#I have a sneaking suspicion that with all of the hoops

[atittueball]

WTAF

[drbtinglecannon]

Has anyone else ever been offered a job only for the onboarding paperwork link to be broken, and upon learning most people who were hired all have the same problem of literally being unable to accept the job due to being unable to fill out said onboarding paperwork, the company decides that we applicants need to call a completely different help desk line that's not even affiliated with the company to see if they can fix it, and if they can't then they'll "figure out what to do next", all the while the pay for the job has not been discussed because it was within the onboarding paperwork details that are hidden behind a broken fucking link?

Anyway no one wants to work anymore or whatever

[whatifyoulivelikethat]

calculated iii, m | jjk

pairing(s): jungkook x reader

summary: You wanted to say that you were able to control yourself around him and not to have wild sex at school. But this is Jeon Jungkook we’re talking about. And what Jungkook wants, Jungkook gets. You wore that pencil skirt for a reason, after all.

warnings: rated M (18+) for language; intense smut (fem reader, semi-public sex, dirty talk, nipple play, choking, m-receiving oral, gagging, pussy spanking, fingering, penetrative sex); fluff; non-idol!AU - university!AU; dom!Jungkook x sub!noona!reader, ft Jimin once again, lol

–

part i | part ii | part iii | part iv

-

Career Week was somewhat of a nightmare.

So much running around, prepping tables, setting up presentations, helping the guests with their computers before their seminars, and you had to be dressed professionally too. Not just ‘nice’ clothes, but white dress shirt, slim black tie, tailored black vest, and matching fitted black slacks. It had to be monotone, it had to be hyper professional, and you had to wear heels.

Why had you agreed to this again?

Oh, yes, Kim Namjoon on his knees begging for help because he was overworked and they needed volunteers. And you, being far too responsible, accepted.

Not only were you also overworked, but Jeon Jungkook was staring at you across the auditorium.

In all-black – leather jacket, high-necked shirt, slim-fit jeans. Sharp jawline, tanned high cheekbones, piercing dark brown eyes, his black hair pushed back with a few strands on his forehead, revealing his clean undercut.

And he was smirking at you.

You highly doubted he was here to investigate prospective career paths. Actually, you were a hundred-and-ten percent positive that that was not the reason he was here and the soreness between your inner thighs proved it. You were willing to bet Park Jimin’s right nutsack.

Yeah, sorry Jimin, but you needed all your body parts.

For one reason, really, and that reason was staring you right now.

Who was going to hire him when he was dressed like that anyway? You certainly wouldn’t. Mostly because it was distracting. No one could work with Jeon Jungkook looking like that. You couldn’t, anyway. Well, maybe if his work was wrecking your–

Get back to your damn task, you scolded yourself.

You were setting up chairs for the cardiologist that was arriving soon. All the doctors always had tons of students listening, so the administration instructed you to pack as many seats that could be crammed into the space without causing a fire hazard. You unfolded the metal chairs, arranging them neatly, already knowing they would be an incomprehensible mess when the students left and that you would be the one cleaning up after them.

Sigh.

Come to think of it, it was all Park Jimin’s fault that you were being violently undressed by Jungkook’s eyes right now. If he had kept his trap shut and let you live in blissful ignorance, maybe you wouldn’t be trying to hide your wincing every time you bent over. You snuck a glance at Jungkook.

He cocked an eyebrow, highly amused.

Never mind, you probably still would have been accosted at Calculus I office hours, except instead of the door being closed and locked and having Jimin’s warning texts, you two probably would have been caught and expelled.

You grumbled and slid a chair into place, taking back your former thoughts and thanking Jimin in your mind. He wasn’t even here to witness your inner struggle.

Jimin probably would have found it funny.

You went back to your chairs, not addressing Jeon Jungkook’s presence anymore because if you looked at him again, you probably would have abandoned your post. And he knew it.

-

The next day, you already knew Jungkook would show up again. Mostly because he texted you a winking face of a semicolon and parenthesis, to which you didn’t respond, because you would probably get roped into phone sex in under twenty seconds, and you had to help this extremely riveting lawyer set up his laptop for the projector.

As in, you were ready to tape his mouth shut as he blabbed on and on about his work and how important it was to society, which it was, because defense attorneys were very important, but this guy’s laptop was a fucking hot mess of icons all over his desktop. This was a personal pet peeve of yours, as you liked to be neat and organized, with everything clearly labeled with dates. You didn’t care about most people’s personal habits, but it was annoying when you were trying to assist and the owner of said laptop was not shutting up and demanding noises of affirmation that you were listening.

If it wasn’t Jungkook demanding you to swallow his cock, you honestly couldn’t give a single shit–

You finally got his PowerPoint working and had him scroll through the slides to make sure it was the correct one. He thanked you and you realized the older man was looking at you up and down, the same way Jungkook usually did, except in this case you were not even remotely interested.

Guess everyone had the right to get a good look before they die.

You were wearing a white chiffon blouse with a black silk neck scarf, with a tight knee-length black pencil skirt, sheer tights and sleek black heels. You knew how good your ass looked in this skirt and you had worn it for a specific purpose.

“We will be letting the students in five minutes early to get settled,” you stated briskly, cutting the older man from his daydreams. “You will have forty-five minutes for your presentation, and then we’ll have a fifteen-minute question session, led by my associate, Kim Namjoon here.”

As if on cue, Namjoon appeared, cheerful smile with cute dimples, handing the lawyer a mic.

“Let’s test the microphone and the backup to make sure you don’t have any hiccups,” Namjoon instructed merrily, instantly captivating the man’s attention and diverting it from you.

You mouthed a ‘thank you’ behind the man’s back and Namjoon gave you the tiniest of nods as you excused yourself. Hmph. You knew people would notice – you were wearing makeup for once and would be around students and professionals all day, after all – but to be so shameless and gawk like that was annoying. Plus, the guy probably had a wife and kids.

You made your way to the bathroom to check your appearance. Maybe your makeup was a bit off or something. You had Jimin check you over this morning. Surprisingly, he knew a lot about cosmetics and how to look good in all lighting. Must be a dance major thing.

Ah, the door to the women’s bathroom. You hiked your skirt up a bit do you could use your damn knees to walk, because they had been suffocating for the past two hours–

Long fingers suddenly gripped your upper arm and yanked you around the corner, slamming you into a muscular body and black biker jacket. You nearly stumbled in your heels, but a second hand came to practically lift you off the floor and shove you into the wall.

“Good afternoon, noona.”

A clear, silvery voice.

You couldn’t possibly guess who it was.

“Why, fancy seeing you here, Jung–”

You were abruptly cut off by his lips crashing into yours, one hand grabbing the back of your head and disturbing your perfect bun. You whimpered, feeling him shove you into the wall again, your shoulder blades hitting the painted brick. His tongue slid into your mouth, exhaling into your throat and forcing you swallow his breath. Your hands clutched your skirt, moaning as his hard body pressed yours against the wall.

Jungkook drew back, panting a little. Looking so handsome with his slightly slicked-back hair, black strands around his right eye, chiseled jawline, silver hoops glinting in the hall light. He arched a sculpted eyebrow at you, smirking. His pink lips had a little red on them from kissing you.

“Now, you know you can’t be looking so delicious and not expect me to want to eat you up,” he purred, licking your lips. Your breathing hitched at the touch, unlocking your death grip on your skirt.

“What are you talking about?” you answered evenly despite your panties literally turning into Niagara Falls with the way he was looking at you like a carnivore at an all-meat buffet. “I have to dress like this for Career Week. Everyone has to dress professionally.”

Jungkook nodded, not believing a single word coming out of your mouth. His right hand came up, ink black tattoos against tan skin, and reached around to your bun, slowly pulling the hairpins out. Your skin tingled at the sensation of your hair gradually unravelling.

“A professional that I would hire to sit on my dick,” he mused.

You raised an eyebrow at him, your hair tumbling around your shoulders. “Subtle.”

Jungkook showed you the removed hairpins, opened his jacket, and tucked them in his inner pocket.

“I wouldn’t work for you anyway,” you added haughtily.

With each passing moment, Jungkook was becoming increasingly amused and aroused. You could tell by the way he was shoving his crotch into your thigh and by how wide his smirk was getting. The slacks he was wearing did nothing to hide his erection and you had a sneaking suspicion that he didn’t care.

“Oh? Why not?”

“I don’t know if I could trust someone younger than me to do a good job.”

He was unbuttoning your chiffon blouse now, humming. “I’m good at many things.” His dark eyes flickered to yours. “I think you would know.”

Your hands grabbed his despite him already having all the visible buttons completely open. Cold air drifted onto your heaving chest and white lace bra.

“Jungkook, we’re in a public place, again,” you hissed, narrowing your eyes at him.

“I don’t recall that being a problem,” he drawled, removing his hands from yours and squeezing your ass. “I’m beginning to think you like it.”

You sucked in a breath as his strong hands kneaded you through your skirt. Your hormones would absolutely let Jungkook rip off your clothes right here and let him fuck you, but the sliver of your brain that had any sense at all reminded you that you had to find a closed space. Jungkook slapped your ass, loudly, the sound echoing across the empty hallway. You nearly moaned, but bit your tongue, glaring at him.

“I have to get back,” you snapped. “And look presentable.”

Jungkook licked his teeth. “Hm. You have an hour before you have to appear to the public eye.”

Who the heck told him that? He smirked slyly at you as he saw your reaction.

“I could drag you to the bathroom–”

“At least give me more class than the woman’s bathroom,” you interrupted.

Jungkook looked annoyed that you had cut him off and also looked like he was going to remind you later. His fingers dug into your hips sharply and you gasped, back pressed flat against the wall. He inhaled a deep breath and began again, voice dangerously low.

“As I was saying,” he continued. “I’m going to take you into this classroom that I stole the key for.”

You frowned as Jungkook hoisted you up swiftly, princess-style, shirt still wide open. Fuck, what was he so strong for? He carried you down the hallway to the classrooms. You tried to close your shirt, but he growled at you, so you rolled your eyes and pushed the sides open, letting your bra-covered tits hang out. He seemed satisfied about this.

“Why would you steal a key?” you muttered as he deftly kicked the door open.

Jungkook slid through the door sideways. “So I could fuck you, of course.”

He dropped you and you had to catch yourself on your heels before you broke an ankle and ate shit. Half the lights turned on. You could hear him locking the door as you smoothed your skirt.

You turned to face him, saying, “You shouldn’t be a thief just because you’re horny, Jungkook.”

Jungkook turned around slowly from the now locked door. You were about to say something else, but your words died in your throat as you witnessed the overwhelming lust in his dark piercing eyes.

“I would be a thief, a murderer, and evade taxes for your body,” he snarled, advancing on you.

You pulled your blouse out of your skirt so he wouldn’t rip it, backing up into the desks. “You’ll get caught with the last one,” you said quietly, already removing your blouse and letting it fall onto a spare seat. “First two are acceptable.”

Jungkook grinned devilishly, licking his pink lips.

“Come here.”

You chewed on your lower lip, staring at his beautiful eyes, finding yourself already walking to him, heels clicking loudly in the empty room, but it didn’t matter, because he was the master now and you were the willing servant. Or slave. 

Take your pick.

He smirked at your obedience, placing his hands on your shoulders, stopping you. His dark orbs lingered down your body, focusing on all his favorite spots, pressing his fingertips into your skin.

“One day,” you said quietly. “We’re going to get in trouble.”

Jungkook’s powerful dark orbs shifted upwards, capturing yours. Time slowed down. You stared into his dark brown eyes, unable to look away, your heart beating in time with his words.

“You’re already in trouble.”

Voice haunting you, teasing smirk on his lips, and perfectly in command.

“From the second you let me have my hands on you.”

You gasped as his nails dug into your skin, scratching down your collarbones, leaving red marks. He snapped the straps of your bra, hard, and you whined, eyes pleading for him to take it off. His palms pressed into the lace cups, squeezing them roughly. Tongue dancing in between his lips as he felt your nipples harden, barely covered by the lace.

“You’re so dirty, noona,” he purred, lowering his palms and pinching your nipples through the thin fabric, smirking at your wanton moan. “Wearing such slutty underwear under these professional clothes.”

You whimpered as he tugged on them. “No one’s going to see them but you, Jungkook.”

He clamped your nipples between his thumbs and knuckles, dragging you to him. You sank your teeth into your lower lip, pussy throbbing as you collided with his firm chest. His breath was scorching hot against your skin, making you shiver.

“What if someone finds out? Some idiot like a perverted old man staring at your ass in this skirt?”

You snorted. “I’ll rip his head off.”

Jungkook snickered, flicking your nipples with your answer. “You wouldn’t let me do it for you?”

Your hips rolled into his, hands on his waist to keep yourself up as he played with you. “I’ll reattach it for you so you can do the same.”

He laughed, almost a little too jovially for the part he was playing, but then he was back, tipping his head close to yours, blowing soft air onto your lips. You frowned, glaring at him for the lack of kiss.

“If possible, you’re even hotter dressed like this,” Jungkook murmured, his forehead against yours. “So prim and proper, even with a cute gag tied around your neck,” he added, playing with the ends of your neck scarf. “You could be a CEO, and I could be the janitor fucking you on your penthouse-floor desk.” He was undoing your scarf now, teasing it apart, making you breathless. “Maybe fuck you against the window so everyone can see how good I make you feel, noona.”

“Give yourself a little more credit than a janitor,” you muttered, stiffening as Jungkook ran his fingertips over your throat, nails grazing your skin.

“True, I would rather be your secretary so I can follow you around and stare at your ass in this skirt,” he chuckled, lacing his fingers around your neck. Thumb under your ear, the other four fingers under your other ear. You made eye contact with him. He looked almost bored, one of his eyebrows raised, but he was watching you, predatory and attentive.

“I know what I’m doing.”

His whisper was so soft that you barely heard it, but the words were there.

His grip tightened around your throat.

You gasped, feeling the blood flow thinning, hazing your mind. Jungkook watched your expression, reaching around with the hand that was holding your scarf, unclasping your lace bra. You could feel it fall down your arms, but your thoughts were rapidly being clouded by lightheadedness and lust, Jungkook smirking at you as he lifted the silk scarf into your vision.

“J… Jungkook…” you choked out.

The mole underneath his lower lip winked at you as he grinned, brushing the silk against your hard, abused nipples, touch so light, and yet it made your whine, wanting more stimulation but unable to ask because you knew he was toying with you.

“What’s wrong?” Jungkook taunted. “Not intense enough for my naughty noona?”

He choked you harder and you couldn’t respond, eyes rolling back into your head as black spots danced in your vision, the sensation intensifying but still not enough, not enough, and you shoved your hips into his repeatedly, whimpering, hands clutching his black shirt, nails digging into his abs.

“So needy for me,” he breathed, feathery touches of silk against your nipples. “Are you only mine?”

He leaned forward, loosening his grip a little. The blood violently rushed back into your head and all you could hear Jungkook’s cruel whisper of your name, tearing a moan from your lips, a raspy yes, yes, fuck, Jungkook, I’m only yours.

He chuckled darkly.

Then he forced you to your knees, tits bouncing uncomfortably as you slid on your heels, knees hitting the tile floor. You clutched his clothed legs, panting, brain only half-functioning due to the lack of blood and the relentless teasing. You lifted your head back up to look at him, panting hard.

Jungkook cracked his neck sharply, a harsh pop. “I want to believe you, noona, but you’re dressed so fucking sexy that I can’t.” His dark eyes bore into you, tearing you up, and you were dripping onto your inner thighs. He emphasized his words with a raise of his eyebrow.

“Letting other people fantasize about this body that belongs to me isn’t acceptable.”

His hands reached down, fingers of his right hand playing with the button of his pants, tattoos dancing with his movement. He smirked as you watched him, eyes darting from his face to his hands. Shit, you were nearly drooling with anticipation. You swallowed as he teased the button free.

“You gonna show me that you remember who you belong to?”

You nodded quickly, maybe too quickly, but it was doomed now anyway because Jungkook was lowering the zipper, pushing down his pants and underwear, past his muscular thighs. It was obvious this was getting him off as much as it was getting you off, because he was rock-hard, leaking, tip already a dark red. Jungkook grabbed the back of your head and shoved his hips into your cheek, smearing his pre-cum onto your skin, all the way up to your cheekbone. He hissed, using his hand to press the head against your temple, nearly into your hair.

Fuck, he was so fucking close to your mouth, but he wasn’t letting you have it.

Damnnit.

Your tongue snaked out and softly licked his balls, eyes on his face, watching him tip his head back and moan. You licked more, creeping your head closer, pressing your lips against his hot skin. He was letting you do it, holding his cock out of the way as you wrapped your lips around his balls and sucked, pushing them around with your tongue, pleading noises in your throat, begging him for his cock as you bobbed your head up and down under his hips.

Jungkook’s dark eyes shifted down to you, triumphant grin on his lips.

“You want to swallow my cock, noona?” he teased, smacking it against your face, leaving a string of pre-cum connecting your cheek to his cock. You narrowed your eyes at him, as if to say, no fucking shit, you punk ass bitch, and he chuckled deep in his chest. He looked past your head, down your back.

“Such a nice ass.”

You smacked his leg, aware that he was doing it on purpose to piss you off. He smirked knowingly, placing his palm on your forehead and pushing you off his balls.

“Swallow it all and don’t choke,” Jungkook snarled, shoving his cock into your open mouth.

Your eyes widened at the sudden intrusion, relaxing your throat muscles as Jungkook forcefully pushed into your lips, sighing with satisfaction as he buried himself to the hilt, his strong fingers tangled in your hair.

“Fuck, so good,” he moaned, making his cock throb into the roof of your mouth. You whined, hands on his hips, waiting for him to let you move. “Your throat feels so fucking good, noona. If only they knew how good you are, how perfectly slutty you are for me.” He snickered, releasing his hand, glaring down into your eyes.

“But they’re never going to know, because you’ll never service another cock ever again.”

You whimpered, nails digging into his thighs.

He ticked his chin at you. “Go on, noona. Show me how much you love my cock.”

You began to move, pressing your tongue against the bottom as you slid up and down his length, moaning at his taste. So good. You generated more saliva and ran it all over the head, sucking hard. He inhaled sharply as you teased the sensitive underside, tongue against the opening.

“That’s it,” Jungkook breathed. “Give it to me like you mean it.”

You gripped his thighs and began to bob your head back and forth, ramming the head into the back of your throat and squeezing it before arching your neck so it ran across the roof of your mouth and then back down so it hit your throat again. Was this going to make you hoarse? Probably, but you didn’t a single shit, because Jungkook moaning for you and telling you how good you were was much more important. The pace was slow at first, but you went faster and faster, tighter, your breasts bouncing with every movement, eyes closed to savor his taste and steel your concentration of not gagging because Jungkook was so big, so thick, so perfectly rough, and your tongue could feel him throbbing inside your mouth.

“Fuck,” he growled above you, nearly feral with desire. “Fuck, I’m going to cum down that perfect throat of yours, noona.”

His thighs tensed under your hands and you knew he was close. You increased the intensity, neck straining, already aching with how fast you were going.

“Drink it all and don’t fucking waste it.”

Jungkook grabbed you by your hair and thrusted his hips into your face, moaning lustfully as he shot into your mouth, hot creamy strings into your throat. You swallowed fast to avoid choking, gulping loudly as he gave you more, more, fuck it was so delicious that you gasped, swirling your tongue around his jerking cock and lapping it all up. Whimpering, you wrapped your lips around the head and milked it dry, rubbing your lips against the skin where the head and length connected.

“You’re so fucking good,” Jungkook sighed, running his fingers through your hair, pulling it away from your face. “So messy and dirty. I love it, noona.” He pressed your mouth down his entire length and held you there.

Your name drifted out of his lips, a sweet exhale.

He kept you there. You felt some of your spit drip down your chin and hit your breasts. You flinched at the coldness, still holding onto his hips. Jungkook finally looked down at you, chest heaving, panting. He looked like he wanted to say something. You shot him a questioning look, unable to respond, mouth still full of his cock.

He released your head, untangling his fingers from your hair. You drew your mouth back, rubbing your jaw and throat a little. Jungkook had a strange expression, lips parted, brows furrowed, the muscles in his neck tensed. He seemed a bit spaced out. You tilted your head.

Something felt off.

You stood up with as much grace as you could, knees aching, heels snapping to the tile floor. He still wasn’t looking at you. You backed up, to the desks, finding a study one.

“Jungkook.”

You smacked the wood loudly with your flat palm.

He whipped his head towards you, dark eyes flashing. Perfect. You smirked, placing your hands on your pencil skirt. Sank your fingers in, gripping the fabric. Jungkook’s voracious eyes watched your movement, each hike revealing more and more of your legs. A slow smirk formed on his lips. You yanked your skirt all the way up to your waist, revealing your white lace panties and sheer pantyhose, black fabric bunched around your waist.

Jungkook reached down and pulled his pants up, raising his eyebrows as he walked over, lower lip in between his teeth as he grinned at you.

“That’s a dangerous position to be in, noona,” he purred. “You know I love fucking you on a desk.”

You bounced your ass up onto the table, closing your legs, knees together. Placed your hands on your lap, pushing your tits together. Jungkook licked his lips, the predatory glint back in his eye. You kept your tone stern, with a hint if disapproval.

“Really? Because for a second there, I was beginning to think you lost your nerve.”

The menace in his eyes made your shiver with anticipation. You could tell Jungkook liked it too, your word selection, your tone, your defiance. He shrugged out of his leather jacket, and it fell to the floor with an oppressive thump. You sucked in a tight breath. The shirt was short sleeved, exposing his tattooed right forearm and his equally beautiful tanned left one. Some of his long black hair was falling down, brushing against his right cheekbone.

His eyes were so dark that you felt like they were devouring you.

Jungkook placed his large hands on your knees and vehemently shoved them apart, spreading your legs wide. He gave you a cold, expressionless stare as he placed a hand on your stomach, putting you onto your elbows, hips tipped up towards him. You were embarrassingly wet, juices soaked into your inner thighs, lace panties already molded to your soaked folds, the sheer pantyhose doing nothing to protect you from him and his hungry eyes. His voice was icy, making your pussy throb with need.

��Noona, if you close your legs, I’m going to punish you,” Jungkook warned.

Part of you wanted to know what the punishment was, but the other part of you really wanted to orgasm, so kept your snide remark to yourself and simply nodded.

Jungkook removed his hands from your knees and placed them on your shuddering breasts. Fuck. You hadn’t realized you were so horny until Jungkook touched you. A pained whimper strained in your throat.

The side of his lips curved upwards.

“Does my dirty, slutty noona want to be fucked?” His nails sank down, digging into your skin. “Do you want to be used by me, your tight little pussy stretched out and pleading for more?” Jungkook leaned forward, breathing into your face, growling whisper against your lips. He pinched your nipples and you moaned, wanting to kiss him, but knowing he wasn’t going to let you. He chuckled darkly, seeing your desperation.

“Do you want to be a slave for Jungkookie’s cock, noona?”

Fuuuuuuuck.

Your heart was beating so fast that your breathing was coming out in little gasps as he twisted your nipples harshly, rubbing the tips with his thumb. Your legs shook, threatening to close because the lack of friction was killing you.

“Y-yes, Jungkook, fuck yes.”

He yanked on your nipples and slapped them, making you hiss with pain, flinching as the sting shot up your chest. Jungkook reached into his back pocket and produced the silk neck scarf.

“Keep quiet for me noona or everyone will know how much of a slut you are for me.”

And then he shoved your own scarf into your parted lips, gagging you. Not a second too soon, because, without warning, Jungkook immediately spanked your barely clothed clit. You yelped around the silk, thighs quivering. He gripped one of your thighs, digging his nails into it, tearing the sheer pantyhose a little.

“Don’t move and take it,” he snarled.

Your back arched as Jungkook began to slap your pussy, hard, unforgiving, loud, and making you wetter and wetter, so much so his hand was slipping a little with each smack. You screamed around the scarf, hips trembling as they rose to meet each hit, flaring pain in between your thighs but so, so good. He clenched his jaw, dark eyes on your quickly reddening pussy lips that were sucking your panties deeper and deeper into your slit.

“Fuck,” he growled. “Fuck, you’re so hot and so fucking perfect for me.”

He removed his hand from your thigh and ripped the center seam of your pantyhose apart.

You started, eyes widening as you watched him tear through it, yelling at him through the scarf. You still needed to wear those! The small tears were one thing, but a full-on giant rip at the crotch was not going to be comfortable to wear for the rest of the day.

Jungkook smirked, raising a hand to his ear. “What’s that? Can’t hear you.”

You glared at him and was about to remove the scarf from your mouth to scold him, but his smirk turned into a roguish grin.

“Hm? Slap you harder and abuse your clit?”

You paled.

“My pleasure.”

You threw you head back as Jungkook mercilessly spanked your now only lace-covered clit, impossibly fast, towering over you and hooking his arm under your back, dragging you to him, arching your spine more, more, so your tits were straight up, bouncing right in his face as he changed from smacking your clit to rubbing it just as fast, rougher, so intense you were hoarsely wailing into the gag.

All of a sudden, your orgasm violently rammed into you, pleasure racking your entire body, amplified by stinging pain. Your pussy clenched around nothing, wetly squelching as Jungkook breathed hotly down on your nipples, still rubbing you through your orgasm, not letting up. You shook your head furiously, trying to tell him it was too much, that you were too sensitive, but you didn’t lift your hands to stop him, only spreading your fingers against the table, palms flat as your hips raised to his fingers.

You felt his hair brush against your nipples as he licked your cleavage, smirking up at your face.

“One more and then I’ll fuck you the way I want to, noona.”

Your legs were losing feeling from how hard you were locking them in place as you felt Jungkook pry your lace panties out of your pussy, shoving them to one side. Oh shit. You moaned as you felt him shove two fingers into you, eyes squeezing shut as he added a third, scissoring them as he smiled cruelly at you, eagerly watching your reaction.

“Such a greedy pussy, sucking in my fingers like this,” Jungkook drawled, your walls clenching around them, feeling every callus and every joint, all the way to his knuckles. “All mine, my beautiful, slutty noona.”

You would have asked Jungkook what the time was if your brain could still function, but your brain timed itself out, because Jungkook was thrusting his fingers into you now, filling you up, and feeding your need and desperation, assaulting your pussy with pleasure. The pain of your stinging, puffy lips rubbing against his hand added to the ecstasy, heightening it, your moaning now unintelligible behind the silk scarf that was saturated with your saliva. The sound was obscene, sloppy smacking sounds of your drenched hole getting pounded into the desk.

You threw your head back and choked out his name around the makeshift gag, throbbing pussy clamping down on his fingers. Thick, viscous liquid gushed out onto his palm, the back of his hand, dripping down to his wrist. It was so intense that your entire body jerked up into Jungkook’s face, hitting him with your tits.

If Jungkook was mad about it, he didn’t show it. He wrenched his slick fingers out and you whined, watching him with glazed eyes as licked them off, ferally growling at your taste. He released your back from his arm and you slid down, laying against the desk, panting.

“You taste extra delicious today, noona,” he chuckled. “Candy always tastes better in cute packaging.”

You barely had time to register that Jungkook had just compared you to a fucking convenience store snack before he yanked down his pants again, whipping out a foil packet and ripping it open. Less than a second and the condom was on, and then Jungkook shoved his cock into you, a startled gasp dying in your very over-used throat.

Jungkook moaned your name above you, softly and lustfully, pulling your hips closer to him so he was all the way inside you. You clenched around his length and he sighed, small smirk on his pink lips, eyelids fluttering.

“You’re going to kill me one day with how perfectly tight you are for me,” he mumbled.

Your eyes found his and he grinned, looking down at you through his lashes, his hair obscuring half his face.

Fuck, you could stare at him all day.

Jungkook placed your legs around his waist, finally letting them rest from the forced spreading. He roughly jerked his hips into yours and you whimpered, nails clawing into the desk. His fingers dug into your hips and he set his jaw, beginning a hard, fast pace, slapping your hips together, fucking you into the desk. It scraped noisily into the floor, but neither of you cared, you abused pussy lips rubbing against his crotch every time his hips met yours, carried to new heights of pain and pleasure, loving every second, every moment of Jungkook using you to chase his own orgasm, his cock swelling and dragging against your tight walls. So much. So full.

You could never be satisfied with another cock.

“Fuck.”

Jungkook hissed, grip on your hips tightening, bruising you with his fingertips.

“Fuck, noona, I love you.”

Your heart stopped.

And then your orgasm crashed down, overtaking you completely, your head smacking the desk and seeing stars, clenching around Jungkook’s cock and pulsating violently around his length, soaking his thighs with your juices, scent so strong you were sure whatever class that was going to use this lecture hall next was going to smell your cum splattering to the floor.

Jungkook gritted his teeth and rammed his hips into you, dragging you down to meet every thrust, intensifying your orgasm, ripping your pantyhose even more. Once, twice, three times, and he groaned, shuddering as he spilled into the condom, cock shivering inside you as he came. You could feel how much it was, pressing against your walls.

His long hair was all over his face, black strands clinging to his tan skin, sweat dripping off his chin, pink lips quivering, dark eyes roaming over your fucked-out form. Panting hard, matching your heavy, grating breaths behind your now saliva-drenched neck scarf. After a long moment, Jungkook reached down and held onto the condom, slowly pulling out of you.

Holy fuck.

Holy fuck.

You reached up with a shaking hand, pulling the silk out of your mouth. It came out in a long strip of fabric, smacking against your cheek as your removed it from your lips.

Holy.

Fuck.

You sat up, your body screaming at you, seeing Jungkook breathing hard, tying up the condom.

“Did you just tell me you love me?”

Jungkook’s ears turned bright red. He chewed on his lip, biting it hard before facing you. Dark brown eyes suddenly vulnerable, scared. It was the most uncharacteristic expression you had ever witnessed on Jeon Jungkook’s chiseled, handsome face.

“Uh… yeah.”

There was a moment where you realized both you two were mostly naked in a random classroom, clothes thrown everywhere, having made a mess once again.

“Sorry,” Jungkook added quickly. “It slipped out.”

You blinked at him. “Why are you apologizing?”

He rubbed his nose, looking away.

“Well… aren’t you just fucking me because you like to be dominated?”

You frowned. “No, I’m fucking you because I’m in love with you.”

You saw Jungkook freeze. He turned his head robotically, eyes wide and doe-like. “R-really?”

You looked down to notice that your heels were on the tile floor. When had you lost those? You grumbled, trying to straighten out your panties and the remains of your pantyhose. It was doomed. You shrugged, dangling your legs over the edge of the desk as you looked back at Jungkook and his surprised expression. You raised an eyebrow.

“Are you really that much of an idiot?” you muttered, your own cheeks burning, letting out a puff of annoyed air. “Yes, I love you. Why else would I tolerate you staring at me like I’m some kind of zoo animal? Why else would I risk getting in trouble by running around like this? Why else would I let you fuck me at school, in the middle of the damn day, again?”

Jungkook rubbed the back of his neck. “Erm… because I’m hot?”

You rubbed your forehead and sighed exasperatedly, standing up, instantly wincing. Jungkook took a step forward to catch you, but he almost tripped on his pants down his ankles. You caught yourself against the desk and raised a hand, shaking your head.

“Pack your damn dick,” you muttered. You yanked your tights down your legs, removing them and balling them up. They were useless now anyway. You found your bra and put it back on as you eyed your chiffon blouse. Good thing it wasn’t ripped. It only took you a moment to slip it back on, rebuttoning it and tucking it into your skirt. You pulled your pencil skirt back down, straightening it, thighs immediately sticking together from your own fluids.

Yup, still no more comfortable than yanking your pants back on after a session with Jungkook.

You noticed him putting his leather jacket back on and picking up the condom wrapper. He took the silk scarf from the table and shoved it in his back pocket. You went back to him to gather your shoes, but he knelt down, holding out your black heels as if you were Cinderella.

“I can just–”

“Step.”

His tone was sharp and you immediately obeyed, raising your foot and stepping into your shoe. First one, then the other. Jungkook stood back up, exhaling a little. You looked up at him. His chocolate eyes flitted about tensely. He opened his mouth to speak.

“Do you… uh…”

You cut him off. “Jungkook, if you cheat on me, I will personally castrate you with a spoon.”

He cringed. “Ouch.”

You took the used condom and the wrapper bits from him, shoving them into your balled-up pantyhose. You marched towards the door confidently, pain shooting throughout your body with every step. Jungkook called after you.

“Your hairpins.”

You turned your head back a little.

“You can drop them off at my apartment later.”

And then you unlocked the door and stepped out of the classroom.

Park Jimin waved at you, grinning. Plump lips curved into a mischievous smile, wearing a denim jacket and jeans. You almost jumped seeing him standing there. What the fuck is with this guy’s timing? He eyed your hand holding your ruined pantyhose and you put it behind your back, glaring at him.

“I told Namjoon you had a lady emergency.” Jimin wiggled his eyebrows at you before holding up your phone and black purse, the belongings you had left in the back room. “You took longer than you should have.”

You felt your ears burn. “Shit. I need to get back.”

“To Jungkook, yeah,” Jimin chimed teasingly, making you glower at him.

Of course. Jungkook had turned Jimin into his scout for your escapades. Fantastic. You suddenly felt a strong presence behind you. The door had opened and Jungkook’s arm snaked around your waist, yanking you possessively to his side. He placed his chin on top of your head, inhaling the scent of your hair.

“You wanna go on a date, noona?” Jungkook purred, his free hand playing with the ends of your disheveled hair.

You pursed your lips. “I have to get back and help Namjoon.”

Jimin waved a hand. “He’ll be fine for one day. Plus, you’re being kidnapped.”

You opened your mouth to protest, but Jungkook slapped his hand over your lips, marching you in the opposite direction of Career Week, Jimin skipping behind you two, cheerfully humming.

-

part iv

--

masterpost

[thatpunnyperson]

The exasperation I feel about this is so real, because I got to college and was like, "hey, I think I have, like, serious depression and anxiety," but it was 2014. The majority of my understanding of the two problems was from tumblr, and I was seeing equal amounts of "hey, if you experience [thing], you might have depression" and "not everything is depression, you're just feeling sad, stop self dx a terrible disorder." But somehow I managed to get an appointment with one of the two psychiatrists in town, who then was like, "lemme schedule you some neuropsych testing and also ask you a few questions to see where you land on the continuum of mental problems." She ended up being like, "yeah, you definitely have major depression and anxiety to the point of panic attacks, also I suspect there might be something else at play so your neuropsych testing is on [date and time]."

Then I went to the testing, did word searches and multiple choice tests and connect-the-dots pages and coloring book pages? And I was so focused on doing the tests and being able to go back to campus to do classwork, so when the tester had finished grading my stuff, she was like, "yeah, you have depression and anxiety, and scored moderately on the cluster b personality disorder stuff, but not enough to worry about." And I was like, "did I score anywhere about, like, add/adhd, ocd, or autism?" because I had always had a sneaking suspicious that I had some or all of those. But she was like, "nope, you do not have add/ahdh, ocd, or autism."

Because I was able to focus on taking the tests. That was the explanation she gave. I was able to focus and finish the various pages of stuff she had given me, and I was able to complete each exercise exactly as the instructions had said to complete them. She didnt stop to consider that I--at the time, an 18 years old female college student--might have developed coping mechanisms from the American public school system to be able to complete tests. That I had literally spent 12 years learning to complete various exams and stuff, and learning to focus in bursts to follow directions.

Anyway, this is all to say that sometimes, when you're reading peoples' stories about how they experience a certain mental thing, and it starts to sound like your life experiences, it's okay to think that you might have a specific mental disorder. It's okay to use that self-diagnosis to seek out resources to help you live life a little easier. There is no such thing as "using up resources" for stuff like this, but also it is infinitely better to have a resource available to everyone than available to only some people, especially when the qualifying condition requires jumping through ridiculous hoops like neuropsych testing and doctors visits and shit.

For me, it turned out that I am very likely 2 for 3 up there, with add/adhd and autism, and that my suspicion of having ocd was actually probably me mis-categorizing my compulsion to organize everything I come across (to my own detriment sometimes) as ocd instead of the autism is likely is. I now have a definitive diagnosis of add/adhd (docs cant decide which one fits best) and am being treated for it and can actually exist as a competent human being now. I can feed myself and clean myself and everything.

I never would have gotten to this point if I had not come across some of these tumblr posts of people talking about their experiences with depression, anxiety, adhd, and autism; and I never would have gotten to this point if I had listened to those people saying you're not allowed to self diagnose.

See heres the thing 2 years ago it was valid to self dx autism and now its not because "too many people think they're autistic" and theyre "using it for clout"

This is exactly like 2012 tumblr where you couldnt even self diagnose DEPRESSION. Yknow how you officially diagnose depression? They ask if youre suicidal and how long youve been suicidal and congrats! You're depressed! Yknow how they diagnose autism? Based on how much of a BOTHER you are to the NT doctors. If you can make eye contact, if you can talk? Noooo there's no WAY you're autistic (they told my friend's son, who literally has a textbook presentation of male autism).

Why the hell are we infighting about "resources" and "clout" instead of being happy that a huge swath of people are finding coping tools that are WORKING for them. If youre not "autistic enough" to have an official diagnosis, what "resources" are you taking? What "clout" could you be gaining considering NTs LITERALLY hate us and can pick us out of a crowd unconsciously.

I genuinely think some of you need to get offline and find other RL autistic friends. Jeeeeesus

[shyvioletcat]

this prompt seems made for fireman whitethorn and aelin: “Sitting on the doorstep in the cold, waiting for their S/O to come home from working on christmas day (emergency services?) and hugging them for so long whilst whispering ‘merry christmas’ into their neck and kissing any inch of skin they can reach.” 😭❤️

Here it is! The last one, getting it in on the last day of December with day 5 of the Rowaelin Holiday Celebration. And it’s another baby’s first Christmas thing but I’m not even mad about it. I hope you’ve all had an enjoyable holiday season, considering everything. Thanks for reading guys, sending hugs to everyone. Striking Matches Masterlist

~~~~~

Aelin sat on the swinging bench on the front porch of her home. It was bitingly cold, almost freezing, to try and keep it out she rearranged her fluffy scarf and hugged her mug of hot chocolate tighter. If she were sensible, she would be inside in front of the gas fireplace or even better in bed. But instead she was outside in the cold, waiting for her husband to get home.

Rowan was coming off a night shift and she was waiting for him, too excited and desperate to see him to do anything else. They had been stressing that his roster would have him working for the entirety of Yulemas Day and they were both heartbroken at the prospect. This Yulemas was not just the first in their new home, but it was also their first as a family of three. So when the roster had arrived, showing that his team would be on the night shift during the holidays, Aelin had just about jumped for joy. She had a sneaking suspicion that Lorcan may have had a hand in Yulemas miracle so his present had been particularly good this year as a very heartfelt thank you. Aelin sighed, the cold air biting at her lungs, holding her mug in one hand she reached down for the baby monitor that sat on the bench beside her and held it up to her ear. The only sound she heard was the hum of the feedback, Elspeth was still asleep.

It was then she heard an all too familiar vehicle approaching and Aelin put everything down, her face splitting into an unstoppable grin. Rowan pulled into the driveway and parked his truck, Aelin could see his smile through the window and the shaking of his head. Her knee began to bounce with excitement as Rowan got out of the car and she didn’t let him get much further before she was up and bounding down the steps, throwing herself into her husband’s waiting arms. She felt him breathe her in, his face burying in the scarf around her neck. Then he was kissing her, anywhere her skin was the least bit exposed. That set her giggling as his lips tickled her cheeks, her nose, her earlobe that peeked out beneath her beanie.

“Happy Yulemas,” Aelin whispered into his neck.

Rowan finally pulled back then. “Happy Yulemas, Aelin.” Then he kissed her lips. “What are you doing out here? It’s freezing, love.”

Rowan put her down and Aelin shrugged, tucking herself in close as they walked to their front door. “I couldn’t wait to see you.”

“What about Elsie?” Rowan asked, a gentle expression on his face that only appeared when talking about his daughter.

Aelin left the warmth of Rowan’s side to grab the baby monitor and she smiled as she heard soft babbling coming from it. “Looks like she just woke up.”

The two of them bustled inside, shedding layers and hanging them up on the coat rack.

“You go get her,” Aelin said as she unwound her scarf. “I’ll get you a tea.”

Rowa just nodded and headed upstairs while Aelin headed to the kitchen, prepping the tea and the pasties she had bought especially for breakfast today, and some puréed apple for the baby in a fancy little squeezy tube with a spoon on the end. By the time she had put the teabag in Rowan’s mug they two of them arrived in the kitchen. Rowan was whispering to his daughter, her hands on his face, dressed in her festive pyjamas covered in little cartoon reindeer. The sight made Aelin’s chest feel all fuzzy and she walked over.

“Happy Yulemas, my darling,” Aelin said as she kissed Elspeth’s chubby cheeks, earning the mother a smile. “Food or presents first?”

“Food,” Rowan said, depositing Elspeth in her high chair. He pulled it closer to him so he could feed her while he drank his tea and ate as well.

Aelin just watched them together, twin green eyes watching each other. She managed to eat two chocolate croissants by the time the other two were done, and started on a third while Rowan started the clean up. When that was done he picked up Elsie, kissing her cheek like he just couldn’t help it.

“Coming?” He asked wryly when Aelin didn’t move, too busy watching them.

“Yes, yes,” Aelin said, abandoning her croissant. For now.

A large Yulemas tree was set up in the corner of the living room, decorated to perfection and wrapped presents underneath it. Rowan sat on the floor beside it, putting Elsie down to let her roam free. She had nearly perfected crawling at 8 months old, Aelin put it down to her determination to follow her cousin Ruben around. The baby went straight for the tree and found the largest present, which conveniently belonged to her. Aelin sat down next to Rowan and he put his arm around her, kissing her temple before they watched what exactly their daughter was going to do.

Elsie sat on her butt, keeping her hands on the present so it fell in her lap. Her parents laughed as she slapped at it, squealing in delight. Rowan lent forward and ripped the paper a little, giving her a spot to focus on. Elsie took the hint, her little fist clutching at the paper and pulling at it until it started to rip. Aelin lent on Rowan’s shoulder, just watching and thinking. After presents Aelin would send Rowan up to bed for a nap and she would start getting lunch ready. Her parents were coming over, Aedion, Lysandra and Ruben too. Rowan’s big Yulemas present was the surprise of his parents coming as well, sneakily flying in a few days ago. For Elspeth’s first Yulemas they wanted to keep it simple, just spending time with family. Aelin couldn’t imagine it without his parents being there.

But this morning, it was just for them.

Rowan sat forward again, Elspeth making good progress on her present, but he didn’t lean forward to help her. Instead he grabbed a small box from under the tree.

“For you,” he said simply, as he dropped it in her lap.

“Oh, thank you,” Aelin replied, shaking the box.

“You didn’t snoop while I wasn’t here, did you?” Rowan asked, brows high.

“No, of course not,” Aelin said innocently.

Rowan pinched her side, making her yelp. “Why don’t I believe you?”

Aelin just smiled at him before ripping the paper off in one clean swipe. It was a pair of earrings, she could tell by the packaging then she had most definitely checked out last night. She flipped open the lid and choked out a laugh. It was a pair of rose gold hoops, but what had made Aelin laugh was what hung from them. Two little padlocks.

Aelin turned to Rowan, smiling so much her cheeks were starting to hurt. “I love them.”

“I thought you would,” Rowan murmured, his lips meeting hers in a gentle kiss. “Happy Yulemas, Aelin. Thank you for all of this, this life together.”

Tears were starting to prick Aelin’s eyes as she kissed him again. “I wouldn’t want it any other way. Happy Yulemas, Rowan.”

The moment they were sharing together was broken by musical laughter and excited clapping. Little Elsie had finally got the wrapping off her present, revealing a pack of small animals she was trying to pull from the packaging. Rowan smiled, moving forward to lie on his stomach so that he could help her.

“Let me help you, my little love,” Rowan told his daughter and started to dismantle the packaging. Then he booped her on the nose, making her giggle, “Happy Yulemas.”

Elspeth took that as an invitation to tackle his face and try to kiss him, making Rowan laugh as he tried to wrangle her before she took out an eye. It all made Aelin laugh too, wondering how she had been lucky enough to end up with all this, a husband who loved her and a darling little girl who was the light of their lives. It was a very happy Yulemas indeed.

~~~~~

Officially my last fic of 2020. Of course it was going to be Striking Matches.

Tags: @tangledraysofsunshine // @nalgenewhore // @highqueenofelfhame // @galyxsy // @fucking-winchester-trash // @literary-licorice // @http-itsrebecca // @highladyofthesith // @aelinfire-bringer // @soup-that-is-too-hawt // @sleep-and-books // @3am-reading // @but-she-was-aelin-galathynius // @rowaelinforeverworld // @alifletcher2012 // @westofmoon // @tswaney17 // @mydarlingfireheart // @rowansfirebringer // @chocolate-eating-bitch-queen // @vanilla28 // @fireheart-of-your-dreams // @enquires-state-building // @im-not-rare-im-rarr // @your-high-lady // @mariamuses // @ttakeitbacknoww // @vi0let-femmes // @kindofawalkingpoem // @sleeping-and-books // @armixers-unite // @velarian-trash // @queenofxhearts // @princess-galathynius // @heroesofterrasen // @highladyofstoriesandmusic // @unassumingsodalovesherbooks // @empire-of-wildfire // @brittneym15 // @camerooonchiu // @worldoffae // @mybbyfeyre // @crackedship // @lowhangingtreebranches // @over300books // @yourwhisperingshadows //  @thesirenwashere // @pilesofriles // @chemicha // @keshavomit // @sarahbringsoutmygay13 // @wifeofchrishemsworth // @impossiblescissorspeachpaper // @cat5313 // @judelovescardan // @illyrian-velaris // @flowerspringsea // @whitethorn15 // @whiskeybusiness1776 // @notaddictedtoanything // @thereaderandfangirl // @mynewdreamwasyou // @tintinnabulary // @the-regal-warrior // @searchingforbellarke // @queen-of-wings-and-fire // @court-of-fuck-me-daddy // @officialasianbitch // @burningbookz // @viajandosinalas // @chaoticskyy // @fanfictrash3000 // @blueeyes425 // @starseternalnighttriumphant // @bamchickawowow // @thehuntressofmoon // @giorgia-the-trashpanda // @flora-and-fae // @thereaderandfangirl // @illyrian-bookworm // @meltalgel-ig // @gay-book-nerd // @that-odd-puzzle-piece // @i-love-all-books // @in-love-with-caramel-macchiato // @girl-who-reads-the-books // @hizqueen4life // @the-third-me // @queen-of-glass // @belamoonbeam // @bestmelle // @cursebreaker29 // @b00kworm // @superspiritfestival // @aesthetics-11 // @maastrash // @the-last-apprentice // @charincharge // @aelin-queen-of-terrasen // @scarznstars // @absolute-dissapointment // @thesurielships // @df3ndyr // @trinitybailey2003 // @littleboxofthunder // @ladywitchling // @booknerdproblems // @rowaelin-cressworth // @sevenfreckles-for-sevenloves // @rolltide7 // @scandinavianromantic // @tillyrubes10 // @starwarsslytherin // @minaidss // @paytin77 // @jesstargaryenqueen // @anntheintrovert // @starborn-faerie-queen // @loudphantomdragon // @alyx801 // @amandaswallowtail // @louiseleblancdiggory // @abookishfreak // @woollycat22 // @claralady // @perseusannabeth // @fangirlprincess09 // @maddymelv // @sierrareads // @empress-ofbloodshed // @acciowests // @booksbqueen // @rowanwhitethornisbae // @more-espresso-less-depresso-xx /

[goldencored]

@queensconquest​ said: Feng Xin might have teased Shi Fei about being too busy to visit, and he WAS swamped with prayers and duties. But that didn't mean he would find some time to spend with her no matter how busy or tired he might be. "I hope you didn't think I'd actually forget." Feng Xin speaks up softly as he approaches her from behind as she sits on a bench. He smiles, bending down to press a gentle kiss to her lips before offering her roses. Cliché? Perhaps. But he'd always thought they were nice. "I'm sorry I couldn't spend all day with you. But Happy Valentine's Day." He murmurs, resting his arms against the back of the bench and gently pressing their foreheads together. "But I figured we could spend tonight together at least. If you're not busy that is.. Stroll in the gardens, have dessert. Maybe a bubble bath if you'd like? Or a massage? Or both. Whatever you want." He offers with a warm smile and another kiss - this time to her forehead. (let him spoil her. he's going to spoil her a ton now and his next free day i'm just saying)

The embroidery hoop is set aside, quickly forgotten when Feng Xin arrives to shower her in affection. Shi Fei had a sneaking suspicion that his earlier tease was just that— a tease, that no matter what he would come through in the end and see her today no matter how late it might be. Feng Xin was dependable, loyal, and predictable in a way that was both comforting and adorable.

Everything she needed after the many, many betrayals in her life.

“Of course I didn’t. I know you better than that. And anyway, how could you forget about me and my big,” she glances down at her chest for a moment, before her gaze returns to Feng Xin and her lips tug into a wide, mischievous smile. “Personality.”

Before her fall, she loved to be spoiled, reveling in all the attention. Now, she’s more humble, a little insecure about it, still unsure if she actually deserves it. “Never too busy for you, Feng-ge. Let’s do all of it. And then after, I have a surprise for Ju Yang that I think he’ll like very much.”

[gaangadventures]

Soulmates

Part One / Part Two

Feel free to request if you want! 

You had hardly been able to sleep on the bison’s saddle, and you weren’t entirely sure whether it was because you were used to sleeping on an actual bed, or because of the distrusting looks you kept getting. Which was fair you thought, your brother happened to throw their grandmother after rudely grabbing her and then terrified their village.

Although, you couldn’t exactly say you knew why they hated the Fire Nation so much, not by every detail at least. You managed to hear a little bit of truth from your uncle when your brother was too busy either skulking or dramatically burning things. 

But maybe you just liked to hear stories, turning your gaze to the sun rising in the sky. Like a true firebender you thought, crossing your legs and placing your wrists on your knees while you closed your eyes.

Meditating while flying in the air was certainly something, you almost wanted to ask for another ride on his glider. That had been fun, but you couldn’t say that you wanted to because like almost everyone you were related to, you had a bit of an issue with your pride.

Waiting until everyone was awake to open your eyes wasn’t all that difficult, as you had been more focused on meditating and the sun was always helpful in that regard. 

They were already lowering down to the ground when you opened your eyes, the light making it seem like it was a new place. But you had already seen it before, a few months before your brother had come across the water tribe and the avatar himself.

“Wait ‘til you see it Katara, the air temple is one of the most beautiful places in the world.” You held back a wince at his optimism, not having wanted to say anything and end up hurting him.

“Aang, I know you’re excited, it’s been a few hundred years since you’ve been home.” Katara tried to say, only for said avatar to get even more excited about returning.

“That’s why I’m so excited!”

“It’s just that a lot can change in that time.” 

:”I know, but I need to see it for myself.” He added, and you only looked down at your hands as Aang hopped off of Appa after tying off the reins, you weren’t quite sure exactly what he was doing.

“Wake up Sokka, air temple here we come!” He exclaimed, leaning over the older boy who was still lying on the ground, all bundled up in the sleeping bag?

“Sleep now. Temple later.” He responded, before turning around and immediately beginning to snore. Aang practically lit up like a light bulb when he suddenly got an idea, getting a mischievous smile on his face, before picking up a stick and lightly drew it along Sokka’s sleeping bag.

“Sokka, wake up! There’s a prickle snake in your sleeping bag!” He called out, 

“Ahhh! Get it off! Get it off! Ahh!” The water tribe boy was quick to get up, jumping around inside of his sleeping bag before promptly falling face-forward. You tried to hide your snickers while his sister and Aang had no qualms about it.

“Great, you’re awake, let’s go.” He had said, and the four of you were back to flying on Appa after camping for the night.

Hearing a surprisingly loud stomach growl, you’d been surprised to learn that it hadn’t been you.

“Hey, stomach, be quiet, alright? I’m trying to find us some food.” You heard from Sokka, and you briefly glanced at him, unsure of whether or not you should give him some advice on hunger, but you assumed that he would probably not like that.

So you chose not to say anything this time. After all, you had gone hungry more times than you could count on both hands. Who would have wanted a princess who ate too much anyway? When you were younger, you used to sneak into the kitchen to get more food, but you made sure to eat it in your brother’s room since you would’ve gotten in trouble if they knew it was you.

“Hey! Who ate all my blubbered seal jerky?” He ended up asking, after searching through his pack and finding nothing. You would’ve shared yours, if you had enough time to grab anything when you left.

“Oh, that was food? I used it to start the campfire last night. Sorry.” Aang admitted, looking back at his friend, although your gaze was back on the cloud, only half-way paying attention.

“You what? Aww. No wonder the flames smelled so good.” Sokka muttered, and you bit your tongue as your own stomach growled.

“The Potola mountain range! We’re almost there!” The avatar exclaimed, finally drawing your attention.

“Aang, before we get to the temple, I want to talk to you about the airbenders.” Katara started, and you avoided looking anywhere but the two talking.

“What about them?”

“Well, i just want you to be prepared. The Fire Nation is ruthless. They killed my mother, and they could’ve done the same to your people.” With that, you couldn’t help but wince, and you agreed. You couldn’t help but look at your shoulder when she spoke, you could have sworn you saw a spark of yellow coming from your hand. 

Looking down at your hands, you let out a breath of relief when you saw that it wasn’t lightning like you feared, but fire still.

“Just because no one has seen an airbender doesn’t mean the Fire Nation killed them all.” How was he still so optimistic? You knew that it was clear that the Fire Nation had ruined lives, families, and more that you probably didn’t know about.

“No, she has a point.” You added quietly, not having expected anyone to really hear you speak but it caught more attention than you meant.

“They probably escaped.” He continued, his gaze moving from the sky back to Katara.

“I know it’s hard to accept.” She started, 

“You don’t understand Katara, the only way to get to an airbender temple is on a flying bison. And I doubt the Fire Nation has any flying bison. Right, Appa?” he asked, petting him and he started to fly around a mountain.

You blinked for a moment, not wanting to show how vulnerable you really were at this point. Here you were, on a flying bison of all things, you had no clue where you were and you were starting to really regret sneaking out of the map-reading classes you had before.

Holding on tight to the saddle, you started to go up higher through the mountain and above a forest, only to see the temple.

“There it is, the Southern Air Temple.”

“Aang, it’s amazing!”

“We’re home, buddy. We’re home.”

Truth be told, you were hardly paying any attention. You hadn’t been since you realized that this was your soulmate’s home and your nation had killed his people. You may not have been the one to order it, but it was your family. Were the spirits losing it? Why would they have matched the two of you up?

With that thought, you hesitated in getting off of Appa when he had landed on the ground. You had heard of people having different soulmates in a book you read once, so were you his? You already knew that he was yours.

You were grateful for a moment that they hadn’t particularly wanted to talk to you, or your quietness probably would’ve been mentioned already.

“So where do I get something to eat?”

“You’re lucky enough to be one of the first outsiders to ever visit an airbender temple, and all you can think about is food?”

“I’m just a simple guy with simple needs.” Listening to the two siblings talk had made you miss your own, but you certainly hadn’t missed the expectations that came with either one.

“So that’s where my friends and I would play airball, and over there is where the bison would sleep.” Aang had said, pointing out to each place when you and the water tribe siblings had caught up with him. He let out a sigh, dropping his hands as if he was beginning to realize something.

“Aang, what’s wrong?”

“This place used to be full of monks and lemurs, and bison. Now there’s just a bunch of weeds. I can’t believe how much things have changed.” He finished, looking over the short cliff, before turning to look at the three of you.

“So uh, this airball game--how do you play?” Sokka asked, walking a bit closer to the edge of the cliff where the monk was. Was this going to be a fair game? Probably not, but you were hoping to see the water tribe boy lose anyway. With that simple question, he brightened and then the two had gotten onto the odd poles, each on the opposite sides. 

Aang began by making an airball and kicking it at an angle, only for it to ricochet between the poles and hit the older boy in his chest, knocking him off of it entirely.

“Aang 7, Sokka 0.” He laughed, making the numbers with his arms, a grin already on his face. As you tried to figure out how exactly the game was played, you hardly noticed what the nonbender was muttering.

“Hey Aang? What are the rules in this game?” You couldn’t help but ask. There were rules in everything, and this would most likely be no exception.

“There are no rules in airball! You just make an airball and get it through the hoop while the other person tries to stop it!” He had said, throwing you for a loop and the confusion must’ve been obvious on your face when he spoke again. “Here, I’ll show you!”

Making another airball wasn’t difficult at all in his case, but physically impossible in yours. Standing where Sokka had been was a little daunting, not that you would admit that, and you were about to hold your hands out to stop the airball, but you couldn’t bring fire to this place. Not when so many firebenders themselves had wreaked havoc here. You wouldn’t put yourself among them either.

“Aang, there’s something you need to see.” Katara had called out, and the two of you had started to head over there, Aang still playing with the airball.

 “What is it?” Knowing what the topic had been before, you had a suspicion of what it was but you weren’t going to mention it. But before he could see anything, the waterbender had moved the snow only for it to land on her brother. 

“Uhh, just a new waterbending move I learned.” You leaned forward to help the older boy with the snow, since as a firebender you could definitely do that, but he shrugged you off and you hadn’t attempted again.

“Nice one. But enough practicing. We have a whole temple to see.” Aang had said, already walking away from you three.

“You know, you can’t protect him forever.” Sokka was still brushing the snow off, and you couldn’t help but think that they were ignoring you. But with that thought, you had received a sideways glance from Katara and an attempted glare from Sokka. Resisting the urge to roll your eyes at the glare, you knew they had every right to not trust you and the like, but you had seen and gave better glares than that.

“Katara, firebenders were here. You can’t pretend they weren’t.” Only halfway listening to the siblings, you started to walk away and towards the fountain, barely catching a glimpse of Aang as he ran around.

You hardly remembered much about the temples or the three-year trip around the nations themselves, as you had still been recovering from your burns when your brother decided that he hadn’t needed you and by the time you had recovered, you wanted nothing to do with the Fire Nation.

Placing your hand onto the stone fountain, you could already see quite a bit of the snow melting around you, only for you to quickly take your hand off when you started to see steam. You had been losing most of your control with your firebending when you became upset, but that hardly ever showed when you weren’t.

Lost in your thoughts, you almost started to panic when you realized that the water tribe siblings were walking away until you had heard Aang call out to them, assuming that he had meant only them after all.

“Hey guys! I want you to meet somebody!” But at the exclamation, you couldn’t help but follow after them anyway.

“Who’s that?” Katara had been the first to ask, once they noticed Aang pointing to an old statue of an old man. 

“Monk Gyatso. The greatest airbender in the world.” He answered, turning to face the statue instead of his friends, only to turn back to them, gesturing to the statue. “He taught me everything I know.” Giving a bow to the statue itself mere moments after your soulmate had, you were saddened to see the run-down state of the statue

“You must miss him.” Was she always this motherly? You almost wanted to point it out, but you knew she had the ability to beat you in a battle and you were not willing to risk your life yet.

“Yeah.”

“Where are you going?”

“The Air Temple Sanctuary. There’s someone I’m ready to meet.” Who could be still alive long enough to meet him? No one, they wouldn’t be. Not after a hundred years, not to mention a literal genocide.

Following the avatar in the temple was an easy decision of yours, you had wanted to see it for yourself after your brother had mentioned it so many times anyway.

“But, Aang, no one could have survived in there for a hundred years.” The waterbender brought up, you agreed with her much to her dislike.

“Maybe they never did.” You added, slightly unsure of yourself upon seeing the trumpet-looking contraption at the door. How were any of you supposed to open that?

“It’s not impossible.” Aang spoke up, as the group had stopped before the large door. “I survived in the iceberg for that long.”

“Good point.”

“But you’re also the avatar.” You added, almost wanting him to stop being so optimistic for five seconds.

“Katara, Y/N, whoever’s in there might help me figure out this avatar thing.”

“And whoever’s in there might have a medley of delicious cured meats.” Running at the door, he had not made it through like he hoped, landing on the floor with an “oof.” He tried to push it open even after that though, and you almost wanted to laugh. “I don’t suppose you have a key.”

“It looks like it needs more than a key.” You looked at the door, thinking that maybe air had something to do with it, and your thought was proven correct when the airbender spoke up.

“The key, Sokka, is airbending.” He took a deep breath and gestured his hands to the door, air blowing into it, making the blue shells on it turn and show the other side. The doors began to open with ease, showing a room filled with statues as far you could see.

“Hello? Anyone home?” Aang was the first one to walk inside, with the three of you lagging a bit behind, and you were a bit ahead of the two siblings. You hadn’t wanted to intrude on really any of this, but you had read more than you had thought about the avatars, probably because of your brother. 

With that thought, you immediately frowned, having hoped for the three of you to reconnect but now, you were sure there was no chance of that for at least a while, considering your brother was most likely calling you a traitor for what you did and your sister, well, she was still in the palace with your father and it was the last place you had wanted her. If he hurt you and Zuko, who’s to say he wouldn’t hurt her?

“Statues? That’s it? Where’s the meat?” Shaking your head ever so slightly, you turned your attention to the older boy complaining of no food and you felt your eye twitch but you bit your tongue.

“Who are all these people?”

“I’m not sure, but it feels like I know them somehow.”

“They’re avatars.” You interrupted, only recognizing a few from what you had read about them, stepping towards a firebender while Aang and Katara pointed out airbenders and waterbenders, each to their respective element of course.

Leaving them be for a few moments, you began to follow the pattern of avatars across the room. Fire, air, water, earth. It took you a bit longer than you would’ve preferred, but you managed to find the last avatar. 

You glanced over when you heard footsteps coming towards you, seeing Aang as he looked up at the statue. You had been expecting for him to say something, but you noticed that he was practically entranced into staring up at the avatar before him.

“Aang!” You had spoken up, beginning to shake him and you were grateful that you hadn’t had to shake him for long. “Who is that?” When you asked it, you hadn’t been expecting an answer.

“That’s avatar Roku, the avatar before me.” He clarified, and you realized why he had looked somewhat familiar. You read about him, and that he’d been close to Sozin, your great grandfather. Close enough for him to give the crown prince ornament.

“You were a firebender? No wonder I didn’t trust you when we first met. Uh, no offense.” Sokka asked, as the two siblings grew closer to the last statue in the line.

“None taken.” You added, having heard worse but you mostly expected it.

“There’s no writing. How do you know his name?”

“I’m not sure. I just know it somehow.”

“You just couldn’t get any weirder.” The water tribe boy grunted out, and you sent a scowl for it, knowing that you might look more intimidating than your brother. 

But the group went silent once you could hear light footsteps and almost instantly each one of you hid behind a statue. Katara and Sokka were behind the same one, as well as Aang and yourself.

“Firebender. Nobody make a sound.” Sokka had whispered, and you gulped. There could have been a few stragglers, and you knew that there would be a bounty on your own head, much like it was with your brother and uncle. You had all been considered traitors to your nation and banished.

“You’re making a sound.” Katara retorted, and you couldn’t help but snicker at the two siblings while the boys continued to shush you both.

“That firebender won’t know what hit him.” You frowned at his words, but you had felt a spike of fear when it had been brought up. Would they act like this towards you one day? You severely hoped not, they could be quite destructive if they wanted.

As each of you had poked your head out from behind the statues, you heard a chittering and you immediately softened, your heart rate going back to normal as well.                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

“Lemur!”

“Dinner.” The two boys had said in unison, causing you to look at the only other girl in the group with a mildly concerned look. This wasn’t going to go well, was it?

“Don’t listen to him. You’re gonna be my new pet.”

“Not if I get to him first!” Your thoughts had proven correctly when Sokka and Aang began to run after the lemur, practically scaring it to death.

“Wait! Come back!”

“I want to eat you!”

You could only roll your eyes, before beginning to follow after them. The lemur needed a way to escape after all.

“Hey! Come back! Come on out, little lemur. That hungry guy won’t bother you anymore.” Aang said, moving some old curtains out of his way. “Firebenders? They were here?” He murmured, before moving his gaze to see the skeleton of his old mentor. ”Gyatso.” With that realization, he dropped down onto his knees.

“Hey, Aang, you find my dinner yet?” Sokka asked, moving the curtain as well as you had hurried after them, nearly tumbling into the older boy himself. You had let out a quiet gasp when you saw the room filled with Fire Nation soldier skeletons and only one airbending skeleton. But what had you most concerned was your first friend crying.

“Aang, I wasn’t really gonna eat the lemur, okay?” You only shook your head, making your way towards him, stepping past Sokka as you did so. “Oh, man. C’mon Aang. Let’s get out of here.” Before you could say anything to help, Sokka had put his hand on the avatar’s shoulder and his arrows and eyes started glowing.

“Aang, come on!” He tried, but the wind grew worse, sending both of you flying into the remains of a wall. But you had never been one to give up, and he started to levitate in the air, so you had to try something a bit different.

“I know you’re upset, and nothing can replace Gyatso! It’s hard to lose the people you love. Monk Gyatso and the other airbenders may be gone, but you still have a family. Katara, Sokka, and I, we’re your family now.” You yelled out, hoping that at least some of it would get through to him. And it seemed like it had when the wind died down and he started to come back down.

“We aren’t gonna let anything happen to you. Promise.” Sokka had said when you were finished, the two of you holding his hands for a moment and the glow from him faded and he fell into your side.

“I’m sorry.” 

“It’s okay.” You murmured, letting out a breath that you hadn’t even noticed you were holding. “It’s not your fault.”

“But you and Katara were right. And if firebenders found this temple, that means they found the other ones, too. I really am the last airbender.” You couldn’t help but just hug him. While you weren’t particularly keen on physical touch with anyone, he needed a hug and you happened to be the person that he was laying on.

When he was feeling a little better, the two of you headed back to the sanctuary while the two siblings started packing everything back up.

“How did you know what to say?”

“Well,” letting out a quiet laugh, you gave him a glance before continuing, “my mom disappeared when I was younger. Then more things happened, and I don’t think we have time for my whole life story.” What you said was true, you didn’t have much time before you would be leaving, but you were mostly looking for a way out of that conversation.

“Thanks, Y/N. But how is Roku supposed to help me if I can’t talk to him?”

“Maybe you’ll find a way.” You suggested, absolutely unsure of how that would happen. It’s not like they wrote instruction manuals on how to be the avatar, but in hindsight, maybe they should have.

“Everything is packed.” You heard Katara say, and quickly thanked her before hearing the same light footsteps from before, all of you turning to look at the lemur, only for it to drop food at Sokka’s feet.

“Looks like you made a new friend, Sokka.”

“Can’t talk. Must eat.” He spoke through a mouthful of food, and you almost laughed. If your father could see you now, he would’ve been so mad. But that wasn’t the case now. You weren’t Azula, and you spoke against him so perhaps he wouldn’t care at all. Regardless, you sorely hoped that he would be in for it, the next time you met.

“Hey, little guy.” Aang greeted the lemur that was now on his shoulders, and you couldn’t help but pet him. You always did have a soft spot for animals, and Appa was no exception.

“You, me, Appa--we’re all that’s left of this place. We have to stick together. Katara, Y/N, Sokka, say hello to the newest member of our family.”

“What are you gonna name him?” You asked, having been redoing your hair into two low braids and leaving it at that. Much different from having your hair up into a Fire Nation knot like you had been. With that question, the lemur had climbed onto you then Sokka, just to steal a moon peach an inch away from his mouth before scurrying back to Aang’s shoulders.

“Momo.” You couldn’t help but laugh along with them, finally beginning to feel like a part of the group instead of being just there like you had been for the start with them and the majority with your brother.

Maybe this could end well for you after all.

[spuffybot]

I’m rage reading Midnight Sun because I’ve been a bit anxious lately and figured it would be fun. TURNS OUT the book is like a gazillion pages long and even more idiotic than expected. I’m 35% through and not sure how much longer I can go on. Here are my takeaways so far:

1. Stephanie went hard on the thesaurus for this one. When faced with a simple way of saying something, she perservered: “stymied by her soundless thoughts” / “overcome with glee, jubilant” / “sulfurously” (she uses sulfurously roughly 4 times in the first three chapters).

2. Despite attending highschool (and college) roughly 500 times AND being able to read minds Edward speaks like some kind of fanfiction version of Byron “please forgive my reserve” / “I might so easily have betrayed that trust” like jesus, Edward, we get it, you’re a tortured 100 year old man trapped in a 17 year old body but can you lighten up a little? You’re not fooling anyone. You’ve picked up some modern slang.

3. Seriously tho. I’m not done with this point: “to think it had come to this! I was utterly fixated on the petty high school dramas that I’d once held so in contempt” ok Edward, you and everyone who has ever become obsessed with a CW show. Chill out.

4. Ummm so Bella finally has a personality? After 15 years, 4 books (all from her POV), and 5 movies we finally get to see some actual characteristics and personality traits. Because we’re seeing her through Edward eyes. That’s just...too messed up for me to unpack right now.

5. Ahh yes. The whole breaking and entering to watch Bella sleep part. Not to worry folks! We finally have an explanation: Edward had a panic attack and was worried a meteorite would crash into Bella’s house and crush her, so he HAD to sneak in to make sure she was ok. And then he just HAD to keep coming back (he even greases her window to prevent squeaking) to watch her every night. Like...Steph...that is some serial killer shit.

6. Ok so I’m starting to wonder...am I underestimating Stephanie? Does she have us all fooled? Is she in on how creepy and predatory and abusive Edward is? Is this book her big reveal where she shows us how she tricked us into romanticizing evil and abusive behaviors in older predatory men who target young vulnerable girls? Or am I just getting carried away here...

7. Wooooow ok Edward is warning Bella that he’s dangerous (classic abuser move, when she inevitably gets hurt she will know it’s her fault because he warned her and she chose him anyway) while also gaslighting her suspicions. This is...a lot. Brosef has stalked her, manipulated her, tried to gaslight her into thinking she had suffered brain damage, gone hot and cold on her, and used his considerable power over her and we’re only 20% in. Seriously. Stephanie. Who hurt you???

8. Ok so there’s officially only 3 types of women in the Twilight universe:

A. Petty & Vain (Jessica, Rosalie, the Waitress, Lauren)

B. Insipid & Sweet (Alice, Esme, Renee, Angela)

C. Bella

At least until we meet Leah, who we all know is code for “bitter lesbian / undesirable / not performing gender properly / bad female”.

9. Let’s talk about that dinner date. I always found it gross how their first romantic interaction is defined by other women wanting Edward and him shockingly ignoring them to focus on Bella (frankly that’s just manners why are we rewarding basic human decency?). But now that we get Edwards POV on it, it’s even worse. The waitress and hostess who lust after Bella are stereotypes of “bad” women, the “wrong kind” of women, used to show how much better Bella is in comparison. She’s so much more pure, unassuming, unaware of her own appeal. It reinforces so many toxic narratives about what hoops a woman has to jump through to be desirable (without being TOO desirable, of course). Not to mention it pits women against one another...can we please move past “not like other girls” being the highest level of achievement a woman can unlock?

10. Ok we’ve reached the point where Edward is telling Bella he’s going to spy on her conversation with Jessica so she better watch what she says. We’ve moved into full on abusive relationship territory. It’s only gonna be downhill from here. Not sure how much more I can take.

I’m gonna take a break, drown my sorrows, and try not to think too hard about how “likes Jane Austen” is being used in place of any character development for dear Bella.

[jungshookz]

ok but like hot yoga instructor jungkook and his highly flustered, very inflexible student y/n

→ pairing: jeon jungkook x reader

→ genre: nonidol!au, yogainstructor!au, everyone joined this class to drool over jungkook 

→ wordcount: 4k

→ note: i have never ever wanted to partake in yoga in my entire life but if jungkook is the instructor then sign me the hYUCK up!!!!!!! y/n wears leg warmers!!! and jungkook thinks it’s adorable!!!!! 

(gif isn’t mine!) ((also i have never seen this gif before wtf)) 

whoever said that yoga was a relaxing and stress-reducing activity has CLEARLy lost their goddamn mind

because you’re pretty sure that if you wrung your t-shirt out you’d be able to produce an ocean’s worth of pure sweat and you’ve never been so stressed in your entire life

at the start you were pretty excited about signing up for yoga because it felt like that was your first real move as a Grown Woman

you signed up by yourself when usually you would never go to something without someone by your side (also namjoon was too busy so he couldn’t make it)

you went out and bought a brand new (expensive) yoga mat and like 4 pairs of leggings and 5 new shirts all meant speciFICally for yoga (you got a water bottle for FREE so if you think about it it was a pretty good deal)

anD you found these super cute leg warmers that coincidentally match with the yoga mat 

you don’t think you’re supposed to wear leg warmers when doing yoga but they’re sO cute :-(( 

but that was a month and a bit ago

back when you were young and naive

so, so naive

you were a FOOL

you would’ve dropped out of this class eons ago but uh

there is one thing that’s keeping you here

“remember, everybody! the purpose of yoga is to build strength, awareness and harmony in both the mind and body… we are now going to be moving onto core exercises!”

and that one thing is jeon jungkook

holy moLY the guy is attractive

twenty two years old (he’s only a couple months older than you!)

perfectly tousled hair that falls perfectly in front of his eyes and when he gets sweaty and pushes his hair back to reveal his forehead it just gets you fEELIN some typa way

round brown eyes that literally twinkle when he laughs (his laugh is juSt as adorable as him)

you didn’t think you were into guys with piercings but jungkook has two silver hoops hanging from his ears so now you know you’re definiTEly into guys with piercings

biceps that you would love to bite into

broad shoulders that you want to wrap your arms around

an even broader back that you want to diG your nails into

every now and then you catch a glimpse of his abs when he lifts his arms to do stretches

at the end of class he likes to do this cool-down/meditation activity where he dims the lights and gets you guys to lie down on your yoga mats and jungkook will wander around the room and he’ll speak in this low, whispery voice (“imagine that you’re in the middle of a lush, grassy field…”) and you can’t help but feel like that does the exact opposite of cooling you down because you find yourself sweating more than ever when you hear him approaching you

contrary to popular belief (aka namjoon’s belief) you didn’t actually join this class because of him

you joined it because you genuinely wanted to get into yoga and you were (this close) to dropping out but you staYed because of him

with that being said

it’s not like you’ve made any moves to go and talk to him because:

a) there’s always a hoArd of girls who flock to him as soon as class ends and

b) you’re terrified of talking to pretty people and jungkook is a very pretty person

you wouldn’t even know what to talk to him about if you got the chance to talk to him

you certainly wouldn’t want to ask him to help you with a yoga pose because that’d mean him focusing all of his attention on you and that’s the laST thing you want because

it turns out you’re not as good at this yoga thing as you thought you would be

you thought yoga was just overrated stretching but you were heavily mistaken after the first week of being in jungkook’s classes

it’s not just sTRETching

it’s all about balancing and being in touch with your inner chi or whatever the fuck the flyer said

you’re also not as flexible as you thought you were

you nearly pulled your damn hamstring at some point and the sudden twinge in your thigh made you collapse on the ground in less than a millisecond

there was this other pose that jungkook had everyone do

something called the flamingo pose which yOu thought was just standing up straight with one knee up which is pretty doable in your opinion

HOWEVER  

you actually have to bend down and round your back whiLe hugging a knee to your chest and you were like??? i have nEver in my life seen a flamingo stand like this

anyways you lasted about three seconds before you toppled over once again

you’re pRETTY sure the rest of the girls in here are secretly really good at yoga because none of them seem to have issues with balancing

this is a beginner’s class and you have a sneaking suspicion that these ladies.,,, are not beginners.,,. at ALL

there are about 20 people in here (including you)

you haven’t really made an effort to hang out with anyone

well

there was the first week that classes started that you kind of talked to some girls who were in the back (they moved their mats to the front now for obvious reasons)

you went out to grab some drinks with them after class one evening and needless to say, the entire time you were talking to them you were slighTLY uncomfortable and you ended up calling namjoon and pleading that he leave the library early to come and pick you up

PLUS you guys didn’t go out for real drinks

you went to a dumb smoothie place and you ended up paying like $8 for a banana almond milk thingy (it was pretty good but that’s beside the point)

anyways

every time you brought up a new topic somehow they would round it back to ‘how cute the instructor is’ which was fAIR but you just wanted a chance to talk about how the flamingo pose doesn’t make any sense

“what did you guys think of today’s exercises?” you shift and cross your (sore) legs before taking a sip of your smoothie and looking around at the girls

“oh, they actually weren’t that bad!”

“yeah, i thought they were pretty easy. the flamingo one was a piece of cake!”

“the pistol squat wasn’t as bad as i thought it’d be!”

noises of agreement go round the table and you furrow your brows

the pistol squat was AWFUL

essentially you had to squat down (your butt can’t touch the ground)

keep one foot flat on the ground

stick one leg out and keep your toes pointed to the sky

and then raise your arms up and keep your fingers pointed to the sky too (“reach through your fingertips…”)

surprisingly enough you didn’t fall over but you were starting to tremble uncontrollably and your body was BEGGING you to stop

you decide not to say anything because the last thing you want is to be ouTed as the weakest person in the group (even though it’s already pretty obvious) ((no offence))

“say, ariel, i noticed you kept asking for help!” you clear your throat and look over at the brunette “did you struggle with the flamingo pose too because lemme tell yA I-“

“oh, please. ariel didn’t need any help - she just wanted jungkook to wrap his big, strong arms around her-“

“hey, he was the one who put his hands on my waist and pulled me in-“

“uH, you foRced his hands on your waist like that- we all saw you, you hO!”

“to be fair i probably would’ve done the same thing”

“sAME”

the table bursts into giggles and they start betting on who’s going to score with him first and thaT’s when you decide that now would be a good time to text namjoon to save you

you feel SCAMMED

you thought you would finally be joining the gal pal yoga group of your dreams but these girls are from the gal pal yoga group from the fiery depths of hELL

(side note they’re actually very nice girls but you just feel like maybe you guys are meant to be yoga acquaintances only)  

anyways

“-moving on to core exercises!”

you let out a quiet groan and let your head flop down a little

you hATE the core exercises

the flamingo was a core exercise

the pistol squat was a core exercise

if anything you’ve learned that you’re the woRSt at core exercises

your favourite is the corpse pose because it’s literally just lying down on your back

you are the expERt of the corpse pose

“alright, ladies. we’re going to try something a little different today!” jungkook claps his hands together before smiling brightly “we’re going to go from the chaturanga pose, push up to a high plank, get back down in the dolphin pose, and end with forearm plank.”

oh god

that’s not one core exercises

that’s fouR core exercises rolled into one mEGA core exercise

you swallow thickly and look around to see if anyone looks as nervous as you do

everyone’s just drooling over jungkook

greAt

allow me to demonstrate!” jungkook chirps and steps onto his yoga mat and you sit up straighter to get a better view of him

it’s a little tough because you’ve stuck yourself in the back in the corner of the room but anything’s better than making eye contact with jungkook while you’re a red and sweaty mess

“the chaturanga is kind of like if you combined a plank with a tricep push up. remember to keep your elbows close to your body while keeping them bent at a 90 degree angle. don’t let your knees hit the ground!” he lowers himself down to the ground and you hear the girl next to you let out a quiet gasp because yes, jungkook’s biceps just flexed we gET IT

“from there, we push up to a high plank-“ jungkook pushes himself up in one smooth movement “make sure to lengthen your tailbone to your heels- you should be able to feel the burn in your thighs…” jungkook also has very nice thighs in case that wasn’t mentioned earlier

“the dolphin pose is easy to get to from a high plank because all you have to do is bend your body like an upside down v-“ jungkook slowly bends to an upside down v “-and finally, the forearm plank that we’ll hold for… 30 seconds. everyone got it?”

a collective hum goes around the room and you literally want to sCREAM into the void

how?????? how the hELL are you supposed to bend your body like that????

you’re going to have to soak in the tub when you go home later

there’s no way you’re going to be able to do all of that without literally passing out

you know what

it’ll be fine

just don’t think too hard about it and you’ll be fine

but for the love of god

please try noT TO fall over again

1. chaturanga

so far so good

this is a loT harder than planking because you’re holding yourself up on your hands rather than your forearms

but you’re holding yourself up pretty well!!!

you give yourself a mental pat on the back

maybe yoga doES help with upper body strength after all

“looking good, ladies… if it gets too hard for you, feel free to lower your knees to the ground!” jungkook steps around the room and keeps his hands behind his back

he’s on the other side of the room but you kinda wish he was on youR side of the room to see you totally nAILING this the chatamango or whatever it’s called

2. high plank

you let out a breath of relief when jungkook calls the time and asks that everyone push themselves up into a high plank

which is basically the beginning pose of a push up but then you just hold yourself

you grin like a maniac because once again you are KILLING this move

your arms are starting to hurt a little bit and you feel your butt moving higher up into the air aka your body is starting to reject the high plank

“if you feel the burn in your core and your thighs, that means it’s working!” jungkook claps his hands together

it feels like someone’s holding a flamethrower to your stomach and your thighs and your eyes squeeze shut in discomfort

jungkook starts to head towards the back of the room where you are and you curse quietly

why couldn’t he have come over during the chuttabango?????

your arms start trembling slightly and you grit your teeth

jEsus

cALL THE TIME

CALL IT

“am i doing it right, jungkook?” ariel chirps and you raise your head to look over at her

jungkook turns to glance at her before nodding his head “yep!” he responds simply

“are- are you sure?” ariel stammers and you snort quietly when you see her push her butt up slightly “maybe you can help push me down-“

“okay, dolphin pose!”

3. dolphin pose

you let your eyes flutter shut and your eyes drop when you finally get yourself in the right position

you can’t help but wonder why this would be called the dolphin pose

maybe you’re supposed to make dolphin noises whiLE doing the post

“it’s y/n, right?” you jump in surprise when jungkook’s face appears riGht in front of yours

oH GOD

you look up at him from the position you’re in and you nearly choke

you’re probably as red as an apple right now anD you’re sure your high ponytail from earlier is now a sad droopy ponytail

it’s noT a good time for jungkook to see you

“uh, yes! yes, that’s me.” you’re not sure if you should get up or stay in this position and you shift slightly on your mat

“would you mind if i helped you a little bit?” he smiles kindly and you furrow your brows

“with what?” you turn your head as jungkook gets up to walk around so that he’s behind you

“it’s just that your back is a little too arched for my liking. is it okay if i…” you glance over your shoulder and your heart starts raCING when you see jungkook hovering his hands over you

“oh, uh, i guess?” you turn back to face the front

jungkook presses a hand to the small of your back before sliding it up your spine to straighten you out and you feel your entire face beginning to burn up when he leans in and bends down over you

he splays his hand in between your shoulder blades

“good, there we go… make sure to keep your ribcage and tummy really suCked in.” jungkook slides his hands down your sides and pulls you backwards a little

and then it happens

it happens

it

happens

your bum accidentally brushes up against his crotch

and then your foot slips slightly and you quite literally push RIGHT up against jungkook

you feel him freeze

well

now you’re going to have to leave the country and change your name

you’re tempted to burrow your face into the crook of your elbow to keep yourself from screaMING

“good!” jungkook clears his throat and gives the small of your back a pat “yep, that’s good! i, uh… everyone, feel free to move into the final position if you’d like! i… i will be right back!”

you press your lips together when you feel jungkook pull away from you before he’s scurrying off to the door

oh my god

your ass brushed up against his-

and then you puSHED BACK-

OH My god

you immediately flop down on your yoga mat and flip over so that you’re on your back

you’re panting slightly from the exertion of the exercises and you scrunch your nose in frustration

goOD ONE

“what do you mean you can’t come and pick me up?” you whine into the phone and plop down on the bench

you wince immediately

your ass and the backs of your thighs feel like someone beat you with a baseball bat and then set ur lower body on fire 

you keep your phone sandwiched between your ear and your shoulder as you move to put your shoes back on

class ended twenty-ish minutes ago so now you’re in the locker room changing out of your sweaty clothes

after jungkook got back from wherever it was he went he was like how about we end class eaRLy today

most people were disappointed even though he was only ending it like 5 minutes earlier

you noticed him watching you as you rolled up your mat but you could noT look him in the eye and you zipped out of there so quickly

u didn’t say goodbye either

what were you even supposed to say to him

‘hey, you remember when i like, pushed my ass up against you and arched my back? total accident! okay, see you next time!’

you shudder at the thought

jungkook probably thinks you’re a little pErv now

“i’m sorry!!!” namjoon sighs on the other end of the phone “i told you i had a date tonight bro”

“i know bRo but you said you didn’t have to pick her up til 7 and it’s only 5:45 so you have plenTy of time to swing by and pick me up then drive me home!!! c’mON it’s raining out please don’t make me take the bus home-“

“i’ll make it up to you somehow, okay?? by the way - i might not come home tonight if, uh… you know. if the date goes well.”

“so now you’re telling me that not only will i be eating dinner alone - i will also be in the apartment aLONE in the middle of a terrifying thunderstorm”

a beat of silence goes by

“…yep.”

you let out a huff and roll your eyes “alright, fine. have fun on your date. be safe. call me if you need anything.” you hang up and toss your phone into your duffel bag before pulling your sweatshirt on

you let out a quiet groan when you realize you didn’t even bring an umbrella with you

so now you’re probably going to catch a coLD

you push the swinging door open and step out of the locker room and swing your duffle bag over your shoulder while mentally planning which bus you should take home

the 44 will probably be super full right now considering it’s the end of the work day

maybe you can take the 78? but that one goes along the highway which means it’ll take longer to get home which is noT what you want

you turn the corner and-

“ooF-“ you immediately bump into someone haRd and flop backwards onto your soRE butt

ok OW

“oh god, sorry! are you okay??” you raise your head and your heart stops in your chest when you see that you’ve bumped into

oF course

of course you rammed right into jungkook

he’s changed out of his workout gear into a pair of distressed jeans and a loose white button up and uh..,,. he’s nevEr looked better

“i’m fine, don’t worry! i-i’m sorry, i wasn’t watching where i was going-“

“no, no! it’s my bad, i probably shouldn’t have been walking so close to the corner… here, lemme help you up-“

he holds his hand out for you and you take it graciously

you seriously didn’t realise how strong jungkook actually was because he helps you up in one swift movement and you end up stumbling into his chest agaIn

“you alright there?” jungkook laughs lightly and keeps holding your hand to keep you steady

okay

here’s the deal

this is definitely the first time he’s spoken to you outside of class

he won’t lie

he didn’t actually know you existed til like the second week of class but that’s because you’re always tucked away in the back of the classroom

it was that one time you had floPPed down to the ground and shattered the silence of the room that he noticed you and your…

baby blue leg warmers (and matching yoga mat)

(which you haven’t worn for a while and he can only assume it’s because the other girls in class don’t wear them) ((he wants u to wear them again because they seemed to make u happy)) 

and since then he’s always snuck a glance or two in your direction whenever you’re not looking

you’re always cracking jokes n stuff about the poses to the person next to you 

during the five minute breaks he always sees you snacking on a granola bar or some teddy grahams and you always offer your snacks to the other girls but they shut you down most of the time which makes him >:-(

he always wants to wander to your section of the room when he walks around but riGht as he gets near you someone else is calling for his help

so today in class was the first time he got to see you in action

your dolphin pose was actually pretty good but uh

he doesn’t want to be that guy

a part of him wanted to help straighten out your back as a good instructor and the other part of him wanted to see your butt in those tight yoga leggings as a Normal Hormonal Young Man (he was not disappointed at the sight)

he just wasn’t expecting his crotch to make contact with your ass which was why he had to duCk out for a couple of minutes

anyways

“ah, i’m good… sorry about that, seriously” you let out a nervous chuckle

this is awful

you literally can’t bring yourself to look him in the eye

“what are you still doing here? most people have already left” jungkook bends down and helps pick your bag up for you

you smile shyly and take it from him “uh, my roommate was supposed to come and pick me up but he’s actually going on a date so he just called to let me know that i had to take the bus home.” you snort and shake your head “i don’t have an umbrella either so facing that-“ you gesture towards the window where the rain is basically shooting quick fire bullets against the glass “is noT going to be very pleasant.”

you hear a rumble of thunder in the distance and you swallow thickly

thunderstorms are noT fun

“how about i drive you home?” jungkook blurts out and you turn to face him

you blink owlishly at him before shaking your head “oh gosh, i can’t- no, i’ll be fine! thank you for the offer, though…”

jungkook purses his lips before suddenly snatching your bag from your grasp “well, i just decided that i was going to drive you home, so…” he hums and throws your bag over his shoulder before turning on his heel and heading out the front door

“wha-“ you squawk before you move to foLLow jungkook “jungkook, you really don’t have to-“

“move your ass, y/l/n!” you hear the ding of the elevator and you walk faSter

you step into the elevator with jungkook and let out a playful huff “you really are something, you know?”

a moment of silence goes by

jungkook turns his head slightly and the corner of his mouth twitches up in a smirk

he wasn’t going to say anything but

fuck it

he clears his throat and steps a little closer to you “by the way-“

his fingers brush over yours and you feel a little zap

“you should probably buy me dinner first before grinding up against my crotch like that-“

you let out a groan

jesus CHRIST

help me help you make your wishes come tru (aka send me a request)

drabble tag

[angelofdirewolves]

Weekly Crafting Check-In 7/25

I managed to get a little done on several different projects, and I cast one on this week that is going to get a lot more individual focus while I put the other two on  the back burner for a little (Hint, one of these projects can be worked on while watching the Olympics, and the other two cannot, one for fiddly reasons, and one for making noise that annoys other people also watching the TV reasons.)

The oldest project that I have currently is a self-designed personal crest that I made in high school with the intent of embroidering, and I started it then, but unfortunately I was embroidering with a metal hoop that left rust stains that wouldn’t come out of my white fabric, so this past year I re-stitched a new piece of white fabric to embroider on, and this past week I traced everything and embroidered this fern. I still need to use darker green floss to stitch around the edges of each leaf to add a little shading, but I got this done, so this has finally seen progress after sitting in my closet for over half a decade. This is my first serious use of satin stitch, so I feel proud that it’s turned out as well as it has. (This project isn’t good TV watching because I can’t place satin stitches and watch swimming or gymnastics simultaneously.)

This second project, is another ounce of the Birds of Paradise roving that I started during the Tour de Fleece. I haven’t washed this one yet, but it looks more aran-worsted weight than the previous skein, so I’ll be keeping it close when I spin so that I can hopefully make the third and fourth ounces this weight. It’s a lovely Rambouillet/Polworth/Silk blend that is delicious to spin. (This isn’t good Olympics crafting because it requires use of my spindle wheel, which despite frequent oiling is still a bit creaky.)

Finally, we have my Olympic watching project, which is a Trym Vest that I started on Friday. I knit a swatch and my stitch gauge was off so I am trying to work gauge magic by knitting a size smaller than I need and eliminating four stitches so that when I wash it, the thing comes out to the right size. Once I have a little more stockinette knit, I am going to measure and see if I am getting the same gauge I got in the swatch, because I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s not the same, which is bizarre because I knit the swatch this week. Hopefully I’ll be able to measure it today, and hopefully it will be the same gauge otherwise I’ll have to rip this all out and start over. I’m trying to get two inches of the body done each day so that by the end of this week (if I don’t start over) I’ll be ready to start shaping for the armholes and neck, so that I can finish this before the Olympics are over. We’ll see if that happens or not.

See you all next week!

[emgkheadcannons]

do you think em would mock kells for his protruding ears/do you have any headcanons related to that?

I didn’t before but now I do.

When they are still beefing Em makes fun of his ears a lot. You know the standard Dumbos, ‘are you going to fly away with those”, and whatnot. Once their beef is over and they are friends Em still makes fun of his ears. It’s when they start dating that things change.

Kelly is kind of sensitive about his ears. He knows they are big and protrude from his face, but there is nothing he can do about it. Since he was little people have made fun of him. If it wasn’t him being poor, or stupid, it was his ears. He wears his hair longer now to help hide their size and has them pierced multiple times to also distract from them.

At first Kells had no problem ignoring Em’s insults about his ears. They were in the middle of a beef. He went after the older rapper’s beard, and Em went after his ears, and man bun. Then they became friends, and his ears were mostly left alone, only occasional barb about them. He can deal with the off hand comments because they are usually goofing off and he knows he doesn’t mean it, or at least he hopes he doesn’t.

When they start dating Em touches and talks about his ears more. It makes Kelly feel subconscious.

It all comes to ahead one day when Kelly is in the kitchen, drinking his coffee, and Em comes in a tugs on his ear, and asks how he didn’t hear him coming with ears so big. Kelly rolls his eyes and goes back to drinking his coffee. A few hours later, Kelly is in the media room with Harry Potter on in the background, working on some lyrics. Em comes in and sits next to him.

“I didn’t know you were in this movie.”

Kelly looks up from his work to see Dobby on the screen, and winces. He quickly gets ahold of his feelings and responds, “Ha, ha you think you're so funny.”

The final straw is when Em takes him to a charity event. A few other big names are there like Fifty and Paul. Everyone is having a good time, and cutting up, until Em says, “Yeah his ears distract from his tattoos.” Kelly knows he and Em go on and on about his tattoos, but why did he keep on going after his ears today. Were they really that big?

Dejected Kelly fakes a smile and a laugh, before he sneaks away, to a quieter area of the party. Em finds him later when it’s time to go.

On the drive home Kelly is quiet, and looking out the window. At first Em just thinks he’s tired, but when he only replies in one word answers, the older man starts to suspect something has him upset. His suspicions are confirmed when they get home and Kelly goes inside and upstairs without a word.

All Em could think about was what happened at the party to make him so sad. Did someone insult him? Did someone hurt him? He did disappear after a while. Was he feeling ignored?

Em followed him up to their room, and hoped to get answers. When he got there Kelly was already in bed, and the lights were off. Em quickly goes through his night routine and joins his boyfriend in bed.

He curls up behind the blond, and wraps his arms around him. Em notices the tear in his eyes, and goes to wipe them away, when Kelly turns his head away, wiggles out of his arms, and curls into a ball.

“Hey, what's wrong princess? Why are you crying?” Em is very concerned now. Did he do something to upset Kelly. He began to rack his brain.

Kelly takes a moment to respond, but when he does it’s very soft and mumbled.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t get that. Could you say it again, sweetheart?”

“Do you really think my ears are that big?”

Em freezes. It’s about his ears. He knows Kelly’s ears are a little bit bigger than normal, but why was he so sensitive about them today. Then it hit him, he has been making fun of his ears all day, and Kelly disappears after he made that joke about them.

Kelly sniffles, brings Em back to the present. “No, I don’t think your ears are that big. I was just messing with you.”

Kelly curls up even tighter, a sob racking his body.

Frustrated now Em asks, “I’ve made fun of your ears before, why is it a problem now?”

Kelly turns his face into his pillow, and mumbles out a reply. “Back in school if people weren’t making fun of me being poor, or stupid, it was how I looked, especially my ears.”

Fuck was all Em could think. He had been making fun of Kelly for something he was already insecure about. He didn’t even notice it upset him. Man was he a shitty boyfriend.

Em gets up off the bed and goes into the closet. When he comes back out he kneels by the blond’s side of the bed, placing something on the bed side table. Kelly lifts his head up a bit to see what his boyfriend is doing.

“Hey, listen I’m sorry for making fun of your ears. I’m sorry I made you feel self-conscious about them. I won’t make fun of them anymore.” Em says as he places his hands on either side of the young rapper’s face, and thumbs some tears away.

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

Kelly surges forward, wrapping his arms around Em, crying into his neck, now half on the bed, and his other half being held up by his boyfriend. After a few minutes, Kelly stops crying and he and Em are back on the bed curled around each other, Kelly’s head on his chest, and Em petting his head.

“Hey, you still awake?” Em whispers.

“Hnnngh?” Kelly replies.

Em reaches over the younger man, grabbing something off the nightstand. Kelly feels Em messing with the second piercing in his ears. He is too tired to ask, and drifts off to sleep.

The next morning Kelly woke up early. Em is still asleep, and it is still dark outside, but he has to pee. On the way back to bed Kelly notices something on his ears. He takes a closer look, and each ear has a small steel ring in them. Kelly remembers taking off his jewelry last night before getting into bed, then he remembers, Em messing with his piercings right before he drifted off. Where did Em get these earrings from? He doesn't wear earrings. … anymore, he doesn’t wear earrings anymore. He used to wear small steel hoops all the time in his early career.

Flushed Kelly runs a finger over one of the small rings. Em gave him his earrings. Kelly didn’t know what to do. He is standing there flustered, staring at his ears, when Em walks in. He is all grumpy and sleep rumbled.

“Why are you doing up?”

“I had to pee.”

“Okay so you’re done, come back to bed.” Em grabs his hand and leads him back.

Once both of them are back in bed, snuggled up, his head on Em’s chest again. Kelly can’t take it anymore, and asks Em about the earrings.

“I like your ears, just as much as I like all of you. They deserve to be loved as much as the rest. So yeah those are the earrings I used to wear. I thought they would look good on you.” Em explains.

Kelly surges up, giving Em a passionate kiss before laying his head back down, and thanking him.

Em is confused, then pleased with the response. Not only did he get a kiss for the earrings, but his boyfriend is wearing his earrings now. Wrapping his arms tighter around Kelly, they both fall back asleep.

[eveofthecollapse]

all of Combat and Appearance for Davina?

Aww. Thank you so much 😊 for some reason mobile is being a bitch to me so this is going to be fun cause I have to type out everything 😶

I’m going to reciprocate and ask: tell me something about Brody that no one thought to ask, or that maybe doesn’t fit into a category, or something you just thought of! Or maybe all 3!

—Combat

1. preferred weapon

Sniper rifles (specifically Overwatch when she gets it), Malorian Arms 3516 (Johnny’s gun, also when she gets it), and the mantis blades.

2. combat style

Stealthy netrunner. She prefers to distract and hack, sneaking up to take people out with her bare hands or with the mantis blades, but she’ll resort to pistols if she needs to. Or taking them out from a distance with a well placed bullet.

3. primary stats

Intelligence and cool. She has more points in reflexes than body.

4. primary skills

Quickhacking, stealth, breach protocol. Those are the big ones. Then handguns, blades.

5. Biggest weakness in combat

Davina does not handle melee combat especially well if she’s not getting the drop on someone. If she hasn’t already snapped their neck or torn them to pieces with the mantis blades, they have a fighting chance if she’s standing right in front of them.

6. avoid combat or shot first

Depends on the gig. If she can complete the job without raising suspicion (of course this means hiding any bodies), that’s what she prefers. But she will absolutely not let someone draw on her first if she can help it.

7. threaten or charm

She usually adapts to the situation. Her preference is usually charm, persuasion. But she’ll threaten if she’s completely unimpressed with the other person.

8. lethal or non lethal?

Lethal. She’ll go non lethal if requested by the client, which includes Regina and the cyberpsychos.

9. leave quietly or send a message

She prefers if no one knows she’s there when she’s there. But she likes knowing that eventually they’ll find the bodies in boxes and bins and fridges. That’s her kind of message. She thinks it’s worse for them that way, rather than blowing stuff up.

10. strategy or improvise

She prefers to have some kind of plan, but also lives by the saying “no plan survives contact with the enemy”. She has no problem hunkering down to watch for hours if need be. But she can, and has, made it up as she goes before.

—Appearance

1. hairstyle and color

Short bob, with bangs. Currently it’s bluish; could be a bluish green? It’s hard to say. Not at all natural. Her natural color is dark brown.

2. eye color

Green

3. height

Davina is just about 5’4”

4. describe their body type

Slender, wiry, but stronger than she might appear.

5. describe their style

Davina is a bit too proud of her body (her physique and her tattoos), so she chooses not to cover up. She will always choose style over substance with her clothing/armor. She prefers tight pants, cropped shirts, and the Old Edgerunner jacket. She doesn’t really know what to do with a dress, as they weren’t really practical living the nomad life.

6. do they wear makeup

Not much. A bit of eyeshadow, a bit of blush, maybe some lipstick. Just enough to highlight some features, but takes less than 5 minutes to apply.

7. tattoos?

She has the snake tattoos, the heart over her heart, and of course Chippin’ In tattooed on her back (which I’m sure Johnny just loves).

8. scars?

No significant scars. Just a few nicks and scraps and burns from life as a nomad. Nothing to remember, until the bullet to the head.

9. piercings?

Multiple ear piercings. She keeps her hoops and studs practical to avoid any mishaps.

10. cybernetics?

She has optics and the best cyber deck she can afford. The mantis blades are the next most significant. She has a few others, at least one in every major system, but she doesn’t want to go overboard. She gets what she needs to survive her life, and nothing more.

[fireintheforest]

Behind the Blue, chapter 14

Yeah, the hoops, bracelets, diamond earrings, pearl necklaces and one or two gems were pretty. But what made them get a cold sweat and feel like their souls hit the ground was when they saw no sign of La Zadine. There was a second of silence when they realized it.

“No.” Toivon said, taking the chest and flipping it on the bed so everything fell. He started spreading the jewelry pieces in order to see better, with Saufinril behind looking, “No it’s-it’s gotta be here.”

“They couldn’t have stolen it before you got there, right?” Saufinril asked, walking around Toivon and the bed to see closer on the other side.

“No way. When I got there he was only starting to look for the chest.” Toivon said. They did find a sapphire, but it was smaller and didn’t match the description they had. Besides, La Zadine was a sapphire on its own, and this one was embedded in a ring. La Zadine was not in the chest. Toivon took his hands to his hips and exhaled, his eyes on the jewels.

“What do we do now?” Saufinril asked, “That is, surely you’ll tell the client. But…Toivon, this means Emmanuel knew the gem was going to be stolen. Or at least he had his suspicions. Is there a chance we were given false information?”

“We clearly were.” Toivon rubbed his face, “Or the client was, and by default we were. Fuck. If he moved La Zadine because he had suspicions of its theft, we have to find it.”

“He was suspicious.” Saufinril took the sapphire ring and put it on, examining it, “Like, Emmanuel was suspicious.”

“That’s what I just said, what’s your point?” Toivon sat in the bed, crossing his arms.

“We have to go back in time a bit. Emmanuel passed La Zadine somewhere else because he suspects someone might steal it, correct? He knew it was going to be stolen. He created this decoy. The suspicions had to start sometime. Maybe because he thought a guest would take jewelry at tonight’s party so he wanted to make sure he could keep it safe.”

“Doesn’t seem like it. I mean, it seems to be the point for these jewels.” Toivon motioned to the jewelry next to him, “You just take any valuable objects and place them underneath the bed. But La Zadine is a sapphire worth thousands of septims. You can’t just tuck it under a pillow and know it’s safe.”

“Did you check under the pillows?” Saufinril asked, arching his eyebrows and looking away from the ring for the first time. Toivon narrowed his eyes.

“No. And that’s not the point.” Toivon replied, “The point is, that rock is still in Emmanuel’s estate, nicely hidden, because he knew it was going to be stolen, and if he knew it was going to be stolen it’s because someone gave him the suspicion that it’d be so. And I gotta find it.”

“Toivon, it’s not gonna take one day to find it.”

“I know, but damn it I signed up for this and I told the client I’d get them this stupid gem and I’m going to get it.” He exhaled, gaze on the wall opposite, thinking. Saufinril lowered his hand, letting it rest on his own knee, “I’ll find a way. I’ll pay you when I get the money, you don’t need to stick around. You did your part of the deal.” Toivon added.

“No doubt.” Saufinril said, “But…one is not leaving.” Toivon turned to look at him, “One said one would work with you to get that gem and well, if we don’t have it yet, then one’s work isn’t done, is it?”

“You do understand it’s just gotten harder, right?”

Saufinril shrugged, “Well, yes. But, it’ll be somewhat…see.” Saufinril brushed his long, blond hair back, “We began this job with one task to be done individually, right? But now the difficulty increased. The only adequate thing to do is adapt to its difficulty by relying on the other.”

“You’re saying we should work together to discover where La Zadine is?” Toivon asked, turning his body more to Saufinril.

“Exactly! One knows the faces and you know the place. We can figure out who is after La Zadine as well and therefore paid the thief, and we can also figure out where in the estate it’s hidden, by relying on what the other has found out tonight.”

“Still, the information we have is somewhat shallow. We could go deeper.”

“What do you mean?”

“We could go undercover.”

Saufinril arched his eyebrows. “Undercover?” he repeated

“Why not? You said it yourself, you know the faces. Tonight’s fiasco was a slip from my part, but as far as I know you did your part brilliantly.”

“One wouldn’t say brilliant, but…it worked out.” Saufinril said, hoping the shadows of the candlelit room covered the warmth he felt in his ears.

“If nobody raised the alarm when you got the key, it means you did the job well. You know the faces and chances are, you’re not a suspect. You can mingle again with them and get more information without the suspicion. I know the estate from what I saw, but I can get to know it better two ways: patrolling it nightly or going undercover as well.”

“What would you go as?”

“A servant. Makes it easier to learn any secrets the property has and increases the chances of finding La Zadine. Besides we’ve got an insider, Sorcise. I know she can help. Especially because it was her information what made us aim for the wrong hiding place, as much of an accident as it was. I know she doesn’t want to disappoint her real boss.”

Saufinril breathed deeply, thinking. After a while, though, he gave a couple of nods. “We can do it. One can get information, and we can both exchange it whenever we can and find out who wants to steal La Zadine, and get it before they do.”

 “You happen to be lucky.” Sorcise said the next day, sitting at the same table as Toivon and Saufinril at the inn, her cigarette trailing a pearly gray rope up to the ceiling, “Emmanuel fired Claudette today because of what happened at the party. Said her screaming made a scandal and she’d embarrassed him by luring the courtesan to see the body, that she was lucky not more people saw it but,” she shrugged, blowing out the smoke, “yeah. I know for a fact her mother owns a bakery here so I’m not too concerned about her.”

“So you can sneak me into the estate?” Toivon asked

“Sure. Not to toot my own horn, but I got a high place in the ladder. You’re not gonna, but that’s alright. The issue will be sneaking him in. Maybe by becoming their guest but that’ll be a toughie.” Sorcise said, motioning to Saufinril before taking a drink of her beer.

“Do you know where the Hawkcrofts will go next?” Saufinril asked

“Why would they go anywhere?” Toivon asked

“They’re up in the social ladder. There’s got to be some social event or activity they’ll be in where one can ‘bump’ into and talk to them.” Saufinril explained

“Avelle is very into artists.” Sorcise leaned back, thinking, “And at breakfast this morning she said you and her were best friends.”

“Umm…one did talk to her once or twice during the night, yes…” Saufinril said slowly, perplexed.

“So she gets attached fast. Perfect. Use the best friend level to get invited as a guest.” Toivon said. Before Sorcise could add to it, however, a man opened the door of the inn, storming in with a bewildered look. Most of the inn turned to look at him.

“There was another!” he said. Now all the inn quieted down and looked at him.

“Another?” a man asked

“I saw him!” the first man said

“Damned the gods. Call the guards!”

“They’re already there, they are taking the body to the morgue! It’s the third this month, and looks just like the other two!”

“Sorcise,” Saufinril asked, leaning towards the woman and speaking in a low volume, “what is that man talking about?”

Sorcise sighed and rolled her eyes while the man got surrounded by other patrons, all of them talking at the same time, “We got a serial killer.” She said, then she took her beer and drank. Both Toivon and Saufinril watched her, “What?” “Oh, it’s just a serial killer.” Toivon said, shrugging, “I thought it was something serious, like a stolen apple.”

“It’s not like I can tell you their name, birthday, hopes and dreams.” Sorcise said, then sighed again, “It started a couple of months ago, with one girl. We all thought it was some jealous lover or something, but then a male body showed up. Same way but, you know, different victim. And then there were two more. Then two this month, and now this.”

“Seven in two months?” Toivon asked, arching his eyebrows. Sorcise nodded.

“A man and a girl are two different victims. Was there anything that tied them up? How did you know it was the same killer?” Saufinril asked

“All victims have hits on their heads, independently of how they were killed. All are discarded like trash, outside the city. And, uh, all are Altmer.” Toivon briefly glanced at Saufinril, who nodded slowly.

“One sees.” He replied.

“Wait, how do you know so much if you work 6 days a week in Hawkcroft’s estate and live in it?” Toivon asked

“I’m fucking the mortician’s assistant.” Sorcise replied simply, inhaling and exhaling from her cigarette.

“Love a reliable source.” Toivon nodded

“To answer your question,” she motioned to Saufinril, “Avelle herself is heading to a play at Princess’s Crown with some of her friends. It’s an upscale tavern north from the center, big and posh. Can’t miss it. If you go around today and see which play it is, you’ll have an idea of when to get there and butter up daddy’s girl into letting you be her guest.”

“Perfect.”

“What about your clothes? I may not know much about Altmer courtesans, but I know a Dunmer one would never be caught dead wearing the same thing twice in one week.” Toivon objected

“Marley.” Toivon and Saufinril turned to look at Sorcise, who drank from her beer and repeated, “Marley. Jacques Marley, tailor. His shop is nearby, actually. Makes plenty of clothes for well-off people, including my patron. Maybe he has things there already made, or if you’re going to wear a dress like the one last night, I’m sure he can do it quickly.”

“That was a robe, first of all.” Saufinril corrected, “And second, one doubts he would sew the patterns and details in an Altmeri style, well unless he were an Altmer himself. Is he?”

“Fuck kind of Altmer is named Jacques Marley?” Toivon asked

“One of the dead mer’s name was Horace.” Sorcise interrupted, “But no, he’s a Breton. Maybe he can’t sew the patterns of the isles, but he’s still a popular choice among richer folk. Paying him a visit won’t hurt. By the way, if you bump into Avelle and she asks where you’re staying, don’t mention this inn or the image of high class will shatter. Say you’re staying at The Marigold.”

“Alright, one will go to his store and then to the, what was its name, Princess’s Crown?” Sorcise nodded, “What a tacky name. One will go and then get ready and go to that play. What are you doing?” he asked Toivon.

“I’m going straight to the house with Sorcise.” Toivon said

“Pause. I’m going to the manor, and then you arrive. It’ll look suspicious if we arrive together and then you get the job.” Sorcise interrupted.

“Ok. Better plan.” All three rose from the table but only Saufinril and Sorcise left the inn. Sorcise guided Saufinril to a shop that proudly had a wooden sign with scissors proclaiming “Marley tailoring” at the sign. The little bell at the entrance chimed when the door opened, and at the counter was a bored-looking teenager with raven hair and pasty skin reading a book. Around the store were some mannequins dressed in velvet, silk, linen and charmeuse clothes. Jackets, shirts, dresses, vests, even capes.

“Welcome to Marley’s is there anything you are looking for today?” the teenager asked in a monotonous drawl of someone that would much rather be doing literally anything instead of this.

“Is your uncle in?” Sorcise asked

“I don’t know.” The teen shrugged

“Well look for him.” The teenager sighed but got up and went to the back of the store, obeying the order Sorcise mandated.

“How charming.” Saufinril muttered

“That’s Marley’s nephew. I hate him.” Sorcise said. Saufinril continued looking around the store, stopping at the front desk where the teenager had been not too long ago. He’d left the book he was reading open in the middle. Curious, Saufinril took the front and closed it to see the title of the book: “The Lusty Argonian Maid”, volume two. Nasty. Saufinril delicately left it the way he found it and wiped his hand on his clothes. He went on to look at the clothes on display when a man emerged from the back. He had the same raven black hair as the teen, but decorated here and there with silver hairs and radiating a much more optimistic look, complete with a pearly smile that fit nicely with his squared jaw.

“Good morning, Sorcise! If it hasn’t been a while, how have you been?” he greeted

“I’m alive.” Sorcise replied

“Witty as always! And pardon, who is your friend?” the man asked, turning politely to Saufinril.

“Cyremin. Of Alinor.” Saufinril said, using the smile of last night, “One came to visit but due to unforeseeable reasons the visit extended and one needs more clothes. Sorcise spoke beautifully of your creations, and from what one sees here,” he turned to some of the mannequins that sported the latest jackets, breeches and dresses Marley had made, “she was right.”

“He’s a friend of Madame Ferchard’s.” Sorcise continued, “She said you could have some things for him in your store.”

“Of course I do!” Marley beamed to Sorcise, then turning to Saufinril, “I’m delighted to have you here. You know, if you allow me to show you, I have new pieces on the back. If you’ll follow me, I can gladly show them to you.”

“Serah, you’ve got one’s curiosity” Saufinril purred, following Marley behind the curtain, Sorcise behind him.

Marley kept talking, “There’s plenty of Altmer living here in Evermor and I know your people usually go for robes, am I correct?”

“It’s the usual in the Isles, yes.”

“Us Bretons prefer clothes to be more, well tighter to the body. Practical. Breeches, shirts, vests and so.” Marley got them to what probably was the sewing studio. Various fabrics were guarded in rolls in shelves, boxes held larger and smaller scraps of any fabric possible, scissors and meters were sprawled on tables along with templates, pieces of soap, bits and pieces of fabric and thread, pincushions filled to the brim with pins and needles. Marley went to one of the tables, looking around. He grabbed what seemed to be cloth and stretched it as he said, “Hmm, this could work, now let’s see…nice and flowy, or would you prefer more of a Breton approach?”

“Robes.” Saufinril replied

“Absolutely.” Marley went on, checking here and there, “I got some linen from Daggerfall that would look exquisite on a robe, but we also received spider silk from Elinhir, which would-”

“Silk.”

“Excellent choice, right away. Dean!” Marley called, then went onto the hallway, giving instructions to someone.

Meanwhile, Sorcise leaned over to Saufinril and asked in a low voice, “Robes? You’re gonna pop out amongst the rest.”

“One left the Isles recently.” Saufinril whispered back, gaining an understanding nod from Sorcise. Just then Marley came back with a bulk of fabric in his arms.

“Alright! Changing booth is next to you, try them on and we’ll do any fixing that’s needed.” Saufinril waited for Marley to put the robes in before going into the small room left to the sewing studio, closing the curtain after himself. When he emerged with the robes on, Marley immediately redirected him to the front of the mirror, while calling the teenager and getting pins from the table next to the body-length mirror that showed all of Saufinril’s body except his head. Marley got to pinning and measuring at once.

Hiding the surprise that such efficiency caused, Saufinril looked around as best as he could. The teenager came with several other fabrics, setting them on a nearby table and stretching them.

“So, what is the occasion?” Marley asked

“One got invited to a play tonight, the place’s name escapes one. At what time was it, Sorcise?” Saufinril asked.

“Seven-thirty” she replied, leaning against the wall in boredom.

The teenager looked at Saufinril with a frown. Saufinril winked at him, earning only a grimace of disgust as he kept organizing the fabrics.

“Oh, I’m guessing it’s the one in the Princess’s Crown? I have clients that have been looking for it for days, a couple came over to get new gowns too.” Marley replied, hemming the robe, “It’s quite the luck that we had this, and it’s looking good on you.”

“One knows.” Saufinril said, beaming at his reflection. Which felt weird to him. There’s really nothing to beam at when looking at himself. Like a mudcrab, deep under the mud.

Rialas still wasn’t right.

Marley finished hemming the robe and stood up, stepping back to look, a light frown on his eyes. “Turn around, please.” He said. Saufinril did so, looking over his shoulder at Marley when he was giving him his back. Marley didn’t see a thing, focused on the hems. His nephew just glared at Saufinril. Saufinril figured out that being ignored by the tailor would be unacceptable to Rialas. He reached a hand under Marley’s jaw, catching him by surprise. The Breton’s blue eyes looked up in surprise, straight at the emerald eyes.

“You’re awfully focused. Do you like what you see?” he asked with a smile

Marley coughed and laughed nervously, gently removing the hand from under his jaw, “You, ah, you are a good- looking good. And well, the hem is looking nicely too.” He moved to Saufinril’s side to examine the hem again, “This should be ready in time for your appointment, monsieur. Are you feeling the robes well, are they comfortable?”

“They are fine.” Saufinril said, straightening back with no hurry, his emerald eyes on Marley since he escaped him.

“Very good, very good.” Marley was about to move out, Sorcise shot Saufinril a look. We have no money to pay for this. Saufinril gave her an imperceptible nod before saying,

“Serah?”

Marley turned to him, immediately

“You don’t happen to need someone to model these gorgeous robes, do you?” Saufinril asked. Marley gave a friendly laugh and asked,

“Why, uh, why would I-”

“Are any of your clients Altmer?” Saufinril asked casually while studying himself and the robes on the mirror.

“Well, they, um…no.”

“So these robes…”

“I was, just…made them for…that is,” Marley cleared his throat, putting his hands on his hips, “I wanted to see if I could make robes.”

“You can.” Saufinril stated, still admiring himself. Or pretending to. But he could see in his peripheral vision that Marley had perked up a bit at that, “You can make robes but you cannot sell them?” now he looked at Marley through the mirror. Marley rubbed the back of his neck.

“It’s…um…”

“It’s one’s people?” Saufinril asked, arching his eyebrow with a smile. Marley’s eyes widened.

“No! Well, no. It’s, well, one’s clientele is mostly Breton and Redguard, see. I’d love to sell to Altmer, and your people are welcome anytime to-”

“They won’t come.” Saufinril swished the robes by moving back and forth. The silk was the smoothest thing he’d ever felt and admittedly, it was fun to swish it. He looked at Marley’s face, which had dropped the smile. Saufinril laughed, “Let one rephrase that. They won’t look at a place if they think it’s not in trend. If it’s associated with men. No offense, of course.” He moved his hair back, “If this were associated with Altmeri art, on the other hand…that’s a different story. And you’d get the clientele.”

“Altmeri art?” Marley repeated

“Mhm.” Saufinril finally turned to Marley, to look at his blue eyes while leaning and crouching lightly to be on Marley’s eye level, “These are good robes, Jacques.” He said in softer, more intimate voice, “But keeping them in a trunk won’t do them justice. Letting them go out for the night, for other Altmer to see, that’s a different story. And one with a happy ending at that, if they’re on a courtesan.”

“A…a courtesan.”

“Of Alinor itself.” Saufinril gave Marley a smile, “If you let one exhibit these cute clothes in public events and gatherings here, one can write back home about them. Tell one’s sisters and teachers all about it. One will already tell one’s clients and public here about them, anyhow. If one were to wear them.”

Marley cleared his throat, crossing his arms, “Well, I…and…what would you get out of this?” he asked.

Saufinril merely laughed, straightening up as he did so, “One? Nothing. You? Plenty. If you wish to take one’s business deal. If not,” he looked at Sorcise, “you told one there’s another tailor here, didn’t you?” she nodded, “One thought so.” He started to go to the changing room.

“No, wait.”

Saufinril turned to Marley

“I…” Marley nodded, “Alright.” He beamed his optimistic smile again, but his nephew on the background just tightened his jaw, “Sure. Let’s try this event. If, um, if this partnership, that is, if your modelling can bring more Altmer clientele to my shop, I’d be happy to let you keep wearing my creations.”

“When, dear.” Saufinril corrected him with a cat-like smile, “One doesn’t do ifs.” And he went inside the booth to change. Five minutes later, both Saufinril and Sorcise went out of the tailor shop.

“That went better than expected.” Sorcise said

“Yeah.” Saufinril replied, silence. “That kid, Dean? What the fuck is wrong with him?”

[meowloudly15]

Stranded: Day 6 - SIDE CAR

Hello, I would like to apologise profusely for not having updated this story in three weeks. I'm still alive, so fear not! And be on the lookout for other new stories from me in the near future! But anyway, if you've been patiently awaiting an update, I'm sorry to have left you hanging, and I hope this new chapter is worth it! For all of you, thanks for checking out Stranded, I hope you enjoy it, and I promise to try and do better with updates in the future.

(Also, it low-key stinks that Tumblr removed the line break thing from textposts, or maybe it’s just me)

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The school day had finally ended. The weekend had arrived, free for Gwen to exploit to the best of her ability.

She wanted nothing more than to sleep for as long as she could. At the same time, she wanted to relax and swing around the city for a while.

Anyway, there were things that she wanted to check out. Namely, she had a spider-person or two to locate.

Gwen found web-swinging oddly relaxing. There was a rhythm to her motions, although she did love to mix things up. Rhythms, like drumming on her desk or tapping her foot or listening to music, relaxed her. It only made sense that she would feel that way about web-swinging as well.

She watched the city run its course as she passed overhead. Two men got into an argument over a scraped bumper. A woman watered her window box. A group of teens played pick-up basketball around a makeshift hoop ziptied to a lamppost. Sirens blared somewhere far off in the distance. A dog barked. A car alarm went off.

It was a chaotic form of order. There was an odd sort of underlying rhythm. Brooklyn had a heartbeat. The city had a drummer trapped beneath its streets, pounding out a pattern.

None of the activity affected Gwen in any way; it seemed to pass right through her, like the prison door during her atomic disjunction. She wondered if this was how it felt to be a ghost, detached but still present, unnoticed but noticing, trapped behind a cosmic one-way mirror.

DRONING DRONE

Except that she wasn't really detached.

Gwen felt a drone smack into the small of her back. It threw her body and mind out of her rhythm. After catching herself, she alighted onto a water tower and sat down, watching the purple-tinted clouds sail overhead.

It was peaceful outside. It always was, despite the hustle and bustle below. She seemed to rise above it all, leaving humanity and her fears and woes behind and simply being present.

Gwen wondered why she felt so philosophical all of a sudden.

It was time to get back to business. After all, she was going to die soon. She didn't have time for fooling around.

Would she be missed? It wasn't like she had anyone particularly close to her. Besides her family, the only person she could think of who would fit the criterion was Peter. They'd been best friends, had had so much fun together. The insult competitions, the riddle games at which she sucked but he did fairly well, chatting and bothering each other on the bus ride home, visiting each other's houses and meeting his aunt and uncle, sneaking out to the gas station late at night to buy little packs of powdered donuts, trying to figure out how her superpowers worked…

Then he'd died.

Gwen shook her head, as if she could send the thoughts tumbling out of her mind. Death made her morbidly contemplative, and such thoughts only weighed her down. They only held her back. They didn't matter. She needed to bottle up her emotions.

But for some strange reason, Gwen couldn't get herself to completely stop caring.

Was that a bad thing?

Ignoring her conscience, she shielded her eyes and scanned her surroundings. A figure leaped across the skyline. It wasn't so much a splash of colour as it was an absence of one.

Perhaps it was the other spider-person that L- that Dr. Octavius had mentioned?

She leaped off of the water tower and headed towards the figure, well aware that she might be approaching a trap.

Upon reaching the point where she had last spotted the person, Gwen scanned the area and found a strand of webbing. She lifted it and rolled it between her fingers. It felt odd, more like actual spider-silk than the synthetic product that she used. Another visual search yielded no signs of life other than a stray cat padding down a narrow alleyway.

She had lost her mark. She might as well head to Alchemax now and see what she could find.

SIDE CAR

Gwen took off again, heading to one landmark among many. Around her, the streetlights flickered on, casting a yellowish glare over everything and everyone, including the still-smoking car wreck just to the side of the nearby exit ramp.

Wait a second. Smoke? That was not a good sign. She changed her bearing and headed over to it.

Gwen landed on the pavement not far from the car. Muffled whimpering emanated from inside. She ran over to the wreck and peered through the broken dashboard. Trapped inside the car was a young man with shattered glasses, tangled in his seat belt and bleeding profusely from the forehead.

Gwen flipped the car right-side up and tore off the smashed-in driver's side door. The man looked up and yelped in surprise. He started to fumble with the seat belt buckle. Gwen tore out the belt from its attachment point and lifted the man out of the wreck.

"Can you walk?"

The man nodded. "Think so. It's just my arms and face that hurt."

Gwen gently set him down. The young man stumbled briefly and put his hand on her shoulder to steady himself, but he remained upright.

"Th-thank you so much!" he started to babble, hugging Gwen and bloodying part of her suit.

"Don't mention it. It's a miracle you weren't hurt worse."

The man's face suddenly fell. "Oh no, I'm gonna be late for my date. Sonuva… and I was gonna propose to her! Augh!"

Gwen nodded and turned away. "Well, I hope your proposal goes well nevertheless. I'm sure she'll be happy to know that you're still alive and in great condition. Give her a call from the hospital. Have a good night."

She took off and swung towards the Alchemax building.

It felt good to be a hero again. It was always nice to get back into the swing of things, no pun intended.

Gwen did know that this New York already had its own spider-themed vigilante, but she figured she would help where she could for the time being. She had her own goals and deadlines, but doing something good was never a bad thing.

ATOMIC DISJUNCTION

Gwen lost her grip on her webline and plummeted towards the ground some thirty yards below. She managed to regain control of her body, but not before smashing into the roof of a parked Tesla, triggering its burglar alarm.

She couldn't tell if her headache was caused by the collision or by the disjunction, but it didn't really matter. Her everything else ached, too.

She couldn't wait to get out of this God-forsaken dimension. That is, if she ever would.

Gwen pulled herself up from the wreckage, dusting fragments of the roof off of herself. The burglar alarm did not help her headache at all.

Today was really not her day, was it.

Gwen managed to muster enough force of will to stand up and fire a webline at an overhanging street sign. It was funny the way that irony worked. She had just saved a man from a rollover accident, and now she had severely damaged somebody else's car. Maybe she should give up her driver's license so that she wouldn't wreck any more automobiles.

She chuckled at her own sarcastic comment. Her license had taken her too long to get to be given away so wantonly.

Gwen reached Alchemax as the sun dipped below the horizon. She clung to the face of the building and gazed around, trying to locate an entry point.

Something seemed off. Gwen stayed very still and tried to determine what it was. Her spider-sense remained silent, so she assumed her suspicions were either incorrect or not immediately life-threatening.

The skyscraper was vibrating.

She wondered if it was a side-effect of some of the odd technologies that were housed…

Wait, was the dimensional transporter thingamajig causing the vibrations?

She had to get inside.

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[lloronala]

Two wrongs don’t make a right, but they make a good excuse. [ i couldnt choose so i sent both w hoops ]

Ask Memes ;; Sass Edition  ||  accepting

❁ ❁  She had gotten the ‘excuse’ part of it right, but certainly wasn’t a good excuse at all. No good excuses existed when it came to her mother, which was unfortunate.

Silence pierced the atmosphere as she continued to sternly stare at the girl, in front of her a broken frame that stood in between them. Thankfully, not a single shard had gotten to her, & she wouldn’t have been this upset if she hadn’t kept telling her white lies.

‘A ghost did it!’ ‘Pepita did it! It’s not my fault.’

Did she not know that her mother’s number one pet peeve was being lied to? Visibly, the girl was slowly becoming irritated herself as she wasn’t being let go of–but perhaps if she told her the truth, then the discussion could have easily been done minutes ago.

It hadn’t helped that she sneaked into her parents’ room as well, which, for the most part, was off limits unless permission was granted. There was nothing in particular to hide, but privacy was one of the main reasons as to why they didn’t allow many in. Suspicion began to surface as she observed her carefully, knowing there must have been a reason for her to glitch her way into the room to lift that picture frame in the first place.

All she had to do was just tell her why, but it was becoming more difficult as they let this drag on. & if she thought that time would wear her mother out, it was best of her to reconsider that.

“  You have three seconds to tell me the truth before I decide that you aren’t going to have any dessert for the next week o so.  ”

[southboundhqarchive]

MEET AUTUMN,

FULL NAME › Autumn Caeden Lockhart AGE › thirty two GENDER › Cis woman (She/Her/Hers) FROM › Los Angeles, California RESIDENCE › Midtown neighborhood OCCUPATION › employee of the Dominelli Funeral Home, author NOW PLAYING › Him by Lily Allen

BIOGRAPHY,

trigger warnings: child abuse, brief mention of infidelity, death

Autumn never knew her biological mother or father, and her mother was actually correct: she didn’t miss them – nothing felt missing. Her mother’s presence was so grand, it took the place of a father and of two biological parents… then again, the live-in maid and nanny helped fill said roles. Alas, as her mother had always said, nobody had wanted her quite like she had.

“I jumped through hoops for you, Autumn! Do you know what they always told me? They told me I couldn’t handle a child just because I was single and always busy – can you believe that? I told them I would give you the best life with the best luxuries. ‘I am Irene Caeden,’ I’d remind them, ‘I am the last one of the greats.’ If it weren’t for your uncle Nel… Next time you refuse to listen to me, give me the respect I deserve, your punishment will be much worse than just helping Gladys scrub the floor! – Oh, by the way, you missed a spot.”

Since she was old enough to understand exactly what ‘publicity stunts’ were, Autumn had always had a sneaking suspicion that she had been nothing more to Irene. Irene always said the kind of mothering she practiced was the kind that her own mother never had – a mixture of love and discipline. “You’re lucky I love you,” she would tell Autumn. – And, you know, there were times Autumn believed that, maybe, just maybe, Irene – ‘Momma Hen’ – did love her. She always had the best birthdays and Momma Hen was always so kind to her during them! Of course, there were always paparazzi there… and, of course, afterwards, Irene would request she only pick out her favorite toy a let her donate the rest… but that was for a good cause!

That being said, there were also the times that it felt she was the one doing things wrong – that Momma Hen was in the right. Every once in a while, Autumn would play a game she simply called ‘Momma Hen’ when Irene was out. During this game, she would impersonate Irene. She never meant it as malice – she would simply give a fake acceptance speech to her dolls or wear one of her mother’s strings of pearl. Perhaps she’d repeat some dialogue her mother had in one of her movies, then let her dolls play the opposite roles. She admired Irene, truly, so when she was scolded for acting like her, she couldn’t help but believe Irene was in the right.

Oh! But then there were the friendly competitions they had. Be they seeing who could get to the other side of the pool faster, racing down the driveway and back, or even something as… not physical as chess. Oh, Irene was always so jovial during these! That is, up until Autumn would put up a protest. Her legs (and arms) were tired – she simply couldn’t swim or run anymore! They had been at the chessboard for six hours – she hadn’t won a single game and knew she wouldn’t be able to on that particular night!

Now, if the complaint was something such as her limbs being tired, Irene would be sure to remind her that the world will make her tired. She would be sure to remind her that she was the only person who knew and understood this. She would be sure to remind her that this is discipline. She would be sure to repeat, just one more time, that, the second Autumn beat her, they could go. Alas, if Autumn put up a protest – as she often did – being locked away for some many hours until Irene told the nanny to let her out wasn’t out of the question. If the complaint was related to a game of strategy, Irene would do the exact same – the only difference would be the punishment. Autumn would be made to sit there, eyes open, all night and all day, looking at the board until she found a move. She was not allowed sleep. She couldn’t sneak it, either. One of the indoor security cameras in the house would directly face that spot, and all hell would break loose if Autumn didn’t stay in that chair, not sleeping, until she found a way to win.

And it simply continued with things such as that. Autumn could never tell whether Momma Hen really loved her or not. For as many times as she said she did, her actions spoke differently. The best nights of Irene’s life – nights in which she’d win an award she’d been simply ill for – could turn into her most terrifying nights. She would overreact to what Autumn believed were the most trivial things. She found one single wrinkle in one of her daughter’s shirts or dresses and she would take whatever it’d been on or in and let all hell break loose. Sometimes, during these fits, she would eventually show a vulnerability Autumn was not used to. Hell could bring out her mother’s greatest fears, the biggest causes of her paranoia. There was a stain on the floor – she’d told Autumn to clean! – only, there wasn’t actually a stain. It was perfect. But they cleaned it together, anyway.

They were only ever truly connected when they were both horrified.

She was not the only victim of her mother’s rage, however. Sure, there may have been times she went two days without food because she refused to eat something her mother had made, but the garden was the biggest victim of Irene’s wrath. When she received bad news, the garden was the first place she went – cutting the roses, bringing axes to trees – it was all very cathartic. Autumn was tasked with picking up the fallen branches and stems. And Autumn thanked god that she wasn’t the garden.

When Autumn graduated high school, she got married to a kid who went by the name Mark. Irene didn’t like Charlie… even though it was the 2000s, she still considered him ‘too hippie’ – too much of a free-thinker and idealist. “We can’t afford idealists in our world.” At first, it seemed a silent antagonism, but she wound up tasking a young girl to seduce Mark. A weak-willed twenty year-old, Charlie fell prey to the new woman’s woos. Irene then told Autumn that – yes, she told her, and if he would cheat once, he’d do it again. Practically within the same sentence, she proclaimed that she had been dropped by her agency. She had always said that her loss of MGM in 1975 had truly caused a hit to the film industry. Sure, maybe they were a borderline abusive agency, but their films were damn good and rarely failed to be box office hits! She could be given the worst script and no one would even notice – that’s how great she was, and that was all thanks to MGM’s previous trust in her… After that, she had always talked about how flimsy her new studio was, but she had never believed it’d be so flimsy it’d drop her!

…but she was lying. She’d manipulated Mark and Autumn in order to drive Autumn back to her house. Her live-in maid had quit – manpower was short, and she also “missed her!” (Oh, she was a damn good actress! She had Autumn for a fool…) She still had her contract. She was still buying excessively. She was still drinking to excess.

Some years passed and, as Autumn grew older, their battles grew even. There was a certain sadistic pleasure Autumn took as she watched her mother fall ill… but, at the same time, they were both scared then. For as much as she wanted to revel in her mother’s decline, their shared fear made it so very difficult.

When she finally did let go of the life she’d been so stubbornly clinging to, groups and groups of people showed up to her funeral, but only so many of them were actually there for her – the one thing that Autumn knew always hurt her mother was being used for her fame. She knew Irene had believed no one loved her for her… and perhaps Autumn could have if Momma Hen had simply repaid the favor.

The will left Autumn out entirely – what she inherited: “You know what you’ve inherited, dear. – Momma Hen.” Oh, but Autumn refused to let her mother win. Before she abandoned her life in Hollywood, she wrote one book – one book that would become a best-seller, the most graphic biography – a tell-all about life with Irene Caeden. She had the last word now. Up until she died, she definitively had the last word.

Following the popularity of the book, she left the city to escape constant harassment and stopped off in Boot Hill, Arizona. There were so few people there, she could be a new person.

This new person reverted the second she began working at the funeral home, subjected to images of her past, present, and future… but she didn’t mind… This new person reverted the second she married the local pastor at the age of 23. This new person most certainly reverted when she had three children. Truly, she didn’t know why she kept allowing it. Being the strict parent in the relationship both terrified her and… came naturally. Every single day, she simply hoped she would never be like Irene. Although she and Gabe certainly had their differences, what to the point that it was a curiosity – why they were still married, she knew he, if nothing else, was a safety net. And she loved those kids.

❝ nobody gets through life on a pass. ❞

CENSUS,

FACECLAIM › Zoe Kravitz AUTHOR › Lucky