#HELP this was genuinely so fun to make though. so i have no regrets

[spacerelativity]

me and my best/boyfriend who is also me but not

[belphiesreverie]

Hi! I absolutely love your platonic harbingers posts and was wondering if i could request yandere platonic harbingers with a very shy/quiet reader?

Yes ofc!! If you want anything more detailed, feel free to request for specific harbingers!!

Pierro thinks it is a good thing overall. If you were bold and outgoing then you’d be much more likely to want to be out and about where him or the others can’t constantly supervise you. Yes, having you willingly shy away from strangers makes his job much easier

Capitano is very overprotective. He has a sort of sixth sense as to when you’re feeling overwhelmed or someone is making you feel uncomfortable. People don’t normally have the luxury of being able to approach you or even be able to be around you at all, but they’re definitely not going to be getting any closer with Capitano lurking behind you

Columbina finds it ever so adorable!! She’s always looking for new ways to get cute little reactions out of you, whether it be sneaking up for a surprise hug or dedicating songs to you! Only she’s allowed to tease you about it though, anyone else that tries is bound to end up regretting it

Arlecchino let’s you rely on her. She knows from looking after the many children in her orphanage that enabling your behaviour will only make it worse, but she can’t help herself but to let you whisper to her what you want and speak for you. She can’t help but enable those behaviours that will lead you to becoming dependant on her

Dottore thinks you’re ever so fun to rile up. Finding out what things bother you and to what degree is quite a fun experiment for him. Of course, he’ll never take it too far… but coming to help you juuust before it’s too late always gets the best reactions from you and gives him an excuse to be as harsh as he wants to the ‘danger’

Signora wants to help you become more confident. She knows your worth, and she wants you to know it as well so she sometimes comes off a bit harsh with her words to you. But just know that it all comes from a genuine place in an effort to help you be the best you, and her words don’t hold the same biting chill as they do when speaking to those who even dare to look your way

Pantalone loves spoiling you constantly. The way you’re too modest to want to accept the gifts but also not assertive enough to reject them makes for a very interesting reaction. He can practically see the gears turning in your head, but is always very pleased when you accept it each time. Just be sure he’s the only one who’s gifts you take so earnestly

Sandrone wants to add you to her collection. She has a variety of puppets, big and small, tough and timid; but you’re so unique and well… you. She just has to have you. You’re so docile and sweet and follow along with her every command already, now she just needs to find a way to keep you by her side

Tartaglia’s older brother instincts constantly kick in around you. He just wants to spoil you and coddle you and make sure no harm can befall you. He’s ever so gentle with you, making sure never to displace a hair on your head, but anyone who even thinks about inconveniencing you will get some extra brutal treatment

[ratsonastick]

Aggressive Love

Clarisse La Rue x fem!reader

Clarisse has never been very good at showing her affection to her crushes, so when one day she crosses the line she starts to realize she needs to confess to a couple of things.

Warnings: None, boring plot

A/N - TAKING CHARACTER X READER REQUESTS!!!

Not long after you arrive at camp you meet the Ares girl. Clarisse La Rue was not ashamed to make her name known, but the way she did it did not sit well with you. 

Luke was walking you around showing you the ropes and trying to find your special thing, when she walked by. 

“Seems like you got yourself a new girl” Clarisse spoke with her arms crossed, stepping in front of the two of you with her siblings by her side. 

“Be nice she’s new” Luke spoke up and the girl rolled her eyes. 

For someone big on first introductions, Clarisse was not cutting it for you. Her attitude made you scrunch up your face in annoyance and that did not go unnoticed by anyone. 

Clarisse simply looked you up and down before walking away “She is not someone you want to get in a fight with” Luke spoke pushing you along. 

As the week passed you found yourself getting along alright. The Hermes cabin fits you well, even though it technically isn’t your cabin. And everyone seemed to like you. 

Except for Clarisse. 

Multiple people asked her why she hated you, and truthfully she didn’t even know why. You never even talked to her, but that face you gave her said it all (or at least that is what she kept telling herself) 

You are quiet, often found walking around, practicing archery, or helping your friends. You were not disrupting people’s peace, or getting into fights and starting arguments, like her. 

She told herself that the reason she didn’t like you was because of how you two are the complete opposites, and that she had a feeling being together would only end badly. 

So to make herself feel even better, she started getting into small arguments with you, just to prove to others and herself that she was right. 

The first time she did it, it was at the lake. She saw you sitting there alone, no one else around, and took the opportunity to approach you. 

She had a scowl on her face as she stood in front of you, blocking your view. 

“Having fun?” She asked, which only made you raise your gaze and shrug your shoulders “Yeah I guess why?” 

She scoffed, quickly thinking of a lie “Luke has been looking for you all over, he needed your help and you let him down. I was right about you.” She mumbled the last part, shaking her head and looking off. 

Hearing this, you became worried, not wanting to upset Luke anymore you got up and ran to find him. 

When you did he looked at you with a confused look, and you only then found out it was all a lie. 

The next couple of days, Clarisse would follow you around, throw things at you, and start small brawls which you would never really even participate in. 

Then finally one day you had enough. 

She had followed you into the woods, calling you names and once again bringing up the fact your godly parent hadn’t claimed you. 

You finally stopped and looked at her “Why do you hate me?” You asked in a fed-up voice which caught her a bit off guard. 

In any other argument you always sounded sarcastic, or like you were having fun with it. But this time she noticed that you genuinely seemed upset. Maybe it’s because she crossed a line, bringing up your godly parents. 

“Answer me.” Your gentle voice got her attention once more and her mouth opened but quickly shut. 

“I have done nothing to you and yet you hate me every day.” Clarisse furrowed her brows looking down at the ground. 

A feeling of regret started in her stomach, and she watched as you walked off. 

For the next week, she thought to herself, what she should do, or if she should even do anything. 

Finally, she decided to go to Luke. 

When she sat next to him and asked for his help, he let out a soft laugh, leaning back with his arms crossed. But then he noticed how serious she was, she didn't have a scowl on her face, or any sign of annoyance, just a straight expression. 

“She hates me” 

“Do you blame her?” Luke spoke, picking at his food and shoveling it in his mouth. Clarisse only frowned and looked as though she was about to leave. “If you aren't going to help me then I'm just gonna leave.” 

“Sit down” he mumbled and she did. 

“Why do you only now want to become her friend?” Luke asked with curiosity, his curly hair falling into his eyes and he stirred his peas around on his plate. 

“I don't know,” Clarisse answered, her voice sounding softer than it usually does. “You like her don't you.” He spoke up as he turned his gaze to her. Clarisse seemed startled by what he was saying, maybe she did like her, and was just … afraid of what the others would say. 

Luke didn't need an answer to know he was right. 2 years ago something just like this happened with her and a girl in the Hermes cabin, except Clarisse never did anything and the girl continued to think that she hated her. 

“If I were you, I'd maybe start by apologizing to the girl and giving her something she likes,” Luke stated as he started to stand up from the table. “Like what?” Clarisse mumbled, her reaction time a bit slow, which was strange for the Ares girl. 

“She told me she likes flowers, maybe go pick some.” 

Clarisse hated flowers. 

“Okay” 

That night Clarisse got one of the Demeter kids to give her some flowers, and she marched over to your cabin. 

She knew that each clear night you always sat outside, so seeing you sitting on the steps to your cabin was no surprise. 

Except the boy next to you was. 

She faltered for a moment, feeling even dorkier than before, her arms dropped to her side, the flowers slouching slightly. 

But she kept going, “Scram” she shouted at the boy with a scowl on her face. The boy sighed stood up and mumbled “Night Y/n” 

Clarisse took a moment to stare at you, how the moonlight made you so beautiful. 

Then she locked in and stuck out the flowers for you. “Here” she spoke again with that same scowl on her face, you nervously reached up to grab the flowers and gave her a small smile “Thanks … but why” 

Clarisse sat down next to you, at first your legs touched but she quickly moved over. “Because I've been a dick.” she sighed and looked over at you. 

She memorized how pretty you looked in her head. 

You let out a soft laugh and nodded your head “That's true … I’m surprised you are owning up to it.” 

“Don't get used to it” she chuckled, which made you turn to look at her. 

“A little birdie helped me realize something.” she spoke again after a moment of silence “Was it Luke?” you asked and she nodded her head “How do you know?” 

“Because if anyone else tried to help you realize something they'd end up in the infirmary and everyone in camp would know,” you responded with a smile. 

Clarisse nodded her head, gently biting onto her lip trying to suppress her smile. “Yeah I guess you’re right about that.” her head dipped down slightly as she looked at her hands. 

“Luke helped me realize how much of an idiot I was.” 

You smiled as you looked up from the flowers you had been trawling around in your hands. You hummed slightly and nodded your head in agreement to which she rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue. 

“I like you.” she mumbled finally, “Do you?” she hummed in response, and for a moment you swear you could see a faint blush on her face. “I've been told I'm an aggressive lover, I guess to some people it might be hard to know it’s affection I'm trying to show and not …” 

“Hatred? Yeah, it would've probably been best to clarify that before throwing toilet paper at me.” You laughed softly which caused her to show more of a blush. 

After a few seconds you nudged her shoulder “You’re lucky you're so pretty … or maybe I wouldn’t forgive you.” 

She looked up at you with a small smile, your legs were touching slightly, but the two of you did not seem to care. 

A piece of her hair fell in front of her face, and you were quick to brush it away. 

If it was anyone else touching her, Clarisse was sure they'd already be dead, not only that she was sure that her father was probably groaning at how sappy they were behaving, but she couldn't care at the moment. 

You kept your gaze connected with hers, and it didn't take long for Clarisse to act on her desires and kiss you softly.

A/N - y'all I don't know what I just wrote, and I know I didn't represent our girl right!!

[luveline]

hope my boyfriend's okay request.

hi!!! can I request hurt comfort or angst with spencer reid? maybe reader is just an ordinary girl, not that smart, not that pretty, or even a college drop out (like reader from honeybody) so she is kinda insecure when spencer being kind to her or even ask her on a date?

tysm♡

"Do you want to play?" Spencer asks. 

You're flushed before you open your mouth, startled by his sudden appearance and the new haircut he sports, curls locked back behind his neck. "Sorry, I just wanted to sit down." 

"No, I'm just asking if you want to play," he says, shaking the little briefcase he holds between his fingers to emphasise the rattle of the chess pieces inside. 

You've stolen his chess table again at the park. It's how you met, how you continue to meet —you want somewhere to put your book as you read and Spencer hardly ever makes you move, he just sort of sits with you until someone is in need of an opponent. 

"I don't know how. I don't have the smarts." 

Spencer sits down opposite you, placing the briefcase against the white and black chequered tiles. "Playing chess isn't about being smart. Being good at chess takes learned skill, though. It's like learning a language. Most people can say hello and goodbye if they try, but fluency comes with practice." He smiles at you like you're lovely and pretty and someone worth explaining this too, when you're worrying It's filtering out of your head like water through a sieve. Draining, draining, gone. 

"I don't even think I could remember hello and goodbye," you say. Your attempt to smile back at him is pitiful. 

His smile ebbs. "You're sure you don't want to play? I'd go easy for you." 

You curl the cover of your paperback in your hands, deliberating. Chess is one of those games that seems never-ending. It's full of manoeuvres and techniques, openings, closings, all these learned combinations, strategy like nothing you've ever been able to comprehend. You've never wanted to learn because you know you won't be good, even if you try. 

"Okay," you say quietly. "I really won't be any good." 

Spencer shrugs and begins to retrieve the small wooden chess pieces. "I usually win anyways."

"Have you ever, um, competed? Like the grandmaster things?" 

"No, but I had a friend I competed against for a long time. We played a lot of games. He was better at winning, despite my advantage." Spencer arranges your pieces with care. "Do you need me to teach you the opening moves?" 

He explains slowly. When you need help, he gives it, and he doesn't lord it over your head. It's a little shameful seeing the difference in your intellectual capabilities displayed so clearly, and the longer the game goes on the worse you feel, even though Spencer lets you win. 

"You'll get better every game," he says, returning taken pieces to the board.  

"You want to play again?" you ask. "Come on, Spencer, that can't have been fun for you." 

"Why wouldn't it be?" 

"Because I'm a useless opponent? And I don't really have anything else going for me, either, so it must be boring." It's an awkward thing to say, self-deprecating and stilted considering you and Spencer aren't more than acquaintances. You regret it as soon as you've said it but the frustration of the situation sticks around. "I don't understand why you waste your time with me." 

"It's not wasted if it's with you." Spencer looks genuinely confused, shapely eyebrows pinching. "Is that what you really think? I like spending time with you, I don't need you to be a chess expert to find you interesting." 

"But there's nothing interesting,," you insist. 

"Of course there is…" He straightens a chess piece, gaze split between you and the board. "You don't have to say something from a journal for it to be worth saying. You know, I've had a thousand conversations this year, some of them with professors or academic experts, but," —he puts his hand, now finished with the chess pieces, over his elbow, meeting your eyes shamelessly— "the one I replay the most is from a few weeks ago, when you told me why you like to read in the park." 

"That was just small talk," you say weakly, though it hadn't felt small to you, and now you know it wasn't small for him either. 

"Then I guess I love small talk," Spencer says. "Do you want to play again? I'll teach you some good opening moves if you tell me more about you. Deal?" 

You nod hurriedly, and fail to hide a beaming smile. "Teach me the best one." 

"That's what I meant," he says. 

[shenanigans-and-imagines]

39 and 55 for Tav/Astarion? OH AND I LOVE WANT IT ALL, YOUR WRITING IS IMPECCABLE ‼️<3

Prompt(s): leaning into the other’s side + tracing the lines on the other’s hand

Astarion x AsexaulBard!Tav Masterlist

There really was nothing like being pleasantly tipsy while in good company. Your party was in good spirits, the night was warm and, for once, danger was something that happened to other people. 

Eventually everyone had shuffled off to bed, leaving you and Astarion leaning against each other as the fire crackled on.  Your thoughts floated in front of you, swimming lazily in the air. Everything was just so lovely, especially the other hand in yours.  You couldn’t help but run your fingers across the lines, smiling as you made a study of every angle.  

“See something you like,” Astarion asked, amused.  He was decidedly more sober than you and appeared content to stay that way. 

You nodded idly. “You have beautiful hands. I bet you’d make a wonderful pianist.”

He gave a low laugh, shaking you slightly with the effort. 

“What?”

“Oh nothing,” he said, grinning. “You just might be the only person I know who could study a man’s hands and think only of their musical capabilities.” 

You stared confused, before a sinking rush of embarrassment flooded your stomach.

“Oh.”

He laughed again, turning just enough to kiss your temple. “Just teasing darling. Although I do love that color on your cheeks.”

“Serves me right for trying to give you a compliment,” you said, pouting. 

“Oh don’t be like that. I relish them all.” 

You huffed in childish annoyance, which only seemed to humor him. He then raised your entwined hands to the firelight, narrowing his gaze as if to examine them himself. 

“Do you think I’d actually be good?” he asked as a peace offering. 

You let out a sigh. There really was no use trying to stay annoyed with him. 

“Capability is there,” you allowed, “provided you have a very, very patient teacher.”

“Are you offering?”

You raised an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you’re interested.”

“Depends if you’re offering,” he repeated, with a sly smile. 

You didn’t answer right away, scrunching your face in exaggerated thought. 

“Maybe not piano,” you concluded. “There’s only so far the blind can lead the blind.”

He nodded in understanding. “How about the violin?”

Again, you considered before shaking your head. “Too difficult for a beginner. Lute isn’t bad though.”

He gave a dismissive scoff. “Overdone. The lyre, perhaps?”

“Bit on the nose don’t you think?”

His brows furrowed, his lips pursing in consideration. “A lyre and a player…Yes, I suppose you’re right. The jokes just write themselves. Flute?”

You shrugged. “Never learned actually.”

“Really?” he said, sounding genuinely surprised. “Pan pipes.”

“No.”

“Horns?”

“No to all wind instruments. I think it comes down to mechanics. I never saw the appeal of having to put my lips together and blow.” 

You glanced up at Astarion, keen to watch his reaction. 

He stared at you for a long second, a look of utter confusion on his face. His eyes then widened as a loud laugh barked from his lips. 

You broke that same instant, dissolving into giggles. 

“I can’t believe you said that,” he said, trying and failing to get a hold of himself. “Gods that was awful!” 

“But effective,” you pointed out, grinning. 

He gave another short laugh before shaking his head. “What have I gotten myself into with you?”

“Having regrets?”A wicked smirk flashed across his face. “Far from it, darling.” He then leaned in close, his eyes alight with conspiracy and mirth. “I think you and I are going to have a lot of fun together.”

[softxsuki]

Han I have an urgent request if you don’t mind. Can I request baji, mitsuya, and chifuyu with a girlfriend who’s afraid to panic in front of them? I know that sound strange but I’ve been made fun of and/ or yelled at (which just made things 10x worse) for having panic attacks in front of friends and family. So now, I try to hold it in even if it hurts me physically, to the point I passed out recently :/ I mainly panic if my dad and step mom are fighting (I hate her) and loud noises like fireworks (been called a wimp during a festival before)

Baji, Mitsuya, and Chifuyu (Separate) With S/O Who's Afraid To Panic In Front of Them

Pairings: Baji x Fem!Reader, Mitsuya x Fem!Reader, Chifuyu x Fem!Reader

Warnings: mentions of panic attacks, feeling nervous, loud noises

Genre: Comfort

Post-Type: Headcanons

Word Count: 710

Summary: In which you begin to panic around them, but try to hold it in so they don't notice because you're scared they might judge you

[A/N: Hello <3 so sorry you have to go through this. There's nothing wrong with panicking, it's a genuine response and you just happen to have it with loud noises and arguments. I hope this gives you some comfort <3]

Baji:

He’s a little loud so he’s the one that probably accidentally sets you off with one of his rage outbursts

You’d excuse yourself and he’d see you freaking out later but you try and brush him away

He refuses though and continues to follow you around until you finally stop, tears running down your face as your breathing picks up

The only thing you can manage to do it apologize profusely as you struggle to breathe, but he has his arms around you immediately

There’s no way he’d ever make fun of you for panicking in front of him

If anything once you’re calm he tries to figure out what set you off, and when you tell him it was his outburst, he’s the one apologizing

From that day forward he tries controlling is voice when you’re around–he can be explosive (not towards you but just in general) so he keeps himself in check when you’re present

Would 10000% send you into the next room while he fights anyone that has a hint of judgment on their face when you start to panic

Mitsuya:

You show up at his place one day after your parents fight and before you realize it,  you’re knocking on his door

You kinda regret it, not wanting to show up in front of him, a panicked mess with tears running down your face…but just as you’re about to turn away and leave, he opens the door and welcomes you with open arms as soon as he sees the state you’re in

He doesn’t need an explanation, his main priority is making you comfortable first and that means pulling you into his home and making you some tea or hot cocoa (whatever would help you calm down) while he holds you in his arms

He focuses on tracing small circles into your shoulders, attempting to calm you down from your sobbing as he whispers loving words into your ear

Even as you calm down, he still won’t pry into what caused you to have a panic attack, but if you start talking about it, he quietly listens

He knows the struggles you have at home and invites you to spend the night with him for as long as you need just so you can have some time away from that environment

You’re his family and he’d do anything to make you feel safe with your emotions around him

Chifuyu:

It’s New Years and there's a firework show Chifuyu wanted to see with you, claiming it would be romantic to watch fireworks together to welcome the new year in together

It was a fairly long show, but the first big bang instantly made you tense up, alerting Chifuyu who looks over in your direction

He could see the panic on your face and takes that as his sign to spring into action

You’re placed between his legs (you were sitting on the ground looking up at the fireworks) as he places his hands around your ears to help lessen the sound of the loud bangs, leaning into your back to press a kiss to the top of your head before he leans his chin on you

You’re able to relax into his arms and feel calmer now that the fireworks don’t sound as loud as they did before, but still being able to admire the beauty of them with your boyfriend

As the countdown approaches he spins you around and presses a kiss to your lips, his hands still over your ears as more fireworks erupt around you both and the new year finally arrives

He mouths an ‘i love you’ and takes your hand to lead you away from the crowd as it gets a little more busy and loud with everyone's excitement

He’s kinda excited that he got to act out a shoujo-esque moment with you and feels pretty good about it

Chifuyu makes a mental note of your panic to the loud fireworks and will probably bring it up another day so he can find out what other things make you panic–no judgment here at all, this man thinks you’re cute 24/7, but he’d rather know so he can avoid situations that may make you have a panic attack in the future!

REGULAR REQUESTS ARE OPEN

Posted: 11/12/2023

[brainrot-goes-brrrrrr]

Savanna Squad Presentation Night Headcanons/mini fic [1/3]

splitting this into three headcanon parts because my god its long

eat up :]

Part 1: Taylor & Logan Part 2: Ben & Tyler Part 3: Aiden & Ashlyn

Ashlyn's POV

So the question is: How did we get here? Simple answer really. Taylor. She was always the one to suggest these kinds of things, team building hang outs, though last time it was just us.

The rest of the boys had plans. Tyler had practice to attend, one of the late kinds, Ben and Logan had a project together due for bio in a day or two, and Aiden, for some reason, had a late dentist appointment (much to his dismay). Only Taylor could make it to the graveyard early. Initially, we were just meant to manage our resources, which was manageable with one person, but it was always easier with other people to bounce ideas off of. That's all it was meant to be, but Taylor had other ideas.

"Girls night!!" She had cheered, and we just hung out.

And I had fun.

But as Logan fights with his laptop to mirror on the T.V for the presenters, that being us, I can't help but feel like I'm going to regret this one. Especially with Tweedledee and Tweedledum in the background yelling about something that I don't want to know about, but will probably learn against my will.

Just as Taylor and Ben come downstairs with blankets and pillows, Logan's T.V finally projects the wallpaper of his laptop.

"It's set up, thank god," he sighs, with that last part being under his breathe. And as we set up in his living room, Ben dragging Aiden and Tyler from the kitchen, both with bags of snacks in their arms, and Taylor handing out blankets, we finally sit in our places.

The next question, however, is Who goes first?

Taylor Hernandez

Taylor goes first because she's the one who planned it and was the most excited about it. Aiden tried to go first, but it was collectively agreed that he would be going last for no reason other than to piss him off lmao

Anyways, we love a STEM girl (be still my own heart) so her presentation would be all about her tools and work for the mechanics club. She takes this club seriously, not only because it's good for networking, but because she genuinely finds it fun. I like to think that there are two levels to the club where one is just a standard club and the second level is a competition team, and she was shooting to be a part of the competition league (totally not projecting because I'm a robotics kid)

Her presentation is so well done. It's not only really well organized, but it is just so pretty. It's the type of presentation that teachers would drool over. Avid Canva user b/c it has a lot of customization options that she loves.

What's a toolbox tour without the actual toolbox that's just as decorated as her slideshow. And she takes care of it, too.

Her presentation is so fun and sets a fun tune for the night, and she manages to make this topic really engaging. She would have a little quiz at the end, too, where if one of the group gets a question correct, they get a piece of candy

shows off tools like she's filming a makeup tutorial, I saw this on tumblr, and it's just canon at this point. No criticisms are accepted because it just isn't possible.

Group's reaction

Ashlyn and Ben are the ones who pay the most attention to the presentation. Ashlyn also gets the most questions right at the end of the quiz.

Logan asks the most questions in between slides, but not in an annoying way. He does get a bit lost, though, considering just how many tools there are.

Tyler and Aiden are still bickering a bit. Aiden can't sit still for the life of himself, but he swears that he is listening. Tyler would say otherwise.

Aiden is, though, and he ends up getting Taylor a really nice tool set that she mentioned she wanted when presenting just because he can. He is her favorite for a few days. He absolutely would have a shit eating grin looking at Tyler to just say, "See, I was listening :D". Tyler would then say that he could go fuck himself /hj

Logan Fields

Logan is next. The laptop hates him, and it's old and shuts down multiple times in his presentation. The group then had to watch this man fight with a busted 4-year-old laptop and lose several times. Have you ever seen your parents fight with a printer the night before you have a school project due? It's like that, and the rest are concerned.

He is an astrology bitch, and I will take no criticisms. But like, not in the way that it controls his life, he would not be caught dead saying that the stars told him to do something, like not let him eat alfredo on Sunday or something like that. He's more interested in the concept itself since the idea of zodiacs have existed for so long. Its his comfort research topic.

Absolutely went HAM on researching each and every one of their birth charts. Ask him to show you his notes, and he would not show you. Why??? because he took up an entire notepad (it's one of the smaller ones but still).

"Logan's so innocent" "Logan's so sweet" "My boy can do no wro-" NO!!!! THAT MOTHERFUCKER WILL READ YOU TO FILTH AND I STAND BY THIS. ITS LIKE HE LOOKED YOUR SOUL, UP AND DOWN, AND EXPOSED IT FOR THE WORLD TO SEE (something tells me Tyler gets it the worse. idk why it just feels right)!!! If he feels like something doesn't fit one of the people in the group he is clear about it

"Here is Gemini, a social butterfly. Here is Ashlyn. A Gemini. I love Ashlyn, but like a year ago I have actually seen you jump a fence to avoid a group of people who go to our high school without thinking, and I would say that needs an intervention but you'd also avoid it by jumping a fence." "..."

The presentation itself is long as hell. Like he goes in depth about everything that he talks about, and if you interrupt him, he will shoot you with a spray bottle. Did I mention there's a group spray bottle? Guess why they have one.

Somehow, he is still only the second longest presentation.

Group's Reaction

Taylor is his biggest hypeman. I feel like she'd also enjoy astrology a bit, too, though she's more of a casual fan. She is also one of the few people who is free from Logan's jabs.

Ben is also free from his jabs because he helped him with the laptop, which, thank god, because Logan was about to lose it. I don't think he really believes in astrology. The most he knows is his sun sign on the surface level. He is invested, though.

Don't think Ash is very interested in astrology either, and at some points in his presentation, he just loses her attention.

Tyler gets sprayed at least twice with the spray bottle because he gets defensive. Surprisingly, I do think he would be somewhat interested and knowledgeable about his star signs at least, mainly because he had to deal with Taylor when she went through an astrology phase (let me tell you it was brutal).

Aiden is also interested and engaged in the presentation, but maybe a little too much. What I mean is that he interrupts at points and is the reason why the spray bottle exists. Logan is flattered, but istg Aiden if you interrupt this man one more time...

By the end of the two presentations, the group is in pretty high spirits and having a good time, despite the fact that two of them are a bit wet.

Logan's laptop, however, is not, and just as they were setting up Ben's powerpoint, it decides that it was a good time to perform a mandatory update and restarts.

Absolute silence.

You could hear a pin drop.

And all eyes go to Logan.

"..."

"..."

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?!"

Long story short, the presentations have to be postponed for around an hour and forty-eight minutes (maybe you never know with computers), and Logan is taking a walk.

[syoounn]

𝓓𝓸 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓴 𝔂𝓸𝓾'𝓵𝓵 𝓴𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓶𝓮 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓭𝓪𝔂?

`✵•.¸,✵°✵.｡.✰`✵•.¸,✵°✵.｡.✰`✵•.¸,✵

•Asking them, "Do you think you'll kill for me one day?"•

Characters: Chuuya, Nikolai, Fyodor

Inspired by this song. Have fun reading

`✵•.¸,✵°✵.｡.✰Chuuya`✵•.¸,✵°✵.｡.✰`✵•.

After a long exhausted day, you and chuuya were both tired and finally at home and cudding. Chuuya then gently lays you down on his chest. He adjusts the position until he’s holding you in his arms comfortably, with you laying flush against him. Once he’s done with that, he gently wraps his arms around your body and pulls you even closer to him. Chuuya chuckles softly as he speaks.

"I missed you a lot..." You said.

“Miss me, did ya?~”He asks her playfully as a smirk forms on his lips.

“What did ya miss? My voice? My hands? Or maybe—“

He pauses there, but he was clearly hinting at something else. Even though he usually wouldn't say it out loud, he was in the mood for teasing with how tired he was.

Your eyes were getting tired as you thought about something you've wanted to ask him for a while.

"Hey.. chuu.."

Chuuya lifts his head up, his arms still holding her in his grip. His tired eyes, though they seemed full of energy and alertness, had a sort of weary look. As if deep down, he was feeling exhausted and worn out beyond his usual tolerance.

“Yeah~?”

He asks you softly as he watches you. His brows furrowed as he awaited a response, tilting his head to the side slightly.

"Do you think you'll kill for me one day?"

Chuuya is caught off-guard by this sudden question of hers. His brows furrowed, looking away from her as he ponders her question. He didn't expect something like that from her just yet. He's quiet for a few moments before he speaks up once more.

"...I would. Anything for you my doll."

His voice is quiet, no doubt because he's still a bit tired. But, there was no hesitation to his words.

"Wha-.. really?!" You were surprised as the drowsiness left your body.

"...Is that so bad?"

His voice was a bit softer than usual, though it certainly didn't mean his tone lacked conviction. He was being genuine.

"No... but killing is still a no-no...!"

Chuuya gives a small chuckle at your response. Though he certainly couldn't blame her for such an opinion, he couldn't help but feel a bit amused by it.

“...A no-no, huh?”

He asks you, chuckling a bit further before continuing.

“To you, maybe. To me, I wouldn't even regret it.”

A brief moment of silence passes between both of you as Chuuya looks away, a silent gaze passing over her. He takes a breath in, exhaling shortly thereafter.

“I wouldn't hesitate to do it, even if it were for you. If killing meant making you feel... safe and secure, then I would do it.”

He pauses for a second before adding a few words.

“...Even if it meant I would rot in hell.”

He said completely serious.... you were just asking him out of curiosity and how the hell it ended up this serious?!

`✵•.¸,✵°✵.｡.✰`✵Fyodor`✵•.¸,✵°✵.｡.✰`✵

You woke up in the middle of this night and saw your lover still awake, as you approached him and still feel a little bit sleepy.

"Myshka... why're are you awake my dear?" Fyodor spoke gently as he gets up and he wraps his arms around you, his tall frame looming over you as he places a chaste kiss upon your lips. "You should go back to sleep.."

"Can't sleep without you.." You said sounded sleepy

Fyodor chuckles softly, his hold upon you tightening. His breath stirs your hair lightly. His gaze falls upon your form hungrily, though he is able to restrain himself. Such a devoted lover...

Suddenly as your curiosity got you.. you decided to ask him that question.

"Hm.. fedya.. Do you think you'll kill for me one day?" You said sounded more sleepy.

Fyodor's face is calm and serene. He runs his hands through your hair, his tone affectionate. "My, my, what a question, Of course, my Myshka. You are my one and only and my most precious little jewel. I will do whatever it takes to protect you and ensure your happiness. Did you doubt it?"

You're not surprised... he's fyodor after all.. as you continue to hug him and slowly falling asleep. Fyodor's eyes are now full of an unusual intensity, and his voice is cold.

"I don't want to hear of another man giving you a glance. Not even one."

His words are sharp as his expression seems almost cold, and the usual playful glint in his eyes is missing. I hope you understand?

You nodded.. as you continue to fall asleep on his embrace and sleep comfortably.

`✵•.¸,✵`✵•..｡.✰Nikolai`✵•.¸,✵°✵.｡.✰`

Nikolai was clinging at you the whole day.. as both of you were just relaxing and out of nowhere... your lover decided to play some quizzes with you.

"Then im gonna ask a question now..~" He said excitedly.

He held your chin and made you look at him, smiling brightly.

“Do you love me?”

As predictable as he is, this was obviously going to lead in some sort of sadistic thing.

"Mhm.. I really love you a lot.." You said.

“Do you really love me, my dear?” His grip on your chin tightened and he leaned closer to you.

You exactly know what he is about to do as you speak. "Ah... i know what you're playing at.."

He chuckled at your response.

“Awww, it’s easy for you to see through me?

tell me what you think I’m going to do now~”

"Stealing some kisses?"

He smirked as he slowly went down to your lips when you said ‘stealing’ and stole a kiss from you before speaking some more.

“Hehehe, did I steal it~?”

He said as he leaned back up, still smirking.

You were surprised as you just smiled.. he's always been affectionate and teasing.

"Then my turn to ask a question. Do you think you'll kill for me one day?" You asked out of curiosity.

He got an even bigger glint in his eyes. His bloodlust was rising up from that innocent sounding question.

“Kill for you~? Hmm, that’s an interesting question~”

He leaned in closer to you as he spoke.

“Oh.. my dove~.. Anything for you.."

He said as he gently kissed your knuckles and looked directly at your eyes, making you feel flustered. You can't handle the way he looks at you. He is so dreamy, and he looks so handsome. I guess no more asking questions like that if you don't wanna see yourself red as tomato...

`✵•.¸,✵°✵.｡.✰`✵•.¸,✵°✵.｡.✰`✵•.¸,✵°✵.｡.✰`✵•.¸,

[pokegalla]

Requested by @tryslogic

Ngl never thought of this but it’s gonna either be really funny or really sweet. There is no in between-

Killer and Lust with a crazy rich S/o who loves spoiling them

Lust:

* Oh this poor sweetheart was just expecting you to ask for “service” since you kept flirting with him everytime you visited Grillby’s. He found it charming though as you were always making him laugh too. It surprised him really when instead of that, you actually asked him out instead! Especially when he learned you were rich. Like are you sure you want me??? You could literally have anyone! But it just made him feel extra loved that you genuinely liked him for him. He didn’t really care about your money✨

* He’s actually very humble when it comes to gift receiving. Because he’s not used to such nice and thoughtful gifts! So whether it’s a simple rose to a HUGE teddy bear to even the finest wardrobe? He’s a blushing mess, always left surprised and still asking if it’s really ok. (Please reassure him!)

* Despite you spoiling him, he sure as hell is spoiling you too. You definitely have received gifts over time. His gifts weren’t as expensive…..but the thing is, the value of it is something money can’t buy✨ he’s made custom clothes just for you, stitched by HIS hands. Adorable picture books of you, him, even family and friends! Oh and the cuddles, smooches, and fun dates?!

* He’s a romantic guy and he’ll make sure to bring a smile to your face and give you the love you deserve

Mini story time:

“Huh? You have another surprise for me? Goodness you spoil me too much love….” Lust giggles.

You laugh too, “Well I can’t help it. Your smile and blush makes it worth it everytime.”

Lust playfully nudges you, “Oh stop it you!”

You laugh and take his hand in your own. You knew this surprise was probably the biggest you’ve ever given him. But it was an investment that you won’t regret. And you knew Lust would make you proud. So you walk him up to an old building. It looked refurbished and cleaned up already. You open the door with the key.

He looked around in wonder, “Wow…..what place is this?”

“Your new boutique,” You said casually. Lust looked at you in shock. You knew he loved making clothes…..”You have talent Lust. Everyone deserves to know you have something special…..and I’m willing to help show that.”

He actually tears up from this….this was….too sweet. He’s NEVER had such kindness in his life before. You made him feel…..like he actually had value. He hugged you and smiled with purple tears coming down.

“Thank you”

Killer:

* Ah here we go with this lil shet. Now with him, y’all probably got together randomly. He probably saw you on his day off and threw you a pick up line for funsies. Next thing you know, you both exchange numbers and become true love birds. Funniest part? It took him AWHILE to learn you were even rich- probably like a few weeks or a month. He thought it was cool and didn’t really think much of it.

* Now what shocked him was you spoiling him- he literally joked about wanting a PS5. Which he did want but he ain’t got no money- next day? Boom. You pop up with a whole ass PS5 with games he might like. His initial reaction: “Heh nice prank babe”. Oh- oh you weren’t? HOLY SHIT YOU ACTUALLY GOT HIM-?! The way he excitedly jumped up like a happy puppy, you knew you had to spoil him more-

* He absolutely shows you off to his team. Mostly out of a joke but also to be an absolute dick- like just smirking at his teammates, hell even his BOSS, just having an arm around your shoulder to say “My bae spoils and loves me soooooo much✨” Everyone wishes to beat your bonefriend’s ass- not you though. Because honestly you probably spoil them too. So you get a pass. And your bonefriend looking like he done got betrayed-

* He’s a silly little gremlin and honestly he does feel bad that he can’t spoil you more. So he’ll make sure to make you laugh and have fun no matter what.

Mini story time:

Ah the date went well as usual. A fancy dinner, a stop at an ice cream shop, and a walk through the park together under the moonlight. And you couldn’t stop laughing. Killer had been making you laugh the entire night, talking about his latest shenanigans with his group.

“And then after Dust wiped off the pie cream, he chased us ALL around the castle until Nightmare nabbed us and put us in our rooms! Dadmare moment✨,” He said with a chuckle.

“PFFFFT- Dadmare?!” You laughed again, “Killer you’re so cute….but god you’re chaotic-“

Killer takes your hand then kisses it, winking at you, “A chaotic cutie that you love so much~”

You blush but smile, “Yeah…..someone I will always cherish.” You swore for a moment, his eye lights popped up and his target like soul shifted into a heart for a moment.

“………heh. You’re too sweet babe…..,” He says with a nervous chuckle. You were surprised….but you couldn’t resist spoiling him one more time: with a kiss on the cheek. His skull flared with a beautiful shade of red. You giggle as he hid his face and tried acting cool about it. Ah……

You truly love this skellie.

[koiiiji]

Please anything with Owen Knight if you can.

favourite

tw ; no, just fluff and Owen having new crush

please no spam likes, ageless/empty blogs DNI OR I WILL BLOCK YOU!!

you weren't exactly sure how you ended up in this situation — pedaling like your life depended on it, wind whipping through your hair as you struggled to keep up with Owen Knight. the Golden Boy, the prodigy rider of his team, and the guy who was somehow charming, confident, and totally oblivious all at once.

“c’mon, you got this! just a little faster!” Owen’s voice rang out ahead of you, his laugh floating back as he turned his head, giving you a wide grin.

“you’re killing me!” you shouted, nearly out of breath. “i swear, i didn’t sign up for Tour de France training!”

Owen slowed down just enough to roll beside you, his striking blue eyes twinkling with amusement. “you did say you wanted to go riding, didn’t you? this is how we roll!”

you shot him a half-hearted glare. “by ‘riding,’ i meant a chill ride around the park. you know, like normal people?”

Owen laughed, his face bright and carefree. “yeah, but i’m not exactly ‘normal people,’ am i?”

you groaned, shaking your head. it was impossible to stay annoyed at him when he was like this — cheerful, fun, and genuinely trying to make you enjoy the ride, even if he was way too fast for your pace.

after a few more minutes of struggling to keep up with him, Owen suddenly skidded to a halt in front of a small convenience store. you stopped beside him, panting like you’d just run a marathon.

“break time!” he announced proudly, hopping off his bike and parking it. “i’m getting ice cream. you in?”

you barely managed to catch your breath as you nodded. “you better be getting me some after that death sprint.”

he winked. “of course. what flavor?”

few minutes later, you were both sitting on a bench outside the store, munching on ice cream cones. cool sweetness was the perfect reward after the unexpected workout. Owen leaned back, his long legs stretched out in front of him as he casually licked his cone, looking way too relaxed for someone who had just cycled with unbelivable speed.

“y’know,” he said, glancing over at you with a smirk, “you did better than i thought. for a rookie.”

you narrowed your eyes at him, playfully nudging his shoulder. “oh, thanks. that’s exactly what i wanted to hear.”

he laughed, bumping you back gently. “i’m serious! you’re getting stronger.”

you rolled your eyes, but couldn’t help the small smile tugging at your lips. “yeah, well, maybe i’ll be able to beat you one day.”

“oh, absolutely,” he replied, his tone suddenly serious. “i’m sure you’ll totally leave me in the dust. i’ll be crying on the side of the road, defeated.”

you burst out laughing at the mental image of Owen, the superstar rider, dramatically sobbing while you zoomed past him on a bike. he grinned at you, clearly proud of making you laugh. “but, until that day, i’ll keep being your personal coach. gotta push you to greatness, right?”

you raised an eyebrow. “oh, is that what this is? personal coaching?”

he gave you a playful wink. “of course. can’t have my favorite riding partner getting too comfortable.”

your heart skipped a beat at the casual mention of being his favorite. Owen had this way of saying things so effortlessly, not realizing the impact it had on you. before you could overthink it, though, he suddenly stood up, stretching his arms above his head.

“alright, coach says break’s over. ready for round two?”

you groaned dramatically, but stood up to follow him. “why do i feel like i’m going to regret this?”

Owen flashed you a dazzling smile, his eyes sparkling mischievously. “because you probably will. but hey, at least you’ve got me, right?”

you rolled your eyes but couldn’t suppress the grin. “yeah, yeah. let’s go before i change my mind.”

as you both hopped back on your bikes, and you couldn’t help but think that maybe being his ‘favorite’ wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

MASTERLIST

[mrzombielover]

- slow ride ch1

feat. sinner!adam x fem!hotel worker!reader

series masterlist | next chapter

warnings: NSFW, enemies to fuckbuddies, adam and reader both suck, unhealthy relationships, size kink oooops, light degradation

a/n: oh my god this is so self indulgent. something is fr wrong with me bc all my favorite men are irrevocably fucked up and toxic and emotionally damaged and would treat me like shit teehee

wc: 2.2k

“You took my shame and you took my pride / And now you gonna take me for a slowride”

When even Charlie is trepidatious about checking someone in to the hotel, you know they’ve fucked up bad.

Adam had shown up, tail between his legs, admitting something about how he’s “desperate enough to try anything,” even this “stupid delusional humiliating hotel.”

Charlie, who’s more like an angel than Adam ever was, had ultimately decided that he could stay. After a lengthy and heated discussion, she’d reminded the group that the hotel’s policy states that everyone deserves a chance at redemption, regardless of the sins they’ve committed. Considering he killed your friend, you thought that was bullshit, but it’s Charlie’s hotel at the end of the day, and you’re just along for the ride.

You like Charlie, which is why you put up with having Adam around. She’s a good person- genuinely, deep down. There’s no hidden motives in her actions. You’ve not met many good people in your life, so she’s won your respect, even if you have your doubts about the hotel’s premise.

But for as much as you love her, you briefly questioned her sanity when she asked you to keep a special eye on Adam.

“…and how exactly is that the job of treasury secretary?” You deadpan.

“Wellll…” Charlie trails off, looking away for a moment. “It isn’t really. Buuut what if I was asking as a favor, for your friend?” She clasps her hands together, giving you a smile. You have to avert your eyes from the hopeful look on her face before your resolve cracks.

“No way in hell,” You say quickly.

“Please!”

“No,”

“Pleaseee!”

You bite your lip as you think. He’s obnoxious, yes, but what’s really the worst that could happen? You close your eyes and sigh.

“…you owe me one,”

You regret accepting every day. Nobody got along with Adam. Well, nobody except for Nifty, who seemed thrilled to have a real bad boy staying in the hotel. You, however, got along with him the least of all.

For someone who’d come to the hotel in his time of need- who was in no position to ask for anything other than forgiveness- Adam sure has a smartass mouth. It seems Charlie just wants to give you a brain aneurysm, that’s why she gave you this job. Even if that wasn’t her goal, that’s certainly the stage you’re approaching, because fighting with Adam everyday is 100% going to make you pop a blood vessel.

You can’t help it. Something about him- the way he acts, the forced proximity, just gets under your skin, makes your eye twitch. He should be groveling, begging for forgiveness, putting his heart and soul into bettering himself, yet all he does is bitch and moan. Constantly complaining would be one thing, hell’s full of whiners, but he also feels the need to voice every thought he’s ever had, which often includes insults and snide remarks about those around him. You’ve never been one to take that shit- though, nobody at the hotel really does. It seems to be much worse with you two, specifically, though.

The problem comes in because, as much as you hate to admit it, you might sometimes occasionally have some things in common with him. No, you’re not quite as loud or crude or obnoxious, you don’t generally insult people for fun, but if someone deserves it?

You’ve tore into people for way less than murdering your friend, showing up on your doorstep and being a pain in your ass 24/7, especially if you’re in a particularly shitty mood. Reduced people to tears for mildly inconveniencing you, having an annoying voice, wasting food, etc etc… all of which Adam does.

Generally, you’re apathetic to what goes on around you, especially at the hotel. You’re fed, don’t have to pay rent, and can pretty much do whatever you want, so dealing with the annoying, traumatized, dramatic residents and staff is a fair trade off in your eyes. Adam should, in theory, be no different than the rest of them to you. So you cannot, for the life of you, figure out what about him makes him so much worse than the rest.

You just try not to think about him as much as possible. But when you ignore him, he just seems to get worse.

“Jesus, you don’t think it’s a bit early to start drinking?”

You mentally groan as you hear his voice, avoiding eye contact as you crack open the bottle.

“I mean, Isn’t this shithole supposed to be for rehabilitation?” You can practically hear the smirk in his voice as he opens the fridge.

“Why don’t you focus on your own rehab first, dick? Been weeks now and you’re still an asshole,” You snap, before taking a swig of your beer. He shrugs, grabbing the orange juice from the fridge and placing it on the counter. He walks past where you’re leaning on the counter to get a glass.

“I mean, damn, you didn’t even try today, huh?”He laughs.

“Why are you pickin’ a fight with me right now?” You raise your voice a little, exasperated and too hungover to deal with this.

“oh, uh, i dunno… i’m bored?” He shrugs again, looking over to you with a self satisfied smile. You groan in frustration, then sigh, forcing yourself to keep it together.

“…and you wonder why your wives left you,” you mumble with a roll your eyes, turning to quickly leave the kitchen. you don’t see his face, but judging from the sound of a crash and footsteps quickly following you into the hallway, you hit a nerve. oh, god, here we go…

“you fucking junkie bitch!” he yells after you as you stomp up the stairs.

“you’re proving my point right now!” you say over your shoulder.

“Like you have room to talk? Let’s bring up your love life, huh?!”

“oh my god shut up!” Angel yells through the door as you pass his room. “Every fuckin’ morning with you two!”

Adam ignores him, continuing to rant as he follows closely behind you, every degrading name he can think of spilling from his lips.

“…fucking whore cunt- whose not even fucking listening to me!” he says as you turn into your room. you turn, attempting to slam the door, but he sticks his foot in the gap and grabs the door, shoving it back open.

“what in the fuck is your problem today?!” you yell.

“it’s you, bitch!”

“oh my god- how do you care about anything this much? Seriously, it’s not that deep!”

you jump a little as he suddenly slaps the beer bottle out of your hands, the glass shattering loudly and the leftover beer soaking your socks. your jaw drops, outraged, and you can’t help the reflex to reach up and smack the side of his head.

“ow!” he yelps, and you raise your fists to hit him again, when-

“you- fucking bitch-!” he shouts. you cry out in surprise as he grabs your wrists and yanks you with surprising ease, shoving you roughly into the wall behind you.

theres a struggle, both grunting with the strain of pushing against each other as Adam wrestles to keep the upper hand. You go to knee him, but he moves quicker, slotting one of his legs between your own and pressing his body against yours to pin you completely against the wall.

then, something changes. he pauses, the close proximity seems to have finally registered in his brain. his eyes widen and you pause too, both panting, faces inches apart. his grip loosens, and a flicker of confusion crosses his features.

“wait, what’s-“

“shut up,” you snap suddenly. before you even realize what you’re doing, your hands are on his chest, and you’re shoving him towards your bed.

“take off your shirt,” you command as the back of his knees hit the mattress and he’s falling backwards. he quickly does as you say, looking up at you with wide eyes as you straddle him and rip your own shirt off as well. he mumbles a nice when he sees you’re not wearing a bra. you reach to tug off the sweatpants you had on, and as soon as you can kick them away Adam’s hands are on your waist and flipping you over. He hurriedly rips off the rest of his clothes before he’s back on you, leaning down to eagerly press kisses down your neck. you have to tilt your head to make room for the horns now permanently attached to his head, and you think of the irony of this situation.

the sound of fabric ripping followed immediately by two of his fingers finding your clit makes you gasp. you bite back a whimper as he begins to rub rough and sloppy circles on your clit. the pleasure doesn’t last long before he’s pulling his hand back, only to shove a finger inside your cunt quickly, and you gasp again. being so unprepared, the stretch burns a bit. fuck, has he always had such big hands? he’s gentle at first, as he works the single finger in and out of you, and once the pain subsides, he quickly adds a second one.

“Oh, fuck,” you can’t help the curse that slips past your lips, and before long you’re rocking your hips against his hand. his movements are rushed and sloppy, impatient as he stretches you out. he chuckles dryly, and you shoot him a glare.

once again, before long, he’s pulling away, and grabbing you by the shoulders to make you sit up with him. you whine involuntarily at the loss of contact, and the cocky bastard laughs again.

“So impatient, babe,” He grins.

“Shut up,” You say again, pushing him so that he’s sitting up against the bed frame. You crawl over to him, and straddle his lap. His hands find your ass, groping it roughly while you grab the base of his cock and align the tip with your entrance.

You both gasp in unison when you swiftly lower yourself to take his full length. A strangled moan escapes from your lips and you let your head fall forward to rest on his shoulder. Eyes squeezed shut, you wait so you can adjust to his size. Seriously, how had you never noticed how big he was before now? Prematurely, Adam angles his hips and suddenly thrusts up into you, making you cry out in pain and pleasure.

“Oh you like that, bitch? Huh?” He says teasingly, running his hands up and down your back before moving his hips again.

“You have seriously got to learn to be quiet,” You retort through gritted teeth, reaching up to pull his hair from the roots. He lets out a groan, followed by a more pathetic whine as you begin to move on his length.

It must be all the pent up emotion, because you’re very quickly unable to speak beyond a few curses and wanton moans. Adam however, can’t seem to stop talking. Mumbling about how good you feel- for a whore, how he didn’t think you’d be so tight, how you’re so fucking sexy he wishes he’d done this sooner.

“Ugh, Adam- shut up!” You groan as you move desperately. He whines as you pull his hair again for emphasis, biting his lip as you feel his hips snap up into yours.

“Oh, god-“ You’re squealing, back arching as you can feel your whole body tense. You’re on top, but as you grow more limp, he’s holding you upright as he roughly fucks into you. “I’m close!” You warn, and it comes out a strangled sob.

You’re so, so close. Euphoria clouds your brain, and collapse onto him as he continues to hold you up to thrust into you.

You fall backwards, and Adam follows, caging you underneath him as he chases his own release now.

“oh- fuck- don’t stop!” You’re practically screaming as your orgasm crashes over you, and you wrap your arms around and claw at Adam desperately, fingernails leaving marks on his fleshy back. You only faintly register the breathless laugh he lets out at your state as he now pounds into you.

He slams into you with an intensity that forces the air out of your lungs, and even Adam can’t form thoughts or speak anymore.

“Oh, fu-uuck, fuck, fuck, oh my god,” He can’t believe the noises that are coming from him, but he also can’t find it in himself to care when you feel this good. You’re so sensitive, and still tight from your previous climax, and he can feel your pulse in the walls of your cunt as you clench around him.

Pleasure quickly turns to overstimulation, and you moan his name again, reaching up to pull at his hair, horns, wings, anything, as tears begin to prick at your eyes. Hearing you moan his name, seeing the look on your face, knowing he’s the one doing this to you is what he needed to send him over the edge.

“o-oh my god-“ he groans, hips stuttering as he presses his body as close to yours as possible, spilling his cum deeply inside of you with an actual moan.

He stays still for a moment, both of your breathing labored, sweat making your hair stick to your foreheads and necks, but you stay holding eachother. While both your brains are still fuzzy, thoughts muddled from the aftershocks, he takes a hand up and wipes your hair away from your face, and the tears from your eyes.

Eventually, he sits up and pulls out of you, rolling over to lay next to you on the bed. Neither of you say anything, too fucked out to think of the repercussions from your actions.

[onlymingyus]

Holidate (Snowventeen Collab)

pairing; yoon jeonghan x afab reader

genre; smut, angst, fluff

warnings; fake boyfriend au, artist!jeonghan, stress about lying, unrealized feelings, conflict with family, reader’s parents are in the fic, joshua hong as a best friend, pretty heavy angst, eating and drinking mentioned, protected sex, oral (f receiving), handjob, fingering, light scratching, light breast play 

svthub snowventeen collab master list - snowventeen tag list

w/c; 13k and some change 

a/n; this will be my last snowventeen fic and for some reason as with most of my holiday fics this one got out of hand with length. I hope you enjoy it. thank you to @junkissed-replies, @duhnova, and @wonwussy for reading/proofreading.

“Why me?” Jeonghan’s brow raises in amusement giving you a full once over while you stand in front of him. He was one of your best friends but he really could be a dick when he wanted to be. “Because for one, you said you aren’t doing anything with your family for the holidays. Two, you are…classically attractive, and three, I need your help.” 

When you call him attractive, Jeonghan’s smirk widens dramatically, leaning over the kitchen counter towards you lifting his hand to push your hair behind your ear causing you to take a breath. “You think I’m attractive?” Of course that would be the only part of the entire explanation he would have latched on to. Sighing loudly, you push his hand down causing Jeonghan to laugh and stand at his full height again. 

“Will you go with me or not? I’m sure there will be someone there to torture, besides me.” Jeonghan runs his thumb along his bottom lip and gives you another once over lost in thought. A sigh escaping his lips when he nods causing you to smile melting his facade for a brief moment. You watch his face soften, his smile genuine until he clears his throat and glances down to his phone. 

“I’m sure it will be fun and then you’ll owe me. I’m not sure how you’ll ever pay me back for this one though.” You sigh loudly at his words, lifting your shoulders in a dramatic shrug causing Jeonghan to laugh while he watches you. “I’ll buy you some paint or cook for you for like a week.” As much as he wanted to hold his over you for longer, Jeonghan couldn’t help the smile on his lips at your ideas of paying him back. They were both so genuine things he would enjoy from you but mostly just knowing that both would include your company. 

You watch him nod, his lips pursed in thought causing his face to look somehow even more strikingly handsome. You found yourself more often than not wanting to smack the smug look off his face but you knew you never could. “Tell you what, I’ll keep those in the bank,” Jeonghan points at his head at the mention of the bank, his lips turning up in a smirk causing you to roll your eyes as he continues speaking. “and I’ll let you know what I decide. For now, gorgeous, you can call me boyfriend.” You really were going to regret this. 

Your stomach was in knots by the time that you and Jeonghan pulled up outside of your family home. He had been a perfect gentleman and actually helpful most of the trip. Trying to help you stay calm, telling you he would make this easy. “We’ve been friends for years, Y/N. I know you better than you know yourself. I can play your boyfriend without a problem.” Then why was your brain screaming that your family would know you were lying?

This had all been so that you could stop the questions of when you were going to find a boyfriend, when you were going to get married, and most of all so you could stop the “well, you know your eggs are dying each and every day” conversations. For the past few years you were the center of attention for all the wrong reasons so this year you had taken it into your own hands to change the script. 

Sliding out of the car, you swallow hard starting to turn towards the trunk of the Uber only to feel Jeonghan take your hand, hearing him tsk at you. “You are going to have to act like my girlfriend too. This is a two way street darling. So, though I don’t know who those people watching from the window are, I think it would be better if I carried in our bags, don’t you agree?” 

Your eyes scan the front of the house seeing the face of your cousin, your mother, and one of your aunts watching you like a hawk. A large smile on your mother’s face while her hands gripped at the front of her dress trying to remain calm, you were so much like her. You had been nervous before, now you are terrified, your hands were sweating and Jeonghan could feel you trembling. 

“Oh my god, they are gonna know I’m lying.” Jeonghan sighs at your words reaching up to push your hair from your forehead while the Uber driver sets the bags at his feet muttering a simple goodbye before the car pulls out of the driveway. “No they won’t. I won’t let this fail, when have you ever seen me fail anything?” 

He had a point, he was good at everything. It was truly disgusting the more you thought about it. You found yourself instinctively leaning into Jeonghan’s hand making him smirk a bit, his own stomach doing flips but he was much better at hiding it. “Mhm, that’s what I thought. So just go with the flow and try to follow my lead. I’ll try to follow yours, okay?” 

When you nod, Jeonghan smiles, his eyes glancing towards the window seeing even more people watching the two of you now. “Mm we have quite the audience. Don’t pull away…” You start to ask from what but Jeonghan leans in pressing his lips to yours letting them brush over yours so softly it takes your breath away. Shock sets in only once he pulls back his hand on your cheek covering your reaction from the onlookers, only a look of admiration on his face even as he wants to laugh at your wide eyes. “Couples kiss, you are going to have to get used to that, baby.” 

“Oh my god, you’ve never kissed me before.” Jeonghan laughs, his thumb brushing along your cheek for a moment longer before he finally steps away to pick up both bags glancing back to wink at you. “Yeah, well I’ve never had a reason or occasion to kiss you before. Now let’s go in before they come out here. You have to introduce me to your family.” 

You were still in shock walking slightly behind Jeonghan while taking the lead, making you bite the bullet and head towards the house. “You keep calling me pet names, you called me baby.” Jeonghan laughs, glancing over to you with a nod, “You are so observant today. I did call you baby because couples also use pet names. I thought it would be strange if we didn’t use them. You can call me anything you want, unless it’s something that would be obviously embarrassing. Y/N, take a deep breath, you look like you are going to pass out.” 

His words are deaf in your ears when the front door opens, your mom’s voice cutting through the silence. “Y/N! Hi honey, you didn’t let us know you had landed and that you’d be bringing a guest.” You start to speak but Jeonghan can see how your lips barely seem to move so he takes over leaning to sit down the bags on the first step of the house, a bright smile on his lips when he offers your mother his hand. 

“I’m Yoon Jeonghan, I’m afraid much of this is my fault, Mrs. Y/L/N. Y/N wanted to give you all a heads up but I thought it would be more fun if I was more of a surprise, a gift in a way. I know how important she is to you all, she has to be if she’s so important to me.” Your mother’s breath is shallow while she holds Jeonghan’s hand, his charming words cutting through her like a knife. 

“Oh…it’s okay Jeonghan. I just, I’m afraid dear that I have only heard your name a few times from my daughter and with how you are speaking about her…” She lets the words trail off hoping that Jeonghan would fill in the blanks while her eyes fall on you, your cheeks burning as others stand in the doorway of the family home. 

Jeonghan laughs moving to put his arm around your waist, his fingers pressing into your hip pulling you closer to him. “Again, my fault, I apologize. I hope you won’t hold that against your daughter or me, but if you are thinking that we are together you are correct. We have been for just under a year now.” 

The two of you hadn’t discussed details of your dating life, that was hitting you now like a ton of bricks and you were incredibly grateful to Jeonghan for being so composed in coming up with a story on the spot. Glancing up at him you find yourself smiling softly making his throat tighten when his heart beats a bit faster.

Your mother’s voice cuts through you once again but you don’t look away from Jeonghan right away. “Oh! Oh my goodness, Y/N! He’s lovely, I wish you had told me. I don’t understand why you two have kept this so hush hush…”

Jeonghan grins, lifting his hand without thinking to brush over your cheek, making your mom coo out a sound of appreciation at how tender he appears with you even as he speaks. “I guess I just wanted to keep her to myself for a little while. No pressure to be anything but us.” You swallow hard nodding in agreement watching Jeonghan move to pick up the bags again. His eyes finding your mom once again letting her grab your hand pulling you closer to her. 

“I’m so happy to see you with someone like this.” You laugh a bit out of nerves until you meet Jeonghan’s eyes and his smile. “I’m happy too, Mom.” Her laugh mirrors yours, her hand holding you tighter while pulling you up the stairs letting Jeonghan follow you both this time. “Okay let me get you both settled then you can introduce Jeonghan to everyone.” 

The word ‘everyone’ echoed in your head all the way up the stairs and to your old bedroom where you stood still causing your mom to laugh. “Where is Jeonghan going to stay?” The laugh that escaped her lips caused you to jump slightly surprised only to feel Jeonghan behind you like a reliable rock. “Honey…I am not under any impression that if you two have been dating for around a year that you haven’t shared a room. He can stay with you, I don’t mind, besides we are tight on space. This is easiest.” 

Jeonghan’s cheeks were warm this time, he had expected to have his own space away from you at least a night but he smiles at your mother leaning down to kiss the side of your head reassuringly. “This is perfect Mrs. Y/L/N. I’d rather be close to Y/N anyway.” You both watch her smile, a nod of her head when she pushes the door opening showing you the same bedroom you had used since a child. You find yourself happy you had taken down most of the embarrassing posters and changed out the bedding set a few years ago. 

“Once you two are settled please come down. We are going to have drinks soon and like I said, you have to introduce your boyfriend to everyone. I know they are literally holding themselves back from climbing the stairs to get a look at him.” Another nervous laugh slips from your lips but you nod, leaning to kiss your mother’s cheek shutting the door with a small creaking sound. 

Jeonghan watches you lean your forehead against the wood, his eyes curiously moving along your body while he drops the bags next to the bed and sits on it. “Y/N…she didn’t know. We are doing fine.” Your throat felt like it was closing up but you nod and glance back at Jeonghan furrowing your brows seeing him sitting on your bed. “Oh my god, how are we going to do this? You, sleeping in here, with me.” 

A small sigh slips from Jeonghan’s lips, he didn’t see what the big deal was with sharing the bed but clearly it was making you freak out. Standing he glances around the room seeing a thick blanket picking it up showing it to you. “Just provide me with a pillow. I can sleep on the floor.” You felt horrible, the idea of him sleeping on the floor but at the same time it did make you calm down some. It seemed easier than sharing the bed with him. 

Nodding you move further into the room while Jeonghan lays the blanket on the bed turning back towards you offering you his hand. “The others won’t be as easy as my mom. She’s easily charmed.” You watch a smirk spread over Jeonghan’s lips when he takes your hand running his thumb along the back of it lifting his brow. 

“Well I’m incredibly charming, Y/N. You just keep up with the story in case we get separated. With that said, we probably need a firmer one, we didn’t really talk about that.” He watches you nod while obviously chewing on your cheek. “Okay, dating for just under a year. We’ve been friends for years, which is true. I asked you out for dinner, I’m a gentleman so that makes sense.” 

When you roll your eyes Jeonghan laughs fighting the urge to lift his hand to brush over your cheek again. “Well I am, just ask your mom. So dinner, it became two then three dates and finally we just decided to become an item. You like that I paint…” You furrow your brows at Jeonghan’s words tilting your head. 

“Yeah I do, so?” His fingers hold your thumb, stroking your skin gently without much thought, a laugh so smooth exiting his mouth it makes you have to hold back a shiver. “I’m just pointing out an easy point of conversation. I like how determined you are, smart, and kind…you were easy to fall in love with.” 

Your brows furrow, you swallow hard finding it almost difficult to do so making your next words come out slightly strained. “Well your painting can’t be the only thing I like about you.” Jeonghan grins, raising his brow, lifting his free hand to gesture for you to continue. “Then tell me darling, what else do you love about me.” 

The word love makes you pause, your mouth opening and closing one too many times making Jeonghan laugh. “God you are adorable…” When your hand connects with his chest, the smack weak but still getting your point across, Jeonghan continues to laugh, lifting both hands this time in defeat. “I…fine, I love that you are talented, your paintings, you are intelligent, charming, and deep down…and I mean way deep in your twisted little soul you are one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met.” 

It was Jeonghan’s turn to swallow hard, his cheeks burning slightly while he laughed to hide his own feelings. “See, that wasn’t so hard. This will be easy as pie. Even I have to admit looking at us this all makes sense. So…we continue to go with the flow.” 

Jeonghan’s words make you take in another shaky breath, something becoming far too common for you recently. His eyes are still moving over your face in thought until you finally nod your head and meet his eyes. “Yeah, it’ll be fine. Let me just freshen up a little bit and we can go downstairs.” Watching you move from him, Jeonghan bites at his bottom lip when you move into the ensuite bathroom. At least you two were lucky enough to have that extra space to yourselves which would make showering easier on this trip without drawing suspicions. 

Behind closed doors you take a few steadying breaths looking at yourself in the mirror, the water running into the sink in front of you loud enough that you hoped Jeonghan wouldn’t hear your panicked sighs. You had always been more attracted to Jeonghan than you wanted to admit to yourself much less him, and now you were stuck in the same bedroom with him for close to a week. You knew you had put yourself into this predicament and yet it didn’t seem to help you feel any less panicked about it. 

By the time you come out of the bathroom Jeonghan is sitting back on your bed looking at his phone, both bags on the dresser open. “You opened my bag?” Without looking up Jeonghan nods with a sound of acknowledgement. “In case you needed something before we headed down. I was going to look for your toiletries bag but I didn’t wanna overstep. Especially since you packed your lacy things on top.” 

Your cheeks burn hotter than you thought they could, a scoff falling from your lips when you move over to your bag digging through things slightly to find your smaller bag taking it out putting it down harder than necessary. “What’s wrong Y/N? I didn’t mess with them. They are pretty, shame no one sees them.” 

“Yoon Jeonghan…I said to torture someone besides me while we are here. Oh my god, please stop talking about my underwear and my sex life.” Jeonghan laughs under his breath, moving to stand, finding his way to stand behind you looking over your shoulder into the mirror. “Sorry, you make it too easy sometimes. I’ll be good, promise.” 

You meet his eyes in the mirror while Jeonghan lifts his hand offering you his pinky as his promise. Your brows furrow but you lift your hand linking your pinky awkwardly with his not moving to turn around. Jeonghan’s hand slides along your hip, a smirk on his lips briefly until he pulls away with a sigh. “Waiting on you, baby. I’m ready to go meet the family.” 

Most of the introductions had gone much like your mother’s until you had reached your cousin Patricia. Her eyes lingered just a little too long on Jeonghan for a woman who was already in a relationship, her smirk too knowing. “It’s just so funny to me that no one knew about you beforehand, Jeonghan. Y/N is really not great at keeping secrets. In fact she’s always been a little too loose-lipped for her own good, ever since we were kids.” 

Your eyes fell on her left hand, she had been moving it more than she needed to trying to get you or Jeonghan one to say something about the ridiculously large diamond situated on her ring finger. Jeonghan laughs a bit strained, his fingers pressing into your side while he takes a deep breath into your hair trying to stay calm while dealing with the woman. “Mm, you smell so good.” At his words, your cheeks burn but a smile spreads across your cheeks at how genuine he seems even as you meet his eyes. 

Patricia watches the interaction only to roll her eyes at the theatrics and clear her throat. “As I was saying…” Her sentence is cut short when Jeonghan looks back at your cousin with a sickeningly sweet smile on his lips that you had only seen when he was truly irritated. “That I am a well kept secret, Trish…we wanted it that way. I liked having her all to myself. No annoying phone calls from relatives…on either side asking when we’d take the next steps.” 

“Mm right, and it’s Patricia. I’d prefer that, if you don’t mind.” Jeonghan just smiles, lowering his head in a small nod that you know meant he would call her Trish a few more times now knowing it bothered her. When Patricia lifts her hand obviously to push her hair behind her shoulder, a laugh slipping from her lips, Jeonghan sighs, noticing you giving her the attention she wanted. 

You hadn’t meant to look at the ring again but she was throwing it in your face and the moment she noticed you looking Paticia gasped with such fake surprise you felt sick to your stomach. “Oh, yeah, oh my god Y/N look at this. Liam proposed last week, and I just had to say yes. He really is the most amazing man I’ve ever met in my entire life.” 

Jeonghan watches you reluctantly congratulate her, your fingers brushing barely over hers to acknowledge the ring. “You can touch it, it’s 4 carats. Cost him a literal fortune but he said I was worth it and who am I to argue. “ Patricia’s words were starting to grate on Jeonghan’s brain, especially when he watched one of your aunts, assuming it was the woman’s mother approach and start to gush over the engagement to you. 

“We are just overjoyed. We seriously expected you to be first Y/N. Your mother has honestly been disappointed every single year dear. Such a shame, but now since you seem to have a dashing young man…maybe he will make an honest woman out of you yet.” That seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back in Jeonghan’s head. 

“I already have, or we are well on our way.” Your brows furrow heavily at Jeonghan’s words, the two women in front of you suddenly speechless, their eyes fixated on the man standing at your side. His eyes fall on your confused ones, you watch him smile, a look of confidence on his face. “Sorry baby, I know you wanted to wait but it is the holidays. Besides…I’d rather them all know you are going to be my wife.” 

As if his words were a beacon in the room, your mother was at your side within seconds. Her hands grabbing your hands looking for a ring causing your cousin to laugh in disbelief. “She’s, well, she’s not even wearing a ring.” She had a point, you thought to yourself. This hadn’t been the plan, not even in the realm of the plan. This was so far off script that you were also speechless. 

Jeonghan however shrugged, a gentle smile on his lips when he met Patricia’s eyes. “We didn’t want to rub our good fortune into the face of others. The holidays are supposed to be about family and coming together. That’s why Y/N wanted to wait but after meeting you all, this felt like the exact right time to let you all know.” 

It seemed to be enough to silence your cousin for the time being, Jeonghan watched her take a step back allowing your mother to step in closer to you. Her excitement obviously keeps you and Jeonghan distracted until he feels a firm hand on his shoulder. His eyes find the hand before who it belongs to only for Jeonghan to swallow hard when he meets the eyes of your father. 

“Could we have a talk, son?” Your eyes were now on your father and Jeonghan even when your mother told you he would be fine and to just stay with her. “Oh..yeah I know but, uh Daddy, be nice!” Your words barely reach the man’s ears but you hear a gruff sound that lets you know he heard you request. Jeonghan wrings his hands together, his nerves taking over him more than they had the entire night when he finds himself in a corner of the living room away from most of the guests.

“Um, sir…I feel like I should apologize for just springing this on everyone. I should have of course asked for permission be–” His words were cut short when Jeonghan watches the man smile, your father’s larger hand moving to gently slap at his cheek. “I appreciate that you considered it now. I have been watching you with her, Y/N looks happy. That’s all I need or want, Jeonghan. Don’t break my little girl’s heart, that’s what I wanted to tell you away from everyone else.” 

Jeonghan stands perfectly still, the hand falling from his face while the man keeps his eyes fixed on him waiting for him to speak. “I–I won’t, I swear.” Now he felt like you had when the two of you had arrived. The man was going to know he was lying, not about perhaps breaking your heart but about it all. Swallowing hard, Jeonghan puts on a smile and lifts his hand to scratch at his eyebrow in thought. 

“I believe you, and don’t keep any more of the details from us. I’m afraid my wife might lose her mind if you try, and I’ll lose mine in the process of that. I look forward to meeting your parents one day soon, hopefully.” Jeonghan holds back a groan at the idea of how he was going to turn this back around after he left here. He was going to break your mother’s heart but that was something he’d have to worry about next week. 

“Uh, yes sir. I’m sure they would be very happy to meet you as well.” 

At the end of the night you found yourself sitting on your bed, your hands tugging at your sleep shirt in an attempt to pull it further down your legs while Jeonghan made a makeshift bed on the floor near you. Reaching for the other pillow on your bed you offer it to him when he looks up from kneeling on the floor, his eyes lingering over your bareskin without much shame causing you to swallow hard. 

“Jeonghan…” You watch him smile glancing away to put the pillow down muttering his apologies though it wasn’t your intention. “No, I was just going to say, the marriage thing? What the hell? We don’t even have a ring…that wasn’t the plan. That goes way beyond you pretending to be my boyfriend, don’t you think?” 

Turning to lay down on the blanket, Jeonghan makes a face to the feeling of the hard floor against his back before letting out a small sigh. “I just got frustrated at your cousin, she’s a real bitch. You looked like a deer in the headlights when it came to her, so I lost it and it just kinda happened. I’ll get you a ring tomorrow.” 

It was that simple? He could just get a ring tomorrow. When you scoff, Jeonghan glances up to you on the bed, a smile on his lips at your reaction. “What? Are you mad? Everyone seemed so happy about it. I mean except Trish.”  Furrowing your brows you let out a breath moving to lay down on the bed looking up at the ceiling in the low light while Jeonghan’s eyes still remain on what he can see of you even as you pull the covers over your body. 

“I’m not mad, I’m just worried. That was a huge jump and it’s going to be a huge disappointment later.” Jeonghan felt that same sinking feeling he had felt when talking with your father earlier. He hadn’t meant to hurt you, and to leave you with the clean up later. “Y/N…I can try to fix–” You speak over Jeonghan cutting him off causing him to smile, his teeth catching his bottom lip. 

“However, it is nice to watch Patricia not be the center of attention and get what she wants for once.” Turning on your side, you look at Jeonghan, your eyes moving across his face until he notices meeting your eyes causing him to laugh. “Then we will let you have your moment, babe.” 

Shaking your head, you tuck your chin into the covers with a half surprised sound trying to get comfortable when Jeonghan calls you another pet name. “No one is here to hear you call me babe.” A smile still on his face, Jeonghan shrugs, turning his face back towards the ceiling letting a soft breath slip from his lips. “No, but I’m just letting you get used to hearing it.” 

The sound of the knock at the door didn’t seem real at first. You whine not wanting to wait up, turning your face into the pillow you mutter in your sleep but then hear your mother’s voice telling you that she has breakfast in bed for you and your fiancé. “Huh?” 

“I have some breakfast for you honey. Are you decent? Unlock the door and I’ll bring it in.” Panic sets in when you glance to the floor to see a still sleeping Jeonghan. Sliding out of the bed you kneel beside him and put your hand over his mouth speaking in whispers when he wakes up shocked to see you leaning over him. “My mom is here with breakfast. Get in the fucking bed!” 

Jeonghan shakes his head trying to understand what is happening but another knock and the impatience in your mother’s voice sends him into a similar panic as you get him moving. You watch him move around your bed, the pillow back in its original place, his legs under the covers while you throw the blanket over your comforter trying to make it look as if the two of you had been using it for extra warmth. 

“Mom, I’m coming!” Making sure Jeonghan was settled, you see him nod before you open the door and offer her a smile, your fingers pulling at your nightshirt similar to the night before when you had tried to hide your legs from Jeonghan. “You didn’t have to bring us breakfast. We could have come down to eat…” 

“I know honey, but it’s already after 9 and you hadn’t come down yet so I figured I would just bring it up. I assumed the two of you were up late…being young.” You grimace at her connotation causing her to laugh while she approaches the bed, her smile on full display for Jeonghan. When he leans to take the tray of food and coffee from her, your mother coos in appreciation glancing back at you happily. “I adore him, he’s such a gentleman. Do you two have plans today?” 

You start to speak, but Jeonghan is quicker with a smile on his face. “Mm yes, Y/N has promised to take me into town. Show me around a little bit, I hope you don’t mind Mrs. Y/L/N. “ Your mom laughs giddy with excitement, shaking her head with a hand on her chest. “I don’t mind at all but please Jeonghan, you are literally part of the family now. Call me Mom, I insist.” 

Jeonghan glances at you then nods, clearing his throat while moving the tray so you can sit back down on the bed next to him. “Of course…Mom. I’ll be sure to get her back well before dinner.” The two of you watch your mother fuss over you for a moment longer before she finally leaves the room shutting the door with a small squeak leaving you both in silence. 

“That was too close of a call. We can’t take that long to answer the door again…” Jeonghan nods in agreement, stabbing a fork into some scrambled eggs lifting them towards you, surprising you when he offers you the first bite of food. Watching you take the food he smiles a bit and shrugs. “You’ll just have to share your bed with your future husband.”  

Walking around downtown in your hometown felt different this year. It always felt a little strange after being gone for a few months but this year it was like seeing it through different eyes. Jeonghan had let you point out a few stores to him, he had commented on how quant it all felt in comparison to where he had grown up and where the two of you lived now. 

Now you were sitting outside of a store, a bag at your feet and a drink in your hand while you waited for Jeonghan to finish his errand. You had an idea of what he was up to but if you thought too much about it your stomach began to feel twisted up with nerves. It wasn’t real but it was terrifying how quickly you had to begin reminding yourself of that. 

Jeonghan thanked the woman at the counter reaching out to take the small bag containing a velvet box. It had taken him far too long to decide on a ring, especially for a relationship that wasn’t real. His brain just couldn’t seem to tell his heart the same as he slipped the bag into his jacket pocket and headed out onto the sidewalk turning back up to where he had left you. 

You were breathtaking, just sitting on a bench, the sun on your skin and in your hair. Jeonghan smiled to himself watching you for just a moment longer than he probably should have while you fidgeted with your phone almost seemingly out of nerves before he felt his own phone go off in his pocket. You had obviously sent him a text message and he couldn’t blame you. He had taken so long on his task but he didn’t take his phone out instead he pushed forward simply saying your name causing you to look up with a smile spreading over your pretty face when you saw him.

“I’m really sorry, I know that took me forever. Oh you went shopping too? What did you get?” Jeonghan glanced at the larger bag on the ground next to your feet with curiosity. “Uh I’ll show you when we get back to the house…I sent you a text just a minute ago. I was just getting worried about you. I know you don’t know this area.” 

You had been worried about him, Jeonghan’s chest tightened slightly but he managed to keep a straight face putting on a slight smirk. “I found you didn’t I?” When you nod, Jeonghan sits beside you reaching for your drink, taking a sip of the coffee with a pleased sound even as you stare at him in disbelief.  

“What? What is that look for? Couples share drinks, darling.” Jeonghan watches you shake your head, your head lowering trying to hide an amused smile giving him time to take out the small bag removing the box. “Mm, Y/N?” Hearing your name you think Jeonghan wants you to take your drink back but when you go to reach for it you find a velvet box in his hand instead, making you lose not only your train of thought but also your breath. 

Sensing your panic, Jeonghan scoots closer taking your left hand a laugh under his breath. “Don’t make it a big deal. You might hate it anyway…” You doubted it very much but yet you couldn’t find the words to come up with a witty comeback while you watched him open the box. Your eyes move over the ring, a pear shaped diamond, the band containing more small diamonds that caught the sun in an almost blinding way. 

“I mean, if you really do hate it…the lady said I could exchange it within 48 hours–” Without thinking you move your left hand from his once the ring was settled in place to place your palm against Jeonghan’s cheek. Your lips brush against his gently taking his breath away this time. When it clicks what you’ve done, the apologies start under your breath but Jeonghan laughs, shaking his head. 

“Why are you sorry? Couples kiss, especially engaged ones.” All you could think was there was no one here to watch the two of you kiss. There was no reason for you to have done it but his lips were back on yours, his hand pulling you closer by the back of your neck deepening the kiss further. You feel your chest tightening knowing you should pull away and remind both of you that this wasn’t real but it felt too nice to just give into the moment. 

Jeonghan smiles against your lips when you don’t pull away. His stomach flips with excitement because though he knows he should pull away he doesn’t want to. He had found himself wanting to get closer to you before this entire trip and situation but he had never known how to approach it. He had been afraid to ruin what to him seemed like the perfect friendship. 

When Jeonghan’s tongue glides along yours for the first time, that is when your brain fires off a panic, a small whine slipping from your lips. Jeonghan sighs against your lips leaning his forehead against yours nodding. “Sorry…that was too much.” You wanted to tell him it wasn’t, that you were just afraid of what this all meant or what it could mean but instead you only nod. 

“I promised your mom we would be back in time for dinner. I need to keep that promise.” 

You found yourself surprised how with even the weight of an expensive ring on your finger, your mother fawning over you, Jeonghan caused your nerves to calm with a single look. Dinner was much more simple with less family over though you knew that wouldn’t last in the days to come. More family would be back for dinners and holiday celebrations but you could take what calm you could get. Especially if that meant time away from your aunt and cousin. 

After dinner Jeonghan had been able to help you slip away without much trouble using his charm, something you were actually beginning to enjoy. Maybe you could get used to being around him more. No, that wasn’t a thought you needed in your mind, no matter how easy he was making this. 

Watching him from the bed you find yourself smiling to yourself before you remember the bag you had brought home from the shopping trip now sitting in the arm chair in the corner of the room. “Oh! Jeonghan, I almost forgot.” Your voice is almost unexpected, especially with how excited you sounded saying his name, Jeonghan jumps slightly laughing under his breath when he turns to watch you crawling over the bed, your shirt riding up your legs. 

Jeonghan finds himself sucking in a breath to suppress a soft groan to the image, the look of your thighs on display like this was not something he had thought he would see but he had often imagined them. “What…uh, what did you forget?” You glance over at his stuttered words, a smile on your lips when you drag the large bag on to the bed and pat next to it for him to join you. 

“I bought you a present, ya know…since I owe you for all of this.” Moving towards the bed Jeonghan takes a breath, trying to keep his eyes from your legs and instead on your face and the bag once you start to take out the art supplies making his heart melt. “You didn’t seem to bring any. You are always painting back home…I thought you might miss it while we are here. I don’t think they aren’t like fantastic , but it’s something to play with.” 

Sitting on the bed Jeonghan takes the brushes from your hands letting his fingers slip over yours making you shiver slightly. You meet his eyes briefly before clearing your throat returning to your task taking out a few different sized canvases, some tubes of paint, and pencils. “I know there are more things you use, and normally you’d choose oil but the lady at the store said for travel, gouache would be easier for little projects.” 

You really had thought about everything, Jeonghan smiled shaking his head taking a tube of the paint into his hands looking it over. “This is wonderful, babe. Thank you…seriously.” Your stomach tightens at the pet name and how it flows off his lips even with no one watching the two of you. When you reply with a meek, “You’re welcome” Jeonghan looks up with a laugh tilting his head. “Are you okay?” 

Nodding you move from your knees to pull at your nightshirt trying to cover your skin once again. “Uh yeah, no I’m fine. Just a little tired…we had a busy day.” Jeonghan’s eyes fall on your hands fussing with the front of your shirt much like your mom seemed to do with her dresses or shirt when she was lost in thought. A smile on his lips even when he nods moving to stand moving the art supplies from the bed sitting them to the side. 

“Then we should call it a night. Tomorrow is going to be another busy day, or evening I suppose. Your dad was telling me that the family is coming back over for dinner.” You nod moving under the covers, your heart beating fast while you watch Jeonghan move around the bed. His eyes catching yours and how nervous you clearly were. 

“I promise I’ll be a good boy. I’ll keep my hands to myself and everything.” You couldn’t help but to laugh at Jeonghan’s words, feeling the bed sink down very slightly under his weight. A small happy sigh leaving his lips at the difference between the floor and the hard floor hitting him like a train. “God, your bed is comfortable.” 

You feel a bit of guilt watching him turn on his side, his face nuzzling into the pillow making you smile slightly when he allows himself to get comfortable. You knew this had to be better than the floor, you couldn’t imagine how much his back must hurt with just a blanket to lay on. “I’m sorry Jeonghan.” 

A sound of tired confusion leaves his lips, Jeonghan’s eyes opening to look at you laying on your side looking at him. The sight of you like this once again taking his breath away more than he had anticipated. “Why are you sorry?” He watches you shrug slightly clearly thinking too hard with how your brows pinch together. 

“I shouldn’t have made you sleep on the floor in the first place. We are both adults, that was incredibly childish of me. I just…get more nervous around you than I probably should.” Jeonghan grins, his brow raising in curiosity. He wanted to press you and get to the bottom of why you were nervous around him but he felt like he already knew the answer, he just wished you’d say it. “Mm, well don’t be so worried about things. They say things happen for a reason right?” 

Rolling your eyes, you laugh and turn on your back causing Jeonghan to stifle his own laugh by biting his lips. God you were so pretty even in a dark room, he had you in a bed and all he wanted to do was kiss you again but he had made a promise. “Goodnight Jeonghan.” Your voice cuts through the silence and his thoughts, Jeonghan makes a sound nodding his head a soft, “Goodnight” muttered into the night. 

Jeonghan had woken up in the bed alone, he had been a bit sad about that but he wasn’t upset about how much better his back felt. He could hear the sounds of your family downstairs but he also knew there was no rush to go down. He wanted to give you time with them alone, he owed that to you. He had been on your heels almost the entire time since the two of you had walked in the front door. 

Taking his time, Jeonghan took out the bag of art supplies you had gotten for him, unwrapping each one with extreme care. A smile on his lips while he balanced his phone on his shoulder letting it ring while he waited for Joshua Hong to pick up on the other end. It had been a few days since he had really talked to any of his other friends, including his best friend, and a lot had happened. 

“Realize there is a time difference you, asshole.” Jeonghan laughs hearing the tired voice of his best friend, shrugging while he shifts in the floor using one of the smallest canvases as a paint pallet to hold a few different colors while he balances a larger canvas against his leg. “Morning to you too, Sunshine. I need to talk to you so get your ass up, it’s not that early. You are just lazy.” 

Joshua groans, lifting his phone from his ear making a face realizing that Jeonghan was right. It was early morning but it wasn’t so early he could make too much of an argument. “I’m not lazy, I was out late having fun. You remember what that is like? Going out trying to get laid? Instead of playing boyfriend?” 

Jeonghan rolls his eyes, his focus split between the painting he was working on and the teasing coming from the phone. “I’m playing fiancé actually…” Hearing this development Joshua sits up in his bed rubbing his eyes as if that would change what he had heard. “Pardon me? Who’s fucking idea was that?” 

“Uh, mine actually. It was kind of an accident. Well not really but I’m not sure how to explain it. I was annoyed with her cousin. She’s such a bitch, trying to make Y/N feel like shit. I was tired of it so I just kinda said we were already engaged.” Jeonghan scoffed, hearing the laugh from the phone while Joshua tried to process what he had just been told. 

Adjusting the phone on his shoulder, Jeonghan lifts his hand holding the paintbrush, accidentally smearing the blue paint on his cheek. “Did you tell her that you’re in love with her too during this accidental proposal?” Joshua’s words strung but Jeonghan scoffed again, rinsing his brush out more vigorously than necessary. 

“I’m not in love with her, it was a crush…and I’m helping a friend. Don’t make this something awkward.” Hearing the sounds of painting, something Joshua was very accustomed to being friends with Jeonghan for so long, he raised a brow leaning forward on his bed. “Okay, did you take painting things with you on this trip? Because that is lame as fuck. Spend time with your girlfriend, I’m sorry your fiancée. And two, sure friends travel across the country to help each other and propose on accident all the time.” 

When yet another scoff slips from his mouth, Jeonghan sits up looking at his works thus far before dipping into the yellow paint making a face at Joshua’s words. “No, I didn't travel with painting supplies. Y/N bought me some yesterday, when I was buying her a ring actually. As for traveling across the country, all that bullshit you just said, I’d do it for you so yes for friends, I’d do a lot.” 

Joshua laughs in disbelief hearing that Jeonghan had bought you a ring but his words make his laugh fall short. “Ugh, I’d rather you didn’t. You seem perfectly happy in your relationship Hannie.” The cutesy version of Jeonghan’s name coming out of Joshua’s mouth like a taunt. “Are you that jealous, Shua? Did you want me to propose to you by accident first?” 

Jeonghan laughs hearing Joshua’s complaints about how stupid he is and how he’s stuck his foot in it this time. “Yeah…I fucking know, but I’ll figure it out. Honestly it’s not bad, I…nevermind.” Joshua smirks a bit when Jeonghan stops himself from admitting anything though he wasn’t an idiot. He had known for a long time how Jeonghan felt about you even if Jeonghan himself was too afraid to admit it. 

“Right, well you two enjoy the honeymoon and call me later.” Jeonghan wanted to come back with some witty comeback, something to make Joshua eat his words but the sound of the door opening behind him caused him to stop. “Uh yeah we will and I’ll do that. See ya.” 

You smile seeing Jeonghan sitting in the middle of the floor, paint on his cheeks, nose, and neck. It made you happy to see him using the supplies because you knew how important it was to him. Jeonghan watches your eyes move over him and then the painting, the sound of the door closing behind you when you step further into the room. 

“It’s so pretty Jeonghan. I was afraid I hadn’t gotten you enough colors to really make anything. I should have known you could make pretty much anything look good.” Jeonghan grins a bit shyly at your attention especially after his conversation with Joshua. You watch as he scratches the back of his neck only managing to smear more paint on to his skin causing you to laugh. 

“Jeonghan, baby…you have paint all over you.” Raising a brow, Jeonghan feels his cheeks burn hearing you call him a pet name for the first time. Even if you were using it to tease him slightly. Leaning down you use your fingers to push at the paint on his cheek, your eyes meeting his making you shy now. The look of adoration in his eyes before he lifts his brush pushing it against your jaw playfully. 

“Now you do too.” Jeonghan watches you gasp softly the feeling of the cold paint on your skin, he drags the brush along your neck raising his brow when you don’t pull away automatically. The sound of your breath hitching in your throat when Jeonghan puts the brush to the side reaching up to smear the paint along your skin with his thumb, a small laugh on his lips. 

“I really want to kiss you.” Your hand slides to his forearm, your fingers pressing against his skin making Jeonghan take a breath, his eyes moving across your face landing on your lips when you finally speak. “No one is here to see it.” You watch a smile spread across his face, Jeonghan shakes his head leaning up to close the space speaking against your lips. “I know.” 

Your mother seemed to notice a difference between you and Jeonghan. How he would reach out to hold your hand, lean over to kiss your cheek more often, and mostly how you couldn’t stop looking at him. She hadn’t doubted your affection for the man before but now it was so clear to see that she had to keep herself from staring at the two of you the entire dinner. 

On the other side of the table, Patricia had only shown up with her mother. Liam had been called away on business, which seemed to be a usual occurrence for him. You had to admit you felt bad for her though at the moment you couldn’t find yourself caring that much especially when she was still doing her best to try to ruin your “moment”. 

“The ring is cute, a bit small. The clarity seems a bit lackluster. You know Liam went to New York to get mine…” Jeonghan laughs softly against your shoulder before pressing a kiss to it. You can hear him barely mutter, “this bitch is getting on my last nerve” before he glances over to your cousin with a sigh. “New York you say? That’s fascinating, Trish.” 

She watches as Jeonghan slides his hand delicately along yours, the ring catching the light, nothing wrong with it at all, in fact if put beside hers there was much left to be desired in comparison. Jeonghan had clearly put thought into your ring, not only to make sure it was nice but also about how it would look on your finger. “Not to brag but there’s nothing but clarity to this ring. It’s a French cut pavé diamond, 4.28 carats to be exact, vvs clarity grade. What did you say yours was again?” 

Having not expected Jeonghan to have all the details of your ring and for it to be that nice, Patricia simply mutters her first name trying to remind him not to shorten it once again but Jeonghan smiles leaning to kiss your cheek again. “Anyway, the most important thing is how beautiful it looks on Y/N. I just wanted something that could come close to matching how stunning she is.” 

You hear Patricia scoff then her mother’s hushed voice telling her to calm down. Your eyes finding your mother’s amused glance before she lowers her own trying not to laugh. Jeonghan grins against your hair muttering his apologies for taking it too far only to feel you shake your head. “Don’t apologize. I’ve never seen her crumble so fast. She’s furious. Thank you for letting me feel like I’m special for once.” 

Jeonghan’s smile fades slightly, lifting his hand to brush his knuckles against your cheek. All he could think was how much of a shame it was that you had to only feel that now. “I’ll try to make sure you feel like this more often, darling.”  

You listened to the sound of the shower running from the bed, a book on your lap though you hadn’t read a single word. Your eyes looking over the diamond on your hand remembering all that Jeonghan had said about it and you the past few days. All that had happened the past few days. It felt like a whirlwind and as if you had been watching a movie. Like you were watching your life from the outside in. 

Furrowing your brows, you sigh leaning your head back against the headboard not really noticing the sound of the shower cutting off or the sound of the door creaking open. Jeonghan watches you, shorts low on his hips, his chest still damp, a towel in his hand lifting it to his blonde hair to push it through catching some falling droplets. 

You once again were taking away his breath by doing nothing. You had said you were going to read after your own shower. He hadn’t wanted to disturb you, give you some time to yourself, but now here you were, the book on your lap, but you were running your fingertips over your ring. It made Jeonghan’s chest tighten, his heart beat faster. 

Jeonghan tosses the towel gently into the hamper, his eyes finding his now dried painting, a woman draped across a bed, she looked suspiciously like you but you hadn’t commented on it. His lips turned up in a slight smile when you made a sound of acknowledgement realizing he was in the room with you once again. 

Your eyes travel over his bare back, the light from the lamps catching some stray water he hadn’t caught with his towel that made you want to run your hands over his skin to push it away, but you didn’t dare move or speak. Jeonghan turned back towards the bed, his eyes much less shy than they had been before when it came to you in this room. 

He let them skirt over your leg on the outside of the comforter, up to the nightgown you had chosen to wear tonight instead of an old loose shirt. A smile pushing up at the corner of his lips when he walked around the bed crawling on to it to take the book off your lap closing it even when you start to complain. “You weren’t even reading it.” 

“I might have been…besides, why did you take it?” You were asking silly questions and you both knew that. Jeonghan’s hand slides along your side causing your brows to furrow, your body instinctively sliding down in the bed slightly. “Jeonghan…we can’t. This isn’t real, it will ruin our friendship.” 

Jeonghan furrows his brows, shaking his head, he would never make you do anything you didn’t want to do. Stopping, his hand resting over your hips, Jeonghan glances up letting his nose brush against your, his wet hair dripping still on to your skin. “We can but if you don’t want this, just say it. I’m tired of pretending. You say it isn’t real?” 

A whine escapes your lips, your hips lifting towards him, your hand gripping his forearm as if you are trying to keep him from moving from you. His words biting into you, his lips hovering centimeters from yours for the taking. When you press your lips to his, Jeonghan takes that as his signal to continue, his leg moving between yours while his tongue slips into your mouth with a small groan. 

You barely realize you are whining when Jeonghan pulls back, a smile on his lips while he shakes his head. “It feels pretty fucking real to me baby.” You didn’t speak because you weren’t sure you could trust yourself not to give away too much. The feeling of how you should run is so present and yet all you could do was pull him back to your waiting mouth. 

Jeonghan hisses against your lips when you lift your hips brushing your leg against his now hard cock pressing against his shorts. His forehead resting against yours, Jeonghan’s hand drags your nightgown upwards exposing more of your skin to him. His eyes follow his hand only for him to groan your name when he sees some of the lace on your skin that he had teased you about at the beginning of the trip. 

“God you are so fucking pretty. Can I take this off?” You nod, your eyes closed tightly, almost afraid to look at Jeonghan. You feel his mouth against your neck causing you to moan his name while his hands pull at the silk, his thumbs grazing your soft skin. Jeonghan only leans back when he has to pull the gown over your head causing him to gasp out a groan seeing you like this for the first time. 

When you whimper out his name in a soft moan feeling the air on your breast, your nipples hardening, Jeonghan smirks slightly leaning you back on the bed. “Open your eyes, baby. Look at me…please?” You arch your back pushing your breast towards his touch, his slender fingers tracing your nipples until you finally do open your eyes meeting his waiting gaze. “I’m gonna love you if you’ll let me.” 

His words cause your skin to burn, Jeonghan can feel how warm you become, your thighs closing around his leg making him smile. “Please?” One word, a soft beg slipping out of your lips is almost enough to drive Jeonghan crazy. He wasn’t sure he’d ever make you beg, no matter how pretty you sounded doing it. He wanted to give you everything. 

The feeling of your fingers running through his damp hair, the tug of the ring causes Jeonghan to groan, his lips pressing to the top of your chest before he works his way lower. His eyes glancing up at you at every small sound falling from your lips. When his tongue laps around your nipple, you lift your hand to bite at the meat of your thumb, a groan from his mouth causing a vibration to radiate through your skin. 

Jeonghan lifts his head to take a breath, shaking his head to the sight in front of him. The way your chest was rising and falling, the way your lips looked around your hand. Your eyes had closed again but Jeonghan knew you could feel where he was and where he was going. You whine out when you feel his mouth near your belly button, his fingers twisting the band of your panties around them slowly working them down your hips. 

It had been so long since you had been with anyone, and even longer since anyone had taken the time to really appreciate you like Jeonghan was. His soft lips brushing over every inch of your stomach and hips while he helped you lift your hips, pulling the lace along your legs. You open your eyes again when you feel him sit up, hearing him groan and mutter under his breath. 

Jeonghan runs his hand over his mouth, dropping your panties behind him with the other. “I know I wanted to see you in the lace but this is so much better. Holy fuck, baby…” You start to speak though you aren’t sure what you were even going to say when you feel Jeonghan’s hand run along your inner thigh towards your center. 

You were so wet, Jeonghan could see that but he had to feel it, taste you. Watching Jeonghan move on the bed, you whine at the loss of him but it’s quickly replaced with wonder while you watch him take off his shorts allowing you to see him for the first time. Jeonghan watches you swallow hard, a bit of pride taking over him. While he knew he wasn’t the biggest in the world, he didn’t have any reason to complain. 

Watching him run his hand over his cock, you slowly let your eyes move back to his finding him watching you so intently. Jeonghan moves towards the chair where his jeans lay discarded to take out his wallet and a single condom making you laugh for the first time in a while. “Hey, it’s not funny. I’m just prepared…” 

Jeonghan tosses the silver square onto the bed near you before he is moving back towards you himself. You reach out to touch him, your hands running over his shoulders causing Jeonghan to shiver, a smile on his lips when they press to skin once again. Feeling his fingers brush between your legs, you gasp in slight surprise arching off the bed. “Are you okay?” 

Nodding you meet Jeonghan’s eyes, a smile on your lips, his fingers resting against your thigh just to make sure. “I..yeah, it’s just been a long time and I am nervous.” Jeonghan smiles, nodding in understanding. His lips meet yours gently so he can mutter against them between kisses. “I’ve got you. I’d never hurt you, you just tell me if you want me to stop or if you really like something.” 

Jeonghan’s lips claim yours even while you nod, his fingers creating a v to rub along your wet folds separating them causing you to pull back from the kiss leaning your head back. Given access to your neck, he doesn’t waste the opportunity to explore your skin there, his tongue gliding along your skin up to your ear while his middle finger circles your entrance. 

When Jeonghan feels your nails press into his skin, he takes that as you having had enough of his teasing, you moan so sweetly to the feeling of his finger pushing into you that his cock twitches. Your brain is on fire with feeling overwhelmed and aroused when Jeonghan’s shaft rubs against your thigh, his pre-cum smearing across your skin you can’t help but to reach between your bodies to wrap your fingers around him letting him slowly thrust into your hand. 

With a choke groan against your throat, Jeonghan brows furrow tightly to your touch. The way your soft hand feels around his cock, if it were possible to be any harder he was sure he would have been in that moment. Your warm breath against the side of his head, Jeonghan has to reach to take your hand from him afraid you will cause him to cum too soon. “Too good baby, fuck. Scoot down in bed for me?” 

You nod and Jeonghan slides back helping you to move further down into the bed, his hands sliding along your legs to push them apart so he can slide between them. “God there is so much I want to do with you.” His words cause you to shiver, his hair beginning to air dry tickling your skin while he works kisses back down your body. Jeonghan’s right hand moving to pull your calf onto his shoulder, his eyes meeting you once more before you feel his tongue run along your slit. 

“Fuck, Jeonghan…” The words were so soft, a whine on your breath, Jeonghan felt like his head was floating hearing you whining for him. The taste of you on his tongue driving him to push his face in closer to you using his free hand to separate your folds giving him access to your clit. When his lips wrap around it, a tiny bit of pressure as he sucks, you squirm trying to close your thighs but find it impossible without squeezing his head between your legs. 

Jeonghan grins against your pussy, groans of appreciation, muttering how fucking good you are when he presses his finger back into you, making you gasp his name. Your fingers digging into the bedding under you and his hair between your legs, pulling just enough to make him groan a bit louder. “Gonna…oh god…”

You were doing your best to stay quiet, Jeonghan didn’t know why that was turning him on even more, spurring him on to push you harder in a way. But when he knows you are about to cum for the first time, Jeonghan groans, nodding against you, adding a second finger feeling you stretch around them right before the coil snaps causing you to gasp out the most erotic sound he had ever experienced. 

Your fingers shaking against his scalp from how intense your first orgasm felt, you only loosen your grip when Jeonghan moves to slide up your body, his lips finding yours again. You moan to the taste of yourself on his lips. His hand moving to grab the condom on the bed, you only feel him part from you again for a moment so he can open it and roll it down his length before he is back between your legs. 

“You’re perfect, did you know that?” His words cause you to look away, turning your face even as you feel his hand move between your legs, the head of his cock lining up with you. Jeonghan’s free hand moves to your chin turning your face back towards him, a groan on his breath when he pushes into you, “Look at me, please, baby? I wanna see those pretty eyes while I fuck you.” 

The words didn’t cause your skin to burn any less, you wanted to look away but found it impossible when you met his eyes, your lips parting in a silent moan to the feeling of his cock stretching you as he thrusts in fully. “Oh my god…” Jeonghan moves his hand to run his thumb along your bottom lip, his hips getting into a rhythm when you wrap your leg around his hip allowing him to go deeper and harder. 

“Feel so good, God…I’ve wanted this for so long. Such a fucking idiot for waiting this long.” The words are spoken on a groan, Jeonghan’s forehead resting against yours. His breath becomes shallow with each thrust and how your body pulls him back into you. “Fuck, Y/N…I love you. I should have told you that before this too.” You close your eyes, feeling tears gathering on the rim of your eyes, you weren’t sure what he wanted you to say. Especially right now, in this situation, he was just lost in the moment. 

Lifting your hand you push it against his cheek, lifting your head to meet his lips in an attempt to make him stop talking, which seems to work. Jeonghan groans into your mouth, feeling you tightening around him, your walls quivering as you get close to another orgasm just as quickly as he was approaching his own. He wanted to keep telling you how he felt because it felt like the right time but your kiss was just too sweet, the way your bodies were fitting together was too perfect. 

You whine on his lips falling back over that edge, your nails raking across his back causing him to hiss into the kiss. Jeonghan buries his face in the crook of your neck, his thrusts becoming more erratic and shallow but with one last hard, deep thrust you feel the warmth of him spilling into the condom. His hot breath causes chill bumps to spread across your skin, your fingers running through his hair at the back of his neck while he comes down from his climax. 

After a few moments, Jeonghan pulls from you and slides from the bed taking care of the condom heading into the bathroom where you hear the sound of running water. You run your hand over your face, contemplating how many mistakes you had just made. Tears finally slip from your eyes when his words echo through your head once again, “I love you. I should have told you that before.” 

“It isn’t even real.” You mutter to yourself running your hand over your face pushing the tears away. 

Jeonghan could tell you were putting on an act with him, more so than you had before. A frown on his face when you pulled away from a kiss to your cheek even in front of your family, Jeonghan sighed, reaching to take your hand. You let him slide his fingers along yours but you avoid his gaze until he says your name and he can see the sadness in your eyes. 

“Baby, are you okay?” No one was close enough to hear the two of you speaking but it was still good out in the open to keep up the act you supposed. “Yeah, I’m fine. Why Jeonghan?” You watch him furrow his brows leaning back some to look at you a bit more. “You have been acting strange since this morning. Is this about last night? Do you regret it?” 

When you look away, Jeonghan feels his heart sink slightly. You did regret it, you didn’t even have to say it. “Uh, well fuck. Okay…well I don’t. I meant everything I said.” You scoff barely meeting his eyes, how could he say that when you knew the type of person Jeonghan was. He and Joshua would go out every weekend, sometimes even more during the week to pick up girls to get laid so how was this not just another exploit for him or just the feelings of the week getting to his head. 

“No you didn’t Jeonghan, and that’s okay. I don’t blame you for that. None of this is real…one more day of this and you will be free to get your head clear of me.” You lift your hand knowing people were starting to watch you, pushing your thumb along his cheek trying to hide his disappointment. 

“It’s real, Y/N. Why do you get to say it isn’t?” Shaking your head, you knew this wasn’t the place for this conversation. You weren’t having this conversation when he was drunk on an idea. Standing you take your hand from him and put on a fake smile. “Because I’m a realist.” 

Your mom followed you when you walked away from Jeonghan as if she could sense the tension. Jeonghan stayed where he was for a few moments longer, shaking his head before heading outside to clear his head. You were wrong, you were fighting against your own feelings for some reason that Jeonghan couldn’t understand. 

He had never been this vulnerable with someone in his life. You literally had his heart in your hands and he wasn’t sure what you were going to do with it. 

The next day the both of you had different motives. You were trying to act like you were the happy engaged woman you were supposed to be while Jeonghan had to act like he wasn’t trying to figure you out. In the bedroom you were even more distant. Barely willing to speak to him other than to discuss flight details, and how you were sorry for putting him through this. 

Jeonghan wasn’t sure how many different ways he could explain to you that there was nowhere else he would want to be. He wanted to reach inside of your head and shake your brain to make you see things for how they were and not like you were seeing them. Instead he relied on being kind and gentle with you simply reminding you that this was real and how much he cared about you. 

The day of your flight, Jeonghan watched you hug your mom and dad, his heart sad at having to leave knowing you were sad doing the same. There was so much love in the house when it was just your immediate family and he could understand why he had fallen in love with you so easily so long ago and how it had been so easy to admit it to you now. 

Leaning down to hug your mom, Jeonghan laughs at her kind goodbye and requests for him to help you keep in better touch with your family. “I will do my best. She’s pretty stubborn when she wants to be.” Your mom laughs, her eyes full of love when she meets Jeonghan’s eyes reaching up to pat his cheek. “Yes she is, you will have your hands full, dear.” That much he knew, but it’s all he wanted, that opportunity to be the person who shared that with you now. 

Getting into the car after helping you in, Jeonghan glances over to you frowning when you turn your head in order to avoid his gaze. “Y/N, can we please talk about this? We are going to be stuck on a plane for hours, you can’t just avoid talking and looking at me for 5 hours.” You could, you think to yourself but you knew you were being unfair to Jeonghan. 

Your fingers play with the ring on your finger while the car heads down the highway towards the airport, your eyes finally looking up to meet Jeonghan’s. “I’m sorry, I know I’ve been awful the past couple of days. I did warn you that what happened might hurt our friendship. You are a wonderful man…I feel like I took advantage of you this entire time.” 

Jeonghan shakes his head, starting to speak when you reach over to take his hands, placing something metal into his palm. He didn’t need to look down to know what you had put there, he felt his heart sink, tears threatening his eyes but he kept them at bay nodding. “I wanted you to keep it. You didn’t take advantage of anything and I don’t think anything hurt us. I’ve told you, this is real. It’s real for me.” 

Shaking your head you glance back out of the window while Jeonghan looks down at the diamond ring in his hand. “You just feel that way right now. You are too close to me, once you get some time away from me…you will realize we both just got a little caught up in it all.” 

He wanted to argue with you but the lump in his throat wouldn’t allow it. Instead Jeonghan remained silent, his fingers playing with the ring until the car pulled up outside of the airport. He put it into his pocket and helped the driver to take out the bags letting you take yours when you requested it. Jeonghan’s eyes fixed on yours the entire way through security and while you waited for your flight. 

He hadn’t taken the ring back out until the plane was in the air. You had fallen asleep, your head unknown to you resting against his shoulder, Jeonghan let the light from the window catch the diamond to make patterns on the seat in front of him. He felt sick with all the things he wanted to change, all the things he wanted to say. How could he make you understand? 

By the time the plane was landing, Jeonghan reached to run his hand over your cheek, waking you up gently with the ring tucked back in his pocket. You could tell something was different about him but you weren’t willing to ask, afraid you would break his resolve or your own. “Sorry…” You mutter realizing you had been leaning against Jeonghan who shrugs only offering you a smile. 

“You didn’t bother me, I’m just glad you got some rest.” He was too kind, you could still sense the sarcastic man under the layers but there was this new wall built. Nodding, you clear your throat glancing away, your thumb subconsciously playing with your ring finger, missing the feeling and weight of the ring on your hand. 

Jeonghan helped you with your bag and with making your way to the front of the airport where the two of you had agreed to part ways after the trip. Watching you closely, Jeonghan sighs when you start to speak but end up stopping yourself several times causing him to speak instead. 

“Y/N, don’t say anything until I finish. Can you do that much for me?” You nod, tears already prickling your eyes. The urge to turn and run causes your feet to ache but you manage to stay still with your eyes on Jeonghan. “You say it isn’t real, that what happened wasn’t supposed to happen. I disagree, because to me this is, or was very real. I’ve been in love with you for years but I was too stupid and prideful to say anything. I guess that’s what got me in this mess right now. So I can’t really blame you for reacting like you are.” 

Jeonghan feels his stomach turning when tears build in your eyes, he hadn’t meant to make you cry but he had to finish what he was saying. “But I can’t make you love me back, I told you’d I’d never hurt you and I’d never make you do something you didn’t want to do.” Standing your ground, even as Jeonghan moves forward you let out a small whimper when he takes your hand and you feel the cold metal in your palm. 

“I bought it for you for a reason.” Your eyes close when Jeonghan leans in to press a kiss to your forehead, you feel a slight wet feeling to his cheek when he turns to walk away. Your eyes open when the panic starts to set in, your gaze dropping to the ring in your hand feeling like it weighed a hundred pounds. 

“Wait….” Your voice is so quiet you barely hear it yourself but when you say it again and yell his name dropping your bag, Jeonghan turns around surprised to find you running towards him. His own bag hitting the ground he is ready to catch you, his arms wrapping around you, his lips meeting yours. 

Jeonghan lifts his hands running his thumbs along your cheeks between kisses trying to push away your tears whispering, “Shh, it’s okay baby…I know.” You shake your head reaching up to grab his wrists pulling his hands down, he can feel the ring back on your finger when he meets your eyes again hearing what his heart had been longing for for years. 

“It’s real for me too. I love you too. I’m sorry. It’s real…” 

Jeonghan smiles, nodding his forehead resting against yours while he tries to calm you down, his mutters echoing your own. Joshua watches from his car, leaning against the driver’s side with a sigh at the sight muttering to himself, “Bout damn time…glad I cleaned out my backseat. Told him I’d be taking them both home.” 

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[starlightshadowsworld]

Bsd except the Agency never gets the tiger case.

Atsushi ends up in Yokohama and manages to steal the wallet of a passerby. There's not much but after being homeless for 2 weeks and starving, it's more than enough.

He gets some chazuke and leaves while some bandaged weirdo starts flirting with the waitress.

Atsushi knows he should get away, he can't stay in one place for too long. But he's tired and one bowl of chakuze is hardly enough to fill him for long. He curls up under the bridge and takes a quick nap.

The police detectives are too proud to ask for the Agencies help and go all out. When the tiger is seen in Yokohama, they manage to set a trap and detain it.

Things become a lot more complicated when day breaks and the man eating tiger turns into a scared boy. An ability user, and though many are suspicious Detective Minoura is not.

He sits by the cell of the kid, Atsushi and asks his questions. He learns Atsushi was kicked out of an orphanage 2 weeks ago, lining up with the tiger sightings.

And he has no idea he's the tiger, a conversation that was not fun to have. He knows Atsushi is genuine, that's he's scared. He'd love to let him go. But kids dangerous, too dangerous even if he's never hurt anyone.

It hurts his pride as a detective to even consider what he's about to do. But his pride should never come at the cost of innocent lives.

"So that's the story, if I was going by the book the kid would be arrested. Whether he knew it or not he caused a lot of terror, fear and a lot of property damage."

"And yet you aren't going by the book, you instead came here to me." Said Fukuzawa, taking a sip of his tea as he oberseved the police detective. "He doesn't deserve it. I couldn't get much out of him, but the kids been through hell. I'll take the punishment if it gets him out."

Fukuzawa nodded "we don't often meet eye to eye detective, but today I can say with certainty we do. You've done your job, now let us play our part."

Minoura nodded, relieved.

"Just... Please don't send Mr Super Genuis to deal with it." Fukuzawa chuckles, there's a twinkle of mischief in his eyes and Minoura sighed inwardly. He wanted to regret this but he couldn't.

Not even when Ranpo waltzed into the police precinct like he owned the place with a bright smile at getting to order the officers around.

His smile wavered slightly when he took in Atsushi. Minoura could see concern and anger flicker across his face before the smile returned and he told Atsushi he was breaking out of here.

The light returning to Atsushi's eyes told Minoura he'd made the right choice.

Atsushi was cautious. He stuck by Minoura the whole time as the paperwork was completed. Which was fair, he was maybe the only person who'd treated him kindly and Ranpo was a lot for anyone.

And yet, Minoura could tell Ranpo was putting on his best behaviour.

Seeing Atsushi's hesitation Minoura sat him down. "Hey, kid. These are... Friends of mine, they'll keep you safe." Seems like the kid wasn't used to hearing that and Minoura softened.

He scribbled down his number and handed it to him. "You ever get in trouble. You ever feel unsafe or afraid, you call me okay." Atsushi was surprised but took the written phone number like it was something precious.

He'd be okay, Minoura might not like the Agency but they were borderline feral in their protectivness over their loved ones. And hell, if anyone gave that kid trouble he'd make good on his promise.

[teshadraws]

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Seekers of Soul

[Chapter 55]

<< First | < Previous | Next >

-

Tobias and Nia tie up some loose ends around the guild in preparation for their journey to find Will, and Tobias shares a special pastime with his partner.

-

Team Evergreen doesn’t make an appearance after their mission in the tunnels, though Jaz stops by Tobias and Nia’s room at dawn two days later to give them an update on Andyn's mood.

“She was quiet for a while,” the stufful says. “Thinking, I suppose. But otherwise she's acting fine again.”

“Did I actually get through that thick skull of hers?” Tobias grumbles. He’s tying Nia’s scarf around her arm before they leave for the day, and it’s slipping annoyingly through his fingers.

Jaz sighs. “No, unfortunately not. It’s going to take more than a few heated words to get her to change her mind about this. Ezra and I have tried. But...”

Nia’s ears perk. “But..?”

“Something you said did make her think, Tobias. Maybe you planted some seeds that just need a bit of time to bloom.”

Pretty words for such a nasty conversation, Tobias thinks idly as he finally ties Nia’s scarf tight. He doesn’t have nearly as much faith that Andyn will turn over a new leaf any time soon.

Nia smiles at Jaz. “Well, I’m happy to hear she’s back to her normal self, at least. Sorry again that our group mission wasn’t, uh…as fun as we might’ve hoped.”

Tobias opens his mouth to say that that was Andyn’s fault, not theirs.

Jaz beats him to it, laughing softly. “Not your fault. Neither of your faults, really.”

Nia doesn’t argue that point, and the stufful leaves shortly after with a word of luck for their mission today and a promise to pass their hellos on to Ezra.

“Well, I’m glad we don’t have to worry about Andyn too much,” Nia says as the two of them pack up for the day and head down the Lexym Tree to the mission boards. “Are you still doing okay?”

Tobias is doing fine. Probably better than he should be, honestly. While Andyn hit a sore spot and he was much harsher than Nia would’ve been regarding the deerling’s parents, he stands firm by his conviction that Andyn needs a wake-up call. His words didn’t manage to get through to her, but he doesn’t really regret what he said, either.

“I’m fine. Just wish she’d wake up and realize her parents are the problem here.”

Nia is behind him on the steps, but Tobias can feel her attention on him, laser-focused. “You fought about her parents?”

Belatedly, Tobias realizes that this is the first time he’s said what his argument with the deerling was even about. Nia has been careful not to push.

“They suck, okay?” Tobias growls. “If they’re the reason she’s like that, then she should know that that’s messed up.”

Nia hums, but otherwise falls silent. That’s as good as an agreement for her, so Tobias doesn’t let the issue linger as they reach the ground floor where the mission boards are posted.

They’re still waiting to hear back from August about traveling to Will’s human settlement, so they’ve been avoiding any missions that would wear them out too much just in case they need to leave on short notice. Still, Tobias does have to swallow his pride when he realizes that leaves them with just a few very basic mission options for the day.

It’s not that he thinks the jobs are beneath him or anything, but they are undeniably…boring. And they give them less Seeker points, too. But he refuses to throw a fit like Andyn did.

“Well, let’s get this over with.”

“Hey, it might be fun!” Nia says, looking genuinely excited about the mission she’d picked out for them. “I haven’t tried cooking since waking up in this world.”

Tobias gives her an appraising look as they make their way back up the tree’s staircase. “Did you cook a lot as a human?”

Nia shakes her head. “Just basic stuff. Baking, mostly. But if it’s a low-level mission, it can’t be anything too complex, right?”

Tobias shrugs. For all his years at the guild, he’s never actually helped out in the cafeteria kitchen, always too busy trailing after Maggie and helping with medicinal duties.

He’s surprised to find that the day is actually pretty interesting, tucked away in the guild’s sprawling kitchen. They’re put to work under the command of the cooking staff, and their mission for the day is to provide breakfast and lunch for the entirety of the guild.

The vespiquen in charge has Tobias use his flames often, lighting fires in clay ovens and carefully toasting nuts and vegetables. He isn’t sure whether to be offended or proud when the chef looks at him with delight halfway through the morning with a clap of her hands and proclaims that they must make occa berry flambé for dessert today, with a fire type’s flames so readily on-hand.

He is proud, in an embarrassed sort of way, when the bug type compliments him on his temperature control with his flames. He manages to avoid burning a single pot or dish. While it’s a strange feeling, he likes the appreciative looks he gets from the other workers when he uses his fire, rather than the guild's usual wariness.

Tobias actually ends up enjoying the day more than Nia does, if the way she drags herself to the stairs at the end of their shift is any gauge. Her fur is caked in flour from a few ingredient mishaps, and Tobias has to bite back a laugh at her appearance.

She gives him a tired, playful glare in return. “Want to share with the class?”

“You look like a fidough.”

“Fidough,” Nia echoes, squinting. “Is that…a dog Pokemon? Oh my God, is that a bread pun?"

“It’s their species name. They are kind of…doughy, though. Yeah. That's the joke.”

Nia barks a laugh, and Tobias grins.

“Pokemon names are so silly! Hahaha!”

Tobias shakes his head as he leads the way up the stairs to their quarters. “Hey, at least they make sense. Who looks at a riolu and calls it a dog? What even is a dog?”

“Me! I’m a dog!”

“Yeah, yeah. And I’m Reshiram. C’mon, I want to have time to clean up before supper. You wanna eat with Maggie tonight? We can brag about the food we helped make.”

“Oh, that’d be perfect!” Nia says. Her fatigued posture lifts at the prospect, like a flower wilting in reverse. “Don’t let me forget, though, that I really need to talk to Avery sometime about the whole species naming thing. And the Pokemon language in general. Ordirune? It makes no sense that you and I can talk and read the same language when it’s, well…not the same language!”

Tobias vaguely remembers Nia mentioning this before, when they were in Ghatha with Junie. “Does it need to make sense? It works. We can understand each other. That’s what matters.”

“How are you not curious about it? It’s so wild to me!”

“It just doesn’t seem like something you’re gonna be able to figure out, so why waste time thinking about it?”

“Because it’s fun!” Nia counters. “I like trying to figure stuff out, even if it doesn’t really matter.”

Tobias can’t really argue with that. Nia’s just different than him in that regard. Still, as a nincada and surskit pass them on the stairs, he gives it a moment of thought.

“Giratina said that Mew made your Pokemon body, right? She probably did something with your brain so you could understand Ordirune, so you wouldn’t be totally lost in our world.”

“But language isn’t genetic,” Nia argues. “It’s something you learn. That’s true for Pokemon too, right?”

“Yeah?”

“Then it doesn’t really make sense that she could just…imprint it onto our brains, does it?”

Tobias frowns as they finally reach their floor, his legs a bit tired as usual from the climb. “It doesn’t make sense that she could just make you a whole body, either, but here you are. If she made your brain for you, why couldn’t she make it familiar with our language? Pokemon hatch knowing survival instincts because those things were ingrained into our bodies from birth. Like…charmander hatchlings knowing to keep their tail flames small if they’re in danger. Maybe Mew did something similar and built your body so you already know Ordirune and your brain sorta just…translates for you without you realizing it.”

Nia stops behind him right before they reach their door, and Tobias turns to look at her.

She’s staring at him with wide, almost awestruck eyes. “Tobias, that’s such a cool way of thinking about it! Oh man, you should come with me when I meet up with Avery. They'd find that idea super interesting. Plus, I’m sure Xander and the others would love to see you! I think you and Kry are like…bros or something now, after your spar the other day?”

Tobias snorts and turns back to the door. “Yeah, I’m sure they’re all dying to see me.”

His hand settles on the knob, but Nia reaches out to cover it with her own paw. She gives him a long, searching look. “Hey, you know I’m not joking, right?”

“They’re your friends.”

“Well, yeah, maybe first. But they want to be your friend, too. They aren’t just…putting up with you to hang out with me.”

Tobias feels all too seen, suddenly. Like his scarf got lost somewhere and left his neck naked and vulnerable. Tobias shifts on his feet, looking away.

That…doesn’t feel right. But aside from Nia, he hasn’t had a friend his own age since he was nine—and that was his sister. He isn’t exactly an expert on how friends work.

“They’re kind of stuck with me, if they want to be friends with you.”

Nia gives him a light bat of her paw and a scolding smile. “They’re not stuck with you. You’re fun to be around, Tobias. Whether you want to acknowledge that or not.”

Tobias thinks of how he yelled at Andyn just two days ago. “Sure.”

Then, unwittingly, he thinks about the rest of that mission. Thinks about Ezra’s cheeky, playful comments and Jaz’s calm confidence when she encouraged him talk to Andyn alone. Thinks further back, to Kry punching his shoulder during training and Xander and Felix’s lighthearted smack-talk and easy conversation. Thinks about Avery’s gentle smile and full attention when Tobias spoke.

He doesn’t think he’s their friend, not really. But the idea that he might be, someday, doesn’t seem quite as ridiculous as it once was. Tobias has…a lot of mixed feelings about that. Fear that he’s going to royally screw it up is somewhere near the top, though, so he shoves away the warmth the idea brings. No use worrying about it unless it actually happens, after all.

Tobias finally opens the door to their room, only to stop as soon as he notices a piece of paper resting on the floor near his feet. Tobias picks it up, and feels his fingers tighten around the sheet as he realizes what it is.

“What is it?” Nia asks, peering over his shoulder.

“It’s from August,” he summarizes, skimming through the short message. “We have permission to head overseas and find Will first thing in the morning.”

“Giratina was telling the truth, then?”

“Or they think it’s too big a risk to ignore, if nothing else,” Tobias murmurs. The bottom of the note says that the funds for their flight have been dropped into their mailbox, so Tobias digs that pouch out right away to add to their own money. He moves to where their satchel was left to rest against the wall for the day.

“Tomorrow,” Nia says, sitting heavily in her nest and wrapping herself up in one of their blankets like a swadloon. “That’s…so soon. I know we were waiting to hear back from them, but…well. I guess we’d better let everyone know we’re leaving again?”

Tobias drags their bag over and sits to sort through it, catching the disappointed note in his partner’s voice. He doesn’t really mind traveling again, even if their time back at the guild has been fine. Good, even, for the most part. But knowing they’ll have to say goodbye to Maggie again so soon does have something in his heart squeezing tight. He hopes she doesn’t cry.

“Yeah,” he finally answers, pulling out their meager collection of items to sort through. “We can tell Maggie when we eat with her later.”

Nia voices her agreement, watching Tobias as he puts everything together. Her mind is clearly miles away, though.

Tobias leaves her to her thoughts, making sure they have the usual essentials that they travel with: apples and berries for food and status ailments, their map, and a canteen of water for Nia. He would grab some hydration berries for himself if they didn’t shrivel so quickly, but at least fire types don’t dehydrate easily.

Anything else? They could go down to the item dispensary and peruse the orbs and seeds available, but their funds still aren’t overly impressive. And they aren’t planning on getting caught in any dungeons or intense battles.

...Okay, he knows better by now than to assume that will hold true. Still, by this point they’ve mostly gotten by without items, so he thinks they'll be all right without any fancy aids.

Besides, Nia will probably want to bring a book, and their sparse packing leaves plenty of room for that. They could almost pack up Nia’s beloved new blanket too, if they wanted to squish everything in, but that feels like a waste of space if they'll be indoors most nights. He’s basically a walking heater for the riolu at this point anyways.

Tobias looks around the room and his gaze catches on his guitar, leaning carefully against the wall by the window. He frowns at the instrument, fingers flexing as he itches to hold it. He’s been enjoying relearning it, and it calms him down on late nights, but it isn’t really an essential item. Their pack would be better off carrying something actually useful.

“You’re taking your guitar along, right?” Nia asks, startling Tobias out of his thoughts. She must've followed his gaze and guessed what he was thinking.

Tobias shrugs, looking back at their satchel. “Probably not. It’s not exactly useful.”

“It makes you happy,” Nia protests, like that makes it useful, somehow. “Plus, I like hearing you play. So if we’re taking a vote…”

Tobias flushes, falling still. Part of him still wants to argue, rationality over sentimentality and all that, but. Well. If Nia doesn’t mind him taking up the space, then…

Tobias silently gets up to retrieve the guitar. He tucks it away in their bag amongst the other items, pleased with how neatly it slots in between their supplies and a book about abilities that Nia had handed him to bring along.

Packing complete.

It’s only a few short hours later that they go to the medical floor with trays of food in hand, including some of the occa berry flambé that they’d helped make earlier in the day. They call a greeting to Fen and drop off a meal with the leafeon that has them purring their thanks. Next door, Maggie seems pleasantly surprised by their appearance.

"Hello, you two! Good to see you."

“You eat yet?” Tobias asks, holding up one of the two heavy trays he’s carrying.

Maggie smiles, taking the meal with a single vine and settling down in her nest to eat. “I was just starting to feel peckish, actually. Thank you, dear. Will you stay and eat with us tonight?”

“If that’s all right!” Nia says, holding her second tray—which she was insistent on—out to Sage with a smile.

The ivysaur, who had been eyeing the door as if it was just expected for him to leave any time Tobias showed up, blinks in surprise. Then, with a bashful smile and a murmur of thanks, he takes the meal with his own vines.

Tobias and Nia sit down close to Maggie and dig in.

Off to the side, Sage shifts awkwardly on his short legs. His leaves sway with the motion.

“Sit down already,” Tobias grumbles. “We aren’t chasing you out.”

Sage looks even more thrown by the peace offering, but with a glance at Maggie and Nia, he finally settles down as well on Nia’s other side. Maggie smiles soothingly at her apprentice's nerves, and Tobias is surprised that the open affection doesn’t feel…grating, this time. In fact, it feels kind of ridiculous when Maggie immediately turns her attention back to Tobias and Nia with bright eyes, clearly thrilled to have them here.

Tobias wonders how he was ever threatened by Sage’s appearance. Maggie has more than enough love to go around.

As they eat, Maggie questions what they’ve been up to today with a note of amusement in her voice. Her gaze lingers on the patches of flour still caught stubbornly in Nia’s soft fur, even after the riolu had scrubbed at them for a solid half-hour earlier.

Nia groans and dives into her mishaps in the kitchen, including when she’d tripped over a morelull and knocked over a slurpuff who was busy mixing up dry ingredients for a crust. Tobias laughs as he replays the scene in his head, but flushes when Nia follows it up with an exasperated comparison to Tobias basically being “Gordon Ramsay” in the kitchen, whatever that means. It’s clearly a compliment.

Maggie laughs. “That doesn’t surprise me, actually. Tobias was always very careful with measurements when he helped me make our medicines, even when he was small. He has a good eye for detail, when he’s invested.”

Tobias feels his face grow hotter as Nia and Sage look at him with astonished expressions.

“You don’t have to look that surprised."

The ivysaur winces and looks back to his meal with a quiet, “Sorry.”

Nia just shrugs with an easy laugh, as if to ask if he could blame her.

The conversation flows smoothly as they catch up. Sage is quiet, almost silent, but he’s clearly listening, tracking the conversation with pricked ears and sharp garnet eyes as he picks delicately at his meal. Tobias isn’t sure if it’s because the ivysaur is still cautious after Tobias’ initial hostility, or if he’s just that quiet by nature.

Nia tries to pull the grass type into the conversation a few times, but after a few short, almost shy answers, she relents and lets him bask in the conversation without necessarily participating. Maggie doesn’t seem worried about the ivysaur’s silence, so Tobias doesn’t concern himself with it either.

During a lull in the conversation, Maggie says, “You know, your mission from today has me thinking. Sage and I might have to steal you for ourselves soon—we could use some extra hands to gather the last of the autumn herbs later this week. The northern part of the Haven will likely have its first heavy frost soon.”

“Oh. About that…” Nia trails off, giving Tobias a pleading look.

Tobias sighs, putting his fork back onto his tray. Leaving it up to him, huh? “We’re actually heading out again tomorrow morning.”

“So soon?” Maggie asks with a bewildered expression.

“August dropped off a letter today approving our travel, so…” Nia says, dejected.

Maggie smiles, leaning over to brush her muzzle over the top of the riolu’s head. “You’re fine, dear. I knew as soon as we spoke with August that you would be traveling again soon. I’m just going to miss you. And worry, of course.”

“We’ll be fine,” Tobias says. “We always are.”

“You’re always getting into trouble, you mean,” Maggie corrects with a playful glare. “Let a mother worry, Tobias. And just do your best to come home without any new scars, all right?”

Tobias’ hand drifts up to his scarf. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Nia wince and trail a paw over the scarf on her own arm, right where she’d gotten bit by that panpour outlaw moons ago.

“We’ll be careful!” Nia finally says, though her smile doesn’t look nearly as confident as she sounds.

Maggie doesn’t seem convinced either, but drops the conversation to return to lighter topics. Such as how, just yesterday, Sage had given his first bitter medicine to some of the guild children who had come down with a cold.

Tobias laughs at the distraught expression on the ivysaur’s face, more than familiar with the experience after years of doing it himself. “How’d you like giving Bella her dose?”

The little bellsprout could be a menace when she wanted to be. Tobias can still feel the phantom smacking of her tiny root-arms.

Sage groans and drops his face into his tray.

“He made a valiant effort,” Maggie says, patting the ivysaur’s shoulder with a vine. Which means that Sage was surely near tears by the time they were finished.

Tobias uses his fork to point a bite of occa berry dessert in Sage’s direction. “Word of advice? Honey. Drown her dose in the stuff, but don’t tell her it’s anything but what it is. She can’t resist honey, but she won’t eat it if you try to trick her. Stubborn as a mudbray, that one.”

Tobias half-expects the ivysaur to dismiss his words, since Sage is older than him and the one actually in the medicinal role now. Instead, the ivysaur perks up and nods, reaching over his shoulder with a vine to pull a notepad and inkwell off the nearby desk and start writing something down.

Tobias blinks. He didn’t mean to actually take notes. The earnest faith in the gesture has his face heating. He looks away, stuffing a bite of occa berry flambé into his mouth. It’s delicious.

Soon enough, they’re all finished eating and it’s time to head out. Sage quietly insists that he can take the trays down to the cafeteria, leaving Maggie alone with Tobias and Nia.

“You two be careful on your trip, you hear?” Maggie says, voice firmer as she pulls them into a hug. “I don’t want to hear about you getting caught in any more fires or deadly fights.”

“No promises,” Tobias mumbles.

Maggie gives him an extra hard squeeze before releasing him.

“We’ll be careful, Maggie,” Nia says, stepping away with misty eyes. “See you soon, okay?”

Tobias can’t seem to say anything. The words stick like sap in his throat. He swallows against the lump of them and bumps his head against Maggie’s leg once more before stepping away.

The meganium sees them off as they pad down the hall and back down the tree.

“Xander’s team next?” Nia asks.

“You could go on your own, you know.”

“I could. But..?”

Tobias huffs, but doesn’t argue as he follows Nia to Team Shellshock’s quarters. The riolu knocks on the door, and childish shrieks rise up from behind the wood. Luca’s distinct little voice yells, “Hide! Hide!” and Tobias grins.

Avery is the one to answer, the kirlia’s gentle expression lighting up. “Nia! And Tobias. Lovely to see you two.”

“Good to see you too,” Nia says warmly. “Could we come in for a sec?”

Avery steps aside for Nia and Tobias, and as soon as Tobias crosses the room’s threshold he’s tackled by a writhing mass of blue and black fur.

“Gotcha!”

“Surrender, outlaw!”

“Lainey, sit on his head!”

Tobias puts up a halfhearted fight as the shinx cubs work to hold him down. Tiny paws step on his arms and belly and legs and his vision is taken over by lashing tails and gleaming, golden eyes.

“Don’t suffocate him, kids,” Xander calls idly, before his voice is drowned out by childish peals of laughter.

Tobias lets the cubs think they’ve won for a few moments, before twisting and gently throwing them off with an exaggerated roar. Leor squeaks and scrambles away to dive behind Team Shellshock’s items chest. Laine and Luca hiss playfully at Tobias before following their more timid brother, probably to come up with a new plan of attack.

Tobias smirks and moves to join the other occupants of the room.

Xander, Avery, and Nia are watching the cubs peek over the items chest with fond, amused looks. Felix is crouching beside the kids’ hiding place and murmuring something that quickly catches their attention. Kry is nowhere to be seen, probably out training or something while the cubs are here wreaking havoc. She doesn’t seem like much of a kid person.

Tobias stops at Nia’s side, purposefully putting his back to the shinx cubs to make himself an easy target.

“So you’re heading out again already?” Avery is asking.

“You two are the most restless ‘mons I’ve ever met,” Felix calls idly from beside the chest. “Try not to come back all banged up again, all right?”

“I’ll second that,” Xander says, and Tobias is surprised when the luxio’s golden gaze focuses not only on Nia, but Tobias as well. “Be careful.”

“Always!”

Xander chuffs a quiet laugh, as if well aware of how untrue that statement is. “Regardless. Do you two have everything packed up already?”

“I think so?”

“We travel light,” Tobias says.

Xander flicks his tail, looking thoughtful. His eyes stray over to the items chest on the side of the room, though Tobias thinks he isn’t focused on his siblings at the moment. Avery follows his gaze, and Tobias wonders if the kirlia is reading the luxio’s mind, since they apparently use telepathy with each other fairly often.

Avery must be, because they smile at Xander as if pleased with something he’d suggested, then back at Nia and Tobias. “Do you two have any orbs in your inventory?”

Nia looks to Tobias. He shakes his head.

Xander nods, and Avery goes to the chest, murmuring a quiet, “Excuse me,” to shoo the kids off the lid before opening the top and rummaging through it. They find what they’re looking for quickly, returning to Tobias and Nia with a shiny blue wonder orb in hand. Without hesitation, they hold it out.

“Take this with you. Just in case.”

After a beat of surprise, Tobias reaches out to take it, rolling the surprisingly heavy orb around his hands. “What kind is it?”

“An all power-up orb,” Avery answers. “It raises your team’s attack and special attack for a few minutes.”

“But...aren't these really rare or expensive or something?” Nia asks, gently taking the orb from Tobias’ hands to peer closer at it.

“The two of you seem to attract danger wherever you go,” Xander says, not answering the question. “I’ll sleep better if you take it.”

“We both will,” Avery amends.

Tobias’ immediate impulse is to reject such a rare, pricey item just being dropped into their laps. However, he remembers how desperately he’d wanted any kind of helpful item back on the Aqua Jet, when they were traveling via the river and the mystery dungeon hit. It would be undeniably good to have as a back-up measure.

Nia seems equally unsure for a moment, but then she smiles and cradles the orb closer. “Well...thank you, then. It’s really too much.”

"Not at all," Avery says.

Xander’s shoulders lose some of their tension once they accept the gift, and that's what convinces Tobias not to put up a fight. They mean it. They're just worried about their safety, about Nia and maybe even a little about Tobias. And somehow, their concern doesn't feel like pity, but something warmer. Something easier to stomach.

Nia gently bumps Tobias with her hip, so he rolls his eyes and tacks on a quiet, “Yeah. Thanks.”

Xander opens his mouth to respond, but before he can say anything, his ears swivel in the direction of the chest.

That’s Tobias’ only warning before the shinx cubs yell, “Attack!”  and charge Tobias once more. Felix must’ve been giving them battle tips, because this time they move as a coordinated unit, tackling Tobias’ legs. The charmander lets himself go down with an exaggerated oof, and the kids shriek as they swarm his chest, pinning him down with their soft little bodies. While he could still wriggle free if he really wanted to, their combined weight does hold him down pretty effectively. Tobias “struggles” for a few moments more before going limp with a dramatic groan.

“Victory!” Leor says.

“Drag him to jail!” Luca shouts.

“Throw him in the pit!” Laine adds.

“Whoa, where’d you hear that last one?” Felix asks, startled.

“From a cool story Bella found in the archives!"

Bella. Of course. Tobias has said it before and he’ll say it again: that bellsprout is a menace.

“Looks like I’ll be having another chat with Arlo,” Xander sighs, sounding all too much like a father.

Nia and Tobias head out shortly after, despite the shinx cubs’ whining over losing their playmate. At the door, Xander catches Nia in a one-armed hug, brushing the top of her head with his chin. The familiarity of the gesture catches Tobias off-guard, but Nia simply hugs the luxio back, unsurprised by the open affection.

As they leave, Felix and the kids’ loud goodbyes and Avery’s much quieter farewell following them into the hall, Nia hesitates.

“I feel like we should tell Team Evergreen that we’re heading out again, but…”

Tobias can only imagine the awkward tension that would rise if he was shoved into the same room as Andyn right now.

“I’ll leave that one to you.”

“That...might be for the best. I won’t be too long.”

Tobias waves her off, turning to head back to their room. He can get some more practice in on his guitar before they sleep. “Just remember that we head out early.”

“When do we not?” Nia counters, giving a wave of her own before setting off towards Team Evergreen’s quarters.

Tobias is relieved that Nia didn’t want him to join for that last visit. Between working in the kitchen this morning and seeing Team Shellshock and the shinx kids earlier, Tobias is just about done socializing for the day. He’s more than content to flop down in his nest and strum at his guitar for the rest of the night before they get back on the road tomorrow.

To Tobias’ surprise, Nia returns not long after they parted ways, when the moon is just starting to rise into the sky. She assures him that it went well, even if Andyn was a little quieter than usual, and that they all wished the two of them safe travels.

“Wished you safe travels, you mean,” Tobias snorts as he plucks away at an aimless melody. “Andyn probably hopes I fall off our flight ‘mon and into the ocean.”

“I don’t think she’s that upset,” Nia says, lying down herself. She eyes Tobias for a moment before reaching into their satchel and pulling out her book.

The night is peaceful, after that. Tobias works his way through some of the simple melodies from the music book they’d picked up in the archives, familiarizing himself with the easier tunes before trying anything more advanced. Nia reads her book, kicking her legs and occasionally mumbling something to herself.

It’s getting close to midnight when Nia finally yawns and slides her book back into their satchel. She curls up in her nest, blanket pulled tight over her shoulders until it bunches up by her chin, and watches as Tobias plays.

Eventually, Tobias figures he’d better get some rest too and slides the guitar and music book back into their satchel. He closes the curtain until the room is only dimly lit by his own tail flame, and curls up in his nest. He doesn’t realize until he's settled in that Nia isn’t actually asleep yet. Instead, she’s watching Tobias, clearly still wide awake.

“What’s up?” Tobias asks.

Nia shrugs. “Just…can’t sleep.”

Tobias knows the feeling. While it was easy to get lost in his music for the evening, Tobias won’t be surprised if he’s up for a while yet. Especially with their flight tomorrow, he has a lot on his mind.

For a moment Tobias just gazes back at Nia in the dim light, wondering if either of them are going to be well-rested come dawn. Then, he thinks of similar nights long, long ago, of looking at his sister or parents with a similar restless itch under his skin.

An idea pops into his mind.

For a moment, he hesitates. This is something…sacred. Something he hasn’t shared with anyone else since he lost his family. It feels wrong to even think about sharing it.

Then again, that’s what he’d thought about discussing Vivi and his parents at all, before the cart ride from Asra to Shivergleam. And that was…nice. Really nice. Swapping sibling stories with Nia. It hurt, but it also made something in him feel…looser. Like stretching out a stiff muscle that he hadn’t exercised in forever.

Tobias sits up before he can second-guess himself. “C’mon. I have an idea.”

Nia props herself up on an arm. “What?”

He climbs out of their nest and holds out a hand. “Trust me. It’ll help.”

For a moment Nia looks unsure, but then a smile crosses her face. Tobias helps her to her paws, and she doesn’t let go once she’s standing. He decides not to think about it too hard and gives her paw a squeeze, grabbing Nia’s beloved new blanket and slinging it over his shoulder.

“C’mon.”

Nia laughs under her breath as they leave the room, making sure to shut the door extra quiet behind her so they don’t disturb the other Pokemon on the floor.

“Where are we going?”

“Sure, just let me ruin the surprise.”

Nia's brows raise, but she doesn’t ask any more questions and just follows with an air of palpable curiosity. Tobias leads them to the staircase and starts climbing up, up, up through the guild.

“Are we visiting Maggie again?” Nia whispers.

“No.”

Tobias has done this many times over the years, since first arriving at the guild. But he’s always done it alone, sneaking past Maggie’s sleeping form to climb up to his favorite spot. He’d thought about asking Maggie to join before—she would’ve indulged him. But somehow it had always seemed a bit too painful before now. Before Nia. Now it feels less like chasing something he can’t get back and more like…sharing something he loves. Making it new again.

They finally reach the mail floor, evident by the cool breeze blowing into the staircase. There aren’t many fliers that work at night, so the floor is empty, the platforms bordering the edges of the room opening up to patches of clear night sky.

“Oh,” Nia breathes, registering where they are.

She follows him wordlessly as he goes to one of the far platforms and sits down at the end of it. She sits beside him, then casts a nervous glance below them to the Haven's trees, black and spindly and thin with the coming winter. She scoots back an inch.

Like this, they’re sitting at the edge of the world, the sprawling forest below and an ocean of stars above.

Tobias hands over Nia’s blanket, now heated by his own scales, and she gladly takes it to wrap herself up. He’s hardly surprised when she still scooches over to press against his side. The night air is cold, after all, chilly enough that he won’t argue against a little extra warmth himself.

“It’s beautiful out here,” Nia says, hushed. “I couldn’t really appreciate the stars in Asra, since we were on a stakeout. But here…”

“Peaceful, right?”

Nia hums her agreement.

For a moment, they’re quiet. The wind whistles by them this high up, stronger without the blocking force of the forest and carrying with it the crisp scent of the Silenfroar Mountains. Tobias can kind of see where the mountain range sits, a void of pointed black on the horizon that blots out the sky.

Tobias moves his eyes up to stare at the stars, feeling something in his throat tighten even as the rest of him relaxes. Even when he was a child, scared of nothing more than shadows on cave walls, his parents would lead him to the mouth of their cave to look up at the stars when he couldn’t sleep.

It makes him feel small. But in a comforting way.

“This is where we became a team.”

Tobias looks at Nia. “What?”

“Well. Technically we became a team down in the tunnels.” Nia smiles at Tobias. “But I consider this to be where we actually became one. For real.”

Right. After Afon’s Cap, when Nia finally stood up for herself and Tobias agreed to stop being so awful to her. They shook on it. Tobias can still see Nia in the pink evening light, paw outstretched and smile hopeful.

He flushes and looks away. He gestures vaguely with a hand. “Sorry. For. Y’know.”

Nia barks a laugh. “Being a bit of a jerk at first?”

He grunts.

“It’s fine. You’re much sweeter now.”

Tobias shoots her a look. “I’m not sweet.”

“Of course you aren’t,” Nia coos, giving his arm a patronizing pat. He shoves her away, and she laughs, immediately swaying back to his side.

“You have been so sassy lately,” he grumbles.

“Sorry, sorry. I’ll be nice.”

A brief moment of quiet. Then, a giggle from Nia.

“What?”

“I was just thinking about when we first met.”

Tobias has a brief flash of memory, from months ago. Spotting a strange, unfamiliar Pokemon—a riolu—unconscious in the middle of a nearby field. Waking her up to make sure she wasn’t hurt. Getting a blank stare and rising panic in return before Nia bolted into the woods and right into a mystery dungeon, Tobias hot on her heels.

Tobias snorts. “You were a mess.”

"I was!" Nia laughs. "I'm actually kind of embarrassed by it now. Can you imagine Kry’s reaction to seeing me run away from everything like that?”

“You were terrified of a seedot,” Tobias agrees, amused by the thought.

Although, knowing now how wildly different the Pokemon world is from Nia’s own, Tobias can’t blame her for being so freaked out. If anything, he’s a little embarrassed by how harshly he’d treated her. He wasn’t exactly a comforting presence at the time.

“But look at you now. Taking down steelixes all on your own.”

“Are you ever going to let that go?” Nia whines, paws coming up to hide her face.

“Nope. It's objectively awesome. And you aren’t going to tell anyone, so.”

Nia snorts another laugh. “I can’t believe I was so close to becoming a researcher instead of a Seeker. I can’t believe I fight on a daily basis!”

Tobias blinks, looking over at her. “You almost became a researcher?”

“I never told you that? Before I thought of teaming up with you, I thought becoming a Seeker was too scary, so I was going to become a researcher instead. Like Alistair and Tawny.”

Tobias wrinkles his snout, trying to picture it. On one hand, Nia would be right at home surrounded by all those books and the cozy environment of the guild every day. He could see her getting along well with the gardevoir and ribombee down in the archives.

But on the other hand, Tobias has also seen Nia’s eyes light up when she travels somewhere new. Seen how insatiably curious she is about the world and all the Pokemon in it. He's seen how her riolu nature shines through when she’s defending someone in a fight, and how genuinely happy she is when she can help out a client. All of that good would be smothered, stuck here at the guild.

And where would he be, if Nia hadn’t decided to come rescue him in that dungeon? Dead, at worst. Stuck in the medicinal quarters and miserable at best. Maybe Nia would’ve been happy as a researcher, but Tobias is immeasurably glad that they’re here together instead, as a team.

They both fall quiet again, looking up at the stars. The moon overhead is bright, painting everything in shades of black and silver.

“Humans went to the moon, y’know,” Nia eventually says.

Tobias gives her a dry look. “Ha ha. Funny.”

Nia blinks, looking genuinely caught off-guard. “No, really! Not, like. All of us. It was only a few. But we really did.”

Tobias squints at her, doubtful. But Nia doesn’t break. “…I thought you said humans couldn’t fly.”

“We can‘t. Or, well. Not on our own. But we built machines that can!”

Machines. Right. “Like…the cars you were talking about on the way to Asra?”

“Yes!” Tobias can hear Nia's tail give a happy thump against the wood. “Cars are great—they're so much faster than walking. And I loved the train in Ghatha. It was really similar to our own trains, so I wonder if a human had a hand in inventing that.”

“Probably. Don’t know if a Pokemon would’ve come up with something like that on their own. It was…kind of cool, I guess.”

“Oh, just you wait. There are so many cool human things I wanna show you! When I—"

Nia’s words cut off abruptly. Tobias feels a jab at his heart, knowing exactly why she'd clamped her mouth shut so suddenly. He wouldn’t ever get to visit, of course. And Nia wouldn’t get to visit him, either, if she left and went back to the human world. Giratina made that pretty clear. Tobias’ hand drifts up to his scarf, skimming the worn material comfortingly through his fingers.

The dark feels heavier, suddenly. Pressing down on them. Suffocating.

“I’m scared,” Nia eventually murmurs, curling tighter into her blanket. Her breath billows into the night air. “Of what will happen if we can’t do this. If we fail.”

Tobias knows the feeling. While Nia has two worlds’ safety on her mind, Tobias is struggling with just the one. He tries not to think about it too often, or it settles on his chest like a rock slide.

“Do you really think we’ll be able to find Xerneas?” Nia whispers, eyes trained on the mountains in the distance.

Tobias takes a moment to think before responding. “I don’t know. It’s not a great sign that Xerneas and Yveltal have been hidden for so long without anyone stumbling across them, but…”

“They’re the only lead we’ve got.”

Tobias swallows. “Yeah. But if worse comes to worst…we’ll just have to figure something else out. Failing isn’t really an option.”

Not with how much is on the line. They have to find a way to fix this if they want to keep everyone and everything in both of their worlds safe.

Nia turns to tuck her head into Tobias’ shoulder, her breath tickling his skin. The touch is grounding, somehow. Distracting enough to keep him out of his own head. They need a distraction. They can’t do anything until dawn anyways.

“Have I told you how much my family loved stars?” He blurts.

Nia’s breath catches, audible with her so close. “…No?”

Tobias wants to tell her. Wants to share. It’s still a terrifying feeling. His heart beats hard in his chest.

“We…lived in the mountains. Not the Silenfroar range here, but across the sea. Near a little village. But we lived way up, in a cave.”

Nia is silent. Tobias thinks she might be holding her breath.

“The sky was really clear, up there. It felt like we could reach out and touch the stars at night. Like…like it was just us and them.”

Tobias kind of feels like that now, actually. It’s a strange sensation. Deja vu, in a way. A little painful. A little sweet.

“And if it was ever too cloudy to see them from our cave, my…our parents would take Vivi and I flying. It was…”

The most magical thing he’d ever experienced. Something that makes a deep longing ache in his chest, even now. He hates that the world took that away from him. Won’t let him evolve to fly himself.

Nia’s hand slips free of the blanket to hold his own, her fur almost as warm as him.

Tobias takes a deep breath. “It was one of my favorite things. Vivi’s, too. When we couldn’t sleep, we’d sit at the mouth of the cave and they would teach us about constellations. Sing us stories.”

Nia is silent, hanging onto Tobias’ every word. Tobias closes his eyes. He can almost imagine it, fuzzy but warm. His father’s wing around him and his sister, keeping them sheltered from the chilly mountain breeze. Their mother humming and singing folk tales about the constellations. Tobias’ head bobbing as his eyes slipped closed and sleep washed over him.

“Do you remember any of the stories?” Nia asks.

Does he? He’s kept his memories locked away in the back of his mind for so long that trying to excavate them feels like wading through a sea of cobwebs. His eyes scan the sky, landing on a bright constellation vaguely resembling a head with big, round ears. He points at it with his free hand.

“That’s the teddiursa cub.”

Nia follows his gesture. “Teddiursa?”

“We saved one on our first mission. Uh. Small. Orange fur. Claws.”

“Oh! The cute little teddy bear!”

"Yup. He pairs with the ursaring.”

Nia follows Tobias’ finger as he trails up and to the right, where another collection of stars create the larger, blockier form of an ursaring head.

“Ursaring?”

“It’s what teddiursa evolves into. The story…” What was it again? “The story says that the teddiursa got lost one day. The ursaring was his mother, and she looked for him frantically, for three endless nights.”

Nia makes a sad sound in her throat.

“Desperate, the ursaring prayed to the stars, asking Jirachi to help her find her cub. Jirachi, the wishmaker, heard her and made her a part of the night sky, to be seen by all. The teddiursa saw his mother in the night sky, and wished to join her. Jirachi granted it, and the two have lived together in the sky ever since.”

Nia hums. “We have a similar set of constellations in our world, actually. Ursa Minor and Ursa Major.”

“Really?”

Nia nods, stars reflecting in her eyes. “I don’t remember much about the story associated with it, but…I think it’s sad.” She turns a smile onto Tobias. “I can’t decide if your world’s version is happier or not.”

Tobias blinks. He’d always assumed the story was a happy one, because the mother and child were reunited. “What do you mean?”

“I mean…they’re trapped in the sky, right? Are they happy there?”

Tobias frowns, looking back at the constellations. “…I like to think they are.”

Nia laughs softly. “Look at me, being the pessimist. I like your way of thinking better.”

Tobias makes a vague noise in his throat. They have enough things going wrong with the real world. Why not choose to believe that at least the teddiursa and ursaring got a happy ending?

“Thanks, Tobias. For sharing with me.”

Tobias isn’t sure if she means the story, or his memories, or his spot here, looking at the stars. Maybe all of it. He shrugs, embarrassed. “Who else ‘m I gonna tell? Xander?”

Nia gives him an exasperated, fond look. “I wasn’t kidding earlier. Maybe you can’t see it, but they really do want to be your friend. You guys seemed to be having a lot of fun when we sparred the other day.”

It can’t be that easy to make friends. Not when Tobias has spent the last eight years of his life almost entirely alone. But Nia is better at emotions than he is, so…

“It wouldn’t be…too terrible. Training with them again sometime.”

Nia grins, a teasing glint in her eyes. “Come on. Is it really so bad to have a few friends? You and I are friends, right?”

Tobias scoffs. “Duh. You’re my best friend.”

Nia’s smile drops with surprise, and Tobias tenses. His face burns with heat, and he snaps his gaze out to look over the trees, mortified.

Why did he say that? And so naturally, too. Best friend. What is he, five?

(Then again, it’s kind of obvious, isn’t it?)

Tobias can still feel Nia’s eyes on him, and steals a glance to find her eyes a little shiny, her expression a bit wobbly. “Tobias…”

“We should get some sleep!” Tobias says, too loud as he jumps to his feet. Nia nearly falls over in his haste. He doesn’t offer her a hand up this time, pacing a few steps into the flight floor and willing his stupid nerves to calm down.

He doesn’t hear Nia follow after him, but in a few short seconds she’s at his side again and stepping in front of him. “Tobias?”

He grunts, staring at his feet. At least the night hides how red his face is.

“Hey, I'm...I'm going to try something, okay? Feel free to tell me to stop.”

Tobias looks up, confused.

Nia looks just as embarrassed as he feels, somehow, shuffling in her blanket. But slowly, slow enough for him to stop her, she steps closer to wrap him up in a hug, cheek pressed into his scarf and blanket enveloping them both in warmth.

“I’m really glad you’re the one who found me in that field,” she murmurs. “You’re the best friend I could’ve asked for.”

Tobias feels his throat tighten up. As much as he knows that that’s not true—he’s a pain to be around more often than not—he also believes that she means it. His hands fall to the arms around his torso. His chest feels uncomfortably warm, a completely different sensation than when he uses his flames.

Nia squeezes him once before stepping back, closer to the stairs. She has a shy smile on her face. “C’mon, we should get to bed. One of us needs to be awake for tomorrow’s flight.”

Tobias relaxes, relieved to settle back into their usual banter. He moves to follow her down the stairs, ignoring the heat lingering in his cheeks. “I still don’t get how your two modes for flight are either screaming in terror or passing out.”

“It’s exhausting to be scared out of my mind! And I’m not scared when I’m sleeping.”

“Until you slip off our flight ‘mon and fall into the ocean.”

“You wouldn’t let that happen.”

“I might, if you insist we meet up with Junie in Stonebrook.”

Nia laughs. “C’mon, avoiding her won’t do you any good. You know she’d find us eventually anyways. And if you don’t want to fend her off alone, then you have to keep me alive.”

“Darn. All my plans, foiled.”

Nia laughs. Her tail wags as she talks, the blanket over her shoulders swishing with the motion. Tobias will never admit to finding it adorable. "Hey, do you think we’ll get to see Fliss tomorrow?”

“The braviary? Sure, if she’s around.”

“I hope so,” Nia says, “She was so nice, and she knew a lot! And she didn’t change how she treated us after she found out I was human, either. I wonder if—”

Tobias listens idly as Nia chatters on, the sound of her voice a comforting background noise for the short trip back to their room. Sleep sounds less daunting, after getting to unwind with Nia a bit. He’d been worried that sharing his space, his memories, would feel wrong, but instead it’s the opposite.

He feels…lighter. Ready for the journey ahead, no matter what it may hold.

[rollinouttahere-writes]

Hi thank you for doing my Luffy request! Love every second reading it !! Would it be alright if I request Luffy again ? Please Love to see what you come up with ; G ,P , R, T , U 🍪 anon 

I added W and Z to this because I wanted to finish his alphabet and those were the only letter left.

Game: Is this a game to them? How much would they enjoy watching their darling try to escape?

Luffy loves a good, fun game. But this is not one of them. He'll grin and bear it if you don't get far and try to treat it as if you're just messing with him, but serious escape attempts piss him off. He hates the sneakiness of it the most. If you want to try and leave, at least say it to his face. It won't sway him, but he could at least respect it more than trying to run away from him when he isn't looking.

He's just trying to love and support you, why are you being so difficult and ungrateful? None of the other Straw Hats have given him this much hell, so why are you? Knock it off before he gets angry.

Patience: How patient are they with their darling?

He's patient to an extent. He's willing to shrug off a lot while doubling down on his affection. He won't get angry just because you didn't succumb to him immediately, he's willing to wait for you to come around on your own time. So long as you don't escape or lash out at him or his crew, he'll take your outbursts with stride.

Regret: Would they ever feel guilty about abducting their darling? Would they ever let their darling go?

Not at all. He believes that you are better off with him than you were on your own, and you'll never be able to convince him otherwise. With him, you're safe and closer to achieving your dreams than you ever would have been on your own. You just need a little help realizing it, that's all. He's never letting you go. You're his treasure, and he wouldn't be a very good pirate if he just let his treasure walk away from him, now would he?

Tears: How do they feel about seeing their darling scream, cry, and/or isolate themselves?

Seeing you scream and cry makes him feel sorry for you. Not because he feels bad, but because it makes you seem so pitiful. He'll wrap his limbs around you and sit in silence with you as you cry it out. After you've quieted down, he'll try to cheer you up by making you laugh and roping you into some games. He won't talk about it afterwards, but you'll notice that he seems to be lurking around you even more than usual.

Don't bother trying to isolate yourself. As soon as he finds you, he's picking you up and dragging you into whatever shenanigans he's into today without a second of hesitation. Luffy genuinely cannot comprehend the idea of anyone wanting to be alone.

Unique: Would they do anything different from the classic yandere?

You have a lot of freedom and plenty of friends, you just have to remain at Luffy's side for the rest of your days. Luffy genuinely wants to see you live a happy and fulfilling life. He's also pretty relaxed about a lack of cooperation/reciprocation from you and won't get bent out of shape just because you aren't acting like his significant other from day one.

Wit’s end: Would they ever hurt their darling?

Yes. As discussed in other letters, he will hit you back if you strike first. He won't do it unprovoked, though, so you don't have to worry about him attacking you over disagreements or anything like that. He also hurts you psychologically when he puts you into isolation for days at a time over an escape attempt, because that will definitely leave a mark on your mental state. Especially if it happens repeatedly.

Zenith: Would they ever break their darling?

No. He doesn't want to see you broken and would become distraught if you ever did break. He cherishes your smile and it would hurt him deeply to be the reason he never gets to see it again.

[toutvatoujoursbien]

midnight thoughts (i hope i don't regret this)

Let me preface this by saying that these are just (very, very long) ramblings I’ve had in my head over the past few days and are MY opinions. I never post to Tumblr, but my level of emotional unhinged-ness right now needs an outlet so that I can process everything and feel, well, less unhinged.

I have never been this enamored with any celebrity or promo for a show like I have for this season of Bridgerton. Admittedly, I am a fan of the books and Penelope & Colin are my favorite couple. I’m going to age myself by saying that I read the series almost 20-ish years ago; past me could have never imagined I would actually get to see a Regency romance on my screen. Romances are for the girlies, and what the girlies like tends to be mocked, ridiculed, and not taken seriously - I’ve seen this time and time again across many different fandoms. I also really enjoy the tv series for being its own creative adaptation. I’ve liked many (though not all) of the changes they’ve made to the show; and I’ve liked all the little nods to the books that have been sprinkled in. Are the books or show perfect? Of course not, but that doesn’t mean I can’t love them for bringing me some entertainment and joy and escapism. I think that’s the beauty of it, I get to have the best of both worlds, so to speak. And for me personally, it’s been so fun to watch the press coverage over the past six or so months. As a fandom, I think we’ve been EXTREMELY well fed. 

Having Nicola and Luke as the leads has been a true blessing; I think/hope folks can tell how much they clearly love and understand their characters/roles. I know everyone has been talking nonstop about their chemistry and their close friendship, which I think is beautiful, truly unique and special. How can you not enjoy watching two people, who seem to genuinely like one other, talk endlessly about a project that they love and have poured so much into? And the way they have supported one another, not only during promo, but during their years of friendship? Astonishing, really. So while I am old enough to know better than to ship real people, I would’t blame anyone (myself included) if they got caught up in the whirlwind excitement and couldn’t help but wonder a sincere “What if?” (At least that was the case for me.) Isn’t that the beauty of hope and possibility and potential? Like, I knew rationally and intellectually that the likelihood of them being together was low, but damn if I didn’t feel giddy seeing their interviews, reading articles, and watching video after video.

“Oh, but it’s all PR!” they cry. Maybe, but like most of life, I don’t think it’s so simple or clear. I think there’s been a lot of nuance and perhaps some blurring of the lines during this promo tour. As long as we are respectful about it and realize that at the end of the day, the only opinions that matter in regards to their relationship are N & L’s, I don’t think some lighthearted dreaming is unheard of. We have to remember, though, that what we’re shown is only a fraction of their true selves, carefully and deliberately curated to accommodate their status as actors/celebrities/those in the public eye. 

(And yes, I know this is the internet and therefore everyone has an opinion - again, myself included. But I struggle to understand why some people think that their opinions should be deemed THE most important to the discussion or would have an impact on any type of outcome, especially in this particular scenario… I hope it’s obvious I’m referring to the very vocal people that chose to expend their energy in hateful, negative ways. Aren’t you exhausted?

However, as a longtime lurker, I have to admit it’s been absolutely fascinating reading all the different perspectives and takes on this too. I think reading other POVs and seeing people articulate points that challenge me and make me think is a good thing - again, as long as it’s all in a respectful manner. 

Also I have spent literal years curating and cultivating a social media bubble that doesn’t make me want to cry or give up on life. I don’t seek out negativity and hate - constructive criticism for a thing is a different matter. It may be “putting blinders up,” but honestly, real life can be a shitty enough place that I would like to spend my limited time online looking at cute things and learning or reading about stuff that makes me feel less alone in the world.)

Last week, I stayed off social media to avoid Bridgerton spoilers until I could watch Part 2. I did open Twitter on Thursday to check on something that was entirely unrelated, saw the absolute meltdown of a shitstorm brewing and quickly NOPED out of it. (I was also reminded of why Twitter scares me at times. And I'm not calling it X because that is stupid.) When I finally caught up over the weekend (both with Bridgerton and… all the other stuff 😅), I felt like I was experiencing mental and emotional whiplash.

Look, ultimately, I don’t know them personally and know even less about their private lives. As an outside observer (even though, yes, I have a vested interest in them), Nicola is fucking amazing and Luke seems to be a nice, sweet guy. I think they are each others support, and it has been mentioned many times that she has helped him deal with the intensity/anxiety of being in the spotlight this season. So here are some potentially hot takes: I just think, when they’re together, it’s like he’s a different, better person. When he soaks up even a little bit of her light (sorry, I had to), I can see all the qualities in him that she is constantly gushing about. But, and again this is my take on it, I also think he has a lot of growing up to do. I don’t know much about his supposed “hot/fuck boy summer,” but it seems to me that he’s perhaps going through his own Colin phase, which he can totally do. I genuinely want to see him and Nic succeed. However, I do think he’s got to get a better handling on his media image now (this whole thing reeks of a PR nightmare, but I need to take off my comms professional hat). The way this has all played out has been, imo, a clusterfuck. There are other issues that I’m also not going to get into at the moment. 

The thing that frustrated me the most is the timing of those “leaked” photos. You’re telling me that N&L went through SIX months of a - literal - worldwide promo tour, building up hype, doing countless interviews and appearances, etc., only to have these pap pictures “captured” on the night of the Pt. 2 London premiere??? And yes, while I’m aware there were rumblings of a gf being at various events/locations, I didn’t pay much attention to it (read: my curated social media bubble, lol). And I think the lack of confirmation up to that point from Luke and his team just mades things even more tricky/messy. So when the inevitable backlash played out online, piled on top of the hate Polin seems to get from many corners of the internet (Is it ship wars? Regular trolls just trolling? Polin and/or Lukola antis? People who, for whatever reason, don’t like the actors themselves or, worse, don’t like the creative choices/decisions made by the higher-ups and therefore deem it okay to spread hate online? All of the above, most likely.), I know I felt like I had been hit by a train.

Here’s my point: I think what should have been a moment of triumph and a joyous occasion for Nic, Luke, and Bridgerton season 3, was sadly overshadowed by the aforementioned shitstorm. And that’s a damn shame. Too many cast and crew put in a lot of time, effort, and blood sweat and tears, to pull this all together. I was happy with Season 3, which perhaps I will deep dive about in another post because this one has already spiraled out of control. Were there things I wished they had included or, rather, things that could have been left out? Yes, of course. But at the end of the day, I think we got a beautiful story led by two actors who love Polin as much as we do. And I cannot wait to see them back for Season 4. Plus, seriously, those viewing numbers alone should have been mostly what people are talking about. I hope all this doesn’t take away from the overall impact of the show and season.

I think it’s okay to be disappointed by all the stuff that has come out over the last few days. I think it’s perfectly human to want/need to process your thoughts and emotions. What is NOT OKAY is sending hate to anyone, period. And I hope you don’t let all that has happened sour your enjoyment of Season 3 and/or Polin.

Lastly, if you take anything away from this long ass post, it’s that Nicola is a GODDAMN QUEEN. Anyone who says otherwise is speaking slander and we do not stand for that in this house. She has carried herself during this time with grace, charm, and poise, consistently and constantly. And she is always ready for a mega fashion moment. She must be exhausted - already on to her next film/job but also perpetually online, and even stepping up to defend her costar. I may have to do a whole separate post just gushing about her and add to all the people already singing her praises. (And as a big fuck you to all the haters.)

Geez Louise, I clearly have a lot of feelings (more than I allowed myself to believe I did…). But I would love to hear what others think! Please, I need friends with whom I can have rational (okay, maybe slightly unhinged), spirited, deep analyses and discussion of this whole thing, or anything else we might have in common!