the deuce are you two talking about?

his blood is yellow his blood is yellow (well really more like golden)

Also Jack looking panicked in the second panel is so well done.

Almost namedrop! And Griffin being a delight as always.

Hello Jekyll! Great to see you! I enjoy your almost alchemical-looking setup there.

The king is progressing...

Same page; I enjoy Jekyll and Hyde's designs. They have the same hairstyle, very similar noses, and the same style of eye; but they still look different enough that you probably wouldn't believe them if they said they were cousins.

"He is a horror of the un-dead." Line of dialogue, presented without comment.

The drawingsss...

The first panel of this page is absolutely stunning. So is everything else. So much that I wrote an analysis rant of it.