#I am very proud of my perfectionistic side for managing to let go

[nerdnag-makes-art]

Constance von Nuvelle, my spirit animal

[storyhuntress31]

Erwin looks at her, composed and serious. Deadly serious. "By now, the certainty that you have been the only survivor of the 34th is absolute. There is no one else that has survived, Ilse." Erwin informs, in a calmed and quiet tone, composed, as he sits by her side once again. "Levi, myself and some of our best soldiers offered to come back to the zone again and search for survivors. Nothing to do except recovering the corpses of the fallen. At least, they will now be able to get a proper burial and rest in peace." He says. His eyes not matching the serenity of the words he spoke.

He can't help but smile softly as she notices she remembers. "You did write it. And yes. I am sorry about that, Lagnar. I know how private are you about your notes and how much you treasure them until they are complete enough so as to be able to provide some sort of theory or insight into titans...but... I needed information. I needed to know what had happened and how had you managed to keep yourself alive for days in that forest. I'm not proud about invading your privacy...but I hope you can excuse me this one time"

He lets out a sight and looks at her. "You kept writing for as long as it was humanly possible to do so... Just...take this as an advice from a friend. I know you and I know you are curious and stubborn and won't probably listen to me in this. But there are quite some triggering lines in what you wrote... I don't think that you should just look at them right now. You need to settle and get your memories back. Recover. And let things sink down before going through this." He warns and advises her. His hand now over the black front cover of the now dirty and deteriorated (but still readable) notebook.

At her words, Erwin blinks a couple of times. She doesn't hate him. She doesn't. In all his years as a soldier and commander he can't even recall a moment in which he has ever felt more relief. But he was also quick in noticing how distressed and uncomfortable she was feeling. "Now if you allow me, I will change your bandage into a less constructive one... Will also open the window a bit ..." He approaches the window leaving it slightly open so the air in the room would naturally refresh and she wouldn't feel so anxious.

" Feeling a bit better? Here." He says taking out a hairband from his wrist and slowly taking her hair off her nape in a clumsy yet useful little ponytail. "I must admit I'm terrible at this but I still hope it helps a bit with the unsetting feeling of you loose hair against your nape. Now... Let's take care of these... "Constrictive" bandages." He adds approaching her with the utmost care, taking the bandage off and treating her with the utmost care as he replaced them, this time with a different kind of pattern to ensure her arm wouldn't move and therefore would be able to fix the fracture but also that it wasn't as tight as it originally was and she could breath and change positions as painlessly as possible. "There you go... Hairstyle may not be my thing but I have always get on well with medical aid and basic healthcare. Do you think I would have made a good doctor?" He asks curiously, trying to lighten the atmosphere a bit for a while.

As she speaks again, he regain his position by her side, his back now straight and his look determined, fierce and without a single glimpse of doubt. "I do believe it. And I don't think it was your mind playing any tricks. You kept writing until the very last moment. I know how much of a perfectionist you are when it comes to research and investigation. How passionate you are about it. On top of it... You also perfectly described your feelings, surroundings...the previous talks with that titan...how you ended up losing your temper. In chronical order. No gaps, no doubts not a single incoherence. It is impossible that you made it up yourself"

He takes her hand softly. In a tender, comforting gesture to also help her regain some sense of reality "Everything you wrote, as hard and triggering and incredible as it may sound. Was real. There are talking titans. You found the very first one of them. There is a lot yet to be determined and investigated about them. But they do exist and there is a reason why some of them are able to talk and others don't."

"I can't fathom the situation you found yourself in, Ilse, not in the slightest. What you just overcame is huge, hard and extremely scary and distressing. But I want to let you know a couple of things before leaving. First. You have no idea about how much you have actually helped humanity with your findings. This will change the course on our knowledge on titans forever. And second and on a more personal note: I am really glad to see you safe and sound and alive despite everything. You are one of my most loyal soldiers and also one of my dearest friends. Welcome back to the living side, Ilse. I'm happy you are here."

@shiiptowreck

Erwin lets, out a little chuckle at her comment. He just couldn't help it. She was always so incredibly direct and right to the point. "I get it, it's annoying and you are quite uncomfortable. I will make sure your nurse made a new bandage. Loosening it a bit this time, not to much, tho. Just...enough to save you from dying strangled. " He stated firmly. With her, he still felt like he can be himself. A bit goofy if he felt like it. They had entered the. Corps together. They had grown together and fought together. Still, he felt fear at his very core. Fear of losing one of his most dearest friends If he revealed his biggest failure as both. Man and captain.

Still, he couldn't keep that from her. The truth. Not knowing how naturally curious she was and how incredibly Inquisitive. So he took a deep breath and started. "I will tell you everything. I will leave you time to process it the best you can. Stay here to answer whatever questions you have and... I will understand your hate after it. I was the ultimate responsible for it. I just want you to take that into account, Ilse." He says incredibly serious now. "Raw and unfiltered as you asked... " He begins. The utmost grieve and guilt painted in his features their weight all combined crushing his very soul and heart as he speaks.

"The 34th expedition outside the walls has been my biggest failure as a captain and commander. The expedition was working reasonably well till we made to an area played of titans. The entirety of your flank was mercilessly massacred by them with almost no time for reaction. We learnt from your notebook that you lost your horse and 3D maneuver Gear, and that left you disoriented and lost in the area. From what you wrote..." Erwin makes a pause leaving her black notebook on her nightstand " You were the only survivor."

"You tried to reach back the walls and entered a forest area. That's when you found it. What you thought was an abnormal titan. It doesn't eat you directly. Instead....it seemed to have recognized or identified you as he apparently talked to you " Ymir Sama" It called you. He placed you inside a tree....as long as you were able to write...he had you there...and seemed to treat you with the respect someone would show towards royalty... "Ymir Sama...Ymir people..." At first... You were taken back by the fact that it was able to actually talk. So your natural answer was to reply.... By asking questions, naturally. " He sighed.

"You asked it why they ate people. Where they come from... Natural things everyone would like to know to solve some of the utmost important questions for humanity.... But it was apparently not intelligent enough to register or try to answer your questions... You got enraged and shouted at it....it started to claw at its face....squirting blood as it tore it's facial skin off. Upon its reactions, yours were the natural one. Flee. It wouldn't let you. As you wrote....it grab you and tried to eat you. Bite your head... Some comrades from Neil wing found the situation and killed the titan on the spot. You were unconscious and almost left us twice in your way back to the walls.... You were taken into custody by the military police and it took us almost a week to get your release."

He couldn't help to scratch his nape, feeling incredibly lost and uncomfortable for the first time he can recall in quite a long time "we managed to get your Notebook back as well, without them getting to read it. I know this is not of importance in this precise moment. But you have made a major discovery for humanity. This could change everything. Still that doesn't erase the fact that I miscalculated the amount of titans within the area and almost got the whole expedition but you killed on the spot."

"The notebook is here. All your notes have been protected and copied carefully in case the notebook gets eventually damaged. You will now have all the time in the world to read through it. Mourn the fallen ones.... Write to your family... Of have someone write them for you while you recover. No one is expecting you to jump back into action immediately.... Most of us still haven't fully processed what has happened. And as I told you.... You asked for it raw and unfiltered. I offered it to you as you asked. To be clear on the matter: you are the sole survivor of the 34th expedition outside the walls and an abnormal talking titan almost ate you raw."

He stands up, looking at her "Feel free to hate me from this day on if that offers your heart some peace. I know that I the minimum I deserve. I will carry it with me until my last day. As I was the one in charge. The one entrusted with all your precious lives. The one that couldn't protect any of them, as well. As I told you... If you still can bear to look at my face...I will answer any question you have... Any need. Just say it. And you will have it done, Lagnar."

He states. Offering her their salute. Serious, formal, distant. He was now the commander. The responsible and the officer in charge. Still his inner self was absolutely terrified to loss the one person in his current life that was able to give his heart and soul something similar to sunlight. He was afraid of loosing his friend. This person that had inadvertently gotten closer and closer to him and to his heart. Having by now, with a single word, the power to completely destroy his heart and feelings and shattering it into a million pieces. Feelings that from now on, due to what has happened he might now never be able to confess or even talk about.

@shiiptowreck

[bvidzsoo]

No one like you

 Author: bvidzsoo

 Warnings: light swearing, overload of fluff for the light hearted

 Pairing: Kim Mingyu x female reader

 Word count: 15, 074 

 Summary:  On a very important day you get a call from your sister asking you to babysit her daughter. She knows how important the project is for you and wouldn’t have bothered to ask you if it really wasn’t urgent. And you know that, so you reassure her that you’ll babysit Jieun. However, you get a little surprise when Kim Mingyu, your brother-in-law’s best friend, shows up unannounced, did I mention he’s also your ex? 

 A/N: Holy moly what a ride this one shot was writing! I had no idea I had the capacity to write something as fluffy as this bUT! THIS IS KIM MINGYU! and I love Kim Mingyu too much, so this is me channeling my inner love haha. Hope you enjoy it and I would love to read your feedback!

       The studio has been buzzing with people the whole week. The new exposition was going well and I was proud that my works gained so much attention in so little time. I have been painting ever since middle school, a small and innocent passion became the job that allows me to put bread on my table every day. I never imagined that one day I would become a well-known painter, it just seemed surreal. But it happened, in my sophomore year, I painted a little piece for a contest and I won, gaining a lot of attention. Ever since then things changed, but they really only changed after I finished high school. I didn’t go to college, like many of my peers, I downed myself into the world of art and went around Europe, researching and learning as much as I could about the painters. Somewhere along the way, in Switzerland to be exact; I was actually taking a break; is where I met my manager. Hansol Vernon Chwe. He had a fine eye for art, very sophisticated taste and unique views. Through him, I met Xu Minghao, my second-in-hand. Minghao was mesmerizing, his mere presence could capture your whole attention. Everything about him was delicate, his taste was even finer than mine and he was ruthless. He knew what he wanted, always, and wasn’t afraid to demand it. Only wanting the best, always striving to be the best. I’m a perfectionist, I rarely let loose and I’m obsessed with order. Minghao and I clicked instantly, it was love at first sight, in a very platonic way. Ever since Vernon introduced me to him, we’ve been working together. Minghao is a painter as well, his style rigid and very colorful, meanwhile mine is warm and homey. We run the studio together, he’s a few years older. It was his idea to work together, to build the studio together, to give it life together. It was his project of a life time, his very own dream, and when he shared it with me, asked me to join him, I knew I couldn’t refuse him. It was great exposure to the both of us and it wasn’t a big surprise of how well it worked.

I was busy talking to a client when my phone started ringing, cutting my words off. Vernon threw me a displeased look, they were clients from France and they wanted a contract with me, some of my paintings would be exposed in their art gallery if I went through with the deal today, but when my phone rang for the second time, I knew I had to excuse myself. I wouldn’t have to, if it wasn’t my sister calling. She had a different ringtone, on purpose, and she knew I was busy today, so, she wouldn’t have called unless it was something very important.

“I’m so sorry for bothering you!” Were her first words as I picked up, eliciting a chuckle from me.

“Yeah, I’m talking to some very important people, right now, Joohyun. What’s wrong?”

“Wonwoo and I got stuck.” Her sigh was loud and I listened closely, eyebrows furrowing.

“Where?”

“On the highway, we are still three hours away, traffic is insane, again…”

“Okay, what can I do?” I asked, already knowing it involved Jieun, my 4-year-old niece.

“Jieun’s nanny has to leave in an hour, something came up for her…can you go over? Look after her until Wonwoo and I get back?” I bit my lower lip, thinking hard. Can I leave the studio in an hour? The event goes on the whole day and I am supposed to stay. But if Jieun needs me, our parents live on the other side of the country they won’t be able to come in such a short time, I had no choice but to make it work.

“Yeah, sure, don’t worry. I’ll go babysit her.” I reassured Joohyun and she sighed out relieved.

“Thank you, Y/N, you are a life saver!” Came Wonwoo’s deep voice through the speakers, no doubt my sister was using the car’s Bluetooth to speak on the phone.

“Sure thing, Won, see you later. Drive safely, brother-in-law!” After my sister and her husband bid me their goodbye’s I hung up the phone and went to find Minghao and Vernon. Vernon just finished talking to the French clients and as I neared him, he shook his head.

“What could have been more important than this deal?”

“My sister.” I deadpanned and Vernon sighed as he nodded his head.

“Well, I made the deal. So, if you want to back out, we can’t anymore. The paintings we talked about will be shipped off to Lyon next week.”

“That’s alright with me. For how long is the contract?” I let my eyes run over the people inside the studio, eyes falling on Minghao. He was standing next to one of his painting’s, a glass of red wine in his hand as he spoke to three blonde females. They were giving him suggestive smiles but Minghao paid little to no attention to them as gazed at his painting proudly.

“Contract is for two years, Y/N.” Vernon answered me and I nodded with my lips pursed, waving Minghao over once we made eye contact. He excused himself and jogged over, a bright smile on his lips.

“Everything good?” He asked with his honey voice and Vernon nodded.

“So, uhm…” I cleared my throat and looked at them apologetically, “I have to leave in an hour.”

“Oh?” Minghao asked surprised, looking at Vernon to see if he knew about this already, but he didn’t.

“Joohyun called and asked me to babysit Jieun, her babysitter has to leave in an hour.” I explained to the guys and Vernon’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Is there no one else that could go?”

“No, I’m sorry, I really want to stay, but I just—can’t.” I sighed and Vernon nodded in understanding.

Minghao’s eyes lit up in sudden realization as he pointed his glass of wine at me, “Mingyu.”

“Uh…what about Mingyu?” I asked confused, looking at Minghao with furrowed eyebrows.

“Call him and tell him to babysit Jieun instead of you.” He proposed his idea and I took a second to think.

“I’m sure Joohyun and Wonwoo thought of Mingyu first.” Minghao went to cut me off but I raised one finger at him, “Joohyun knows it’s important what we are doing today, she really wouldn’t have called if Mingyu was available, okay?”

“Sure.” Minghao muttered with a sigh and Vernon patted my shoulder reassuringly.

“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of everything. Minghao will entertain the guests, no doubt.” A teasing grin came onto Vernon’s lips as he took the glass of wine from Minghao.

“Why can’t you do it, huh?” Minghao snapped back, glaring at Vernon when he took a sip from his glass.

“And this is why I didn’t want to leave…” I muttered with a shake of my head, making Vernon chuckle as Minghao shot me a glare.

“We are very competent of running things on our own, Y/N, thank you very much.” I gave Minghao a look before he returned it, challenging me. Sometimes our personalities would clash together, one more stubborn than the other.

“Chill, guys,” Vernon raised a hand in the air to get our attention, our mediator in tense moments, “Y/N, you should greet Mr. Yoon’s grandmother before you leave, she’s been looking for you.”

“Of course!” My face lit up at the mention of Grandma Yoon, the old lady having been a very loyal customer of mine. I met her through the contest back in high school and ever since we’ve kept in touch. She used to think Yoon Jeonghan, her charming nephew, and I would become a thing. She was really convinced she could make us date, but Jeonghan and I were too different. And to be fairly honest, I’m not someone very interested in relationships. I’m fine on my own, I don’t mind not having a partner. It was long since someone held me in their arms and kissed my forehead softly, but my art required a lot of attention and time that I wasn’t willing to sacrifice for someone else. I’ve been on a few dates since high school, but they never worked out. I blamed them on my atrociously high expectations but those weren’t the reasons for my failed love life. It was a person that I never truly got over, he ruined me in the best way possible, and now I just can’t find anyone that could live up to his level. No one. And it was frustrating until I realized I didn’t actual need someone to feel completed and happy. Excusing myself from Minghao and Vernon, I went around the studio with a smile on my face, searching for Grandma Yoon and Jeonghan.

       The car ride to my sister’s house took a lot longer than usual, traffic at noon was horrible in the city. I was at least fifteen minutes late by the time I pulled in their driveway, quickly getting out of the car, big bag full of supplies almost falling from my hand. I locked my car and rushed to the front door, ringing the bell. It took three seconds and the door was thrown open, a relieved look on the nanny’s face.

“I’m sorry, traffic was really bad today.” I shot an apologetic smile to the nanny and she opened the door wider, to let me step inside.

“I understand, thank you so much for coming!” She bowed her head as she pulled on her coat, stepping outside the door, “It’s really urgent.”

“Hurry, then…” I motioned for her to leave with my head and she bowed a bit before rushing away, leaving me shaking my head. I closed the door and threw my heels off, music coming from the living room. I smiled to myself when a girly voice echoed to the hallway, singing along to the lyrics. I left my green, thin, coat hanging on the hanger and gripping my heavy bag with both hands, I headed towards the living room. My sister’s house was big and beautiful. Her and Wonwoo have a simple yet sophisticated taste. Their house looked a thousand times better than my apartment. As clean as I am, my apartment could be a mess from time to time. Especially my art room, where I paint, that one was always a mess. But for me that mess was order, I always knew where everything was and found whatever I was looking for within seconds. As I walked down the hallway to the living room, I gazed at the pictures in white frames that were hung up on the white walls. The pictures were of Wonwoo, Joohyun and Jieun, mostly. There were a few family portraits from both parties, Wonwoo and Joohyun, and there were even some of me and Mingyu. Actually, the one who took almost every picture was Mingyu. He has had a passion for photography since high school and continued to do it as a side job, even currently. He was borderline an artsy, borderline a jock kind of guy throughout high school, maybe that’s why he attracted all kinds of girls. Myself included.

“What a nice voice you have, Jieun!” I exclaimed as I let my bag fall to the floor once I made it into the living room’s doorway.

Jieun’s head turned away and a big gummy smile, nose scrunched up, spread on her soft face, “Auntie Y/N! You came!”

“Of course, I came, auntie wouldn’t miss any chance of spending time with her favorite girl in this whole world!” Jieun started giggling loudly as I spoke in a funny way, jumping my way towards her.

“I’m really your favorite girl?” She asked with another giggle as I reached her and scooped her up in my arms. Her weight wasn’t something I couldn’t handle; she was only four after all.

“Well…it might be Joohyun, but—”

“Auntie, bad auntie!” Jieun whined with a pout and I grinned at her, kissing her cheek.

“Bad auntie, I know.” I muttered and she pressed a soft kiss to my cheek, so I placed her down, “What were you doing with your nanny?”

“We studied a little bit of numbers, then I wanted to watch cartoons and she promised to make some French fries for me but—she’s gone now.” Jieun’s lips formed a pout and she oddly resembled a little bunny, cheeks puffing up. I laughed and crouched down in front of her.

“So, here’s my plan…” I motioned for her to lean as if I was sharing a secret with her, “Auntie brought some of her painting stuff over…so, after we paint a bit, I will make French fries for you. Cool?”

“Cool!” Jieun exclaimed loudly, clapping her hands together. I winked at her and went to grab my bag from the doorway, dragging it to the coffee table. I glanced at her as I opened the bag, her big eyes shone with excitement; she loved drawing and painting; and her nose scrunched up in the most adorable way as she smiled. She was an oddly mix of both Joohyun and Wonwoo. Sometimes, the two would start bickering about who she looked more like…in those time, of course Mingyu and I would have to interfere, and of course Mingyu would be on Wonwoo’s side meanwhile I was on Joohyun’s, just to balance out everything. But when Jieun smiled, she was the exact replica of Wonwoo, nose scrunching in the same way and eyes disappearing almost. When she was serious or pouting, she looked like Joohyun with her big eyes and delicate lips. Her beautiful dark hair reached her shoulders and she’d always brush her bangs out of her eyes, especially when she was frustrated with something. And oh my God, she was one of the most stubborn kids I’ve ever met. She knew how to manipulate people, even at the age of four, and most of the time got what she wanted. She inherited Joohyun and Wonwoo’s calm natures, never being a hyper child, nor too loud. She could be a little angel but she had her moments when she was hard to deal with.

“So…” I looked at Jieun as she kept smiling at me, “Do you have anything in mind that you’d like to paint?”

She sat on her knees close to the coffee table as she stared down at the smaller white canvas I placed on the table for her. All kinds of brushes and colors lay on the table, Jieun’s eyes running over them eagerly.

“Nothing special, maybe some trees…a blue sky…green grass…something nice.” She mused, more to herself, and I chuckled quietly as I shook my head. One day, my little Jieun, would turn into a big painter herself, making her auntie proud.

“Sounds excellent,” I raised my thumb up at her and she giggled, “Should we start?”

“Yes!” She exclaimed and quickly claimed her brush, asking me to pour some blue paint onto her palette. I did as I was asked and watched as her tongue darted out and eyebrows furrowed as she mentally imagined where she’d place the sky.

“Auntie, will you not paint?” She gave me a quick glance before swiping her brush against the canvas.

“Not today, I’m taking a break.” I answered her as I leaned against the sofa, watching her paint, “Auntie has worked really hard the past three months, I need some rest.”

“Don’t you paint though because it makes you relax?” Her eyebrows rose as she tried to lighten the blue color she placed on her canvas.

“That’s true, but I’m wearing white pants…” I trailed off with a lame excuse, making Jieun throw me an amused glance. I giggled when she shook her head, it made me feel like I was the kid and she was the adult. Jieun, sometimes, would act really mature for her age, saying meaningful things without realizing the weight of her words. Mingyu always blamed it on Wonwoo and Joohyun, who would never fail to remind their daughter certain things that would form her into a decent human being later on in life.

“I’m so excited!” Jieun giggled as she pointed at the yellow paint, and I took and pushed some of it onto her palette.

“Do you like painting so much?” I chuckled and Jieun nodded, “That makes auntie really happy!”

“Yes but no!” She exclaimed and I raised my eyebrows at her as she attempted to paint a big sun onto the blue sky she just painted, “Uncle is coming over too!”

My eyebrows furrowed as I looked surprised at the little girl sitting next to me, Mingyu is coming over?

“Did you speak to mommy and daddy, Jieun?”

“Yes, they said uncle Mingyu couldn’t make it in time so they will ask you to come instead.” She hummed and grinned at me before turning back to her canvas.

“Ah, so Mingyu isn’t really coming over…” I let out a sigh, pleased to hear he wouldn’t show up today. I haven’t seen him in over a month, and meanwhile it was a long time, it was actually refreshing. I didn’t have much time to spend time with my family as I was busy with the studio and the project Minghao and I have been working on. Mingyu was considered family, even though he wasn’t related to anyone. It’s just the way it is, Wonwoo and him grew up together, it was only natural Wonwoo considered him his brother. So that made him, indirectly, Joohyun’s brother-in-law and my…well, brother-in-law? I wasn’t really sure, it didn’t matter, I didn’t consider Mingyu really family either way. It was just weird, to look at him and think ‘oh yeah, he’s like my bro’, because we have dated in high school before, for two years. Two years of bliss and pure happiness, two years I wish I could time travel back to.

“But uncle is still coming over though…” Jieun muttered to herself and my eyebrows furrowed, but I ignored her comment. She just misunderstood what her mom and dad told her. Mingyu couldn’t make it today, so they called me instead. Just like I suspected, I knew Joohyun wouldn’t have bothered me if she had other options.

Painting the canvas went well and in-an-hour Jieun was finished, happy and proud of her work. She asked me to critically asses her painting and so I did, entertaining my little niece furthermore, her giggles filling the living room. She was so loud that I didn’t even hear the front door opening, a mistake on my part as I forgot to lock it, and the deep voice made me jump upon I heard it.

“And what do we have here…” My eyes were wide as my heart beat quickly, a loud squeal leaving Jieun’s lips before he was up on her feet, dashing towards the giant standing in the doorway. Mingyu was grinning down widely at Jieun as he scooped her up in his strong, and well-built, arms, his sharp canines showing off when his smile widened more. His black hair was disheveled, probably because he continuously runs his hand through it, and the sides stuck to his face, still wet. He was wearing black shorts that reached his knees and a sleeveless blue loose tank top, a silver chain dangling from his neck. I quickly caught myself ogling him and huffed as I rose to my feet, arms crossing in front of my chest. Truly, who knew not seeing him for a month would make him look more attractive? Mingyu, no doubt, had an incredible glow up since high school. If he would’ve looked like this during high school too, I’m sure all the girls would’ve lined up in front of his classroom to bring him all sorts of things. But even as handsome as he was now, I found him plain. Maybe because I’ve known him for a long time now, and don’t get me wrong, plain not in a bad way…he was just, plain, transparent.

“Look how excited you are to see uncle!” Mingyu teased Jieun as he poked her stomach, eliciting a loud shriek. I couldn’t help it but smile, having a big weakness for Mingyu and Jieun together. And alone, just…when it came to Mingyu, after all those years, he was still my one and only weakness. It amazed me how I never got over him one hundred percent, I just couldn’t. But I didn’t want to either, not when his flaws seemed perfect too.

“Because I love uncle!” Jieun grinned at Mingyu, nose scrunching up making Mingyu giggle.

“Of course, you love me! I’m the best uncle ever!” Jieun cheered with Mingyu as he started dancing around with her still in his arms, Jieun poking Mingyu’s cheek.

“Finally, uncle and auntie are together!” Jieun cried out as Mingyu started tickling her sides, making her laughter echo loudly in the house. It seemed like realization dawned on him upon he heard Jieun’s words, he seemed to realize that there was another person there with them, standing a few feet away, smiling at them. Mingyu stopped moving and Jieun giggled quietly, trying to catch her breath from being tickled, throwing her arms around Mingyu’s neck to give him a tight hug. Mingyu’s gaze locked with mine and I kept my smile on as he returned it.

“Look who finally showed up!” He teased and put Jieun down, acting as if his muscles were sore from holding her and he earned a light slap from Jieun.

“Well, hello,” I said with a chuckle as Mingyu walked further inside the living room, headed my direction, “Long time no see, old friend.”

“A month, to be exact.” Mingyu said, suddenly serious, as he stopped in front of me, “Are you ignoring us now?”

“As if you don’t know…” I rolled my eyes and undid my arms that were in front of my chest, to turn and walk away, but Mingyu was fast and he was already pulling me in a hug. His body was bigger than mine and whenever he hugged me, I felt like I was melting into him, disappearing from the world. This time wasn’t different, in fact, it felt like his body swallowed mine all up as he gripped me tightly. One month was really that long of a time, huh. I returned the hug, suddenly realizing his tank top was damp and he didn’t smell exactly the most pleasant, at least his usual cologne was less strong, “I was busy with the studio and—are you sweating?”

“Right now?” Mingyu started laughing and his chest rocked against mine, my eyes widened, realization hitting me. He just finished work!

“Ew, Kim Mingyu, get off!” I shrieked and tried to wrestle myself out of his bear hug, but he squeezed harder and started laughing louder and louder, “You’re sweaty, no, stop!”

“Too late, dummy!” He said while laughing and twirled me around, very amused that I couldn’t get away from him.

“Don’t make me kneel you where the sun doesn’t shine!” I threatened with a deadly voice and in two second, he let go of me, “You’re disgusting!”

“That’s not something nice to say to someone, auntie…” We heard Jieun in the background say very lightheartedly.

“That’s right, Jieunie…” Mingyu said with a pout, leaning his face closer to mine. I quickly pushed it back and it made Mingyu snort before he glanced at the canvas on the coffee table.

“Oh! Did you paint this Jieun?” He asked, eyes wide and mouth open.

“Do you like it?” Jieun asked happily, bouncing on her toes.

“Love it! It’s so beautiful!”

“Thank you!” Jieun giggled and I patted her head as she came to stand by my side, grinning at Mingyu, “Next time I could paint you!”

“Oh, uncle would love that!” Mingyu winked at Jieun playfully as he looked back at me, “Missed you, Y/N.”

My heartbeat quickened and I snorted, very unladylike, as I rolled my eyes, “Yeah, sure…Can’t say I missed you very much, I guess—Yeah, kinda? A bit, yeah, I missed you too, idiot.”

“Wow,” Mingyu breathed out, an amused smile on his lips, “That sounded like you got a brain malfunction, glad to see I still make you flustered, Bae.”

“Don’t call me Bae.” I snapped at him, eyes narrowing as Mingyu went to the doorway, picking up his discarded backpack.

“Isn’t that your family name, Bae?” A sneaky smirk crossed his lips, he knew what he was doing. Of course, that is my family name but he is using it knowing it has double meaning.

“Go take a shower Kim, you stink.” I pinched the bridge of my nose with two fingers, making Jieun laugh loudly as she pointed at Mingyu.

“Auntie is making fun of you!”

“Didn’t Wonwoo hyung teach you to not point fingers or make fun of someone, Jieun?” Mingyu’s voice turned stern, but his expression remained light. Jieun, however, knew Mingyu was being serious and scolding her.

“Sorry,” She muttered with a pout and hid her face in my pants as she turned her body into me.

“Go shower, before I cut off the warm water, you dick—” I sucked in a deep breath at the almost slip, it was already bad that I let dick slip, as Mingyu started hollering with laughter.

“Good luck explaining that to Wonwoo and Joohyun later, bae.” He called as he walked down the hallway and towards the bathroom, laughter following him. I cursed in my head as I looked down at Jieun, a big smile on her lips.

“Dick?” She asked with a giggle and my eyes widened in mortification.

“Jieun, no! Never ever say that to anyone, okay?!” I snapped, eyes narrowing at her as I leaned down to be eye level with her, “Auntie will cry if you do, I swear, Jieun.”

“Auntie will be sad if I say…dick?” She giggled again and I glared at her, trying to make her understand she couldn’t say that. How do you make a kid stop from saying a bad word? Help?!

“Auntie will bawl, Jieun, not cry, bawl!” I emphasized the word, knowing how much Jieun hated seeing people cry.

“Okay, I won’t say it at all,” She raised her pinky finger and hooked it with mine, “Pinky promise.”

“Pinky promise.” I echoed after her, biting my lower lip nervously. This will come back and bite me in the ass later, I know it, and that’s when I’ll really be bawling. Especially if Joohyun will be shouting my head off with Wonwoo throwing daggers at me, dear God, what have I done?

       Jieun was beyond excited when I told her that I would have to cook lunch for us now, and she even volunteered to watch some Barbie movie while I do that. She knew I didn’t like other people in the kitchen with me while I was cooking, I always worked better alone. Mingyu was in the shower still, his phone blasting some upbeat song that we could hear clear and loud from the living room, hallway, and even a little bit from the kitchen. I shook my head as I turned on the Barbie movie for Jieun, Rapunzel, and walked to the kitchen while throwing daggers towards the closed and locked bathroom door. Mingyu always had weird habits but ever since we finished high school, he started developing some even weirder and annoying ones, like blasting music while showering. Maybe if it was Mozart or some jazz music it wouldn’t have bothered me, but the kind of music he listened to were men and women screaming and throwing out nasty words while saying them fast, that’s not music in my opinion. But I learned not to question him about many things, his rants would leave me with a headache afterwards, he always spoke too quickly which messed with my brain. He definitely wasn’t a very patient person and it showed in many ways.

I opened the fridge and took out everything I needed for lunch. I promised to make French fries for Jieun so that was the first thing I started working on. I washed the potatoes before peeling them and washing them again, then I placed them in a bowl and started cutting them up into long, thin, sticks. Without realizing, I found myself humming a ballad I heard a while ago while preparing the studio. It was a beautiful song about a man who regretted letting go of its lover, realizing too late what an amazing person this was. I could relate, almost, but it wasn’t me who broke up with Mingyu. He wanted us to break up, so I didn’t have much choice but to move on. Something I actually failed doing, only partially though.

I prepared the oil for the fries, placing it in a pan and putting it on the cooker, waiting for it to boil. I washed some vegetables and started cutting them, preparing a salad with some yoghurt and lemon dressing. I placed the first round of fries into the pan and hissed when some hot oil collided with the skin of my wrist, I always hated cooking with oil, that shit hurt when it burned you. As I moved around the kitchen, trying to find the salt that seemed to always be in a different cupboard, I became aware of the silence coming from the bathroom. Mingyu must have finished washing up, I strained my ears and was able to hear the Barbie movie still playing in the living room. I went back to the fridge and took out the meat that Joohyun placed there last night to defrost and took it to the chopping board. I took out the sharpest knife from the drawer bellow and started slicing up the meat into, somewhat, even pieces. I always found the cleaning and slicing of meat disgusting, nowadays, I didn’t even cook it anymore for myself. But Mingyu and Jieun really liked meat, and it seems like Joohyun had in mind to prepare it today, so I sacrificed myself to cooking it, not that it’s a big deal.

“Mhm, smells good in here,” The male voice made me flinch, I always get scared from the smallest things, “What are we cooking today?”

I heard shuffling from behind as Mingyu walked further inside the kitchen, his big feet thudding loudly against the marble floor.

“I’m cooking today.” I said as I proceeded to cut off the excess fat from the meat.

“You really don’t expect me to sit back and watch you cook?” Mingyu sounded amused and I knew I couldn’t really argue with him. He loved cooking and he was really good at it too.

“I mean, I wouldn’t mind…” I trailed off as I crouched down to open the cupboard and take out a bowl, “You know I don’t like people bothering me when I do something.”

“Yeah, and if it wasn’t for me, your first round of French fries would’ve turned into ashes.” I rolled my eyes as Mingyu took his position at the cooker, taking out the French fries and dumping them into a deep bowl.

“I was about to check it…” I muttered as I proceeded to season the meat, licking the mixture from my palm. It tasted fine but I needed to mix it better so I proceeded to do that.

“From what I can see, you do need an extra pair of hands here…” Mingyu muttered with a chuckle and I felt him passing behind me to wash his hands in the sink, “Not that I wouldn’t mind sitting and watching you move around—those pants really do their justice to your ass—”

“Kim Mingyu.” I snapped and rolled my eyes, refusing to look at him and let him see the redness of my cheeks. I swear to God, he says things like that on purpose just to make me flustered. And they always work.

“What? I’m just giving you a compliment here!” He said defensively and passed again behind my back, coming a lot closer and I clenched my jaw.

“Slap my ass and I will cut off your fingers.” I warned, knowing him well enough, and Mingyu started giggling as he quickly ran past me, coming to a stop in front of the cooker. He placed the second round of potatoes into the boiling oil, no complaints coming, unlike from me. His technique was always better. I licked my finger again and hummed contently, about to wash my hands when Mingyu spoke up.

“Let me taste it!” He whined and I rolled my eyes, heading for the sink.

“When it’s done.” I muttered as I turned on the water, hand almost underneath it, when a large hand gripped my wrist and raised it up.

“Mingyu—” I choked on air when he proceeded to such off the mixture from my middle finger, knocking all air out of my lungs. He hummed with his eyes closed, lips in a pout as he released my finger from his mouth. My heart went crazy and my jaw hung open, I shifted from one leg to the other, saliva pooling in my mouth. What the fuck?!

And then my eyes proceeded to travel lower and now I was definitely turned on, “What the fuck?!”

His eyebrows rose and he looked confused as he followed my eyes, which were currently on his well defined six pack. Jesus Christ, woman, as if you haven’t seen men with six packs before! Yeah, but those men weren’t Kim Mingyu…The hand he was still holding twitched and I snatched out of his hold, mustering up my most frightening glare as my eyes connected with his. It took a lot of power to punch his biceps instead of his, very firm looking and broad, chest.

“Go put on a shirt, Jesus, Jieun doesn’t need to see you shirtless.” I scolded him and quickly turned around and washed off the mixture, before he decided to lick my whole hand clean.

“I don’t see Jieun around though…” I could hear the smirk in Mingyu’s voice and I scoffed as I rolled my eyes aggressively.

“Here or not, go put on a shirt, dickhead, no one is curious of your body. This isn’t the gym, Mingyu.” I muttered aggressively, avoiding to look at him as I reached for the towel to dry my hands, knowing well if I looked at him my eyes would be drawn to his chest instead of his face. I tensed and groaned in annoyance when Mingyu’s front was suddenly pressed up against my back, his warm enveloping mine. I hate how easily he could tease me and how easy it is to make me react; how easy it was for him to play around. I knew he only teased me because he lived for my reactions, but deep down I always hoped it was because there were still some lingering feelings for me. Maybe not, he broke up with me, after all.

“You left the water running, Y/N,” He muttered, voice low as he was so close, his breath tickled my exposed shoulder and I tried not to cover away, “Joohyun and Wonwoo won’t be too happy when their bill comes.”

“Yeah, well, how about you learn what personal space is?!” I snapped as I placed the towel down forcefully, wanting to turn around but knowing I couldn’t resist looking at his toned body, I stayed put instead.

“And miss all the reactions you give me?” He giggled as he placed his chin on my shoulder, making me sigh out loud, “That would be a total waste of my time.”

“And a lot of saving of my energy—your potatoes will turn into ash soon, so how about you move?” I raised my elbow and let it collide with his abdomen, not too harshly though. Mingyu giggled again and suddenly a new voice rang through the kitchen.

“Uncle, you’ve finished showering!” I panicked as I didn’t want Jieun to see us like this, she would tell her mom everything and I didn’t want Joohyun and Wonwoo smirking at us the next time we’ll have dinner together, “Why didn’t you tell me you’re cooking?”

Jieun was pouting and I hissed when Mingyu did nothing to move, looking at Jieun with a smug smile, “I want to help too!”

“Sure, sweetie, uncle was about to make some sandwiches, do you want to help?” Mingyu cooed at Jieun and I elbowed him again, harder this time, to make him step back. He groaned in pain and finally put distance between our bodies, when suddenly I felt teeth sinking into my shoulder.

“What the fuck?!” I couldn’t help but cry out and turn around sharply to slap a smirking Mingyu. I started back at him wide eyed as he started cackling, unphased by my slap to his side this time.

“Uncle will go and put on a shirt if he wants to live.” I said with a forced smile as I gave Mingyu a look, eyebrows raising at him, “Or do I have to make you wear one? Like a little kid?”

“Oh, bae, I can do that fine on my own.” He laughed as he walked to the table, where his grey shirt, with a deep V, was thrown down on.

“What is fuck?” Jieun asked, eyebrows furrowed, and my eyes widened as Mingyu started hollering with laughter again.

“Yeah, auntie, what is fuck?” Mingyu smirked once he was able to speak, hid laughter having died down, “I’m really curious too.”

I glared at both Mingyu and Jieun, placing my arms on my hips as I took a deep breath, “A very ugly word that only adults can use, alright?”

“Well, that’s unfortunate for you, Jieun.” Mingyu said with a shrug as he went to take the bread.

Jieun stuck her tongue out at Mingyu and I smirked as I walked towards the oven to take out the roasting tray, “I said adults, Mingyu.”

Jieun started giggling loudly and Mingyu threw me a glare as he paused slicing up the bread for the sandwiches he planned on making.

“Hand me some ham, cheese, tomatoes and lettuce, Jieunie.” Mingyu asked the little girl, watching me still as I stuck my tongue out at him before I started placing the meat into the roasting tray. Jieun pulled a chair to the fridge, climbed on it and started taking out the items Mingyu asked for.

“Thank you.” He thanked her when she waltzed back to him, grinning at Mingyu as she sat at the table, chin in her palms. I grinned at Jieun, she looked really cute. I quickly remembered the French fries and placed another round into the boiling oil, making me hiss when it went on my skin, again.

“You okay, auntie?” Jieun muttered as she threw me a glance, her eyes going back to Mingyu, who was assembling the sandwiches now.

“Yes, yes, don’t worry.” I smiled towards the girl before turning up the heat in the oven and placing the meat inside. I turned around and leaned against the counter and watched Mingyu work. His back was a bit hunched as he is very tall, his muscles flexing from time to time as he used his hands to make the sandwiches and he kept making faces at Jieun. He beaconed her over and let her place the round tomatoes into each sandwich, poking her nose and praising her once she was done. I sighed and checked on the potatoes again, stirring them a bit around.

“I have an awesome idea,” Mingyu spoke up, canines showing from how big his smile was, “Let’s have a picnic!”

“A picnic!” Jieun exclaimed, jumping up from her seat, “Auntie! We are having a picnic!”

I chuckled and nodded my head, looking at Mingyu with an impressed smile, “Seems like we are having a picnic!”

“I’m having a picnic with my favorite auntie and uncle!” Jieun shouted as she ran out into the hallway, “I will go and change! I want to wear something pretty!”

Mingyu and I laughed quietly as Jieun ran up the stairs, her feet thudding loudly upstairs as she went to her room to get changed. My eyes fell back on Mingyu, he was already looking at me, and he smiled warmly. I returned it and before I turned around, he sent a wink. I winked back and shook my head as I went to open the cupboards, looking for a tablecloth.

“I’ll prepare what we need for the picnic.” I informed Mingyu and he hummed.

“I’ll finish the rest of the potatoes, how long until the meat is done?”

“Forty-five more minutes.” I said after I glanced at my wristwatch, going around the kitchen to get the plates, utensils’ and what we else we needed.

       When forty-five minutes were up, the three of us went outside in the little garden behind the house. It was a good day, the sun high up in the sky with a few clouds here and there, and it was warm enough that you could wear a tank top and a cardigan over it. Spring was always a season I enjoyed the most. The pleasure of seeing everything bloom to life once again brought great joy for me. Taking walks in parks while the trees and grass turn once again green is a certain satisfaction you understand only if you experience it.

Meanwhile Mingyu prepared a few more dishes with Jieun’s help, I placed a blanket onto the grass and started carrying outside plates, utensils, glasses, apple juice and the food that was prepared, one by one. Jieun bounced around me the whole time, talking loudly and quickly as she told Mingyu to hurry up and bring the meat out so that we could start eating.

“Jieun,” I spoke up, looking up from my kneeling position on the blanket, “Go put on your denim jacket, sweetie, you might catch a cold in a simple t-shirt.”

“Do I have to?” She whined, lips jutting out and eyebrows furrowing.

“Yes, you do.” I gave her a look that she knew she couldn’t argue with, so she rose to her feet and ran back inside almost crashing into Mingyu when he appeared in the doorway.

“Woah, chipmunk!” He exclaimed, clutching the plate close to his chest, “We almost lost the meat!”

I giggled and shook my head at Mingyu, his eyebrows were furrowed as he turned around to shout back inside the house, making sure Jieun heard him. I sat down on the blanket, sighing out as I massaged my sore knees, I kneeled for too long.

“Stop being dramatic and bring that here.” I said when Mingyu turned back around, shaking his head in displeasure, exiting the house, “You hang out too much with Jeonghan.”

“I don’t,” He scoffed as he handed me the plate before taking a seat on the blanket, “I haven’t seen him in three weeks.”

“Oh no, did he finally ditch you?” I teased with a grin and Mingyu rolled his eyes.

“You wish, he’s my most loyal client!” Mingyu exclaimed, a proud smirk on his lips.

“Is he becoming as buff as you are?” I found myself asking absentmindedly, hating that I was confessing to having checked him out many times. It’s not my fault, his body is eye catching. The whole existence of Kim Mingyu is eye catching. You’d be a fool to be in a room and not notice him, his sole presence is powerful and like a magnet.

“Oh, so I’m buff?” I rolled my eyes as Jieun came running out the house.

“Yeah, whatever,” I muttered, smiling when Jieun plopped down next to me, “Ready to have lunch?”

“This is the best day of my life!” Jieun screeched and I chuckled, poking her cute cheek. Mingyu giggled quietly, grabbing a plate and starting to put various foods on it. Jieun watched him eagerly and so did I, failing to notice the fond smile on my lips.

“This one is for the princess,” He deepened his voice and did a little bow as he handed Jieun the plate, “From your loyal servant, Kim Mingyu.”

“No!” Jieun giggled, taking the plate excitedly, “You are uncle Mingyu! Not my servant!”

“Let me spoil you for a second, Jieun…” Mingyu said with a sigh, grabbing another plate. I handed Jieun her fork, she still struggled with her chopsticks, and placed a napkin on her lap.

“Don’t stain your pretty skirt, okay?” I asked and brushed her bangs out of her eyes.

“Don’t pressure her, Y/N,” Mingyu shot me a look, “Don’t worry about that, Jieunie, just eat freely!”

“You really do spoil her too much…” I chuckled, leaning forward to grab a plate but Mingyu slapped my hand away, “No wonder Joohyun complains about you.”

“She does?!” Mingyu made an offended sound and I watched as the, now, plate full of food was handed at me.

“Thank you.” I muttered with a smile, suddenly feeling shy at the look he was giving me. I looked away and turned my head quickly, reaching for my chopsticks. Mingyu remained quiet and I could feel him still looking at me but Jieun spoke up.

“The French fries are so good!” She exclaimed, making a ‘mm’ sound as she stuffed her mouth with more, “You cook better than mommy and daddy!”

“We do?” I asked with a laugh, glancing at Mingyu, who was smiling smugly.

“Of course, we do!” He gave me a look, “You’re sitting next to Korea’s biggest chef!”

“You wish.” I snorted meanwhile Jieun started giggling, shooting finger guns at Mingyu who winked back at her. It was heartwarming to see Mingyu and Jieun interact, their personalities were weirdly quite similar. Except, Mingyu was acting like a child sometimes as an adult and Jieun was still a child, she had an excuse. I liked spending my time with the two, I felt refreshed and full of positive energy afterwards. Even Mingyu’s teasing could feel pleasant after a long and tiring day at the studio.

“How’s the studio going?” My ears perked up when Mingyu spoke up, eyes on me.

“Oh, pretty well,” I said after swallowing, “The exposition is going well, I wish I was there…”

“Yeah, sorry,” Mingyu scratched his chin, shooting me an apologetic smile, “I thought I wouldn’t be able to come look after Jieun today, that’s why I told Joohyun to ask you. I had three more clients that were supposed to come in but Jeonghan is apparently sick, the other pulled a muscle two days ago and can barely walk and well the third one—I forgot.”

“You always forget things, uncle…” Jieun said with a giggle, dipping her French fry into ketchup. I leaned over the bowls placed in front of me on the blanket and grabbed the one with the salad.

“You have to eat vegetables to stay healthy, Jieun, not just junk food.” I said as I pushed a bit of the salad on Jieun’s plate, making her scrunch up her nose in disgust.

“You’re like dad, ew.” She muttered, shooting me a cute glare. I giggled and put the bowl down, turning towards Mingyu.

“I get it, don’t worry…” I reassured him with a smile, eating more of the meat from my plate, “I just worked so hard for this exposition and—you know Vernon and Minghao! They always find something to disagree on and to be honest, I hope they can keep it together at least until the event is over…”

Mingyu’s eyebrows furrowed as he nodded in understanding and he placed his right hand on my thigh, giving it a small squeeze, “Don’t worry, Vernon and Minghao know how much this means to you. And, besides, they would be jeopardizing themselves too if they fuck up, so…maybe that’ll make you sleep better at night—”

I started laughing, loudly, as I squeezed my eyes shut the food still in my mouth. Mingyu paused talking and his eyebrows were raised as he exchanged glances with a confused looking Jieun. It made me laugh more and I had to place my plate down and swallow carefully, my body rocking with laughter.

“Uh—I’m sure what I said wasn’t that funny—” And then Jieun started laughing too and I couldn’t help it but laugh harder. Jieun was clapping her hands excessively as she kept pointing her finger at Mingyu’s face, unable to say much.

“Un—uncle—you—” I tried to take deep breaths and calm down. Mingyu’s confused face turned into an angry expression, plate sitting on his thigh, as he crossed his arms in front of broad chest.

“What.” He snapped, eyes falling on me now that I stopped laughing.

“You—” I took a deep breath, calming my racing heart and clutching my stomach, “Have salad stuck between your front teeth, I’m sorry—”

I started giggling again and Mingyu’s eyes widened as he started chuckling, sticking his finger in his mouth to take care of the stray salad stuck between his teeth.

“Ew, uncle!” Jieun screeched, closing her eyes, “Cover your mouth when you do that!”

“Yeah, did your parents never teach you that’s disgusting?” I threw him a disgusted look and Mingyu grinned once he cleaned his teeth.

“You dared to laugh, at me,” He pointed at himself, straightening his back, “The great, Kim Mingyu?”

“Please…” I rolled my eyes with a scoff and gave Jieun a look, a look she returned with an amused grin.

“You shall face the punishment now!” I scoffed again and Mingyu leaned over the food and started poking Jieun’s sides, making her laugh again. She swatted at his fingers, throwing him a glare when he stopped.

“That’s not funny…” She muttered to herself as she resumed eating and I chuckled about to eat as well, when I felt a jab in my side.

“You don’t want to do this, Kim Mingyu,” I warned him, pointing a chopstick at him, “We both know you are more ticklish…”

“A punishment is a punishment, bae.” I rolled my eyes at the nickname but of course, Mingyu quickly started tickling my side and I started jabbing him with my chopstick wherever I could.

“Fight, fight, fight!” Jieun started chanting playfully and I huffed as I caught Mingyu’s wrist and stopped him.

“Seriously, don’t.” He pouted and pulled his arm back, throwing me a glance.

“You’re no fun.”

“Do you want me to tickle you?” I raised my eyebrows, wriggling my fingers when Mingyu glared.

“No.”

“That’s what I thought.”

Halfway through the meal, Jieun said she had enough and got up and ran to the little swing they had for her in the garden. Mingyu and I remained on the blanket, splitting what Jieun left on her plate and eating that too. Once we were finished, I poured him some apple juice, then for myself, and we drank it quietly while watching Jieun run around. I chuckled when she started playing with a small butterfly flying by, handing my cup to Mingyu when he asked for it. He gathered our plates, the bowls of food and put them on the far end of the blanket, away from us so that it wouldn’t bother us. Mingyu was leaning back on his forearms as his eyes followed Jieun around, a fond smile on his lips. I sighed and glanced at him, my eyes falling on the black camera resting by his thigh.

“How’s that business going?” I spoke, getting Mingyu’s attention. He followed my vision of line and nodded his head lightly.

“Pretty well,” He said, picking up the camera in his hands, “I’m collaborating with a high school currently, so I’m taking graduation pictures of their seniors.”

My lips formed an ‘O’ shape and I gave him a smirk, “You must be pretty famous around that high school.”

Mingyu chuckled and nodded his head, “Can’t say I’m not, Y/N.”

“Right, can’t remember a time you weren’t famous…” I trailed off, the two of us sharing a knowing look. Mingyu nodded solemnly and then raised his camera, turning it on.

“Two weeks ago, I had a wedding, that one was a big hit, made a lot of money!” He said with a grin, looking into his camera as he pointed it up towards the sky. I looked up and saw the sky was covered with more clouds now, but the sun was still shining brightly.

“I wanted to ask you to come to our studio for today, but Vernon and Minghao apparently booked a really famous photographer so, you know…I didn’t want to say no to them…”

“Yeah, that’s fine!” Mingyu shrugged and started grinning as he took pictures of Jieun, “Your events are way too prestigious, I might have turned down your offer either way.”

“No, you wouldn’t have, Mingyu.” I chuckled, raising my eyebrows and making him glance at me.

“You sound so sure…why not?”

“Because it’s me asking.” Mingyu’s finger paused mid-air and he gulped before nodding his head wordlessly. It’s moments like this one that give me hope, hope that he still feels something for me. Even if it’s been five years. It was enough time for us to get over the other, but having to spend so much time together again made me realize that I wasn’t even far from being over him. Maybe it’s the memories we share, the time spent together, the pleasant moments, the hardships or the person I shaped into while being with him, but it was really hard to look at him and not feel something more than just platonic feelings. It came as a shock after we finished high school to find out that Joohyun and Wonwoo have been dating for two years in secret. No one ever saw it coming, they never left any hints for us to pick up on, it just seemed like they got along due to Mingyu and I dating and always being together. Turns out, they were dating too at the same time with us, except their relationship worked out. And I couldn’t have been happier, they were perfect for each other and they blessed us with little Jieun, the sweetest kid. When Jieun turned two, Joohyun and Wonwoo decided to get married and tie the knot for a lifetime. I was a little jealous when we got the news of their marriage, I always thought I’d be the one to get married first as Joohyun was closed off and wasn’t ever interested in dating or having a family. I guess it was just a matter of time and person.

My eyes widened when the camera made a sound, this time directed at me. Mingyu was grinning as he kept snapping picture after picture and I raised my middle finger at him while sticking my tongue out.

“Hey!” He gave me a glare before turning the camera back to Jieun, snapping a picture of her as she was playing with the flowers, making a crown for herself, “Look at this!”

Mingyu’s canines showed again as his grin spread bigger, he scooted closer, “Joohyun will love this shot!”

It was a close up of Jieun, she was crouched down with yellow flowers in her hands, her dark hair falling around her shoulders and lips in a soft pout. I smiled and looked at Mingyu, “Why don’t you drop the gym and turn into a professional photographer? You are so talented.”

“Y/N,” He gave me a grin and a scoff, as if I already knew the answer, “You know photography is just a hobby for me—”

“Doesn’t it pay better than that smelly gym you work at?” I interrupted him with my eyebrows raised. He chuckled and shook his head as he turned around to take more pictures of the nature.

“Smelly or not, I really like working there…” He muttered and Jieun shrieked, alerting us.

“Jieun?” I asked loudly, eyebrows raised when she turned around, she was holding something brown between her fingers.

“It’s a caterpillar!” She exclaimed excitedly, waving the small animal between her fingers.

“Say hi and put it back into the earth, okay?” I called back and Mingyu snorted as he looked up from his camera.

“This one goes for Wonwoo…” He grinned to himself, looking at me, “His daughter ain’t a pussy like your sister—”

“Mingyu!” I threw him a glare and punched his arm, “Irene hates every little insect, you know that. It’s not her fault—”

“It technically is though.” He gave me a pouty look and I snorted and shook my head. I extended my arms over my head and stretched, hearing the camera go off again, before laying down on the blanket. I groaned loudly as the tension eased from my lower back and I relaxed into the earth, closing my eyes to breathe in deeply the warm air. It was tranquil, the moment felt nice, Jieun’s laughter and chatter faded nicely into the background. I let my muscles relax and enjoy the moment of calmness, that is until weight was dumped on me. I yelped loudly, eyes opening and muscles tensing as I went to sit up but Mingyu’s hand pushed me back down.

“Don’t get up!” He exclaimed, eyebrows furrowed, “Why’d you move?!”

I threw him a glare as I watched him whine more, pushing his ass against my pelvis and sitting on me.

“Mingyu, I don’t know if anyone has made you aware of this, but you are heavy!” I exclaimed again, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

“I won’t get off until you give me the same expression you did a few seconds ago—”

“How can I do that when a man is literally crushing me?” I raised my eyebrows and Mingyu scoffed, pushing up onto his knees but still straddling me.

“Happy?”

“Not until you completely get off.” I gave him a sweet smile and Mingyu threw me a glare as Jieun’s loud laughter came from behind him.

“Why are you sitting on auntie?” She asked giggling.

“Good question, Jieun, I think he wants to crush auntie—”

“I was just trying to take a picture of auntie, Jieun, but she’s stubborn and wants to upset me.” Mingyu said pouting, giving Jieun a sad look.

“Well, hurry up auntie then, I want to go inside—I’m tired.” Just as she finished speaking, she yawned and pouted.

“Five more minutes and we go take a nap, okay?” I smiled at Jieun and she nodded before running back to the swing. I looked back up at Mingyu and gulped as I stared into his eyes, the butterflies in my stomach kicking off.

“Make it quick, okay?” I sighed out and closed my eyes, willing my body to relax and let go. Forget that Mingyu is straddling me and dangling his camera in my face like all those times when we were still dating. The camera went off and so did my heart, it started beating faster and faster as all the memories swam in my mind tauntingly.

The basketball court was full of students as everyone was in recess. I was sitting with my friends on a bench underneath a tree to hide from the blazing sun as we all ate our lunch and gazed out onto the field, where the basketball team was shooting around. All guys were tall, the team consisted of mostly juniors and seniors, but Yuto, a guy my age, made it into the team due to his height.

“Ah!” Yuna exclaimed next to me, eyes following a boy, “Look at Wonwoo! He’s so handsome!”

“He’s a good player…” I muttered as I finished up my lunch.

“He could be the worst and I’d still love him!” Yuna mused and the rest of our friends agreed with her. I rolled my eyes when someone from behind us scoffed.

“So, you only watch the basketball team because the players are handsome?” The voice was sharp and I rolled my eyes, turning to face my sister.

“You’re still moody?” I asked her and she shook her head, coming to stand in front of me and blocking my view of the field.

“No, I passed my chemistry test, I’m feeling better.” She gave me a wide grin and extended her arm. She was holding a small cartoon of chocolate milk and my eyes lit up.

“Unnie!” I gave her a big grin and stood up to give her a brief hug, “Thank you!”

“Yeah, mom told me you forgot to pack one.”

“You’re the best.” Joohyun chuckled and pinched my cheek aggressively.

“You only say that when I give you something or do something for you—”

“Joohyun—” My friends shrieked and both Joohyun and I jumped as a ball hit my sister’s back. She hissed and turned sharply, the ball bouncing on the ground.

“Joohyun—” My friends started but Wonwoo running over shut them up quickly.

“Are you okay?” His deep voice was laced with worry and Joohyun glared the boy down. She was a lot shorter but her gaze could always make her seem powerful and scary. She leaned down wordlessly and picked the basketball up.

“Be careful next time, Wonwoo.” Her voice was soft, a contrast to the look on her face.

“Sorry, Joohyun.” Wonwoo bowed his head a bit, hands extending to take the ball from my sister. She glanced down at the ball before handing it over, their hands brushing against each other and small smiles appearing on their faces. The snap of a camera distracted me from throwing a suspicious look at the two in front of me. A tall guy, taller than Wonwoo, was holding up a camera to his left eye as he grinned.

“Yah! Kim Mingyu!” I exclaimed, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

“Yah! Bae Y/N!” He imitated my voice, pushing his lips out into an exaggerated pout.

“I don’t look like that!” I snapped at him with a glare as Mingyu walked closer.

“Yes, you do.” He taunted, the camera hanging at his side. Wonwoo and Joohyun chuckled behind me and I glanced back to see them lost in their own conversation.

“Stop pouting, you’re too cute.” Mingyu cooed and I punched his bicep as he started leaning down.

“Why do you keep taking pictures of me—” My words got muffled when Mingyu pressed a small kiss against my lips, a smile appearing on my lips.

“What were you complaining about?” He whispered as he pulled back just a little bit, making my smile widen.

“Nothing.” I muttered and as I went to press another kiss against his lips, his camera went off again. My eyes snapped open to find Mingyu giggling as he was looking down at the picture he took, cheeks rosy.

“Yah! Kim Mingyu!” I exclaimed and raised my arm to punch his arm again but he suddenly jumped back. He stuck his tongue out and I glared at him.

“You two are so immature.” I heard Wonwoo saying from behind me.

“He won’t stop taking pictures of me!” I snapped, watching as Mingyu was slowly raising his camera up again, “Don’t you dare—”

Snap. Oh, that’s it, he asked for it. I took off running towards him but Mingyu just giggled loudly and took off too, running ahead of me.

“You can’t catch me!” He shouted as he turned his head before running faster.

“Screw your long legs!” I shouted after him as I chased him around the basketball field, underneath the blazing sun.

“I love you!” He shouted while trying to take more pictures of me, almost falling when he tripped on a rock.

“You’re an idiot!” I screamed after him, laughing when he almost fell, “I love you!”

“I know you do!” He winked cockily and slowed his running, making me think I’d finally catch up. But when he was in arms reach, he sped up again while cackling evilly. I let out a frustrated cry and continued chasing him, unphased by the looks the students were giving us.

The click of the camera brought me back to the present and I opened my eyes to find Mingyu with his eyebrows raised and a small smile on his lips. His personality didn’t change much since high school but his looks did. It’s not like that mattered much, I didn’t like him for his looks, it was his personality that drew me in at first. His looks were just a plus.

“I want to go in!” Jieun came running to us, whining loudly.

“We are going.” I smiled at her as she looked down at me with a pout and I looked up at Mingyu with raised eyebrows. He blinked and looked at me for a second before he realized he was straddling me, so he got off and helped me off the blanket as well.

“Can you please clean up? I have a Yoga class in half an hour.” I said after looking at my wrist watch.

“And Jieun?” Mingyu asked as he started gathering the things we gathered on the blanket.

“I’ll put her to sleep, don’t worry about her.” I gave Jieun a smile and crouched down, opening my arms, “Do you want auntie to carry you to your room?”

“Yes!” Jieun exclaimed, her droopy eyes widening as she climbed into my arms quickly. I patted her back and walked inside the house, towards her room upstairs.

        Jieun took longer than I expected to fall asleep, leaving me ten minutes to get ready for my Yoga class. I closed her door carefully after drawing her curtains closed and raced into the master bedroom, opening Joohyun’s closet. We go to Yoga class twice a week together so I have my clothes here, in case, I don’t have time to go home from the studio. We were supposed to go together today but since I had to be at the studio, we decided to postpone it. Thankfully, our Yoga instructor does online classes in the afternoon for those who couldn’t attend it in the morning. I quickly got dressed in my olive khaki green leggings and matching sports bra, rushing downstairs quietly, to Joohyun’s study room, where we kept our mattresses. She had enough space in her office, so I decided to lay out the Yoga mat underneath the window and quickly turned on her laptop, logging onto the platform of my instructor. In the big rush, I forgot to close the door and I could hear Mingyu coming and going from the garden, bringing everything inside like I asked him to do. I pulled my hair in a low ponytail and took a comfortable seat on the mat as the instructor started the class.

“Good afternoon!” She greeted with a big smile on her lips, her voice raspy but honey-like, “Good to see some familiar faces around; Y/N…”

I smiled and turned on the microphone, “Nice to see you! Joohyun and I couldn’t make it in the morning, we were both busy.”

“Is she not joining us today?” The instructor asked as more cameras got turned on, there was a total of ten people in today’s class.

“No, she’s not at home, at the moment.” I answered her and as the backdoor was closed, loud singing rang through the hallway. Mingyu’s deep voice bounced around the quiet house and my eyes widened as I quickly shut off my microphone, embarrassed when I saw some ladies smiling through their cameras. I glanced out in the hallway as Mingyu passed by the office, unaware that I was inside, as he bobbed his head to his own rhythm while he continued singing. Did he forget I put Jieun to sleep? He’s going to wake her up. But before I could quickly go and shut him up and close the door to the office, our instructor alerted us that we were starting the session.

“I prepared a relaxing Yoga sequence for today, a thirteen-minute-long practice,” She said with a smile as we took a comfortable seat in Lotus pose, “It’s the middle of the week, but we might be feeling burned out a little bit. I know that I do!”

I chuckled as I straightened my back, aligning head over heart, and heart over pelvis, “You can turn on your microphones as we are about to take deep breaths together, let us hear each other.”

I quickly reached over and turned on the microphone, as did the other ladies, whom I were familiar with from other classes, “Good, now let’s take five deep breaths in, tuck your chins, straighten your backs and close your eyes, empty your mind.”

I did as I was told, willing my muscles to relax as everyone took deep five breaths, emptying our lungs out loudly. It was a relaxing motion and it always helped me focus on the task I was about to do, my mind was a buzzing place 24/7. But my tranquil moment ended when Mingyu’s voice rose a few octaves and he started sputtering words after words. I opened one eye to see if the others could hear him as well, but upon seeing no reaction, I quickly closed my eye and took one more deep breath to relax again.

“Let us stretch our side bodies now.” With eyes open, I followed the instructor, breathing deeply still, “This is a great moment to take a step back from your busy lives and reflect on yourselves. Get lost in the silence and the guidance of my voice, trust your bodies and meet me in a tabletop position.”

I smiled and slowly moved into the position, cracking my lower back in the process, “Let’s do three rounds of cat and cow now, everyone following their own rhythm. We are not here to rush today.”

Closing my eyes, I arched my back into a cow position, letting out a quiet sigh when a few vertebras popped, then starting from the tailbone, I curled up into a cat position. I did that two more times while breathing deep, hearing the other ladies do the same calmed my nerves a little bit. I got lost in my own world, finally, blocking out sounds from the outside that didn’t serve me in this moment.

“On your next breath in, bring your big toes together and widen your knees as big as your mat, then meet me in extended child’s pose, with active fingers.” The instructor spoke up, and we followed, “Let’s wake up the muscles in our upper backs while opening our heart space, okay?”

The skin of my lower back and upper back were getting a good stretch as I gently rocked from side to side at the hips, loosening up the tight joints, breathing deeply.

“Make your next inhale the longest breath you’ve taken all day long and, on your exhale, let go of everything that doesn’t serve you by using lion’s breath,” I filled my lungs with air to the brim and paused at the top for three second before sticking my tongue out, eyes looking at my third eye and letting all the air out, similar sighs coming through the laptop.

“Carefully moving, let’s meet in downward dog, but only proceed from a tabletop position.” I raised back into a tabletop position and carefully, knees bent and arms placed at a wide distance on the map, I raised into a downward dog position, heels coming down on the earth.

“Let’s pedal it out,” The instructor said, “Your heels don’t have to come down to the earth straight away, pedal them out first, feel your muscles stretch and when you did all that, grow heavy in your heels and come to a still position for three deep cleansing breaths.”

I moved my legs as if I was walking, in one place, pedaling them out and sighing out when my hamstrings got the stretch they so desperately needed. I ground my heels down and stilled my movements, taking deep breaths. As I took in my last set of deep breath, the floor creaked in the doorway and I opened my eyes, seeing Mingyu upside down from this position, standing in the doorway. His jaw was hung open but when we made eye-contact, a wide smirk spread on his lips.

“Damn,” He muttered as he leaned against the doorframe, “If you only had this ass back in high school too—”

I gasped as my cheeks flushed, the sudden laughter coming from the laptop making Mingyu jump. His eyes widened as he looked towards the screen, and as I lowered from the downward dog, I caught the faint tint of red on his cheeks. The ladies were still giggling, the instructor’s eyebrows raised curiously.

“Uh—I’m really sorry—he didn’t know my microphone was on—”

“Good evening, ladies,” Mingyu smiled charmingly, they could see him well through the camera, “Sorry for interrupting, I’ll quickly head out.”

“Now, now,” The instructor said with a chuckle as Mingyu slowly left, throwing me a smirk that made me glare at him, “We needed that laughter, didn’t we, ladies?”

There was a chorus of agreements and my cheeks flushed again as I chuckled in embarrassment, “Sorry, he’s—”

“A charming young man, indeed,” The instructor interrupted me with a small smile, “let’s try to focus once again though and repeat our downward dog before we proceed with our practice.”

And we did proceed with our relaxing practice, but the problem was I couldn’t relax with Mingyu continuously walking in and out of Irene’s study room and always whispering things at me. At first, he was asking for some books Wonwoo recommended him to read, then he took a seat on Irene’s couch and started reading out loud but in a whisper, meanwhile I kept throwing glares at him. Does he know he’s supposed to leave me alone? By the time the class took an end I wasn’t anywhere relaxed, instead I was angry and irritated. The practice was supposed to make me feel light and relaxed but due to Mingyu bothering me, it didn’t work out. When we were talking leisurely after we finished the practice, Mingyu dangled his head into the camera. The ladies started laughing again and he had a heartful conversation with my Yoga instructor, to which he even got an invitation to her class after he complained about his muscles being stiff after a long day at the gym. When we were saying our goodbye’s, a lady had the audacity to call Mingyu and I, a cute and playful couple, which I wanted to deny but before I could, Mingyu was nodding and thanking her making my heart pump quickly. Once the call was over, Mingyu sat back on the couch and I proceeded to roll up Irene’s mat and placed it back to its place, throwing a glare at a grinning Mingyu. My eyes fell on the book he tormented me with and I took it in my hand and whacked him over the head.

“Hey!” He exclaimed and started rubbing his head, “What are you doing?!”

“What are you doing?!” I snapped, crossing my arms in front of my chest, “I took the Yoga class to relax a little bit but thanks to you I just became more irritated!”

“You did?” He raised his eyebrows and I went to whack him again but he caught my arm and quickly jumped up, “Okay, okay, I get it! Sorry, I won’t do it next time!”

“Of course, you won’t. There’s no next time.” I rolled my eyes and let Mingyu take the book from me and place it back onto the shelf.

“What are you saying?” He asked with a chuckle, becoming amused when I sighed and looked at him expectantly, “I got an invitation to your instructor’s next class and I’m definitely not going to miss it—”

“Hell, no.” I snapped and turned around to leave the office, but not before opening the window to let fresh air in, “So that you torment me there too? No, thank you.”

“Come on! I won’t!” Mingyu whined as he followed after me, closing the door behind me, “I’ll take it seriously!”

“You won’t, I know you too well, Kim Mingyu.” I said with a snort as I started walking up the stairs, Mingyu still following close behind.

“Please?” He looked at me with puppy eyes when I glanced back, “I’ll let you drive me around, okay?”

“As if I want to do that.” I scoffed as I walked to the master bedroom to get my clothes before I head to shower.

“I know you do,” A smirk crossed Mingyu’s lips as he blocked my way, “I heard from Wonwoo you bought a new Mercedes, I just know you’re dying to show it off to me.”

“Am not.” I said with a scoff, biting my lip afterwards. Oh, and how right he is, I can’t wait to pick him up from work and drive him here, in my new light turquoise Mansory S-Class Cabriolet, the next time we are having dinner with Joohyun, Wonwoo, and Jieun.

“You do,” Mingyu cooed and I rolled my eyes as I side stepped him, heading out the bedroom and down the hall to the bathroom.

“Now, stay quiet and don’t wake Jieun, I want to shower.”

“Go, go,” Mingyu ushered me inside the bathroom, gripping the handle, “Relax now, since you couldn’t while doing Yoga.”

“Dickhead—” He cut me off by closing the door in my face and I could hear his giggles as he walked away, his footsteps still loud. I groaned and quickly put my hair in a bun, turning on the warm water in the shower stall. The bathroom upstairs was bigger and it was divided in two in such way that if someone was showering another person could still come in because you wouldn’t see them, as the shower stall was just behind the other wall.

       And there’s a reason why I usually avoid showering upstairs. It’s so big that the person won’t even hear the running water and often times would walk in, it happened with both Joohyun and Wonwoo while I showered, when they newly bought the house. Like I said, they still couldn’t see you, but the thought alone was enough to drive me away from showering upstairs and just using the downstairs shower. And that same thing happened while I was massaging an exfoliating soap onto my skin. The door opened and I heard feet thudding inside loudly.

“Jieun?” I called out, straining my ears to hear the person inside, “Did you have a nightmare and wake up? Mingyu is downstairs sweety, I’m showering, you can go to him—”

“Yeah,” My eyes widened at the male voice and I quickly turned around in the shower stall, making sure he didn’t already approach me, “Mingyu is upstairs, actually.”

“What the hell are you doing inside, Mingyu?!” I exclaimed, frozen as I listened closely, “I’m showering!”

“Uh, yeah, I know, you told me and I hear the water running—”

“What the fuck are you doing inside then?!” I exclaimed again, eyebrows furrowing when Mingyu cursed loudly.

“Fuck, I stubbed my toe!” He hissed and I scoffed as I quickly rinsed off the soap, “And I know, but I was bored downstairs alone…”

“So, you just come and intrude on a woman while she’s showering? Because that’s fine?” I snapped; eyebrows raised even if he couldn’t see me. I heard the toilet making sounds and realized Mingyu closed the lid and sat on top of it.

“Hey, don’t make me sound like a creep!”

“You are being a creep right now, though.” I pointed out as I took my regular, tropical scented, body lotion and spread it on my body.

“Okay, I’m sorry, I can’t even see anything, you know that, I just—” He let out a long sigh and my eyebrows raised as I paused.

“You just, what?” I asked curiously as I let the warm water wash off the body lotion.

“I was wondering, like, I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, actually, you know…” There was a pause as Mingyu cleared his throat before he continued, “Just…after we broke up, you know…did you date anyone else? Like, had a boyfriend, girlfriend, or something…”

My eyebrows furrowed at the odd question, not expecting it from Mingyu, we never talked about relationships or partners. We always stayed away from the topic that involved our personal lives for multiple reasons, so it was a surprise that he finally asked about it, especially when I was showering.

“I mean…” I let out a breath, standing underneath the warm water, “It’s been five years since we…broke up, so…yeah. I had…three…boyfriends.”

“Oh,” Mingyu sounded surprised and I grimaced waiting for him to continue speaking, “Yeah, I had a lot of flings during college, then a serious girlfriend that lasted for a year only, so…”

He chuckled, but I could hear he didn’t take it lightly, it bothered him that it didn’t work out. Something was bothering him still; I could hear it in his voice.

“Well, you know, I don’t know if Joohyun and Wonwoo talked about me and if they did and Wonwoo told you, but…” I took a deep breath and turned off the water, reaching for the long towel, “You pretty much broke my heart, no joke.”

Mingyu remained quiet as I placed the towel around my body and secured it tightly at my breasts, “I don’t blame you now, with this mentality, and I don’t hate you either anymore.”

We both chuckled at the same time and Mingyu sighed as we both stayed put where we were standing, “Honestly, I was a big dick back then. Breaking up with you because I wanted to get the whole college experience—I was a fucking idiot, to be honest.”

“You still are…” I muttered and Mingyu chuckled before he sighed again, “Actually…you know, how I was supposed to come with a plus one to my sister and Wonwoo’s wedding?”

“Yeah, and then you showed up with—”

“Minghao,” We said at the same time.

“Yeah, Minghao, and everyone was fucking confused from your family.” Mingyu continued talking, “Even Wonwoo…I still don’t get what the fuss was about.”

“I was supposed to come with my fiancé—”

“Fiancé?!” Mingyu choked out and I giggled, “You had a fiancé at the age of twenty-one, what the fuck?! And you didn’t tell me?!”

“We met when I was nineteen, actually, but back then I was kinda playing around with two guys, you know…still not over you, dickhead, but then him and I got closer and we got engaged three months before the wedding.” I explained, enjoying when Mingyu gasped.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know?” I asked with a chuckle, leaning my head against the wet tiles of the shower stall, “We realized we were too different? I don’t know, honestly, but I’m glad we broke up. I don’t think we were a good match.”

“Yeah, I’m glad too.” I scoffed and I heard shuffling, meaning Mingyu stood up, “Why did even Vernon show up at the wedding? He wasn’t even invited—”

“Two drunk calls from Minghao and I were enough to bring him around—”

“And then I had to drive the three of you home, yeah, I remember.” Mingyu didn’t sound amused and I started laughing.

“Well, if you were dumb enough to come by car and not with a cab like everyone else…”

“Yeah, whatever,” Mingyu scoffed and he cleared his throat again and hesitated to speak, “So, uhm, I was thinking…let’s go on a date?”

I blinked once and then twice and paused. Kim Mingyu was asking me on a date? Or was I hallucinating?

“I really should have waited after you finished showering, not seeing your face is frustrating.” He groaned to himself and I chuckled.

“To your information, I’m gaping right now,” Mingyu chuckled and I pursed my lips, “You want to go on a date with me?”

“Yeah, I think we are both mature enough to start things over, if we wanted to,” He sighed and I licked my lips, pushing off from the wall, “At least, I want to if you’re not against it.”

“Did spending your day with me make you nostalgic, Kim Mingyu?” I asked with a chuckle and he just hummed. I didn’t know how to feel. Did I still have feelings for him? Yes. Did he hurt me already once? Yes. But as he said, we are adults now, we view things differently now. I’m still unsure however.

“I can’t give you an answer right now,” I decided to be honest with him, he deserved it, “Give me time to think.”

He hummed quietly and I knew he wasn’t expecting that answer and he was disappointed, but he quickly spoke up, “I’ll go wake Jieun so that we can prepare dinner together.”

And he was out of the bathroom, leaving me alone with my conflicting thoughts. Did I want to go on a date with him? Yes. Was I afraid we wouldn’t work out anymore and I’d lose him forever? Yes.

        After Jieun woke up, the three of us went downstairs and prepared dinner together, spending a good hour in the kitchen. But it still wasn’t dinner time so we snuggled up on the couch in the living room and watched a family movie together, Mingyu bringing us a big blanket to keep us warm. Jieun was snuggled up into his side, putting Mingyu into the middle, and I threw him a curious glance when he kept shifting around, until his arm was around my shoulders and his body was leaning onto mine.

“It’s comfier.” He whispered, keeping his eyes on the TV and I shook my head before looking back towards the TV and feeling my cheeks heat up. It felt nice being snuggled up next to him, his warmth enveloping mine and creating a feeling of calmness and safety. If there was a feeling I missed after Mingyu left me, it was the safety I felt whenever I was with him. His bigger body and the way he carried himself and even interacted when he was with me made it obvious to me that he’d do anything to keep me safe and that I shouldn’t worry. So, in the middle of the movie I cleared my throat and glanced up at him to see him already looking down at me.

“Let’s go on that date.” I whispered quietly at him and instantly Mingyu was grinning from ear to ear, squeezing my shoulder tightly for a few seconds before he sighed out happily. I chuckled and placed a palm against his beating hart, cheeks flushing when I felt his quick pulse. A feeling of fulfilment filled my senses and I couldn’t help the smile spreading onto my own lips.

       After the movie was over, the moon was high up in the sky, and we headed to the kitchen to have dinner. Jieun excitedly told us stories about her encounters with other kids in kindergarten and how she kept tricking her nanny into giving her candy without her mom and dad knowing. Dinner was filled with giggles and Mingyu throwing me glances every few minutes, eyes warm and happy. Jieun even pointed it out at some point, asking us if we were hiding a secret or surprise from her. When we reassured her that no, we weren’t, she pouted and settled on finishing her dinner quietly while Mingyu and I conversed about what we did the one month we didn’t meet up, laughing at the memories we shared in high school when one brought it up randomly. After dinner, Jieun had a warm bubble bath and I braided her hair in two, helping her into her pajamas before Mingyu and I tucked her in bed. We were both sitting on each side of her bed, her bedside lap turned on and we chatted for a little while, until she fell asleep.

“You know,” Jieun muttered sleepily, her eyes already closed, “Uncle and auntie act just like dad and mommy. Will you have babies too? I’ll have someone to play with forever…”

Mingyu and I shared a look as I chuckled and leaned over Jieun, cradling her cheek, “Auntie and uncle aren’t like that, Jieun. There’s men and women who are just friends, who love each other but never make babies, because it’s not that kind of love, you know?”

“Don’t worry, Jieunie,” Mingyu leaned closer too, a devilish smirk crossing his lips, “Uncle will convince auntie to make babies so that you’ll have someone to play with, okay?”

Jieun’s eyes opened and she grinned widely as I threw Mingyu a glare, “Pinky promise?”

“Pinky promise!”

“Hey!” I exclaimed quietly as the two pinky promised in front of me with grins on their lips as if I wasn’t even there, “It’s not that easy to make babies—”

“We’ll figure it out.” Mingyu cut me off with a wink and I scoffed, leaning down and kissing Jieun’s cheek.

“Sweet dreams, angel.”

“Sweet dreams, chipmunk.” Jieun grinned as Mingyu pressed a quick kiss against her forehead and then we got up, turned off her bedside lamp and turned on her fairy lights. Quietly closing her door, we descended down the stairs and I could feel Mingyu smirking next to me, his hand continuously brushing against mine.

“Stop giving Jieun false hope, dickhead.” I snapped finally, making Mingyu giggled. He was expecting my reaction, as we walked back to the living room.

“I was being serious, Bae.” I groaned as Mingyu turned on the TV, putting on some random movie as we sat down on the couch, pulling the blanket over us again. We remained silent during the movie, enjoying the presence of the other, and my heart started racing when Mingyu interlaced his fingers with mine underneath the blanket and placed our hands on his thigh. I didn’t realize I wanted this until it happened, and I couldn’t be gladder. Because in this world, there was no one like Kim Mingyu, and he was mine.

My one and only true love.

[robthomissed]

Life With Sammy

enjoy these little slices of life that I wrote based on a song that really doesn't mean anything but gave me the idea

inspired by Sentimental by WMD

Before Sammy

Life was…..fine. You were living and things weren’t bad but things just felt a little hollow. Every rainstorm or trip to the art museum or meal cooked for one was nice in a lot of ways but you couldn’t help but look around sometimes and feel like it would be nice to have someone there to share it with. Over time the light and color started to drain and each day was just more of the same. The small voice inside you saying it just wasn’t going to happen, time to make peace with being alone.

But then there is Sammy. He barrels into your life all big blue eyes, loud laughs, and warm hugs. You soon realize life with Sammy means more…

Laughter

He was laughing at you. This boy had the nerve to laugh at you even after you told him you had never learned how to skate. Sammy was managing to keep his amusement to soft chuckles as you wobbled along the wall of the Blues practice rink during a pre-season family skate.

“Come on babe, just slow down and watch me.” Sammy said as he helped you off the ice after your fourth fall in the last ten minutes. You weren’t one to stay patient while learning a new skill because your perfectionistic streak took over which was causing your brain to move faster than your feet could learn.

You let out a heavy sigh and took his hands as he proceeded to skate backward with infuriating ease. You focused your attention on his skates to try and pick up on what he was doing. Just as you thought you were getting the hang of it, Sammy's right skate caught a gash in the ice and he flailed backward dragging you down with him. There was a short moment of panic on your part when Sammy stayed quiet and still on the ice after you landed on top of him with his head tucked into your neck. Then after a few excruciating seconds, you felt him start to chuckle and you breathed a sigh of relief.

You both just laid there laughing to yourselves for a minute before he said “Okay, not that I don't love having you on top of me but let’s save it for when we get home.”

This sent you into another fit of blushing and giggling which you tried to hide by tucking your face back into Sammy’s shoulder. When you did finally manage to get yourself up off the ice Sammy still looked overly proud of himself that he had made you blush that hard.

Rain

You were sitting in Sammy’s car one night in the rain and just talking about life. Nothing and everything. Solving the world's problems and ranking the best place to get frozen custard in town. The rain is hitting the car just hard enough that it blocks out any noise from the outside world and creates a little bubble in time and space. It is only you two and the rest of the world is far away. The light from the streetlights coming through the rain-covered windows is lighting up his face in the most gorgeous way. The raindrops are casting shadows that cascade down the side of his face and make the shine of his eyes that much brighter.

Beauty

Sammy is beautiful in the small moments…

The way the summer sun brings out the auburn in his hair

The way his hand looked holding a wine glass

The furrow of his brows when he really focused on something

The way he always opened the door for you

The hugs after a long day

The way his voice sounds talking to your cat when he doesn’t think you are in the room

The crooked smile he gives you in the morning

The way he blushes whenever you tell him how breathtaking he is

Sammy is beautiful in so many ways and you hope one day he’ll actually believe you when you tell him

Relief

You aren’t stupid. You know the risks of playing professional hockey. You had seen numerous guys go down with various injuries in your years as a hockey fan. But having that knowledge in your head couldn’t prepare you for seeing Sammy crumpled in the corner after a crushing hit from you don’t even know who. The play continues up the ice but you can’t make yourself care as you watch Sammy lay still. Why haven’t they blown the whistle…. don't they see him? Finally, Torey gains control of the puck and the refs blow play dead as Ray trots out onto the ice. Robby quickly skates over to help him get to Sammy as fast as possible. The arena has gone so quiet you are sure the people around you can hear your heart pounding. Sammy begins to stir just as Ray and Robby reach him and you let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding. Okay. He’s moving. That’s good. Vince and Rouzy deliver a couple more trainers from the bench and then join Robby who is hovering just far enough to be out of the way but close enough to feel involved.

After a long few minutes, Sammy gets to his feet mostly on his own, and after a second of leaning on Vince and one of the trainers he skates off by himself. You stay in your seat for a few minutes unsure of what to do until Sammy texts you telling you they are sending him home but they want you to drive. You are greeted by Sammy’s widest smile as soon as you enter the training room. It makes you feel better that he isn’t flat on his back and seems to be mostly normal.

He gingerly gets himself off the training table and gives you a hug.

“You okay?” you ask into his shoulder

“Yeah babe, I’ll be okay. Just shaken up a bit so they don’t want me driving home” he says after placing a kiss on the top of your head.

“Okay good because I want you to stick around for a while,” you say with a sigh.

“Don’t worry you are going to be stuck with me for a long time” Sammy punctuates his teasing with a poke to your ribs which gets a giggle out of you.

“I think that is a burden I am willing to bear.” you tease back and break into giggles when he sticks his tongue out at you.

“Alright goofball let’s go home and get you off your feet”

Quiet

Sammy has a bit of a reputation for being loud. And he is when he is out with friends or when he gets excited about something but he also has a quiet side. Your favorite times with Sammy were when he was just walking around the apartment in his comfy clothes, a glass of wine in hand trying to decide what movie to watch. It was just so quietly domestic and made your heart do all kinds of fluttery things.

One night he catches you just staring at him while he is puttering around the kitchen making himself a late-night snack. When he notices he just stops what he is doing and asks “What?”

“Oh nothing.” you say quickly looking away trying to hide your blush from being caught.

“No no, tell me.” Sammy says as he circles around the kitchen island to stand in front of you and lean on the counter to block any potential escape.

“It’s- it’s just… I don’t know. I’m just really happy I get to see you like this.” you say blushing and barely making eye contact. Feelings are hard okay.

“ Like what?” Sammy says with just an adorably confused look that twists your gut a little bit more.

You sigh a bit and take a moment to find the right words. “Just this quiet side of you. I love your big and bubbly side but it is nice to know you are comfortable around me like this.”

Sammy looks at you still kinda confused, not saying anything and you begin to panic. “You know what, never mind just ignore me. Just go about your business”

After a few moments of silence, you suddenly find yourself pressed into Sammy’s chest as he tries to almost climb into your lap which is difficult since you were already perched rather precariously on the kitchen counter. You really can’t do anything besides hug him back and chuckle a bit.

When Sammy pulls back he just takes your face in his hands and kisses you on the forehead. “I love you babe. Of course I’m comfortable around you. So stare at me as much as you like.” He gives you a cheeky wink and turns his attention back to his snack.

Pleasure

All the years around various trainers and medical staff must have been what gifted Sammy with the unique ability to consistently find the knot in your shoulder with devastating speed and accuracy. The first time you had asked him to give you a quick shoulder rub after a long day you were not prepared for the targeted attack of his thumbs on your shoulder blades. He actually got a little scared when you let out a little noise of pain after he found a particularly sore spot one night.

“Oh no, did I hurt you!? My mom says I don’t know my own strength sometimes.” You didn’t even have to look back to imagine the way his eyebrows were knitted together with concern.

“No babe it’s fine. It’s that ‘hurts so good’ kinda thing. Keep going” You reassure him while rolling your shoulders to encourage him to continue.

Sammy seemed less than convinced but resumed his task nonetheless. He seemed to be holding back a bit though until he found a particularly tough knot and really went to work on it. You couldn’t hold in the winces and sighs as you felt the tension melt out of your body. It was your turn to be confused when you heard Sammy start quietly laughing behind you.

“Oh what now you are taking pleasure in my pain?” you asked with more than a little sarcasm.

“No, it’s just that I have only heard you make those noises under….different circumstances.” Sammy said with a smirk clearly heard in his voice.

You just rolled your eyes and turned to stick your tongue out at him because you couldn’t really come up with any clever retort. Sammy just continued to look very proud of himself when you announced you were going to make popcorn and he better have a movie picked out by the time you got back.

Struggles

You would be lying if you said that Sammy being out of town so much for a large part of the year wasn’t a strain on the relationship. You were the kind of person who really valued routine and knowing that your partner would be there when you got home most nights. You knew that that wasn’t going to be possible with Sammy and it had actually been the reason you had turned him down the first time he asked you out but thankfully he had persisted and you had decided he was worth it in the end. There were still hard days though because you would come home wanting to cook dinner together and cuddle on the couch but would be greeted by only your cat who was a great cuddle buddy but no replacement for Sammy. On those nights you would call Sammy just to hear his voice and see his smiling face. You were also usually treated to a few guest appearances by Vince and Rouzy who seemed to be ever-present around Sammy on road trips.

So while you still have bad days and crave the stability of a partner with normal working hours you know you wouldn’t trade Sammy for the world when he stumbled in the door dead on his feet but still trying to tell you every stupid thing Wally did and handing you some random airport trinket from whatever city the team had most recently visited.

Promise

Since Sammy had come into your life things had just felt better. You looked forward to getting up every day and seeing what was in store because you had someone to share it with. Sammy being in your life made you want to strive for more. He pushed you to be your best just like you did for him. You both made the other want to keep going to see where life would take you next. You never knew what was around the bend but you did know that you didn’t have to face it alone anymore.

Life with Sammy means more of everything...

[theincuhusbands]

The Jealous Cold Shoulder - (James x Reader)

Summary – James has been acting cold and distant towards Y/N and their sick of it. He was their best friend. The one they always wanted to talk to and their determined to get to the bottom of this, Will things get worse if they call him out on it?

Warnings – Strong Language, Fighting, Kissing, Long, Stressed Reader

Word Count – 1963

I smiled as I snuggled into my new fluffy blanket, relishing in its warmth. I had been so stressed out about school lately, I’d barely had a moment to think. Matthew created this blanket for me while I was at school so now, I get to snuggle up in the library and read my favourite book for the billionth time.

When I mentioned that I was going to go read in the library I had hoped that someone would join me… but he didn’t seem interested. Usually, James and I could spend hours in the library by the fire talking about our favourite books or my favourite TV shows, that’s what made me fall head over heels for him. The way he said my name, like sweet honey dripping off his lips, could make me buckle at the knees. His laugh echoing throughout the room filling it beautifully, but recently, it’s as if he’s put off by the thought of spending time with me.

I understand that I might not be the best to be around when I’m stressed but I guess he must be quite stressed too, with the company and all. With all my feelings aside, I miss spending time with him.

I sigh as I flick through the chapters of my book trying to find my favourite one. Today it doesn’t seem to be bringing the usual joy. I eventually find the page and start reading but it doesn’t take long for me to put the book back on the shelf.

I guess just not today…

My attention is quickly drawn to the hall as I see the blurs of Matthew running away from Sam. I giggle as I start to run after them, sliding around corners in my socks to catch up. I eventually catch Sam and lunge for him, jumping onto his back. All three of us laugh as I gently hit Sam on the back.

We snap out of it though as soon as we hear a very annoyed “Ahem.”

I look up to see James standing with a spilt coffee all over his grey jumper. I hear Sam snicker and look to see Matthew trying to hide his smile. I walk over to James and try to take his cup but he yanks it away from me, just spilling more tea onto the floor and himself. “You three should watch where you’re going.” His voice was stern and powerful.

I was used to him telling Matthew and Sam off but he had NEVER spoke to me like that. “Em, what?” James looks down at me with disgust in his eyes. The look shoots right through me making my stomach drop to the floor. That one look made me feel worse than anything anyone’s ever said to me, well maybe besides my father.

“I expected better from you.”

I cross my arms and snort back. “Yeah, well this is my house. I’ll do what I want asshole.”

James looks at me for a second studying my face. I don’t think he was expecting me to say anything back, least of all that. “Your behaving like a little girl. Y/N. What would your grandfather say if he could see you right now?”

I felt blood rush to my face as I took a step back lowering my face to the floor. The venom dripping from his voices cut through me like a knife. The name he used to say so sweetly, now used against me. I felt utterly humiliated. I look to the side to see Sam and Matthew’s faces. Their twisted in anger or mortification… to be honest it could be either. Sam’s fists were balled up. “That’s too far James.”

In that moment something in James’s eyes snapped. His face fell as the realisation sunk in of what he had just said. I felt my eyes start to well with tears and my vision become blurry. I furiously wiped my tears with my sleeve.

“Y/N I-“

“Get away from me!” I lashed out screaming. James tried to step forward to say something but before the words could come out, I cut him off. “Don’t talk to me you bastard!” I quickly turned on my heal, running out of the room as more and more tears fell from my eyes.

I ran to my bedroom and slammed the door shut, sliding down it I sob harder and harder into my hands. What did I do to him?! I hear loud knocking on the door as someone tries the knob. “Your highness? Can I come in?”

There’s no point in punishing Erik… He didn’t do anything wrong. I stand up and open the door, standing back into the middle of my room. Erik comes in quietly and locks the door. When he sees me his face melts. “Highness...”

He sweeps me up into a bear hug, wrapping me tightly in his arms as I sob into his chest. Erik sighs leaning his head on top of mine. “Highness… if your grandfather saw you now… he’d be proud beyond compare! Think of all the things you’ve accomplished!” I sniffle and look up at Erik.

“It’s not even that that bothers me… he knows that stings and he said it anyway… why would he say that though?”

Erik smiles weakly. “Because as smart as my brother likes to think he is. He really isn’t, especially not when it comes to- …”

I look up at Erik puzzled waiting for him to finish his sentence but he never does. “When it comes to?” Erik goes a slight shade of pink probably realising he’s said too much. “You… Highness” I pull back from Erik slightly moving over to sit on my bed. “Me?”

Erik nods as he makes his way over to my nightstand. He picks up a small framed photo of all the boys, Diana, Saero and I at the beach. We’re all laughing and having fun. It’s definitely one of my favourites! And not just because James has his arm around me. “When it comes to you Highness… although it may not seem like it right now… James cares a great deal about you. More than I’ve seen him care about anyone who isn’t one of us…”

“Then why would he-“

“He’s confused. He’s not good at this sort of stuff. I know it’s horrible but just let him work himself out.” Erik sits beside me gently pressing the frame into my hands. I gently run my fingers over James’s face. I nod slowly and Erik leans in to hug me.

-------

By the time seven o’clock rolls around, Sam, Damien and Matthew have all asked me to come down and join them for dinner. Each time I declined though. I have decided to plunge myself back into school work, working on a 5,000-word scripted essay due for next month.

I sit with my headphones on, listening to the new album I bought. I was about half way through it when I felt a gently tap on my shoulder. I turned around taking my headphones off and jumped in surprise to see James.

His face was torn in guilt. His eyebrows were glued together and his eyes were filled with sadness. His hair was slightly messy and ruffled, a really odd thing for the perfectionist. The sight of him almost made me forget all the anger and sadness. Almost.

“What are you doing in here?”

“I knocked but you didn’t answer…”

“Ever think that was because I didn’t want to talk to you?”

It was a lie of course. I had been hoping all afternoon that he would come upstairs so we could get over this. I had been looking over my shoulder every few minutes hoping to see him standing there however, he seemed to have believed me. He sighs and runs his hands through his messy hair. “I… deserved that…”

He walks over to the side of my desk, perching himself on it. “I’m sorry Y/N… I really am… I just got so… angry…”

“but why?” I stood up from my chair looking at his face, hoping for any sign, any hint of an answer. His gaze dropped from my face to the ground at my feet. “Y/N please come down stairs and eat… you shouldn’t have to-“

“Don’t tell me what to do James.” I warn him. Not viciously but with enough warning in there that he knew I was serious. He nods, still refusing to make eye contact with me. This was too strange. I had to know.

“James tell me why you were angry.”

My voice sounded more like a plea than I would have wish but it finally got James to lift his eyes, if only for a moment. “I… if I say- you must promise to eat.” I nod to him sitting on my bed, getting comfortable and preparing for whatever he is about to say. “I was jealous… you were spending time with Sam and Matthew…” I look at him, dumbfounded in shock. He was jealous of Matthew and Sam? I couldn’t help but let out a shocked simple laugh. James looked at me, his face still covered in guilt.

“But you’ve been avoiding-“

And it suddenly clicked. It was a clear as day to me. I could hear Erik’s words ringing in my ears.

James cares a great deal about you, He’s not good at this sort of stuff. 

and now he’s jealous of Sam and Matthew.

Suddenly I became determined. I had to make him say it. Out loud. “And why were you jealous?” He says nothing. He doesn’t move. He’s silent. I look up at him, I can feel my face burning and my fists ball up as I stand on my knees.

“Why?”

“…”

“Say it!”

“I’m in love with you Y/N…”

I sit back down, in stunned silence. He actually said it. I stare at him saying nothing, almost in a hazy daze. He stares back at me, looking almost terrified. “Y/N say something… please…”

“Why?” It’s nothing more than a whisper but it’s all I can manage. I feel tears start to form in my eyes. “Why ignore me? Why say what you did? Why wouldn’t you tell me?”

James shakes his head looking to the ground. “Because I love you and it scares me… Y/N I don’t know what to do. I’ve never felt like this before…”

“Well, me neither.” The tears start to overflow as a couple spill out my cheeks. James looks at me shocked. He walks over to me and kneels in front of my bed to be at my level. He gently lifts his hand to wipe a couple of stray tears. “What did you just-“

I cut him off by grabbing his shirt and pulling him in for a kiss. The kiss is needy and passionate and he responds almost immediately. My hands wonder to his chest as his hands roam up my body and tangle themselves into my hair. I pull him closer to me and toss him onto the bed, climbing on top of him. “I love you too… I don’t know what I’d do without you… please don’t shut me out.”

James shakes his head as he cups my face with his hands. “Not anymore love…” He kisses me again except this time it’s softer, more tender. I lean into it, wanting to be as close to James as possible. I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him even closer to me. After a while we pull apart to catch our breath and James’s half-smile makes my heart skip a beat. He’s utterly gorgeous.

“Will you join me for dinner now, Y/N?

My face flushes red as I nod, grinning ear to ear. “I’d love to.”

[phoenix-manga]

Precious Glass [pt. 1]

(NOTE: I was going to wait until I made some sketches for the fics but they might take too long, so I’ll just post the story now before I re-edit and add the pics later, I’ll post them in my art blog at the same time too)

There is no one in the Rose Kingdom who doesn’t know of the name, Divus Crewel, unless they live under a rock. The man with the iconic black and white hair and signature fur coat, not to mention he’s always brought his smoking pipe with him to wherever he goes. 

Divus Crewel is a man who has high standards for being a perfectionist when it comes to the clothes he wears; he won’t settle for anything that doesn't meet even one of his standards.

Plenty of fashion brands try to design new clothes and hope he’ll review them, though his criticism is rather scathing and even downright blunt, it’s what makes the products better and boosts the sales. 

But because of his reputation as the Monster Fashionista, many give up and couldn’t handle his brutal honesty. Gaspard was well aware of Divus’ reputation and although he knows that if he approves of the shoes that he created, then his business will flourish from his stamp of approval. But he’s such a soft-hearted man, he still feels like his designs aren’t ready to present to the big leagues of the fashion world.

So, that’s why he decided to play safe and chose to present it to a noble who wanted some shoes to match his newest outfit. Gaspard decided to take the opportunity to travel to the Rose Kingdom to deliver his shoes, he brought his precious daughter, Ella with him. 

The carriage arrived at the noble’s estate where the father and daughter got off the carriage and were invited inside by the butler. When Gaspard presented the shoes, the noble was very impressed by his work that he wanted to invite him as his plus one along with his daughter as thanks.

Though Gaspard thought that it was too much for some footwear, it was a good opportunity to be introduced to more social elites who can help boost his business. So, he took the invitation and thanked the noble before heading home with his daughter in tow.

When the day of the party came, Gaspard and Ella went inside the grand venue along with the noble and his wife. He held with him a fancy bag containing his latest designs to show off to. The entire place was a paradise for the Glaciels, everywhere is a gold mine for new inspiring designs. The ladies with the feathered fans and mermaid dresses, the gentlemen with silk coats and shiny leather shoes, the family of two can’t help but zone out a bit during the event.

But Gaspard was snapped out of his daydreaming when the noble mentioned his name and beckoned him to come forward. He let Ella sit on a nearby chair as he took out one of his eye-catching works and presented it to the group.

The noblemen have gathered around him to marvel at his craftsmanship. While he was busy with entertaining business opportunities, Ella’s attention was on a peculiar man with black and white hair that was lounging on a corner sofa, sipping red wine.

She took note of his red and black vest and the faux fur coat that he wore loosely, she noticed that her father just happened to pack a nice pair of shoes that would make his outfit better by a lot. Swinging her little legs off the chair to rummage in the bag, she pulls out a pair of black shoes with red outlining the bottom part with a red gem adorned on top. She speed-walked to the man, being mindful of the people she might bump into.

As she walked, some of the nobles looked to her in amusement and complimented on how doll-like she was in her baby blue dress. Once she reached her target however, the nobles paled as they know Divus isn’t probably fond of children and most tend to stay away from him. 

Divus looked to his side and was mildly surprised to see a rather adorable little doll looking up at him with her bright blue eyes. 

“Hello, sir!” She greets him with a perfectly executed curtsey, which makes him smirk. This little pup was very brave to speak to him, most children ran away from one look on his face, the entire situation was amusing to him. He decided to play along to see what the little pup could do.

“Good day to you as well, young lady… what business do you have with someone like me?”

“I noticed you wear a very dashing ensemble, and I couldn’t help but notice how it would look more dashing once you wear a new pair of shoes!” She presents the shoes to him wearing a proud smile.

That got the people nearby to start praying for the child, if there’s one thing Divus hates, its people questioning his fashion sense. They thought she’ll never live to see another day after this.

But Divus was silent, he wasn’t scowling… far from it, he was genuinely surprised at the child. He looked at the shoes she offered; they were absolutely marvelous. At first, he thought it was the child who made them, but she couldn’t have. She must know who the designer of the shoes was, and if she does then he might have to grab the opportunity to meet the designer of such exquisite shoes.

“Little lady, would you care to tell me who made these lovely shoes?” He grins at her and she nods her head before pointing to her father in the group over the other side of the room.

Divus gets up from his seat and puts down his wine glass on the table to walk towards where Gaspard and the others are, with Ella walking behind him.

As Divus was approaching, Gaspard started to notice how the others froze and started to back away from him, which made him worried. Did he come on too strong? Was he too forward and has now made it awkward for himself? Before he could even answer his thoughts, a gloved hand lands on his shoulder and he hears a deep voice full of pride. Divus grins at him when he turns his head to look.

“You must be that man who brought his dear little pup into this party~” he teased, not realizing that Gaspard just may have gotten pale.

“I-If my daughter did anything to offend you then-“, he was cut off by Divus chuckling, Gaspard thought he had a chance of staying clear of his radar, but he can’t exactly blame Ella for approaching him, he knows she likes to approach people who catch her eye. 

“I must say, she was quite the salesperson when she approached me! Hardly anyone has managed to convince me to try anything other than what I picked; you know”

That caught him off guard, Divus was known for being extremely picky with his clothes and recommendations are risky unless you truly understand his tastes. He glanced at Ella who was holding his newest design in her tiny little hands, her smile is practically beaming with anticipation.

“I must know the name of the designer who made the shoes”

“I-I am Gaspard Antoine Glaciel, and this is my daughter… Ella Glaciel, p-pleased to meet you, Sir Crewel!”

“Glaciel? My, my… to think that I’d meet members of the famed Glaciel family”

“Famed?!”

“I’ve read articles about the Glasswork Kingdom and their fashion; I’ve always wanted to see for myself but I was always swamped with work… Your designer brand was always front cover of your kingdom's newspapers”

That was so surreal hearing from the monster fashionista, to think that Divus Crewel himself was looking into his business when he thought that his designs might not get accepted by him. He could feel a bit of shame for putting himself down just because he was scared of a bit of bluntness.

He was snapped out of his daydreaming when Divus handed him a business card, it contained his number and an address.

“It’s a pleasure to get acquainted with a fine man who sees fashion the way I do. If you ever have new designs please do contact me. I look forward to doing business with you~” 

Gaspard’s jaw hung open as Divus walked off but not before turning back to him to say one last thing.

“Oh, and miss Ella… when you follow in your daddy’s footsteps please feel free to inform me when you start your own line of fashion”

Ella grins at him and waves goodbye before tugging on her father’s pants, he looks at her with a dumbfounded expression.

“Papa, I guess you were right! The Rose kingdom certainly has a big opportunity!” By the gods, the heavens just had to bless him with a child that’s bolder than a bear. Compared to her, he was a frightful deer. 

He says nothing as he pockets the card and leads Ella to the buffet table to see if there are any cakes, he can give her as a reward for helping out with the family business.

[20moonchild21]

Gif by meッ

๛∙ꨄ Fight

Pairing: Park Jimin x girl!member

Warnings: too much fluff

Words: 1900+

☕︎ 𝓕𝓸𝓻 𝓛𝓲𝓵𝔂, because nothing can separate real friends. I hope you like it ☕︎

ッ

๛匕нє σиє ωнєяє тнєу fιgнт αм∂ make up ꨄ

♕

"You know what, Jimin?" The small girl said angrily. "I don't care anymore. Do what you want to do, but don't ask for my opinion anymore. I am out of this!"

She stood up from the couch and walked towards the door.

"That is totally fine by me!" Jimin yelled loudly after her as she left the living room. "I wanted to do that by my own, anyway!"

"Fine!" He heard her voice yelling, before the slam of a door echoed through the dorm.

He balled his hands into fists, breathing heavily. This was supposed to be a good evening. Just the two of them, working on their very first song together. Usually, the both of them even have the same ideas and expectations reefing to music, but not this day.

"What is going on here?" Jimin turned his head towards the door.

He sighed, and put his head into his hands, while Jin made his way up to the sofa.

"She is just-just...uurrrrggg!" Jimin couldn't find the words to express his ager about the only female member. "She is so stubborn and-and....I don't know."

Jin looked sceptically at the younger boy in front of him.

Usually, Jimin and Grace were inseparable. They joked together, they laughed together and they shared every secret with each other. They were like pitch and brimstone, and that was why Jin cold hardly believe that the both of them could yell at each other like that.

"Let's make this up anytime later. We have an important performance tomorrow. You need to sleep." The older boy said and put his hand on Jimin's shoulder. "Come on, Jimin."

"You are right, Hyung." Jimin sighed and followed his friend out of the living room.

๛

Grace boiled inside herself. She just couldn't get over the fight Jimin and she had last night. She just couldn't understand why he was so stubborn and egoistic about their joint project. If he didn't want her opinion, why did he even ask her to join him in the first place.

She let out a sharp breath.

What made her even more angry was that Jimin was completely ignoring her now, which made it difficult, because the group had a huge performance today. Now, she was forced to pretend everything was fine. She was forced to joke along with him and be all touchy with him.

She didn't even had another choice, because she knew what rumours would come up if the both of them would be all cold and repellent to each other.

"Grace." She heard someone making his was up to her. Of course that argument hadn't stayed unnoticed by the other members. "I want to talk to you real quick."

Grace knew what Namjoon was about to tell her. But she just nodded and stood up from her chair to look at her leader.

"Listen Grace, I know that you and Jimin had a fight yesterday, but right now it is not the time for this." It hurt him to see his youngest member like this, but as the leader he had to make sure that private incidents wouldn't affect their performances for all the ARMYS that were waiting out there. " I want the both of you to mature up. ARMYs are out there, waiting for us to give them the best evening of their lives. Do you understand?"

"I know, I know." She sighed and drove a hand through her long, blonde hair. "It's just....We've never fought like this before, and – and – "

Before she had finished her phrase, the tears were already spilling out of her eyes, dripping over her rosy cheeks. All the feelings were just so overwhelming in the moment. She quickly tried the tears off with the sleeve of her black shirt, knowing that she couldn't cry now. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Grace, " Namjoon took a step forward and laid his hands on the small girl's shoulders. "You know I care about the both of you, and you know that I would do everything to help you solving this problem. But not right now, because right now we need to be there for ARMY."

He had pulled her forward into his chest and hugger her tight. This was the only thing he could do for her right now. So after a few minutes, the both of them made their way out of the dressing room and over to the rest of the group, who where currently waiting next to the stage.

When they reached them, Grace looked up from the ground, just to see two deep brown eyes staring at her. Both young adults looked at each other, and for a spark of a moment, Grace could have sworn she saw a flash of regret or even guilty in Jimin's eyes. Sadly, this moment didn't last long.

Jimin's soft features changed quickly. The corner of his mouth dropped, while he pulled his eyebrows together. Then, he turned his head away from her, starting a conversation with Jungkook, who was standing next to him.

"Alright!" Namjoon yelled and gestured for the group to gather around in a circle. "I want you all to give your best out there. For us and for ARMY, because nothing else matters right now!"

"Fighting!" They all screamed together before the staff gestured for them to go on stage

๛

The girl let out a deep breath when she left the stage, a little while later. Everything went fine.

The choreography went totally fine, there weren't any technical mistakes and ARMY were more motivated than ever before.

The girl lifted her shirt  for the staff member to take off all the wires, earpieces and microphones that were attached to her body.

"Thank you." She bowed her head a little bit, and walked off, crossing Jin's way.

"Great show, little squirt." He said and gave the girl a side hug.

"You too, Jin oppa. Are the others already in the dressing room?" She asked and looked up at him, while she whipped the sweat off her forehead.

"Yes they are. I have to talk to the manager real quick, but you don't need to wait for me." He answered and turned around to make his way up to their manager's room.

"Alright." She yelled after him. "See you soon."

As she walked back to the dressing room, she suddenly heard a soft noise.

At first, she didn't paid any attention, but as she kept walking, the noises got louder and louder. She was extremely worried, because it sounded like someone was crying heavily behind the stage.

In a dark corner.

Alone.

"Hello?" She yelled carefully into the darkness.

As she kept walking, she spotted a figure sitting in the very last corner of the stage. She couldn't make out much, but as she walked closer, she could clearly see his face's profile. She gasped.

Jimin was sitting at an equipment box behind the stage. He had his hands folded in his lap, shoulders sunk down and eyes glassy and puffy. When he noticed the girl, he quickly looked away from her, not wanting her to see him like this.

"Jimin?" Grace asked into the darkness again. This time louder. "Jimin, are you okay?"

It wasn't the first time that Jimin had cried into the girl's shoulder. She had always been there for him when he was lost or sad or just needed someone to talk. He even would have been running to her in the first place, if the situation was another. If they hadn't fought. He simply was to proud to give in first.

"Go away." He whispered and brushed the wet stains from his cheeks.

Of course, Grace didn't go away. Her best friend was obviously in pain, how could she just walk away and ignore him like that. What kind of friend would she be?

Carefully, she walked closer towards him. Jimin, as stubborn as he was, still refused to look at the girl. He tried so hard, but Grace knew how bad he was at hiding his feelings. So when his tears start falling again from his eyes, the girl's heart broke.

"Jimin, what happened?" She whispered as she carefully wrapped her arms around the boy's shoulders.

He tensed up a little bit, but didn't stop her from hugging him. She knew that in the moment, he was simply to proud to talk to her in the first place, and that was what shocked her the most. They were supposed to be friends. Best friends. She decided to jump over her ego and make the first step.

"Jimin, look at me." She gently kneeled in front of Jimin, taking his face in her tiny hands and whipping the tears off of his plump cheeks. "I know you are mad at me, and I know that I was a bitch yesterday. And believe me, I was so mad at you, too, but I want you to know: Don't matter what happens between us, and don't matter how mad I am at you, I will always be there when you need me. We are best friends, and it breaks my heart to see you like this. So please, don't shut me out, Jiminie."

Jimin had stopped crying and was now looking at his fiddling fingers in his lap.

"I messed up." He finally whispered while his voice cracked. "I messed up, because the microphone fell off and I panicked, and then my messed my parts up. One song. One song, and I messed up my line, Grace. I am so sorry."

He put his head in his hands, hiding his face from her again. The girl knew that Jimin was a perfectionist. He had extremely high, and sometimes unnecessarily high, demands on himself.

"Jimin, look at me." The girl whispered and pulled his hands away from his beautiful face. "You didn't mess up. You voice cracked, so what? The people out there don't want to see a robot on the stage who sings perfectly and daces without mistakes. They want to see you. "

She pressed a small kiss on his hands.

"You are only human, Jimin. It's okay when your voice cracks or when you make a wrong step while dancing. Do you remember when I was so out of breath because of all that dancing, and my voice cracked up, all the sudden?" Both of them chuckled at this memory. "ARMY kept singing for and at the end of the day, no one cared anymore about this accident. Because that mistake showed that I am only human, too. So please, don't feel guilty or something. No one blames you for anything."

She pushed her herself from the ground and pressed a kiss on the top of the boy's nose, before she used her sleeves to dry his tear stained face.

"Thank you, Grace. You don't know how much I needed this right now." Jimin smiled sweetly at her.

"It's okay. You know what?" She asked as she stood up from the ground, pulling Jimin with her. "I think it was good that we had this fight yesterday. Because now, we know that we will be always there for each other. Don't matter what."

She held her hand up, stretching her pinkie out for him. He smiled at the girl in front of him, before he wrapped his pinkie around hers.

"Don't matter what." He said.

-------------------------////------------------------

Herr is the new scenario!

I really hope you like it!

Same as always: Any requests, recommendations or other wishes? You know where to contact me!

Mꨄ

[shesawriter39049]

|7 DEEP| M| MASTERLIST|

SMUT/ANGST/FLUFF/POLY AU 

AU SUMMARY- Your husband Namjoon and yourself run a successful Adult Film Entertainment Company called “Onyx” with your 5 best friends from college who you also happen to be in an open relationship with! This is a candid in-depth look at the rollercoaster ride that is your life!

ALSO LOWKEY A RAGS TO RICHES STORY.....

Namjoon, Yoongi, Jin, Tae, Hoseok, and Jimin, all already work with the OC and Joon, Kookie comes in later one as a new hire...and the possible final piece…

DISCLAIMER: Obv this is a poly so the boys are Bi..but outside of kissing and dirty talk I have not YET ventured into physical MXM….

NOTE- As long as this keeps getting support the initial plan is 7 one-shots, one for each boys. Everyone installment will have smut as well as a overall storyline, one that not only ties into your job, but also the OC’s (AKA YOU) special dynamic with each individual member. The last one-shot (7th) will be the first and maybe only one where smut wise it’s all 7 of them, it will finally address how they all came together, and will be partially a flashback sequence. HOWEVER, there will be bits and pieces of the “Characters” lives and what not sprinkled within the “drabbles” too...so those will also be worth reading especially, as the story developes....or at least reading the summaries! 

Kookie will make appearances throughout, however, he is NOT as involved off rip as the other boys…

ONE-SHOTS SO FAR :

AFTER-HOURS- NAMJOON X OC (Tae comes in at the end) - 

ABOUT- Your husband and business partner find you up way past acceptable work hours for the 3rd night in a row! So, daddy has to step in and remind you that’s not something we do in this household. You come before work, in every sense of the phrase!

OR-You're in desperate need of a 2nd videographer/editor, because Yoongi’s in over his fucking head! So here you are, up at 1 AM scrolling through resumes because your that boss that hates to overwork her employees so she overworks herself!

AKA- “MEET THE KIMS” 

PRETTY PLEASE- TAEHYUNG X OC - ( Joon comes in at the end)

About- Tae fucks you on top of your receptionist's desk before you fire her…

Or- Tae’s feeling a little needy...and somewhat high-key self continuous about you possibly hiring a new production assistant...AKA...Jungkook. It seems as though Mr. Kim takes pride in being the youngest within the office! It seems as though your baby boy just needs a little..reassurance…

JIN & CHOCOLATE- JIN X OC (FT A lil Seok at the end ) - 

(5K SMUT WITH A SIDE OF PLOT! NOT JIN’S INTRO CHAPTER) 

About-You suck Jin off…and brownie batter may or may not be somewhat involved because why the fuck not. Oh, Hoseok comes over to drop off weed…and welll….doesn't exactly leave

Or- His assistants birthday is tomorrow and she’s insisted on him making his infamous “Dizzy Brownies” AKA…pot brownies and Jin being the perfectionist he is, scrapes the first batch. You however, think they’re fine and if he’s not gonna bake with said  batter you’ll find use for some of it…..Then Hosoek stops by to bring the missing ingredient…weed and his dick…

TOUCH ME , TEASE ME- NAMJOON X OC 

(5K, IN COLORATION TO THE EVENTS THAT WILL TAKE PLACE IN “GOT ME LOOSIN’ ALL MY COOL)

About- Namjoon eats you out the minute you walk in the door because well…that’s the kinda husband he is!

Or- Jimin text’s Namjoon to brace him for the mood you’ll more than likely be in after a day full of drama and finally firing the front desk receptionist! Which essentially red for him to make you come hard AF and then feed you….OH, and You guys invite Yoongi over to talk about the Tae and Kookie “Thing”

PRIVATE SHOW- TAE X OC (NEW) 

(5k, Holiday esque one-shot however for the 1st time it does dive into the downside of being in a poly relationship that’s essentially a secret in the publics eye) 

About-Just a casual lunch outing where Tae’s trying to do his job and your trying to get him off under the table with your shoe...nothing new!

OR- Tae and yourself are grabbing lunch at 71 Above, after checking out the last couple of venues for the company's end of the year Holiday party. While at said restaurant, it becomes a humbling reminder that the most important people in your life are essentially a secret...cute!

 UP AND COMING: In no particular order! 

MUTED- YOONGI X OC (SIDE JIN)- HIATUS

Note, this is more of a smut drabble though it will be around 3k...this is NOT Yoongi/Jin’s official “Introduction” if that makes sense….(SNEAK PEEK IS LINKED) 

About-Yoongi goes down on you in the back seat while you’re on a business call….Jin’s driving, lowkey watching..and being a little shit the entire time…

Or- You’re on the phone with a dick of an investor and a second away from losing your shit and calling off the entire deal…however…your boys decide to “distract” you. Give you a little something to keep you at ease so you don’t blow this 6 figure account…

MAKE ME PROUD- JIMIN X OC (ALL THE MEMBERS ARE IN THIS BRIEFLY)

About-  Jimin and yourself take a trip to get a sneak peek at “Filter” before it opens… and Jimin fucks you on top of the bartop…

Or- Jimin’s ready to make his first solo big boy investment….AKA...opening up his own Gay club in WeHo...and the new business venture also reopen’s old wounds about his past. Both good and bad..but at the end of the day he remembers he wouldn’t the version of himself that he’s oh so proud of...without a little someone named “Y/N” 

 “PARTY FAVORS”- YOONGI X OC- 

About- You and Yoongi get a little one on one time while in Amsterdam, IE getting completely stoned, and attending a sex show..hell maybe even joining in on a sex show...shit just get’s wild in the Dam!

OR- You and your boys jet out to Amsterdam for the weekend to celebrate 16 AVN award nominations (AKA THE TONY’S/GRAMMY’S OF PORN) and while high and in a country where nobody knows who you are...(which means Yoongi and yourself are free to do as you please even in public)....Yoongi admits for the first time that sometimes he feels a type of way that HE wasn’t the one that married you considering the two of you were a thing FIRST....

“CHAMPAGNE SHOWERS” - JIN X OC (Side Namjoon)- NEW 

About- Jin says he's coming over to discuss business over brunch, champagne, and a nice Jacuzzi bath…which, of course, leads to more than just talk about “Finances and portfolio expansions” 

OR: Jin’s the eldest, he loves control, he needs control, hints why he’s the finical controller..always has been...even in the domestic sense. Jin’s also shit at feelings he’s used to being the shoulder to cry on not needing the shoulder..he’s not used to feeling vulnerable...so it’s not to easiest for him to admit that he misses being the one you all come home too...misses being “needed”! He’s used to being the one that has his shit together, being the glue that’s held you lot together during your worst times..so this...is completely out of his comfort zone!

“ALL EYES ON ME”  - HOSEOK X OC (FT OT7)-  NEW 

About- Hoseok and yourself have sex in a very questionable place while at the launch party for ‘Spectrum” I.E. your newest business venture...sex toys…your man deserves a little…”Thank you” for all the work he’s put in...including planning this party!

OR- Hoseok’s in over his fuckin head, he’s the one essentially spearheading the launch of “Spectrum” which is obviously his job as the head of Marketing, tactical ETC, however, this is just..different...he’s literally the one steering the boat. He’s good at what he does he knows this, he’s fucking made for it...but...it;s still’ bringing out some old, nasty insecurities...reminding him how he's his own worst critic...a perfectionist to the fault. Reminding them of those days where he never thought he was good enough...and it would absolutely break him if he lets you lot down! 

“GOT ME LOOSIN’ ALL MY COOL) -KOOK X READER | JIMIN X READER (SMUT) FT- YOONGI & TAE

About- Jimin and yourself take Jungkook shopping for a new suit to wear to the “Spectrum” launch party! OH, and Jimin fucks you in the backseat of your truck in the parking garage of the mall…..

OR: You know Kookie still in that “Broke college grad” phase only being with the company barley a month, and you don’t want him to feel self-conscious at the event! You’ve also been too busy to really check in with him to see how he’s adjusting! So, you thought something like this, in a more laxed atmosphere, would be a good solution! Oh and Jimin, honestly he’s just nosey as fuck and inched himself along, like nobody really invited him he invited his damn self! Also Jungook can’t underatand why the fuck your all so damn attractive...like...why!?

AKA-MEET JUNGKOOK JEON

SNEAK PEEK 

***

THE “FINAL” ONE-SHOT,  IS NOT FULLY OUTLINED YET

******

FINAL NOTE-

This series is open to request...for one-shot/ member scenarios/drabbles.

The initial 7 one-shots are done to get the dynamic and I guess you could say “Plot” set in stone...however, once that’s done and in-between I’m open to random scenarios as long as it somewhat coincides with the “Universe”

This is a story that follows normal day to day life in a sense....they just happen to live a very exciting one!

Anything from them going grocery shopping and making dinner...all the way to the OC and one of the boys fooling around on set...as long as it fits the vibe. I’m down!

   *** To clarify as well...publicly ( And in the workplace) the world just knows your married to Namjoon....the whole poly situation is not something blasted on your Wiki...at least not yet....***

(Optional)

***POSTIONS’S WITHIN THE COMPANY*** 

(Obv things are spread out now and they have other employees but they all STILL oversee multiple jobs...It’s a habit now. For so many years they couldn’t afford the help! So, now that they can they’ve just become a little...protective of said job duties..) 

Y/n Kim(26)- CEO/Founder/HR/Storyboard/Content  creator/Directory/Scriptwriter/Talent scout/ALL OF THE ABOVE (Set design, DVD author, 2nd Location manager, etc)   

Namjoon Kim (26)- CEO/ Founder/ Director/ Content analyst/ Lead scriptwriter/ Sr Production manger/ ALL OF THE ABOVE (IT, web design, outreach, etc)

Yoongi Min (27)- Head digital producer/ Program/site Planner/Production manager/Sound engineer/Production scheduler

Taehyung Kim (24)-Executive Assistant/ Content admin/ location manager/Wardrobe assistant/backup talent scout & health liaison

Seokjin Kim (28)- Senior Accountant/ Sales manager/ Financial controller/Logistics/Operations

Jimin Park (25)- Head talent scout/ Model Liaison/ Wardrobe/ Hair & Makeup coordinator/ Onset assistant/Health Liaison

Hoseok Jung (26)- Social media/ Streaming manager/Tactical marketer/ Advertising/event manager/PR

NOW HIRING: FOR A VIDEO EDITOR/IMAGE PROCESSOR/SOUND EDITOR/SECONDARY PHOTOGRAPHER AKA-

 “PRODUCTION COORDINATOR“

....WELCOME TO ONYX!

[theprodigypenguin]

➥: nap BLEASE FEED ME THE ACEDEU FOOD I LOVE YOU YAAAAAAAAHHHHHH

This took a hot minute to complete, as well as several rewrites because it was NOT coming out the way I wanted. This is maybe my fourth edit of it asdfghjkl catch me being a perfectionist for a ONESHOT.

It came out being more fluffy than whumpy I’ll admit, but I still hope you enjoy!!!!

Words: 1737

----------

“They still in there?”

The question tore Ace from his deep, dissociated train of thought, making him jerk from his position perched on top of a wooden crate with his eyes locked intensely at the door to the infirmary. He forced his eyes away from the door to acknowledge Thatch, who was standing with a plate of food in one hand, the other stuffed into his pocket. Ace eyed the steaming meat for an instant before looking back at the door, arms folded atop of his knees.

“Uh-huh.”

“Sheesh, it’s been what, twenty hours?” Thatch set the food beside Ace and leaned off on one leg, folding his arms. “Must’ve been worse than what we thought.” Thatch looked between Ace and the food. “You should eat something.”

“Later,” Ace said quickly, hands gripping his elbows and a frown weighing his lips. “I’m not hungry right now.”

“Ah come on, we both know that’s a lie.”

“I’ll eat when Deuce eats,” Ace decided, though he did cast a longing look to the meal Thatch had meticulously prepared just for him.

He felt too anxious to eat, even if he was hungry. He couldn’t stop thinking about the medical situation going down behind the infirmary door.

Twenty hours ago Marco had roused the couple from their sleep in the middle of the night, banging a fist against the door until someone opened it. He’d rushed out a frantic explanation that the thirteenth division had returned from their mission with near fatal injuries, and that they needed every medical staff available to help. Deuce had practically fallen into his clothes before stumbling after Marco, still half asleep and rubbing the sand from his eyes, telling Ace to go back to sleep — that he’d be back soon.

Ace hadn’t really been expecting his partner back that night, but soon ended up being almost a full day. It was getting dark out, most of the crew had retired to their quarters unless they were one watch.

Deuce had been in the OR with Marco for hours. He’d been working with barely any sleep, probably no breaks and certainly no food. Ace had stubbornly chosen to fast in solidarity, at least until the infirmary doors opened and Deuce was released from his duties, but it felt like a losing battle.

The aroma of Thatch’s excellent cooking was tempting, so Ace buried his mouth and nose against his forearms to block out the smell, sending a frustrated glare in the head chef’s direction. Thatch caught his eye and unfolded his arms, placing his hands on his hips and returning the glare.

“Deuce won’t be very pleased if he finds out you’re starving yourself just because you’re worried about him.”

“I’m not starving myself. I missed one meal at best!”

“You missed three. Plus all your usual snacks — and by snacks I mean all those times you sneak into the kitchen to steal food when I’m otherwise occupied and can’t catch you.”

Ace lifted his head in alarm. “I missed three meals?” He turned his head down to look at the food, his stomach making a noise that almost sounded sad. “I guess a little wouldn’t hurt…”

“You better clean the plate; and don’t worry about Deuce and the others. I’ve already got the kitchen working on their next meal. Something to help them regain their energy after going nonstop like this.”

Ace didn’t answer as he put all his focus into eating. The plate was half cleared when the door to the infirmary opened. Ace choked on his mouthful in his haste to get to his feet, shoving the plate into Thatch’s hands and bouncing on the balls of his feet as he eagerly watched Whitebeard’s medical staff shuffle onto the deck.

They all looked exhausted, which Ace had been expecting, but he didn’t spend too much time worrying about them as he swayed side to side on his feet, searching for Deuce. The blue haired doctor was the last to exit the infirmary. Marco walked at his side, a hand on his back to help him walk, and Ace could see why. Deuce looked worse off than the rest of them did. Ace could see the shadows beneath his eyes even with the mask on. Deuce’s eyes looked glassy and unfocused, his shoulders were slumped, and he couldn’t seem to lift his feet from the floor. He was swaying dangerously from side to side, probably only staying upright thanks to Marco’s assistance.

Ace was moving almost instantly, half jogging to meet the duo. He had one hand raised towards Deuce, wanting to pull the other man into his arms, but held back as he looked to Marco for some clarity over the situation. “Hey, are you done? Is everything okay? How are Atmos and the others?”

“Yeah, we’re done finally,” Marco answered, stopping Deuce with a hand on his shoulder. “Everyone’s okay. We almost lost one or two, but managed to keep them on this side of existence for the time being. Do me a favor and get this one back to bed. He’s been on his feet the entire time. Make sure he gets some well earned rest.”

Marco nudged Deuce forward. The younger doctor shuffled in the direction he was led, but the fog in his eyes showed he didn’t know where he was going or recognize where he was. He bumped against Ace, face dropping onto his shoulder, and Ace lifted his arms around him in an embrace.

“Right.” Ace lifted a hand to cradle the back of Deuce’s head, stroking fingers through pale blue hair. “I’ll take care of him. You should lie down too, Marco. You’ve all been up for a while. I think right now is the perfect time for a nap.”

“It’s night,” Thatch commented. “This would be considered bedtime, not naptime.”

“Either way we should all be unconscious right now,” Ace decided, tightening his hold around Deuce and stepping backwards. “Come on, Deu. Let’s get you to bed.”

Deuce seemed to be just aware enough to sort of walk on his own, though he was leaning heavily against Ace the entire time with his face buried into his partner’s neck. Ace kept an arm locked around the middle of Deuce’s back to keep him upright, leading him across the deck towards their room and murmuring the entire way there.

“You did great, I am so proud of you. We’re going to sleep in tomorrow, just the two of us. I mean I haven’t done anything to deserve it, you’re the one who was working and saving lives, but I’m going to sleep in too because that way we can cuddle.”

Deuce murmured something inarticulate that Ace didn’t bother trying to translate. He kicked open the door to their room and carefully led Deuce inside before swinging the door shut with his heel. He didn’t want to let go of Deuce, worried that he was so exhausted he’d simply collapse if the support disappeared, so Ace kept one arm around him the entire time. It wasn’t easy to maneuver Deuce out of his jacket — stripping a deadweight man with one hand was one of Ace’s lesser developed skills — but Ace eventually had Deuce out of his heavy clothing and on the bed.

Deuce seemed to have fallen asleep before his head was even on the pillow, body curled towards Ace’s side of the bed and one hand twisted in the sheets there. Ace was quick to shuck off his boots and shorts so he could lie down beside his lover, lifting Deuce’s arm just enough to wiggle beneath it so he could hold Ace instead of the mattress.

“There you go,” Ace wound his arms around Deuce, hauling him closer and pulling away the mask with gentle fingers — he caressed Deuce’s cheek with his thumb before setting the mask on the desk beside the bed, then turned back to Deuce and pulled him closer. “All cozy now.”

Deuce made a noise as if he was responding to Ace, who tensed up momentarily as the other man shifted under the blankets. Deuce dragged a hand to his face, rubbing his eyes. Ace felt his shoulders freeze under his hands as Deuce pressed his palm to his eyes with a soft gasp.

“Hey, it’s just me,” Ace soothed. “I took your mask off.”

Deuce relaxed, sighing and dropping his hand. “Ace…”

“I thought you were completely out, did I wake you up?”

Deuce shook his head. “Sorry. It was probably annoying having to get me to bed.”

“Nah, nothing annoying about it. I love stripping you!”

Deuce must have still been half asleep, because Ace knew that comment would have gotten a reaction if he’d been fully conscious. Instead Deuce hummed, relaxing completely against Ace.

“Is everyone okay?”

“Marco said so.” Ace stroked Deuce’s shoulder with his fingertips. “You did a great job.”

Deuce’s voice dropped to a softer octave. “I was scared… during it. Even though I’m a doctor and I should be used to it. A few of them flatlined during surgery and… I nearly started crying a few times.”

Ace was frowning at the ceiling as Deuce talked, knowing he would probably never confess to feeling vulnerable in any other situation. Ace knew his partner was still less than confident in his abilities as a healer.

In Deuce’s eyes, he was still a drop out medical student — nothing more. Where healing was involved, Deuce always thought he could be doing more, or doing better, and the only reason he couldn’t was because he dropped out of school before learning the necessary skills.

Ace thought that was bullshit, but he couldn’t tell Deuce to stop feeling worthless. All he could do was support Deuce and stay optimistic in the hopes that one day Deuce would see just how invaluable and irreplaceable he was.

“Yeah, but guess what? Marco said everyone survived, and you’re part of the reason that was possible. You helped save our friend’s lives. I couldn’t have done that. I don’t even know how to give someone an IV.”

Deuce hummed again, already sleeping again, and Ace laughed softly. He turned his head to press a kiss to Deuce’s hairline, then pressed his cheek against his lover’s forehead and shut his eyes.

“You’re so much more amazing than you think. I wish you could see what I see.”

[psychedelic-ink]

A/N: This is a gift for the amazing @lirulee she asked for a self insert with Mihawk and a bit spice to it! I hope you enjoy it and merry early christmas love ! also I listened to the nutcracker so many times while writing this uwu

Summary: Mihawk wants to do something truly special on christmas for Liru, he comes up with an idea...hopefully Liru likes it. 

Genre: Romance/Lemon (aka ns.fw) 

Word Count: 1718 k

Warnings: Mihawk wearing something unfashionable. 

Prompt: The Nutcracker 

With a sigh, Mihawk brushed away the strand of hair that had fallen upon Liru’s face. She was sleeping peacefully, her head right on top of his lap. His hawk like gaze shifted from her to the christmas three that was across from the couch, thanks to Liru the tree was heavily decorated with colorful bulbs and shimmering rainbow like fairy lights. It was quite beautiful, and even if he hadn’t admitted it decorating the tree with her was quite fun and amusing. 

He wanted to do something special for her, something that would make tomorrow night memorable. 

Mihawk’s mind wandered for a while, he was sure that Liru would be happy with any surprise but he truly wanted it to be something that would make her truly happy. He thought about the day they decorated the three together, she had mentioned something about a nutcracker...what was it? A ballet? Liru mentioned to him that she would dance to it on her wedding day, of course Mihawk had found the idea absurd. The nutcracker had nothing do with a wedding but then again if it was special for her it was special to him too. 

He would have to make a visit to Perona tomorrow. 

“What do you mean they sold out?” 

His voice was normal but Perona could tell that Mihawk was furious, his eyes always gave it away. Perona sighed as she placed a cup of black coffee infront of her usual customer. 

“The ballet is today.” she said, did he really think he could find tickets at the last minute? “Of course they’re sold out, it's like the most famous ballet shows out there.” 

“I guess you’re right.” he grumbled, staring at his coffee. 

“This was for Liru right?”

Mihawk nodded, his gaze still fixated on the cup. Perona couldn’t believe he was so down about not being able to go to a ballet. She placed her fingers ever so delicitely on her shin, thoughtful, she stood in silence only for a second when an idea shaped. 

“Liru is out until dinner time right?” her enthusiastic voice managed to make Mihawk snap out of it and look at her. “Why don’t you turn the living room into the nutcracker? I’ve seen the house, you two have plenty of room.” 

“That...might work. What did you had in mind exactly?”

“You could buy costumes,” Perona said, losing herself in the romantic fantasy. “Decorate the room with white fairy light, and light candles, then put the song on so you could offer her to dance with you,” she sighed. “I wish I had someone to do that for me, you two are so lucky.” 

Mihawk looked thoughtful for a moment before smiling at his usual waitress. 

“That’s actually a great idea, thank you so much Perona.” he quickly got up and placed a handful of bills on the table. “I’ll take my leave now, keep the change.” 

Mihawk was a perfectionist, so him checking the preparations he had made a million times wasn’t out of the question. He took a step back to look at it all, like Perona had said, he had bought white fairy lights, candles that smelled of marshmallows and delicious christmas baked goods. He had truly transformed the living room into an icy paradise. The laptop’s screen showed the nutcracker, ready to play the music as soon as Liru entered the living room. 

He was quite proud to be honest, the only issue he had was with the outfit he was wearing. Of course since it was last minute all the good outfits were gone, so the only thing left was a cheap, bright red nutcracker costume. To be fair he didn’t think he looked that bad, but the feeling of cheap fabric against his skin made him feel highly uncomfortable. The worst part was that he also had a hat that came with the costume, a comedically tall nutcracker hat. It was atrocious. 

Mihawk took his place next to the three, at least Liru’s dress was quite beautiful. It would make her shine even further. His eyes landed on the clock up on the wall, she should be here any minute now. 

And just as faith would have it he heard keys going into a lock. 

“I’m baack,” Liru shouted as she entered. “You won’t believe what I got, a dozen of gingerbread cookies. They were on sale too!” 

Mihawk said nothing and patiently waited for Liru to come to him. Finally her soft steps became closer and she appeared at the door frame. Not knowing how to stand, Mihawk just placed his hands on his hips. 

Liru’s eyes scanned the living room, her mouth agape, her green eyes widened. The bag she was holding fell to the ground and she took a step inside, entering the winter wonderland. Then her eyes landed on Mihawk, seeing the cheap costume on him made her burst out in laughter. Clutching her stomach, Liru bent over as a laughing fit took over her. 

“What the hell are you wearing?” Liru asked between giggles, she straightened up and wiped a tear from her eye. 

A small smile formed on Mihawk’s lips, her laughter was music to his ears. 

“Can’t you tell?” he asked, amused. “I’m the nutcracker.” 

“The...nutcracker?” 

Before Liru could comprehend what was going on Mihawk closed the distance and took her hand into his. He placed a gentle kiss on top of her hand, his mustache tickling her skin. Then he placed her hand on his chest, right on top of his heart, which was frantically beating in his chest. A faint blush covered Liru’s cheeks as she saw two golden eyes bore into her. 

“Will you have this dance with me?”

“D-Dance?”

“You have to get dressed first, of course.”

“Dressed?!” 

Mihawk’s lips spread out into a devilish smile. 

“Of course, did you think I would suffer alone?” 

When Liru stood in front of Mihawk she was as red as a tomato. The dress was pretty decent compared to Mihawk’s outfit, it was a cliche ballerina dress with a puffy skirt. The skirt was made out of faint blue and pink tulles. It was a strapless dress and the chest area pressed her breasts together, the more that she thought about it the more she liked the dress Mihawk had picked out for her. 

When she found the courage to witness his reaction, she was left in awe. Mihawk was uncharastically red and his eyes were wide. Liru noticed him swallow right before walking up to the laptop and clicking the song to play. He quickly made his way towards her and extended his hand. 

“May I?”

“You may.” Liru answered, giggling. 

Mihawk swiftly pulled Liru closer to him, their chests flushed against each other. He gently took her hand and he led her into a slow dance following the rhythm of the song Liru had listened to so many times.  

“This is nice.” Liru said, still speechless. 

“I’m glad you think so,” Mihawk twirled her around with one hand. “I really wanted to make tonight special.” 

“Well mission accomplished.” she replied with a bright smile. “I’m very pleased with where I am right now.” 

Their eyes were locked onto each other as they swayed with the music, that is until Mihawk decided to do something unscripted and leaned down to kiss her. 

Not expecting a kiss so early in the night Liru gasped as he placed his lips over hers, the kiss was gentle and passionate at the same time. It felt like Mihawk had poured all of his emotion into the simple gesture, he loved her as simple as that and Liru could feel it all. 

Their dancing comes to a halt as the tone of the kiss shifts into one of hunger. Mihawk slid his tongue between her lips and explored every inch of her warm cavern. Liru moaned into the kiss and pressed further against him, Mihawk broke the kiss and left open mouthed kisses from her jaw to her neck. She shivered at the feeling.

Mihawk licked, sucked and bit into her flushed skin. Liru’s legs were already trembling with the stimulation, quickly he grabbed her and laid her on the couch. The music still playing in the background Mihawk was quick to rip off the cheap costume off of him, hovering over her with mere boxers. He lifted her skirt up and slid her underwear to the side, he was pleased to see that she was already soaking wet. 

Lifting his gaze up from her core, Mihawk fixated his gaze onto her. 

“I don’t think I can wait any longer, can I?”

Liru quickly nodded, her mind feeling hazy, she couldn’t even form words. Mihawk pulled out his throbbing cock out of his boxer shorts and aligned himself against her pussy. With one swift motion he buried himself deep inside of her, Liru’s back arched as her walls fluttered around his impressive length. 

Starting out slow, Mihawk started to thrust in and out of her, as her moans gradually became louder his thrusts became faster. With a growl he pulled down the upper part of her dress and grabbed her breasts. The lewd noises of him penetrating her mixed with the soft melodies of the nutcracker. Liru continuously shouted out Mihawk’s name as his movements became harder, she shut her eyes, the pleasure of it all becoming too much for her. 

“Liru,” Mihawk groaned. “I’m...ahh...close.” 

“Me too,” she replied. “Let’s cum together.”

Hearing those words Mihawk let go of one of her breasts and went to rub her clit. She screamed with pleasure and all of the sensations combined was enough to send Liru over the edge. Her walls clamped around Mihawk’s cock as her toes curled. Her whole body spasmed as she came, it was enough to push Mihawk over the edge as well. 

He quickly pulled out and with a loud moan he came all over Liru’s breasts and the newly bought dress. She looked so beautiful covered with his essence, Mihawk leaned in and placed a kiss on her forehead. 

“Are you okay?” he asked. 

“Yeah,” Liru replied, still breathless. “This is the best christmas ever.” 

Mihawk chuckled at the words and took a mental note to thank Perona later. 

[diffuserlover]

Hello! Can I get Stray Kids, ATEEZ, and NCT ship? 💚

Appearance: She/her. 179cm tall, rectangle body shape. Fair skin complexion with quite a few birthmarks. Dyed dark brown-reddish, past shoulder-length, straight hair with bangs. The left eye is a mix of two colors – a smaller portion of (darker) greyish-blue and a larger portion of hazel; while the right eye is just a (lighter) greyish-blue. Heptagon face shape with two dimples on the left cheek and one on the right cheek (only visible while smiling). A gap between the upper front teeth.

Personality (good and bad traits): Ever since I was a kid, I was always quite mature for my age – I identify myself as an old soul. I come off as polite and well-mannered to strangers, yet I tend to keep it to myself by being reserved. But, that’s because I have social anxiety and I’m nervous and shy when meeting/talking to people. The only people I’m comfortable with being with my inner circle – closest friends and family. I am usually more “open” with my friends than with my family. With my friends I can be my “truest-self” – I smile more, I laugh more, I feel more accepted and understood. I am the mom and the fashionista of the group. Don’t get me wrong, I am fiercely protective of my family, especially of my mother and younger sister. But, lately, I’ve been feeling like the “black sheep” of the family, Cinderella who’s been taken advantage of. I express my affection for the people I care about in little, but practical, ways. I can be a little stiff when it comes to open, gushy displays of affection. Others turn to me for help and advice. I’m kind-hearted and generous, always ready to help a person in need. Always have been motherly towards children. Very awkward at keeping small talk (usually with people that I’m not that close with). Absolutely, hate speaking in front of a public, and if I do, because of my nervousness, I tend to mess up my words and/or I practice whatever I’m about to say in my head at first. I appreciate the simplicity and am often most comfortable when I’m not getting too much attention from the world. I am sensitive – both to criticism and to others’ feelings (I sponge up the feelings and moods of people and the environment around me). Have a hard time saying no or expressing my true thoughts, feelings. I get influenced by other people’s opinions/thoughts quite hard (I take everything to the heart), that is why I tend to keep a lot to myself (may come off as a little bit tense, secretive, mysterious). I avoid the harsh reality by daydreaming (almost every day) – imagining myself in situations far from my current circumstances. Sort of like a self-escape. I worry a lot and overthink almost everything. I am easily distracted and my attention span can be quite short. I have an internal struggle between my needs and wants. I can lack focus and be indecisive as a result – when I decide on one route, I am pulled in another direction at the same time (“But what if…”, “on the other hand...”). That is why I’m having a bit of a struggle with deciding what I want to do in the future (career-wise). I am easily overwhelmed by pressure and stress. There is a self-destructive side to me (self-critical, lack of self-confidence) that I’m working on by confronting my fears (coming out of my shell). Don’t like taking pictures, or other people taking pictures of me. I feel most content when I’ve straightened out all the details of everyday life. I have a routine, that I follow by mostly every day, and if something small changes in that routine, I start to have a small internal anxiety attack. Also, I like to do things my own way, like, when it comes to cleaning the house or organizing stuff, etc. I get triggered even if people don’t do the laundry the way I do. I guess you could describe me as a perfectionist, clean/control freak. In triggering situations I can be impulsive, spontaneous, quick to act. Quick flare-ups of anger/annoyance when being provoked on my patience. Even when I’m feeling low, I manage to find humor in life and have fun with whatever I do have. Although I tend to bottle things up, I am an emotional person and my emotions are genuine – I love and care deeply and passionately and wish no ill will upon anyone, yet it hards for me to imagine someone falling in love with me or just liking me.

Hobbies, likes: My hobbies are cleaning, writing (re-writing song lyrics, making small notes, writing stories), listening to any type of music, catching up on my favorite films and TV shows, hanging out with friends, going to the cinema, or the club, being out in nature, reading, traveling. I like history, cooking, fashion magazines (or fashion in general), road trips, spirituality, mythology, books, orange juice, previous decades, cottage-core, dark academia.

Overall: Hufflepuff. INFP-T. Bi-sexual. Pisces-Aries cusp sign. “Looks like could kill you, but is actually a cinnamon roll.” A feminist, support LGBTQ+ community. That’s it, thank you!

Hii! Thank you so much for requesting!! I hope you like your ships!! I got a little carried away so sorry it’s a little long:)

Stray Kids:

I ship you with...

Chan

He is very comforting and knows how to get to you😚

Whenever you are overthinking or overwhelmed he can tell🥲

He will sit you down and try to get you to talk about your feelings with him or he would take you out somewhere to distract you from whatever is overwhelming you💗

He would understand your perfectionist side and always makes sure that everything is perfect for you😁

He keeps you updated with his schedule if it ever changes because he knows how much you like a regular schedule 🥰

You guys probably share a calendar so all of your events are in one space☺️

He finds it so cute how polite and kinda nervous you were when you first met🤩

He always supports you and your goals for coming out of your shell, he is always so proud whenever you do😇

Chan helps you as much as he can when finding something you want to do career wise but due to the amount of stress it gives you I would say it causes some arguments🥲

He would never let the public see you and if your relationship ever gets released he is never saying your name or showing any photos because you knows you don’t like to be in the public eye😭🥰

He is beaming whenever he sees you with kids🥺

You guys are like the mom and dad of stray kids😊

He likes to take you to the studio and work on songs together for fun🤗

You guys go on walks a lot together to just look at the scenery 😌

He never watches shows or movies without you😋

You guys cook together a lot, you guys always have fun it’s not too serious while cooking😆

Extroverts and Introverts go best with each other 🙂

Chan reassures you a lot that he loves you and that he is so grateful to have you in his life☺️

Overall, you and Chan have the sweetest relationship. You guys are literally perfect together🥰

ATEEZ:

I ship you with...

Seonghwa

You and Seonghwa are both perfectionist��

You guys have a schedule and certain ways of cleaning 🤗

You clean together to make it more fun😚

Wooyoung most likely makes fun of you for it😆🤣

Seonghwa I feel is really good at listening and you can tell he is really listening when you look into his eyes😍

He gets butterflies whenever you are with children he just finds it so cute 🥺😭

He appreciates how you leave little notes in his bag telling him sweet things, he always tries to give you little notes as well😇

Seonghwa is always considerate of your feelings 🥰

Extroverts and introverts go best together🙂

He treats you a lot even if that means just buying the food at the cinema he will do it🤗

When he knows you have had a long day he will cook for you😄

If he has had the worst day or if he is super tired he might just give you the silent treatment, you might have to physically ask him if he’s okay😬

He likes to sit down and have a meal with you 😊

I feel like you both don’t have much patience and kinda lash out on each other but it’s never something super serious😚

Seonghwa absolutely adores your smile and you always find something to laugh about😁

Overall you and Seonghwa have a real connection🥺

NCT ot23:

I ship you with...

Xiaojun

He is so sweet but he also silly😆

You guys are in the studio a lot☺️

He likes to play the guitar for you, you guys have written quite a lot of songs together 🥰

You guys have a lot of nights in just watching movies and cooking together😄

He loves your laugh so much it makes him smile just thinking about it😍

He understands how you like a schedule and doesn’t want to mess it up when something comes up, he always makes sure to call you or text you when he can to tell you😭🤗

He tries not to overwhelm you with his problems cause he feels bad but he also wants to talk to you about it, he has a hard time deciding😚

Xiaojun always makes sure you okay before checking on himself😇

He would never be as kind to his members than he is with you😂💀

Xiaojun loves his snacks, you guys go shopping at least 2 times a week so he can get his snacks🤣

He loves writing with you because he loves to see the passion in your eyes🥰

He studies the way you clean the house because if he ever wants to do it he doesn’t want to get it wrong😆

I don’t think Xiaojun is really into physical affection so I feel like he would be fine without heavy amounts of it😁

He loves how kind you are☺️

He labors to mess around and do anything to make you laugh or smile🙂

Overall you and Xiaojun are really cute and fun🤩

[peaceoutofthepieces]

chapter 27.5 (part I)

When I Live My Dream (Please Be There To Meet Me)

This is the first(!) bonus part to go with chapter 27. I asked what would be preferred, and the result was Sobbe. So this is their Valentine’s! They have a lot of fun. I hope you enjoy.

Sander needs this to be perfect. 

He’s always been a perfectionist, always needs to execute each and every one of his ideas beyond his best ability, and it’s got him into more than a few downward spirals of disappointment and self-hatred. It’s something he still needs to work on (that’ll probably never actually be fixed) and a dangerous mindset to be in and he knows that. He knows that some of his perfect goals are unreachable. Impossible for his young mind and simple mortal state. 

But this has to be perfect. 

Because this is for Robbe. 

Sander’s been planning and organizing all week (longer) and all the intricate measures he’s taken and hiding from Robbe he has done is about to be worth it. Everything so far seems to be in place, and he’s proud, but he isn’t letting his guard down yet. He’s aware anything could go wrong at any moment and he has to be prepared to stop that from happening. He can’t let one thing slip out of place, because he’s designed this night specifically to make Robbe happy. All he wants is to make Robbe happy. 

Especially now, after their last disaster date. He wants to make Robbe happy now more than ever. 

And he’s always been pretty intent on Robbe’s happiness. 

And like Lucas said, he’s a lover. He wouldn’t necessarily consider himself a romantic, or he wouldn’t have, pre-Robbe. For Robbe, he may have slightly changed his opinion. Robbe would probably call him a romantic, and if he did, Sander wouldn’t protest. But lover is a definition he himself can one hundred percent get behind. And Valentine’s Day is a day for lovers—and therefore a day for him. 

Milan lets him in on his way out, giving him a once over and a low whistle. Sander rolls his eyes at him, but it boosts his confidence a little. “Someone cleans up nice.”

“Are you saying there’s something wrong with how I dress?” Sander says, teasingly affronted. He’s not dressed much differently than usual. His black jeans, boots, and leather jacket are all safely in place. The only difference is that instead of his usual designed tee, he’s wearing a dark grey button down shirt. 

Milan pinches his cheek. “You know you’re beautiful. You don’t need me to tell you. Besides,” he adds, nodding to the apartment, “I’m sure baby Robbe will.”

“I’ll what?”

Sander’s heart flaps around his chest with all the excitement of a puppy welcoming its owner. Robbe shoots him a bright grin, and his eyes dragging over Sander’s body set him on fire. Milan’s once over was appraising; Robbe devours him. His confidence leaps and he settles slightly, overcome for a moment with the reminder that Robbe in himself is perfect, and it requires very little effort from Sander. 

Milan gives Sander a look that suggests he knows all the dirty deeds Sander has planned, and he shoots him a wink before planting a kiss on Robbe’s cheek. Robbe’s sound of protest is drowned out by Milan’s, “Have fun, cutie,” as he bounds out the door and leaves them in peace.

“He’s in a good mood,” Sander muses. 

Robbe rolls his eyes, but there’s a fond smile on his face. “He usually is. But I think he has a date. Like an actual one. Not with someone he matched on Grindr.”

Sander raises his brows. “Good for him. He deserves it.” Robbe pulls a face, and Sander will let him pretend all he wants, because they both know how much he actually cares about the other man. Robbe reaches for him at the same time Sander steps into his space, and their kiss is a silent agreement—they can be happy for Milan tomorrow. Tonight is theirs. 

Robbe’s lips on his almost make him forget that he has a whole elaborate plan for them, and he pulls make a little sooner than usual. Robbe’s tiny whine makes him change his mind briefly, and he swoops in to kiss him once more before taking a resolute step back, stroking his thumb over Robbe’s cheek. “Hi,” he says. 

“Hi,” Robbe mocks, bumping their noses, and Sander is so very gone. “Am I underdressed?”

Sander takes in his light grey sweater and black jeans and shakes his head. “Overdressed, if you ask me.” Robbe huffs a laugh and shoves him away—only to tug him right back in. “No, you’re good. You always look perfect,” he adds, with a sneaky kiss to the rising blush on Robbe’s cheek. 

Robbe smiles bashfully. “Okay, but you look…”

Sander grins, has to kiss him again, and then pulls him towards the door. “Okay, okay, come on. We’re already off schedule.” 

“Oh? Do you have a lot planned?”

“Do you remember what I said?”

Robbe sighs, like the whole thing is a unnecessarily difficult task. “Yeah, yeah. I’m ready to be mindblown.” 

Sander’s grin only widens. 

~^~

Robbe lights up as soon as he realises they’re going to the tunnel, and Sander’s hopes lift slightly. His goal, mainly, is reminiscence for the purpose of realising their growth, their budding feelings from their first date recaptured amidst the all-consuming love they currently share. Sander had wanted to wow then, only realising later that it was influenced by the subtle stem of a mild bout of mania beginning to bloom, and still not regretting a second of it. It had made him less careful, more extravagant, and nothing more, and it only left him truer to his feelings, louder about them than he would’ve been otherwise. It had worked in winning Robbe over, and there was nothing he could regret about that. 

This time, though, Sander made sure to put in work so that he could do things right. When they make it to the entrance to the pool, Robbe trails a few confused feet behind him until Sander brandishes a key. It only turns Robbe entirely incredulous, and he gapes at Sander when he says, “I thought ahead enough to ask this time.” Robbe only continues to stare while Sander opens the door, and then Sander reaches out his hand and asks, “Come.”

Robbe wraps his fingers around his and squeezes, and Sander leads him inside. This time, Robbe shivers but doesn’t give a single complaint about the cold. Sander had told him to wear his usual brown coat and hadn’t managed to convince him to add a scarf (on the ridiculous basis Sander wasn’t wearing one himself) but on their way out the door he’d thought to request, “Maybe a beanie?” with possibly too much hope. But now his boyfriend is extra adorable and extra cosy, so at least it worked. 

In front of the pool, Sander has left a pile of blankets and a picnic basket. The pool lights form a dim glow, just more than enough to see by and casting the prettiest shadows over Robbe’s profile. His lips are pulled up in a disbelieving smile, parted just slightly. “Like it?” Sander asks eventually, barely more than a whisper. 

Robbe looks at him and smiles fully, pulling him in with a single tug of their still-joined hands. He kisses Sander sweetly, adoringly. “I love it. I love you.”

Sander’s smiling too much to kiss him anymore. He hugs him close instead and says, “I love you too. So much that I won’t even make you swim this time.”

Robbe raises his brows. “That’s a lot.”

“Mmhm,” Sander hums, regaining enough control over his lips to press them to Robbe’s once more. “Come on. This is only the beginning of what I have planned for us.”

Robbe grins and lets himself be set in place on one of the blankets. Sander tucks another around Robbe’s shoulders and the last around his own, settling in close as he produces the main dish from the basket. Robbe brightens. “You made croques.”

“I tried to keep them warm, but, you’re distracting.”

“Wait, did you come leave them here before coming to get me?” Robbe gives the food a clearly more dubious look. 

Sander huffs a laugh. “I had a little help. Noor is a very good friend.”

It only adds more fuel to Robbe’s smile. “I’ll have to thank her, then.” Sander holds a croque up to his lips and feels his stomach twist as Robbe takes a bite. 

Sitting there with Robbe pressed against his side, sharing food and the warmth of the blankets, Sander has never felt more content. He’d been falling for Robbe for so long, and falling hard, but this is where he knew he’d fallen in love. When Robbe had watched him strip down to nothing with bare surprise and had followed him anyway, accepting all of Sander right from that moment, Sander had been in love. It had exploded in his chest then, leaving him breathless and aching and needy. Now it’s wrapped around every single atom of his body, keeping him safe and warm and always being there to remind him he’s never alone.

Last year, he spent Valentine’s Day with Britt, wondering why he couldn’t stop feeling like he’d rather be spending it alone. This possibility hadn’t yet crossed his mind—of spending this day with someone who loved him unconditionally, who’d seen him at his best and his worst and accepted both without a word, someone he knew would move mountains for him at his simple request. 

He had never let himself imagine someone like Robbe. He can’t imagine ever having lived without him. 

Robbe presses closer to his side and touches his fingers to his cheek, turning Sander’s head to look back at his smile. “Hey. You okay?”

Sander rests their heads together and tightens his arm around Robbe’s waist. “I just love you a lot.” He can feel Robbe’s breath gust over his lips, and then there’s a soft mouth covering his and gentle fingers in his hair. Sander lets Robbe lead them and feels an inexplicable tightens in his chest, one that crawls up this throat and makes his eyes burn, and he grips Robbe tighter to anchor himself. Sometimes, he still can’t believe this is real. Sometimes, he feels like crying when he remembers it is. 

He has to pull away and clear his throat when it becomes too much for him, and at Robbe’s pout he gives the simple excuse of, “The night isn’t over yet. There’s still another place I want to take you.”

Robbe gives him one of his favourite looks, brow furrowed and eyes narrowed and smile still in place, like he doesn’t know what to expect but suspects Sander’s up to no good and is perfectly ready to go along with it. Sander gives him his most innocent grin in return, pulling him to his feet and fixing his beanie over his ears. They pack up, Sander simply shoving the blankets in the now empty basket, and then they’re leaving once more, Sander locking the door behind him. 

Robbe gives up questioning Sander after the first five minutes, but the curious glances continue until Robbe stops dead in the middle of the street, eyes widening in comically slow motion, and Sander holds his breath. He stares, blinks, and restarts, pedaling over to where his gaze had caught, too entranced to spare Sander a glance. 

He stops and drops his bike a few meters away from the wall, mouth dropped open, and Sander waits a few feet away. 

“Sander,” Robbe breathes, finally, after an eternity, and Sander can’t tell what he’s thinking. “You—you did this?”

“That depends,” Sander hedges. “Do you like it?”

On the side of the building, sprayed in the most intense, bright colours Sander owned, is Robbe. His face sits inside a heart, fragmented and cracked at the edges but undeniably open, letting through every bit of Robbe’s light and holding him inside, presenting its love for him in return. He’d shown the drawing to Robbe, weeks ago, in another life. This had been the idea in his mind, but he hadn’t been sure he’d ever have the guts to do it. He hadn’t known just how far his love went. 

“How?” Robbe turns to look at him, eyes still wide and sparkling, and everything in Sander settles at once. “Sander, this—what?”

Sander reaches for him, and Robbe takes his hands instantly, letting himself be reeled in even as his eyes drift back to the wall. “I did it last night. I—I know that it’s a lot and you probably think I’m crazy but I needed everyone to know. I love you and I needed to let you know. They’ll probably remove it eventually, so if you don’t like it—“

“Sander,” Robbe cuts him off, his hands raising to cup Sander’s cheeks. He shakes his head in disbelief, and the pure, unfiltered love in his eyes is the best sight Sander has ever seen. “No one has ever loved me this much.”

Sander finally releases his breath. “I do,” he says quietly. “I love you even more than this.”

Robbe kisses him, and this time they take much longer to stop. 

~^~

When they get back to Sander’s flat, Sander has one last surprise ready. If Noor was able to finish it for him. 

He guides Robbe to the bedroom and, on opening the door, lets out a sigh of relief. Robbe’s breath hitches at his shoulder, and Sander looks around to see that the same look of awe hasn’t moved from his face, only seeming to grow with each new discovery. Sander has covered the floor with a delicate spread of rose petals, and organised another bundle on the bed into the shape of a heart. Candles sit on the bedside lockers, just recently lit, with more on top of Sander’s drawers and desk. Robbe’s hands wrap tightly around his arm and when Sander looks, his eyes are wet. 

“Hey,” he says softly, laughing slightly. “Robbe. I painted you a mural and you’re crying at flowers and candles?”

Robbe shoves him lightly, shaking his head and wiping a hand over his cheek. His voice is almost hoarse when he speaks, choked with emotion, and this is what Sander had been looking for. This means that it’s perfect. “It’s just...All of it. You did so much, and I—“ He cuts off, breath too shaky, and then he lets out a tiny laugh. “Sorry.”

Sander shakes his head back. He raises his hands to Robbe’s cheeks this time, gently wiping away the tears with his thumbs. “I wanted you to feel it. I wanted you to be happy.”

Then, finally, that brilliant smile is back, and Robbe’s folding himself into his arms and tucking his face into his neck. “Have I mentioned that I love you a little bit?”

“Maybe once,” Sander replies, grinning, as he presses a kiss to Robbe’s temple. “I think I’ve also mentioned that I love you too. Do you want me to show you?”

The flush that covers Robbe’s cheeks is lovely as he takes another glance at the bed, at the rose petals and candles and Sander and says, in a stumble, “We’ve done...but we haven’t...I don’t even know if that’s what you were planning, but I want—I want you to know that I want to. If you do.”

Sander drags him into a kiss, and this time they don’t stop. 

[universe-n-3276]

Moments

#2: Jealousy

Sander rarely manifested his emotions.

Because of anxiety, he had learned from an early age, to look calm, even when he felt like he was suffocating inside. There were few people with whom, he felt free to let himself go, first and foremost Robbe, to whom he had voluntarily shown his most vulnerable, saddest, happiest, angriest side. At the beginning it hadn't been easy. He wanted his boyfriend to see him as a strong, dominant, and always in control, human being. Sander was afraid, that, if he let himself go, if he revealed all of his emotions (and he had many of them, too many, too intense), Robbe would have left him right away. Over time, however, the love he had received, made him understand, that showing his weakness, didn’t mean making himself less powerful, in the eyes of the other.

Robbe was more emotional, and he looked at Sander every day with admiration, because of the way he managed to smile despite everything. His mysterious aura never disclosed too much about him. On the contrary, he felt as if everyone could read his thoughts, directly on his forehead, like an open book. In particular, Sander did it ridiculously easily. Robbe liked it, because if struggling, he could completely give himself in to his boyfriend’s care, who knew exactly what to do. Always.

Both were quite possessive. There had been times, in which Robbe had left a more evident mark on his boy's neck, and others in which Sander wanted to lock Robbe up in a room, to keep him for himself only. But it all ended there, neither of them had ever screamed in someone else's face, because of their jealousy.

It was a Saturday, on morning, in autumn, when Robbe and Sander crossed the city to visit a photography exhibition.

"I wish I had half of that photographer's talent."

Sander was frustrated. He loved to draw, but photography had been his first love. When he was 14, his parents had given him his first camera, and from that day, he never stopped taking pictures. He often found himself daydreaming, about the possibility of taking pictures, simply by blinking. Having images to look at in his mind, every time he wanted. He often thought about it, when he was with Robbe, in moments when, grabbing the camera to take photos, would have been totally inappropriate, but being able to capture his boyfriend’s perfection, would have made him feel unbelievably fulfilled.

However, Sander had been stuck for about a year, bored with his own style. He had tried experimenting with Photoshop, with analog photography, with black and white photography, but nothing convinced him. That is why, that morning, they had decided to visit the exhibition of a photographer that Sander loved.

“You are always way too hard on yourself, your photos are amazing! The ones you gave Lucas and Jens were among my favorites."

Although Robbe's words filled him with pride, there was always a voice inside his head, that kept telling him he was not good enough, that he had to give up and start studying to find an actual job. He didn't know, if it was the perfectionist in him, or his anxiety disorder, but, in any case, Sander was convinced, that in his life, nothing would have made him feel as happy as he felt, every time he finished a new drawing, a new painting, or looking for the first time at a photo, he had taken.

"Thanks, but we both know, that, as much as your opinion is the most important to me, you are also very biased."

He gave a sweet smile to his boyfriend and pressed a kiss on his cheek. Robbe laughed, and it took Sander all of his willpower, not to drag his boyfriend somewhere to give him all the kisses. He felt lucky, but he still couldn’t explain to himself, how Robbe could be the sweetest human being in some moments, and turn into the sexiest man alive in others (much more private) occasions.

It was a very cold day, despite the sun shining in the sky. Both began to feel their fingers stiffen, so, by mutual agreement, they decided to stop in a nice café, to have a couple of hot drinks.

Sander opened the door, to let Robbe in, and they were about to wait in line, when he heard his phone ring in his pocket.

“It's Charlotte, I have to pick it up. Can you get me a coffee and something sweet to eat? I'm going to look for a place for us to sit.”

He walked away, while answering the call. The cafeteria was very crowded, but luckily, he managed to find a table, from where he also could see his boyfriend waiting for his turn. He really liked to watch Robbe from afar. He loved to see him simply being himself among others.

“Lot, I can't hear you, I'm in a cafeteria. I'll call you right away, as soon as I get out. "

He hung up the phone, hoping his sister had heard him, and looked up from the screen, then, back at his boyfriend. It was his turn. The barista was clearly giving him bedroom eyes, while Robbe was completely clueless. He still didn’t understand, how his boy could be so unaware of the power, he got on the people surrounding him. Sander had spent years trying to make him understand, how irresistible he was, but the results had been very poor. Sometimes, when they were alone, Robbe realized, how much Sander was clay in his hands, and this drove them both crazy.

At that moment, the guy behind the counter kept throwing him languid looks, while he was trying to decide which dessert to order. Sander would have never, in his entire life, over his dead body, made a scene, but he was feeling the blood boiling in his veins, especially when, as Robbe were approaching their table, he noticed a detail, that almost made him set the whole place on fire.

"Why are you making that face? Did something happen with Charlotte? "

Sander raised his eyebrow even higher, while his boyfriend was sitting in front of him, placing the drinks on the table.

"I see you've been lucky."

His voice was dry. He knew he shouldn't have been upset with Robbe, who was probably oblivious to that whole situation, but he just couldn’t contain himself.

"What are you talking about?"

Robbe frowned, trying to take off his jacket without spilling the drinks, or hitting one of the other customers by mistake.

Sander turned the cup, to show him what the barista had written on it, with a large black marker, and the boy's jaw immediately dropped open.

"What the f-"

He turned himself quickly to look at the counter, meeting the gaze of the phone number’s owner written on the cup.

"Robbe."

He didn't know, why he was reacting in that manner. He had never felt so jealous, so possessive, in his life. He wanted to force the guy to watch them while... no. Nobody was allowed to see Robbe looking like that, he was the only one, who had that honor and he would have done anything, to keep the situation that way. Forever.

"I'm sorry, I swear, if I’d only noticed it- "

This was not how it was supposed to go. It wasn't Robbe’s fault. It was definitely all wrong. He had to put himself back together, regain control of himself and his emotions. He took a deep breath and went back to being, what his boyfriend needed, but of course, without forgetting to take advantage of the situation, to feed his ego, and show the barista his and Robbe’s place.

"Come."

It sounded almost like an order, and that was exactly what it was supposed to be. The boy frowned, but got up anyway. Sander took his hand, making Robbe sit next to him on the booth. He took his boyfriend’s leg under the table, placing it on his own. Sander, actually, wanted to have him sit on his lap, but he knew, it would embarrass the other, and he didn't want his little revenge on the barista, to turn into a punishment for Robbe.

He slowly brushed his fingers on his boy’s thigh, coming dangerously close to his groin, enjoying the way Robbe was trying to mask his reaction.

"What are you doing?"

His boyfriend whispered, resting his head on Sander’s shoulder, who was feeling, by the minute, more powerful and proud. He couldn’t write his name on Robbe’s forehead, but he was making sure, that the entire world understood, who that that boy belonged to.

"What am I doing?"

He smiled, very satisfied, and took the cup of coffee with the infamous phone number written on it. Sander begun to sip the dark liquid, looking the barista in the eyes, while he kept lustfully touching Robbe’s leg. He wasn’t sure, if that slow, but steady movement, could be seen from afar, but he knew, that the way his boyfriend was literally melting on him, didn’t leave much room for imagination. He felt Robbe's lips trace small kisses on his neck.

"Let's go home, please."

At that point, Sander could have been satisfied by himself, anyone else would have been pretty much proud, but not him. He knew, he could push that whole situation, a little closer to its limit. He was feeling Robbe's urge become more and more intense, while sneaking closer and closer, agonizing for more physical touch. By now, their legs were entwined under the table and his boyfriend was really close to finally sit on his lap.

"I want you."

Robbe's voice was almost a whisper, but Sander heard it like a jolt down his spine.

The euphoria he was experiencing, at the time, was absolutely impossible to describe. He pressed his lips against his boyfriend’s. That kiss immediately turned into something deeper and lascivious. He felt every inch of skin tingling, craving Robbe, in a way that had never happened before. He didn't even care about the people, who were probably looking at them. Actually, he really care a lot about then, because they were making that game even more exciting.

Sander suddenly realized, that they wouldn’t make it home, without risking losing the feeling, that was taking over their senses. He was sure, he would have had the best sex of his life, if only he had ridden those sensations until the end, and he had to do it right away.

"Let's go to the restroom."

He managed to say, catching his breath, pulling away from Robbe's lips, who immediately raised his eyebrows.

"Do you really wanna-"

Sander didn't even let him finish the sentence, he needed to touch those delicious lips, so tempting. He ran his thumb over them before kissing them again. He felt completely drunk with love for that boy. His boy.

He stood up and took Robbe's hand, giving him a look, that he knew the other couldn’t resist. He made each one of his moves dramatic and theatrical, to make sure, that his intentions were clear to everyone, especially that someone, who was now staring at them from behind the counter. He drew Robbe closer to him, putting an arm around his waist. Sander took the skin on his boyfriend’s jaw between his teeth, biting it not so lightly. Robbe didn’t shy away from that gesture, on the contrary, he came even closer to him, grasping Sander’s sweatshirt with his small fist.

Robbe looked up, and in that moment, Sander saw the intensity of his boy’s eyes. He was swimming in his exact same wave of lust, that soon would have swept them away.

Somehow, Sander managed to take a quick mental note: sometimes surrender to his own emotions wasn’t bad at all.

[johnshelbysbabygirll]

Christmas with the Shelbys - JOHN SHELBY X READER

Words: 3403

hello again loves!!

i was soo excited to post this cause i really love Christmas imagines with all the family and cute things. and also drama cause we are talking bout Shelby family here.

i hope you like it and sorry for any mistakes, love ya xx

Christmas it is a wonderful holiday, your favorite actually.

Family, in this case your husband's family, means everything to you.

Your parents? You are not in a very good terms with them, not after you married John bloody Shelby.

But they all together in your house? Also with the kids...You know it wasn't a good idea.

Hell, everyone fuckin know it.

Every year for Christmas and New Eve you all had a family meeting at Polly's house, Thomas's or Garrison as usual, but this year John wanted to host both of them. This year he bought the house you and him always wanted, big enough for you two and five tireless kids - four with his first wife Martha and the toddler with you. Knowing that your relationship with your parents it's not the best, John wanted you to invite them too. After three years of marriage, four of relationship and a child together they should accept the idea by now. 

You were and still are very skeptical at this idea, but somehow excited. You want to make everything perfect and John understood why are you so perfectionist about it. You and your parents didn't spend a Christmas together since you started dating him and you don't regret it at all, but he is feeling guilty. Even if he knows that his family is your family now and they liked you for the first time anyway.

- John? You said in a questioning tone while putting your pearl earrings on.

- Ya? He was getting dressed with a nice black suite who looked very good on him. His hair was still messy for the things you did before and you smiled, remembering with not a shame his head between your legs. You needed that since you already feel panicked and John knew it, wanting to pleasure and relax his girl every time. He would spend the whole damn Christmas evening like this if he could. But you had commitments.

- No business tonight.

He smirked, but he was focused on the tie. You stand up from your chair still in your robe and you help him with the tie knot, making him look into your eyes when you're done.

- I'm serious, John. No business, no fighting, no drugs. Fuck, no fighting. You repeat knowing how Shelby men can get. You know too well.

He softly kiss your lips, pulling you closer to him and whispering.

- I will make sure the lads will behave. Now...How much time do we have?

Thinking at the fact that your makeup it's not finished yet and you are not dressed, even if you are the host, you answered.

- We don't. My parents are comin'. I can't be late.

Ten minutes later you slowly walked around the long table in your red long dress, making sure everything was in its place. You usually had two maids, one for the house and a nanny, but tonight you have four and John paid them double. The Christmas tree in the middle of the dinning room was huge and you remembered with a little laugh how frustrated your husband was because he had to decorate it with you and the kids for two hours and a half.

- They are here! Katie shout, excited to play with the others Shelby kids and she ran to the door, almost before the maid that opened the door for them.

- Ey, if it's not the most beautiful sister-in-law I ever had! Arthur greet you with a big smile and he hugs you, you doing the same with Linda and Billy, who were next to him. And also with Michael and Gina, her belly growing already.

- Oh, really? Lizzie raised an eyebrow and you hugged her and the little Ruby, who quickly managed to get to Katie. They are so sweet, playing innocently with their dolls.

Thomas looked at you as you greeted each other with smiles on your faces and Charlie was right next to him in a nice grey suit; he was so shy when you hugged him, deciding to do the same with his father as well. You know Tommy don't really like hugs, but he pulled his arms around you as well. Ada and Polly are right next to them and you kissed their cheeks.

- I'm lookin' at you and I already know you are going to be pregnant again in less than two months, Polly smirked and you blushed a little. I can see it already.

Ada chuckled and she looked at you with a warm glare.

- You look so beautiful, [Y/N]. You heard a little voice and you kissed Karl's cheek; he's such a good and smart little boy.

- And happy. You're glowing, sister. Ada speaks as she entered the house, followed by Finn, Isiah, Charlie and Curly who kissed your hand, making you laugh and try to stop him, so you could hug him as you did with everyone. Your kids greet everyone as well, happily and excited to play with the toys they had in their separate room, two nannies watching over the kids.

- Too bad you're my sister-in-law, Finn said joking and Isiah poked him with his elbow.

- Too bad she is mine, brother? John hugged you from behind as you were talking with the "little" Blinders and he pulled you to him by your waist, looking for a moment in other side for his kids.

Finn raised his hands in self defense and you all laughed, but when they walked away to get a drink, you turned to face John's beautiful face.

- You are fuckin gorgeous, love. The most beautiful woman Birmingham has ever seen. He whisper and slowly place kisses all over your face, that calming you down for a moment.

- Thank you love, you said smiling a little but you are nervous.

- They will come. Calm down for a bit, okay? I'm gonna get a drink. Want one?

He kissed your lips, but you declined his offer as you pulled him to your lips one more.

- Mrs Shelby? A few moments later a maid interrupted you as you talked with the girls, all standing by the fire and waiting for your parents. Eric is crying.

Your heart melts seeing your youngest child in tears, but as soon as you grabbed him he stop and he start giggling at his dad wanting his attention, but he was smoking and drinking at the table with the rest of the men, they all loudly talking and laughing. But even in that chaos in the dinning room, John's eyes managed to follow his son, seeing him crying and now he is smiling at the little baby, who is indeed he in miniature. He loves all of his kids the same, but right now Eric melts his heart and that's probably because he is more present now than he was with the other kids.

The maid announced you that you're parents are here and you can feel your hands tightened around Eric.

- They are here, you muttered to the girls as you slowly stand up and John did the same, following you to the door. A good vibe was coming from the dinning room as there was music and laughing, the kids were happily playing in their rooms, but you can feel yourself so strained.

- I'm here for you, love, always. He whispered to you and lovely kissing your lips, but Eric grabbed him by his jacket as he pulled away. Come ere boy.

You placed Eric in John's arms and opened the door, meeting the familiar, yet so unfamiliar, faces of your parents. They never been here before, they never met Eric, Katie, William, Edward or Joe. They just didn't know anything about you all this time and you nothing about them and it didn't bothered up.

- Hello mother, father. You force a smile and John touch your rear with the palm of his hand, knowing you need him to keep you calm.

- Welcome! This is our son, Eric Shelby. John said as the toddler was looking up at his parents and sometime at the strangers in front of him as they enter the house. His eyes are big and blue, his hair blonde and he have pink chubby cheeks.

-I'm glad to see you again, [Y/N]. It's been a while, your father talk only with you ignoring what John said.

- I'm happy to see you too, you reply but you mostly look at your mother. Polly has been a mother to you this time, but you look exactly like the woman that gave you life and when she hugged you couldn't pull away.

- He is adorable. And you two look happy together, she observed and she grabbed Eric's little hands. She even wanted to take him in her arms, but he started crying, not wanting to be taken away from his daddy. Thank you for taking care of her all this time, John.

Your father didn't seemed to happy to hear this, but you mother hugged John and you thought that maybe this was a start.

- As we wait for the food, I want to say something to you...To all of you.

John grabbed your hand and you both stand up with Eric in your arms as he was playing with your wedding ring, not paying much attention to anyone, even if everyone was now looking at you. The Shelby's were smiling, you parents not much.

- Let's hear you Johnny boy! Arthur screamed making everyone laughs, even you two.

- Carry on, Tommy smiled at you and you look confused.

- When I lost Martha, my first wife and the mother to my first children, I thought I will never be truly happy again. I thought that I will marry just for the sake of the business, but this one ere...She really bloody loves me. He said with a bashful smile on his lips as he gesture towards you.

- This one, [Y/N]...Made me realize that everything happens for a reason. I may be a fucker..

- You really are brother! Finn was the one who screamed now and he throw a table napkin at his brother who ignored his gesture as he was trying to find the better words. You tried to not look at your parents, theirs glare will annoy you.

- Ya, I know I am and she knows too, but she loves me anyway. Just as she loves this family. We may be fuckers...We may have fights, who usually end up worse than at any other families...But we will never let each other down, don't we.

- It's in our gipsy blood, Polly proudly smiled as she puffed on her cigarette and you smiled to her. You are a gipsy too and you are proud about it, but your parents aren't.

- We don't have this kind of nights too often and we don't openly talk to each other too often...But I know we love each other, John licked his lips and he looked at you. Your smile was big and proud as he took Eric in his arms.

- And I know I love you, [Y/N]. And I will protect you with my life.

In your stomach you feel the same thing you felt all this years with John; the same stomach knots that you'll never get rid off next to him and that was all that mattered. Your family was screaming and shouting as you kissed with smiles on your faces, remembering the night when John asked you to marry him. Eric screams as well in John's arms and you and your husband chuckled, knowing you found love and somehow peace.

- We are the Peaky fookin' Blinders, John screamed with a proud grin and he takes Charlie's Blinder cap and he puts  it on Eric who was confused but chuckled at his dad. You had happy tears in your eyes and as you wiped them away you saw your mother and father disapproval looks; you looked away.

- We are Gods! Arthur cheers with his glass of whisky in his hand and Tommy pulled the smoke out before talking with a grin.

- Not yet brother.

The first dish was placed in front of everyone, but your mother wasn't at the table anymore. You stand up, John's eyes following away as you talk with your father.

- Where's mum?

- Upstairs. She couldn't stand seeing what her daughter became...With this pikeys...And you call them bloody family? he mocks you and you growl. The kids weren't there and before you can think twice you grab his collar and pull him to you, not afraid at all.

- Listen to me father, you talk in the same mock tone with your face close to his; Isiah was next to your father, but no one moved as they listen to your words. You say one more bad thing about my people and I will get you the fuck out my damn house. You are here only because John insisted so shut your mouth. Your old man for sure hates your guts right now, ya know? He was proud to be a gipsy.

You heard chuckles at the table, but you didn't stand there more. You walked out of the dinning room, John following you just to shut.

- Ya need backup?

- No love. I have to handle this on my own.

You found your mother in the children room talking with them and this wasn't something wrong, but you smelled something so you just stand by the door to listen a little.

- You're old enough now to know about your father's business or it's not the time yet?

- What business? William your oldest son asked, not having a damn idea. He's just ten years old. You forced yourself to listen more.

- Okay kids, listen to me. I am your grandma and I want what's the best for you, but-...

- Why we didn't met you before? Karl asked as he was playing chess with Charlie. You smile proudly.

- [Y/N] never allowed me to. What I wanted to say was that...You know kids, your fathers are bad people. They are hurting innoc-...

You can't stand it anymore.

- Kids, have you all ate? You enter the room and the maids right after you. The kids food was served early and you smile at them; your heart just melts seeing them all together.

- Mommy, can we eat dessert now? Edward asked you, pulling by your dress to get your attention as you sent daggers with your eyes to your mother.

- Course baby. Veronica is bringing the dessert to you now. If you all want somethin, you told her okay?

They all nodded and you look at your mother who was too quiet now after she just told a lot of shit to kids. You pull her into a guest bedroom and after you close the door, you clench your fists.

- You crazy bitch! Wha was that? You trying not to scream, but you can't help it.

- How did you call me, [Y/N]? She was shocked, but before you can do anything, she slammed your over the cheek. Your head remain still for a moment and you bit your lip.

- I called you...Crazy bitch cause that's what you bloody are! What kind of mother told to innocent kids what they parents do for livin? They are toddlers!

- A mother that wants the best for her blind daughter! He spit at you with her voice full of venom and you mock her when you talk.

- Don't you dare give that shit to me.

She puff and when she starts talking again, she have a rotten smile on her face.

- But please tell me...What kind of mother are you, [Y/N]? What mother accept her kid living under the same roof with some criminals? With another woman's children? You really are this dumb? Leave this gipsy behind, take Eric with you and come livin with us. That's all I want and I know you will be happier.

- You are wrong...That's all you can say. You are so angry that you want to hit her for the shit she talks.

- Look at me and listen cause I am right to say that. If you don't leave now, John will do it first. When you will be all alone, you will come on your knees at us, [Y/N]. Listen to me.

You look away but you can feel the fire in your whole body, taking control over your mind. You had enough.

- Get the fuck out of my house. Now.

- [Y/N] don-...

That's all it takes for you to lose it.

You take out the knife that it's always on your leg under your dress and you grab your mother's chin, the knife pressing on her neck as you pushed her out of the door and on the stairs.

- Walk or I will cut your fuckin throat for talking shit about my husband.

The music was still playing in the dinning room, but you heard other noises as well. You heard breaking glasses, other screams and growls as you walked in, still holding your mother. You gasped when you saw John with a bloody lip, but everyone's attention was now on you. Your father was holding back by Finn, Isiah and Charlie and he looked out of his minds. He has a broken nose and a bloody mouth.

- How dumb you two are hitting on a Shelby in their damn house? You laugh and put the knife away. John is in shock as he came closer to you, not bothered by the blood.

- I thought you will be mad cause I hit your old man...I didn't wanted to..

- I'm not, you smile at John and look now at your parents. Get the fuck out of my house and you better pray you don't meet me ever again.

- [Y/N], we are still your family. Don't forget this, you will need us. Your father threaten you. Charlie, Isiah and Finn grab them to take them out, but they waited for your permission. John hand was now around your waist as he looked at you, waiting for you reply just as everyone.

- You're wrong. My family is right ‘ere. Leave.

John smirked proudly at his wife, just as everyone did. Tommy, Arthur and Polly are surprised that you protected them that fierce, that you care this much.

- Ey you truly are from this family, don't you [Y/N]. Arthur handed you the whole bottle of whisky and you took a swing, smiling after.

- I really fuckin am.

John hugged you from behind again, no more blood on his lip as he place kisses on the side of your neck, even if everyone was now looking at you two.

- Christmas with the Shelbys. You never know what to expect, Ada chuckled and the maids come in to clean all the mess.

You laugh at her words and drink again, John took a swing too from the bottle in your hands. He pulled you closer, you still holding the bottle as you reach your hands up around his neck, your foreheads and noses touching.

- You have me at your pinky toe, love. I don't know what your mother told you, but you don't have to worry about me ever leaving you. Cause I won't.

- I know, you smile and you peck his lips, before slowly pulling away to talk again. I'm head over heels in love with you, John.

Your heard sniffing in the back and you laughed when John wanted to stop them, you hold him still, not wanting to let go of his neck. He grabbed your waist and you two turned around to see your family; Michael and Arthur are with their noses on the snow, Tommy is having a loudly funny talk with the other men and the girls are all drinking and dancing barefoot.

- I said no fuckin cocaine! John shouted while laughing, you still holding on his neck as you did the same, drinking from the bottle again.

- And I said no fuckin fighting.

- That's quite impossible for us, love.

[originaldanganronpascenarios]

Sure go for it lol

Ah yes I actually lied. I ship Rantaro with everyone (With Tenko and Kirumi is my favorite tho). Alsoooo @yawnmeno I promised to tag you each time I post Amacha! (it's me justrandomgrill!)

Rantaro celebrating his birthday with each of his classmates (Ships- in most cases- okay maybe all cases)

Ryoma Hoshi

Ryoma wanted to plan everything before he does anything.

He thought that going somewhere might be nice but now where should they go? There are many good places to go to so it was a tough choice indeed.

He also thought about some nice gift. And he ended up with a journal. He thought it was a good idea and it was.

Now where should they go... There was a lot of places they could go really. But final decision was escape room.

Both of them had a lot of fun and managed to solve everything together. Rantaro thanked him for everything but Ryoma was actually the thankful one for having someone like Rantaro.

Kirumi Tojo

Kirumi was preparing perfect birthday for her boyfriend Rantaro. Day before she cleaned entire apartment (like she normally does but this time she put extra-extra effort into it).

She asked few of her classmates to come and now it was time for even more preparations.

Luckily Rantaro whouldn't be home anytime soon so she could get to work without ruining the surprise. She baked delicious cakes and prepared lost of food. Wich took few hours of her sleep.

Next day the last thing she needed to do was set up decorations and wait for guests. Wich she did quickly. In all this mess she forgot about most important thing! A worthy gift!

It was too late now since she whouldn't find perfect gift last minute! Becouse of that she was really stressed. Kaede tried to calm her down but Kirumi's perfectionist side couldn't belive she forgot about it.

But she had to deal with it. Rantaro whould be any second now.

Once he came home everyone at the party greeted him and party just went amazing.

Even though she had a lot of fun Kirumi was 1: Exhausted 2: Still very mad at herself for forgetting about gift for Rantaro.

Speaking about gifts it was time to give them and Kirumi had to apologize for not getting anything to him. He then looked at her and his expression clearly said 'are you serious???' but in a manner of 'why do you think you gave me nothing when you literally did everything for all of this to take place?' he told her that too.

He then hugged her and kissed her on the cheek adding "You have nothing to apologize for Kirumi" she smiled and felt better.

After party was over and everyone headed outside it was time to clean all mess that was made. Kirumi was visably exhausted so Rantaro was like "Don't you dare clean this now. Go get some sleep" he then picked her up bridal style and made sure she goes to sleep.

Before he went to bed however he quickly hid some leftovers in the fridge.

Gonta Gokuhara

At first he didn't knew what to do. But in the end he got everyone together and they prepared party for Rantaro.

Gonta tried to think of a good gift for him to show how much he appreciated him.

But nothing was good enough and Gonta was desperately trying to find something. And he came across a hat. A beret to be exact.

He suddenly felt like it was the gift he was looking for so he got it.

Then he came back and helped with rest of party preparations. Mostly with the decorations!

He was really excited and couldn't wait to see Rantaro's happy face once he enters the room.

Of course Gonta was the one leading him there so he tried not to tell anything. He was just happy as usual and managed to not say anything until they got there.

The party turned out great and Rantaro really loved gift from Gonta.

Miu Iruma

For his birthday she started thinking about a large amount of inventions. She thought that the best gift was practical one.

And she literally stole his camera to modify it. She knew she whould be scolded if he notices his camera gone and find out that she stole it but she just thought about scenario where she shows him his new camera and thought he'd be happy about it.

She gave it a lot of cool options and was proud of herself. Lucky for her Rantaro didn't notice that the camera was gone.

When it was his birthday she had it finished. So she approached him and gave it to him.

Rantaro was confused that she gave him exact same camera he had but then she started talking about the fact that she modified it and that she in order to do that she stole it.

He couldn't belive her at the moment but he understood why she did it so he just let it go.

K1B0

He thought a lot about his birthday really. But he had trouble thinking of what to get for him.

I mean Rantaro had pretty much everything he needed.

So Keebo tried to plan something small but fun! So they went to a cat Cafe! Believe it or not but it was their first time there.

Keebo was actually fascinated by it. He couldn't eat anything or drink but he really loved the cats.

They had very long conversation and Rantaro really enjoyed that moment.

After nice time they spent in Cafe they went on a walk and it got quite chilly. That's when Keebo remembered that he bought a scarf for him.

They shared it together on their way back.

Kaede Akamatsu

She didn't knew what to give to someone who practically has everything. So she started looking for inspiration and she got an idea wich was something she could play on the piano.

She looked for perfect song that fit Rantaro and he whould like. After thinking for a long time she finally found something perfect fitting.

Of course she thought about making something herself but she knew she whouldn't make it in time. So she trained playing what she came up with.

It was really good song but she felt like it wasn't enough so she bought her a cute gift with was a matching bracelet! It was an avocado-

When she started playing the song on his birthday he really loved the song and he could just sit back and relax. It was really calm and pleasant moment.

And then when she was finished she gave that cute accessory and he loved it. They both had it on.

Kaito Momota

Of course he planned star gazing. But it wasn't just that!

They did actually a lot of things before that. Some quick food some bowling. They were out pretty much entire day!

So when it was time for the best part things actually didn't go as he planned. It started raining so they got home as fast as possible.

Kaito didn't seemed too bothered by it. I mean when one plan fails it means it wasn't best idea right?

They ended up cuddling together while they watched some movies.

Angie Yonaga

She was making her gift obviously. And it was a painting of him and her together. It was a realistic one.

And she was great at keeping it all a secret for how long he wouldn't enter her workshop everything whould be just fine.

It wasn't a problem either since she could just shut it wich she did.

Angie really couldn't wait for his birthday! But she had to be patient.

I mean she pretty much didn't say only about the gift since she pretty much asked him if he wanted to do something together.

So they sorta just had a good time out and by the end of the day she led him towards her workshop and showed him the painting.

He was amazed by it and of course said so!

Shuichi Saihara

Ah yes. He was extremely nervous. He didn't try to prepare any surprise since he knew he whouldn't be able to hide it for long.

So they just spent time together whole day went to the cinema. Pretty basic stuff and both of them were happy to share this moments together.

Shuichi felt a little bit bad that he couldn't make this day God knows how special but Rantaro appreciated it.

After all their date was a success so why should he care if it was God knows how big or oryginal.

Tenko Chabashira

She knew his birthday was now closer with each day and she was really nervous on what should she do.

They were dating sure but they were in early stages of relationship and she tried to come up with something.

In the end she tried to find a good gift for him. No... Good isn't best way to say it. She tried to find perfect gift.

She thought about for very long time and she decided to buy him new camera! Since he travels a lot and he takes a lot of photos she thought that she can buy him one. Then she realized he had a great one already and she couldn't afford better one at the time.

Why is having a perfect rich boyfriend so hard? She literally had tons of ideas but none of them whould work.

She felt pretty much mad about it at this point. While she was walking she got small idea. Maybe she can make something? Ah who am I kidding she wouldn't be able to do anything. But trying won't hurt her so it's better this than nothing

He was slowly getting worried when he saw Tenko acting a little bit bothered so he asked her what's wrong.

She didn't wanted to ruin a surprise (she doesn't have) so she lied about some random dude being rude to her.

Rantaro put his hand on her shoulder and told her not to worry about that guy. And tried to comfort her in general.

This made her feel even worse that she can't do anything for his birthday.

She didn't give up but in the end she finally made something. She asked Angie for help and she made a bracelet all by herself. It was mostly green and blue.

She felt a bit embarrassed since it wasn't perfect but she did it in the end. She gave it to him.

Rantaro found it a cute gift and thanked her. He actually didn't expect to get anything from her but he kept wearing bracelet Tenko made for him.

Himiko Yumeno

Magic show. But not the plain one. She tried to think of least known tricks and practiced it for a shit-ton of time.

She really put a lot of effort into it but she also tried to have some rest since if she whould keep practicing she whouldn't be able to preform.

She also wanted his sisters to come and some were even assisting her.

The show was amazing and Rantaro couldn't help but smile. His sisters had a great time too!

He couldn't thank her enough.

Maki Harukawa

She didn't knew what to do since she herself didn't celebrate any birthdays.

So she came up with something basic. She cooked dinner and prepared small gift for him wich was a photo album.

The album was empty though but the photo on the first page wich was them on their first adventure together.

She smiled while she thought of that time it was very fun trip indeed.

After they ate together and Rantaro received her gift they spend rest of the afternoon looking at photos that whould fit the album.

Together they thought about how many things they went through and how fun it was.

Kokichi Ouma

He was lowkey panicking. He had no ideas on what to give his boyfriend for his birthday.

Trying to think of something Kokichi walked around the town and he thought about something.

He thought about getting him matching scarf to his. It was quite simple but he hoped Rantaro whould like it.

After getting one and when it was his birthday he tied scarf around his neck and hugged him from behind "Happy birthday Rantaro!" he added.

They spent entire day together and Rantaro didn't take off his scarf. He was actually thankful for it.

But back to them spending time they mainly walked around the town doing whatever came to mind. It was actually a lot of fun.

Korekiyo Shinguji

After dating for so long Korekiyo found it frustrating that he couldn't think of anything special for his birthday.

Expecially since he whould be cool with anything really since he just doesn't expect to do anything.

They had currently a small break from traveling so he tried to think of something small but fun.

So they went rock wall climbing. Both of them were pretty experienced with it and they loved it.

After they were finished Korekiyo noticed that he forgot to take something with him- a bag.

You see this bag was the gift he went with and Korekiyo couldn't belive that he forgot it.

However he acted cool with it and tried to mask it with invitation to his place.

Rantaro was alright with it so they went inside and Korekiyo managed to give him that bag. It was actually really cool and from that time he allways used it whenever they traveled together!

Tsumigi Shirogane

She was really excited for his birthday and she thought about a good gift.

Tsumigi actually planned this ahead and she sew for him something. It was a shit of his favorite fictional character.

She actually managed to get his size right and it fit him perfectly. She was really glad he liked his gift.

The two went to the restaurant after that and got some quite fancy dinner. They had amazing time together.

Rest of the day they spent together aswell just cuddling and watching something random on the TV.

~Mod Chiaki

[ajokeformur-ray]

Hiiii! I'm very sorry for bothering you with this but may I send a selfship with Joker and Arthur? You're the only one who could understand, I need to share my love for the character ^^ Um, I'm a 27 years old hetero girl. 158 cm, long dark brown hair, black eyes, a bit chubby - and I don't like my looks at all. I'm a PhD student in Media Discourse, I also led seminars in Journalistic Genres last semester and there's a high chance that I'll be doing it again in a several months, I love every

aspect, if I’m being honest. I dream of having an academic career and becoming a professor one day. I’m good with books and studying but a failure when it comes to intimate things, I’m truly clueless in these and am oblivious to flirting and advances. I also would never admit my feelings to anyone, I prefer acting as there’s nothing. I’m an extremely kind and friendly person though I’m still a bit shy so prefer for other people to make the first step. I’m very loyal, gentle and caring and love

helping my friends. I still need my personal time though. Huge perfectionist. I love books, movies, metal and rock music, long walks. I have a huge phobia of snakes, I couldn’t even look at a picture of one. I also hate crowds and ignorant people. Ironically, I’m a Slytherin (but am very proud of my house). Nerd. Could be a bit clumsy. I usually act as the toughest girl around but get scared easily. Tomboy-ish, I don’t like wearing dresses, heels and makeup. Thank you! 💖

Hello!!! You’re no bother at all skskskk I got’chu!!! I just wanted to take a minute real quick to thank you personally for sticking by me with all the blog changes that I made. You’re one of my longest-standing followers and it truly means the world to me, so thank you so very much. I wish you all the very best and I hope you like this @rafaelina-casillas

Arthur // wc: 780.

There is an age gap between you which Arthur finds intimidating, so he would be incredibly hesitant to even start talking to you, let alone get into anything with you. He would also be intimidated by your intellect and your academic achievements. Why would you want to spend your time with him or even acknowledge him? He doesn’t understand your attraction to him, but he’s not about to question it too much. He really does love you, he finds you beautiful inside and out, and you think and feel much the same for him. He only got a little of the way through tenth grade and he was never given a choice about that or any other academic path, so he’s ridiculously proud of you for going all the way through to a PhD, and he tells you every chance he gets (for more on this, refer to your headcanon set here - I don’t want to repeat myself skskksk).  He just really is so, so proud of you, always, and he would help you to practice or prepare for seminars in any way you asked him to, even though he barely understands the material you’re required to cover.

You want to become a professor one day, and again, Arthur is super proud of you. He’s almost always bragging about you to his therapist, the chemist at Helms’, his boss and co-workers (though they bully him about it and on his worst days he comes home doubting your existence, but with patience and persistence and maybe one or two angry phone calls to Hoyt do you manage to stop this)… anyone who will listen to him about you. You’re super good at academics and anything which comes out of a textbook, but you’re not so hot with intimate aspects, and that’s the same for Arthur. The two of you are painfully oblivious to the others’ attention, and I really can’t see either of you even coming together without a third party to help you out. Picture this: Gary walks into the changing room at Ha-Ha’s and asks Arthur if he’s managed to ask you out yet. “No,” Arthur hums, “She doesn’t see me that way.” Gary would sigh, genuinely confused as to how two people so emotionally intelligent can be so stupid, and he’d pat Arthur’s hand as he says, “Just try it out, mate, you never know.” Gary does know, though, and a few weeks after that when Arthur comes in to work blushing, he’s only proven right. You prefer to act as if there’s nothing there, but Arthur would slowly start to realise thanks to Gary’s careful prodding that there is something there, and he would have to somehow overcome his own insecurities and doubts. Otherwise, you two will just dance around the large elephant in the room forever.

I feel like, inevitably, Arthur would get so anxious but also so annoyed that he loves you and he knows you love him, he knows, that he’d go along with you on a walk when the grey sky darkens and bleeds out into purple and blue hues, to add some atmospheric intimacy to an emotional conversation, and he’d shyly reach out and take your hand in his, his palm sweating slightly and his throat convulsing and jumping in nerves. You look at him, shocked but also slightly relieved that he had been the one to make the first move, and you squeeze his fingers. Arthur gasps lightly, almost inaudibly, and he slides his fingers more securely into yours, and you both understand that the decision has been made. You’re together now and in the end, no words were needed. You both just… knew. 

You love films but you’re super scared of snakes, and sweet, sweet Arthur would make sure to watch films which are coming out before you watch them, just to make sure that there are no snakes or anything else which scares you. He is incredibly protective, and if there was anything even slightly snake like in a film, like an eel or a water dragon or something, he’d tell you not to watch it. You hate crowds so when you go out for walks together or when either of you collects the other from work or university, Arthur would keep his hand securely in yours while you duck into back alleys, short cuts… He keeps you out of the crowds. You hate ignorant people so living in Gotham, you’re constantly irritated and on edge, but coming home to Arthur really calms you down and keeps you sane. He loves you, all of you, and come rain or shine, you’re all he needs, wants and lives for.

Joker // wc: 780 (what are the chances that these are the same word count, accidentally? skskskskk)

You had Arthur’s heart before you even really met, so immediately taken was he with you, and you stayed with him through it all until bent and broken was he forced to stand tall, or he’d die continuing as he was. As Joker, therefore, he is incredibly loyal to you. You’re literally his entire life. Without you, he really would have nothing left to lose. So no pressure, but you are the only thing, the only person, who keeps him sane and safe even from himself. He is still incredibly proud of you, super supportive and he does anything and everything that he can to let you know that no matter who he is or what he does, he still loves you so, so much. He’s completely and entirely devoted to you. It’s not unusual for him to let himself in to sit on your seminars, cheering loudly from the crowd and causing a bit of a disturbance; he’d stand up and tug on the sides of his crimson red blazer proudly as he waves at you; causing you some embarrassment. He really is just so proud of you and sometimes he literally shouts it from the rooftop, climbing out onto the fire escape and screeching out his feelings for you, laughing all the while. He wants everyone in Gotham to know that he’s “Not such a loser now, am I?”, and he’d definitely want for you to do the same, though he’d understand if you don’t. So long as he knows you love him, it’s all good.

Joker gets quite tense whenever you start talking about and making plans for your future, as stated in the headcanon set I did for you forever ago, but he would largely understand that you can be together as a couple while you lead very different separate lives. He’s still so supportive but he’s also not above using his fame, his connections with his followers, to help you to forward your career. And if an assignment doesn’t get the target grade? You might find a typo riddled email from your lecturer the day, saying that there was some kind of mistake and please don’t kill me, please. You understand immediately what happened and though you scold Joker, you find yourself unable to really tell him off because he’s shifting his weight around, his hands clasped in front of him, looking for all the world like a little boy getting told off. He just wants to help you in the best way he can. He never had any choice or chance in the life he was forced to lead, but he wants you to have all the choices available to you, no matter what. He loves you dearly. At this point in your relationship, you’ve learned how to read each other’s love languages, so you know when Joker is being affectionate with you, but if anyone else tried to do the same, you’d be completely oblivious, though Joker’s clenching jaw and savage comments will soon clue you in.

Arthur was attracted to you initially because of how kind you are, and though you’re shy, you’re also friendly so people just gravitate towards you. In a city as cruel and as shitty as Gotham, kindness is a treat so rare that people don’t even recognise it for what it is when they experience it, so the fact that you’re so kind makes Joker practically stick to you like glue. He loves you so much and he’d do anything for you; you’re endlessly loyal to each other, irrevocably in love with the other, and what you have carefully cultivated and built together is a treasure that you both cherish and protect with all that you are. You both respect each other’s privacy but you make sure to have allotted time each day which is only yours; Joker may wreak havoc all over the city but dear, sweet Arthur is never recognised in the streets; people’s eyes pass over him, so you can still go for long walks together if you want to.

You scare easily and Joker is Arthur x 1000000 so he’s even more protective of you now than he used to be, because he feels safer to be himself now. He’s almost always touching you, especially when you’re both out on the streets together, because you hate crowds and he’s very quick on his feet, so he can get you away from them effortlessly. Overall, it’s a wild ride to be in love with and to be loved by Arthur Fleck, but it’s a ride which pays off again and again and again, and once you’re together, that’s it. Ride or die, sweetheart, remember?