#He's got his brights on for oncoming traffic

[cinderduck]

Rudie's nose is BLINDING

[2hightocare]

PRINCESS TREATMENT ✷

“In a world of boys’ he’s a gentleman” mini series—

Synopsis: Jungkook simply does everything to make you happy..

Genre: established relationship!

Warnings: pure fucking fluff… (seriously makes me wanna jump in oncoming traffic) jungkook is a bright green flag, he’s love language is “acts of service” (can be read as a standalone but I recommend reading the first part)

a/n: we all deserve oc and jungkooks kinda love.. I’m turning this into a mini series since a lot of people enjoyed it🤍

for @ohsweetmimosa !!

Falling in love was always something that you wanted, your face has always been shoved into pages of books, wondering when it would be your turn to experience that type of love. Your mom would always tell you that your expectations were too high and that no man could ever be as perfect as a fictional man.

Until you met him.

There were no words in the dictionary to describe him. No words to describe how beautifully his eyes would sparkle whenever he would tell you he loves you, the way his thumb would caress you whenever you would hold hands, or the way he would kiss away the tears that would escape your eyes.

You a hundred percent believed God made men, and sent Jungkook as an apology.

“When did you learn to braid hair…?” You curiously ask, with a slight hint of jealousy in your tone, making Jungkook laugh behind you as his fingers thread the three strands of hair repeatedly. “Watched a YouTube tutorial,” he chuckles, trying so hard not to pull your hair.

“What for..?” You stare at the mirror in front of you with the goofiest smile plastered on your face, watching your boyfriend with no shirt, a pair of sweatpants hanging low on his hips as he carefully braids your hair with his lip between his teeth.

“You always braid your hair but then complain your arms hurt from keeping them up for so long soo… why not make myself useful.” He shrugs like it’s not a big deal.

Your heart did a cartwheel, might have exploded in your chest from how fast it’s beating. But nothing new. You were so accustomed to the feeling of butterflies flying in your stomach whenever he would do or say something to you.

He drops the most beautiful phrases anyone has ever told you so casually, like it was normal. But that was your normal since you met him.

You would hear your friends talk shit about their boyfriends, how they did something or what they didn’t do, but you really just never had anything bad to say about Jungkook. He basically took "Princess treatment" to another level.

You never had to ask for flowers, never had to pull out a chair, never had to open a door, never had to enter a car freezing... because Jungkook being Jungkook went out twenty minutes earlier to turn on the heater before you would get in.

Never had to worry about leaving your wallet at home when the only thing in your bag is lip gloss. Never having to turn on your brain whenever he was around.

Locked doors? Where are the house keys? Did you leave your curler on? Jungkook got it.

“That’s so much better than mine,” you point to his ice cream as your eyes widen from how the creamy flavors melt into your mouth. “So bo—mb!” You muffle out from the mouthful of ice cream shoved into your mouth.

“Let me try yours,” he opens his mouth, waiting for you to send a spoonful of your cookies and cream into his mouth. “Here comes the airplane! Brrr,” you try making airplane noises as your hand does a weird twirl before inserting the spoonful of ice cream into your smiley boyfriend.

“Mhm,” he nods his head, humming loudly, watching you smile at him.

“I actually like yours better, baby. Let’s trade?” Jungkook hands you his small cup of ice cream as you nod happily, while you hand him yours.

Jungkook watches with the biggest smile on his face while inserting another spoonful of the creamy content as he watches you eating the new ice cream flavor enthusiastically, hearing you rave about the new book you have just finished reading and how dumb the main character is.

Jungkook's heart aches, sizing double its size, beating hard in his chest. Your cheeks and nose are rosy from the cold outside the car. You both didn’t care about eating ice cream in the middle of cold December; you guys took it as a challenge on who would get sick first.

He laughs at the lighthearted jokes you threw at him, while you take another big spoonful of the chunky ice cream that was his not so long ago.

Little did you know that he really didn’t like your ice cream flavor.

When Jungkook first met you, he knew from the start that he was a goner. The way you smile at him, how your eyes will have a small glint on them whenever you look at him, or the way you would scrunch your nose if you found something funny or cute.

It took him by surprise when you pulled the move on him, thinking you found something disgusting when you first did it.

“I will literally eat you right now!” You scrunch your nose at your smiling boyfriend who’s slightly kneeling for you to be able to see your initial carved into his haircut.

“So that means you like it?” Jungkook stands up and spins to face you. You stare up at him, his dimples on full display looking down at you with your cute outfit he helped you pick on FaceTime.

“I fucking love it baby!! I have the urge to crawl inside your skin,” you bite your lip containing the laugh you’re trying hard to contain, failing miserably when Jungkook raises an eyebrow with a smirk on his face. “That’s… cute,” he replies before kissing off the little nose scrunch he loves so much off your face.

“Is that like your ‘cutie mark’?” You quip, your arms wrapping themselves around his shoulders. “Cutie mark?” He asks, a hint of interest in his voice while he wraps his arms around your waist pulling you closer to him.

“You never watched My Little Pony?” You fake gasp, eyes widening.

“I’ve heard of it, but me sitting down to watch ponies with superpowers… yeah, no.” Jungkook squeezes your waist as he explains.

“You suck,” you roll your eyes playfully sticking your tongue out before entangling yourself off his arms and making your way to the couch.

“Come big baby, we are watching My Little Pony.” You pat the empty couch space beside you.

He watched every season... all nine seasons with you.

Jungkook just wanted to make your life easier; you were always known for being “Miss Independent” in your family and amongst your friends, but here you were letting a man put your heels on for you.

“Too loose or…?” Your boyfriend looks up to you from his kneeling-down position in front of you.

“You look really good on your knees, sir.” You say instead with a sly smirk on your face, ignoring his question. “Pshh,” he rolls his eyes as he chuckles, tying a bow on your lace-up heels.

“Since when do you not flirt back?” You pout watching your boyfriend repeat his actions on the other foot. “Since we are late... and can’t be any more late.” He looks up with a mischievous grin on his face.

“Psh, okay.” You blow out in defeat as your boyfriend chuckles underneath you.

“Come on princess, let's go!” He stands up, giving you a hand for you to stand up off the bed.

The long rides to your guys' destinations were your favorite; Jungkook had given you the “passenger princess” award ever since you set foot in his car. He even installed a light-up mirror on your sun visor whenever you needed to fix your hair or makeup in the car.

Jungkook would listen to your little playlists. He still remembers when you explained to him that each playlist has a different emotion, which made him laugh. Now, anytime you played a song, he would ask you what emotion you were feeling right now.

“What emotion are you feeling right now baby?” He squeezes your thigh as he stops at a red light. The reddish hue illuminates your guy's face. “In love,” you turn your head to the side, staring at your boyfriend who’s already looking at you.

His eyes twinkle as he stares at you, a big smile adorns his face. As you mirror his actions before leaning in and giving him a kiss on the lips, his eyelids immediately flutter close.

“‘Cause I got my mind on you... I’ve got my mind on you.”

Plays softly from the car speaker; you smile into the kiss. “I love you.” He whispers softly. “I love you.” You whisper back.

[luveline]

for a heavy request, maybe the marauders after you've been in a car accident, no heavy injuries if you don't want to, but just them worrying? ily <3

love u <;3

“I always thought it would be me,” James says when he sees you, his backpack falling down his shoulder as he rushes to your side. His eyes go glassy when he sees the cut on your cheek. “Oh, no way. Look at your poor cheek. Look at your arm!” He frowns, a deep wrinkle crinkling the skin between his eyebrows. “Sweetheart.” 

You shudder as he takes your face into his hands. “You’re really cold,” you mumble. 

“Are you in pain?” 

“Yeah, Jamie.” You smile as best as you can. He looks so worried. “They pulled a lot of glass out of my arm.” 

He eyes the length of your arm wrapped in white bandages. “Yeah? How many stitches?” 

“Twenty two.” 

“Okay. Twenty two presents, then.” 

James helps you settle into your hospital bed. The crash wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but it was still too much to walk off. He fluffs your pillow and helps you lay back, pulls a blanket over your legs, and then tracks down a nurse for another when your shivering doesn’t calm. His hair tickles your arms and your face as he tucks you in, kisses your cheek, the smell of his cologne a nice familiarity to cut the clinical sting of disinfectant. 

He looks like he might cry when he’s staring at you, but he doesn’t crack. “That’s better,” he says, taking your hand as he sits in the vinyl wrapped chair beside you. “They’ll be here with your things any minute now, and we can get you out of your flirty dress.” 

“It’s a hospital gown,” you mumble through a smile. You’d laugh if you had the energy. 

“Yeah, babe. You’re practically naked.” 

“Am not.” 

He kisses your knuckles. “Agree to disagree.” 

Remus and Sirius arrive trying to push through the door at the same time. Sirius wins, willing to roughhouse where Remus isn’t, propelling himself toward your bed in a rush. “What the fuck happened?” he asks. 

“They went through a red light,” you say, relieved to see them both. Sirius shocks you when he goes in for a hug, quick but careful, his hair smushed into your forehead as he covers the back of your head protectively. “I didn’t see them coming. I was just sitting there and they hit me.” 

They drove their car thirty miles per hour into the passenger side, which then pushed you into oncoming traffic. Sudden and then done. You closed your eyes to brave and opened them to find yourself covered in glass and blood with a bruise like a lash down your chest. Explaining it, remembering it again so soon, your eyes fill with tears that you choke around as Remus grabs your leg. 

“You’re okay,” James says, giving your hand a good squeeze. 

“Yeah, you’re okay,” Sirius says, quieter, his lips cold on your face. 

Sirius lets you go after a quick appraisal of your face and lets Remus crowd you. He hugs you for far longer than the other two, not because he likes you more or anything, but because he’s very, very tactile, and because you need it. He sits on the side of the bed and uses his height over you to wrap you up, avoiding your arm but otherwise smothering you in a soft affection. “It’s okay,” he repeats the sentiment of the others, kneading the top of your arm. 

Remus looks pale in the bright white fluorescents, but he doesn’t falter nor shake. He has a remarkable talent for turning everything off when he needs to. You shudder like a kid through tears, your arm a constant pang of pain. The whiplash is suffocating. Each breath you takes doesn’t feel like enough. 

Remus counts you through big breaths. “Just do it with me, hm? Nice slow breaths. You got it.” 

“I’ll get you some water,” James says. 

Sirius opens the bag they’d first ignored to unveil a shoving of things, including a water bottle and a three pack of juice cartons. “We brought choices.” 

He pierces the carton with a straw for you and hands it over. You sip at it feebly through panicked pants, the straw pushed between your teeth. Remus runs your arm with his thumb encouragingly. “Sorry,” you say. 

Three voices chime in at one. “Don’t be sorry!” Remus says, as James and Sirius both say, “No.” 

“It was really scary,” you confess, tears slinking off of your lashes as you blink. 

“I bet it was,” Remus says, “but you’re okay. We’re gonna get you fixed up and back home so quickly, dove, you don’t need to worry.” 

“I’m not worried,” —James winces visibly at your shaky voice and reaches over to rub your thighs— “I just didn’t know what was happening.” 

“It must’ve been so scary,” James sympathises. 

You look for Sirius through their embraces. He’s frowning, nearly glaring, his gaze on your bandaged arm. “We’ll sort everything out,” he promises, raising his head. “Promise.” 

You nod quickly and then slower. “Yeah, I know.” 

You’re bathed in hugs for a while. The nurse comes back to see how you are and giggles at your company. “Such handsome boys,” she says, “who’s the lucky one?” 

To which they all say, “Me.” She declares them the funniest bunch of boys she’s ever met. 

[pedge-page]

Preggo Wife making Joel drive out to In and Out which is like a 40 minute drive from their house because you're deathly craving their fries.

You're giddy and bouncing up and down in your seat, swaying your head with the Temptations turned to full blast on the radio as he drives. Finally you pull close to the familiar establishment and squeal, clapping your hands.

Joel puffs his cheek, pulling into the lot.

"Whahwawawhat are you doin?" You ask.

"Gettin out? Drive thru's crazy. Let's just go in."

"I'm not getting out, Joel. Baby stays put."

He eyes the crazy drive thru again but knows he's not getting your hippo ass out the car unless its willingly.

He makes a disgruntled noise from deep in his throat.

"What was that?"

"Nothin'." Reversing the car, he gets in the line.

Finally you two pull up to the menu and are greeted by the static voice box.

"What yoy want, baby?"

He THOUGHT you knew this whole time, but now seeing your eyes light up at the entire bright menu like its a Christmas tree, he closes his eyes.

"We need a minute."

"Fries--LARGE fries. And uh OH shake. Chocolate? Do they do sprinkles? Joel, ask if they have sprinkles? Oh wait and a large ugh they only have coke fine whatever. And a double, triple burger--"

"They only got double. "

"Then give me two doubles. And another fry. And double fries. And another little fry for you."

Joel leans out the window. "You uh. Get all that?"

"Yeah... um....yeah. big family?" The cashier asks.

Joel glances at you wity your pouty lips and folded arms.

"Yeah something like that."

She tells him your total (Joel curses under his breath) and says thank you.

The two of you load the car Up from the pickup window and finally are on your way.

You hold the first golden fry up like a trophy before putting its beautiful body inside your mouth...

Immediately you wail and start crying, and Joel nearly swerves into oncoming traffic from nearly being startled. "What! What's wrong what happened!?"

You cover your eyes, tears spilling. Your face is scrunched in a terrible nearly Heartbreaking sadness as you choke. "Its --uhahuh- stale!"

Joel angrily dips his hand into your fries and takes a bite. They're a bit cold and, unfortunately, stale.

"Baby I'm sorry--"

"You TOLD them to give me stale fries, didn't you!"

"Wha-no! You were with me the whole time--"

"You DID you leaned over and told them make it terrible for your WIFE. JOEL HOW COULD YOU."

"I--EAT YOUR DAMN BURGER," he shouts with a booming growl. The car goes quiet and he shakes his head angrily, focusing back on the road.

You hiccup and go silent. Nibbling your custom quad burger and sipping your shake close your lips while sniffling.

Glancing down at Joel's tiny paper baggie of fries, you quickly steal one. "Yours are better," you peep quietly.

He closes his eyes for a long time, inhaling a big breath before addressing you again as calmly as possible. "You can have them."

[portalhan]

*ೃ 13:56

↳ after you mindlessly hold his hand, a flustered hyunjin asks you a few questions.

GENRE: fluff, friends to lovers

WARNINGS: written on mobile & tumblr has a personal vendetta against me so this post may look cooked

WORD COUNT: 700+

FAE'S NOTES: apologiez for my inactivity recently... life got insane. but i'm back babey!

"can i ask you something?"

hyunjin slowly, cautiously asks that dangerous question in a tone that scares you a little bit. have you done something wrong? you look up from your laptop, meeting his wide eyes with a quizzical look plastered on your face.

"what happened earlier... what was that?" hyunjin asks, voice hushed. but the faint dusting of red that colours the apples of his cheeks is undeniable.

you watch as the blush spreads to the tip of his ears when you ask, "what do you mean?" hyunjin's eyes rapidly darts elsewhere.

your friend begins to stutter, tongue tripping over the words. he turns his head towards the window, watching as the trees outside sway in the wind. "uh, when..." he mumbles shyly, awkwardly. your heart begins to race – you're so deathly afraid of the possibility of having done something that has upset hyunjin. you gently shut your laptop and lean forward, eyes glued on his nervous figure.

"hm?" you hum reassuringly, patiently waiting for him to continue. he bites his bottom lip slightly and takes a deep breath.

"when we were on the way here," he says, gesturing towards your surroundings. the two of you are currently sat on the couch in your living room, sprawled on both ends as you work on your assignment and hyunjin buries his nose deep in the latest book he's reading. "you..." hyunjin trails off.

"did i do something wrong?"

hyunjin is quick to cut you off there. "n-no!" he exclaims. "not at all."

you quietly sigh in relief, and lean back against the sofa. "you held my hand," he blurts out quietly, face and ears are bright red hue at this point as he does everything in his power to avert your piercing gaze. "you've never done that before."

you blink as you process his words. was that why he's been so reserved today...? "oh. did i make you feel uncomfortable? i'm really sor–"

"it didn't, not even in the slightest," hyunjin cuts you off again, visibly flustered. you mouth a silent "oh", and let the tension hang in the air for a brief moment as you try your best to formulate a response. hyunjin says something else before you do.

"why did you do it?" his eyes meet yours again.

you gulp. it's best to just answer honestly, you think. "the sidewalk was really narrow, i just didn't want you to accidentally walk into oncoming traffic. i wasn't thinking too much into it," you tell him, tone even, despite the fact that you were just waiting for the opportunity to hold it for a while now. your outward coolness is in incredibly stark contrast to the way your heart is pounding so rapidly against your ribs you're convinced it might explode any second now. you pause to gauge his reaction, but you quickly double back when you watch him as he's caught off guard by your response. "i won't do it again. it was silly of me." hyunjin just stares back at you, brows furrowed. his expression is now completely unreadable, sans the persistent blush.

"what if i wanted you to do it again? and again?"

you feel a small smile tug at the corner of your lips. "that would be nice," you respond, as if it was the easiest thing in the world to say. hyunjin smiles so wide it reaches his eyes – the sight always melts your heart.

"can i–?" hyunjin stretches his palm out towards you, silently beckoning with a pouty look in his doe eyes for you to slip your fingers between his. you oblige. his hands are soft – but you know this already. now you're given the chance to really relish it in amid this quiet albeit intimate moment.

in spite of the silence that falls over you, your hands stay intertwined, as if afraid to let each other go. hyunjin's thumb shyly – maybe with the slightest hint of hesitation – rubs against the back of your palm from time to time, as if testing the waters. the both of you can feel the weight of your unsaid confessions hanging heavy in the air around you, but perhaps that is a conversation for later. for now, you opt to fully indulge yourself in every single second of this moment. so does hyunjin.

[mads-weasley]

Everything

Joel Miller x Wife!Reader

Masterlist

A/N: I absolutely LOVE the Last of Us and had to write something for Joel! I do not own any of the rights to these characters except (y/n). Enjoy!

Summary: After a rough day, (y/n) shares a soft moment with her husband.

Warnings: mentions of road rage attack? total fluff central

September 25th, 2003: 24 Hours Before Outbreak

The bright Texan sun was shining down on (Y/n) Miller as she was on her way to the grocery store with Sarah in the passenger seat. With the windows down, they blasted their favorite new hit song, Red Dirt Road by Brooks & Dunn.

"Oh, I've come to know, there's life at both ends," the (y/h/c) woman sang, pretending to hold a mic to her lips.

Sarah stuck her hand out the window, her curls flying in the wind as she finished the lyric. "Of that red dirt road."

The pair were pulled from their jam session when the car in front of them slammed on brakes, causing (y/n) to do so as well, shooting an arm out in front of Sarah.

"You okay?" She asked breathlessly, holding back a curse at the driver. "And that's why you're not gonna tailgate people when you start driving, right?"

The teen rolled her eyes with a smile and put her hand over her heart. "Scout's honor."

Playfully scoffing, (y/n) looked around the car, only to see nothing in the way. Beeping the horn quickly, she groaned. "Seriously. What's the hold up here?"

Her question was answered when the driver quickly got out of the car and angrily stalked toward the pair. (Y/n) checked around her, looking for a way to get away quickly.

"Sarah," she whispered. "Roll up your window, now."

When the man was halfway to their car when he stopped and turned around. Her heart began to beat again.

She looked at Sarah with a shaky smile. "Okay, maybe he's over it."

The young girl's eyes widened as she frantically pointed in front of them. "(Y/n)!"

Snapping her eyes forward, she cursed at the sight of the man with a baseball bat.

"Hold on," (y/n) yelled, jerking into oncoming traffic to get away. Once they passed the man, she got back in their lane, hearts pounding. Had just a simple beep set the man off?

"What just happened?" Sarah asked, still gripping the handle above her car door.

Shaking away her fear, (y/n) reached over and took her hand gently

"I don't know, but we're okay. How about we just go home. I all of a sudden don't feel like going to the store."

A silent nod was all the response she needed to head back home. After the girls' scary ordeal, she just wanted to be in the safe presence of her husband.

At the familiar rumble of a truck engine, (y/n)'s heart jumped. She and Sarah were on the couch watching 10 Things I Hate About You when Joel opened the door.

"Girls?" He called, taking off his filthy work boots.

Sarah perked up, and yelled back, "In the living room!"

A few seconds later, he walked into the room with a tired smile, plopping down in the small space between them.

"And how are my girls doing today?" he asked, pulling them closer to him.

Sarah's eyes widened. "(Y/n) and I were on th-"

Not wanting to worry Joel, (y/n) shook her head quickly from behind him. The girl's brows furrowed slightly but caught on.

"-the way home and guess what song came on?" She asked.

"Hmm," he hummed, scrunching his face overdramatically. "Was it Red Dirt Road?"

"How did you know that!?" (Y/n) laughed, slapping his arm playfully.

"I don't know. Probably because it was the one you were humming when I first got over here, honey."

The trio broke into a fit of giggles that ended when Joel got up.

"Don't move. I'll be back in a minute."

As soon as Joel was out of the room, Sarah turned to (y/n). "Why can't we tell dad about earlier?"

"You know how worked up he gets, Sar," she sighed. "I just don't want to worry him."

"Okay. I won't tell him, but I think you should."

"I'll tell him la-"

She was cut off by Joel's voice calling from the hallway. "Who's ready for some supper?"

After they ate supper, Sarah went off to finish homework while (y/n) cleaned up. As she was reaching for dishes to put the leftovers in, a pair of hands snaked around her waist, pulling her back into a warm embrace.

"I missed you today," Joel murmured, his face buried in her neck.

"I missed you too, babe..."

A few seconds passed and she knew she needed to tell him what happened. Turning around in his arms, (y/n) placed her hands on his chest.

"So, something happened today. I don't want you to stress out or worry, bu-"

"Well, now I'm definitely gonna," he interrupted.

"Sar' and I were on the way to the grocery store when the guy in front of us stopped out of nowhere. I couldn't go around him because there was traffic, so I hit the horn. And then he got out of the car."

(Y/n) could feel his body tense up, and she was reminded why she wanted to spare him the details of the encounter.

"We thought he was going to get back into his car, but he pulled out a baseball bat, Joel. I didn't even think, I just got us out of there as soon as I could. Sarah was my number one priority and," she faltered, her throat closing up. "-and I was so scared."

He pulled her into his chest fully, resting his chin on the top of her head. "I'm so sorry, (y/n/n). You should have called me."

Joel was shaking with anger, but contained it, knowing it would only make his wife more upset. "I know. I just didn't want to worry you."

"Worry me? Sweetheart, I am your husband, and you can tell me anything, no matter what."

(Y/n) sighed, pulling back with tears in her eyes. "I love you so much."

A single tear trickled down her face, and Joel wiped it away with his thumb as he cupped her cheek softly. "I love you, too. You and Sarah are everything to me."

Feeling his rough hands caress her face so gently, she placed hers over them. "Sarah's getting too big. I can't believe it's been almost two years since we tied the knot."

"Don't remind me," he whispered, rolling his eyes. "The sass gets worse every day."

His expression suddenly became serious. "You know, I don't think I've ever seen her this happy. Heck, I've never been this happy. You complete our family, (y/n)."

"I've never been this happy either."

She leaned in and rested her forehead against his before connecting their lips. Joel's hands on her waist pulled her closer as he deepened the kiss. At the sound of feet padding down the hallway, he pulled away with a groan.

"Don't stop on account of me," Sarah chimed with a smirk, grabbing a yogurt from the fridge." She started to turn back towards her room but stopped and pulled the couple into a tight hug.

"I am happier, dad. I love you both."

The man laughed, patting his daughter's hair affectionately. "We love you, too. Now, how long have you been listening, baby girl?"

Sarah held up her pointer finger, smiling sheepishly. "I'm gonna have to plead the fifth."

Pulling away, she glanced at the clock on the stove as she walked away. "You enjoy your last few hours as a 35-year-old, you old geezer."

Joel glanced at his wife with an amused smile. "Can you believe her?"

"I mean you are pretty old, Mr. Miller," (y/n) teased, shrugging her shoulders.

Before she could move, he threw her over his shoulder, running toward their room.

"Old, huh?"

The woman squealed, smacking playfully against his back. "Joel! Put me down!"

"No can do, Mrs. Miller."

[fashionteahouse]

What about embry x reader them taking their daughter out trick or treating

love it! what did you guys be for halloween? i dressed up as Pearl 💜 hope you enjoy :)

know the way - embry x reader

The orange and reddish leaves fell from the branches like feathers falling. Tinkers of small children laughing and chatting brought mood to the ambiance.

“Not too fast.” Embry tells his daughter cautiously as she runs towards the house that in view.

The bright and excited smile stretched across her small features as she tells her father without any doubt detected, “Daddy, I know the way.”

“Still. We have to be careful, okay?” You tell her and she lets you know that she understands. She waits until you both are closer to run up the stairs that lead to where candy is hidden.

Knocking a small knuckle on the door, the small child steps back and keeps the basket firm in her small hands as she watched the door open.

She is greeted with a smile from an elderly man, “And what are you supposed to be?” he asks her.

Spinning around, excited to show off the costume that she really wanted all year for this day, she tells him. The elderly man laughs as he lowers his hand to let her take a handful of candy and plop it into her plastic bucket.

“Happy Halloween!” The child tells him as she turns away.

Embry catches her hand as the child gushes about what she got so far.

Another house comes into view as she tugs on Embry’s hand to make him move faster.

“Come on, daddy.” she tells him and this makes you laugh as he gives you a look.

“Don’t worry, it’s not going anywhere.” he reassured her as she jerked with a giggle from his affectionate, playful poking as he moves her to the sidewalk to avoid any oncoming traffic.

Carrying her and letting her press the door bell, she leans forward with the halloween bucket that she picked out, to have them give her something good to eat.

Hearts were flattered as the child you and Embry both shared were showing her thanks for being given sweets.

Candy over filling the bucket she had in her small hands, she demanded her father to carry her again. After proving to her that he didn’t drop any candy but her belief is not with him, she wants you to keep it safe. He then walked with her in his arms.

Unlocking the door, her eyelids were showing. You push open the door for Embry to step through the doorway.

Before Embry could walk past the doorway, the small figure blinks awake and jump out of her father’s arms.

“I want to see my candy.” The child decided and Embry halts her from reaching for it.

“If you eat dinner, you can see it after.” you tell her to avoid any woes.

“Okay.” she agrees but doesn’t want to take her eyes away from the candy.

“Do you want to help?” you offer as you move to the kitchen to wash your hands and she follows. You look down and she nods. Before any further, she turns to find Embry.

“Don’t eat my candy, Daddy. If you do, I wont share.” she announces, holding up a small index finger, it dots the point that she makes.

Embry leans forward with a pinkie shot up. Kneeling to her height, the small child shoots up her own pinkie finger and links it into his. You watched their movements as their fingers unlink and rub their noses together until your daughter giggled.

[otdiaftg]

The Raven King - Chapter Seven

Day: Thursday, October 5th Time: 11:00 AM EST

"Andrew hates her, you know. Andrew's not really big on the idea of Aaron's happiness, see? So if Aaron likes Katelyn, Andrew doesn't want him to have her. Andrew might smile awful bright but he is a master of childish spite." "That doesn't make sense," Neil said. "It's complicated," Nicky said, rubbing the back of his neck as he leaned back in his chair. "I didn't really get into the gritty details last time because those aren't really Dan and Matt's business, but you're family, so I can tell you." He looked over his shoulder again. "I told you Aunt Tilda gave Andrew up, right? That's only half of it. Truth is she put both of them in the system at first. One week later she changed her mind."

"They know she gave them both up?" Neil asked. "When Andrew's foster mother called to set up that meet-and-greet, she asked Aunt Tilda how only one of them ended up in the system. Aunt Tilda told her, and Aaron heard it on the upstairs line." Nicky gestured up as if indicating Tilda's bedroom. "I don't know why the hell Andrew's foster family told him, but yeah, he knows. I'm thinking that's why he wouldn't talk to Aaron when Aaron wrote to him. He was—justifiably, I think—pissed off." "But it's not Aaron's fault," Neil said. "It was their mother's decision." "That's Andrew for you: making sense since never." Nicky spread his hands in a helpless gesture. "Finding Andrew again was a turning point for Aaron in all the worst ways. Aunt Tilda moved them cross-country, started drinking more than ever, and got heavy-handed with Aaron. Aaron got into all kinds of trouble in some sort of traumatized rebellion. He took her drugs and got into fights at school and in general grew up to be a bit of an asshole. Mom wrote me about it when I was in Germany because she was worried about him. The only good thing Aaron did in South Carolina was play Exy, and he only picked that up so games would get him out of Aunt Tilda's house. Then Dad found out about Andrew and began this years-long campaign to bring Andrew home. Told you last time, right? He wore Aunt Tilda down until she agreed to take Andrew in, then talked to the courts and Children's Services and Andrew's last foster family. He met Andrew, who apparently wasn't at all interested in a triumphant return with his mother, and introduced Aaron to Andrew. That's when things started moving. Andrew suddenly got motivated. He started behaving and toeing the line and got released on early parole about a year later." "Andrew decided he wanted a brother after all," Neil said. "So what went wrong?" "Aunt Tilda died, and Aaron blames Andrew." "Did Andrew do it?" "The night Aunt Tilda died, she and Aaron got in a fight. That's how Mom and Dad finally found out Aunt Tilda was beating on Aaron. He showed up at their place with fresh bruises and cuts. Dad called Aunt Tilda over to sort things out, but she didn't stick around long. She took Aaron and left. They didn't make it home. She went over the median into oncoming traffic and wasn't wearing her seatbelt.... It wasn't Aaron in the car. Aaron was standing in for Andrew at a study session. That was before Andrew was on his drugs, so it was a pretty easy act for Aaron to pull off. He didn't know why Andrew asked him to do it until the police called. I still don't know what happened, if Aunt Tilda panicked when she realized which son was with her or if they were fighting or if it was intentional, but... It's not like Aaron liked her, but she was his mother, you know? And Aaron never got to fix things with her, never got to understand why she was so messed up or why she messed them up so bad. Aaron can't accept that she's gone. He misses her. He can't forgive Andrew, and Andrew doesn't understand or care about how much it hurt Aaron. Stalemate."

He spoke slowly, giving himself time to think and to bleach the grief from his voice. "Andrew did care. That's what went wrong."

Art used with permission by Aymmidumps. Thank you @aymmidumps!

[cjlouwho]

Under These Bright Lights- Chapter 5

(read on ao3)

Excerpt:

Buck spent the next couple weeks actually trying to give Eddie a chance. He couldn't deny that the guy was charming, and it didn't hurt that he brought his kid to set sometimes too.

Christopher was a teenager, but Buck loved kids and they got along well pretty fast. They'd spend free time playing video games and discuss comics.

There were a few times that Buck actually went to Eddie's place after work. They'd had some fairly deep conversations about their pasts over beers. It really helped to clear the air between them and send them toward becoming friends.

There were moments though. Moments where Buck felt an overwhelming urge to shove Eddie into oncoming traffic.

He'd never do it.

Of course not!

But he thought about it.

Mostly, when he'd see Tommy and Eddie off to the side, talking about... well, whatever they were talking about. Because, as much as Eddie and Buck were starting to hang out, Tommy and Eddie were becoming closer too.

[spirit-mail]

Fresh Meat

rai_viz on ao3

König × M!Reader - 1.2k -

C1 - C2 - C3

___×× follow n send asks so I can write more

"Double foam caramel macchiato for Savannah?"

You grumbled maybe your thirtieth order of the morning out, sliding the warm cardboard cup across the counter to the nearest customer. Stomping back to your station just to find another overload of orders, with only two people working including yourself. Your coworker, Farah, taking orders and desperately trying to make a dent in the sudden influx of people, rushing in and out of the medium-capacity store. 

"Is Derek dead or did he just decide not to call in today?" Farah breathed out as the rush finally calmed down. The two of you leaned against the counters, taking maybe the most useful makeshift break you could.

"If anything, I should be the one missing work.."

She instantly quirked an eyebrow towards your tired figure, wiping down the counter and looking at you intently. 

"Do you remember when I told you that my friend set me up on some stupid date?" 

The bell, notifying the both of you that someone entered the store rung as soon as you finished your sentence, and you both were quick to pretend you were hard at work making orders. Farah standing right in front of the register once again to take the customers order, and in that second you thought you really were just being punished by god simply for existing.

“Just a bagel, please..” Your stomach churned and you froze in front of the coffee maker, and you desperately wanted to run out from behind that counter and onto the street into oncoming traffic. Hoping maybe there was just someone with the exact same voice and speaking mannerisms as the guy you hooked up with just last night. Deciding to just “be the bigger person”, you reluctantly turned around to face König. Your lips pressed firmly together in the awkwardest expression you could possibly come up with. You waved, watching as his eyes widened and he opened his mouth to say something, ultimately staying silent. Farah could clearly see the weird tension between you two and instantly put two and two together, covering her mouth with her hand as she tried not to laugh (fucking sadist).

And then it got worse. Maybe your saving grace- maybe the reason you’re stuck here in the first place, but the man, the myth, and the legend himself, Derek, opens the door, the sound of his footsteps amplified due to your previous silence. “Sorry I’m late, guys!”

_

“Soo judging from your face it's safe to say you didn’t go out of your way to track me down?”

You chuckled awkwardly, sitting across from the much larger man with a bright red drink in front of him with the bagel he asked for. “I’m really sorry, I honestly never expected this to happen..” He began, eyes darting around nervously as you sighed, resting your elbow on the table and staring at him intently. “You didn’t need to get me this..”

“It’s fine, I figured you’d like it. It’s cherry.” He honestly might have just died right then and there. A million thoughts flooded through his head and suddenly it was hard for him to even move, but the one thing that was clear to him was that you remembered. It sounds stupid, maybe- but you didn’t just go off and toss him out your brain like any other person would do, and that meant enough to him as he took a sip of the lemonade, smiling softly. “I didn’t think I’d see you again so I did a bunch of shit I’d never usually do and now its all coming back for me..” You groan, realizing now that you weren’t scared of seeing him, you were scared of having to talk about it. Yeah, you could just pretend it never happened and you two are just strangers who have a hard time looking eachother in the eye, but thats a billion times worse than what you’re doing now.

“The note you left me..”

“Do not bring that up- please. It was impulsive!”

He laughs, tilting his head back as the red on his cheeks becomes more visible. “Alright. My work isn’t far from here, but I should probably be leaving about now.” He stands up, still towering over you even after you stand as well. You’re quick to open your arms out wide, clearly asking for a hug before awkwardly switching to a handshake and then back into a hug, his cheeks still a bright red as he carefully wraps his arms around your form, enveloping you into what might have been the longest hug ever.

“See you around.. Maybe probably?” You pat his back and finally let the hug go, feeling both of your coworkers nosy eyes on you. 

“I’ll call you later.” He does the little telephone motion to the side of his face as he walks out the store, leaving you there practically foaming at the mouth. You would have collapsed on that tile floor right then and there if you didn’t have to work, Farah and Derek passing jokes and bombarding you with questions about him and your relationship. You reluctantly answered most of them, pleading the 5th for all the rest. 

The day finally ends and you end up walking out of that coffee shop alive at 6 PM sharp, your head filled with scenarios of bumping into König on the street, or- unrealistically enough, right in front of your apartment. You made it home successfully, no awkward surprise meet-ups. Lying in your bed desperately trying to distract yourself from the anxiety that he unknowingly caused you with just one four-word sentence. From constantly checking your phone to groaning and rolling around your bed in anticipation. 

You nearly screeched when you heard your phone ringing beneath your pillow, unknown caller ID. Assuming it was spam, you answered, managing a lazy and drawn out "Hellooo?"

“Hi, [Name]!” You could hear him grinning ear to ear with excitement, his voice booming through the phone and practically rupturing your eardrums. He seemed way more outgoing over the phone. 

“Have you been well today?” He asked, you leaned your head back onto your bedframe and sighed. “I’m fine, you?”

“I’m great.”

The silence between you was dreadful. The occasional sound of you breathing or him moving around a bit made you want to slam your head into the wall, and when you both tried to say something but ended up interrupting eachother you really just wanted to hang up and go to sleep forever. Finally, after a little less than 5 minutes of crippling silence, he finally spoke and you were too distracted with your own thoughts to interrupt him.

“I hope I didn’t disturb you or anything like that today, I truly did not intend for that to happen..” He chuckled awkwardly into your silence.

“I uh- really liked the drink you gave me, by the way. Thank you.” 

“If you’d like.. Accidentally walked in tomorrow I could give you another one.” You responded, finally feeling more comfortable.

“I’ll make sure to accidentally show up, then?” He was all giddy now, like a highschool girl talking to her crush. “See you tomorrow, then? On accident?” you grinned, reassuring the joke that it would just be another mistake.

“On accident.”

[starlightkun]

❧ word count: 11.9k

❧ warnings: cursing, mentions of death/dead people in the context of him being hades, probably more legal jargon than there should be but i tried to make it as easy to understand as possible i promise, it gets pretty existential at some points but never overtly angsty

❧ genre: fluff, getting together, greek gods/goddesses au, hades jaemin, human reader, nades au, paralegal reader, bit of a ham-fisted persephone allegory, inspired by the gods/goddesses assigned to the work it unit in 2020 for this video, appearances by bestie jeno and coworker yangyang

❧ author’s note: ahhh my first fic back after over a year hiatus!! not super accurate to the original greek myths, i was just havin fun with hades as a concept rather than a strict characterization. i also watched mike flanagan’s ‘midnight mass’ and read john milton’s ‘paradise lost’ during the time i was writing this so get ready for some slight spiritual/religious iconography and overtones. hope y’all enjoy, i had so much fun playing around with my writing in this one!!

❧ spotify playlist

⤷ sequel

The god’s—Jaemin’s—eyes continued to stare you down. It felt like he was looking into your soul. And you wanted him to.

“I didn’t summon you,” you told him cautiously. “Or at least I didn’t try to.”

“Okay, so I’m thinking she could accidentally be pushed into oncoming traffic—”

“And who exactly would be doing this accidental pushing?” You cut Jeno off with a scoff.

Currently, you were laying on your back on your bed, head hanging off the end of it and phone in hand. Your best friend, Lee Jeno, was on the other end of the line, jokingly scheming to get you a job at his workplace. Jeno somehow worked as a legal assistant at the best civil law practice in your city, and you, on the other hand, were unemployed. This was what you got for taking an extra year to get your master’s degree to become a paralegal instead of immediately jumping into the workforce after undergrad.

That was where you and Jeno had met: Intro to Philosophy on your very first day of college as two bright-eyed freshmen with surprisingly similar career goals and the same taste in 00s pop punk bands. Now you were a year and a half past graduating with your bachelor’s, and six months past your master’s. And what had that extra effort gotten you? Many, many interviews that all ended the same way: You’re “an incredible applicant,” but “too educated” for the pay of the position and/or “too inexperienced.”

Jeno, on the other hand, had declined your suggestion to further your education together and instead landed himself a legal assistant job right out of college. So now here you were, living off the remnants of your student loans and savings as you desperately hunted for a paralegal job.

Your best friend’s elaborate plans to get you a job at his firm would typically make you laugh, but this time you couldn’t even muster up a chuckle. Earlier today when you checked your bank accounts during a break from emailing out your résumé, you were confronted with the fact that your savings were running out; you didn’t have enough to even get you to the end of your lease in six months.

“God will, duh,” Jeno said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. His current plan was centered around a junior partner’s paralegal dying of a myriad of mysterious causes, and apparently this time involved divine intervention too.

“Oh, right, of course,” you rolled your eyes.

“I’m serious about the fact that Yejin needs to go, though. I have no clue how she’s still employed. And you would be the perfect fit for Ms. Haseul, she kind of does a little bit of everything, but her main focus is general corporate representation. Wasn’t that what you specialized in for grad school?”

“It is, yes.”

“Then there we go!”

“I appreciate the sentiment, Jeno.”

You sighed. All this talk about a job that you’ll never have was bringing down your spirits. “Anyway, I have half a leftover pizza in the fridge calling my name right now. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Alright, bye, Y/N! I’ll keep my ears peeled for any sign of dissent in the ranks so you can slip your way in!”

“Right, bye.”

Hanging up, another sigh tumbled out of your mouth as you tossed your phone somewhere further up your bed. Truthfully, you weren’t hungry in the slightest, you just wanted to get out of that conversation. You brought your hands to your face to rub circles against your temples and closed your eyes; you were getting a headache. Hanging upside down off the foot of your bed certainly wasn’t helping, but you couldn’t be fucked to move at this point.

A moment of self-pity later and you opened your eyes with all intentions to get up and take your migraine medication, but you froze when you were met by a dark shape. Squinting, it took you a second to process that the shape was someone’s legs and shoes, and you let out a yelp. Startled, you went to twist yourself around to face whoever was in your room, but just managed to fall off your bed instead. You very narrowly avoided snapping your neck, landing on your shoulder instead, eliciting yet another yelp, but this time one of pain.

Scrambling to your feet, you were now face to face with the intruder. It was a man, younger, maybe around your age, donned in all black. Black shoes, black slacks, black suit jacket, and black vest underneath that was buttoned but with a neckline cut plenty low enough to show a good expanse of his chest. He had an eerie beauty to him: his face just bordering on gaunt with pronounced cheekbones, a sharp jawline, and a hint of bags under his eyes as if he had just woken up from a night of restless sleep. But he didn’t seem to have recently awoken, very much alert and well put-together in every other aspect. His black hair was perfectly styled back from his face save for one stray lock towards the middle, and his eyes were so dark they reminded you of black holes, threatening to sweep you away forever into a cold unknown. He had more piercings than you could count in the moment, silver and the odd jewel adorning his ears. The vest showed off four or five separate silver chains around his neck.

“What the hell are you doing in my apartment?” You breathed out, desperately trying to blink away the vertigo from your sudden change in orientation.

The man was between you and the doorway, his body language not indicating that he was blocking your way out intentionally. His hands were tucked in the pockets of his pants as he cocked an eyebrow up at your question. He seemed entirely relaxed and yet the air around you still felt as if it were growing colder by the second.

“I should be asking you that. What the hell am I doing in your apartment?” He repeated your question back to you, amusement in his tone as he studied you from head to toe, then back up.

“What?”

“I was summoned by someone. I’m not summoned often, usually Eros or Aphrodite are at the beck and call of humans.”

The names made your head spin, “Eros? Aphrodite? Like, the Greek gods?”

“Yes, of course.” One of his hands left his pocket, the many rings along his fingers glistening in your ceiling fan lights as he went to push the stray lock of hair back from his face. “Humans are always wishing for love or beauty or fame. Not as often are they wishing for my gifts, or at least not with such an intensity that I’m inclined to entertain those wishes.”

Something about his candor inclined you to ask, “Who are you?”

“I’ve had a couple names. Pluto, and you probably recognize me as Hades. But you can call me Jaemin.”

His words made your heart thunder in your chest once again. You wanted to tell yourself that this guy was crazy, but he sounded so assured and calm that it gave you pause. Not mention that he had just appeared in your home out of nowhere.

“Hades? God of the Underworld? In my apartment?”

“The very same. Please, call me Jaemin. As long as I can call you Y/N.”

“Oh, you know my name already,” you stated weakly.

The god’s—Jaemin’s—eyes continued to stare you down. It felt like he was looking into your soul. And you wanted him to.

“I didn’t summon you,” you told him cautiously. “Or at least I didn’t try to.”

He took a step towards you. “And yet here I am.”

Another step. “I was brought here by a desire, your desire. So, what do you really, really want, Y/N?”

His words dripped off his tongue and wound their way through your mind. “A loved one back from the dead? The death of an enemy? To die yourself? So much money you could never spend it all in one lifetime?”

Another step.

“No, none of those,” you shook your head vigorously, feeling like every sense of yours was alight with his proximity to you. Every sound was deafening, your skin tingled, and the scent of cinnamon and citrus danced around you. One more step and he’d practically be on top of you. “I don’t want any of that.”

Another step. He was right in front of you now, his startlingly cool breath washing over your face as he asked, “Then what do you want?”

“I just—” your hands were clenched into fists at your sides, fingernails digging into your palms as you struggled to find the words. “Want to work at Kim & Moon.”

Jaemin’s head cocked to the side as he studied your face, “Why?”

“It’s the best civil law firm in the city. I know it’s where I belong, if I could just get a job there, I know I’d do well.”

“This job? Does it pay well?”

“I-I don’t know,” you confessed. “Jeno hasn’t ever told me how much he makes, but that’s only part of why I want to work there. If all I cared about was paying my bills, I would’ve taken the first job at any sleazy ambulance chaser’s office I could find. But I’d be wasted on something like that. I’m smart, well-studied, and I’ll be good at what I do. I just know it.”

He chuckled, the sound sending a shiver down your spine.

“Yeah, I like that.”

Then all at once, Jaemin was no longer in front of you, and you felt like you could breathe properly again. He dropped himself onto your bed, settling in to recline leisurely against your headboard, legs crossed at the ankle.

“Alright, I’ll grant your wish,” he declared, slipping one of his rings off to roll it along his knuckles. The silver band caught the light and nearly distracted you from his words.

Pulling yourself out of your momentary trance, you immediately said, “But I didn’t ask you to—”

“Of course you did, or I wouldn’t be here. Do we really have to go through this again?” His eyes were fixed on the ring. “Now do you want that job or not?”

“If I say yes, what do you want in return? I doubt Hades himself is in the business of charity.”

“Smart. There will be an exchange, obviously.”

“Then my answer is no, I don’t want to be selling my soul or something.”

Jaemin suddenly flicked the ring up, watching as it did one, two, three flips in the air before landing in the palm of his hand, “As lovely as I’m sure your soul is, I’m not particularly interested in taking it.”

“Well then what would you want from me?”

“A third of your life.” He said it simply, as if you two were talking about him borrowing a cup of sugar, not your life.

“Wh—”

“Let me finish,” he instructed sternly, firm gaze once again on you. “Spend two-thirds of your year here, then spend the remaining third of it with me.”

“If I take four months off work I won't be able to keep the job you get me.”

“It doesn’t have to be consecutive. Give me your nights and I’ll call it even.”

“Why? Why me? Why would you give me so much for just… hanging out with you?”

He shrugged, “I’m tired of spending all my time with dead people.”

Despite his casual tone, you swore you saw something much sadder flash across his face for a moment. It was gone as soon as you had registered it, making you wonder if you just imagined it. When you remained quiet, chewing on the inside of your cheek in thought, he stood up and crossed the room to once again stop just a mere inch or two in front of you, “Do we have a deal, Y/N?”

A chance to use your degree and skills like you’d always dreamed, just for hanging out with a god every night? It sounded... not quite too good to be true, but definitely too easy. You couldn’t remember Hades being portrayed as a tricksy sort in the myths, and everything Jaemin had done tonight—aside from appearing in your room out of the blue—made you think that you could probably trust him.

“Yeah, sure,” you agreed, looking up from where you had been twiddling your thumbs anxiously to his hauntingly beautiful face. “Do we have to do anything to make the deal official or whatever?”

“What, like a kiss?” He grinned at you mischievously. “Since you asked…”

“Jaemin!” You scoffed, feeling like he was teasing you now.

“You’re the one who brought it up.”

“No I didn’t!”

“Anyway, a handshake will do just fine,” Jaemin held his right hand out in the small space between your bodies.

You took it, feeling the cold from his fingers seep into your own, and gave it one firm shake. Before you could take your hand back, he’d tightened his grip and turned it over. His other hand came up to slip a ring onto your ring finger. It was the same silver band he had been playing with before, and it magically changed size to fit your finger perfectly. Jaemin bowed slightly, bringing your hand up to press a feather-light kiss to the knuckle of the very finger he’d just put the ring on. His lips were cool like the rest of him, but you still felt warm at his actions.

“There,” he straightened back up and let go of your hand finally. “That should do it.”

You looked down at the ring he’d just put on your finger. It was a simple silver band of medium width that reminded you of your father’s wedding band.

“Goodbye for now, Y/N.”

“Yeah—” you cut yourself off when you brought your eyes up to see that Jaemin was gone. Staring at the empty space where he just was, you murmured, “Bye, Jaemin.”

That night you dreamt of a man cloaked in shadows guiding you to a tree, instructing you to pick the golden fruit that was growing on it. You gazed at the fruit, in a daze, mesmerized by their beauty. They were so inviting, the man’s voice soothing, and you lifted a hand up towards one.

You groaned against the bright sunlight streaming in through a crack between your curtains. Directly on your face. You threw your left arm over your eyes to block it out as you continued lying in bed, letting your mind and body wake up gradually.

Memories of last night’s visitor came back to you, and you sighed. Surely it was a dream. A weird, weird dream that your mind conjured up in an attempt to fulfill your wish for a job.

But when you squinted your eyes open and brought your right hand up enough to look at your fingers, the silver band that sat there let you know that it was real. You’d been visited last night, by Hades, who said he’d grant your wish for a job in exchange for a third of your life. And you said yes.

The loud sound of your phone buzzing on your nightstand prompted you to roll over and grab it to look at the caller ID. Lee Jeno.

“Yeah?” You couldn’t even muster up a proper greeting as you picked up, still bogged down by sleep.

“Y/N, great news!”

You glanced at the time on your phone before bringing it back up to your ear, “Jeno, it’s not even 9:30 a.m., why are you calling me? You can’t be on lunch.”

“I know, but as soon as I heard, I had to tell you!”

“Tell me what, exactly?”

“There’s a job opening at the firm! You have to apply!”

That woke you up.

“An opening?” You asked, shooting up into a sitting position.

“Jo Haseul, the junior partner at the firm I’ve been telling you about, her paralegal won the lottery and quit on the spot. No two weeks’ notice, they’re urgently hiring her replacement. I’ll text you the firm administrator’s email for you to send your résumé to!”

“That would be great, thank you, Jeno.”

“Of course!” He said brightly as another phone began ringing in the background. “I’ve got to go now, Ms. Kang is buzzing me.”

“Right, thank you again.”

“Bye!”

“Bye,” you brought your phone down to see he had already ended the call.

As you went to grab your laptop from the foot of your bed to begin drafting that email, your eyes got caught by the silver ring on your hand.

A week later and you were walking into your first day of work at Kim & Moon. The firm administrator, Jeong Jaehyun, was showing you around, and finally stopped his tour in an open-floor plan portion of the office where a grouping of eight desks were. A couple of them were empty, the others filled by various men and women hard at work, and also Lee Jeno.

“Y/N!” Jeno waved at you enthusiastically from where he was on the other side of all the desks, and you lifted your hand to give a small wave back.

“Oh, you know Lee Jeno?” Mr. Jeong asked as he guided you over towards your friend.

“Yes, we were in the same undergrad program.”

“Good, it should be easier to settle in with a familiar face nearby.” The administrator smiled as he gestured to the empty desk behind your friend. The one beside it was occupied by another young man incredibly focused on his screen, headphones in as his fingers flitted over his keyboard and he fervently typed out a court document.

“This is your desk, Ms. Y/L/N. Ms. Jo, your attorney, is on a call right now but she has been informed of your arrival. I’m sure she’ll meet with you when she can. In the meantime, please acquaint yourself with your workspace. Your computer is already logged in, and all of your passwords are on the paper right there. Is there anything you need at the moment?”

“No, no. Thank you so much, Mr. Jeong,” you bowed your head politely to him.

“Of course. Please let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you.” He pointed to the landline sitting on your desk next to the computer monitors, “I have a quick-dial button right next to Reception’s. Buzz me if you need something.”

“I will, thank you.”

And with that, Jeong Jaehyun took his leave of the pod that you were in. You sat in your chair, taking in the sparse supplies on your desk: two computer monitors, keyboard, mouse, a landline phone, a couple pens, and one sheet of paper laid across your keyboard. It was a list of your login credentials for your computer, work email, and the firm’s file management software, along with Mr. Jeong’s extension and quick-dial button name.

You turned back around to where you knew Jeno was already waiting for you. Your friend was practically vibrating with excitement in his own desk chair.

“This is so exciting!” Jeno exclaimed, momentarily drawing the attention of all the other employees in your vicinity before they went back to whatever they were doing. He continued on much quieter, “I told you you’d kill it at your interview.”

“Right,” you nodded, trying not to think about the silver ring on your right hand. “Thanks, Jeno, I’m excited to start.”

“I’ll give you the rundown of everyone at the firm, come here,” he scooted his chair over to make room for you to roll yours up to his desk.

His fingers quickly flitted across his keyboard and mouse to pull up the firm website. Hovering over the tab labeled ‘Our Attorneys,’ you saw a list of names drop down. He clicked on the first one, Kim Chaeyoung. It pulled up a profile, the picture showing a very determined older woman, her arms crossed over her chest as she very resolutely stared down the camera.

“This is Kim Chaeyoung, the ‘Kim’ in Kim & Moon. She’s the most senior attorney at the firm, and mostly does corporate compliance and medical malpractice law. She just stepped down from being managing partner at the end of last year.”

He clicked the next name on the list, Moon Taeil. This time a man was on your screen, a bit older than you, but not by too much. No more than ten or fifteen years for sure, quite young to be a managing partner at such a large firm. His gaze wasn’t quite as intense as Kim Chaeyoung’s, but it held an intelligence and wisdom clearly beyond his years.

“Mrs. Kim stepped down to let this man, Moon Taeil, take over as managing partner. Something about wanting younger blood in charge but…” Jeno looked around the pod before he dropped his voice to a whisper so soft you had to lean in to hear him, “The rumor is that Mrs. Kim is going to announce her retirement at the holiday party at the end of this year.”

“And what sort of law does Mr. Moon do?” You questioned.

“Mostly insurance litigation. He tends to get the nastier incidents though: shootings, stabbings, fires, the odd dog bite.”

You then went through the senior partners before getting to the first of the junior partners on the list.

“And here is Jo Haseul, your attorney. She’s the most senior of the junior partners, and rumors also say that she’s going to be made a senior partner by the end of this year.”

“You love your office gossip, don’t you?”

You studied the woman on screen. She was younger than you had expected, a fierceness in her eyes that both intimidated you and inspired you to follow her wherever she led.

“This isn’t even the juicy stuff, wait until you hear about the affair Mr. Noh supposedly had with his assistant in the 80s,” Jeno scoffed, then turned his attention back to the woman on screen. “Anyway, Ms. Haseul is Mrs. Kim’s protégé. She mostly does general corporate matters, medical malpractice, and the occasional pro bono representation for women in need. Restraining orders, child custody, divorce, whatever comes in the door. If you really want to get to know her, ask about those cases.”

“She sounds incredible.”

“I told you you’d be perfect for each other.” Your friend then pulled up the next junior partner, “This is Kim Doyoung, he’s Mrs. Kim’s son but you’d never be able to tell by how they act around each other. All business. I think he doesn’t want people to assume he only got his position because of his mother, but nobody who has actually spoken to Mrs. Kim would ever think she’d do something like that. She’s got some serious integrity.”

Jeno was about to move on to the next attorney profile, a ‘Qian Kun,’ when you heard a ringing from behind you.

“Oh, that’s you, Y/N!”

You quickly wheeled yourself back over to your desk, picking up your desk phone after the third ring, “Y/L/N Y/N speaking.”

“Ms. Y/L/N,” a woman’s voice was on the other end, and when you glanced at the caller ID, you saw ‘Jo Haseul’ across the screen. “This is Jo Haseul. Please come to my office now.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“I’m down the hall. Ask another assistant if you need help finding it.”

“Will do, thank you.”

She hung up, and you rushed to stand up. Grabbing one of the pens you saw earlier, you frantically scanned for a notepad to write with, but there wasn’t one on hand at your desk. You whipped around to face your friend, “Jeno, do you have a notepad I can use? Ms. Haseul wants to see me.”

“Here,” he handed you a notepad slightly bigger than your hand, spiral-bound at the top.

“Thank you!”

“The attorney offices are down that hall,” he pointed. “And Ms. Haseul’s will be on your left.”

“Got it, thanks!” You hurried in the direction he gestured.

Thankfully, everyone’s names were engraved on metal nameplates on the doors, making it easy to know when you had stopped in front of your attorney’s. Rapping your knuckles against the wood, you waited for a response.

“Come in.”

You entered already bowing, “Y/L/N Y/N, ma’am. It’s an honor to be here and I am very grateful for the opportunity to work with you.”

Jo Haseul appraised you for a moment from where she was sat behind her desk. She then nodded, “It’s nice to meet you. Now please sit, Y/L/N.”

“Yes ma’am,” you quickly sat in the armchair she had gestured to.

After brief introductions, Ms. Haseul gave you the rundown of the kinds of cases she tended to deal with—which generally lined up with what Jeno had told you earlier, her management style, workflow, and an overview of the duties you’ll be expected to fulfill as her paralegal. At the end of it, you left with pages of notes, a stack of papers in your arms, and your first tasks to do for her.

Stopping at your desk, you didn’t even sit as you organized the papers into three stacks: to correct, to file, and to copy. You picked up the last stack of things that Ms. Haseul wanted copies of, then turned to your friend, “Hey, Jeno, where’s the copier?”

The assistant sat at the desk beside yours was the one who spoke up in response, his headphones set aside now, “Oh, I’m going there right now, I’ll show you!”

“Thanks, Yangyang,” Jeno said, then nodded for you to go along with the other man.

Yangyang grabbed his own paper before leading the way out from the desks. He took off in the opposite direction from the offices down a different hallway, “It’s down this hall, first door on the right.” He then opened said door to reveal a room with four large copy machines in it.

“I’m Liu Yangyang, by the way,” your coworker introduced himself, stopping in front of one machine. “I’m Qian Kun and Dong Sicheng’s legal assistant. They’re Ms. Haseul’s associate attorneys that work under her so you and I will overlap quite a bit. Sicheng usually handles corporate matters with Ms. Haseul while Kun does the med mal portion.”

“I’m Y/L/N Y/N. It’s nice to meet you, Yangyang.”

“You too, Y/N. And I’m sure you’ll meet my attorneys at some point today. I apologize in advance, and yes, they are always like that. Kun’s a workaholic who would be here until two in the morning if somebody didn’t send him home, and Sicheng… you are allowed to say no to him, and I encourage it, actually. Booksmart but doesn’t quite get social cues. I’ve seen him accidentally sweet talk his way into having an assistant pick up his dry cleaning before.”

“Wait, seriously?”

“Yeah, I had to intervene to ensure feminism wasn’t set back fifty years,” Yangyang scoffed.

“Women everywhere commend you for your service to the cause, Yangyang,” you nodded solemnly, to which your coworker snickered.

“The dude’s wicked smart but dumber than a box of rocks. Associates, you know?” He shook his head then returned to instructing you about the machine.

After Yangyang had shown you how to use the multipurpose machine—scanning and uploading, printing, copying, faxing—he took the copies that he had made and left you there. Nobody was at the other copiers, making you the only one in the room. You took a deep breath to compose yourself after having so much information thrown at you from all sides. Right now, at this moment, all you needed to do was make a copy.

Putting the first document in where Yangyang had shown you, you’d just started tapping the touchscreen through to the copying option when a dark figure appeared at the edge of your vision. Your head snapped up to look at the man leaning against the wall beside the copy machine you were at.

You hadn’t seen Jaemin since the night you’d made your deal. You’d spent the entire next night anxiously waiting for him to appear, but he never did, and you eventually gave up and fell asleep. He didn’t come any night after that, and you kind of thought he might’ve forgotten about you, or maybe didn’t really want you to hold up your end of the deal. Realized that he could find better company than you.

But here he was, in your workplace, smirk on his face and delight in his tone, “Surprise! I came to visit you on your first day of work. I’m so proud!”

First rolling your eyes at the sarcasm in his words and the fake tear he wiped away, you then fervently glanced towards the door to the copy room, “What are you doing here?”

“I’m checking on my investment,” he answered coolly.

“What, me? You can check on me at my home tonight, not at my job on my first day of work! Somebody could walk in, how would I explain you?”

“Nobody’s coming.”

“The deal was that I would give you my nights. Sun’s still up.”

“Yes, you’re doing just fine,” he nodded as he adjusted his black tie, seeming satisfied with his ‘check in.’ “I’ll see you tonight, Y/N.”

And he was gone in the blink of an eye.

You immediately flopped down onto your couch when you got home that night. That was the most work you’d done in a while; you were tired both physically and mentally. But it was a good sort of tired. You finally had a job.

“Hi, honey, how was work?”

You shot up at the voice, knowing exactly who it was. Jaemin was poised in your armchair, half a smirk already on his lips. He was in all-black again, though a slightly different suit from last time, his slacks and suit jacket had thin dark grey pinstripes, over a black silk dress shirt with the top three buttons open.

“Oh, uh, it was good,” you said.

Silence fell over you two, and you started fidgeting uncomfortably as it dragged on. Finally, you said, “So... what do you want to do?”

“Have you eaten dinner yet?”

“I feel like you already know the answer to that, but no. I just got home.”

“Let’s get dinner then. Where would you like to go?”

“Uhm...” you wracked your brain for some places nearby. “There’s a ramen place down the street. Let me change out of my work clothes first, hold on.”

Re-emerging from your bedroom in more casual clothes, you saw that Jaemin had moved from his spot on your armchair and was instead standing, gazing out the window. And again, for a brief moment, you could’ve sworn he looked... lonely.

“I’m ready,” you announced yourself. It felt wrong to keep looking at him like that.

Jaemin turned around, focusing a dazzling smile on you, “Lead the way, Y/N.”

The place you were thinking of really was just a couple blocks down the street. Mumbling a thanks to Jaemin as he held the door open for you, you were immediately met with a packed restaurant. It was seat-yourself, and you managed to spot a small table for two in the very back corner, right beside the entrance to the kitchen. Guiding Jaemin over to it, you felt your face turn warm as he pulled your chair out for you.

The menu was a singular piece of laminated paper taped to the tabletop, and your eyes skimmed it. You ordered the same thing every time at this point, but it was something to look at other than the god in front of you. Speaking of, he was a god. Did he even need to eat?

“Jaemin.” You said his name as you looked up from the menu.

His eyes flicked up from where they’d also been reading the options, “Hm?”

“Do you even eat, like, normal food?”

“I can if I want to, I just don’t need it to survive like you do.”

“Oh, I see. And do you... like it?”

“Quite.”

It was then that a familiar waiter came up to your table, “Hi, Y/N! It’s been a while. Almost didn’t recognize you at a table instead of the bar.”

Typically, you would come by yourself and sit at the bartop to eat alone alongside all the other solo patrons. You rolled your eyes at the slight jab, “Thank you, Chenle, I feel so welcome.”

“Aw, you know you’re one of my favorite regulars,” the young man snickered.

“Yeah, whatever. Sorry I haven’t been by lately, I didn’t exactly have the funds to eat out.”

“That’s okay. But you’re back, does that mean that you found a job?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Congrats!” He then focused his attention on the man across from you, “Hi, I’m Zhong Chenle.”

You moved to introduce the two before Jaemin could open his mouth, afraid of what he would’ve said. “Chenle, this is Jaemin, a... friend of mine. Jaemin, this is Chenle, he’s a server here.”

“And I’ll be serving you two tonight. So, what can I get you?”

After taking your orders, Chenle took off to put them in. You shifted in your seat awkwardly. What were you and Jaemin even supposed to talk about?

“You usually sit at the bar?” Jaemin questioned.

“I’m not an alcoholic, despite how Chenle made it sound,” you scoffed. “I usually come by myself, and the bar is the quickest place to get your food and get out. And that way I don’t take up any tables that groups can use.”

“I feel honored that you brought me here, then.”

You searched his face for any hint that he was teasing you, but all you found was sincere curiosity. Suddenly feeling uncomfortable, you changed the topic, “So why did you show up tonight? You didn’t come all last week.”

“Well, I had to hold up my end of the deal first.”

“Right, that... makes sense.” Realizing that you hadn’t even thanked him for whatever he’d done for you, you added, “Thank you, Jaemin. For you know, the job.”

“You’re welcome.”

Chenle returned then with a small bottle of soju for each of you, informing you that your food would be ready soon.

“So is it everything you’d dreamed of? Working at Kim & Moon?” Jaemin asked before lifting his bottle to his lips.

“Today was only my first day but... yes. I’ve already learned a lot, was listened to when I spoke, and the partner I work for seems like an incredible woman so far. It’s wonderful.”

“I hope it stays that wonderful for you, Y/N. I’d like to see your eyes light up like this often.”

Looking down at the green bottle in front of you, you twisted your ring around your finger nervously. You didn’t know what to say back, your heart fluttering around in your chest. Jaemin was charming, too charming for your own good, and you sort of felt like you really shouldn’t have expected any less from a god.

“Are you curious?”

You snapped your head up to look at your companion, not even attempting to hide your confusion at his words, “About what?”

“What I did, to get you the job.”

“I mean, I am. I assume you had something to do with Yejin winning the lottery? You’re the god of everything below the Earth, including precious gems, gold, silver. The god of riches, wealth. In the modern day that would translate to how we view wealth and riches now, since I’m not really out here buying my groceries with rubies and gold coins. Right?”

Jaemin’s obsidian eyes practically glittered as he listened to you speak, his lips curling up at one corner before he took another swig of his soju. When you were finished, he set the bottle back onto the table to answer your question, “Hit the nail on the head.”

“Honestly, I’m just glad you did that instead of killing her or something horrible.”

His head jerked back as he looked at you with bewilderment, “Now why would I do that? I’m the god of the dead, not death. If you wanted her dead you’re talking to the wrong deity.”

“I don’t want her dead, that’s my point. That’s what Jeno was joking about on the phone before you showed up; I didn’t want you to get any ideas.”

“I don’t really find it fun to just push people into traffic.”

“So you were listening to—” You cut yourself off as you saw Chenle approaching with your food. Not a conversation to be having in front of your normal human waiter.

After he had left your table again, you returned to what you were saying before, “So you were listening to our conversation.”

“Can’t help myself, I’m nosy when it comes to the humans who summon me,” Jaemin admitted.

“So what does Hades do for fun then?” You asked lightheartedly, slurping at some of your broth.

“While I don’t necessarily enjoy pushing people into traffic, I do find it much more fun to let a human become suddenly awash with money and watch what happens when they eventually lose it all. See what they spend it on, who they spend it on. Themselves mostly, sometimes others, trying to get people to be their friends or lovers simply because of what they’ll buy them. I’ll watch them do what humans do best, use and abuse the gifts that were given to them. And then once they’ve been sucked dry both in their finances and their souls, find out how they try to move on.”

“Is that what you’re doing with me?” You set your spoon down, voice wavering. “Watching and waiting for me to end up like that?”

Jaemin took a pause, shifting forward in his seat before responding, “One of my favorite things about humans is how resilient you are. Always trying to bounce back. It’s fascinating to find out your breaking point, when you have no more bounce left.”

An absolutely devilish smile played across his features as he seemed to take delight in the notion. He didn’t exactly answer your question, but the lack thereof felt like enough.

“Why?”

“Because it’s different for every person, and always further than I think it’ll be. Even after so long, knowing that humans can still surprise me, it’s refreshing. Makes me think that…”

You blinked at him, waiting for him to finish. He was definitely well aware that he had your rapt attention, basking in the drama he had created by pausing. His eyes settled on you firmly, holding eye contact as something softer entered them.

“Maybe you’ll surprise me, too.”

Jaemin came back to your apartment with you after you’d decided you were full. You hadn’t had much of an appetite after that harrowing conversation over dinner, and he’d left you with a lot of thinking to do. It wasn’t every day that you heard a god’s perspective on human lives—on toying with human lives, watching for their eventual breakdown in the aftermath of the ‘gifts’ he gave them. If that’s what it did to them all, it seemed much more like a curse to you.

And you were of course thinking about whether it would happen to you too. You hadn’t wished for riches or wealth directly, definitely not so much that it would have the same effect on your life as winning the lottery. But that didn’t mean that you weren’t worried. And the idea of Jaemin watching you every step of the way, waiting to see when you’d slip up, when you’d meet your breaking point, made you shiver instinctually.

“Are you cold?” Jaemin’s question broke the silence that had been hovering over you two since you started the walk from the restaurant back to your apartment.

“Oh, no, I—”

But he had already shrugged his suit jacket off and laid it over your shoulders. There was no residual body heat in it, but it did help block out some of the breeze blowing past you. You hadn’t noticed the temperature at all, too wrapped up in your own thoughts.

“Thanks,” you muttered, wrapping the jacket tighter around your shoulders. It smelled faintly of spiced citrus.

“No worries.”

Back in your apartment, you wanted nothing more than to lay in bed staring up at your ceiling as you gave yourself over fully to the existential crisis you were descending into. But you still had a god to entertain.

A glance at the change in time on your stovetop clock let you know that you were only a couple hours into your commitment. You hoped he didn’t expect you to stay up all night with him. Leaving Jaemin in your living room once again, you changed into pajamas in your bedroom. If he was going to be with you every night from here on out, you were at least going to be comfy for some of it.

Jaemin was back in the armchair he had appeared in at the beginning of the night, one knee crossed over the other and a book in hand. You paused behind him on your way back into the living room to peer over his shoulder, trying to read the title at the top of the page he was on.

“The Turn of the Screw?” You questioned, walking around him to plop down onto your couch.

“I found it on your shelf,” he gestured to the built-in shelves in the walls around the recess that held your TV. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Knock yourself out, I haven’t touched it since I had to read it for a ghost literature class like… four years ago.”

“Ghost literature class?” Jaemin lowered the book to rest on his leg while he regarded you with an eyebrow raised. “Did you go to school in the Underworld or something?”

“It was actually called like ‘Ghost Stories and Haunted Fiction of the 19th Century’ or something. The students just called it ghost lit. We read all these spooky stories, including The Turn of the Screw,” you explained, then looked around your living room. “I have a few more of them around here somewhere. Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein— I can’t remember the full reading list, but they’re scattered around.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He raised the book back up to continue reading intently.

Since he seemed occupied for the moment, you pulled out your phone to distract yourself.

A couple hours later and you let out your first yawn of the night. You’d thought that Jaemin was so enraptured by the book that he wasn’t paying any attention to you. The chuckle he gave from across the room proved you wrong, however. There was definitely nothing funny in that story. You threw him a scowl, but he neither looked up from the book nor said anything.

Shifting in your spot to get comfy again, you returned to the article that you’d been reading on your phone and your guest was quiet once again. Another yawn split your mouth, and the words on your screen swam in your vision as your eyes teared up.

“Tired, Y/N?” Jaemin’s eyes still hadn’t left the book as he continued, “You should go to sleep, early day at work tomorrow, right?”

“And what are you going to do?”

“I thought I’d finish this book, if that’s alright with you. I’ve got about… thirty, forty pages left.”

“Oh, uh, sure,” you were surprised both that he was encouraging you to go to sleep during the time you’d agreed to forfeit to him, and that he wanted to finish the book.

Standing up from the couch, you shuffled into your kitchen to fill up a glass of water. After knocking back your nightly medication, you placed the water on your nightstand and went into your bathroom to do your nighttime routine. You found yourself hovering at the threshold between the hallway that contained your bedroom and bathroom, and the living room. It felt weird to just go to bed with someone else in your home, at least not without saying goodnight to them.

“Uhm,” you cleared your throat.

Jaemin turned to look at you from over the back of the armchair, “Yes, Y/N?”

“I just wanted to…” you felt the words catch in your throat. Pushing through your awkwardness, you twisted the ring around your finger as you forced the words out, “Goodnight, Jaemin.”

“Goodnight, Y/N.” He smiled at you before turning back around to face his book, “See you tomorrow.”

And with that, you retreated into your bedroom for the night, falling asleep almost as soon as your head hit the pillow.

The man of shadows was in your dreams again that night, drawing you to the tree with the golden fruit. His voice once more invited you to partake in picking the fruit, and your hand inched up, up, up, towards one. Your fingers had just wrapped around the fruit, ready to pluck it off the branch, when you woke up.

When you awoke the next morning, you went through the motions of your morning routine, strolling from your bathroom out to your kitchen, toothbrush sticking out of your mouth. You continued brushing your teeth with one hand as you grabbed the freshly popped toast from the toaster to put on a plate. As you went to lean over the kitchen sink to spit the toothpaste foam out of your mouth, your eyes got caught on something in the living room, which the sink overlooked. There was a small black pouch sitting on the coffee table, on the corner closest to the armchair.

After wiping your mouth off, you walked over to your coffee table, intrigue building as you picked up the velvet drawstring pouch. Looking around, you were only greeted by your empty apartment. This wasn’t here last night. Or at least, not before you went to sleep.

Pulling it open, you gently shook the contents out onto your palm. It was a silver bracelet, intricate filigree running along the band that was inlaid with gorgeous green and blue gems.

Jaemin’s words from dinner last night echoed in your head.

‘I do find it much more fun to let a human become suddenly awash with money and watch what happens when they eventually lose it all… It’s fascinating to find out your breaking point…’

A foreboding feeling colored your vision, and you rushed to tuck the bracelet back into the bag and throw it onto the table.

When Jaemin came that night, you were cooking dinner in your kitchen. He appeared there with you, leaning against the counter next to your sink as you were standing over the stovetop.

“Good evening, Y/N,” he greeted you.

“Hello, Jaemin.” You steeled your nerves, giving as nonchalant of a nod as you could towards the living room, “You left something here last night. It’s on the coffee table.”

The god regarded you with a tilted head, and you felt his eyes on your empty wrists, “That was for you.”

“I didn’t ask you for anything like that.”

“I know. It was a gift.”

“The job was plenty, Jaemin.”

He was silent as he continued to watch you cook. After a grueling couple of minutes of absolute silence, his eyes burning into you the whole time, you finally turned to properly look him in the face. Throwing on a smile, you informed him, “Dinner’s ready. Ravioli, would you like some?”

“Yes, please.”

You set two places at your dinner table before plating two portions of the pasta. Jaemin was still in his place next to the sink, observing your movements.

“Go ahead and sit, I’m just going to grab a couple glasses,” you gestured towards the kitchen table.

Without even waiting to see if he’d obey, you bustled over to a cabinet and took out two wine glasses, then grabbed a bottle of white wine you’d been meaning to finish off. When you turned back to the kitchen table, you were pleasantly surprised to see Jaemin waiting there patiently, fidgeting with his silverware. Setting the two glasses down, you noticed that Jaemin’s silverware was in different places than you had put them in when you hastily set the table. The fork was on the left of the plate, the knife and spoon on the right with the knife directly beside the plate and the spoon on the other side of the knife. Yours on the other hand were in the haphazard places atop the napkin that you had put them earlier.

“Apologies for the subpar fork placement,” you said, uncorking the wine to begin pouring it out first for Jaemin.

“Oh, it’s just a habit,” he explained. His tone then turned as teasing as yours had been, “My apologies for making you think your fork placement was anything other than above par.”

You then poured for yourself as you continued the banter, “Yeah, you know, I really pride myself on my utensil arranging skills. My feelings have been gravely wounded. I’ll never recover from this.”

“Then would you consider taking this,” he procured a small black pouch from his pocket, and you had a suspicion as to exactly what was in it, “as repentance, with my sincerest apologies?”

A bitter sigh came out of your mouth at him ruining the perfectly normal moment you were enjoying, “Jaemin, I told you I don’t want any more gifts from you.”

The way you spat out the word ‘gifts’ was apparently a lightbulb moment for him as he set the pouch down on the table and all playfulness dropped from his face. Disinterested in whatever he was going to say to try to convince you to take it, you picked up your fork, using the side of the tongs to cut one of your raviolis in half.

“Y/N…” he said your name almost wistfully, leaning forward towards you earnestly. “I really do just want you to have it. It’s not a test or a ruse, just… a token.”

“A token of what?” You snorted, spearing half of the ravioli that you’d just cut and bringing it up to your mouth.

“My affection?”

You choked momentarily on the pasta in your mouth, chewing and swallowing it as quickly as possible and taking a sip of your wine to wash it down. Jaemin still hadn’t touched his food, utensils undisturbed as he waited for you to collect yourself. When you searched his face for a smirk, a mischievous glint in his eyes, anything to indicate that he was being less than truthful, you found none. You were just met with deep open pools of black in his eyes, his mouth set in seriousness, and his hand once again holding the pouch back out to you.

“Your what?”

“I know you heard me.”

“Yes, and now I’m asking for clarification.”

“I find you fascinating, and not in the morbid kind of way like I described to you last night. I’ve found myself starting to become fond of you, and I wanted to show that to you with a… present.”

“What, like getting your puppy a new chew toy because they’re so darn cute?”

Jaemin chuckled, “Not quite. But still, will you please accept it, Y/N?”

You thought it over for another moment, chewing on the inside of your cheek. He was being sincere, you were sure of it. You’d caught brief glimpses of the kinder side to Jaemin just in the few times you’d met him: when he’d leant you his suit jacket walking home last night, telling you he was hoping you’d continue being in love with your job, the gentlemanly peck he’d left on your fingers the night you’d made your deal. And now, as he patiently awaited your answer.

“Alright,” you agreed, taking the small bag from him. “Thank you, Jaemin.”

“Thank you for letting me give it to you.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Pulling the bracelet back out of the pouch, you saw that it had a hinge mechanism on it that you couldn’t manage one-handed, and held it out to the god sitting in front of you, “Will you help me put it on?”

“Of course,” he took it, opening the band up with ease.

You held your right hand out towards him, and he brought the open bracelet up around your wrist. But you weren’t watching the way his deft fingers put it on around your wrist, the tips of them brushing over the sensitive skin at your pulse point, leaving coolness behind. You were watching his face as he focused on the task intently, his brows furrowing in concentration then relaxing after the bracelet had clicked shut. A small but tender smile took over his face, his eyes softening as he turned your hand over palm down, thumb running up your ring finger until it reached the silver band that resided there.

Your skin buzzed in the wake of his touch, an electric cold. You could hear your heart thudding in your ears and hoped that he didn’t have supernatural god hearing or something and could hear it too. If he did, he gave no indication of such. He withdrew his hands, leaving you more dazed than you should’ve been at the minimal contact you had. Jerking your hand back to your side of the table, you turned your gaze down at your food, trying to ignore how hot your cheeks were.

A light laugh came from Jaemin, but you couldn’t force your eyes back up to him, knowing that his were already on you.

That night you dreamt once more of the man cast in darkness, leading you to the tree of golden fruit. This time when he encouraged you to pick one, you grasped at the fruit with two hands, pulling it right off the branch with a firm tug.

Just about one month into your… arrangement with Jaemin, you were rooting through your fridge for something to make for dinner when there was suddenly a cool breeze on the back of your neck. Except you were indoors.

Spinning around, you were immediately met with the god extremely close to you, and let out an exasperated sigh, “God damn, Jaemin, are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

“I can’t help it if I make your heart race,” he grinned, the mischievous glint in his eye making your heart pound in a different way that it had been.

“Yeah, because you jumpscared me,” you rolled your eyes, shutting the fridge doors to then lean back against the appliance. “Anyway, it’s not looking like I have anything to make for dinner. You okay with eating out tonight?”

“More than, I was actually hoping you’d let me take you somewhere tonight.”

“Where?”

“My place. You’ve been such a gracious host this whole time, it’s time I repay the favor.”

“Your place, as in... the Underworld?”

“Yeah, why not?” He shrugged nonchalantly, an enticing grin on his features. A grin that invited you to follow its owner to places you’d never been before. “I promise you’ll come back.”

“In one piece?”

“Of course.”

You’d be lying if you said you weren’t intrigued, that you hadn’t tried to picture what the Underworld looked like. All you could come up with was the standard image of hell: flames, pitchforks, eternal torture. But now you were getting an invitation to go there with Hades and come back alive.

“And I’ll be back in time to go to work in the morning?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

“Alright, sure,” you finally acquiesced. “I’d love to, thank you for inviting me.”

Jaemin offered his hand out to you then, and you placed your atop. He gave yours a light squeeze, “Just focus on me, Y/N. Just look in my eyes.”

“Okay?” You agreed despite your tone pitching it up into a question, unsure of why exactly he was asking you to do that.

Nevertheless, you settled your gaze on his eyes, even as he drew you in closer by the light grip on your hand. You gave him an awkward half-smile, unsure of what exactly to do as you just stared him directly in the eye. His dark eyes had a calming effect, however, as you felt your breathing even out and your heartbeat slow. This close to him, and being able to unabashedly look at him, you were entranced by the unearthly quality to his beauty. It should have been disquieting, this spectral vision in front of you, but you just found yourself drawn even closer in body and mind.

Then suddenly everything around you was darker, as if someone had dimmed your kitchen lights. The air was cooler too, and you had the suspicion that you were no longer in your kitchen. But you were still looking at Jaemin, just like you said you would.

He was looking right back at you, unflinchingly, and a fond smile crossed his lips before he announced quietly, “We’re here. You can look.”

And you finally tore your eyes from him to take in your new surroundings. It was dark, just like you’d noted before, as if it were nighttime. The room you were in had black floors, black walls, and at the very tippy top of the black vaulted ceiling, a black wrought iron chandelier with flames glowing... blue? But you couldn’t focus on the flickering up above you as Jaemin’s fingers entwined with yours and he gently tugged you towards the other side of the room.

“Come on, this way.”

It looked like you were maybe in an entrance hall of some sort. It was then that you spotted a large black throne adorned with silver detailing and embellishments at the front of the room. Jaemin kept walking right past it, though, down an adjoining hallway.

Your wide eyes that had been taking everything in turned downwards to your hand that was holding Jaemin’s. His skin was the usual coolness you had come to expect, and your fingertips brushed against the multitudes of rings on his fingers. Seeing the lone silver band on your hand, the one that he was holding, made your face hot for some reason.

You passed through another doorway into a dining room. It contained a large dining table crafted from dark walnut wood, the twelve high-back chairs around it made of the same. A deep red table runner went across the length of the tabletop, matching the upholstery of the chairs. A feast was already laid out, and place settings for two of the seats were prepared.

Jaemin let go of your hand to pull out a chair for you. You thanked him quietly as you sat down, eyes still scanning over the food options. He sat in the chair caddy-corner to yours, at the head of the table.

“Go ahead, Y/N,” Jaemin encouraged you as he reached forward to grab the bottle of wine that had been on the table as well.

“Everything looks... so good,” you said, not sure what to try first.

He uncorked the bottle, pouring the red wine into your glass first, then his. When he put the bottle down, you still hadn’t moved, too overwhelmed with all the delicious-looking choices.

“Do I need to make your plate for you?” He teased, already standing and grabbing your plate.

“This is good, you’ll probably like this one, oh you’re going to love this one, everyone likes that, mmm definitely not that,” he mumbled to himself as he loaded up your plate with food after food.

Your heart did flips as you looked up at him, the simple kindness of his actions making you feel warm despite the coolness of the Underworld.

Jaemin set your plate back down in front of you between your utensils, spoon on the far right, then the knife beside the plate, and the fork on the left. You waited for him to prepare his own plate of food, then finally be seated. When he’d finished scooting his chair up to table, he looked up from what he’d been doing, eyes catching yours, and a small, affectionate smile crossed his lips before he grabbed his wine glass. Then a wide, charismatic grin overtook his features as he held his glass out towards you, and you followed his lead, picking yours up to clink them together.

“To one month of… you and I. Thank you for agreeing to come here tonight, Y/N.”

‘You and I.’ His words both squeezed your chest and made it feel airy, like someone was inflating a balloon inside of it.

“Thank you for hosting tonight, Jaemin. And here’s to one month of…” you took a sharp inhale as you stumbled through your mind for any other word but couldn’t find one in that moment. “Us.”

You saw Jaemin’s pale lips softly, silently repeat the word before pulling into an alluring smirk.

And you each took a sip of the wine before digging into your food and kicking off the discussion. Over your month of dinners and nighttime socializing with Jaemin, you were used to your conversations meandering between the casual catching up of your workday to the serious contemplations of life and the universe. After all, if you were dining with a god, you were going to pick his brain for some philosophical inquiry. But on the days where some of the medical malpractice or domestic pro bono cases had hit you exceptionally hard and you wanted to leave well enough alone, Jaemin let you keep the topics light and surface level, keeping it at office gossip and the like.

Tonight though, with the special venue on your mind, you immediately delved into the existential, “So what are humans to you?”

“How do you mean?” Jaemin arched an eyebrow at your question.

“You’re a god. You’ve lived for thousands of years. You’ve seen millions of humans live and die. Surely, we all just kind of… blur together for you. Seem the same. Inconsequential.”

“No, not at all.”

“You’re just saying that because I’m here,” you teased before returning to your debate. “Most of us live and die without ever leaving a lasting impact on the world. Not that I think that’s necessary for having lived a meaningful or good life, I think that making even one person smile means that someone lived a good life. But in relation to you, a god, surely that makes us all indistinguishable from one another.”

“Is a play bad because it ends? Is a flower no longer beautiful because it will wilt? I think that humans and your lives are so intriguing because they’re finite.” He was as impassioned as ever when getting into your metaphysical dialogues— voice strong with resolve, leaning forward towards you earnestly, brow set just the slightest not with anger but determination, and hair falling into his onyx eyes that looked into yours without hesitation. “An incalculable but unquestionably limited amount of time, one chance, and each of you choose to live differently.”

“You still think that every human life is different from all the others?”

“Of course.” Apparently sensing that he hadn’t convinced you yet, Jaemin continued with an example, “Just look at you and your friend Jeno. Sure, the two of you converged pretty closely in college, but he made the choice to begin his career while you made the choice pursue higher education. Your two lives aren’t the same.”

“There’s also another major difference between the two of us.”

At the imploring tilt of his head, you deadpanned, “Only one of us made a deal with Hades for a third of our life.”

“An astute observation, Y/N,” Jaemin chuckled, relaxing back in his chair now that you’d changed up the tone of the conversation.

When both of your plates and glasses were empty, Jaemin took you by the hand once again to guide you from the dining room, as he apparently wanted to show you something. You emerged onto a patio of some sort, but that wasn’t what you were focused on. In front of you was a tree maybe ten or fifteen feet tall, an elegantly thin and sloping trunk, and along its many branches were round golden fruit the size of your palm. You couldn’t help the soft gasp that came from you as you took in the dazzling sight. Everything about the tree was normal from the texture of the brown bark to the dark green leaves, and even the dappling of the outer shell of the pomegranates that grew on it looked real, aside from the gilded color. It was magical, and you were happy just to know that something so beautiful existed.

“Thank you for showing me this, Jaemin,” you said, turning to look at the god who had stopped beside you.

You thought that he’d be looking at the scenery too, but his eyes were on you. He had a familiar look on his face, a small, tender smile pulling at the corners of his mouth, dark eyes holding a latent warmth like coals after a fire, and you felt tempted to get even closer to indulge in it.

But instead, you steeled your nerves to ask, “Why do you keep looking at me like that?”

Your tone wasn’t as accusatory as your words were, it was a sincerely curious question.

“Like what?” Jaemin was quick to reply with a question of his own, keeping his attitude light but genuine.

“You keep smiling at me with this soft little smile.”

“I keep doing it? When was I doing it before?”

“When we first got here, when you sat down at dinner tonight, and just now, when you brought me out here.” It had made your heart go haywire every time you noticed it, so you were able to list the instances from tonight off the top of your head. But that wasn’t all, there was a reason why it was imprinted into the back of your eyelids like a burned-out LCD screen, “It’s like… like… you want to kiss me.”

“I do,” Jaemin declared, eyes never leaving yours, voice never wavering, so damn sure of himself. Even as you were here in front of him feeling like you were nearly ready to rip your hair out from just a few little smiles from him.

He was always like this. So charming, so smooth, playfully talking around your questions. Pulling you along with him, dancing with you through your conversation. You had to meet him head on, even if it felt like you were going crazy doing so. You did it during your dinners, you could do it now too.

“Is that why you’re smiling at me like that?”

“Do you want me to? Kiss you?” He took a step towards you. For a brief moment he was all you could see, all dark hair, dark eyes, and silver earrings.

“I want to know why you look at me like that.” You stepped back from him, wrapped in the heady smell of his cologne. Cinnamon, bergamot, an earthy scent too maybe? Your head was swimming with it, but you needed to focus on the conversation at hand.

“And I want to know if you want me to kiss you or not.” Another step, once again narrowing the distance between you.

“I asked first, Jaemin,” you poked your pointer finger against his chest as a warning. “An answer for an answer.”

He stayed put, seeming to be fighting a delighted smirk from his face as he looked between your face and the finger you held up defensively between the two of you. Jaemin’s features relaxed as he clasped his hands together behind his back, looking into your eyes earnestly, “All of those times that I’ve been looking at you tonight, I was thinking to myself, ‘It feels like she’s come home.’ You just looked like you belonged here, in my home, with me. It felt like I belonged with you. And that made me want to kiss you. That’s why.”

Of all the answers you had been expecting, that hadn’t quite been one of them. Grand declarations of love were a faraway possibility, sure, you’d seen movies before. That’s not what this was, though. This was both more and less. You hadn’t anticipated for Hades’ answer to be so simple yet all-soul-encompassing as the idea of coming home. While everything tonight had definitely been new and unfamiliar to you, you hadn’t been intimidated or uncomfortable in any way. With Jaemin at your side, you’d been able to take it all in with wonder and an open mind, knowing that you had him right there watching over you.

“I believe you owe me an answer now too, Y/N.” Jaemin’s voice was quiet, low, meant only for you. “Do you want me to kiss you?”

Your gaze fell to the finger you had to his chest, your right hand. It had lost all the force you started with, limp and simply resting against him. You could see the silver ring there, and lower on your arm was the bracelet he’d given you, both pieces of jewelry glinting in the hazy light afforded in the Underworld. You briefly wondered if they had come from here, from deep under the Earth; if they’d come home tonight, too. The god in front of you remained silent, waiting for your response. If there was one thing Jaemin was good at, it was waiting— after he’d given you his final push.

Then you finally looked back up at his face, into the sunken obsidian black that greeted you there. That ever-stubborn lock of raven hair was hanging between his brows, and you had a sudden and smitten urge to fix it. But you had something more important to do in that moment. After all, he’d given you his answer, now you owed him yours. And you’d made up your mind.

Your mouth had barely started forming around your answer before it was captured by Jaemin’s in a kiss that was equal parts tender and ravishing. It felt like he was trying to devour your ‘yes’ right off your tongue and keep it all to himself. Admittedly, your head had started nodding before your vocal cords could work.

If you thought you were swimming in spices and citrus before, you were drowning in them now. Cinnamon, oranges, and… cedar. Your hand that had previously been poking at his chest was now crumpling the collar of his dress shirt, the other hooking a finger in one of the belt loops at the front of his slacks to yank him closer. His own hands were doing their part, too. One cupped your cheek while the other held you by your waist. The sweetest nectar was being dripped into your veins, and you hungrily took more and more with each wanton kiss from Jaemin.

When his lips finally parted from yours, you couldn’t help but steal just one more kiss. He let out a breathy chuckle as he clasped a hand over the one you were grasping at his shirt with to gently pull it off, his thumb then rubbing slow circles into your palm. His hand that had been on your cheek dipped to gently grip your chin, and as he looked at you, you knew exactly what he was thinking.

“I’m home,” you promised.

The shadowy man was back in your dreams that night, and this time the golden fruit was already in your two hands. He was encouraging you to break it open, feed on its juicy flesh that he promises will taste so good.

You woke up before you could follow through on the decision you’d already made.

⤷ series masterlist   ⤷ blog masterlist

[shih-coulda-had-it]

short and fun bit from the OFA band (of vigilantes) AU, wc: ~500

//

“I don’t know why the strategy is just ‘get out there and prevent harm’,” En complains, throwing himself onto a couch. “Why can’t we just follow Sorahiko?”

“Hey,” Sorahiko says, half-threat and half-amusement. He slaps at En’s legs and takes the freed space for himself, easing into the cushions with a sigh. Around them, Hikage and Daigoro are setting down cartons of food, paper plates, disposable chopsticks; Kudou and Bruce have gone to fetch Yoichi, and Nana has dipped into their room to check that Toshinori went to sleep on time.

“You finding a dive bar where villains gather is more of a guarantee than trawling an unlit street for trouble.”

“That’s not true.”

“It’s a little true,” Hikage helpfully interjects, kneeling by the coffee table. He’s tall enough that kneeling doesn’t affect his presence. Daigoro steals two pillows and joins his boyfriend on the floor. “Do you remember the one drinking American beer who wanted to—?”

Sorahiko rolls his eyes. “Yumi wasn’t actually going to sell my organs on the black market.”

“No,” Daigoro recalls with a grin, “she was just going to double your organs and sell them on the black market. Some weird-ass Quirks popping out of the woodwork these days. That, or you’re just attracting that shit, Torino. Things weren’t weird until you and Shimura joined up.”

“Sandaime’s told me a few stories…”

The door’s opened silently, but the new voice that travels through the air is a familiar rasp. “Bruce, gossip? I thought he put our origin story under an N.D.A.” Kudou steps further into the room, eyes the couch that En and Sorahiko are taking up, and chooses the loveseat instead. His white-haired lover trails after him; Yoichi beams at En and hoists up a twelve-pack of canned soda.

“They almost forgot this in our room,” he laughs. Sorahiko sees a tendril of Blackwhip wiggle into existence. “Oh, Banjo-kun, would you—?”

“I’ve got it, Shodaime,” says Daigoro, and hooks his Quirk through the thin cardboard, reels it to the table to the sound of a breathless thank-you. “How was the kid? Still antsy about being babysat?”

Yoichi frowns. “He’s not being babysat. If anything, I feel as though Toshinori-kun is babysitting me. Who told him I’m not allowed to drive the bus?”

“Me,” says Sorahiko. Betrayed green eyes lock onto him, but Sorahiko’s too haunted by the memory of Yoichi driving into oncoming traffic to feel any kind of regret. He heaves himself up from the couch and doles out a portion of stir-fried noodles, vegetables, and chicken. “And the N.D.A. doesn’t apply to anecdotes about stupid stunts.”

Bruce, still at the door, admits Nana into the room. Toshinori guiltily shuffles in behind her, a windbreaker thrown over his pajamas; he straightens up with a bright smile as most of the band greets him with a cheer. Sorahiko is not one of them.

“Welcome back!” Toshinori says.

“Why aren’t you passed out,” says Sorahiko, narrowing his eyes. “I made you run three kilometers today.”

En makes a sympathetic sound like he’s dying.

[mechaneo]

Super Sonic and Doom Wing Shadow

Translation by Windii:

Shadow manipulates new powers called “Doom Powers” in the recently released Sonic x Shadow Generations. He can send Chaos Spears to multiple targets or slide over water… The most iconic of these would be “Doom Wing,” where he spreads ominous wings that allow him to glide. Shadow, conflicted with his past, fights for those he must protect… Please play the game and witness his ultimate power!

Sonic, who has reappeared again as he did in January and June, actually has another form. This is Super Sonic, a golden Sonic who can transform only when he collects all seven Chaos Emeralds, gems that hold tremendous power! In this form, Sonic can fly freely and at sub-light speed! He is truly an invincible force!

So, here is the newest illustration!

“Sonic and Shadow looking toward the glistening end at full power!” Invincible and ultimate, the two powers combined can handle anything, even a world crisis. Their paths are different, but they have their eyes set on the same thing. What awaits them at the end of the light…? Is it friend?! Foe?! Or…

The blaring high beams of the oncoming traffic were too bright, so the two of them got out of the car in a blazing fury.

Alternate Dialogue

[innytoes]

Guardian Angels AU + Criminals AU for Willex please :D

-Alex is a guardian angel, and he's trying to convince his manager to give him harder cases. All he got to do was keep himbos alive. Like that guy who tried to fix his amp in the rain. His soul was sunshine yellow, and glowed. And the run away who nearly ate poison hotdogs, whose soul was a deep blue. He wanted more than himbos, come on, he was ready.

-So his boss gave him a new charge. Who was a criminal. Doing crimes. Like, all the time.

-And when he asked what he was supposed to do with this, his boss just smiled and told him to figure it out.

-So he did. Guardian Angels were supposed to safeguard not just the person physically, but also their soul. He was pretty worried, but when he looked it up in the Soul Room, his criminal's soul was as clean as any of his himbo charges. His soul was a bright, vivid green, like a newly formed leaf. Which was weird. Weren't crimes Bad? Shouldn't his soul be dull and tarnished?

-He talked to some more experienced Angels. Rose cooed and patted his halo, telling him humans were more complicated than that. She told him to look into what exactly Willie was doing.

-So he did. Whenever his alarms weren't blaring because Yellow was trying to befriend a dog about to bite his fingers off or Blue's blood sugar got dangerously low because he'd been writing for hours, he watched Green.

-And he learned that most of his Crimes were just... art. He was making the world more beautiful. Sure, he was trespassing and climbing places he shouldn't and technically defacing property. But Alex could also see the joy it brought others, the hope.

The way that old lady who never got out anymore would look at the bird he'd painted on the side of a building, and smile. The way the little stickers Green would doodle and slap over hateful symbols not only removed some ugliness from the world, but also make people laugh with dumb puns.

-Sure, there were also other crimes. He stole sometimes. But it was only so he could eat. He even shared his meals when he could, often with people younger than him, more vulnerable.

-And okay some of the crimes had to do with harassing those in power but really, Alex had seen the souls of those people. They could use a little chaos.

-Angels didn't have favourites, but Alex found himself watching Green more often than not. Not that he didn't like listening to the music in Blue's soul, or experience the joy of Yellow helping animals at the animal shelter. But something about Green fascinated Alex.

-So he kept cops from bothering Green while he was making the world more beautiful. He made sure to preform some little miracles that meant that maybe that box of stolen food had more in it than it should, so that everyone Green shared it with could have some. He saved Green from getting hit by a car when he was skating in traffic, though he couldn't help but make it a close call, in the hopes that he'd learn skating in traffic was bad.

-Rose was the one who noticed first because of course she did. "I will have your back no matter what, but you be very careful and think very hard about what you're going to do, mijo," she warned, even though Alex was just doing his job. He was doing it better than he ever had, really. He stopped futzing around as much with Blue and Yellow, trying to get them to meet already, which his boss was happy with. (Of course, his boss didn't know it was because he was too busy obsessing over Green.)

-He didn't understand what Rose meant until it was much, much too late. Until he was falling, falling, right into the path of an oncoming skateboard and...

-"Oh man, you dinged my board!"

-"You ran me over!"

-Being human wasn't really what Alex had been expecting. He sometimes missed his wings, and the fact that it was so dark out without his halo. He didn't like having just two eyes. It gave him anxiety, not being able to see the world in five dimensions.

-But he knew Rose was looking out for him, and he knew he was where he was meant to be. Here with Willie. He couldn't see his soul anymore, but he knew it was still as bright and beautiful as ever. Just like Willie himself.

[sohannabarberaesque]

Talk about your "climb to the clouds," and with Tom and Jerry besides!

It just seemed a little out of the ordinary for such a cat-and-mouse chase team like Tom and Jerry to make their way to New Hampshire's Presidential Range of the White Mountains and attempt what could be the acme of cat-and-mouse chases.

But they did ... even considering Mount Washington's notoriety for rough weather as gives it the nickname "Misery Hill" and the 138 winding turns of the Mt. Washington Auto Road (7.6 miles, climbing 4,200 feet from the Toll Gate to the Mt. Washington summit) on whose side the chase was pulled off. Pulled off by way of sneaking past the Toll Gate as is traditionally seen as Mile 0 thereof off Route 16 in New Hampshire and, in line with sound practice, facing oncoming (downhill, know) traffic on the left-hand side of the Auto Road. Some of it bound to be stopped because of overheated brakes, the bane of driving downhill in steep terrain like Mt. Washington.

Yet considering the comparitive sizes of a mouse like Jerry (whose eyes would be closer to the ground) and a cat like Tom (whose size was bound to cause him to be distracted from time to time by the panoramics of the Presidential Range, made worse by want of guardrails along the highway, tight "hairpin" turns, grades ranging from 12-18% throughout, with a 22% incline just before the summit, increasing altitude and reduced oxygen levels on the ascent--and increased UV levels from the thinner air at high elevations, with the potential for eye damage without proper sunglasses.

Even if it meant having to dodge cars parked to cool off the brakes from time to time (as well as passing at least three electric vehicles heading downhill who have it easy thanks to regenerative braking systems), having to as much catch wind as take in the panorama on occasion and adjust to the sharp turns on occasion on a now-paved-throughout highway ... as well as Jerry having some sense in putting on decent Foster Grants shortly after beginning the ascent, with Tom fumbling for cheap such he got from some second-rate gift shop a few miles back, eventually to be his unravelling when the cat got distracted by as much bright sunlight as a spectacular view down a ravine close to treeline, causing him to fall down and stumble.

Yet it seemed rather amazing how such a mouse as Jerry could make it through such otherwise gruelling conditions in the heighth of the summer season after Tom's misfortune got the better of him ... leaving you to wonder how such a mouse could manage the final 22% uphill ascent just before the summit, trying to catch the last bit of wind by the Tip Top House, considered more or less to be the top of Mt. Washington.

Followed by Jerry's crossing paths with cousin Nibbles on the observation deck of the Sherman Adams Summit House, a cup of some hot cappuccino to warm and regenerate before heading down by way of the Mt. Washington Cog Railway--through the courtesy of an engineer on one of the Cog Railway's homebuilt biodiesel engines, catching wind on the descent even as they passed beside one of the steamers making the uphill climb and smelling such heavenly fragrance as coal smoke.

As for Tom ... a training drill for mountain rescue crews was being carried out later that evening, and the dazed and bruised body of the cat, still trying to catch wind, was gathered and brought to a heliambulance parked slightly downhill in a clearing. Imagination will need to fill in the details ensuing.

[cbusch]

Note: Doing Sony’s MCU version of Eddie Brock since he has more humanity and Venom will exist, just not as impulsive

The New York air was stifling hot as bustling citizens were going in and out of buildings to avoid the heat. Though one person was trying to keep his identity hidden from the world. It was the one and only Spider-man, aka Peter Parker. Well, he was hunting down for any trouble there was. He went past Midtown High. He stopped on a lamppost and surveyed the entrance, where he tried to hold my tears about the life he could’ve led with MJ, his best friend Ned, and potentially having his aunt alive still. He watched as students came out of the building, walking and talking. He realized nothing going to happen and was about to leave when he noticed a girl who was walking, holding a gray clay version of Spiderman. He observed from afar with her gripping the creation in her hands and froze in the moment. Not knowing which way to go. She often didn’t get lost but today was different as she was exhausted from masking all day in the last weeks of school and it didn’t matter that her favorite art teacher was leaving. Things were changing and not in a good way for the young girl. Frozen in the center of the school entrance. She looked both ways and crossed the street, gripping harder to her creation, not paying attention to the oncoming traffic, the honking of cars, stumbling through the street as Spiderman leaped into action. When the truck was coming, the young girl froze in fear as the truck coming towards her and embraced herself for impact when she felt a strong grip on her side and leapt to the other side of the sidewalk, where she froze and was awestruck in the presence of her hero. Spiderman exhausted himself where he took a couple breaths and then looked at her.

“Miss, you ok?” Spiderman finally got out as the sun was burning down on the sidewalk. The heat wasn’t making anyone feel better to which she gripped onto the clay Spiderman.

“You need to be careful in the street. New Yorkers are crazy here, especially in this heat. You know where you’re going? I can-“ Peter offered while trying to help to which he tried to wave a hand over her face to see if she was paying attention but this startled and backed away, dropping her clay creation in the process and it broke in two pieces.

“NO!” She yelled as she went down and picked it up where the head was sliced off with the rest of the body surprisingly still in tact. Peter saw her face and bent down to help her. Her face was almost covered in tears as she tried to tug on her shorts to relieve some pressure but it wasn’t working. Peter witnessed the situation and he bent down to help her.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I was just trying to make sure you were safe. I know New York is a lot but if your lost, I can help you. Do you think you can tell me your name?” Peter offers to which she turns her sculpture over which has the carving of Natalie Brock. He sighed as he had to deal with his enemy at the Daily Bugle, but it did make sense why he suddenly was backing down on his daily rants of Spiderman and how much of a menace he was, similar to J. Jonah Jameson. Now that he thought about it, why did Jameson have three Js, kind of weird if you think about it. Anyway, he looked at Natalie who was near tears and Peter comforted her.

“Hi Natalie, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Spiderman. Did you make this? It’s awesome and nice to know I have a fan!” Peter comforts to which Natalie smiles a little, standing up as her knees starting to burn to which Peter followed suit.

“I know where he lives, I can help you get home. Do you feel like hanging on to my back as we swing there or do you want to walk?” Peter offered to which Natalie looked around at the sky, feeling the bright sun tickle her skin and smiled at the swinging, flapping a little. Spiderman nodded as he offered her his back and put the remaining shards of her sculpture into her backpack and held on tightly to him. She weighed no more than 95-98 pounds.

“Ok, hold on!” Peter warned and they were in the air, swinging and passing through multiple directions. She thought about letting go and feeling the wind touch her skin which is what she did whenever her dad drove her to places at fast speeds. Sure it was New York and it didn’t happen a lot, however when the roads and streets were clear, he did it to cheer her up. She reflected on the fear her father would have when she made a Spiderman sculpture. She knew how he felt about Spiderman, but she didn’t care because she thought Spiderman was an outcast and could relate to that as well. The swinging made her dizzy a little but finally was able to reach her apartment building which she got off of his back and looked at the building.

“Here you are. Want me to go up with you, explain what happened?” Despite Peter’s wishes not to talk to Eddie Brock, he still wanted to make sure she was ok. She nodded and they went up together which the entire time, she couldn’t help being awestruck. She wasn’t known for talking much but she was definitely excited and was ashamed that she couldn’t get herself to speak and to have her hero see her like this, she was ashamed of herself. Holding back tears as they went to the apartment door and she opened the door with her key. She got inside to see Eddie baking some M@M cookies, the smell was exciting with Eddie looking at her.

“Hey honey, how was school?” Eddie asks with Spiderman backing away with Natalie shifting her feet, ashamed of herself. Eddie realized something was wrong and went towards her, comforting her by stroking her hair.

“What happened, honey? Did you get lost…oh crap, ok, hey, hey. Pumpkin its-“ Eddie starts when Venom was growing with hunger and excitement.

“Spiderman, my favorite adversary. You got away last time, this time you’re mine! Let’s eat him!” Venom declares as he transforms, pushing Natalie towards the oven, the heat burning her arm. Peter thinking fast on his feet webs him up, leaving in a hurried state. Natalie was shaking with Eddie regaining control and looking back at Natalie who was terrified, rubbing her arm. Eddie sighs, calming down but failing as his cheeks were rosy red.

“Venom, we will talk about this later!” Eddie sneered at the black creature in his system.

“Wh…wh…why…d…d…did…you…d..d…do tha…tha…that?” Stuttering as Natalie slowly backed away from Eddie.

“Honey, I am so sorry. You know Venom…we…it’s complicated. Why don’t I bandage-“ Eddie explains softly when Natalie cries and ran to her room. Eddie attempted to follow but was met by a slam of the door. Eddie tried to open the door, but locked out to which Eddie screamed in agony and frustration with Venom looking regretful.

“Why would you do that?! Natalie loves Spiderman and now she thinks we are psychopaths!” Eddie yelled.

“To be fair, Eddie. We are psychopaths! Plus having Spiderman in our home makes the craving of brains even sweeter. Why would you give up that right, we had him in our grasp and you let him get away!” Venom yelled.

“You pushed my daughter into an oven and she’s scared of me. Of us! I was supposed to pick her up but got so carried away with the cookies that I forgot to do that! She’s been having a rough couple days and every day for the past week she’s been coming home burnt out and exhausted. For once, I wanted to cheer her up and now she doesn’t want anything to do with us!” Eddie yelled to which Venom thought about. Sure, he hated Spiderman but he promised Eddie that he would do his best to keep his hate under wraps. The creature came out of his back and faced him.

“I…I…I did not think of that. I know she is trying and we need to cheer her up! Let us go!” Venom said with him transforming into Venom and goes to her door, banging on it.

“Open the door! I am sorry that I scared the parasite!” Venom said, gently as he could but came out as a booming voice.

“Venom, tone it down! She hates sudden, loud voices in this state.” Eddie reminds as Natalie cries, holding the broken remnants of the statue. She turned to the door, choking on her words.

“Go away! I already made a fool of myself with Spiderman. I couldn’t talk to him and now he knows your venom and wants nothing to do with me! My one hero…thinks horridly of me. This is the worst day ever.” Natalie cried with her tears hitting her pillow, unzipping her backpack and looking at the broken Spiderman sculpture. Crying even more as she slammed it down on her bed. Venom realized the hurt he had caused and went out of the window, in search of her hero. Despite his grievances, Eddie loved her and he would never want to hurt him so he swallowed his pride and went to find the hero he thought of as a parasite.

Part 2

Venom had searched all over the city but found no luck in finding Spiderman. Sure, he hated the fucking parasite and wanted his brain more than anything, but Eddie and Natalie meant a lot to him, so he kept looking. He jumped near a building to gaze at the sight of New York City at night. The lights and billboards shining like the stars in the sky, only more illuminating and less subtle.

“This is pointless, let us go back! That stupid menace is nowhere to be found!” Venom spat with Eddie’s voice trying to reason with the black goo.

“No, my daughter is hurting right now and I want to make things right with Spiderman, so we’re not stopping until we find him. Even if it takes all night!” Eddie declared with Venom groaning in tiredness.

“Ugh, fine! Let us find him and eat a brain along the way!” Venom compromised as they leapt off the building and continued searching from sewers to the tops of lights. He kept searching until they saw police cars and followed them until they saw Spiderman web up an ordinary robber. He was about to leave when he saw Venom. Filled with anger he attempted to web up him up, to which Venom used his instincts and dodged his web, grabbing the hero and leaping up into the air. Spiderman protested, trying to get the goo off of him before it transitioned to his suit. Eventually, Venom dropped him on the ground, standing up. Spiderman got up and backed away, webbing him to which Venom took in stride.

“What the hell?! What do you want?!” Spiderman yelled.

“I am not here to fight. I ask for your presence with a…a…” Venom struggled, his pride still taking hold of him as he struggled with his words. Spiderman looked at him, slightly pent up, ready to fight. His hesitation was justified.

“Fan. The girl…you spotted earlier was…you are your hero and she is upset.” Venom mumbles out loud with Peter lowering his guard, thinking about the girl he encountered from earlier.

“You mean Natalie? She…no, she’s the daughter of Eddie Brock. He’s always trying to ruin my life and…I find out he’s you! Speaking of, Eddie come out of there!” Peter yelled as Venom took a deep breath and spoke to Eddie to which he agreed to go back to his human form. Spiderman backed up and webbed him more. Eddie was trying to stay calm, mainly thinking about Natalie.

“Look, I know I’ve been mean to you Spiderman. I know that, but my daughter looks up to you and she’s been having a tough time lately. She’s always coming home drained and sad since her favorite art teacher announced was leaving. She’s been masking a lot and it pains me she’s doing that, but…look, Spider-Man, we…I know you hate me and Venom, I understand that. But right now, she really needs someone in her corner, more than her dad.” Eddie pleaded to which Spiderman thought deeply thought about his interactions. The wall Eddie was webbed up to was wet and cold, his back was getting drenched with Spiderman thinking.

“Is she really a fan of mine or is she just a spy for your other entity?” Spiderman interrogated with Venom getting agitated and transformed back into the menacing creature. Ripping off the web fluid and confronted Spiderman. Peter backing away, his senses raging.

“Enough of this! I wouldn’t have come down here if Natalie wasn’t a fan! She loves you and you are her hero. She adores you more than she does Eddie and me combined! Sure, she loves her father but she loves you because she can relate to you!” Venom snapped with Spiderman calming down, his senses dying down with danger not existing. He loosened his interrogation mode and backed a step away.

“Why does she admire me? Why?” Spiderman asked with Venom calmed down and took a deep breath.

“You are an outcast and she believes she is to. She admires you and was embarrassed by the lack of talking she did with you. She…can’t…doesn’t do well talking to people, especially when she masks all day or in awe of someone.” Venoms says with Spiderman, completely relaxed.

“What do you mean by masks?” Spiderman asks with which Venom shifted his hands and eventually had Eddie come back to explain the situation.

“She has Asperger’s Syndrome. It affects her social abilities and communication. Sometimes when she…she is in a really bad mind space she shuts down. She doesn’t talk to people as much as she does her mind space is in a good place. The way you saw her, she masks her neurotypical behaviors so she can fit in. Look, I’m not asking for us to be best friends, but I want her to have hope in you. She thinks you hate her and after the last few days, she needs a win. Please.” Eddie reveals as Venom comes back.

“Think about it.” Venom finishes with Venom leaping into the air and heading back to the apartment. It took a while but finally managed to come back with Natalie, eating the M@M cookies. Venom leapt from the window onto the floor. Natalie startled, backing away from his appearance. Venom, feeling guilty trying to approach her.

“I…I am so sorry about what happened. I-“ Venom started with Natalie shaking her head, ashamed as she finished her cookies and attempted to go back to her room, when Spiderman came up through the window and stomped his feet, startling Natalie.

“I’m sorry if I startled you but you know secret identity doesn’t help if I come through the door. You must be Natalie, heard so much from Venom.” Spiderman introduced to which Natalie was star struck, still insecure about earlier, confused as he saw Venom smile slightly.

“You know Venom? You guys are friends?” Natalie questioned to which Spiderman took a breath and swallowed hard.

“Yeah, you know he told me all about you. I hear you’re a fan of mine and you had a sculpture that resembles me, mind I take a look of it?” Peter says as Natalie smiles and runs to get it. She grabs it, instantly remembering that she accidentally dropped it and broke it in half. Upset as she walked back slowly and afraid as she grabbed the sculpture.

“I’m sorry, I made this in art class. It was supposed to be you but I dropped it and…I’m sorry.” She apologized, setting it at the table. Peter stepped closer, examining the pieces and comforted her as best he could. Remembering that people with Asperger’s, most of the time don’t like sudden touches.

“Hey, you mind if I touch your shoulder? Just as a comfort tactic.” Peter asked to which she nodded and Peter touched her shoulder and rubbed it.

“It’s ok. It’s fixable. Hey Venom…mind it I use some of that goo you have?” Spiderman asked to which Venom was going to protest, but Eddie scolded him and he obliged which he gave Spiderman some of the goo and Peter put it where it on the places where the sculpture broke and used it as glue which held pretty well and Natalie smiled.

“See, it was fixable! We’re all good. Did you think I was angry at you?” Spiderman asked which Natalie could only respond with a nod.

“Aww, why’d you think that?” Spiderman continued with Natalie holding back tears, not wanting her hero to see her cry. Eddie transformed back to stop Spiderman but Natalie fiddled with her fingers.

“I’m…your my hero and I couldn’t talk to you! I mean, so much has changed between my favorite art teacher leaving and then…then…today-“ Natalie wiped her tears aggressively with Spiderman coming around to face her, suddenly understanding she was in an overstimulated state when he first spoke to her and gently lifted her face and wiped her tears comfortingly.

“It’s ok. Sometimes I get overwhelmed by a lot of stuff. Between the lights and sound, it can be a lot for me too and it’s ok. You know talking to people you trust can help and if it doesn’t help, hugs can be a great alternative.” Spiderman comforted when Natalie impulsively hugs Spiderman, feeling the fabric of his suit and Spiderman was shocked with him accepting the hug. It lasted a few minutes before he released and wiped her tears.

“You know you have a great dad. You should talk to him because he needs you just as much as you need him. Promise me you’ll talk to him more, as your hero.” Spiderman said to which Natalie smiled nodding.

“That’s good, well I need to get going and I think I’ll get a cookie on the way out.” Spiderman quipped, grabbing an M@M cooking and ran out the window, swinging into the night. Natalie smiled back at Eddie and raced to hug him, to which Eddie embraced a well.

“I met Spiderman and he…he…he was amazing, dad! Thank you Venom!” Natalie thanked with Venom transforming, hugging her as well.

“You’re welcome kiddo. Now if you excuse me, I have a brain to eat and it ends-“ Venom tries to persuade but Natalie knew where he was going and released.

“No, do not eat Spiderman’s brain. However my principal’s brain is perfectly acceptable!” Natalie compromised.

“Oh boo but fine. I shall feast on the school’s brain. Besides school is overrated.” Venom said and leapt into the night. Natalie looked back and her excited state took her sculpture and placed it on her shelf, looking out the window to see Spiderman and excitedly going back to lying down on her bed and reeling about her day. It may have not started off great, but meeting her hero and getting to hug him was worth it and for the first time, she saw Venom as more than just an entity that lived in her father’s body but rather as a friend.