#I couldn’t even do like a scarf I accidentally kept making everything tighter and tighter until I couldn’t even get stitches on anymore :(

[thetabbybadger]

Ok I had good luck with responses last time I asked the great and mighty fiber craft community things via the void of tumblr so I’m going to try a gain!

So I’m hoping to teach myself knitting! I found a site online (sheepandstitch .com) that had some tips and videos for beginners. I followed their advice and got some thicker yarn (number 6 extra bulky) and thicker bamboo needles (9mm, also accidentally some 5.5mm needles but those are like 13in long, the joys of online buying 😅).

So I have some beginning supplies but I haven’t started yet. I know it’s going to be different for everyone but is it generally better to learn from a book/patterns or watch videos teaching you? I can have trouble visualizing directions in 3D so I will probably have to do a little of both regardless but I don’t want to shoot myself in the foot and miss out on early pattern learning.

Does anyone have any recommendations for starting books/websites/videos? I did make an account on Ravelry awhile back but I’m not really sure what I’m doing :P I did try teaching myself once when I was a teenager but I didn’t have much luck. I’m hoping to have better luck (and more patience) this time! And I’m totally also interested in like actual, physical paper books too if people have recommendations. I assume most craft stores have beginner books but I’m also sure mileage probably varies on those…

Thanks in advance for any advice :3 If/when I eventually make something, I will post it! :D

[flowerismi]

Snowy

Set in 1989

The snow was falling outside. A light breeze blowing over the fields. Integra was sitting on the windowsill. She couldn't sleep. So she looked out over the fields of the night. There was no city light visible from the Hellsing mansion. So the clear sky made the stars shine bright. Lightening up the white powder that was covering everything. It was beautiful.

Integra jumped down from the windowsill. She quietly slipped over towards her closet. She pulled out a big winter coat, some cloves, a scarf and a warm hat. She then made her way downstairs. Holding her boots in her arms. All the lights were out. But the clear sky let the star light shine in through the windows. Making the dark mansion light up.

Integra put on her boots, and opened the big door. Her face was met by the cold breeze. And her warm breath became visible in the cold air. She smiled softly to herself. Before stepping outside. Closing the door quietly behind her.

Integra almost jumped down the stairs. She landed both feet in the untouched snow. And reached down to touch it. She grabbed some and made herself a snowball. Not really as round as in movies but it was alright. She threw as far as she could. Watching it land some meters away.

Integra let her gaze look around the empty space that was surrounding the mansion. She loved how the stars lit up the white snow. And not a sound could be heard. It was so peaceful. Her mind was calm. And for the first time in a long while, she felt happy again. This is how every 12 year old should be feeling.

Integra ran out onto the open field. She didn't stop to think. She accidentally tripped and fell head first down into the snow. She raised her head from the cold snow covered ground. She shook her head, to get the snow of her face. Then she started laughing, as she turned around to lie down on her back. Integra kept laughing as she made a snow angle. She stopped and looked up at the sky.

"See those three clear stars Integra?"

Arthur asked, as he pointed to the sky.

"Yeah!"

Integra replied.

"Those are called Orion's belt"

Arthur said, and smiled to his daughter. Integra widened her eyes in surprise.

"What! Do all stars have names?"

Integra asked overwhelmed with this new information. Arthur laughed and held his daughters hand tighter.

"There exist a lot of stars. Many of which we can't even see from here!"

Arthur continued.

"Actually most of the stars we see each night, are already dead"

He said as he gave his daughter a teasingly startled look.

"Wha! Can stars die? Are they alive!?"

Integra was so caught up in her father's story. She didn't even feel cold, as they were lying on the cold snow covered ground. She had never heard such amazing stories before.

"Yeah... Stars are just like our sun. A big ball of hot plasma..."

Arthur chuckled as he could see his daughters confused face.

"I'll tell you more when you're older..."

Arthur laughed again, and booped Integra's nose.

"We better get you inside before you freeze over!"

Arthur said enthusiastic and sat up from the ground.

"No I wanna hear more about stars!"

Integra said irritated. Arthur looked down at her with a funny look.

"Well okay... Then I am just gonna go in and eat all the cookies myself"

Arthur said teasingly. He quickly got up and pretended as if he was about to run inside.

"No wait! I want cookies too!"

Integra yelled, and got up as fast as she could. She started running towards the mansion, as fast as her small legs could carry her.

"No fair Integra! You're too fast for daddy to catch up!"

Arthur yelled after her, pretending to not being able to make it. Integra stopped and watch her father failing to catch up to her. She started laughing hysterically as a child of her age would.

Integra opened her eyes. She realized she must have been daydreaming about a different time in her life. Back when her father was still alive. Back when she was nothing more than a innocent child. She could see Orions belt. Just like her father had shown her. Those three stars would always be so clear in the sky. She smiled softly to herself. And stood up to watch her snow angel. It was perfect, she grinned to herself.

Integra took a couple of steps back, and made herself another snowball. While still admiring her snow angel. She wanted to make another one. Then perhaps it would feel like her father was still here with her. She clenched the snowball tighter. And was about to get down to make another angel.

"Master...?"

A voice called out to her sofly. Integra squeaked startled, and almost jumped out of her own skin. She turned around in a swift move to face the dark figure behind her.

"You startled me Alucard!"

Integra hizzed at him.

"Forgive me master..."

Alucard replied.

"... What are you doing outside in the middle of the night?"

Alucard continued, he looked somewhat annoyed with her. And Integra only felt irritated with that attitude of his.

"I'm just... Doing some field work..."

Integra answered. Not knowing what to say. She felt stupid for saying that.

"Master you-"

Alucard tried to say. But he was interupted as a snowball came flying landing on his chest. He looked down at his now snow covered attire. It was silent between them. No one said anything.

"Don't question your masters actions..."

Integra said all of a sudden. Alucard raised his gaze to her. He could see she looked pouty. And her cheeks were flustered.

"... Of course master..."

Alucard replied. Still processing what just happened. Integra lied down on the ground to make her other snow angel. She got up quickly. Feeling satisfied with her work.

"Take care of mom, dad."

Integra whispered. She placed her hand in the snow between the two snow angels. She went over and made a third snowball. But this time she started rolling it on the ground. Making it bigger.

"You don't freeze do you?"

Integra asked, stopping only for a second to look at Alucard.

"... No"

He simply answered. Integra looked determined up at him.

"Good... Then get rolling..."

Integra said, and handed him his own snowball. He didn't react at first.

"Don't just stand there! Your master gave you an order. Start. Rolling."

Integra yelled over to him, as he didn't act. Was this what he was reduced to. Rolling snowballs in the middle of the night for a 12 year old. But he did as he was ordered. Using his manipulation to make the snowball roll itself.

"That's no fair..."

Integra whispered under her breath. But continued rolling her own snowball. When she thought they were big enough she stopped.

"Okay now placed this one on top of that one..."

Integra ordered. And Alucard complied.

"Great... Now wait here while I go get something."

Integra commanded him. She ran as fast as she could to the mansion. And Alucard was left alone in the snow.

After a while, Integra came running back outside. She had a large bowl of water with her. As well as a bag on her back. Alucard looked curious down at her.

"Here hold this"

Integra said, and handing Alucard the large bowl of water. He wanted to ask. But decided not to. Integra pulled something up from her back. She placed what looked like a moustache on the top snowball. As well as a brown wig. To finish it of, she tied a tie around it.

"Perfect... Now pour the water slowly over it."

Integra said, and Alucard did as he had been told.

"Now we just wait..."

Integra said, and turned around to go back inside. Alucard stood quiet for a moment. Holding the now empty bowl in his hands.

"Are you coming or are you planning on staying out here all night?"

Integra yelled back at him. As she noticed he didn't follow her. Alucard smelled the air. And followed his little master inside.

The next day Integra ended up sleeping in. She didn't wake up until noon. As soon as she had her late breakfast, there was work that had to be done. Which for a 12 year old, is not done so easily. Walter was beside her. And together they managed to get it all done before supper. At that point it was already dark outside. And just like the night before. The sky was clear, letting the stars shine bright. But today there was no light breeze. No wind at all.

Integra greeted goodnight to Walter and went to her room. But she had no plans on sleeping. She waited an hour or so, then jumped up from her bed. Walter didn't need to know what she was up to in the middle of the night. But someone else knew.

"My master is sneaking out again..."

Alucard said, as he walked after her down the hallway.

"I'm not sneaking out, it's my mansion. Can't exactly be sneaking out of my own house"

Integra just said without looking at him. But then she stopped, and turned to look at him.

"But it's good you're here... I need to borrow your gun."

Integra said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Alucard gave her a crooked smile.

"Master... What will you need my gun for"

Alucard asked, hiding his curiosity.

"You'll see..."

Integra replied, and made her way downstairs. They both went outside, and Integra hurried over to the now frozen snowman. She knocked on it, feeling how it had become hard as ice.

She looked over at Alucard.

"Hand me your gun..."

Integra insisted, and Alucard pulled out both of his guns.

"I just need one..."

Integra said. Alucard handed her one of his guns. Regretting it the moment he did.

Integra went a little further away from the frozen snowman. And just then Alucard realized who the snowman looked like.

"Isn't that-"

Alucard was about to say, but his voice was swallowed up by the sound of his gun going off. Integra blowing holes through the frozen snowman. Holding the gun with both her hands. Alucard could see the rage in her eyes. It made him hard. Those dark emotions she felt. He loved every second of it.

Integra stopped, as there was nothing left of the snowman. And she had run out of bullets. Alucard was impressed, and he clapped his hands satisfied with his young master.

Integra was breathing heavily. All the anger of emotions she had felt made her head dizzy. She handed back the gun to Alucard. And he loaded it up again.

"Well my master... Did you get some of your anger out?"

Alucard asked teasingly, looked down at her flustered face.

"... Not nearly enough, no..."

Integra replied, and started walking towards the mansion.

End.

[aomine-ryo]

Your last ask was seriously funny! We need more of that. If possible, can I request different scenrios where the s/o of the gom gets asked questions by the s/o of their boyfriend's teammate(s) about their night (because reader has a looot of love marks).... this is so freaking specific, im sorry😂😂 if you cant do it it fine, if you do, then i appreciate you and your writings (i love your blog and im also a simp for Aomine)

Aren’t we all a simp for Aomine 😭💕 I really couldn’t think of anything for Midorima and Murasakibara without it being too repetitive and boring so I unfortunately left them out of this one, so I’m sorry and I hope you don’t mind too much!! xx

Scenario: Kuroko, Kise, Aomine and Akashi’s s/o being questioned about their love marks

Kuroko

It was a rather chilly Wednesday afternoon and you were watching Seirin’s practice as you usually would. While you initially came there to watch your boyfriend play, you actually also ended up becoming quite close with Kagami, Izuki and Mitobe’s significant others who also came to watch quite often.

As you watched over the practice while chatting away with your friends, you began to feel rather warm due to the gym’s heating, so you took off the scarf that you’d wrapped around your neck. Not thinking too much of it, you continued with your conversation, only to notice that your friends had their eyes fixated on your neck. “Why are you guys looking at me like that?” you questioned, trying to decipher the strange smirks and nods they shared with each other.

“Y/N, your neck...” Mitobe’s s/o trailed off, getting caught up in giggles before they could finish.

“What? Is there something on my neck?” you asked, beginning to panic as your hand immediately reached for it in the fear that there was a bug on it.

“I’m guessing you and Kuroko had some fun last night,” Kagami’s s/o giggled, causing you to freeze as you came to a realisation of what they were referring to.

You quickly wrapped the scarf around your neck again to conceal the red marks your boyfriend had left the night before. Filled with embarrassment, your averted your gaze and fixated on the boys’ practice to avoid making eye contact with your friends. Of course, they didn’t let you off the hook that easily.

“I didn’t think Kuroko was the type to leave marks, but damn he really went to town on your neck, huh Y/N?” Kagami’s s/o teased, making your face turn red with embarrassment.

“Shut up,” you grumbled, letting out a nervous chuckle.

“So, was yesterday a special night? Or does he always leave marks like those?” Mitobe’s s/o interrogated.

“It’s always the quiet ones...”

“Oh my God, stop,” you said, unable to hold back the giggles from the ridiculousness of their comments. “It was just a normal night okay?”

The two of them shared a look before hooting a long “oooooh,” making you wish you didn’t say anything at all.

“So it’s a normal thing then?” Kagami’s s/o continued, the grins on their faces growing wider and wider.

“I’m gonna pretend like I can’t hear you,” you said finally, looking everywhere but at them. You didn’t lie when you said that though. They kept teasing you, but you just sat there as though they weren’t talking to you.

Eventually, they got tired of it, but they didn’t hesitate to shoot you knowing glares when practice ended and you hurried over to Kuroko to escape them.

“Is everything okay?” Kuroko asked you, when he noticed how much of a hurry you were in to leave.

“Yeah, they just saw the marks from last night,” you informed him, making him blush at the memory of the previous night’s events. “So can we just leave before they come here and embarrass me even more?”

Not wanting to draw any attention to himself, Kuroko agreed with you after letting out a small chuckle. “Sorry about that, Y/N,” he said sincerely, not knowing how he’d respond to remarks if he were in your position.

You gave his hand a tight squeeze and flashed him a reassuring smile. “It’s alright, I’ll let it slide because last night was really fun,” you beamed, causing his face to flush red before the two of you left the gym after exchanging brisk goodbyes with the team.

Kise

It was just another practice day at Kaijo where you were casually chatting with your friends. They weren’t normally people you would hang out with, but you’d gotten quite close during these practices since they were the significant others of your boyfriend, Kise’s teammates. Whilst you considered them friends, they weren’t exactly close enough where you’d feel comfortable sharing personal details about your relationship, so you would often stick to light hearted stuff— which you quite enjoyed because they always gave you a good laugh.

“Y/N, is this the first time you’re wearing a scarf?” Moriyama’s s/o asked you, eyeing the bright blue scarf that Kise lent you this morning.

“Yeah, it is,” you nodded.

“I can tell. It’s really not your usual style— it’s not even wrapped properly,” they continued, giving you a pitiful chuckle as Kasamatsu’s s/o bobbed their head in agreement.

“Yeah, I know. I was trying something new, but I’m not sure I like it,” you sighed, fiddling with the end of it. To be honest, you didn’t even want to wear it. It was only there to cover up the bright red marks Kise left all over your neck the night before. You wanted to cover it up with makeup, but you remembered that morning that you needed to buy a new bottle of foundation because Kise accidentally knocked your old one over while playing around with you and broke it.

“Here let me wrap it properly for you,” Kasamatsu’s s/o offered, shuffling closer to you and taking your scarf off before you had time to protest.

And just like that, you were left bare-necked, with both of their eyes glued onto you in shock as your face flushed red. You immediately snatched the scarf back and wrapped it back out of embarrassment.

“Oh my God Y/N! Your neck was covered in hickeys!” Moriyama’s s/o squealed, making you want to dash out of there.

“So you and Kise got it on last night huh? Go on, give us the details!” Kasamatsu’s s/o urged excitedly as they nudged your shoulder with their elbow.

“Details? It was nothing,” you said nervously, desperately searching your head for a way to change the topic.

“Nothing? Y/N, those marks were plastered all across your neck! He barely left any spots untouched,” Moriyama’s s/o laughed.

“Well, what do you want me to say? We were just messing around,” you shrugged. “Can we please move on—“

“Hey guys,” Kise chimed in, cutting you off with a kiss on your cheek. You looked around in confusion and realised that he was on his water break and began to prepare yourself for what’s to come. “What’re you talking about?”

“Well, Y/N was just showing us those marks on their neck—“

“I wasn’t showing them to you! You saw them against my will,” you corrected as you buried your face in your hands.

“Shhh, seems like you two had fun last night,” Kasamatsu’s s/o giggled.

“Oh those! I kind of got carried away, didn’t I? Sorry, Y/N-cchi,” Kise said sweetly as he wrapped his arms around you apologetically.

“We were trying to get Y/N to spill some details but they’re too embarrassed,” Kasamatsu’s s/o said as you continued to pray that this hell of a conversation would end. You hated how charismatic Kise was sometimes, because it often ended with him slipping into conversations like this so easily and just fuelling the fire.

“Embarrassed? Y/N-cchi, you don’t need to be embarrassed. I left those marks there for a reason— you should be proud of them!” Kise sang as your friends nodded along, a smug look on both of their faces.

“Ryouta please stop,” you whined as he only hugged you tighter.

“But those marks look nice on—“

“Captain! Hasn’t this water break gone on long enough?” You called out to Kasamatsu all of a sudden.

“Oi Kise, get your ass back on the court!” Kasamatsu yelled back in reply, causing Kise to sigh.

“Why’d you do that?” Kise pouted.

“Because I like watching you practice,” you said innocently. “You’re playing a game now aren’t you? Why don’t you go score a cool dunk for me?”

Just like that, Kise immediately lit up. “I’ll score the best dunk you’ve ever seen!” He said cheerily before turning back to your friends. “Take it easy on Y/N-cchi, it’s my fault after all.”

“Yeah yeah, we’re just joking around for the fun of it. It’s not funny if it goes on for too long anyways,” Moriyama’s s/o replied reassuringly.

“Great. Thanks,” Kise grinned. Just as you thought he was going to leave, he suddenly leaned in close to your ear and whispered, “You know, those marks on your neck really do look pretty— I might just make some more later.”

And like it was nothing, Kise strutted off confidently, leaving you with a face that couldn’t be more flustered even if you tried.

Aomine

It wasn’t unusual for you to have marks all over your neck since everyone had already gotten used to it. The first few times the team and their significant others noticed them, there were a lot of questions and reactions, though they were mainly directed at Aomine so you didn’t mind all too much. Of course, you’d still try to hide them as much as you could, but makeup is expensive and to be spending so much on concealing marks that would just appear again within a week or so seemed quite redundant to you. You also tried to tell Aomine to limit the marks to places that clothes could cover, and while he’d agree beforehand, he’d often end up getting carried away and doing what he wants.

It was the day of an important preliminary match for Touou and you met up with the significant others of Wakamatsu and Imayoshi at the stands of the arena after wishing your boyfriend good luck. Upon greeting them, their eyes were immediately directed to your neck— which you expected. You tried covering the marks up with makeup but they were still quite visible. Furthermore, it was the summer so a scarf or turtleneck was not an option— you weren’t going to suffer for something this trivial.

“Y/N, did you even try to cover that up?” Wakamatsu’s s/o asked with a sigh.

“I did! I think I need to get some better foundation, honestly,” you groaned as you took a seat next to them.

“My God, that Aomine really doesn’t quit huh? Even before a big game?” Imayoshi’s s/o asked.

“Somehow he’s even more riled up before games. I really don’t know how he has the energy,” you sighed.

“Don’t act like you don’t like it,” Imayoshi’s s/o said with a smirk.

“Well, of course I like it. Just let me complain, will you?” you joked.

“Haven’t you tried telling him to take it easy with the marks?” Wakamatsu’s s/o questioned.

“I have— many times. But he never listens.”

“Yeah, I don’t think he’d ever really listen to things like that,” Imayoshi’s s/o said.

“That’s just Daiki for you,” you shrugged.

“Well, was last night fun?” Wakamatsu’s s/o asked suggestively, nudging your arm.

“Yeah it was,” you said, beginning to feel slightly flustered as your mind wandered back to moments from the night before.

“Oooh, go on, give us the details,” Imayoshi’s s/o said excitedly.

“No way. That’s only for me to know,” you said firmly. “Besides, I’m way too tired to be going into details anyway,” you added as you let out an exhausted yawn.

“My God, how long were you up till?” Wakamatsu’s s/o asked.

“I don’t even remember— I think it was 2 a.m.?” you guessed, cursing Aomine and his stamina for keeping you up so late.

“Don’t you think he’d be too tired to play today then?” Wakamatsu’s s/o asked.

“He’s an idiot, but he wouldn’t be up so late unless he knew he could handle it,” you replied.

The topic quickly died out once the game began, and all of you were so consumed with it that all of you’d completely forgotten about the marks. And of course, Touou won with a massive lead— with Aomine scoring almost half of the points. He truly was incredible, you thought.

Akashi

You were often very good at hiding marks left behind by Akashi, but there was this one morning where you were in such a rush that you had no time to cover them up. So as you headed to the gym to watch Akashi’s practice like you usually would, he seemed to notice the red spots on your neck. As a smile spread across his face, he took his jacket off and handed it to you.

“Sorry for rushing you so much; I don’t like being late. Here, wear this so you can cover those up for the most part,” he said, eyeing your neck with a look that had no traces of regret whatsoever.

You took his jacket and zipped it all the way up so that it would cover your neck. “Shouldn’t you be apologising for leaving the marks instead?”

“I wouldn’t have left them if I thought I’d have to apologise for it. They look quite pretty on your neck if I’m being honest—I’m just saving you from being interrogated,” he explained coolly as you neared the gym.

“Well, I have a feeling that it’s gonna happen whether I like it or not.”

And just as you expected, when you got to the gym and met up with Mayuzumi, Hayama and Nebuya’s s/os, you were greeted with a few strange looks. “What’s up with the jacket, Y/N?” Mayuzumi’s s/o questioned.

“Oh, Sei gave it to me because I was feeling chilly,” you lied with a shrug.

“You don’t usually zip it up all the way though. It looks weird,” Hayama’s s/o pointed out. You didn’t realise that they were this observant until then.

“Y/N’s probably hiding something under there then,” Nebuya’s s/o said jokingly, almost as if they knew exactly what was going on but tried to pass it off as something humorous.

“What could I possibly be hiding?” you played along, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.

“I don’t know, you tell me,” Nebuya’s s/o said suggestively, still clearly joking.

“Could it possibly be hickeys?” Mayuzumi’s s/o guessed, causing the group to break out into a chorus of hoots as you genuinely questioned whether they had psychic abilities.

“What? Why would you say that?” you laughed, still determined not to give it away.

“I want to say that I did some incredible detective work, but there are still marks poking out ever so slightly from your neck that gave it away,” Mayuzumi’s s/o explained, drawing all the attention towards your neck as the other two tried to spot it.

You let out a sigh, “Alright, you got me. I didn’t have time to cover them up this morning.”

“Let us see them!” Hayama’s s/o said a little too excitedly.

“Why do you need to see them?”

“It’s the prize for our investigative abilities,” Nebuya’s s/o said.

Rolling your eyes, you reluctantly unzipped the jacket, revealing the bright red and purple marks spread across your neck and earning a gasp from all three of them.

“Akashi really doesn’t hold back, does he?” Hayama’s s/o giggled.

“Sounds about right— it’s Akashi Seijuro we’re talking about after all,” Mayuzumi’s s/o commented.

“So, did you have fun last night, Y/N?” Nebuya’s s/o grinned.

“Well, yeah,” you mumbled, beginning to feel a little embarrassed as you zipped the jacket back up.

“There are a lot of marks though. Is he really that rough?” Mayuzumi’s s/o asked, a slight hint of concern in their voice.

“Kind of? I don’t know. It feels weird talking about it. But he has his moments,” you answered, not knowing how much you should be sharing with them.

“He just seems so cool and collected that I can’t believe he did that much damage, you know?” Nebuya’s s/o explained.

“Yeah I get what you mean,” Hayama’s s/o nodded along as all of their heads turned to take a look at Akashi, who was instructing his team about something.

“Can we please move on from this topic, it’s weird,” you said quickly, not liking that they were all probably thinking about Akashi in a whole different way now.

They were somehow quite understanding of your request and the conversation quickly moved on to a different subject matter so that whatever happened between you and Akashi remained between the two of you— and you hoped that it would stay that way.

[opalmaplehibiscus]

Rubies, Diamonds, and Self Reflection

HC of Kalim and Leona’s Senpai-Kouhai relationship + Kalim and Jamil in Kalim’s POV after Chapter 4

·       It would be a lie to say Kalim wasn’t crushed from what Jamil said

·       The last thing he wanted was to be hated by the person he treasures the most

·       It was understandable why Jamil resented him. He was the reason why Jamil wasn’t free anymore and made him feel burdened

·       If only he had known, if only he had known, Kalim would’ve done everything he could to free Jamil and the rest of his family

·       Yet he didn’t and it was because he wasn’t able to catch the hints

·       For once, he didn’t know what to do. He tried to extend his hand to Jamil, in hopes that it would help them move on and start a new relationship

·       It took everything in him to not flinch when Jamil slapped his hand away and said “No way”

·       No one ever found out about him crying during every night as he was successfully able to weep quietly to the point Jamil wasn’t able to find out

·       Betrayal, hurt, sadness, pain – he couldn’t take it anymore. He didn’t know what to do to mend their relationship or even know how to feel at this point

·       But when Kalim remembered  a certain line, a certain wish Jamil had yelled at him, he started thinking. Then, staring at his head scarf that was hanging on a chair, Kalim started to take actions with his own hands

·       When Jamil comes to wake up Kalim out of habit, he finds Kalim’s bed well-made, pajamas folded in his drawer perfectly

·       Panic and worry were the only two things Jamil felt before he finds Kalim sitting in the lounge with the rest of the Scarabia dorm members

·       Kalim had his eyes closed while one of the freshmen was applying the finishing touches to his make-up as another was tying the headscarf

·       When he had initially gone up and asked the dorm members’ if they could help him, he remembered how they looked worried after seeing the sunken, dark circles beneath his eyes

·       He was thankful they were willing to look it over, accepting the excuse that he wasn’t able to sleep because of the heat

·       When Jamil calls out Kalim’s name, Kalim jumps a bit, causing the freshman to apologize and worriedly ask him if they had accidentally injured his eyes

·       Reassuring him the student that he was fine, Kalim opens the eye that was done and greets Jamil normally…or at least tried to

·       He didn’t understand why Jamil seemed to be worried about his whereabouts, giving Jamil a confused look

·       When Kalim replies “Wasn’t this what you wanted though?”, he got more confused when he sees a flash of shock and hurt cross Jamil’s face before he sees his former best-friend agree and stomp past the doors

·       The want to grab Jamil’s hand and ask for an explanation nearly won him over, but Kalim was able to hold it in

·       It would be a lie to say he felt lonely. He wasn’t used to walking the hallways alone or eating by himself

·       He missed the times he and Jamil would talk to each other, whether it was Jamil scolding him for forgetting his homework or eating messy

·       But in the same time, in the corner of his heart, he was hoping Jamil felt hurt as well. And the fact he felt that way made Kalim ever more guilty and led him to stay away from Jamil even more

·       It was for this reason that during the Fairy Gala operation, he said that he would support Leona

·       He was aware that Leona got the hint that it was an act of desperation – an excuse to hopefully make Jamil stay away from him

·       Kalim didn’t want to hurt anyone anymore. He didn’t want to see his most precious people feel burdened because of him

·       He was sick and tired bringing only pain to others

·       So when him, Leona, and Jamil ended up being paired together as the main “attraction”, Kalim breathed out a relieved sigh

·       He was hoping he would get paired with Ruggie or Yuu/MC, but as long as he wasn’t alone with Jamil, he was fine

·       But when Jamil kept on trying to help Kalim despite our sunshine boy pointedly asking for other’s help, frustration was building up inside of him

·       He thought Jamil wanted to stay away from him? Feel free and not be under the Al-Asim influence?

·       Was Jamil worried that his dad might hear that he wasn’t looking after Kalim? Well…Jamil didn’t need to do that since he already written a fabricated report for the headmaster to submit to his dad. Sounding exactly like how Jamil would’ve written the report to a T

·       Kalim doesn’t expect for Leona to actually help him out, acting as if Leona was frustrated with Kalim on how “slow” he was despite being the one to help fix his hair ornaments and the finishing touches of his looks

·       And this small interference made by Leona continued until their mission ended in success

·       He knew Leona was going to confront him about him and Jamil, but he wasn’t expecting it to happen on the very next day

·       Kalim’s hands were in fists as Leona was jeering at Kalim for “not noticing” what Jamil was doing to him as frustration bubbled along with the salt rubbing on his wound. Like bro, come on. He’s not even over it yet and you’re seriously going to do that? Really?

·       When Kalim questions Leona back on his reasoning to help him out, he huffed when he sees Leona’s eyes widen from the unexpected question

·       What he didn’t expect was for the 3rd-year lion to bark out laughter before commenting how it seemed like he had seen everything wrong

·       He didn’t enjoy being on the receiving end of Leona’s predatory look, but continued to hold his stance, giving a sneering look of his own

·       He could only sigh internally as the cat was out of the bag when Leona realizes that Kalim knew about everything this whole entire time and only had Jamil continued to do his “little dance” because of consideration of Jamil being his friend and safety of everyone else

·       But confusion covered his face as Leona started to criticize him of his judgement and told him what he would’ve done in Kalim’s stead

·       It doesn’t take long to realize Leona was giving him advice. For free. Without asking him back for anything

·       Seeing the suspicion on his face, he’s given a ruffle on his head before Leona tells Kalim that he wants to see what more Kalim could potentially do in the future though Kalim knew Leona was more interest in him and…Jamil’s confrontation

·       Kalim knew this was his only chance to ask for help, to help him getter stronger. Pivoting on his heals, Kalim grabs Leona, who had now walked past him, by the wrist before asking Leona to help him get stronger

·       Cause Kalim knew that if he doesn’t get stronger one way or another, he’ll continue dragging people down. And he knew that he wouldn’t be able to make himself stronger if he trains by himself

·       When Jamil trained him, Kalim was able to get criticism of what he needed to get stronger on but now that he was trying not to rely on Jamil, Kalim had no choice but to seek for help by someone who’s smarter and stronger than him

·       When he sees Leona about to reject him with his usual “Hah, hell no. That’s too much of a pain”, Kalim ends up making a deal with Leona that he would help his senpai avoid Ruggie’s nagging if he helps him just an hour per day

·       It took him literally everything to get Leona to agree on those terms, going as far as being dragged across the ground while clinging onto Leona’s arm

·       Leona: Let go of my f-king arm before I use my Unique Magic on you Kalim: *clings tighter* Never! You can’t make me! Leona: Hoh? And why? Kalim: *sparkles and holy light radiates from him* Pwease? uwu

·       On their first session….things were bad. Leona kept on napping ever 5 minutes as Kalim was doing some of the exercises Leona had him do

·       …Listen. He doesn’t like hurting people, okay? However, even he has a limit to how much crap he can deal with, his patience starting to wear thin because of his stress

·       So, when Kalim “accidentally” makes it rain over Leona, the feeling of satisfaction and smugness only lasted a second before he was running away from an angry lion while screaming sorry

·       When  3 days passed though, Kalim started to realize that not only has he become stronger – Leona seemed to start doting on him

·       At first, Kalim thought nothing of it when Leona chucked a water bottle at him, telling Kalim how he needed to stay hydrated if he was going to continue training under Leona

·       Yet, slowly, the training between Kalim and Leona starts to get longer and when Kalim points it out, Leona would end up just nonchalantly say how they seemed to have been carried away

·       The last evidence that Leona actually cares for him was when Kalim accidentally had fallen asleep during their break. He wouldn’t imagine coming to see the day that he would end up waking up in none other than Leona’s room with a freaking blanket covering him

·       Soon, Kalim finds himself hanging around Leona more with Leona showing annoyance as his tail would flick or ears would twitch whenever Kalim comes over to hang out. Kalim knows though that Leona didn’t mind being around him seeing how Leona never attempts to push him away

·       He should’ve seen it coming that not everyone was going to accept his new found friendship as one second, he’s next to Leona, the next Jamil was dragging him down the hallways

·       Others were fooled into thinking that the relationship between him and Jamil must’ve gotten better for something that had always happened in the past is occurring again now

·       Kalim, though, knows that that wasn’t the case. Jamil’s grip is too tight and the way Jamil was walking wasn’t out of annoyance but from anger and….jealousy?

·       He keeps on asking Jamil what was wrong and that his wrist hurt throughout the whole journey until the two enters an empty classroom

·       Jamil was already questioning Kalim, telling him did he know how dangerous it was for him to hang around Leona of all people, reminding him that he needed to be more conscious like Jamil had always mentioned before

·       In the past, when Kalim had trusted Jamil with his whole heart and thought they were friends, he would’ve accepted this

·       Now, Kalim is feeling more cornered and stressed. It seems as if no matter what he did, Jamil wasn’t ever going to forgive him or realize how much Kalim was trying to mend their relationship

·       When Jamil mentions how he wasn’t going to be there for Kalim and asks if Kalim still intended to burden him when he thought Kalim was willing to free him, Kalim was reminded of the words Jamil had said in chapter 4 and tries to hold the tears that were threatening to pour out while making fists with his hands

·       By the time Jamil finished, Kalim used all of his will power to muster his usual sheepish grin before he replies that he understands before, not helping himself, shooting a shot back at Jamil

·       When Kalim asks Jamil why he decided to drag him and lecture him like this when it’s only going to waste Jamil’s time, he sees Jamil’s face flash a sign of confusion before turning into frustration and anger, not at Kalim, but at himself

·       Jamil replies that he still holds the responsibility of having to keep Kalim safe somewhat for the sake of his own family before he shoves Kalim to the side and leaves

·       Numbly, Kalim leaves the classroom as well, feeling hollow and broken. He doesn’t think where his feet take him until he found himself in front of Ramshackle’s dorm

·       Surprise from where he was and panicking that he was going to be late with his training session with Leona, Kalim starts to turn around again only to meet with Yuu/MC and Grim

·       When Yuu/MC asks Kalim if he came again to offer fixing part of the dorm, Kalim could only sheepishly laugh and rub the back of his head cause to be fair, Kalim did came over a few times to help Yuu/MC fix their dorm after helping him out with Scarabia’s scandal

·       He isn’t sure what could’ve possibly hinted that he’s feeling down since he was sure his acting was still on point as he makes an excuse on spot that he was only passing by this

·       He doesn’t expect Yuu/MC to drag him into Ramshackle Dorm’s lounge with a complaining Grim following right behind them nor be seated and drinking tea, like a normal person. By that, as in, not excessively pouring sugar cubes like the time when he wanted to pull on Jade’s leg

·       The two start off having a small talk with each other, Kalim sounding like his normal bright self and Yuu/MC ever being considerate before they asked Kalim what was making him stressed out

·       Kalim blinks owlishly, not expecting for that question to be asked out of the blue before trying to assure them that he wasn’t

·       No matter what he did, Yuu/MC didn’t buy any of his excuses, pointing out every little sign that Kalim isn’t okay

·       He tries telling them to drop it as gently as possibly, purposely making the conversation go in circles

·       When Yuu/MC reveals that Kalim wasn’t the type to get lost aimlessly - that made Kalim become alert

·       He asks them what they meant before they state how they knew Kalim was smarter than he leads others to believe, evening calling him out for lying about the fact he couldn’t memorize things when they brought up the time when Kalim held a banquet for the headmaster

·       Kalim felt offended for being called out and having his hidden side be revealed before he narrows his eyes and asks what did they know about him

·       Starting from there, everything pent up poured out as Kalim raised his voice and continue asking what in the world Yuu/MC knew about him

·       Did they know how much he suffered from not being able to eat whatever and wherever he wanted? To not be able to trust anyone or anything? To have to believe that whatever was around him could possibly kill him because of his fate and position?

·       Did they know how much he work he did to become powerful and smart enough just so he could stop becoming a weight that sinks people down and instead, do the reverse and help them? To have to pull an act of seeming carefree so he wouldn’t worry anyone from his own emotional burden?

·       How much pain he had to swallow in and do his best to act normal after Jamil’s betrayal and confession? How broken hearted he was to have been seen that way by the person he had trusted his whole life while feeling guilty to be the one to make said person feel like that?

·       Kalim doesn’t realize he was being hugged or, in fact, crying as he let everything go

·       When he calms down, he quickly apologizes to Yuu/MC while Grim comes over and places a box of tissue on the coffee table

·       Yuu/MC assures him that it was fine and asks if he now felt better, especially when he was able to stop holding everything in

·       He could only nod as he hides his blush of embarrassment behind the tissue he blew his nose into

·       Sometimes Kalim wonders if Yuu/MC intentionally tries to frustrates people when Yuu/MC points out how it was because of his weakness – that he cares too much about the people he holds close to and his naivety- that led to Jamil to treat him as a pushover

·       Yet he realizes that Yuu/MC was trying to comfort him as they tell him that it was okay for him to be selfish and exert some authority, that it was okay to show he was actually smart beneath his mask as they point out that had Kalim had shown that side of him, he would’ve been able to get Jamil to at least not pull off the stunt seen in Chapter 4 or at least realize by now that Jamil was in the wrong, not him

·       Kalim wants to defend Jamil but Yuu/MC didn’t give him the opportunity to as they started to talk about how Jamil had every opportunity to become free without using the whole “use my Unique Magic to the point I overblot” method and finally convinced Kalim that the relationship between him and Jamil wasn’t completely his fault

·       Kalim, realizing all of this, felt satisfied and peacefully come in terms with everything as his heart didn’t weigh so heavy anymore. For the first time in a while, Kalim smiles from the bottom of his heart and thanks Yuu/MC before quickly rushing out and head to Leona as he saw on his phone that he was about to be late

·       When he meets Leona, Leona doesn’t ask why his eyes seemed swollen up or slightly red as he has Kalim start on his warm ups like usual

·       It was during break Leona gruffly asks him if he was alright

·       Seeing how Kalim was giving him a questioning look, Leona huffs before he tells Kalim that he heard about “him and Jamil were starting to become friends again” and huffs about how the herbivores in their school aren’t able to notice the tension between the two when the whole hallway thing happened

·       Kalim starts grinning, feeling warm and happy that Leona was showing that he cares about Kalim’s wellbeing, before he laughs and tells Leona he’s okay

·       He could see Leona holding back his worries and frustration seeing how Leona’s eyebrow was twitching and raising his hand-raising his hand? No, that wasn’t supposed to happen. Leona please put your hand down, I’m sorry, I said I was-!

·       Starting from that day, Kalim went back to his normal self. Yet instead of focusing on Jamil, for once, Kalim starts to care for himself as he now hung out with Yuu/MC more, visiting their dorm and hang out with them every so often and continuing his training under Leona

·       It was at this point Kalim also became buddies with the Octavinelle trio and having Vil become his “sensei” again, but this time on clothes and make-up

·       So, when Yuu/MC suddenly tells him that there was going to be a party held in one of the second year’s classroom, Kalim knew it was lie but still goes there anyways

·       He knew Yuu/MC wasn’t the type to lie without a reason

·       He never would’ve expected to get locked in a classroom with Jamil, of all people

·       The only way to describe the atmosphere between the two of them is awkward

·       Sweat rolls down the side of his face as he tries to lighten the pressure between the two of them, starting up small talk and asking the basic pleasantries

·       Kalim gets surprised when Jamil, out of nowhere, asks him if he was having fun with his new friends

·       Thinking that it was an opportunity, Kalim answers with a yes and went on and on about the things that happened with the people he now hangs out with

·       When Kalim started to talk about how he seemed to become closer to Yuu/MC and Leona and unconsciously show his endearment for the two, he stops abruptly after hearing Jamil snort

·       He calls out Jamil’s name only to have Jamil suddenly sneer at him for still being “naïve and not learned anything”

·       Anger, hurt, and disappointment fills Kalim as Jamil continues to insult him, going on about how he felt bad that his new friends were stuck taking care of a person who didn’t even know how to cook for himself except with magic

·       To say he felt satisfied when he surprises Jamil was an understatement. Yeah, Kalim felt mean when he shot back at Jamil mentioning how Jamil would’ve been freed if only he told Kalim

·       Making a sneering expression of his own, Kalim points out how, because he’s probably one of the few to know him to the point of reading his mind, Jamil has been trying to get Kalim to accept his offer for help

·       Kalim scoffs how Jamil only ended up making enemies despite being able to increase his social status in the school and that he can’t help but think that all of his troubles could’ve been prevented easily

·       The two continues to insult each other until they  yelling at each other, holding the other one’s collar until they start to emotionally confess everything they had felt during the time they stayed away

·       The hands that were holding the other one’s collar slowly and gradually wrap around each other’s shoulders as both Kalim and Jamil sinks onto their knees and hug

·       They continue to sob in each other’s embrace, for comfort and forgiveness until they calmed down and let  go

·       Kalim ends up being the one to break the atmosphere as he couldn’t help but find Jamil’s crying face hilarious. It’s his first-time seeing Jamil look like that and to be honest, it made Jamil look like a kid that cried from a tantrum

·       When Jamil shouts at him to shut up, Kalim continues to tease Jamil before he got up and extends his hand to Jamil

·       When Jamil looks at the hand then to his eyes, Kalim gives Jamil his famous cheerful grin

·       He still counts it his victory when Jamil sighs and took Kalim’s hand

·       Feeling as if things were alright, the two started to discuss how to open the locked classroom without damaging it before they hear the classroom’s door bang open

·       The two were surprised when they see Leona growling how long they intended to stay in the classroom before they realized that the door wasn’t locked from the start and the whole thing was set up

·       Kalim starts complaining to Yuu/MC who comes in behind Leona while turning a blind eye to Leona and how he was threatening Jamil to not think about hurting him anymore

·       The two were found walking back to Scarabia Dorm with each other, fooling around just like back then as everyone headed back home

[straynstay]

Jeongin - Hybrid AU!

Happy Birthday, Innie ♡

you rolled on the bed trying to go back to sleep when your alarm went off for the third time 

but your eyes quickly opened when you remembered what day is today

today is February 8th, Jeongin’s 19th birthday

the day you both were waiting for since you were just toddlers running around the backyard

Jeongin was finally a grown up and could leave the house after years of ruthless waiting

you got up tripping over your own legs and ran downstairs

“wake up, wake up, wake uuup!” you bursted into his room and threw yourself on his back

“whaaaat” Jeongin complained burying his face in the pillow, but you wouldn’t let him sleep again

“get up, we have so much to do, c’mon!” you shook his body lightly

“no” he replied and waved his tail under the light blanket covering his body

“Jeongiiiin” you whined, but he didn’t seem to change his mind

you blew the soft white hair on the inside of his fluffy ear, making it twitch

“stop” he said laughing, so you blew it again

“get up, birthday boy, we’ve been waiting for this day for too long” you hugged his body

“oh yeah, it’s today” Jeongin turned around carefully, trying not to let you fall, and placed his hands on your hips to keep you close

“happy birthday” you smiled finally seeing his sleepy face

“thanks, but your breath smells”

“shut up” you rolled your eyes

“you shut up” he said mimicking you

“c’mon, get up” you gave two quick taps on his chest and got ready to push yourself up when he suddenly rolled you to his side instead, placing the light blanket on both of you

“five more minutes, I need to get 9 hours of sleep and you woke me up before that” Jeongin complained curling his body a bit and wrapping his tail softly on your leg

you smiled seeing him closing his eyes and falling asleep immediately

you were amazed to notice how much he grew before your eyes and become this handsome man

he had always been cute, but now his baby features were slowly disappearing to show a strong manly face with piercing eyes

Jeongin’s good looks have been knocking you off of your feet lately

not to mention his adorable smile and bright personality that could make even your worst days better in an instant

Jeongin is such an important part of your life ever since you were born that you don’t even know how it is to live without him

his mom, a rare Fennec fox hybrid like him, was pregnant and got rescued nineteen years ago by your mother

Fennec hybrids were being hunted because of their soft fur, a relic for rich people to use as coat, hat, scarf or even as a rug

Jeongin’s mom was able to run away, but his father was captured

she was in terrible conditions when your mom accidentally found her on the way home

they quickly became friends because your mom was also expecting, so they easily bonded over their pregnancies

although you were born first, Jeongin grew up faster than you

when you were learning how to walk, he was already running on the backyard

but the differences between you were more than just physical 

Jeongin’s mom never stoop foot outside the house again, and forbade Jeongin to the same

you, a human, could go out and have fun, study, see everything the world had to offer, but the small Fennec hybrid no

but this was never an impediment for your friendship

you would always pick up flowers, rocks, bugs or whatever you could find that you’d think Jeongin would like to see 

Jeongin was always happy with your small gifts, but your heart would break everyday watching him wave timidly from behind the curtains of your room when you walked to school

you wanted to take him with you, you wanted to show him around

make him smell the flowers without having to pluck them out

see the bugs making their way across the grass

play on your school’s playground…

you wanted him to live like you!

so when you were six years old, you began bothering his mom to let him go out

and you kept bothering until his 8th birthday, when she said he could go out on his 19th birthday since he would become a legal adult by then

and so you both waited impatiently for eleven years to go by

it seems too much, but now that you are facing him asleep it felt like it was just last week that you were both scared and screaming when you lost your first tooth

you chuckled a little remembering his crying face telling you he’d make porridge for you everyday if you somehow became toothless overnight

oh, those were amazing days, but now you’ll finally be able to show Jeongin the world

his alarm went off and he quickly opened his eyes, feeling more rested than before

“ready to begin your day?” you asked

“ready” he smiled brightly

-♡-

you were probably more excited than Jeongin, to be honest

you got everything set, including your camera to capture the whole journey, and went out in your mom’s car to show him as many places as possible

the only thing Jeongin’s mom asked was for you both to come back before sunset because she was still scared of the dark outside, and you obviously couldn’t say no

if today went fine, maybe going out could become something normal for him

as for today, Jeongin tried looking like a regular young man, hiding his fluffy ears with a red beret and tucking his tail on his jeans

he was probably uncomfortable, but it’s better to be safe than sorry

“alright, fasten your seatbelt and let’s go”

“how do I do it?” Jeongin looked at you and you remembered this is also his first time inside a car

he’s seen several movies, he knows how to use technology and whatnots, but knowing what a car is and experiencing being inside one are two things completely different, so you helped him out

“like this” you hovered over his body pulling the seatbelt to lock it in place

“this is tight… what is it for?”

“to prevent major injuries if any accident happens” you replied moving the car

“wow, it’s moving!” Jeongin widened his eyes and grabbed the seat near his thighs

“yeah, this is what cars do” you laughed a little at his innocence to the outside world

“they also do this” you said hitting the gas and speeding up fast

“AAAAAAAAAAAAH” Jeongin screamed grabbing the seat tighter “I DONT WANNA BE HERE, LET ME OUT, LET ME OUT”

you were laughing like crazy while slowing down

“this is gonna be so funny, oh gosh…”

“I hate cars” Jeongin pouted with tears filling his eyes

“I’m sorry, Innie, I had to mess with you” you placed your hand on his knee 

Jeongin was grateful that his tail was hidden so you wouldn’t see it twitch because of your sudden touch

“you’re never doing this again, right?”

“right” you nodded holding the wheel with both hands “we’re already on our first spot”

“really?” Jeongin looked outside while you parked the car

you had no idea what was going on inside his head seeing so many different things at once

but you were glad you’re the one making this memory with him

and you hoped he’d enjoy his day

-♡-

“so?” you inquired seeing him trying milkshake

you were carrying the bags of his recent shopping because you wanted him free to explore downtown

you lived in a small town, there wasn ‘t too much to see there, but you both had already explored a lot of shops and hung out at the park, which Jeongin loved

and you were happy to see him being so carefree and excited for the first time in his life

“it’s really thick, but it’s tasty” he licked his lips sipping more and more nonstop

it was too late when you tried to warn him

“aaaaaaaaaaah” he said closing his eyes tightly and holding his head with his free hand

“your first brain freeze, congrats” you laughed at his pained expression and snapped a pic

“this is terrible, but is also good, I can’t explain”

“this pretty much sums up everything in the world” you joked

“where are we going next?” he asked

“here” you pointed to the bookstore and Jeongin gasped

“this is where you buy me all those mangas?”

“yeah, and there’s many more of them inside, c’mon” you opened the door greeting the person behind the counter

you saw Jeongin gasping again and saw his eyes wide open staring at the shelves

you took another picture of him, trying to capture as much of these precious moments as possible

“go ahead, you can check them out” he turned to you as if asking ‘for real?!’

you just laughed giving his shoulder a small push

“go on”

“this is heaven” you heard Jeongin whispering and it made you smile

-♡-

“alright, where’s our next stop?” Jeongin asked carrying the heavy bags from the bookstore

“since we spent too much time here, we have to go to our final destination” you said “it’s almost curfew time”

“I’m sorry”

“for what?” you turned your head to see him

“for staying too long at the bookstore when you had other places to show me”

“it’s okay, Innie, you could’ve spent the entire day there and I wouldn’t have minded” you smiled

“really?”

“yeah, I want you to feel good about going out, I want your first experience to be unforgettable, but also pleasing, so if you’re happy checking out mangas for hours, I’m cool with it”

“now, let’s get the car and head to our final destination” you clapped your hands and walked with him to where you had parked

you put his bags on the trunk and by the time you entered the car, Jeongin was already with his seatbelt on

“fast learner, huh?” you joked starting the engine then moving

“watch out, I might steal the car someday” he joked too

“go ahead, it’s gonna be easy to catch you”

“why?” he looked at you

“because you wouldn’t drive like this to get away”

“like this how?” Jeongin questioned and you only gave him a grin

before he could yell “NO!”, you were already hitting the gas again and making him screech on his seat

-♡-

“alright, we’re here” you said pulling over at your middle school

“thank God, I need to get out of this evil machine” Jeongin’s hands were shaking even though you were driving like a responsible person now

“let me help you” you chuckled seeing him struggle with the seatbelt

he opened the door and left quickly

“is this…?” you heard him asking and you got off too

“yeah, I wanted to show you where I used to come to everyday when we were young”

“it’s a big school” Jeongin looked around

“yeah, and it was a nice one too” you sighed “you know that I wanted to bring you here with me everytime, right?”

“yeah, I know” he replied almost in a whisper

suddenly the air felt tight and you fought your tears away

so many memories you could’ve made with Jeongin here

only if he was able to live a normal life

you never blamed his mom for protecting her son

but you blamed the ones hunting down rare hybrids that destroyed Jeongin’s family

although you know that under normal circumstances you’d probably never meet each other

but now that’s something you can’t even imagine

he’s such a huge part of your life that every single day you’re even more sure that you don’t want to live without him anymore

how are you suppose to be an adult with life responsibilities and still share a huge part of your days with Jeongin?

you are one year away from getting your associate degree at the community college and just a little glimpse of an adult life has been already dragging you down

you got home so tired sometimes you couldn’t even give Jeongin proper attention like before

although he didn’t mind you being busy as long as he could stay with you in your room either being your nap buddy or just watching you study

not much had changed from your school days, to be honest

you would still do your own stuff while Jeongin laid on your bed reading, listening to music, or just observing you

sometimes he would help you get ready for your finals, making some flashcards to help you memorize difficult subjects or quizzing you

and you were used to this routine

you were used to coming home and being inquired about your day

and you loved this

you loved being with Jeongin

and you don’t know how life’s gonna be now that he’s an adult and you’re even more closer to getting a full-time job like your mom

and you know how’s your mom’s schedule, she’s barely home

that’s why you’re afraid

you’re afraid of being too absent

you’re afraid of being forgotten

you’re afraid of losing him

“hey, I know these” Jeongin called your attention to the flower bed near the school’s entrance

“I have no idea how they’re still growing, I used to pluck them daily” you smiled faintly seeing the small flowers you used to give him

those were easier days

Jeongin picked up one and his fond smile made your heart beat fast

“I have a box full of them” it was the first time you were hearing this 

“they’re dry now, but I kept all the ones you gave me” his smile was so big and so bright you couldn’t hold back your tears anymore

Jeongin saw you crying and didn’t say a word

he just hugged you tightly and let you hold on to him until you were feeling better

Jeongin knew you better than yourself most of the times

and words would never be able to express how much he means to you and how thankful you are for him staying by your side

you only let him go when you noticed it was almost dark

“c’mon, let’s go home before we get in trouble” you said sniffing and rubbing your eyes

“can I drive now?” he asked

“ha ha, nice try”

-♡-

the drive home was peaceful and silent

you were able to get home just in time before the night fell, but Jeongin’s mom was pacing back and forth in the living room waiting for you

Jeongin got inside quickly when you said you’d unload the car

“... and then we went to the ice cream shop and I had milkshake, which was nice but also weird because it was too cold and…” Jeongin was already on the couch with his mom blabbing on about his day

you smiled placing the bags down

you went to the kitchen to get a glass of water and also to give him time with his mom to share everything he saw

you really hoped he’d be able to go out again, even if it took a while

you went to your bedroom afterwards, still hearing his excited narrative to his mom

you picked up some new clothes, showered, then uploaded the pics from your camera to the computer

so many photos of Jeongin with different expressions in so many different places

today will be remembered as a good memory, at least to you

“hey, I brought his birthday cake” your mom startled you a bit

she was still in her work outfit, so you guessed she had just arrived

“hey, how was work?” you asked

“same old same” she shrugged “how was your day out with Jeongin?”

“it was nice, I guess”

“he can’t stop talking about it, I’ve never seen him so talkative before” your mom laughed a bit

“I’m glad he’s happy about it” you smiled briefly

“what’s concerning you?” she questioned entering the room and closing the door

you can never hide yourself from your mom, so you don’t even try

“the future” you answered honestly

“whose future?”

“mine… and Jeongin’s”

“in what way?”

you sighed before replying, trying your best to keep your tears away

“I’m gonna graduate soon, and I’ve seen some job offers in another town, but I don’t wanna leave him behind” you choked. “I can’t leave him behind” you shook your head

your mom hugged you caressing your hair

“Jeongin is an adult now, he can take care of himself”

“but I don’t wanna be without him” you sobbed

“ah, I see…” your mom held you closer “then you’ll have to talk to him and figure out what he wants in life”

“what’s in life for a rare hybrid that has to live hidden so he doesn’t get killed?”

“being a pet companion” you scoffed at your mom’s answer

“Jeongin deserves better than staying at home waiting for an owner”

“he should be the judge of that, don’t you think?” her words hit you hard

yes, you want what’s best for him, but you can’t decide his future for him

he’s not a child anymore and it scares you

you grew up pretty much attached to the hip with him

you were inseparable kids, but now you’re both adults

and there’s no way your friendship is going to remain the same as before once life starts to weight its responsibilities on your shoulders

your mom held your chin and made you face her

“today is his birthday, and you gave him the best present he could ever dream of: your time” 

you were sure she would say ‘taking him out’

this was unexpected

“but I always give him my time” you were confused

“and there’s nothing more he wants from you. Jeongin loves being with you, so even if you’re worried now, I’m certain everything will turn out fine” your mom smiled

“now go wash your face so we can eat some cake, hm?”

you nodded and she left your room

-♡-

you tried your best to push all your concerns away and enjoy the last hours of his birthday

Jeongin was radiant

he couldn’t stop smiling and this is the happiest you’ve seen him so far

and you wish you could bottle up this moment to live it over and over again

Jeongin did deserve the best this world could offer him

and you promised yourself you’d support whatever choice he makes in his future

after singing Happy Birthday To You, eating tons of cake while making a happy dance, and showing everyone all the things he bought, Jeongin was finally showering to call it a day

you helped his mom clean everything up and then you headed to the backyard to lay on the hammock

you looked up at the sky to admire the meekly starry night

you sighed deeply moving the hammock in a slow swing

so many good memories come to your mind when you think of your childhood with him

will you be able to also make good memories now that you’ve grown up?

you really hope so

“here you are” you snapped your head towards the sound and saw Jeongin on the archway of the backdoor

you couldn’t help smile seeing him laying down next to you

you were both silent for a couple of minutes before he started talking

“thanks for taking me out today” he smiled

“wish we could’ve done this earlier, though”

“yeah, mom said the same when we were talking after I came back” Jeongin said

“so this means you’ll be able to go out again someday?” you beamed, almost getting up in excitement

“yeah” he nodded

“where do you wanna go next? we can try visiting the beach during summer break! I can ask mom to lend me the car again, we can have a short weekend somewhere not too far from here just in case, or if you wanna go crazy we can cross states and have a full week trip!”

“anywhere you wanna take me is fine” Jeongin simply replied “to be honest, I never thought that I would see the world one day”

“we just strolled around town, there’s so much more to see!” you chuckled

“I know, I see the world map on your wall everyday. But... can I tell you something?” he lowered his voice

“hm?”

“even though I went to a lot of places and saw different things today, there’s nothing like this” 

you furrowed your eyebrows not quite understanding what he’s saying

Jeongin sighed and looked away to the stars above

“what I’m trying to say is that there’s no other place on earth I’d rather be than here with you” his hand slowly found yours between your bodies and he held it firmly

“you’re my home” Jeongin turned his head to stare deeply into your eyes 

“and I love being home” he squeezed your hand as if scared that you’d leave him for good someday

as if he knew you wouldn’t stay too long here with him stuck in such a small town

your eyes were suddenly blurry and a lump formed in your throat

you scooted closer and laid your head on his chest, listening to his fast heartbeat

Jeongin wrapped his tail over your leg, his warm body being enough to protect you from the night breeze

and you realised that no matter where life leads you, you will always come back home

[leemotionalwreck]

Of Black Chats and Fallen Angels (chapter 5)

HEY BEFORE YOU READ!: This chapter does contain someone being made extremely uncomfortable at best, and sexual harassment at worst. If I’m wrong about that please let me know, I just don’t want to accidentally trigger anyone or make them uncomfortable so I’m covering all my bases now. Thank you and enjoy :)

Read it here on AO3!

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | You are here

*********************************************

He felt Plagg shift restlessly inside his jacket pocket while he watched the sunrise from the backseat of his car. At 4:51 am, the sun had yet to rise, and the street lights illuminated his face as Adrien rested his head against the window. The ride was quiet as usual, the only words being ‘good morning’ as he climbed into the backseat and ‘thank you’ as he exited and headed towards the building where the photoshoot was to take place. 

Adrien did his best to avoid conversation with anyone aside from a polite ‘hello’ or ‘good morning’-- his eyes were blurry with sleep, so it was probably for the best. He kept his head low as he walked towards the elevator, passing businessmen and women with cups of coffee filled to the brim, talking-- rather loudly-- into their earpieces and brushing past others just like themselves. He’d never liked the building itself; it had always been dull and grey despite the constant stream of people coming in and out-- as if it was a cruel reminder of just how similar it was to his new life. 

Two flights of stairs and an elevator ride later, Adrien had finally reached the floor where the shoot was to take place. Walking towards the dressing room, he opened the door to see the photographer laughing about something with his makeup artist. 

“Hey Cecil,” he said groggily. The doorframe seemed to be the only thing holding him up at the moment. “Hi, Mona.”

Cecil turned to see who had spoken, grinning when he saw a sleep-deprived Adrien Agreste. “What’s up, Adrien,” he said, his American accent thick as always. Giving the model a once-over, Cecil’s grin died down slightly. “So,” Cecil took a sip of his cup. “How many ounces do you want this morning?”

Mona slapped his arm. “You know there’s no coffee before shoots.” She huffed, getting a laugh from her husband in return. Turning to Adrien, she smiled sweetly. “I’m sorry sweetie, but coffee’s gonna stain your teeth and I wanna get you out of here as soon as possible.”

Cecil opened his mouth to protest before Adrien yawned again.

“It’s alright,” he muttered. The floor seemed to be getting closer and Adrien wondered why until he realized that he was falling forward. 

Cecil jumped towards Adrien to catch him just as he managed to right himself. “I’m alright,” He said. “I just hope I can make it to school on time.”

“Well then,” Mona said unsurely as she gestured to the chair in front of her. “Take a seat and we’ll get started.”

Cecil took another sip of his coffee. “We might take a little longer setting up, cause there are so many new people this time around. Just take your time and head over when you and your partner are ready, okay?”

He looked up from where he sat while Mona prepared everything she needed on the counter behind him. “Partner? What partner?”

She turned toward him slightly. “No one told you?” Adrien shook his head. “Ah, that’s all right. You’ll meet her soon enough.”

*********

After sitting still and in a chair for entirely too long and getting changed into the clothing provided, Adrien checked that the time on his phone read 5:35 before setting it with the rest of his clothing and heading towards where the shoot was taking place. 

The room was spacious with plenty of natural lighting coming in from the massive windows that reminded him of his bedroom. The walls and floors were baby blue and white, giving the place a strange feeling that it had just been painted, despite having been there for years. With Cecil, the crew, and the equipment set up on one side of the room, all tables filled with coffee cups and torn open sugar packets lined the wall on the other side of the room. 

While Adrien was chatting friendly with one of the newer assistants by one of the tables (which had always seemed out of place to him in the otherwise empty room), Cecil came up to him with a girl trailing behind who Adrien couldn’t see quite clearly save her long brown hair that reached her waist.

“Sorry no one told you about this earlier,” Cecil smiled apologetically, his bright white teeth contrasting his deep brown skin. “But we’d figured you’d be okay with it. She’s pretty new, so go easy on her, yeah?” Adrien smiled and nodded. “Great. We’re almost done setting everything up, be ready in ten.”

The photographer walked away along with the intern, allowing Adrien to finally get a look at the new model. 

Lila Rossi. 

“Lila!” Why hadn’t she brought this up before? “Since when are you a model? You never mentioned it before.”

“About that; funny story actually,” she giggled. “I hadn’t told anyone because, one; I’d only been hired recently and two, even if they had hired me sooner, I was told not to tell anyone. I had no idea you’d be the one I was working with since all they told me is that I’d be with some big-time model and not to bring it up until after.”

“Oh,” he murmured. That didn’t answer all of his questions, but he could always ask later when they had more time. Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he plastered a smile on his face. “Well. I’m glad to be working with a friend.”

“So am I,” Lila purred. Something in her eyes made Adrien want to turn away and run while she took a step closer to him. “I’ve been thinking, you know.”

Adrien stared cautiously at the manicured finger that was making its way up his chest. “Oh?” 

“Mhm. I think, as friends, it’s important to have close relationships with everyone in the group. But it seems like you and I aren’t all that close.”

“We’re plenty close right now, aren’t we?” He joked, shifting away from her slightly. 

Lila maintained the contact between the two, seeming as if she had no intention of moving away any time soon. “You know what I meant, silly.” Her gaze was finally torn away from his arms and chest, locking on his eyes instead. “We don’t spend nearly enough time together, and I think the two of us should hang out more. Maybe after this shoot is over we could--”

“Alright guys, come on over!” Adrien didn’t think he could have been more grateful for Cecil than he was at that moment.

“We’re coming!” He shouted across the room. Removing himself from Lila’s touch, Adrien turned to face her again and placed a hand on her shoulder. “You’re right Lila, but I’d hate to leave the others out, you know? Besides, we’ve got school after this.”

As the pair walked towards the set Adrien noted the strangled growl that came from behind him, along with the burning sensation that came from where she touched him. 

*********

The designer, Jeremy McKnight, was present the entire shoot-- adamant about being there to ensure his vision was properly executed. His original idea had been extremely reliant on the theme of good and evil. Light and dark, yin and yang, angels and demons, and so on. Both outfits were simple enough. For Lila, all-black clothing; basic dark jeans, and a black long-sleeved shirt with a dark grey ruffled shirt over it along with black boots to complete it. Adrien was almost completely the opposite. A white long-sleeved shirt and white pants, complete with a light blue button-down overshirt and white tennis shoes. 

Both models had a few pictures taken alone before stepping in front of the camera together. 

“Alright, you two,” Cecil said as the two walked in front of the camera. “From what I’ve seen, you two have chemistry, which means this part shouldn’t be difficult at all.”

The designer spoke from his chair a few feet away from the camera. “Exactly. What we want is the coming together of light and dark. You guys think you can do that?” Unfortunately, Jeremy fit the stereotype of the diva designer perfectly.  His cliche beret, scarf, and glasses all seeming to feed into the persona.

That wasn’t helping the pit in Adrien’s stomach.

It wasn’t nerves. He’s done countless photoshoots before, the one continuous emotion being boredom. No, this was something else-- something synonymous to fear. Or was it dread?

The two nodded in tandem. “Great!” The designer said. “Let’s see what you guys got.”

*********

A couple of shots later both Cecil and the designer were pleased with the outcome, except for the latter requesting to adjust the two models himself. 

Cecil looked at the two for confirmation consent before turning back to the designer. “Yeah sure. Just make it quick, cause we’ve only got about an hour left.”

“What time is it?” Adrien asked. 

Cecil looked at his watch. “Seven on the dot.” Looking back up at Adrien, he raised his eyebrow with a chuckle. “You got somewhere to be?”

He smiled sheepishly. “School.” 

He chuckled. "Fair enough. Alright Mr. McKnight, come on over."

Jeremy walked towards the two with his nose in the air and began his adjustments. In the end, Adrien was facing towards the camera with his hip jutted to the left and his head in his pockets. His head was angled slightly upwards while his gaze was still locked on the camera. Lila's body was faced entirely towards Adrien, with one arm on his shoulder and the other with its thumb in her belt loop. Her head faced the camera and the designer beamed at his work. 

He wasn’t claustrophobic, that was what he knew. But right then and there the suffocation he felt was overwhelming and he felt faint. His breathing grew shallow and his palms were sweaty and the ground was swaying but Lila and Jeremy didn’t seem to notice. In fact, it seemed as if they were getting close to him and that Lila’s grip on his arm was getting tighter. Worst of all, the burning spread. It spread from his shoulder and filled his chest and melded with his brain and sank into the soles of his feet. It grew so hot that it felt cold and the fear grew with it and Jesus was he about to die?

“Great,” Jeremy said. “How does that feel?”

Adrien couldn’t really tell if he nodded, hoping the strangled noise that came from somewhere was both his and a  sign of confirmation. 

“It’s perfect,” Lila said. 

“Alright then,” Said the photographer. “Last couple pictures and we’re done.” 

*********

Lila and Adrien (after securing a sleeping Plagg in the pocket of his school bag) returned from the dressing rooms at the same time, both dressed in their school attire and their bags on them.

Adrien released a deep breath and Lila sighed next to him. Her hand somehow back on his shoulder. After Jeremy had moved away from him earlier the suffocation subsided but it wasn’t until Cecil called him over to where his tripod was set up that the pain had all but went away. 

“Hey, you alright man?” He asked softly, making sure that the girl on her phone not too far from them couldn’t hear the question. 

“Yeah,” Adrien said. “Why?”

In any other situation, the dumbfounded look that Cecil gave Adrien might have made him laugh, but right now he was worried. Why wouldn’t he be okay?

The photographer took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose before sighing deeply and kept on speaking. “I’m gonna help the rest of the crew put all this away then meet up with Mona downstairs,” Cecil huffed at his uncooperative tripod before it finally conceded and he continued. “I know you two have school, but if you want I wouldn’t mind buying a cup for you.” He sighed at Adrien. “Looks like you need it.”

Adrien sighed, “Yeah. Yeah, that sounds nice.” He called to the girl not too far from him. “What about you, Lila?”

“Hmm?” She'd been texting furiously to someone on the other end of her phone. Based on the look in her eyes, he’d hate to be whoever that was right now.

“Do you mind stopping for a coffee before heading to school? I’ll make sure to give you a ride if you do.”

“Oh,” she smiled and put her phone in her grey messenger bag. “Sure. As I said, it couldn’t hurt for us to spend more time together.”

Adrien just shrugged at the curiously worried look Cecil gave him. 

As the trio walked down to the ground level Lila questioned where Mr. McKnight had gone. 

“No idea,” Cecil said. 

Just as they turned the corner, Adrien could have sworn he felt a pair of eyes on him. He caught a glimpse of them, most likely imagining the red gaze burning through his back directly into his soul. 

*********

“Thank you both so much!” Lila called as she slid into the back seat of the limo, her drink in hand. 

Cecil looked at Mona and nodded. “Hey Lila you go on ahead,” she said. “We’ve got something we need to talk to Adrien about.”

Halfway out the door, Lila shot a look at Adrien who nodded. 

Mona’s tongue fiddled with her lip piercing. “Are you and Lila dating?”

Naturally, he’d been taking a sip of his tea at that time; which meant he choked while burning his throat and nose. 

Fun. 

After reassuring the couple that he was okay, he answered Mona’s question. “No. no we’re not. Why?”

“I told her about earlier,” Cecil said. “About how uncomfortable you looked. If you two aren’t dating-- are you okay?”

Adrien’s heart warmed at the fact that they cared enough. He hadn’t felt a love like that in a while. Smiling, he answered. “Thank you both, but I’m okay. Lila can be somewhat… touchy-- but that’s just how she is. I swear I’m alright.”

They looked at each other skeptically, silently having some sort of conversation that Adrien, despite speaking several languages, couldn’t even begin to decipher what they were thinking. 

After a long, drawn-out silence, they nod and Mona says one more thing before they leave to walk to their car. “Hey, in case she ever tries anything-- I can’t always be there but please remember that you’re allowed to be uncomfortable and say no.” He nodded and said goodbye to the both of them.

He slid into the seat next to Lila, handing her his cup to avoid spilling on the leather seats. 

“What’d you get yelled at for?” She asked. He couldn’t tell if she was serious. 

“Nothing I was in trouble for. Just a reminder. ”

Aside from Lila’s attempts to start a conversation, the rest of the ride was silent as Adrien did his best to figure out exactly why Mona had been concerned, too deep in thought to notice the burning sensation spread as Lila ran a hand up and down his thigh. 

[skultrashfics]

I've just had a slight brainstorm and I thought maybe you could make something out of it.. .. Now what would be, IF Mevolent didn't even die in the end of the War, but stayed into hiding until the days of the 21st century... And a certain female sorcerer (Reader) accidentally came upon him at a late night in Dublin's lifeless sidesteets.. She may live, but will never forget.. .. As said, it was just an idea, if you like it, feel free to use it!

This is a really fun idea Chickpea! I may actually want to continue this as a series :) What do you think? Mevolent Shenanigans in the modern-day? 

A change of Heart 

Pairing: Mevolent x Reader (maybe?) Chapter: 1/?  Word Count: 1540 Themes: Night walk, Fighting, Tea (the drinking kind)

It was getting cold as you walked home, you had just left Grecious O’Callahan and Donegan Bane’s home as you had been marathoning nerd movies all day. It had been a perfect way to spend your time off work. You pulled your coat tighter around yourself and buried your chin into your scarf, the air was icy and it felt like it was biting at your face while you walked, maybe you should have taken up their offer of driving you home. But it was a beautiful night, the stars shone vividly in the cloudless sky and the roads were empty, silent and glistening. 

You tunnelled down your usual route, keeping mostly your destination in mind due to the cold. But your head kept looking around at all the sights of the city at night and how beautiful it was in its desolation. You approached the alley behind the bookstore and quickly began to make your way through it, that convenient little shortcut was always one of the landmarks to let you know you were almost home. This made you happily increase your walking speed until you suddenly ran into something tall and firm, it was so firm in fact, that you fell backwards onto the floor. “Ow…”, you mumbled looking up and realising that it was a person. “Oh my goodness I am so sorry!”, immediately you clamoured up to see if the other person was ok. A black hood had fallen from their face and as they straightened up and glanced at you your face froze with fear and your whole body stopped moving. Quickly you laughed and shook your head, “I-I’m sorry I didn’t mean to bump into you. Or just stare at you- but it’s funny you kind of look a lot like...”. Your sentence trailed off at the end and you began to feel a chill run down your spine and not just from the cold. This tall man continued to stare at you with piercing eyes- your body was screaming at you to run away as you realised that nobody could possibly ever look so much like another person purely by coincidence. Then softly, he spoke breaking the incredibly long silence, “Yes yes, I am Mevolent. And you just crashed into me quite rudely”. Your body tensed up, “B-but you can’t be… you were killed”, straight away you blasted a fireball at him which he easily knocked away as though it were a fly. You now stood in a defensive position and Mevolent sighed, “Are you really going to try and fight me? You’ll die”. He almost laughed as he said this but you paid no attention as you grabbed an icicle hanging down nearby and threw it straight at his throat. He caught it and crushed it in his hand before throwing that back at you, the tiny pieces of ice hit you square in the face like loads of tiny little needles. During the time it took you to close your eyes and hiss in pain, Mevolent had punched you in the stomach and then hit you across the face. Clenching your jaw you took another swing at him, shooting a fireball in his direction before trying to physically punch him. Fortunately for you, he dodged to the left as you expected and he scowled realising that he couldn’t move very well. He had black tendrils piercing his arms and legs, pinning him there, “Necromancy magic?”, he thought aloud as you kicked him square in the face before turning and running away. You realised you could not stop him and should instead get help. You panted softly wondering where to run as your vision cleared up. Your body ached now, but you realised that he had probably gone easy on you and so you ran through the pain. A swift noise followed you overhead and as you turned to see what it was you saw Mevolent descending from the sky, your shoulders drooped as you realised you were going to die. As Mevolent landed he sighed softly, “Do you live around here?”. You looked at him extraordinarily confused, “What? Why..?”, you replied sharply. He simply pulled his hood back over his head, “You seem to be confused. I am cold and would like a cup of tea. Your magic is very interesting. I also want to talk to somebody other than those worshippers. They can get annoying sometimes”. You had an astounded look on your face, causing him to laugh rather rudely at you, “Come now. Aren’t you cold too?”.

Standing in your kitchen, making tea for Mevolent. You had to repeat that to yourself several times to make sure it was real. You glanced back through the doorway and there he sat, seemingly enthralled while watching the television. Once the kettle had boiled you made the tea reached for the sugar and paused, did he even take sugar in his tea? “No thank you”, you heard come from the living room. Shrugging it off you grabbed both mugs and walked into the room, placing one down in front of Mevolent on a coaster. He picked it up and nursed his cold hands with it. You stood awkwardly staring at him not knowing what to do until he gestured for you to sit. As you sat down he started to talk again, “How can you use elemental magic and necromancy magic? You don’t look like a teenager, what did you choose when you surged?”. It felt very strange that the topic of conversation was on you rather than him, the most feared evil being of your lifetime. “I-Ah…. I never had my surge. It’s been 300 years, and it never came. So I tried to study as much as possible”. Mevolent nodded his head as he thought, “I see. How interesting”, he then took a sip of his tea. “What are you doing here? I mean- how are you alive? I hope I am not being too rude but, well… there was the war and I am very confused”. Mevolent nodded again, “I can see that. I was not killed at that time. It was a mere reflection, but since my enemies had gotten so far I thought that I would let them carry on believing that I was dead. I wanted to see what they would do, I was getting bored with war. To be honest, it took me a long time to show myself before my followers again. And now I just think they are all crazy. They lost too much because of me and now they will do almost anything to get it all back. So I have been killing the particularly troublesome ones, one by one”. You did not realise but your mouth had dropped open in surprise as Mevolent spoke. It was impossible to believe and yet there he was on your sofa telling you himself. “After The Faceless Ones were actually brought back I saw what monsters they were. They would not listen to anyone and would have destroyed everything. After all, I have seen the mortals and sorcerors alike accomplish, I can say I am quite comfortable living out my days like this”. Putting yourself back in the moment you frowned, “But don’t you have your own home? Or friends?”. It disgusted you a little, but you felt genuine concern for Mevolent’s well being. He chuckled at this, “What does someone like me need friends for? I caused a lot of suffering because I was young, headstrong and foolish. My mind corrupted by my mentor’s teachings- what use has my life if not to right those wrongs? Friends do not fit into the picture. Most of the time I can easily sneak into mortal hotels so I stay there a lot. I like penthouses”, he added with a smirk. A small smile weaselled its way onto your face and you remembered to sip your own tea, “Do you know where they are? The other’s that you are looking for?”. Mevolent shrugged, “Most find me purely by coincidence. Kind of like how you bumped into me earlier. You are a very kind young lady”. You laughed this off and fiddled with your mug, “I don’t know why you would say that. I attacked you earlier”. Mevolent sipped at his own tea, musing over that thought with humour on his face, “Yes you did. Which is to be expected. But before that, when you bumped into me you recognised me and still apologised for the inconvenience. Even after I hit you, I still received shelter and tea from you”. You didn’t really think you had much of a choice in the latter, but he was being considerate all the same. Mevolent stood finishing his tea and then made to leave, “Feel free to tell anyone about our meeting by the way. They will not believe you. And any sensitives will not be able to detect my presence in your memories so that will not work either. Goodnight… what was your name?”. You paused for a moment before responding, “Y/n… my name is Y/n”. Mevolent flashed you the briefest of smiles before walking out of the front door as he closed it, it locked behind him.

[bensboynton]

White Wine b.h

ok so this was requested by an anon but i changed the prompt a little to make it easier and much more practical to write. enjoy this!!

sorry for grammar errors its 4 am

fem!reader x ben hardy

word count: almost 2k

warnings: cursing, unedited, fluffy, angsty

“Christ, you’re beautiful.”

Ben was leaning against the door frame of your shared bedroom, his left hand lightly massaging the back of his neck. You gave him a small grin as you looked back in the mirror, smoothing out the dress that was hugging your body.

The air was still tinged with the scent of the floral perfume you had sprayed on moments earlier, and the light coming from your lamp on your dresser illuminated you just perfectly in the dark room.

Ben walked behind you, pushing your hair to the side gently and wrapping his arms around your waist, pressing small butterfly-like kisses to your neck and shoulder. “I’m so lucky.” Ben said airily.

You jerked his arms away from your body and walked away, sick of gazing at yourself in the mirror. Ben was put off slightly, but deciding not to push anything, he grabbed your hand as you emerged from the bathroom.

You both made your way out of your house, and into the black BMW that belonged to Ben. The ride to the restaurant was oddly silent. Just quiet enough to make the insides of your stomach crawl a little, just enough to make you feel off.

You had arrived at the restaurant, and Ben was wary. He was nervous that you were acting so weird, so distant.

If only he had known.

Your eyes glazed over at the sight of a headline popping up on your twitter timeline.

“Ben Hardy’s New Girl?”

Your breath hitched as you scanned the article, paparazzi photos of you going out to the store the other day to pick up milk. You were wearing a baggy sweater and sweatpants, and your hair was a greasy mess.

The article was passively-aggressively degrading your appearance, and you felt tears well up in your eyes before shutting off your phone and throwing it to the other end of the couch. You took a deep breath and regained your composure before your phone rang suddenly.

“Incoming call from: Ben Hardy.”

You felt so unbelievably vulnerable right now, the last thing you wanted to do was go out to dinner in a dress you weren’t 100% confident in. And to make matters worse, the restaurant was very classy, very expensive, and very populated. You were sure there’d be another article out by tomorrow.

Just the thought of it made you want to start crying again.

You and Ben were seated at your table, across from each other in the low light of the restaurant. It was a typical dimly lit dinner with a white rose in an eloquent glass vase on the edge of the table. The table cloths were silk, and the napkins felt like they could be velvet. You immediately ordered a full bottle of your favorite white wine, causing Ben to chuckle. “Eager to start drinking, yeah?” he had asked playfully.

You faked a small giggle as the waiter returned with the wine, pouring both you and Ben a glass. If only he knew.

Dinner went by painfully slow, due to the fact that you were zoning in and out. And you and Ben were about to move on to your second bottle of wine.

When your dinner arrived, you practically scarfed it down so you could avoid talking. You attempted to keep food in your mouth or a wine glass to your lips to have an excuse to not talk to Ben and accidentally letting something slip.

You see, you were a horrible liar. And Ben knew that.

So if there was something he wanted to know, it wasn’t that difficult for him to get it from you. But you really, really, did not want to upset him tonight.

You were both celebrating him landing a new role in a Netflix special that was also starring Ryan Reynolds, and you didn’t want to ruin this moment for him. You didn’t want to have to drag him down with your own self-pity and self-doubt.

So you kept your mouth shut best you could, but you could tell Ben was starting to catch on to something being wrong. He was constantly staring at you concernedly, and you could feel the pull of the strained conversation. Dinner wrapped up quickly, and to your dismay, you had to hook your arm with Ben’s to keep yourself walking straight.

Stupid fucking white wine.

The car ride home was even worse. You could tell Ben was beginning to get agitated. “Is everything okay?” he had asked earlier. You assured him, yes, of course! How could you not be okay after eating the best caesar salad you had ever eaten in your entire life? He had let out a singular laugh in response, turning his eyes back to the road.

His knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel and the leg he wasn’t using to step on the pedals was bouncing slightly.

When the two of you finally arrived home, you sat in the car for a moment, silence practically swallowing you both whole.

“You looked amazing tonight.” Ben said quickly staring out the window to the car. His voice sounded rough and cold, a huge contrast to what it did a little earlier before dinner.

"Yeah okay.” you said under your breath as you stepped out of the car, making your way to the house and letting yourself in. Ben was practically running behind you.

“What the hell is that supposed to be mean?”

Your breath hitched in your throat, you couldn’t speak. So you just continued walking through your home to your bedroom. Ben was on your heels.

“Forgive me, but my mind-reading abilities have been severely lacking lately. I’m going to need you to talk to me if you’re upset, instead of forcing me to sit across from you at dinner and eat in complete fucking silence.” Ben was mad, you could hear his voice beginning to raise and that just made you feel worse.

You finally turned around to look at him after blinking the tears away from your eyes. “Sorry.”

“Now why are you saying sorry? Just talk to me!” Ben was beginning to yell and it made your heart rate speed up. You could feel your pulse in the tips of your ears.

“It’s not a big deal, Ben.”

“Well, either that’s a lie or you enjoy going to really nice restaurants and sitting there in complete fucking silence on the way there, during the dinner, and way back.”

“Ben, it’s fine I promise.” you said, exhaling shakily as you tried to get a tighter grip on your composure.

“Why are you lying to me? We’ve lived together for the past year, why are you hiding things from me?”

“I’m not hiding anythi-” you began before Ben’s loud voice knocked all the sound out of your throat.

“Jesus fucking Christ! I know you, Y/N! I’ve known you for four years and you don’t get all dressed up to go out to dinner and barely say 15 words the entire time and get drunk on almost two bottles of wine. That’s not who you are,” he took a deep breath in before meeting your slightly tearful eyes, “and you certainly don’t walk around making comments like you just did in the hallway. So I need you to tell me what’s wrong.”

His voice was rough and angry, but calming and sweet like honey at the same time. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the pent up emotions from that stupid fucking article, maybe it was Ben. But you sat down on the edge of the plush mattress and broke out into broken sobs.

You put your face in your hands as you rested your elbows on your thighs, Ben frozen in front of you. Not exactly the reaction he had been expecting. 

He dropped to his knees in front of you, prying your hands away from your face that was now a mess of smudged mascara and foundation. “What’s the matter, love? I can help yo-”

“No, you can’t, Ben,” you said, wiping a few tears off of your face. You sniffled quietly in the momentarily silence. You could still hear the very last sound waves from your words buzzing in the air.

Ben stayed silent, so you decided to continue, “I saw this article the other day, about me a-and these pap pictures from me at the store. And the article was just... I don’t wanna say it. And I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.”

Ben scoffed, looking at you in disbelief. “This is really what has you all worked up? A paparazzi article?”

“No, Ben. It’s the afterthoughts. Because they’re right! I’m me and you’re… you and you should be dating some super hot Victoria’s Secrets Model who looks like they rolled off the runway at every single fucking moment of their life!”

The alcohol had control of you, and you couldn’t stop talking now if you had tried.

“You deserve someone who’s smarter and funnier and prettier than me, someone who has a million dollar smile and charms every single person they look at long enough. And I’m not that. And one day you’ll realize it, too, and you’ll leave me because you realize you could do so, so much better.”

Ben looked up at you, his face twisted into a confusing mixture of emotions. Anger? Confusion? Sadness? You couldn’t tell the difference. He stood up and walked to the other end of the bedroom, the only sound heard being your sniffles and occasional sobs.

After quite some time, he turned around to meet your face. His eyes were glossy with tears and his hands were balled up, pushed deep inside his pockets. “You really think all that?” he whispered, his voice barely audible. You nodded, shifting your gaze to your bare feet that were resting on the hardwood floor of your bedroom.

“Y/N, I genuinely can’t believe you would ever say anything like that. Ever.” Ben turned around again and made his way back over to you, kneeling in front of you again.

“I couldn’t get someone better than you if I tried. Which I wouldn’t, because I have you. And that’s all I’ll ever need.” Ben glanced up to your eyes to see if the normal glow and sparkly had returned. Not yet.

“You make me laugh harder than anyone I have ever known. With your dumb stories and wild recounts of your latest dreams. And you make the best chicken pot pie I’ve ever eaten in all my 28 years of living. And your taste in music? It’s unmatched!” Ben listed things, enthusiasm practically dripping out of every crevice in his body.

“And you’re truly the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” he breathed out, looking you up and down and drinking in your outfit. “The first time I saw your smile across that shitty pub in London, it was like a bunch of butterflies flew up my ass into my stomach and made a home there. Bouncing off the walls, making my insides turn themselves into knots. And then you laughed. I swear to God I could have cried. I fell for you before I had even known your name.”

You were crying again, side effect of Ben’s words and of course, the wine.

“I’m so in love with you, everything about you. How you scrunch your face up when you’re in an awkward situation, how you blush every time I stare at you from across the room, how fast you drink champagne and how much you regret it later. I’m in it for the long haul. And I love you.”

Not being able to contain yourself anymore, you threw yourself into his arms and collapsed into shaking sobs as he held you tighter than he had ever held you before. You felt like he was gluing all the shattered pieces of your self-esteem together right then and there.

“I love you more, Ben.”

[gwaciechang]

A Very Pierre Prequel (2/5)

And now back to our regularly scheduled reader POV where Pierre suffers a lot and the reader is unrelentingly kind to him.

“What’s 14 times 15?” you ask out loud.

“210,” Laurie’s terrifyingly clever friend, Maisie, answers almost at the same time.

“Thanks,” you tell her, continuing with your article. 210 pounds of heroin disappearing overnight from a police station couldn’t be an accident.

Something falls from the big oak tree with a thud, and you look up, alarmed.

“What the hell was that?” Laurie asks.

“A man fell out of the tree,” Maisie says nonchalantly.

“Shit,” you grab some bandages out your purse. “I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll go with you,” Laurie reaches for their scarf.

“No,” Maisie says suddenly, taking out her keys. “Laurie, you have to get ready for work. I’ll go.”

Laurie walks back to her room without another word, and the two of you run down the stairs to find the injured man. Maisie presses the button for the elevator on the way for some reason, did you forget to tell her it was broken?

“Hello?” you peer at the man at your feet. Miraculously, he’s not bleeding anywhere you can see, but he is holding his stomach. “Do you need an ambulance? I have a first aid kit.” Shit, you left it upstairs.

“Ambulance?” he looks at you in confusion. “What’s an ambulance?”

Shit, how hard did he hit his head?

“Who’s the president?”

He gives you another confused look, and you remember this is England, they don’t have presidents. Wait, do they call ambulances something else here, too? Shit.

He stares at you with obvious agony in his eyes until Maisie steps in.

“Follow my finger with your eyes,” she says, moving her index finger. “Okay, I’m going to shine this in your eyes to check your pupil response,” she holds up the flashlight on her keychain and his pupils must respond well, because she nods at you. “No concussion.”

“Why are you holding your stomach like that?” you ask, gesturing to where he still has his arm wrapped around his middle.

“I hit a tree branch on the way down,” he says through gritted teeth.

This close, you can see blood on his shirt. “How many?” you ask.

“Come on,” Maisie goes to his side and motions for you to help her carry him up to your apartment. His shirt feels weird.

Maisie soft metallic clinks when she walks, but when you look, you don’t see anything she’s wearing that could cause it. You open your mouth to ask, but the elevator dings.

He’s holding up remarkably well, or maybe he’s just leaning more on Maisie, seeing as she has a pretty firm grip around his middle with the hand she’s not using to twist her necklace. You focus on leading the three of you down the hall.

“Take off your shirt, or whatever that is,” you deposit him in a chair next to the kitchen counter. It definitely doesn’t look like any shirt you’ve ever seen.

“Um,” the man holds his middle even tighter.

“Get the first aid kit,” Maisie says imperiously, and you do. There’s a loud, metallic crash, and both you and Laurie enter the room to see a goddamn sword on the floor. “I was planning a magic trick,” Maisie looks you right in the eye, and you can’t tell if she’s lying. “Pierre, take your shirt off,” she says, and this time the man, Pierre apparently, listens.

The cut on his stomach (or the newest one, anyway) doesn’t look nearly as bad as the mostly-healed one on his chest, or the multitude of burns all over his torso. You’re not sure if you touch it out of horror or compassion, but it makes Pierre swallow and sit up straighter.

“Alex, disinfect his cuts, please. Laurie, I’m driving you to work,” Maisie picks up the sword and leaves, dragging a very confused Laurie with her.

“Sorry,” you laugh nervously, while you dab disinfectant on everything. “I don’t know what’s up with her today.” Not that you know what’s up with her any day.

Pierre just sits still, taking the alcohol sting with disturbing fortitude.

“Did somebody hurt you? Because these don’t look accidental,” he stiffens in the chair, and you’ve definitely crossed a line. “Ignore me. I’m being nosy, I’m sorry.”

“You shouldn’t apologize to me,” Pierre says, and he lowers his shirt and stands.

“I’m not done,” you say.

“I was sent here to kill you.”

You look at the floor where the sword used to be. “Not a magic trick, then?” you ask rhetorically.

”I think she knew, but I’m not sure how,” he walks toward the door like he’s going to the gallows.

“Sit back down,” you gesture to the chair.

He stares for a second. “I just said I came here to kill you.”

“And I said I wasn’t done,” you hold up the disinfectant. “Sent here by who?”

Pierre doesn’t answer, but he does sit down. Still, he keeps his eyes on you, like he's expecting you to unhinge your jaw and swallow him like the flergen from Captain Marvel. You giggle a little at the reference, and Pierre looks confused, which is fair.

“I was just thinking of a movie I saw,” you explain.

He smiles back just the tiniest bit. “Did you see it on the television?”

“No, I saw it in the theater.” The way he said “television” reminds you of those old medieval fantasy shows you used to watch.

“They still have those?” he visibly brightens.

You look at him with a little more concern. Maybe he does have a concussion? But then you think about those burns. It’s not inconceivable that the same person who's been torturing him repeatedly kept him away from the world.

“I need to stop thinking about conspiracy theories,” you grumble.

“What’s a-”

“No,” you hold up your hand. Pierre’s jaw snaps shut. Now this, you could get used to.

He's starting to shiver a little now, so you walk over to the thermostat and turn it up. He stands up again.

“For god’s sake, sit down and let me take care of you,” you say, exasperated.

He stares at the thermostat, but he sits down like you told him to.

“Any other injuries?” you ask when you're finally done.

“No,” he says, but he’s rubbing his arms, so you take your jacket off and motion for him to do the same. And for good reason, it turns out, because his arms are covered in shallow, bleeding cuts that look like they were made by-

“Did somebody scratch you?” you ask, holding your hands up to the cuts.

He looks away.

“Am I the first person you were sent to kill?” you ask a bit more harshly.

There's a beat of stillness, then he shakes his head.

“Who sent you?” you ask.

He shakes his head. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Try me,” you cross your arms and hope you look intimidating.

“Sheldon Blake,” he whispers, eyes darting between the lights, the microwave, and your laptop.

Your heart stutters in your chest. “The drug dealer?” you grab another chair and sit down in front of him. “So my hunches were right!” you should probably not be grinning so wide.

“So you have been investigating him,“ Pierre’s mouth flattens into a thin line. “You need to stop.”

You scoff. “What are you, my keeper? I’ve never been in the habit of being quiet about evil, and I'm not going to start now.”

Pierre slams his fist on the kitchen counter. “I was sent here to kill you, do you understand?”

“Obviously,” you nod to the tree outside, “and you suck at it. One fall out of a tree and you’re spilling all your secrets to me.”

He retreats with a lost look.

“What?” you ask, curious.

“It wasn’t the fall that changed my mind,” he says quietly, and this makes you blush.

You put the first aid kit back. So what do we do now?” you ask. “Clearly, you’ve just left his cult, or whatever, I mean, if you don’t know what an ambulance is, then it’s definitely a cult he has in his warehouses-”

“Warehouses?”

“You know, the place he makes his heroin.”

Pierre shakes his head. “What is heroin?”

Your jaw drops to the floor. “What do you mean, ‘what's heroin?’ It’s an opioid drug, horribly addictive, and extremely painful to detox from. I mean, I think. I’ve thankfully never had to deal with it myself.”

“Opioid? Like poppies? Wait, don’t tell me. You do realize you still have to deal with a man who makes it and will kill you to stop you from talking about it,” Pierre says with a frown.

You snort. “He can try. He hasn’t done a very good job of it recently, has he?” you nod to the spot on the floor where Maisie dropped the sword.

Pierre looks uncomfortable again. Good.

“Do you want to go back to him?” you ask. You know better than to take a person out of a situation, even an abusive one, against their will.

Pierre swallows, but doesn’t answer.

“Has anyone ever asked you what you want?”

Pierre gives you the smallest shake of his head, and you’re going to nail Blake with your article.

You think for a second before switching tactics. If he’s not familiar with his emotions, he’s still a hitman, and they have to be familiar with bodies. “Does the idea of going back to Blake make you feel lighter or heavier, physically?”

Pierre takes a second to think. “Heavier,” he says hesitantly.

“Then I want you to stay here,” you say.

Pierre looks at you in disbelief. “You want a man who was sent here to kill you to stay in the place where you sleep.”

“You can sleep on the couch, if you want. I could even tie you down if you’d like.” Well, assuming you can untie the flogger you got after that interview with the professional dominatrix. “How does that sound?”

Pierre lets out a sigh. “I feel a good deal less clouded in my head, knowing you’ll at least take precautions to protect yourself, even if you won’t stop the foolhardy activities that got you Sheldon Blake'’ attention in the first place.”

“Yeah, well, because I have the option to walk away is exactly why I shouldn’t,” you say, grabbing some grapes out of the refrigerator to wash. “I need to tell the stories that I can walk away from so that people who can’t walk away can be safe.”

You notice Pierre eyeing the fruit in your hands, and hold the bunch within his reach. He only takes a single one, and he takes his time to savor it with small bites. He looks at you while you pop them in your mouth two a time with wide eyes, but doesn’t comment or ask for more. You watch him watch you eat for less than ten seconds before you give in and pull a few off to hand to him.

He takes them with reverent hands and a whispered, “Thank you, ma’am.”

You can’t help the recoil, and he reacts immediately by stuffing the grapes in his mouth and lowering his head to expose the back of his neck. He puts his hands on top of his knees with his palms up, and there are scars peeking out there too.

You’re not sure what this means, so you just keep going. He’s safe to say this to, it seems. “I’m tired of being ma’am all the time. It’s the 21st century, people aren't just mister or ma’am. I’m just Alex.”

[cobaincreates]

if i had you

warnings: stress, fluff, an upsetting ending

count: 1k+

something simple i suppose. based off of this. hope you enjoy! :)

— — —

“let’s go! time is moving fast! hurry your ass up! let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” you shouted out of the window, watching as he walked slowly and started to speed up from the house. he was laughing as he reached the car and grabbed the handle.

“unlock the door!” he bent down to look at you and you grinned, looking over to the button and pushing it down. he was still laughing as he put the seatbelt on and you pulled away from the curb.

“i hope you’re ready for the night of your life.”

“so ready.”

“good.”

you drove into town and parked the car in the lot next to the restaurant you planned on taking shawn. apparently, he had been craving sushi from what he told you last night in your texts. you were finally home from visiting your parents and you hadn’t seen shawn since before you left, and you missed him like crazy. he had been busy this week, telling you that classes were hectic, and he needed a break. you planned on taking him out anyways without knowing that he was struggling, so you were happy to help.

shawn held the door open for you and you followed behind the host to your seats in front of the itamae. both of you always enjoyed watching the chefs create. it was so fascinating to you. you pulled your coat off and set it on the back of the chair. shawn did the same, taking his scarf off too. you brushed your hair over your shoulders and opened the menu to decide on what you wanted.

“what are you going to get?” shawn asked, leaning closer to you. he hadn’t even looked at the menu and you knew that he was set on what he wanted.

you looked back down at the menu and hummed to yourself. “maybe some shrimp tempura. you?”

“spicy salmon.” he smiled, rubbing his hands together. you grinned and handed your menu to the waiter when he came to take your orders. “i’m paying, by the way, before you start a riot.”

“oh, come on. i’m the one taking you out.”

“exactly, so just let me pay. it’s in exchange for the gas you’re wasting on me.”

you rolled your eyes. “so, what’s going on with you? what’s up with school?”

shawn sighed and swept his eyes around the room. “i don’t know, this week i’m just sort of giving up and thinking that maybe this stupid degree isn’t worth it. i have like constant headaches all the time.”

“you’re probably just pushing yourself too hard.” shawn tried to shake his head at you, but you gave him a look. “you’re pushing yourself too hard, shawn. you study for everything at once, you don’t pace yourself.”

“i do not.”

“you have a problem. you need help,” you joked, touching his arm. he smiled and looked away from you. “i’m serious though. you’re right, a break is what you need. i don’t want you studying at all this weekend.”

“mid exams are next week! how am i supposed to not study?”

“shawn, you are not studying. enough about school. i’m going to force you to have a good night, you little shit.”

shawn laughed and threw a piece of his napkin at you that he nervously ripped off while you were talking. you shook your head and picked the piece off the floor, setting it in between you. “how were the ‘rents?”

you brushed your hair behind your ear and nodded. “they’re good. they keep asking me about you. ‘when are we going to meet him?’ ‘when are we going to see him besides in photos?’ i told you, you should’ve come with me.”

“i had to study!”

“baloney, mendes.” you widened your eyes at him, making him laugh. “next time, you’re coming, okay? spare me the torture.”

you both looked up when your food was ready. you thanked the itamae and hummed happily at the sight. shawn groaned, excited to fill his stomach with his favorite. you both picked up your chopsticks. shawn was always better at using them than you were.

“i hate these things. i’m just going to ask for a fork.” you set them down and looked for the waiter.

“no, you’re not. here.” shawn dropped his and grabbed your hand to help you. he positioned your fingers correctly and you laughed at how ridiculous you two looked. you felt a little embarrassed that you couldn’t even use them properly. “there. try it now.”

you looked at him, knowing that you weren’t going to get it. he lifted his eyebrows and motioned for the sushi waiting for you. you tried picking it up, but accidentally flung it toward shawn. he laughed, catching it before it could drop to the floor. “shawn, i can’t use these.”

“yes, you can!”

you tried again and managed to carefully lift the sushi to your lips. he smiled at you as you chewed. you kept practicing as you ate, and shawn was quiet as you did. he was enjoying his food much more than you thought. you watched his face as he chewed, closing his eyes for a moment to revel in the taste. he nodded to himself and found you staring.

“you’re so funny.”

“it’s so good. taste some.” he picked up a piece and held it out to you to try.

you glanced at him before looking at the roll in front of your face. shawn fed it to you and waited for your reaction. it wasn’t your favorite, but it was still good. you finished up your food minutes later and just like he said, he paid for the whole thing. you felt bad since it was nearly 30 dollars, but he was insistent and there was no compromising with shawn when he was insistent. you left the restaurant and headed in the opposite direction from the car. you went into the park nearby just to walk around a little and you found a group of drunk students shouting at each other. you stepped closer to shawn as you watched, and you couldn’t make out anything that they were saying.

“10 bucks a punch is thrown.” you said, leaning up on your toes.

shawn lifted his face out from his scarf that shielded him from the cold breeze. “20 that the blonde girl walks away because she looks pissed.”

we watched for another moment and you groaned when the blonde girl walked away with her arms crossed. one of the guys ran from the group to her and you turned around with a frown. shawn laughed behind you and put his arm around your shoulders as he followed.

“pay up, missy.”

“i hate you.” you reached into your bag and found a crumpled 20 to hand over to him. he took it gladly, slipping it into the pocket of his jeans. he had been wearing tighter jeans for a while now and you never complained. he looked good in them.

“where to next?” he questioned, pulling you tighter against his side.

“wanna get a couple drinks? maybe there’s some karaoke around.”

“oh god.”

you grinned, and you found a bar nearby that was having a karaoke night like you hoped. you ordered drinks for yourself and stood near the back of the small building to watch. you stayed there for an hour or so and shawn was a bit tipsy by the time he mustered up enough courage to go up onto the stage. you rolled your eyes at his song choice and you were sure not a lot of people would guess that he’d choose a whitney houston song. your laughter reached his ears on the stage and he pointed at your as he sang, moving his hips back and forth. his face was red from the alcohol and the crowded room as he came back over to you and hugged you against him. you handed his coat back to him, suggesting that you leave.

“i have to take your drunk ass home.”

“that was really fun.” he sighed and unwrapped his scarf from around your neck. you grabbed his arm and led him toward the door. the air outside was refreshing as you headed back to the car. you kept an arm around shawn’s waist to keep him upright, but he wasn’t that drunk.

shawn turned the stereo up loud as you drove. music was playing from your phone and he was singing loudly, the vein in his neck popping out. every so often, he would turn to you and sing. you just laughed at him and joined in. you both bopped your heads to “my name is”, a song you hadn’t listened to together in a while. shawn sucked at rapping, messing up instantly when he tried, and making himself laugh.

“are you coming inside?” he wondered as you pulled up to the house.

you glanced at it, not seeing any of the lights on. his roommates had to be out. “are you going to fall up the stairs if i help you?”

“no,” he smiled small.

you nodded and moved your car into the driveway behind his. you got out and shawn pulled his keys out to unlock the front door. he closed it behind you and you took your shoes off, pushing them against the wall. shawn brushed a hand through his hair and went into the kitchen. you could see the refrigerator light turn on as he opened it and grabbed something from inside. his feet glided against the wooden floor back to you and he led you up the stairs toward his room. you tossed your jacket onto his desk chair and looked around at the mess on his desk and the floor.

“jesus, shawn.”

“sorry,” he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck as you started cleaning up the space. you threw his dirty clothes into his hamper that was nearly overflowing and piled the papers together neatly on his desk. you closed the books and stacked them on top of one another until it was mostly cleared. “do you want a shirt?”

you turned around to him and his tired eyes. you nodded and caught the shirt in your hands before going into the bathroom to change and tie your hair up. he was pulling the sheets back on his bed when you came back in. you set your clothes on his dresser and shivered at the air on your legs. shawn came over to you and took your hand to bring you toward his bed. you crawled in and moved closer to the wall to give him enough space to lie down. his arm slipped over your waist and under his gray t-shirt to pull you closer against him. you threw a leg over his hip and let him bury his face against your chest. he sighed into the shirt.

“thank you for tonight. i really needed it.”

“you’re welcome.” you brushed through his soft curls to coax him to sleep.

he pulled his head away and smiled up at you. you met him halfway and kissed him softly goodnight before he reached behind him and turned the lamp off.

×××

your eyes opened, and you found yourself alone in bed, in your own dorm. the surreal dream came back to haunt you, and you covered your eyes as your heart sank. everything felt so real and it was hard to believe that it wasn’t. you wondered what shawn would think if you told him about it. you wondered what it would be like if you had shawn like that.

[theonetrueotaku]

Just Another Game

Chapter 2: “Oblivion” (Section 1, Part 1)

A canon-based mature Yoongi/everyone fic 

The morning after he accidentally confessed to being bisexual, Yoongi can't remember what happened the night before but he does notice all of the boys are acting strange.

Series Summary

Set during 2019, after their world tour and after Answer's release.

Min Yoongi's career has put him in bisexual hell: living with six hot bandmates who think it's really funny to flirt and get handsy with him and with each other all the time. Between constant struggles like not knowing whether he and Jimin nearly made out while drunk, to bed sharing with Jungkook every other night, to not being sure how to stop imagining what it'd be like to kiss Namjoon, it's only a matter of time before he loses his mind as he realizes he's in love with six perfect but very straight boys.

After Yoongi drunkenly comes out as bi, he can’t remember the confession the next day. Taken by surprise, the boys lightheartedly start a competition to see who Yoongi finds the most attractive in the group. The objective is set to getting a kiss from Yoongi before he finds out about the competition. Though they mean well, things go downhill fast for all of them. As they each realize they are attracted to Yoongi, they start taking things too far beyond what they’d signed up for.

Full Masterlist || Series Masterlist || Extras || Last Chapter  

Chapter 2: “Oblivion” is below the cut.

Hobi walked into Yoongi’s room with a hot tray of rare food, rare because he’d prepared it himself. Normally, he left cooking to the other hyungs or to a maid in the hopes of making sure they would all eat well rather than eat his food. Yoongi, however, would likely have to settle for having Hobi’s mediocre food or immediately feeling ill as he woke to an empty stomach.

Not trying to think about what exactly it was that Hobi was looking to protect him from, he simply enjoyed the heartwarming sight of Yoongi wrapping himself into his sheets even tighter as if that would help prevent being woken up. Hobi began doing a jig though his rational mind knew that Yoongi couldn’t see him through the sheets.

“Wake up! The sun is out so you should be too,” he sing-songed at the hungover blob under the comforter.

“Let me sleep.”

“It’s 2 in the afternoon. It’s time for you to wake up.” He set the tray down on the bedside table and removed his shoes. He stepped onto the bed and started jumping, deciding to have a little fun so he could pretend nothing had changed. “We have to be at the company tonight,” he huffed each word out between jumps.

Yoongi let out a quiet whine that made Hobi melt a bit. Min Yoongi was a grown man, but an awfully adorable one. He peeked his head out from under the sheets to see the tray Hobi left on the bedside table. Yoongi licked his lips.

“It smells good,” he mumbled quietly.

“Sure,” Hobi answered sarcastically, feeling like Yoongi was teasing his terrible cooking. Yoongi pulled himself out from under the covers and reached for the bowl on the tray. With the metal chopsticks provided, he began scarfing down the food in the bowl as if he hadn’t eaten in days. He let out a quiet moan with his mouth still full. Hobi laughed. “Don’t pretend to like it.”

“This is so good,” Yoongi said with his mouth still full. “Did Jin cook it?” Hobi stared at him with a hint of surprise in his gaze. Like any good best friend, Yoongi could read his reaction like a book. “What ?”

“I cooked it.”

“That is a surprise,” he teased back before going back to eating. “Thank you for bringing this. You’re so good to me.” Hobi wondered if Yoongi knew he was echoing his words to him from the night before. The memory of Yoongi on his lap resting felt so distant now.

“What happened last night?” Yoongi asked. Hobi didn’t even know how to answer that.

“We sang a few songs,” he said, dodging the question with a minimally detailed answer. “We found out Jin’s non-girlfriend dumped him for being a trainee.”

“What?”

“You really don’t remember any of this?”

“I don’t remember anything that happened last night.“ Yoongi swallowed, a bit nervous. "Was I okay?” Hobi froze a bit.

“You were fine,” he lied in a way he thought was smooth. Yoongi groaned and rubbed the back of his head.

“Oh no. What did I do?”

Hoseok faked his best smile. “You’re just a terrible singer sometimes.”

“Oh,” Yoongi breathed out with a quiet laugh. He seemed pained as he rubbed his head but he practically inhaled the food in front of him, reaching for the tray when he was done with the bowl. “My head hurts so much,” he choked out as he picked up the cup of juice on the tray. “You’re so nice.”

Just like that, Yoongi scarfed down as much food as he could without pauses, only ever mumbling compliments at Hoseok for being kind enough to bring him the food. Hoseok stopped him with a quick gesture, reaching out a hand from his pocket. Yoongi extended a hand only for Hoseok to drop two pills into his palm. “Painkillers.”

“You’re a saint,” Yoongi noted with a small pout. “Why are you being so nice to me?” Hoseok felt guilty but he shrugged and did everything to conceal his reaction as he sat next to Yoongi. Yoongi put the tray back on the table and then pulled his arms around his bent knees. He hiccuped.

“You ate too fast.” Yoongi scrunched up his nose in reply before mirroring Hobi’s smile. “You are such a child, Min Yoongi.”

Yoongi watched his face curiously for a second. The stare was long enough that it made Hobi nervous, feeling as though maybe he’d been caught. Then, he suddenly reached a hand into Hobi’s hair. “It’s so long.”

Though down loose right now, Hobi’s hair had grown long enough that he could easily tie it in a small bun on the back of his head. He’d had a hair stylist trim at the ends here and there before but it was generally untamed. He was a little self-conscious about it but that didn’t ever prompt any criticism from the boys. However, since no one talked about it, Hobi wondered if they were all trying to hide that they didn’t like the new look.

“I need to cut it sometime, right?” he conceded.

“No. I love it like this,” Yoongi mumbled as he fascinatedly ran his hand through it one more time. He tucked a strand behind Hobi’s ear.

Pulling away lightly, Hoseok did everything in his power to control the blushing smile that danced across his features. It was hard to stay concerned when Yoongi was in this kind of mood. Yoongi retreated his hand when he noticed Hobi backed off, and Hobi instantly regretted that he hadn’t just accepted the affection when he knew that he was enjoying it so much.

“You should keep it like this,” Yoongi suggested carefully. “But only if you like it too.”

Hobi smiled as he kept his gaze on the floor. “I really like it,” he said thoughtfully. He pulled a hidden hair tie out off his wrist from under his sleeve. “Tie it for me?” It was more of a peace offering than a favor to ask. Regardless of everything that had happened in the past day, Yoongi’s warm smile and quiet giggle made him feel like it was all going to be alright as he pulled Hobi back by his shoulders and carefully wrapped the long strands into a ponytail.

“I like it like this too. You look very handsome.”

“You’re too complimentary today. All I did was feed you,” Hobi joked. He reached a hand onto Yoongi’s hands and took one of them with a light, casual grip of his fingers. “Do me a favor, Yoongi?” he asked with a lot of thought to his words. He didn’t mean to interrupt a comfortable silence like this but it was time to talk about the truth, even if it wouldn’t be direct. “If anyone acts weird around you today, just tell me.”

Hobi’s thoughts drifted to the night before as Yoongi spoke up.

“Was I that bad last night?”

“No. I think everyone’s just in a weird mood,” he lied. “Don’t let them take it out on you.”

“They can’t. I’m too intimidating.” Yoongi put on the haughtiest face he could just to make Hobi giggle faintly. His thoughts were somewhere else, no matter how much Yoongi was trying to keep him present.

“He was joking,” Jin said once they realized they couldn’t get Yoongi to willingly wake back up. In this state, he wasn’t going to be giving any explanations.

“What if he wasn’t?” Tae rebutted.

“He was. He was joking so there’s nothing to worry about. No problem.”

“What is there to worry about if he isn’t joking?” Hobi snapped back, his tone suddenly very bitter.

“Hobi, don’t misunderstand,” Namjoon insisted through his own shock.

“I’m not misunderstanding. I want to know exactly what problem it would be.”

“That’s not what I meant-” Jin started.

“Just stay away from him,” Hobi insisted suddenly, drunkenly stumbling to his feet and shooing Jin away from Yoongi. “I’m taking him to his room.”

Jimin stood up and started helping Hobi, which Hobi only accepted because Jimin hadn’t said anything insensitive.

“Don’t be like that, Hobi,” a still drunk but terrified Namjoon called after him only for Hobi to keep walking. “Come back!”

Read the rest of this chapter “Oblivion” on AO3.

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[theo-loves-broadway]

Of Baby Taters and Milkshakes (Tyrus Fic chapter 2)

This is chapter 2 of “If You Can’t Stand The Heat, Get Out Of The Kitchen

“Cyrus?” TJ said through taters, sipping his milkshake as well, “are you, like, not hungry?” he questioned, pointing at Cyrus’ untouched tater tots.

“Huh? Oh,” Cyrus mumbled, embarrassed to have been caught getting lost in his own mind, “I am . I was just...thinking,” he added, choosing his words carefully as he bit into one of his tater tots. “Yum,” he said with artificial happiness, taking a small sip at his milkshake.

That’s the preview, since the rest is under the cut! Please, if you like it, a reblog is so much better than a like. Don’t get me wrong, I love likes, but a reblog allows others to see my work. Thanks!

Link to AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15287934/chapters/35529081

5:34 is what the clock read as Cyrus paced around his room, trying to find something to wear. "Just pick something," he scolded himself, "it's just tater tots. With TJ. At the Spoon. Alone. Without Buffy or Andi or Jonah," he reminded himself, throwing on an orange sweater and pairing it with khaki pants. "Damn, I look good," he complimented himself, admiring himself in the mirror as he turned around. Twirled was probably the more accurate term, but he didn't want to admit that. Glancing at the clock again, he saw that it now read 5:39; the way time passed was particularly slow this evening, and Cyrus was not about that life. As much as he liked hanging out with TJ, it always made him nervous, for some reason. Like he was afraid to say something wrong, or accidentally make a certain face. And whenever TJ smiled...he couldn’t shake this weird feeling. Nerves is what Cyrus blamed it on.

He made his way downstairs, and took a quick look around to make sure that everything was in order, and slipped on his parka, along with a pair of gloves, and a hat that his mom knitted for him a few years back. It wasn’t even that cold outside, and the snow had all but stopped, but Cyrus was, as he put it, “a wimp when it comes to weather sub 50 degrees”. He figured he’d be back in time, as in before his parents got home, so he omitted writing them a note. He grabbed his wallet and phone, and headed for the Spoon.

The snow had stopped falling, save for the few that fell from the trees whenever the wind blew, but otherwise it was a relatively serene evening. Cyrus regretted not choosing the wear boots, since the snow was up to his knees and his parents had forgotten to shovel the walkway, so he dragged his legs through the snow, not having the energy to pick up his legs. After what felt like forever, he reached the street that the Spoon and was grateful to see that the sidewalk had been shoveled. As he approached the door, he dusted off his pants and walked inside, the tinkling of the bell being absorbed by the din of plates being stacked, and people chattering.

It’s so much busier than usual, Cyrus noted, taking a seat in one of the booths near the window. He pulled out his phone and checked the time: 5:56. Okay, just a few more minutes, just a few minutes, he kept reminding himself, but he couldn’t shake this feeling of anxiety. He could feel like stomach making knots, tighter and tighter until the bell faintly tinkled above the door, and Cyrus snapped out of his toxic worrying. TJ had just walked in and he was...a few minutes early? Cyrus expected to be waiting at least another ten minutes for him, but as soon as he saw him, all his feelings of anxiety were gone. There was something about TJ that made him feel...relaxed. At peace. Cyrus waved TJ over and he took a seat across from him, the bright reflection from the snow on the ground illuminating TJ’s face.

“Did you order already?” TJ asked, glancing around at the populated establishment, before setting his eyes on Cyrus and fighting to hold back a cascade of laughter.

“No,” Cyrus huffed, “I haven’t been able to  get anyone’s attention around here and--” Cyrus stopped himself, now aware of TJ’s gaze. “What?” he squeaked, not intending his voice to jump up that high.

“You’re wearing a parka. And gloves. And a hat,” he added, pointing to Cyrus as he spoke.

“So?” Cyrus retorted playfully, crossing his arms in mock defense. “It’s winter, and I personally hate the cold,” he admitted, slipping off his gloves and hat, as well as unzipping his jacket, and tying it around his waist. “Better?” he asked, sticking his tongue out.

TJ put his hands up in submission and the corners of his mouth pulled into a small smile, his lips parting ever so slightly. “Snarky today, aren’t we?” he countered, waving over one of the waitresses that was free. He asked for two orders of baby taters, with a chocolate milkshake for Cyrus and a strawberry one for himself. The waitress jotted down their orders and left with a smile, TJ watching as she disappeared behind the swinging door. Cyrus did not ignore this, and he couldn’t help but feel almost jealous. But why? TJ didn’t even know her name and they hadn’t even really formally met!

“She’s cute,” Cyrus commented, the word ‘cute’ leaving a bad taste in his mouth, “You like her?” he asked, for some reason fearing the answer.

TJ was caught off guard by his question, and felt the tips of his ears heat up, rubbing the back of his neck. “What? Oh, uh, I mean, I guess. She’s kinda pretty,” TJ said with a shrug, not thinking it was a big deal.

“O-oh,” Cyrus murmured, deflated. He glanced out the window; the snow had picked up, and the wind was blowing in all directions, so the snow was flying all over the place. He watched as a few people held hands and walked down the street; that made him sick. He wanted so badly to have that himself, but Cyrus didn’t know that anyone that wasn’t straight in his life. He spent a large chunk of his time pining over straight guys, which always led to the same dead end.

“Here come our orders,” TJ notified Cyrus, tapping his arm to get his attention, “your food is here,” he repeated.

“Oh...good, I’m hungry,” he mumbled, registering TJ’s touch. It send a zip of energy through his body, causing the boy to blink a few times. The waitress handed them their taters and milkshakes, flashing a small smile towards TJ, and walked away to tend to another one of her tables. Cyrus, again, noted this and slowly started to build an emotional wall; no more trying to convince himself that this was something when it really wasn’t. No more falling for guys who would only let him down with a gentle “I don’t swing that way”. No more hoping that maybe, just maybe, something could be different. Cyrus had had his fair share of guy crushes, and all of them ended up being straight, turning him down. This was no different. He’s just with you because your pancakes didn’t suck, he mentally reminded himself, otherwise he’d be hanging out with his basketball friends. Stop acting like this could be different. It’s not, he thought to himself, barely touching his taters. TJ, on the other hand, was scarfing down tater after tater, and even dipping some into his milkshake before he ate them.

“Cyrus?” TJ said through taters, sipping his milkshake as well, “are you, like, not hungry?” he questioned, pointing at Cyrus’ untouched tater tots.

“Huh? Oh,” Cyrus mumbled, embarrassed to have been caught getting lost in his own mind, “I am . I was just...thinking,” he added, choosing his words carefully as he bit into one of his tater tots. “Yum,” he said with artificial happiness, taking a small sip at his milkshake.

TJ takes a large gulp of his milkshake and his lips pull into a small frown, glancing at Cyrus. “Something’s up with you, Underdog,” he tells him, Cyrus trying to act like everything is fine.

“Whaaat?” Cyrus mustered with minute enthusiasm, “you’re crazy, Basketball Guy,” he tried to joke, instead going for a few sips of his milkshake.

“Look,” TJ whispered, not trying to attract attention to him and Cyrus, “if you don’t want to talk about it here, I won’t make you,” he assured him, sincerity lacing his deep voice, “but I know you have…’stuff’, I’ll call it,” he reminded him, finishing the last of his taters.

Cyrus nodded, trying to focus on eating his tots, forcing himself to finish them, but barely touching his milkshake, his stomach already in knots. “Do you--do you think we can go to the swings?” Cyrus asked, shrinking into himself. Of course he doesn’t want to go to the swings, you idiot, Cyrus mentally scolded himself, why are you like this?

“Sure,” TJ agreed quickly, waving over the waitress to signal that they were ready to pay. Cyrus started to take out his wallet, but TJ waved him off, paying for both of their meals. A flutter of hope formed in Cyrus’ gut, but was quickly quelled and replaced with frustration and defeat when the waitress wrote her number on a piece of paper for TJ, who put it in his jacket pocket. Cyrus put his jacket back on, stuffing his gloves and hat into the pockets before grabbing his milkshake and rushing through the door, completely disregarding the fact that TJ was behind him, as he briskly started off for the swings, his feet pounding into the snow. TJ saw him walking quickly, so he handed the waitress the rest of the change, grabbed his milkshake, and headed out the door, chasing after Cyrus.

“Hey, wait up!” he called, quickly catching up to Cyrus, whose hands were in his pockets, fiddling with his gloves. Cyrus tried to speed up, but TJ’s long legs allowed him to keep up without effort. “Alright, fine, be like that,” TJ sneered, aware that Cyrus wasn’t in the mood to walk with him, “sorry I’m just so terrible he be around,” he added with a huff, kicking the snow ahead of them. The duo had been speed walking so far that they had reached the swing without knowing. Cyrus raced to sit on one, unzipping his jacket and tossing it to the ground. I’d rather freeze than fall for another straight boy, he thought, the wind harshly biting his skin. TJ slowly walked up to him, tentatively taking a seat on the swing next to him, anger and frustration written all over his face. The boys sat mostly still, save for when the wind blew and Cyrus shivered madly, but pretended like it was all fine.

“If you’re not going to talk to me, why am I even here?” TJ retorted, choosing his words carefully. He didn’t ask why they were here; he asked why he was here, and Cyrus definitely noticed, his anger starting to shift from dry to wet. Cyrus could feel his eyes start to sting from the tears, and he bit his lip to try and hold back his tears.

“Good question, why are you even here?” Cyrus countered, his voice breaking. He could tell he was on the verge of tears, so he kept his gaze on the ground. He didn’t want TJ to think he was any more pathetic than he already was.

Sure, TJ could have given in right then and there, put his arm around Cyrus and all could be better. But he was TJ Kippen; he didn’t want to show weakness or vulnerability.

“Oh, I don’t know,” he growled, hearing Cyrus squeak at his tone, but he pressed on “Maybe because you asked me to come here, and I, thinking that you didn’t hate me, came here with you, because you looked miserable at The Spoon? Have you ever considered that I actually have the capacity to care about things?” he grumbled, his voice growing louder with each word. At this point, Cyrus was openly crying, hot, angry tears streaming down his face. TJ felt a pang of guilt rush through him, but he pushed that aside, kicking at the snowy mulch. Silence settled in, and the only noises were Cyrus’ sniffles, and the sound of the wind rustling through the trees.

“Sure, TJ,” Cyrus croaked, his voice a complete mess, “you care about basketball. You care about winning. You care about how other perceive you, because heaven forbid someone finds out that you actually have emotions, you couldn’t face the world, right?” Cyrus spat, getting up off of the swing and grabbing his coat, slipping it on, his arms frozen and covered in goosebumps, and stormed away.

Scoffing, TJ jumped off of his swing and chased after Cyrus. “Oh, pardon me for not wanting to look like a total dork ,” TJ barked, the word ‘dork’ coming out much harsher than he intended, and he immediately regretted what he said. “Cyrus,” he said softly, but Cyrus just put his hand up, words unable to form.

“Don’t,” he sputtered weakly, his voice almost inaudible, “I get it. I mean, who would want to be f-friends with a d-dork like myself?” he stuttered, running through the snow towards his house, throwing his milkshake to the ground.

TJ felt like his legs were frozen into the ground and not because of the snow. He felt like his world was falling apart, like he was losing all control.

“Cyrus!” he called out, but to no avail. Cyrus had rounded the corner and disappeared. TJ checked his phone; it was getting late and he should be getting home...but this was important. He’d screwed up, bigtime. Braving the cold, TJ ran after Cyrus, hoping that he could still catch him. By the time that he could see Cyrus, he was entering his house and turning on the lights. No cars in the driveway, TJ noted, relieved that his parents weren’t home yet. He shuffled to the door, catching his breath, and prepared to knock, holding his knuckles inches from the door, before deciding to ring the bell. A gentle tune played and came to a stop, but nobody came to the door. Sighing, TJ knocked, hoping that something, anything, would happen. He thought he heard footsteps inside, but again, nobody came to the door.

“Cyrus,” TJ all but shouted, hoping that he could hear him, “Cyrus, please, open the door,” he practically begged, a lump in his throat.

Cyrus was standing inches from the door, his face red and stained with tears. TJ had hurt him, terribly, but a strange part of him was telling him to open the door. After much consideration, Cyrus unlocked the door and cracked it open.

“You’ve reached the house of the world’s loneliest dork. Leave a message after the tone,” he mumbled, trying to shut the door, but TJ put his foot in the way. TJ took one look at Cyrus through the small space that he’d created by propping open the door, and felt like his knees were going to give out. He looked as if his dog had died, and had nobody to come to. Except, this was TJ’s fault.

“Look,” he started, thinking about how to phrase what he wanted to say, “I-I didn’t intend for that to be so harsh,” he admitted, earning a gasp from Cyrus.

“Oh, gee, thanks. That really makes the situation so much better. If only you’d said it in a kinder tone,” Cyrus hissed, the tears forming at the corners of his eyes again.

TJ mentally facepalmed himself, and tried to fix what he’d said. “No, I..I didn’t mean it like that, I just--”

“Just what, TJ?” Cyrus interrupted him, staring at the ground, “no, believe me, I get it. You needed someone to push around so you could brag about how ‘cool’ you are to your real friends,” he growled. Ouch. Cyrus could really rock someone’s core when he was upset. “It’s getting late,” he muttered, “go home, TJ. And forget about the tater deal. The last thing I want is to see you for another week.” And with that, Cyrus kicked TJ’s foot out of the way, and slammed the door, sliding down and dissolving into tears. TJ’s face scrunched up, leaning his forehead against the door. He could hear Cyrus crying inside, and it was eating him alive; he felt like a part of him was being ripped out.

“Cyrus,” TJ pleaded, mentally beating himself up, “look, I get that you’re not going to answer the door, so just listen. I’m...I’m sorry, okay?” TJ admitted, unaware he could actually say those words, “I didn’t mean to hurt you, man. I, uh, I mean, I don’t even know what I did wrong, so, can’t fix that..” he trailed, rubbing the back of his neck, “I’ll be at the Spoon tomorrow at noon. A deal’s a deal, so come if you want. I’ll be there either way,” he paused, realizing he was getting nowhere. “G’night,” he added, before walking away, shaking his head. Only after he had exited Cyrus’ neighborhood did he allow the tears to fall. They were there from when he was at the swings, but he held them back; tears showed weakness. By the time he got home, he was a blubbering mess. Why was he so emotional? Why did making someone, err, Cyrus, so upset make him more emotional than when he made someone else upset? Not willing himself to think about it any longer, he rushed through the door, his parents not back from work yet, kicked off his shoes, and flopped on his bed.

I’m sorry, Cyrus, he thought to himself before fatigue took him over, and he fell asleep.

[kaleidopewrites]

Bruises and Footy

Summary: After missing your last few games, Sebastian makes it his mission to see you play AFL in the next match.

Pairing: Sebastian Stan x AFL Player!Reader

Word Count: 2104

Warnings: like one swear word, fluff, the proper way to play footy ;)

A/N: Alright @ly--canthrope, here’s your request. This was super fun to write :D

“Alright, gents!” You call, walking into the locker room, slipping your jersey over your shoulder. “Listen up!” You get your team’s attention as you stood at the front. “I know we’re up against Collingwood, but that doesn’t matter. Someone’s gotta get their ass out of the top five,”

The team laughs as a few girls tie back their hair. “We got a tough game ahead of us. We keep our heads, our eyes on the field and we do well, got it?” You ask and they all nod, each individually psyching themselves up.

“Hey, (Y/N), is he coming today?” One of your teammates call. You laugh with a few others before shaking your head. “No, unfortunately, he isn’t. That doesn’t mean we can’t give the rest of our fans a good show, eh?” You laugh.

The team cheered before clapping their hands. You look up just as the coach walked in. “Are we ready to go?” He called and you all jumped up. Rolling your shoulders, you fell in line at the front, following your coach and others through the back rooms and towards the pitch.

Adrenalin pumped through your veins, but you couldn’t help but feel disheartened that your boyfriend couldn’t be here.

Sebastian stumbled into your hotel room, glad the ladies at the desk were happy to share her room info. He was sure the promise of selfies helped him out. He ran through the room, dumping his bags as he went and jumping for the remote.

Standing up as best he could, he switched on the TV and flicked through the channels until he found the right one. The TV blinked into focus as the local AFL game switched on. “And there we have it, ladies and gentlemen, what a fantastic way to end the fourth quarter.”

Sebastian groaned, collapsing back onto the couch with his face in his hands. He missed it, again. He was too polite to get out of the interview early before catching the flight to Australia. It was like the world was against him getting to hotel.

He rarely managed to watch a game. And he hated it. He absolutely hated it. He supported your love for the sport as more than any fan you had ever met. He loved the way you’d describe the rules to him and show him the MCG.

He had videos saved on his phone of your favourite games. He loved the way your eyebrows would knit in concentration whenever you ran across the field, or your lips would pucker and part slightly when the ball was headed for you.

Not only was he proud, but he was always very worried. Australian football was a high contact sport. Not only did you have to keep fit, but you had to shake off injuries. He always flinched whenever you were tackled on and off screen.

No matter the match, you always came home in bruises. Some days, you’d hide your pain well. Whenever he’d bring up a certain tackle or punch up, you’d laugh and tell him all about it. And you would continue to joke about it too, until he felt better.

Without another thought, he grabbed his phone, searching through Google until he knew the date of your next game.

You sighed as you rubbed your palms together, sitting on the edge of your seat. After beating Collingwood, you had another scheduled footy game the following week against St. Kilda. With a level head and unlimited reserves of energy, the opposite team shouldn’t walk over you.

“(Y/N),” You looked up at the mention of your name, one of your closest friends on the team smiling down at you. “Hey,” You greet, dragging your bag over towards you with your foot. “What’s with the glum face? We’re up against the Swans today,”

“Hm, I know. Sound head and sound mind,” You laugh, checking your phone one last time before dumping it into the bag. “So why do I get the feeling that you’re not sound of mind?” She asked. You take a deep breath before letting it out slowly.

“Sebastian called, says he’s not gonna make it again,” You sigh before standing up. Your friend watched you, her smile falling. “Apparently he missed his flight. Won’t get back until tomorrow.” You sigh again, fixing the straps on your shoulder.

Like most athletes, you had gotten yourself a memorable injury; as is the footy mark. One good tackle and one bad landing gotten you into a solid two months of rehab and on the bench for most of the season.

Sebastian wouldn’t leave you alone, constantly at your every beck and call. He’d make sure you kept fit and were doing your exercise. He’d cook almost every night, and have painkillers on his person at all times, when the pain in your shoulder got too much.

“Hey, it’ll be alright,” She said, moving around you to help tighten the strap. “I’m sure he watches all the reruns and every interview about you and the team,” She assured you, clapping you on the back when she was done.

“Yeah, I just… I wish he could show up for more matches, you know?” You said, looking at her. She laughed. “No, I don’t actually,” She laughed, making a smile spread across my face. “You’ll find someone,”

“Hopefully. Come on, coach is trying to round people up,” She smiled. You nod before following her from the locker room.

Sebastian returned to his seat in the stadium, wrapping his black and yellow scarf tighter around his neck as he sat down. It was a chilly night, steam creating a fog in front of him as he watched the game.

He planned everything accordingly. He had all his interviews bumped up just so he could be in Victoria for your next game. Hopefully, for all he knew, you still didn’t think you were here. Wrapped in the Richmond colours, he sat on the edge of his seat.

He watched you run across the pitch from the first quarter. He couldn’t remember the last he was watching you live, sprinting across the field with a determined expression. He watched every brutal tackle and every kick.

He cheered every time you marked the ball and cringed whenever you’d take a heavy tackle. He watched as you shouted to teammates, fulfilling your role as team captain. His heart soared when one of the opposition took a tough blow and you stuck with her for as long as you can.

It was accidental, the player attempted a tackle but you had dodged out of the way quickly, twisting but managing to fall on top of her. Refs stopped the game briefly and you stood next to her, being cooperative, talking to all members of both teams.

Your brilliant sportsmanship that came so easily to you were glorified on the big screen, closeups of St. Kilda and Richmond talking to you and smiling. You’d have a warm smile on your face, clapping people on the shoulder, until the whistle blew and then you’d focus again.

Sebastian was mesmerised. How you would fearlessly tackle players to the ground and force footballs from their hands. A smile was always permanently on his face when he witnessed your badass-ness on the field first-hand.

It was fourth quarter. They needed one more goal to win. It had been a close match the whole game. You sprinted down the field, chest panting as you followed your teammate. Every few metres, she’d bounce the ball on the grass.

“Open, open!” You shouted when you saw her beginning to get swarmed. She spotted you on the outside and kicked you the ball. It slipped through your fingers, making the audience groan as the timer ticked down. Running out of time, it screamed.

You could feel the electricity in the air as you scooped it up from the ground, dodging around a tackling opponent. The goals were in sight. You lined up the shot, dropped the ball and kicked as hard as you could.

Just as a body connected with you. You fell to the ground in a heap, knocking your shoulder as you did. You shouted in pain, the tackle creating a fire in your muscles as you panted. You looked to the side, in time to watch the ball sail through the middle goals.

The stadium erupted into applause and Sebastian jumped to his feet, throwing his arms into the air with an energetic roar of success. You smile as you thump your head to the ground, the Swans player sighing on the ground next to you.

You groan as you begin to pick yourself up off the ground, digging your elbows into the fake grass. “Shit, are you okay?” The player that tackled you asked, getting up and holding out a hand. Grateful, you take it with a breathy laugh.

“Shoulder stings. Great tackle,” You laugh, clapping her on the shoulder. She nodded, watching as you nursed your arm against your side, cringing slightly in the pain. “Sure you’re alright?” She asked, panting as much as yourself as your teammates finally found you.

“I’m fine,” You grin before turning to the team. They cheered and hollered, screaming in your ear as they wrap you up in a group hug. You laugh and scream with them even though your shoulder felt like hell.

“Oh my God, (Y/N)!” One of the spots the slight twist of pain on your face and you wished you had hidden it a little better. “I’m fine, I’m fine. Come on, let’s go congratulate the Swans so I can take some painkillers,”

Sebastian watched the big screen as you cringed slightly in pain, nursing your shoulder. His heart skipped a beat as you waved to the crowd, a big smile on your face contrasting to the pain hidden in your eyes.

He stopped cheering immediately, his arms lowering as the camera followed you across the field. You weren’t limping, which was a good sign, but you weren’t rolling your shoulder like you normally did. He moved from the seat, ready to head to the locker rooms to surprise you.

You did your usual claps and cheers for the opposition, shaking their hands as you nursed your shoulder. As soon as you were allowed off the pitch, you were flanked by your teammates, congratulating you for the winning goal.

“Alright, someone get me painkillers,” You laugh as you entered the locker bay, not looking forward to getting changed with the fire in your shoulder. “Already on it,” A familiar voice spoke and as soon as you turned the corner you gasped.

Sebastian stood in the middle of the locker room, a big smile on his face. “Sebastian!” You squeal, contradicting your strong, on-pitch personality. You run to him, wrapping your uninjured arm around him as he wrapped his arms around you.

For a second, you forgot about your injury until a sharp pain reminded you. With a hiss, you pull away, putting a hand to your shoulder. “I saw the tackle, are you okay?” He asked. With a breathy laugh, you nod.

“Just need some painkillers,” You laugh as you lead him over to your bag. “Why are you here? I thought you couldn’t make it,” You say as you bend over to pick up your bag, placing it on the bench. “Well, I wanted to surprise you. I felt bad for missing your last game,”

You smile up at him as he grabs the painkillers. “Thank you,” You smile, unable to wipe it from your face. Winning the game was nothing compared to him being here right now. “No worries,” He grinned, holding up the tablets.

You grin as you open your mouth, letting him place them on your tongue before pressing a sweet kiss on your lips, taking your hips with his hands. You smile as you swallow the pills, running a hand up his arm and wrapping it around his neck, fingers curling into his hair.

There were a few cat calls behind you and you both separated. You looked over his shoulders before yelping, spinning back around. You laugh with the team, a blush on his face. You guessed he didn’t expect everyone to be getting changed in a locker room.

“We should think about going. You’ve got a warm bath calling our name back home,” He whispered in your ear. You shivered as the painkillers started kicking in, taking the edge off the pain. “That sounds amazing, I can’t wait,” You grin. Sebastian did as well.

“Great game, by the way, you kicked ass,”

“You doubted?”

“Not for a second,”